Graphic created by the Birmingham News
As a sign that it must've been the slowest news day in the history of mankind, the number of Facebook fans of Nick Saban versus the number of fans of God in Alabama is front page material in the Birmingham News today. You'll also notice that Louisiana and Florida joined Alabama as the only Southern states who didn't have God in the #1 spot on Facebook.
While some people will surely point to this as a sign of the impending apocalypse and/or Alabama having their priorities extremely out of whack, the fact that Louisiana had the Saints as their #1 should show people that in a fit of celebrating their teams' achievements, the citizens of Alabama and Louisiana proclaimed their love by becoming a fan of their respective teams (or the team's coach in our case) on Facebook. As the article rightly points out, the "concept of 'fanning,' or joining what amount to online fan clubs, is just more common in sports than in faith." So, Alabama and Louisiana seem to have an excuse, but what about those heathens in Florida? Mass produced coffee from the other side of the country? Sounds like the glory days in Gainesville have surely come to and end.
Pastor Stephen Jones of Birmingham's Southside Baptist Church, however, seems to think that Saban claiming the number one spot in the state doesn't bode well for the future of Crimson Tide football:
"Alabama fans should expect a bad year"
Pastor Stephen Jones is a graduate of Auburn University.