POLL: Was the 2009 or 2011 Championship More Satisfying?

2009 because it helped Alabama reclaim its spot as an elite program

I had to go with 2009. It was the last chance before the turn of the decade to continue our every-decade dominance. It was more satisfying because it is the first most young Bama fans got to experience.

It kinda felt like choosing between Jack Daniel’s and Jack Daniel’s Black Label. I went 2009 though only because it felt like we restored order. Ingram winning the Heisman, Rocky Block, an the Iorn Bowl, some of the best memories of my adult life.

I hate that other fans and talking heads have the ability to diminish my fun, but they do. I would like to spend six months defending the choice of the BCS (not the system per say, but that the system got it right). Then I would like to spend the next six months explaining in mind-numbing detail why OKie St did not deserve a shot and how LSU or Bama would’ve dismantled them. Then I would like to spend a few more months just to help LSU fans understand that a 3 point victory in college OT is not the same as a definitive win in regulation.

I haven’t, but the fact that I have felt the need has left my celebration and delight of the championship at less than 100%. What will really be sweet is winning it next year, setting aside all doubt at the best team in the nation for the last two years is Bama. Roll Tide.

I can’t put my finger on why, except to say this – I guess it’s just the absolutely dominating performance of that game, coupled with being a witness to one of the top 2 defenses in Alabama history (1961 is the only competition in my opinion). I certainly don’t buy into the whole “if Colt McCoy hadn’t gotten hurt” garbage, but at the same time knowing that we did not beat them at their best was always kind of a nagging feeling. So was watching our D go into a slight lull in the 3rd quarter and letting their freshman QB put points on the board. Don’t get me wrong – I was elated we won and it was HUGE toward getting Alabama back to the pinnacle of college football, but 2011 was a simply dominating performance where we took on our equal as a team and smothered them. It was the most perfect defensive performance I’ve ever seen in my life, and I just can’t help but love that game (and season) more.

As me again tomorrow, though, and I might have a different answer!

A disastrous overtime possession later and Alabama falls from #1 after losing 9-6 at home in overtime to now #1 LSU.

Wasn’t LSU #1 going into that game?

As for the poll, I voted for 2011. That may change with some more time to step back and reflect, but having been at both games, I can tell you that I was even happier in N.O. than I was in Pasadena. After 2 months of being told that we didn’t belong and then 2 days of being taunted by LSU fans, and then thoroughly dominating them and leaving no doubt who was the better team, that was one of the sweetest wins I’ve ever seen.

the Tennessee game, the Drive against the Barn, revenge against Tebow….

At that point I never expected we could actually pull it off since it had just been so long. In 2011 we finally got to be the Alabama fans that people always complained about. Entitled pricks that expect a championship haha.

But 2009 was the year we put it all together and everything since then has been gravy.

When you enter the season with as much talent as we had, with so much to prove from the prior season, off a great bowl game, and as the consensus 1 or 2 team, it’s stressful.

Every game is agonizing over the small details, diagnosing what will bite us in the ass to either keep us out of the MNC or make us lose said game or lose the SECCG.

Sure enough, it happened…Nov. 5, 2011. And there after chances were slim. That was about as low as I’ve ever felt into a 9-1 season in my life.

But only because it is the more recent. It’s truly a tie for me.

2009 – My last year as a student at Alabama. Attended every home game, and also went to the Virginia Tech and National Championship games. The National Championship was special to me because it was in my home state, in a stadium where I’ve seen many USC victories, and I got show off my backyard (so to speak) to my friends and future wife. Plus, I was at the USC-Texas game and just absolutely hated Texas fans after that. Being able to be a student, witnessing a national championship as a student and being at the game made it extremely satisfying. I’m still satisfied to the point that while 2010 was frustrating at times, I knew that we were back for a long time.

2011 – This is just as satisfying because we got to beat LSU in their home state, and thoroughly destroyed them. We took all of their manhoods. Even if we lose to LSU next season, they could never top this. I also loved hearing all of the crow being consumed when the nation realized that we weren’t going to lose this game. I hated losing to LSU when we did, but we were given another opportunity, and we left no doubt who the best team in the country was in 2011.

2009 was “well, what about Colt McCoy”…
2011 was “well, what about INSERT OTHER 1 LOSS team”.

Why can’t we have nice things?!

i hate lsu like most bama fans hate auburn and tennessee…combined.

As far as a complete season, and accolades, 2009 probably wins.

As far redemptive qualities, both in quieting the media/naysayers and helping the city of Tuscaloosa’s morale, 2011 probably tastes sweeter.

I voted for 2011 because…I LIVE AMONGST THESE TIGERS.

Championships usually require external assistance like fg-derp this year and heaps of luck. 2009 season everything was perfectly set up for a title run, but I was deathly afraid we’d somehow blow it. I looked at every dominating win as 2005 fla and hoped we could keep it together and not devolve to DuBose’s squad.

i wish i had been in new orleans for the title game but being in tuscaloosa the night of Nov. 18 and all of Nov. 19 was frickin awesome.

. . . .and felt the ground shake while I did jumping-jacks, somersaults, and backflips (mix in a few moonwalks here and there, while you’re at it) all the way from Pasadena to downtown LA in our Rose Bowl BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME VICTORY over the Longhorns but, . . . .

. . . .I chose this year.

Why? In a roundabout way, this year was “personal”. In 2009, that year was for my family and, for all intents and purposes, Crimson Tide history. Straight-up DOMINATION was the way it played out, as far as the season went in 2009. It was almost surreal- like it actually WASN’T happening in front of us. Disbelief, more like it. I have always been a Tide fan, but because I’ve been so far removed from my mother’s family in the South- I had been content with just having a Bear Bryant shrine in my childhood home and current residence. In 2009, I FINALLY HAD VICTORIES I COULD TASTE! Order was restored and in a way, I felt whole.

This year, although I was in Europe (Italy, to be exact) on April 27th- the devastation in Tuscaloosa was still felt. It was not the best way to spend a honeymoon, and although my new wife couldn’t quite fully understand, I became severely depressed. Things actually got better when I was given word that my family and friends were safe and out of harm’s way- but still. . . . . . . .

I was talking shit after this year’s win. I was shaking my money-maker like high priced hooker! Like I was angry at the world ‘cause the world just couldn’t match my happiness. In a way, LSA fans made this 2011 win super-way-f_cking-sweet for me so, . . . . . .thanks Tigah’s! Y’all be cool now, hear?

I preferred 2011. But, taking into account the respective seasons I went with 2009.

Besides, 2009 was a season with 2 championship game wins.

2009 saw so many advances to the Bama legacy that I believe it had was the most important. I am a Bama fan and I did not want to see a decade go by w/o a SEC championship. I did not want to see another loss to Texas or Florida (or any other team for that matter). I wanted to see Mark Ingram, Javier Arenas and Eryk Anders overcome their status as underdogs to excel on the largest stages. Cody, Rolando and Julio were supposed to be superstars and they didn’t disappoint. 2009 meant a lot more in terms of breaking out of the malaise that the program had fallen into.
2011 means more to the rest of college football. The thought that one conference has demonstrable dominance over the rest has become indisputably proven. The cause for a playoff system has been advanced. The “rematch” was anti-climatic for most people outside of Bama nation. The debate between two philosophies of football (importance of offense vs, defense) in their eyes is unsettled. While I am happy for the accomplishments of this team, their ability to overcome adversity, their dominance on defense, their stable production on offense, their mental victory over personal and statewide tragedy…and their are many players whom I have enjoyed watching develop…their championship was not as groundbreaking as 2009.
The 2011 team may go down in my heart as the better team, but we (as a community) would have lost more with a loss in 2009 than in 2011. Boy, I hate thinking about things like this.

…I hadn’t voted, ’cause both of these seasons have been sooooo satisfying.

The 2011 team had the best RB in Alabama history (possibly SEC football) and the best defense in CFB history. We had an offense that clicked almost every single week. We had several players who won awards for their play. Most importantly, we got revenge against the only team who was able to squeak out a win against us by absolutely crushing them in their home state.

The 2009 team had the best WR in Alabama history (although I won’t argue against Don Hutson or Ozzie Newsome in their own eras) and the first Heisman winner we’ve ever had. We had some of the best players we’ve ever had at several positions (Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Greg McElroy, Julio Jones, Colin Peek, Barrett Jones, Mike Johnson, Terrence Cody, Rolando McClain, Javier Arenas, Mark Barron, Leigh Tiffin), and we had some of the most memorable moments and/or games in our history: Blocky Stop, Cody 5, first ever BCSNCG win against Texas for the first time…at the Rose Bowl, no less. Most importantly, we dominated the de facto national championship game against the then-most decorated class in SEC history when we destroyed the Gators in Atlanta.

I love these can’t-lose contests….

Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed this past year tremendously.

But to be honest it was expected to some degree. Entering 2008 I wondered if we would ever again be “the team” everybody wanted to beat. And, although 2008 had it’s own magic, including 36-0, when we went to ATL that year I figured we would lose to Tebow. After that loss and the Utah debacle I felt in 2009 we would be good but still not #1. I secretly wondered if Bama could ever even make the BCSCG much less win it due to the kind of game we were playing…low scoring, defense, run first, conservative etc.

And then magic broke loose. After 2009 I started to think it was now possible for us to win it all any year. That was the way I felt in the 60’s and 70’s. (But not the way I felt in 92 because I felt we were not focused after the championship.)

Truth is we really could have won it in 2010 had we not lost our focus. But 2011 was not a surprise to me. I bought Team Ticket Reservations in Jan 2011 and never wavered.

I now feel we have a real good chance of winning it all in 2012 in spite of schedule and would bet a whole lot we will win at least one more real soon if not 2012 then sometime in the next 3 or 4 years.

of the 2011 team. Its just for me, the long drought and the dismantling of St Timmy, was for me, overwhelming.

In 2011, I was fortunate enough to visit NO for a week, but did not attend the game. My son and I had the best time weve ever had together.

He isnt much of a sports fan, but when I told him that we would go to NO for game week, he became an immediate uber-Tide fan. And on Bourbon Street, he yelled Roll Tide more than I.

But I was always oddly relaxed about the 2011 NC game. It seemed to me the Bama squad had done enough just getting to the game. And while winning the game in dominate fashion and to silence the critics was so sweet, I will never, ever forget at the end of the game my son and I hugged and he said “WE just won the National Championship!” Get that, “we”. I think we can count him as one of the flock now.

will be the most satisfying one of all!

Just because they overcame adversity when a lot of teams would have quit after Nov. 5th. They knew they were the best, and just waited for the other teams to falter. When they got their chance, they showed everyone they were the best.
On an unrelated topic, it’s good to see all the new members of RBR. Welcome and enjoy the snark! You have discovered Bama Nirvana!

Partly because of the unexpected success and ultimate disappointment of 2008. At the time I viewed a NC as something that didn’t happen all that often and I felt like 2008 was our best chance in the then foreseeable future. 2009 came along and I was on edge all season. I can’t help it but I am never overly confident going into any game. The VT game was awesome, there were some nail-biters against Ole Miss, UT, LSU, AU. Going in to the SECCG I was my pessimistic self and was surprisingly ecstatic at the outcome. I went to Pasadena and didn’t eat a morsel of food all day due to my nerves being shot. Again, all of this stemmed from my inner fan saying that by having come so close in 2008 (1 quarter away from being favored in the NCG against OU), we surely wouldn’t improve on that success in 2009. Boy was I wrong and ultimately I learned that Bama’s success didn’t have to happen 17 years apart anymore.
2011 was super sweet but it didn’t have the power to teach me to love myself as a fan like 2009 did.
/probably needed psychiatric help before 2009 anyways

2009 was more fun, in part because it was against my alma mater also I got to listen to it on ESPN radio. 2011 was more satisfying.

I loved the 2009 regular season and quite literally squeezed out some tears during the Ingram Heisman speech, loved the title game even though the “McCoy was our lifeblood” crying was stupid. However I actually was able to make the trip to New Orleans this year, see the pure dispicable nature of corndog fans (wife was intentionally beamed in the face with beads from a balcony), had idiots scream “tiger bait” in my face all weekend and act classless in general. To be inside the Superdome when those same “fans” started to leave BEFORE the end of the third quarter was about as satisfying as it could have possibly been. It felt like the fans got all they deserved as the scoreboard so beautifully read 21 next to BAMA zero next to LSU. 2011 has a special place in my heart for sure!!

Beating LSU in New Orleans after all the " Best Team Ever Talk" in their backyard and the Honey Badger Angle.

I gotta go with 09.Rocky Block had me on the edge of my seat,with our destiny on the line.And the SEC beat down on Tebow was epic.But the 2011 defense will more than likely go down in Bama lore as the best.Yes I know I could be stretching it,with all the other great teams of the past.But to shut out a team averaging 38 points a game,speaks volumes.Today’s game is so much more advanced,as far as training goes.

I felt 2009 was a more enjoyable season. The games were just more exciting, but that’s a lot to do with the games being closer and including several “classics”. The opener against Virginia Tech was a great game. Rocky Block… amazing. The comeback against the boogs. Then of course the Saban/Meyer showdown part 2. It was like this year’s Bama/LSU but it built up all season, and that was such an unbelievable experience… almost better than either BCS game. Ingram winning the Heisman. Beating Texas for the first time. 2009 was just a dream season.

2011 was great, but we lost to LSU. The other games all non-competitive blowouts.

In 2009 I was only a freshman at UA and was fairly new to football, so I don’t think I appreciated the accomplishment of going undefeated and winning it all as much as I would have now. Don’t get me wrong, I still get goosebumps when I think about Rocky Block, but still…

Without getting too personal, 2011 was easily the worst year of my life, the tornado obviously being a major part of that. Alabama football was my escape. Even despite the loss, this season was an incredible ride. It helps that I got to witness the redemption in Auburn and be in NOLA (although not at the game) for the championship.

I was openly weeping in public as the clock hit 0:00 on January 9th. The win, the way the season played out… It made me feel like there was some justice in the world after everything our city has been through. It was more than just a championship to me; it was a symbol of overcoming incredible adversity, and that’s why I have to say it was more satisfying.

The more NCs we win, the more satisfying it gets.
And I’ll always cherish this comment posted by an LSU fan after the BCS bowl win: “This was all about restoring order. We are now Bama’s bitch again.”
“Touchatthangfo!”
RTR!!!!!!!

Want to show my respect to both satisfying seasons.

It ended years wandering in the wilderness, restored the Royal Family of college football to the throne, beginning a new dynasty.

2011 is like 1965. Everything fell into place at the right time to produce a miracle.

I went to my first A-Day game this year and left town a day before the tornadoes. I was really heartbroken for Tuscaloosa and I loved how the city, fans, team and coaching staff made it known that everyone would have their place in this year’s effort.

I also went to the 3rd (4th) Saturday in October game and saw some of the destruction and I felt there was no way this team would be denied… After that momentary dashing of my hopes on 11-5, I was a new man when I saw we were #3 in the BCS.

I was front & center for all but one of Alabama’s FGs in NOLA, wearing my 1960s #17 jersey. I just can’t describe the euphoric feeling I had as Alabama not only dismantled LSU, but sent their soul back to Baton Rouge in a pine box. I just kept thinking, “WE did it!” I literally damaged my throat for weeks with all my yelling. Yeah, 2011 in a tough vote.

Seventeen years is a long time, and I remember all of them. It was the restoration of equilibrium, a return to the normal. It was also about control. 14-0. No need to be an Iowa State fan.