As one author sues Lane Kiffin, I choose another method for publicity l Toppmeyer

Lane Kiffin admired Dr. Keith Bell’s musings so much he’s getting sued for it.

Bell, a Texas-based swimming psychologist, published a book in 1982 titled “Winning Isn’t Normal.”

I find such twaddling sports psychology and self-help books unappealing.

Winning isn’t normal? That’s odd, because when two teams play each other, 50% of those two teams will win. Seems normal enough to me. I won a game of Spades last night. That’s normal. I win more often than not when I play Spades.

While I’m drawn to the literary efforts of talented writers like Tana French, Stephen King and Erik Larsson, many coaches gravitate to commonsense drivel marketed as profound sports psychology.

Kiffin, apparently, is among those who’ve read Bell’s philosophy about winning.

Bell’s book is 72 pages and “bursts with wisdom in order to prepare the reader for optimal performance,” according to the Amazon description.

Hmm, yes, I bet it’s simply bursting with juicy pearls of wisdom. Bell’s musings earned modest acclaim, attracting 20 ratings and average of 3.8 stars on Amazon.

Kiffin took a shine to Bell’s wisdom. The Ole Miss coach tweeted a passage from Bell’s book in 2022, according to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger’s reporting.

Some might deem that flattery. Bell deemed it copyright infringement.

He’s suing Kiffin for the tweet.

As someone who writes for a living, I take plagiarism seriously, and it irks me when an aggregator rips off my work.

But, suing someone because they tweeted a snippet from your book? That’s extreme, even in this litigious society we call home.

The Clarion Ledger, which reviewed the lawsuit, reported that Bell sent Kiffin a cease-and-desist letter, and when Kiffin didn’t delete the tweet, the lawsuit followed.

If someone purchases a copy of the book I co-authored, “Wisdom and Things: Essays from an Unlikely Champion” and enjoys it enough to tweet a passage, I’ll be grateful and take that as a compliment.

Please reach out if you’d like to purchase a copy of “Wisdom and Things,” which has a 5-star rating on Amazon. (Take that, Dr. Bell.) I promise I won’t sue you for liking “Wisdom and Things,” which takes readers on a delightful journey of wisdom – and things.

Bell has tried this lawsuit move several times. He’s sued other individuals and organizations for copyright infringement and had multiple lawsuits dismissed.

I’m skeptical that Bell will get rich off his lawsuit against Kiffin, but he did achieve publicity for his book.

Of course, there are other ways to get publicity – like mentioning in a newsletter the five-star book you co-authored.

And I didn’t even have to sue anyone.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: As one author sues Lane Kiffin, I choose another method for publicity