RIP Jimmy "JB" Bryan

Long-time Birmingham News writer died late Saturday night from a heart attack.

A legend of Alabama sports writing -- both for his copy and his celebratory bent. He was just at SEC Media Days, too.
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He is survived by his wife, June Bryan; daughters, P.J. Ellis (Steve), Kim
Bryan (Courtney Haden) and Lyn Cosby (Rodney); sons, Jimmy Bryan and Tim
Bryan; seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. He was 72 years
old.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at
Huffman United Methodist Church with Rev. Rick Owen and Rev. Melody
Traylor officiating. Burial will follow in Crestwood Cemetery in Gadsden.

The family will receive friends at Ridout's Trussville Chapel on Monday
from 5:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M.
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RIP.

EDIT: I can only imagine the party up there with Al Browning and JB reunited.

 

Jimmy will approach the hereafter as merely another road trip:
He'll unscrew the lead to a 1.5 liter jug of whiskey and hurl it over his right shoulder and into the ether.
"Won't be needin' that no more."

 

I was there in 2000 to watch JB, Al Browning and Clyde Bolton finish a half gallon of Jack Daniels during the 100-mile stretch from Chattanooga to Knoxville. An inspired performance.

 

For all the hilarious and crazy stories we can tell about Jimmy, and there are many, I will always remember the patience and kindness he showed toward a young, punk know-it-all reporter when I arrived on the scene. I considered it a privledge to know Jimmy Bryan as a friend.

 

As a newcomer to the scene, I heard countless stories about JB and only wish I had the opportunity to work/drink alongside the man. RIP.

 

well said, bill. well said. 8) 8) 8)


rip, jimmy. 8)

 

RIP

So should we start a JB memorial dead pool for SEC columnists? Based on how they all look, a lot could be going very soon.

Hardly a healthy bunch.

 

JB was definitely an original and the stories -- all of them true -- are priceless.
JB was one of the best at covering a golf tournament and never leaving the sanctity of the pressroom -- but you could have sworn he was watching the leaders shot for shot.

RIP, Jimmy, you'll be missed.

 

When I read this I was like, the winner of the '58 Indianapolis 500 is still alive? (Bryan died in a racing accident in 1960)

RIP to the scribe version.

 

Met Jimmy a few times, but knew him mostly by his larger-than-life reputation both as a writer and a carouser. One story from each ...

He wrote perhaps my favorite lede of all time, for a worse-than-usual Alabama butt-kicking of Vanderbilt in the mid-1970s ... something like:

"Inflation killed Vanderbilt on Saturday. As soon as the football was inflated, the Commodores were dead."



On one road trip, he and his B-ham News colleague (I think it was one of the Boltons, but I'm not sure) had been up late drinking the night before the game and wound up at Waffle House for a late dinner/early breakfast. Jimmy was about to pass out, but managed to order steak and eggs.

The duo woke up about 30 minutes before the next day's kickoff and hustled to get dressed and out the door. Jimmy slipped on his jacket from the night before and jammed his hand in his pocket, only to pull out a steak.

JIMMY: "What the hell is this?"

COLLEAGUE: "Oh, we ordered that for you last night, but you were too drunk to eat it."

JIMMY: "Well God damn, good thing I didn't have soup!"

Classic ...

There'll never be another. He'll be missed ...