Interesting to Us: The sting of defeat and other thoughts

There's a scene in Lonesome Dove where Jake Spoon (a known outlaw) gets tracked down and hung for horse-thievery and murder. The ones that catch him are his former partners and friends. As Jake awaits his fate, he says something along the lines of "Well Gus, if it was going to be anyone..."

That is how I want to feel about Alabama's recent loss in the SEC championship game (we committed no horse thievery, nor murder by the way). If we're going to lose, at least it was to the team that will probably be the national champions, and in a close game. And at least I admire their quarterback not only as a player, but a person. (My buddy Mike constantly refers to Tebow as "The Missionary," which is what his nickname should be in my opinion.) At least...it was Florida, a worthy adversary.

And there's always an underlying feeling, as discussed here before, that this season has been one big pleasant surprise, playing with house money, and anything outside of beating our rivals and turning a few heads was all gravy on top.

But it is still difficult to look at the game on Saturday and not think, "We had em, and with one or two breaks we win that game!" Because a shot at the title comes around rarely...unless your Rocky Balboa.

Some assorted thoughts on our game experience:

-If it is possible to feel sorry for a Heisman Trophy winning, national championsip quarterback, I guess part of me does. This guy is hated by half the sports fandom out there for reasons beyond his control. He's like Derek Jeter, only worthy of at least half the praise he gets. He's a machine. And Urban Meyer is not going to win a national championship after he graduates, watch. The only way to run that offense at that level is with a Tebow at QB, and there's only one Tebow per generation.

-Javy Arenas, Sam Cassell, Brett Favre, Roy McAvoy. These are examples of guys who are good because they are so infinitely confident, while being a detriment to the team because they are so infinitely confident. "What was Javy thinking?" is the question going around Bama fans' conversations.

Here is the answer: "I am unstoppable. I hold the record for return yardage and TDs in Bama history. If I can just catch the ball, I will score a TD, there is no way anything bad can happen if I get the ball in my hands..." Results of this type of logic are split between return touchdowns and cataclysmic field position and/or turnovers.

-Julio Jones is the only Bama player in my lifetime to come in and live up to the hype.

-Nick Saban said that he felt like he failed the players after the game...So does that mean he's going to work even harder? Yeesh. Good luck, Lane Kiffin.

-Every fan base has them, but until Saturday, I had never come face to face with the Florida installment of the douchebag group of fans. They were led by a fat guy who forewent celebrating Florida's win so he could yell what losers the Bama players were as they ran off the field dejected and sad. He also wanted the refs to "Scrape up that lard-butt and finish the game!" when we had an injured player in the 4th. We also talked to some really nice ones on the way out who were classy, but this group behind us was on par with the worst I've seen from UT and AU...and for that matter Bama fans.

-That was as intense a game atmosphere as I've ever gotten to attend. Both sets of fans got really loud for every play and deafening on 3rd downs. When Bama scored to tie at 17, it was as loud as the Dome has ever been until Florida sacked JP the first time in the 4th. Great game, great teams, just hope we go back next year.

-Dana grew up a Florida fan, and yet still doesn't know who to cheer for in the national championship game because she feels bad cheering for a team that beat Alabama...my work in converting her is over. For the record, I've always liked Oklahoma so I will be happy with either outcome. But it would be nicer to say that Alabama was 10 minutes and one or two plays from beating the national championship team. And if it had to be anyone...