Randoms

by kipling iffer on Oct 25, 2009 10:19 PM CDT

I attended Alabama for the 93 through 96 football seasons. Vintage Stallings years, where every game was an expected W. You didn't know or care exactly how we'd get it, or who would step up. You just knew someone would.
I saw the Deuce deflate the Vols in the 1993 tie.
I saw the 1994 shootout with Georgia in a rockin' night game.
I watched an LSU TD in 96. The stadium shook. Until it was called back on a penalty. And Su. Alexander ran all over the building. And LSU never sniffed the scoreboard.
And one of the single greatest moments of my life ... apart from my wedding and the birth of my children ... was the 2 minute drive to win the 1996 Iron Bowl. You remember: Bama up 17-0 in the 1st quarter .... AU scored 23 unanswered ... and Dennis Riddle took the game winner in with 30 seconds left. Spontaneous hugging of strangers. Abused vocal chords. And sheer joy.
I watched Saturday's game at home, on television. I watched in horror as one odds-defying improbability after another piled up in favor of the Vols. It's 2 scores, and we have the ball and a run game. Except .... (1) Ingram fumbles .... (2) we bust the coverage on the TD .... (3) Vols get the onside kick .... (4) Crompton hits a 20 yard pass to the TE to set up a game-winning FG.
And then, somebody stepped up. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if I had been in BDS, I'd have been engaged in spontaneous hugging of strangers. Abused vocal chords. And sheer joy.
The player interviews are classic, pure Bama. They say, in one voice, this spotlight's not too hot, this pressure's not too great, we WANT to make a play. It could be Arenas, or Ingram, or Jones, or McLain, or Tiffin, or Johnson, or Cody. The message is the same: I WILL make an Alabama football play.
That's how I know we're "back." Bitch about our passing game. Bemoan our special teams. And relish the fact that those are the luxuries of an Alabama fan.

Roll Tide, folks. Roll Tide.

FanPosts are just that; posts created by the fans. They are in no way indicative of the opinions of SBN and the authors of Roll Bama Roll.

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Nice post...

…and a couple of other thoughts I have (sorry if these came up before, but I haven’t read ‘em anywhere else yet): (1) roughly 84 of UT’s yards came after Ingram’s fumble with 3+ left in the game…without it, UT’s day was right around what our D normally allows; and (2) anybody notice the referee pointing out the ball to our guys after the deciding block? If you can see the replay of the entire play, check it out. I’ve never seen anything like that before…it’s as if he’s saying aloud, “Over here, guys, here it is, go get it….”

"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban

by NiceLittleSaturday on Oct 25, 2009 10:46 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, I just saw that on secdigitalnetwork...

…And I don’t like it. While I don’t believe the officials had an impact on that game (except making it closer with the non-call on the Julio PI and the non-call on the obvious hold during UT’s final drive), I do think that referee was totally out of line in pointing to the ball. If ESPN’s people weren’t too lazy to actually watch the game, they’d be having a lot of conspiracy fun with that clip. And generally speaking, the SEC referees seem to be favoring the top teams: Florida vs. Arkansas, Florida vs. Mississippi State, LSU vs. Georgia are all examples of absolutely terrible and probably biased officiating. This is a real problem, especially now that the perception is out there that there’s a conspiracy, because even referees who aren’t trying to rig a game might deliberately avoid making calls in favor of top teams (see the examples above) in order to appear fair. I think so far Alabama’s opponents have been treated fairly, but that might just be because we’ve whooped them so badly up till Tennessee to the point where it doesn’t matter who the referees are. But I definitely think the referees had a big impact on the one LSU and two Florida games. Florida would probably have one loss, and LSU would probably have two if it weren’t for terrible officiating.

by crimsontsunami on Oct 27, 2009 7:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Great memories you have there. I will never forget the erupting of the stadium after that block Saturday night and watching Cody run across the field. Unbelievable moment.

by brandonh on Oct 26, 2009 9:19 AM CDT reply actions

Spot on.

We are basically playing classic Bama football. Great D with an offense that can grind out yards and eat clock. We never blow anybody out, even when we totally dominate. But we get Ws.

I wouldn't piss off the boys from Alabama . . . DBT

by I hate UT on Oct 26, 2009 9:48 AM CDT reply actions