| FTBL So has everybody

[thebutcher]

Wake up call for the boys to keep em grounded.... Bama got a W!!!!! RTR!!!!!

 

[bamafan4ever]

I have to say, that is a different take on things than I have ever seen stated in any article or message forum post. I can say that you gave me some pause thinking about the fan base being "enablers". I certainly don't think our fan base intends to be enablers. I think they just are very supportive of their team and cling to hope from the past and what the future may bring. It's that same spirit and support that has been around the football program since Wallace Wade took his Southern squad to the Rose Bowl in the face of media critics and haters of the South. Our fan base has seen Alabama defy the odds throughout her history and they just hope to be part of the "next time it happens".

I am afraid the enabling is just an unfortunate by-product and not the intention of a rabid fan base.

Well, I hope you do not think that different take is too far off the deep end.

It is even not really directed at or limited to UA - and I hope that is clear. I just use us as one of two examples.

It kind of goes along the line is it really poor fan conduct to actually sometimes STOP providing financial and emotional support for their team if that detachment causes long-term change. Would a little less short-term hope and clinging (to borrow your phrase) result in a more intense need to act NOW by the management of your favorite team. (For instance, would the Cubs ownership not have spent decades spending less money on scouting and player development if Wrigley Field was 1/3 full instead of sold out? Would our Board of Trustees have hired and retained ineffective athletic department leadership if 40,000 showed up at Bryant-Denny every on gamedays instead of 90,000?)

And I do not think fans intend to be enablers, but I would argue than many times the unintended consequence is just such behavior. Is this a clear example of 'The Law of Unintended Consequences?'

Again, I wish this had come up in the off-season when we would have the time to sit around and chat about the issues.

No, I didn't think this take was too far off the deep end at all I just have never heard it presented this way and concur with what you are saying. With this ever-hopeful fan base of ours, I just don't see things ever changing with regard to support during thick and thin. Now basketball, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.

 

[billfish]

Folks....we're 2-0 and the nice thing is we are only going to get better. I look at this Alabama team and compare it to the rows in a Great White Shark Jaw....eventually, when the shark loses a tooth another one simply fills in. In 2 years we will be deep and talented. We are getting pretty good right now imho. RTR

 

[Bamapossum]

Fans tend to have selective memories and the current expectations are a result of desires for unrealistic expectations.

There has not been a single team in the NCAA for the past twenty years that has not had a season marked by ups and downs. USC would be the closest to having a consistent team, but they have had their fair share of embarassing losses as well. They are also so deep in talent that they could play their 2nd string and win 90% of their games.

The 1960's and 1970's dominance will not happen again because of scholarship reductions and parity. PERIOD. Those of us who got to watch that era should be proud to have seen it, but it's not coming back.

Bama still has depth issues at some positions. It is going to take two or three more years of balls out recruiting to even sniff the kind of domination that most fans desire. Whining about wins, ugly or not, is contrary to helping the program. While I don't think forums are a major player, I do know that what goes on in them sometimes does leak to recruits and media. Goode decommitted from Kentucky and came to Alabama because of the negativity he read on their boards.

Time to shut up and let em play. I hope those that booed last night didn't scare off any of the recruits who were present. Especially Trent Richardson.

 

[rammajamma]

my thoughts of the fans at the game in section n5? If you want to sit down thats fine but dont ask me to, they actually asked the usher to see if the people would sit down and i gladly told him if I wanted to sit down I would have stayed my butt home on the couch

I was in section N so we weren't too far away from each other. The section that I sat in was Tide Pride and they were pretty quiet for the most part. I have to say that when we play smaller schools, our stadium is not the loudest place to be in. I don't know if that is true at every school or if its just us. If we had been playing LSU, TN, AK etc. the place would have been nuts.

This is the kind of game that makes being a Alabama fan sort of difficult. Either you watch the team blow Tulane out of the stadium and sit there bored until you finally get up and leave, or its a close game and you get mad because we are not winning by enough points. Now here is my take on this game.

First, if I was a betting man, I could probably be rich. Almost every team in college football seems to experience what we went through last night. If you win a big game the week before like we did against Clemson, you almost always let down and play not so good against a little team like Tulane. No matter how much you preach or say that every game is important, its hard to get as excited about playing a game against Tulane, W. Kentucky, La Tech, or whoever you want to fill in the blank with. I miss playing Southern Mississippi. They are a smaller school but we do have respect for their football program so it usually made for a interesting game. Anyway, I wouldn't mind seeing Bama drop playing games like this and start putting teams like Texas Tech, Arizona, Texas A and M, or whoever on the schedule. I mean, LSU showed that a two loss team could win a National Championship and I wouldn't mind leaving the cream puff games off the schedule all together. I mean, wouldn't it be cool to play Michigan State?

Second I want to point out that since they changed the rules about recruiting, smaller teams are getting some good players. Louisana is loaded with talent and its not hard to understand how Tulane might have some good players. From what I saw, Tulane looked really good. Did you see that hit they put on Javier? Their DB's gave us fits all night long. They have one heck of a D! To be displaced for a entire week, have to spend time practicing in a city you are not used to and then come to our stadium and play us like they did is quite a accomplishment.

Third I wanted to talk about the fans. BDS holds over 90k. Thats a lot of people. I am not like every Bama fan in the world. None of us are. I can not control how our fans act in the stadium, off the field, calling Paul Finebaum, on message boards, or anything else. We have some good fans and some bad fans. It has bothered me ever since I can remember, that our fans love to leave the stadium before the game is over with. Whats the freakin hurry? I could understand it more if we were winning 50 to nothing but in a game like that I was pretty glued to my seat until it was over. But I can not control them leaving early. They bought a ticket just like I did so if thats what they want to do then I say bye bye. I for one am glad some of them leave.

I was really proud that they all clapped for Tulane coming on the field at the start of the game and right after half time. Booing the other team is pretty common and I admit that I have done it too, but it is a lot more classy the way we did it Saturday. I mean these are 18-22 year old students not the Iron Sheik for goodness sake. Really if you think about it, booing them probably gets them fired up to play us. The Bible teaches that being nice to your enemy gets under their skin a lot more than being ugly to them.

Now on the other hand, booing our own team is not acceptable. I don't condone it but I do understand it in a way. Its like the fan's way of saying, "hey quit playing so sucky".

Forth, I think that this game really shows how our biggest weakness is still lack of depth. We had the number one recruiting class in the country this year. Give it 3 more years and we will be 4 deep loaded up with 5 star players. The process will work, just not over night. Give it a minute aight?

Fifth, I want to say that I am impressed with how we improved on special teams. That was what actually saved us this game. I just pray that Tiffin stays healthy.

Finally and probably most importantly, I want to say WE ARE NOT FREAKIN BACK! This is how you will know when we are BACK

1. We beat Auburn.

2. We win the SEC West.

3. We win the SEC championship game.

I would also throw in winning another National Championship, but sometimes thats beyond your control even if you win all of your games (see Auburn in 2004). So lets get a little more consistent before we declare ourselves "back" again aight?

 

[bamafan4ever]

my thoughts of the fans at the game in section n5? If you want to sit down thats fine but dont ask me to, they actually asked the usher to see if the people would sit down and i gladly told him if I wanted to sit down I would have stayed my butt home on the couch

I was in section N so we weren't too far away from each other. The section that I sat in was Tide Pride and they were pretty quiet for the most part. I have to say that when we play smaller schools, our stadium is not the loudest place to be in. I don't know if that is true at every school or if its just us. If we had been playing LSU, TN, AK etc. the place would have been nuts.

This is the kind of game that makes being a Alabama fan sort of difficult. Either you watch the team blow Tulane out of the stadium and sit there bored until you finally get up and leave, or its a close game and you get mad because we are not winning by enough points. Now here is my take on this game.

First, if I was a betting man, I could probably be rich. Almost every team in college football seems to experience what we went through last night. If you win a big game the week before like we did against Clemson, you almost always let down and play not so good against a little team like Tulane. No matter how much you preach or say that every game is important, its hard to get as excited about playing a game against Tulane, W. Kentucky, La Tech, or whoever you want to fill in the blank with. I miss playing Southern Mississippi. They are a smaller school but we do have respect for their football program so it usually made for a interesting game. Anyway, I wouldn't mind seeing Bama drop playing games like this and start putting teams like Texas Tech, Arizona, Texas A and M, or whoever on the schedule. I mean, LSU showed that a two loss team could win a National Championship and I wouldn't mind leaving the cream puff games off the schedule all together. I mean, wouldn't it be cool to play Michigan State?

Second I want to point out that since they changed the rules about recruiting, smaller teams are getting some good players. Louisana is loaded with talent and its not hard to understand how Tulane might have some good players. From what I saw, Tulane looked really good. Did you see that hit they put on Javier? Their DB's gave us fits all night long. They have one heck of a D! To be displaced for a entire week, have to spend time practicing in a city you are not used to and then come to our stadium and play us like they did is quite a accomplishment.

Third I wanted to talk about the fans. BDS holds over 90k. Thats a lot of people. I am not like every Bama fan in the world. None of us are. I can not control how our fans act in the stadium, off the field, calling Paul Finebaum, on message boards, or anything else. We have some good fans and some bad fans. It has bothered me ever since I can remember, that our fans love to leave the stadium before the game is over with. Whats the freakin hurry? I could understand it more if we were winning 50 to nothing but in a game like that I was pretty glued to my seat until it was over. But I can not control them leaving early. They bought a ticket just like I did so if thats what they want to do then I say bye bye. I for one am glad some of them leave.

I was really proud that they all clapped for Tulane coming on the field at the start of the game and right after half time. Booing the other team is pretty common and I admit that I have done it too, but it is a lot more classy the way we did it Saturday. I mean these are 18-22 year old students not the Iron Sheik for goodness sake. Really if you think about it, booing them probably gets them fired up to play us. The Bible teaches that being nice to your enemy gets under their skin a lot more than being ugly to them.

Now on the other hand, booing our own team is not acceptable. I don't condone it but I do understand it in a way. Its like the fan's way of saying, "hey quit playing so sucky".

Forth, I think that this game really shows how our biggest weakness is still lack of depth. We had the number one recruiting class in the country this year. Give it 3 more years and we will be 4 deep loaded up with 5 star players. The process will work, just not over night. Give it a minute aight?

Fifth, I want to say that I am impressed with how we improved on special teams. That was what actually saved us this game. I just pray that Tiffin stays healthy.

Finally and probably most importantly, I want to say WE ARE NOT FREAKIN BACK! This is how you will know when we are BACK

1. We beat Auburn.

2. We win the SEC West.

3. We win the SEC championship game.

I would also throw in winning another National Championship, but sometimes thats beyond your control even if you win all of your games (see Auburn in 2004). So lets get a little more consistent before we declare ourselves "back" again aight?

"Because people have a tendency to that around here"....Nick Saban.

Good post rj!!!

 

[Guest]

Finally and probably most importantly, I want to say WE ARE NOT FREAKIN BACK! This is how you will know when we are BACK

1. We beat Auburn.

2. We win the SEC West.

3. We win the SEC championship game.

Amen! Don't forget beating that other sorry arse colors of purple and gold and Vol orange. Perfect season then!

*note all pics are from LSU freak & BC . Man those guys are funny!

 

[Guest]

Finally and probably most importantly, I want to say WE ARE NOT FREAKIN BACK! This is how you will know when we are BACK

1. We beat Auburn.

2. We win the SEC West.

3. We win the SEC championship game.

I would also throw in winning another National Championship, but sometimes thats beyond your control even if you win all of your games (see Auburn in 2004). So lets get a little more consistent before we declare ourselves "back" again aight?

Thank you!

 

[Guest]

So lets get a little more consistent before we declare ourselves "back" again aight?

"Because people have a tendency to that around here"....Nick Saban.

Good post rj!!!

Alabama wasn't the one that put itself on the SI cover twice now after big wins. :shock:

I know what you're saying 4ever, (and I don't mean to offend) but the media sometimes plays just a big if not bigger part in all this yet then turns around and makes fun of us and states we can't get past the past.

I really think the media is quietly waiting for us to be "back". Maybe they're tired of USC; maybe they're ready for a traditional power again; I don't know. Maybe they're just ready to sabotage and jinx us at every turn (for all of you that fall into that thinking) ...but for as much as they criticize us we're obviously still headline material.

Ooops, after re-reading the quote 4ever (which I thought was your opinion) it looks like I need to address this with Coach Saban instead of you. :wink:

 

[bamafan4ever]

So lets get a little more consistent before we declare ourselves "back" again aight?

"Because people have a tendency to that around here"....Nick Saban.

Good post rj!!!

Alabama wasn't the one that put itself on the SI cover twice now after big wins. :shock:

I know what you're saying 4ever, (and I don't mean to offend) but the media sometimes plays just a big if not bigger part in all this yet then turns around and makes fun of us and states we can't get past the past.

I really think the media is quietly waiting for us to be "back". Maybe they're tired of USC; maybe they're ready for a traditional power again; I don't know. Maybe they're just ready to sabotage and jinx us at every turn (for all of you that fall into that thinking) ...but for as much as they criticize us we're obviously still headline material.

Ooops, after re-reading the quote 4ever (which I thought was your opinion) it looks like I need to address this with Coach Saban instead of you. :wink:

No problem, Delta. I must have big feet this weekend/week because I have inadvertently stepped on a lot of toes this week talking about this subject.

Sometimes I wonder if the media builds us up for a collapse? The good news, no collapse has happened so far and who knows? It may not!

 

[Guest]

We are now one year into "the process". The biggest part of that process is in the area of mental toughness. Part of that mental toughness is making yourself prepare just as hard for Tulane as you did for Clemson. One thing Coach Saban talked about was how we would react when we played physically and the other guy hit back. Give Tulane credit, they hit back, and we did not respond as I had hoped.

Under the 24 hour rule I put this game aside last night. On to W Ky.

 

[Guest]

We are 2-0. The defense has not allowed a TD yet. The offense played lackluster but we saw the potential against Clemson. Bama is going to be fine. I heard many mentions of NC's after the Clemson game and it is just not realistic. Bama is rebuilding. The potential is there but very young and capable of up's and down's.