Clay Travis

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Clay Travis (born 1979) is an American sports journalist, writer and the author of the three-times weekly column ClayNation on CBSSports.com.

Travis began the column in September 2005 and since that time has entered into a leg-press feud with the Rev. Pat Robertson and embarked upon a tour of Southeastern Conference Football Stadiums which he called the Dixieland Delight Tour or DDT in homage to his idol Jake Roberts. In his columns Travis has announced that he is a fan of the University of Tennessee, George Washington University, and the Tennessee Titans. His columns often attempt to be humorous and irreverent, and recently Travis requested that he be allowed to be President of the University of Florida's Tim Tebow fan club. In the spring of 2007 Travis announced that his first book entitled "Dixieland Delight: A Football Season on the Road in the Southeastern Conference" would be published by Harper-Collins in August of 2007. In June of 2007 Travis participated in the Red Bull Flugtag with a CBS blimp flying device. The blimp immediately crashed but Travis emerged unscathed.

Prior to commencing the ClayNation column Travis embarked upon fifty-day hunger strike, eating only pudding, to protest the lack of availability of NFL Sunday Ticket in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he was living at the time.[1]

Travis was raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from George Washington University where he worked as a student basketball manager. Travis then attended Vanderbilt University Law School where he graduated in 2004.

In 2008, Travis worked out at D1 Sports Training with NFL prospects preparing for the NFL Draft.

Travis is married and lives in Nashville with his wife Lara and son Fox.

Contents

[edit] Frequent Column References

Travis has become enamored of several objects, phrases or events which he frequenly references in the column. Among the most frequent:

'Bama Bangs- a term coined by Travis to refer to southern men's hairstyles that feature prominent bangs for no apparent reason. Brodie Croyle and John Parker Wilson are oft-cited violators of 'Bama Bangs rules.

The beaver pelt trader of the week- Travis instituted this award in his mailbag column after being amazed at consistent reference to Auburn's Tommy Tuberville as a riverboat gambler. Travis felt this was an odd cliché and decided to begin his own, hence the beaver pelt trader. He awards it each Friday.

pink dolphin- After a reader alerted him to the existence of pink dolphins in the Amazon Travis has consistently referenced them. Known as the boto Travis has requested a Disney movie be made and asserted that the pink dolphin has the worst publicity of any animal on earth.

BGID- Travis has a beard and is a proponent of all things beards. BGID stands for Beard Getting it Done and both Travis and his bearded readers will now frequently sign their correspondence with a BGID salutation. It is Travis's contention that men with beards are more successful than men without beards.

Florida Gator's women and their alleged fat arms- Travis says that Florida Gator women carry six to eight extra pounds of arm fat on the back of their arms. He recently borrowed the Australian phrase "bingo wings" to describe such arms. He rarely misses an opportunity to mention this.

Civil War history- Travis is a Civil War history buff. As such he often utilizes obscure Civil War analogies. For instance UT defensive coordinator John Chavis is often compared to Confederate General John Bell Hood.

Unmarried Pregnant Antebellum Daughther of CBS Sports- Travis contends that he occupies the lowest possible rung of CBS sports and has analogized himself thusly. This position was confirmed when CBS Sports agreed to send him to the worst bowl in America. He's also described himself as the anti-Jim Nantz.

[edit] NFL Personal Conduct Controversy

Despite the column's usual irreverence Travis has emerged as a vociferous critic of Commissioner Roger Goodell. Since Goodell suspended Pacman Jones prior to his conviction in a court of law, Travis has argued that Goodell should have taken no action prior to the justice system acting. [2] Travis has continued this criticism since the Michael Vick dogfighting controversy and has also analzyed the legal issues for CBS Sportsline video.

[edit] Books authored

  • (2007) Dixieland Delight: A Football Season on the Road in the Southeastern Conference. HarperCollins, Inc.. ISBN 0-0614-31249. 


[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.tennessean.com/sports/titans/archives/04/09/59374401.shtml?Element_ID=59374401
  2. ^ ClayNation: Goodell's no lawyer ... so why take law in his own hands? - CBSSports.com

[edit] External links