No time to post-but thought this might fire some of you up-its from bamanation.net.
As ‘Bama belacosity goes, this is fairly typical stuff: You know, we (‘Bama) were great back in the day, UF is the new “Miami”, we (‘Bama) are bona fide (hillbillies deem themselve to be sophisticates when they employ this term) football royalty whereas UF is the football equivalent of the carpetbagging yankees who came to the south with their fancy books and automobiles and ruined what was once a proudly ignorant culture.
To be fair, SNL has defended lawsuits in Alabama and rest assured, outside of Birmingham, it is a godforsaken, broke, trash-filled (literally and figuratively), uneducated, and corpulent (this means “fat” ‘Bama fan) state with nothing going for it outside of its flagship football programs. To their credit, Alabamians have embraced their lack of mental dexterity by proudly clinging to the images and events that once made this state great-such as the rebel flag, killing animals (and each other) under the influence of alcohol, deep-seeded dislike of all non-whites, non-baptists (though pentacostals are occasionally accepted), literature, art, and race minglin’, and love of cigarettes, crystal meth, Mountain Dew (Code Red if ya’ got it!), fried food, Country Music, lift kits, and teenage pregnancy. The result is some sort of delusional catharsis that is inexplicable to anyone who has traveled…well, anywhere.
Seriously, to dub this state a cultural vacuum is a disservice to vacuums, which are for more useful, clever, and relevant in “America proper” than Alabama will ever be. On the bright side, Mississippi makes Alabama look like Paris-its all relative I suppose. Enjoy.
There’s been many big SEC Championship games since the Title showdown’s inception back in 1992; heck playing for a conference title is always big. But for the SEC, there may not be one greater than this year’s. Number 1 vs. Number 2 for the SEC, and a spot in the National Title Game.
For me though, there’s much more at stake. Many Bama Fans have a top hated team that has our supreme wrath in some form or another. Some Bama Fans hate Auburn the most, others despise Tennessee. There are some Bama Fans who might have their top enemies as LSU, Georgia; or might take their hate outside the conference to a team like Notre Dame. For me, it’s the Gators. I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida in the middle of the inner-city; 3 miles from the fabled “Gator Bowl” and 60 miles from the Campus of UF itself. To say I was born in Gator Country is an understatement; and obviously not my choice. (Frankly if the good Lord had asked me I would have told him to send my Momma to a Bama Game and let me be born at Halftime in Bryant-Denny.)
The Crimson Tide stuck to me like glue at an early age. Bama had a quick and decisive advantage in gaining my love for them-family tradition. My Grandfather, Jake Redden and My Great-Grandfather, John Guy Redden, were the first Father-Son combination at Alabama. Dating back to 1858, I’ve had 5 generations in my family attend UA. It was an easy sell-and one I would have made even if I was not born into the great family I was.
Unfortunately, the endless flock of Orange and Blue clad idiots around me never thought my family’s background or rich tradition in college football was all that great-which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering that Florida’s tradition before the arrival of Spurrier before 1990 centered around NCAA probation and years of mediocre at best seasons. We’re polar opposites, us and Florida. Bama, the old power, built on hard work, dedication and southern pride; and the Gators, the Johnny-come-lately fad team, complete with trash talking players and coaches, and the most obnoxious fan based in the world.
I got a taste of the Gators’ superb handling of relationships with fans of other teams early and often. At 5 years old, when Bama was about to play Penn State for the National Title, I was taken to see Santa Claus as I had been the year before, as always proudly wearing my Bama Hat and Jacket. After extolling my list of wants to this curiously bored looking Santa, he asked me, “Are you done? Because I can tell you that little boys and girls who are Bama Fans don’t get presents from me; only little Gator fans get presents.” (I did reply to him though, “If you hate Bama so much, then why do you wear their colors?”) It didn’t stop there-growing up all the way through high school, there was constant cracks-not ribbing-but vile, degrading comments from not only other children and later other teens, but adults too. In 1992 after returning back from the SEC Championship, my 80 year old grandparents and I received a horrible shock when we saw a Gator Car Flag had been thrown through our front window of our house. A year later after returning from the 93 game, my best friend, who was visiting me from Anniston, had his car turned over and spray painted Orange and Blue. I could go on for a while, but I imagine you get my gist. Those people disgust me to no end, and I quickly got out of that area and state as fast as I could.
I still hear from some of my former class mates who have the address to my myspace page and are more than happy to harp on their success and how much better the Gators are than the Tide. I won’t check it anytime soon, but I guarantee my inbox will be quite full by the end of the week.
When the Miami Dynasty began to wane in the mid-90’s, the Gators took over as the thug team of the NCAA. And like the Hurricanes of old, the Gators seek to psychologically beat you before the game with their “Mystique” and perceived invincibility. Bama proved on a fateful night back in January of 1993 how you deal with a thug-punch them in the mouth. And that’s what we have to do Saturday night. A team that feels it needs to beat you with a psychological edge instead of talent hides something-I personally believe that whatever the Gators are hiding, Ole Miss found it out. And Bama will too. And Saturday night, we can all sit back and smile, with fond memories of a similar set of circumstances that we found ourselves in 1992.
