Well, I have a day off today, and thought I'd throw a few out there in honor of the Bama-UT game tomorrow.
Top 5 things I've envied about other college fan bases/ Game Day experience:
1. Basketball expertise at UK. A few weeks ago, we went to Lexington for the Bama-UK game. At 2 am on Friday night, the streets near campus were lined with tents and bundled up fans, waiting for their UK basketball tickets. I wasn't envious of that - Tide fans would obviously camp out at the base of an active volcano - it's not a matter of fan dedication. No, what I was envious of was that at 2 am, the public b'ball courts were full and I watched a pair of young UK fans execute a perfect backdoor cut and lay-in. That may happen in Tuscaloosa...but not with the frequency that it would happen up in Lexington. I'm envious of basketball country in their backyard.
2. LSU's Death Valley at night. Look, they're awful to opposing fans, they're drunk and obnoxious, they throw things on the field (a pet peeve of mine), and it smells weird there. But the fan intensity is at a level I would describe as "threatening." Bama fans get loud on every 3rd down...of a game in which they feel threatened. I'd like it if there was more standing up, more crowd noise on non-3rd down plays, and for us to have the same rowdiness that you find in Baton Rouge. Our fans have the drunken obnoxious part down, now let's get the intimidating the other team part down. Don't get me wrong, we have a home field advantage (especially at night). It's just not as significant as it should be.
3. The nickname. Bryant-Denny has no cool nickname. The Swamp, Between the Hedges, Death Valley, The Big House, etc. It's just Bryant-Denny Stadium. We're in the process of closing in the South endzone, and I think when they unveil it, they should unveil a nickname with it...searching for one right now, but I got nothing.
4. The Gator Bait Cheer. It's simple, it's short, and it gets the job done. Dahhhhh Dah Dah Da-duh-Da GATOR BAIT!
5. The Navy: Obviously, I must preface this one with how much I despise UT. They are a terrible group of fans, with a terrible stadium, in a terrible place covered with terrible and non-matching shades of orange (the most terrible color). The one thing about their gameday set-up that is pretty neat is that the stadium sits on the banks of a river (I think it's the Tennessee River), and on Saturday it is lined with boats and they can tailgate on the water. But they still suck, and I feel dirty even giving them a smidge of credit for anything...especially the day before the game against them.
Top 5 things I think are awesome about being an Alabama Fan:
1. Our coach - He's worshipped here and I'm not covering anything new here, but when you have someone who is the perfect fit for a college fan base, it is magical. Nick Saban is never satisfied, never stops working, never stops recruiting, and I don't think he'll ever stop winning until he retires. This fan base has always expected the coach and players to take the game as seriously as they do. If it is possible, I think Saban wants to win more than any of our "crazy, unrealistic" fans. He's worth every penny, and I wouldn't trade him for all the things in the first Top 5 combined. Watch the first 30 seconds of this video and prepare for the goosebumps:
2. The pre-game videos - They are a great mix of old highlights and new ones. The crowd gets really into it when they see a highlight they recognize (which is every one of them), but it's like hearing an old favorite song, or spotting an old friend. You identify it "Hey that's when Langham jumped in front of the pass in the '92 SEC championship," then you tell your personal experience, "I was freezing that night, and lost my voice for a week after, but that was a FUN night!" and then you stay glued to the screen for the next one to come up.
3. The Rammer Jammer. No it's not very nice, but it's a fun way to celebrate winning. And as Steve Spurrier once said, "If you don't like it, then do something about it." On the flip side of singing the Rammer Jammer is when one of your rivals wins and sings it at you. And yes, it is a terrible feeling.
4. Our uniforms. I'm really glad that Alabama has great colors and traditional, unchanging uniforms. I think they're sharp, recognizable, and timeless. One day I'll do a Top 5 uniforms list.
5. Eli Gold's voice as he says, "TOUCH-down ALA-BAMA" after a big play or when you can hear how excited he is about the play while trying to remain professional. He's nowhere near the Homer that most teams have calling their games, which is good and bad. He's got a great radio voice...and face.
Top 5 Alabama-UT games for me:
1. 2002. Dennis Franchione ends a 7-year losing streak to UT in Knoxville. 34-14. My first victory cigar, my friend Steven throwing up because of his first victory cigar (and thus being ragged about it mercilessly by me), Putting a beatdown on a Clausen is always fun.
2. 2005. Mike Shula wins the game without any real offensive plays on a last second field goal. That was the second-loudest Rammer Jammer I've ever heard. This was among the ugliest games ever (Final of 6-3), but when the winning kick went through, I teared up a little at the bottom of the dog pile of friends.
3. 2007. Sitting with my buddy Martin on the edge of the UT fan section, and waving goodbye to all the Vols fans as they filed out early from a 41-17 thrashing and the first of many they'd suffer at Nick Saban's mighty hand. Not sure if Martin regrets asking me to go that game or not - I was in rare form. As we walked out, there was a banner with Fat Phil Fulmer's face on it and under it was the slogan "The Biggest Loser on the Saban Diet," nicely done.
4. 1993. Even though it pains me to include a tie in here instead of a victory, I get a sick satisfaction out of thinking of the UT fans that had waited so long to end their losing streak to Alabama (8 years), and then had to watch us rally to tie the game in Knoxville with a WR playing quarterback.
5. 1990. UT is ranked 3rd and looking like a national powerhouse. Bama starts the year 0-3, and is only just starting to look like a team by the time the game comes around. UT lines up for a field goal with 30 seconds left, we block it. The ball bounces back 30 yards in the other direction (which is good because we couldn't move it on offense anyway). We run one play and then kick a field goal to stun the Knoxville crowd 9-6.
Roll Tide! Bama 31- UT 10, mark it an 8...as in 8-0.
2 comments:
Congrats on the big win...we didn't get to watch it because we were tailgating, but the highlights looked awesome. There's not a literal connection here, but I watched The Big Lebowski all the way through for the first time in about four years and laughed all the way through. Even though I was saying practically every line along with the actors, I had almost how great it is.
my mistake, that last clause should read "I had almost forgot how great it is."
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