🏈 How much is the media influencing our perception of Alabama football?

[Joe]

How much of our thinking that Alabama is overrated based on the media setup that Alabama should have blown out West Virginia? How much of the fans hopes about Jacob Coker are based on what the media has said about him rather than what they know about him? I think far too many fans let the media determine what they think rather than do the work of stepping back and thinking for themselves. What is the media saying that is right about Alabama and what is the media asserting that is not supported by the evidence?

I will give one example. I am hearing some on the SEC network saying that Alabama cannot be a contender for the NC with Blake Sims at QB. They are saying that based on their belief that Sims cannot throw the deep ball. But I am thinking that Greg McElroy did not throw many deep ball td's in 2009 and we won the NC.

 

[PhillyGirl]

I do think that constantly hearing what Alabama SHOULD be doing can sway your thinking. I try to focus on my gut feeling on the matter. I had a feeling we would struggle a bit. I didn't buy into the hype last year re: a three-peat/dynasty/etc. We were saying that even in Game 1, we noticed a lack of chemistry and drive like we had seen before. This team was complacent. I think this current incarnation has some hangover from the Iron and Sugar Bowls. The media either loves Alabama to death and overhypes and loves all over them, or it throws them away. Right now it seems to be on the backburner again. Which in my opinion is the best place to be: we don't want to be the ones with a target on our backs, we don't want to be the Chosen Ones to win it all, we want to fight and claw and earn the honor of being selected for the Final Four.

 

[sean]

not at all. i prefer to make up my own mind.

even Coach Saban knows that "on paper, we should beat....." doesn't mean sh!t.

i listen to what Coach Saban says about the team and no one else. he's the coach, he's at every practice and knows how the guys are playing leading up to a game. so i'll listen to him and him only.

 

[BigAl]

I don't pay any attention to any media at all. They don't know anymore than i know. As far as i'm concerned their all talking heads.

 

[Eabama]

After reading the majority of the comments pre/post game. YES IT DOES!!!

 

[psychojoe]

After watching the replay and hearing Griese say that the defense looks disorganized when they were getting ready to blitz, after hearing his cohort after WV returned the kickoff for a TD saying that it was a 100 yard return for Auburn, I am losing any respect that I had for their knowledge or their objectivity. Clearly neither of them had done much homework.

With the national FSU love affair, we aren't going to get much love from the media this go around. Everyone wants us to have a BAD YEAR. That's ok. We will find out who the true fans are.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

It really just depends on the person. You've got some fans who hang on every word a guy like Finebaum says. I'm not even sure how folks like that manage to dress themselves in the morning, but there are a ton out there... I usually end up sitting in front of a few at each game I attend.

 

[UAgrad93]

Agreed @psychojoe! Griese was absolutely clueless. He made a comment saying that Sims was changing the play at the line more than he had ever seen a BAMA QB do. WTH!?! AJ made a living off of doing that exact thing the last 2 years!!
All media have an agenda. Look at politics for example. We either have a group praising the POTUS for what he has done, how he golfed, what he wore on vacation, etc. or the other side bashing his head in like a baby seal hunter!

 

[Bamabww]

i listen to what Coach Saban says about the team and no one else. he's the coach, he's at every practice and knows how the guys are playing leading up to a game. so i'll listen to him and him only.

Agree @sk33tr, and Cecil Hurt tells it pretty much like it is as well. He's lots better than most of the media.

 

[alabama mike]

I am not concerned with what the talking heads say about Alabama, I only care what the coaches think.

 

[bama alum]

Griese made me miss Danielson.

 

[RollllTide!]

Griese made me miss Danielson.

:rolf:

 

[rick4bama]

Griese made me miss Danielson.

To me he sound like his father. :rolf:

 

[bama alum]

As irritating as he is sometimes, Danielson does his homework. His partner Verne...Hell, that's a lost cause. Can you imagine the great Keith Jackson working with Danielson? Or Danielson working with Ron Franklin? GD could really be tolerable then.

 

[MissingRing]

I stay focussed as much as possible on Alabama football history. You can almost always predict the success of an Alabama team by the quality of the defense. If Alabama had beaten WV 13 - 3, I would have been ecstatic, regardless of the spread. That our secondary got carved up for more than 3 quarters bothers me quite a bit. The sports media is infatuated with offense; in this respect, they are wrong, at least where Alabama is concerned. If they are starting to doubt Alabama on account of our giving up 23 points to a one dimensional offense that self-sabotaged at key points in the game, then I reluctantly concur.