Started By
Message
Before Saban
Posted on 1/19/24 at 9:40 pm
Posted on 1/19/24 at 9:40 pm
I was a Bama fan because it was where I was from. Tuscaloosa.
My dad grew me up on stories of the Bear, likely just any boy growing up my age as a Bama fan and their dad. When I was 10 George Teague stripped that ball and we beat Miami's arse. I knew that night I was crimson and white forever.
From then, we went thru the dark ages as we all call them... until Saban, and the rest was history, as they say.
Me being a Bama fan is not contingent upon anything. We are just in a new chapter.
Your favorite Bama hats and shirts and battle standard is MORE valuable now than ever because it represents a loyalty we all share to something we have all experienced together. Good and bad and average and weird and... well, whatever.
Nothing has changed, but perspective is useful for us all at times. I'm not gonna say I enjoyed the losing stages of my experience as an Alabama fan, but I can certainly say that winning doesn't forge loyalty the same way at all. It's GOOD for fans to taste glory, nooooo doubt. But losing is part of it all, too. And it's where Bama fans, I think, show their quality.
Sure, we're messed up right now
That's natural. But, mark my words... whatever phase we are headed into, you'll see the old schoolers (like us and older) will breed a whole new generation of -real- fans.
We've had our fair share of glory. Whatever lies ahead in the immediate will be fine. We're Bama fans... not boogs!
My dad grew me up on stories of the Bear, likely just any boy growing up my age as a Bama fan and their dad. When I was 10 George Teague stripped that ball and we beat Miami's arse. I knew that night I was crimson and white forever.
From then, we went thru the dark ages as we all call them... until Saban, and the rest was history, as they say.
Me being a Bama fan is not contingent upon anything. We are just in a new chapter.
Your favorite Bama hats and shirts and battle standard is MORE valuable now than ever because it represents a loyalty we all share to something we have all experienced together. Good and bad and average and weird and... well, whatever.
Nothing has changed, but perspective is useful for us all at times. I'm not gonna say I enjoyed the losing stages of my experience as an Alabama fan, but I can certainly say that winning doesn't forge loyalty the same way at all. It's GOOD for fans to taste glory, nooooo doubt. But losing is part of it all, too. And it's where Bama fans, I think, show their quality.
Sure, we're messed up right now
That's natural. But, mark my words... whatever phase we are headed into, you'll see the old schoolers (like us and older) will breed a whole new generation of -real- fans.
We've had our fair share of glory. Whatever lies ahead in the immediate will be fine. We're Bama fans... not boogs!
This post was edited on 1/19/24 at 9:42 pm
7
Posted on 1/19/24 at 9:50 pm to m2pro
Bruh I’ve been holding this crap down since 78 when we moved 25 minutes from LSU stadium in Ascension Parish. I’ve lived amongst these heathens repping Bama through a lot of bad times and the last 17 yrs have been glorious. Y’all have no idea how broken the LSU fan base has been since Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa. Hell I watched Matt Muscona literally run around his desk on his radio show in BR after the news broke about Saban. All he does now is talk about how broken the Alabama fan base is. Even people I. Insider my friends at church came up to me to gloat about him retiring. It’s quite honestly the saddest thing I e ever seen until I watched our own fan base melt like a puddle of snow in a July afternoon.
Posted on 1/19/24 at 9:52 pm to m2pro
No one was ever going to top Bryant until someone did.
No one is ever going to top Saban until the next one does.
Why not again?
No one is ever going to top Saban until the next one does.
Why not again?
This post was edited on 1/19/24 at 9:53 pm
Posted on 1/19/24 at 9:59 pm to labamafan
quote:
until I watched our own fan base melt like a puddle of snow in a July afternoon.
Many are the type of fan that leave. Fair weather ilk.
It's natural we were all wrecked by this. No one expected it.
Posted on 1/19/24 at 10:04 pm to m2pro
Posted on 1/19/24 at 10:08 pm to m2pro
We should start calling it “BSE”
Posted on 1/19/24 at 10:11 pm to BobLobLaw199
quote:
We should start calling it “BSE”
Ha!
BS and P(ost)S(aban)
Posted on 1/19/24 at 10:18 pm to The Quiet One
Because Bryants and Sabans don’t come along every day. They are lightning bolts caught in bottles at a specific point in time.
Posted on 1/20/24 at 10:54 am to m2pro
I for one am really glad to see fans like you holding on and continuing to support your team. Through the good and bad. Very commendable sir.
Posted on 1/20/24 at 10:59 am to jvilardo
Just need to hunker down for about 2 more weeks.
Josey Wales: Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.
Josey Wales: Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.
Posted on 1/20/24 at 11:02 am to m2pro
This is the time we show we will not falter. It is just another chapter and I am looking forward to see what happens. 
Posted on 1/20/24 at 11:07 am to TideWarrior
quote:
This is the time we show we will not falter. It is just another chapter and I am looking forward to see what happens
I will probably continue to bitch and moan about the sport changing and mutating into something totally different, but that isn't connected to Saban leaving. I'm sure come fall time I will be foaming at the mouth at first game like usual.
If anything, it is the best possible time for us to bite the post-Saban-era bullet.
A-day can't get here soon enough. I would never trade any coach for Saban, but I can't say I'm not excited about whatever offensive changes. New offensive philosophy is always something to gnaw on and watch develop.
Posted on 1/20/24 at 11:32 am to m2pro
I posted earlier I have been more stressed the last few years waiting for Saban to retire than I am now. Just glad for the next chapter.
Posted on 1/20/24 at 12:22 pm to m2pro
The Saban era has been great...but some of my favorite seasons and favorite games were in non-Saban years when the NC wasnt even on the table
Posted on 1/20/24 at 12:34 pm to InkStainedWretch
quote:
Because Bryants and Sabans don’t come along every day. They are lightning bolts caught in bottles at a specific point in time.
So how many times does one catch lightning in a bottle? Is there a finite number? Is there a quota?
And what's a notch below lightning in a bottle? Is it an all or nothing proposition? Is it Saban, Bryant, then a collection of stiffs? Is it impossible to win at a high level without said bottle?
Posted on 1/20/24 at 1:32 pm to The Quiet One
You can capture lightning in a bottle an infinite number of times. I think it’s setting yourself up for a fall if you start EXPECTING to do it, like we’re entitled to have it happen to us. And we should always expect to compete at a high level and having a GOAT coach is not a prerequisite.
This post was edited on 1/20/24 at 1:34 pm
Posted on 1/20/24 at 2:11 pm to labamafan
quote:
Even people I. Insider my friends at church came up to me to gloat about him retiring.
When Alabama was administering regular beatings to the rest of the SEC and others, I kept my mouth shut… didn’t have to say a word as the results spoke for themselves, and I knew this day would come.
Now, those who I let wallow in their own shame for years are talking shite… and I’m keeping a list…dead serious… when the regular beatings resume, I will the biggest a-hole this side of the nuthouse.
Posted on 1/20/24 at 2:39 pm to labamafan
Since 69 here.. y’all young
Posted on 1/20/24 at 3:32 pm to cmayes56
quote:
Since 69 here.. y’all young
I'm in my early 40s, old man! Ain't no spring chickem!
Posted on 1/20/24 at 5:07 pm to m2pro
quote:
I'm in my early 40s, old man! Ain't no spring chickem!
Just wait till your 50’s..
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