TIDE SHOOTS FOR RECORD 3RD
IN A ROW...
These are certainly salad days for Alabama fans of all ages. Some of us are lucky enough to have been around when Coach Paul Bryant was weaving the same type of magic as Nick Saban does now. I don't think it is possible to compare coaches or players from different eras or decades. The smart Alabama fan doesn't even engage in an argument about Nick vs. the Bear. We are lucky enough to have had both. We were also lucky to have had Wallace Wade and Frank Thomas. Each of those coaches won Rose Bowls and that made you the national championship. Gene Stallings won a national championship in '92 with an embarrassing thumping of hot-air filled Miami. All of those were heady days for Alabama and the Deep South. At times, the football program was about all we had to brag about. We live in an area of poverty, and a lot of things that don't exactly bring us to the top of any lists. But, we have football. Man, do we have football. Not only do we have football, we have the a program that is the zenith of all college football teams in America. Regardless of what the rest of the nation thinks or wants, Alabama is the best football program in the history of college football. Not bad for a bunch of poor swamp rats. Western sportswriters coined that description when the Tide was picked to be the sacrificial lamb for Western football teams at the Rose Bowl. As Dr. Phil often asks, "how'd that work out for you?"
Alabama pulled the rest of the Deep South up with them. Irregardless, of what modern fans might think about the Tide, the rest of the South owes a debt to Alabama that can never be repaid. That's the truth whether you admit it or not.
You can hear a lot of sports talking heads giving their opinions of why 'Bama can win their third in succession. I always get the feeling none of them really want the Tide to pull off the hat trick however. Think about it for just a second - it is just crazy talk to think any team could actually pull of the feat. It's never been done, and a close analysis shows that the teams which had the chance to do so fell flat on their faces. So is it swag or arrogance that fuels Tide hopes for number three? Probably it's a little of both. Tide fans have never been accused of a lack of confidence whether deserved or not. So what makes this year's Tide team any different from those other schools? Has Alabama suddenly cornered a monopoly on skill, coaching, and luck? Nick Saban has enjoyed the fruits of each since his tenure at Alabama. Branch Ricky, the old man of baseball, once said that luck is the residue of hard work. There is some truth in that statement. Football is an inheriently lucky game in many ways. After all, the ball is not round. Bad luck will always happen. Hard work and talent might minimize some of those bad bounces. Nick Saban, like many of other Tide coaches have always had the pick of the litter in recruits. The coaches demand excellence and the players live up to those expectations time and time again. Saban's "process" gets a lot of attention, but I doubt it is basically any different from what any highly successful Alabama coach has used in the past. What all those great Tide coaches had found was a process that leaves other teams believing they are not capable of beating Alabama over the long haul. And clearly, they aren't.
That's why Wallace Wade and Frank Thomas won four national titles in less than two decades. That's why Gene Stallings rang the bell. None of this is magic or purely tradition. It is a long line of highly motivated coaches who had the unmitigated support of college presidents and AD's. It is a mindset that believes that regardless of how poor we are, and how bad things become we will always have great football. That is the process as much as anything else. It is what Auburn calls "all in". The only difference is that Alabama has been all in for one hundred plus years. It would be easy to say that Saban and his team will win number three in a row because they are good. They may also win because the schedule seems conducive to make another run. When you look around the nation you just don't see a program which puts it all on the line year after year, decade after
decade, coach after coach, and player after player. It isn't just 'all in' for a rare title or to stand behind a suspect player. It is an inheritence of the expected. It's different. It is a way of life. It is as certain as day will follow night. If someone does win three in a row it will be Alabama for a lot or reasons which includes what Saban does, but also because also from a lot of groundwork was put in place long ago. It is the type of groundwork that no one else can duplicate. You just can't duplicate decades of hard work. Even Notre Dame can't pull that one off. Bama can, and I expect they just might rewrite something else that simply can't be done. Never beat against Crimson. Ask the rest of the SEC and the rest of the NCAA if you should. Satchel Page used to warn fans to never look their shoulders because someone may be gaining on you. No one is gaining on Bama. No one is even close.
IN A ROW...
Alabama pulled the rest of the Deep South up with them. Irregardless, of what modern fans might think about the Tide, the rest of the South owes a debt to Alabama that can never be repaid. That's the truth whether you admit it or not.
You can hear a lot of sports talking heads giving their opinions of why 'Bama can win their third in succession. I always get the feeling none of them really want the Tide to pull off the hat trick however. Think about it for just a second - it is just crazy talk to think any team could actually pull of the feat. It's never been done, and a close analysis shows that the teams which had the chance to do so fell flat on their faces. So is it swag or arrogance that fuels Tide hopes for number three? Probably it's a little of both. Tide fans have never been accused of a lack of confidence whether deserved or not. So what makes this year's Tide team any different from those other schools? Has Alabama suddenly cornered a monopoly on skill, coaching, and luck? Nick Saban has enjoyed the fruits of each since his tenure at Alabama. Branch Ricky, the old man of baseball, once said that luck is the residue of hard work. There is some truth in that statement. Football is an inheriently lucky game in many ways. After all, the ball is not round. Bad luck will always happen. Hard work and talent might minimize some of those bad bounces. Nick Saban, like many of other Tide coaches have always had the pick of the litter in recruits. The coaches demand excellence and the players live up to those expectations time and time again. Saban's "process" gets a lot of attention, but I doubt it is basically any different from what any highly successful Alabama coach has used in the past. What all those great Tide coaches had found was a process that leaves other teams believing they are not capable of beating Alabama over the long haul. And clearly, they aren't.
That's why Wallace Wade and Frank Thomas won four national titles in less than two decades. That's why Gene Stallings rang the bell. None of this is magic or purely tradition. It is a long line of highly motivated coaches who had the unmitigated support of college presidents and AD's. It is a mindset that believes that regardless of how poor we are, and how bad things become we will always have great football. That is the process as much as anything else. It is what Auburn calls "all in". The only difference is that Alabama has been all in for one hundred plus years. It would be easy to say that Saban and his team will win number three in a row because they are good. They may also win because the schedule seems conducive to make another run. When you look around the nation you just don't see a program which puts it all on the line year after year, decade after
decade, coach after coach, and player after player. It isn't just 'all in' for a rare title or to stand behind a suspect player. It is an inheritence of the expected. It's different. It is a way of life. It is as certain as day will follow night. If someone does win three in a row it will be Alabama for a lot or reasons which includes what Saban does, but also because also from a lot of groundwork was put in place long ago. It is the type of groundwork that no one else can duplicate. You just can't duplicate decades of hard work. Even Notre Dame can't pull that one off. Bama can, and I expect they just might rewrite something else that simply can't be done. Never beat against Crimson. Ask the rest of the SEC and the rest of the NCAA if you should. Satchel Page used to warn fans to never look their shoulders because someone may be gaining on you. No one is gaining on Bama. No one is even close.
