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Harsin never had a chance...

     If reports from the knowing or perhaps the unknowing, Auburn intended to fire Bryan Hansin as soon as possible after the loss to Arkansas.  I normally don't meddle or even care about what goes on in Lee County. After putting their coach and his family through the wringer, Aubie gets rid of Harsin without a second thought. Harsin will get an immediate 7.5 million dollars later. I don't know what "later" means. Add that 15 million to the last couple of coaches on the dole and you'll understand why Auburn will get a decent coach in-house within a couple of weeks. On the Plains, you are playing with house money.

    Coaches get fired every year. Nick Saban may be the exception from the general rule that applies to every other NCAA coach. Hired and fired is just the beginning and end of almost every coach. Most schools have the decency not to drag a coach's family. What was that about? For a university that values "family values" hiring Harsin is a self-evident recognition that AU talks out of both sides of its mouth. So here the Tigers go again. They are shooting their foot. For the record, I have no real idea if Coach Harsin is a good coach. He might be. He was successful at Boise State. He had a "dead man walking" tee shirt from the first game this season. Auburn fans believed "he ain't from around here " meant something. It was never the lack of familiarity with SEC football that caused Harsin problems. It was a hard-core group of boosters who didn't want him. I believe they also hated Allen Green. 

     Instead of saying how well his team played against Alabama, the naysayers wanted to condemn him for blowing the game. An AU running back was tackled before he could make the sidelines. Bama went on to stage a Bryce Young-type comeback. It was as dramatic as Bo over the top. It takes a certain kind of stupidity to blame your coach for a player's mistake. That AU team looked dog-gone good that night. Auburn boosters couldn't stand that loss. I hope Bryan Hanson comes to Alabama for oblong rehabilitation.  Wouldn't that be ironic?  

   Auburn is unlikely to be Alabama. Auburn has a storied tradition. It seems to me that the Tigers believe they are on the same level as 'Bama. Not now, not soon, and perhaps not ever.

 And the beat goes on for the Tide...

    My late Grandfather, Russell, winner of the Silver Star for gallantry in WWI, remarked that Bear Bryant was a good coach, but he was no Wallace Wade. That is a prime example of comparing the "best" coaches in different generations. When he said that, many Alabama fans were hoping that the Bear would restore Alabama to Wallace Wade's years.  Coach Wade won three national championships in seven seasons will at the University. His 1925 win over Washington is still considered one of the greatest wins in college football history. That win was referred to as "the game that changed the South." The win propelled the South into modern America after the prolonged enigma of post Civil War problems. Wade left Alabama because of too much interference by State and Local political officials. Sound familiar?  Wade felt that a private school gave him wider latitude to coach with the distraction of elected officials. He negotiated a settlement with Alabama to name his own successor Alabama. 

     When Bear Bryant won his 6th national championship, there was an almost unanimous belief that no one would ever break that record. Once Coach Bryant retired and then died, it left a coaching vacuum at the Capstone. Before Bryant, the Tide had won five national championships. Five were by Wade, two by Frank Thomas. Gene Stallings won one, as well. 

      Winning a national championship was something done by the Crimson and White on a recurrent basis. Then came Nick Saban. Seven times Saban has won a national championship. One of those was at LSU and the remainder at the University of Alabama. Playing for a national championship is an almost orthodox occurrence. I'm lucky enough to have been a fan when Bryant and Saban coached. I am also lucky enough to hear my grandfather say that Wallace Wade was the best coach Alabama put on the sidelines. I went to the Gator Bowl in 1968. Next to me were two elderly Bama fans. They were as old as I am today. They cheered, "Bam, Bam, Bama." I asked them where they learned that. In the 1920's they said.  Later, the pair elaborated everyone started to say Roll Alabama Roll, and then it was Roll Tide.

     So, is Nick Saban the greatest Alabama coach in an illustrious Tide history? He might well be. The truth is we will never know. Perhaps Saban will win a few more, and then the argument for that status will be more clear cut. Three coaches have won multiple national championships at Alabama.  The truth might be they were all the greatest coach in Alabama football history. I won't disrespect any of them by elevating one to the lofty position of GOAT.  It really isn't necessary to do so. 

Note: Alabama claims it has won national titles in 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2020.

 

THE AP COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD NEEDS TO SOME WORK...

    Initially, let me say that I do not know Jamey Chadwell. The coach of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team had a great season. They were undefeated until Liberty University beat the 37-34 in their last game of the year. None of this is relevant for Alabama football fans. I thought a Chanticleer was what Col. Sanders used to make KFC. Most of us had no idea that Coastal Carolina even played Division One football. Heck, I didn't even know they played football at all. 

    At any rate, the Associated Press named Chadwell is their Coach of the Year. Excuse me for a moment while I go to my bathroom and barf. Nick Saban didn't win it again. I stress the again part. Naming Chadwell Coach of the Year is like me winning in my senior golf league tournament, being named Golfer of Year, and leaving Dustin Johnson scratching his head. Now, none of this means that Chadwell isn't a good coach. You don't win 10 games and be a bad coach. 

     Nick Saban has won the award twice. Once, he was the head coach at LSU and then at Alabama. The AP Coach of the Year Award had been in existence since 1998. It has a long list of questionable coaches. In my opinion, the Coach of the Year should be awarded to the Coach, who wins the National Championship. Perhaps the award should be awarded after the conclusion of the College Football Playoff. The AP hands out their award the week before the National Championship game. That is short-sided. 

    Cinderella stories are well received. That is understandable. Coastal Carolina didn't beat ten SEC teams, and then the first game against Notre Dame. If Coastal Carolina played ten SEC teams, they'd likely lose all ten games. So, let's give Chadwell a pat on the back, and a hardy well done old boy, and then give the Award to the Coaches who win the National Championship or at least get their teams in the CFP. 

 Don't forget that the Irish are good...

     Please don't overlook Notre Dame. A word from the wise, or at least the nervous.  All the Alabama internet sites seem to be writing more about Clemson than the Irish. This may not be a popular position, but Notre Dame has a solid football team, and they could beat the Tide. Their offense is outstanding, and the defense isn't bad. Ian Book, the quarterback, is a good player. He's a senior, and he's had a lot of experience running the Shamrock's offense. And, excuse me for saying so. I'm not sold that Bama's defense has arrived. They seem to have improved, but after watching the Florida Gators dismantle the secondary, I am worried. Ian Book can run the ball when pressured, and the Irish use QB keepers as part of their offense. We know that Book can throw it as well.

    Who beats the Tide offense historically? A dual-threat quarterback, and that is what Book does. The Irish also have two excellent tight ends that made big targets. Remember the tight ends of Florida. I don't think the Notre Dame tight ends have the Florida players' speed, but they are outstanding football players. You don't win 10 football games in a year and not be solid. 

     I don't know whether the Irish getting beat in the ACC  Championship game will hurt or help the Irish. They'll want to atone for a sloppy game, and they think they can win the National Championship whether anyone else does. I know that the Irish hasn't played anyone who has the speed 'Bama does on offense or defense. The Notre Dame offensive line is big and strong. They are experienced. This game isn't going to be a cakewalk. Alabama will be ready to play. So will Notre Dame. It could be closer, or at least closer than you think.

    Beyond the obvious problems that Bama has on defense, we also have to wonder about Landon Dickerson's loss. He called the offensive match-ups, and he had an almost perfect senior season. His pass blocking was phenomenal, and no one is going to be as good as he is. The question is whether or the Tide offensive line can be good enough without him.

     Alabama had the nation's hardest strength of schedule. Notre Dame was 8th, which was far better than I had imagined before my research. Alabama's power index is #1, and no one is even close to the Tide. Still, the Irish are hovering around at #6. Upsets happen. I am old school. 

    

 Being a Tide basketball fan is tough...

    When you are an Alabama basketball fan, you learn to suffer but always hope. You hope for things you may never see. You try to believe in the future. It rarely comes true; you still return to hoping.  You wish for something that may never occur. Wait, that's not correct. You want something that probably won't come true. Still...

   You can always try to temper your expectations, but the love of anything makes that impossible.  Whether it's a woman or basketball, we all make horrible decisions. It seems we are incapable of being rational. For some reason, the suffering never eradicates our desire to see Alabama become a basketball power.  Take me, for example. I continue to believe that the next coach at Alabama will change things. I started loving Alabama when Johnny Dee coached the Rocket Eight. 

   I watched the longest shot in college basketball. George Linn launched a Foster Auditorium shot that went through the rafters and bottomed out 88 feet and 11 inches later.  The North Carolina head coach had the forethought to mark the spot.    Today, I still believe that Jerry Harper is one of the greatest Alabama players to lace 'em up. As a senior in '55-'56, he averaged 19 rebounds a game.  Think about that for a moment. Let that sink as the current vernacular of social media says.  

    Today, I think how good this current team would be if Leon Douglas walked on the court, or how about Roy Rogers?  There is always an enigma, isn't there? It is a puzzle we can't seem to solve.  Something is forever missing. We are one player short; we can't make free throws or fall one win short of making the NCAA Tournament. The ball is round, so it should bounce straight, but it doesn't. It is as if the laws of gravity conspire against us.  If Alabama basketball was a story, it would be a Grecian tragedy.  Perhaps the football team uses all the good luck up before the basketball season begins. I just don't know. 

   In my lifetime, I have seen the two great Alabama teams. The first would be the 1987 team coached by Sanderson. Derrick Mckey was the Alabama star.  The 1976 team was far and away  the best team Alabama put on the floor. A couple of years after that loss to Indiana,  I sat next to Bobby Knight in Birmingham, watching a hoop star the Hoosiers wanted to sign.  He told me that Alabama was the best team in the NCAA in 1976. He quickly added next to Indiana. He kind of threw in the next to Indiana part to cover his bases. In my opinion, Alabama has had three top-notch coaches. Those are John Dee, Wimp Sanderson, and C.M. Newton. Of the three, I'd put Wimp first. But it is a close call. Most fans don't remember Coach Dee. 

    I've been blessed to see a lot of things. I saw Wendall Hudson play his first game at Alabama. He was the first black American player for Alabama. I got to be friends with several SEC coaches I still call friends. I watched Alabama play all over the world. In the summer, the players invited me to play half-court games with them. I've seen some sad things. I went to Charles Cleveland's funeral.  What a pleasure knowing the players and coaches. I used to radio shows with Ben Cook and Herb Winches. It was to promote basketball because it was the red-headed child of Alabama sports. I started a blog for basketball fans.  It still it. 

   None of this means Alabama can't be better again. After all, hope springs eternal. It will cause me suffering but perhaps brings me joy. It is a cross that Alabama basketball fans carry. Roll Tide and Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to you and your families.

An extraordinary year for Tide fans...

     Alabama fans have enjoyed a special season of football, haven't we? If Alabama wins the national championship, I will elevate special to magical. How lucky are we to have seen Mac Jones and company light up 11 SEC defenses?  The Tide left them crying like babies. Nothing like that has been done by any team in the conference. I doubt we will ever anything like this again.

      The Crimson Tide has three players worthy of winning the Heisman Trophy. We know that Mac Jones and Devonta Smith were named two of the four finalists invited to New York or at least to virtual New York City. Jones and Smith set records for their performances this year. Najee Harris was 5th in the voting, but his season was just as good as the finalists. The other two finalists are Kyle Trask of Florida and Trevor Lawrence of Clemson.

     Let me quickly say that Trask and Lawrence have had Heisman worthy seasons. Smith and Jones were better than worthy. They were phenomenal. I think Smith will win the award, and Mac Jones will be happy for him. He's that kind of guy. The truth is that the pair had an almost symbiotic relationship. Each might have enjoyed a great season without the other. Together, they set some records that may never be broken. All of us got to see them do it. 

     Nick Saban has said this is his favorite team. The brotherhood of this team was apparent. When Landon Dickenson was injured in the SEC Championship Game, the entire team flooded the field to show their concern. It was a touching moment for all 'Bama fans. There were some huge moments.

Here are some of my favorites in no particular order:

• John Mitchie's' tackle of a Florida DB. Oh my, those Canadians sure like Alabama, don't they?
• Devonta Smith's remarkable touchdown catch against LSU.  Say goodnight Ed.
• Mac Jones to Waddle on those long ones. Bombs away SEC, bombs away
• Will Reichard makes them all. Can we say, Mr. Automatic Man?
• The outpouring of respect shown by Alabama players when Landon was hurt.
• The same outpouring of respect when Landon stays in the tunnel to watch his teammates after his injury.
• Najee scoring five TD's in the SECCG - most ever for a 'Bama back
• Mac throwing five TD's in the SECCG - can you say 37 for the years
• Coach Saban and the Covid - He missed one game and came back
• Sark rumors of going to AU - Most worry I had this season

What are your best memories? Share them