ULM

Is anyone really surprised?

Is any Tide fan that has survived the past twenty-five years surprised that the Tide lead by the 4 million dollar man and the 25 cent quarterback got trampled on by (make sure I spell this right) Louisiana Monroe? If anyone answers yes to this question, get real. It is not surprising, only self-fulfilling.

I was the biggest advocate for Nick Saban coming to Alabama. I thought things with the football program would be different. As I sit here typing this, I wonder where my allegiances lie. It hurts over and over again to put so much into cheering for a team that continuously lets you down. (See Boston Red Sox prior 2004.) Would it not be easier just to spend my Saturday afternoons reading and studying and preparing for a career? Why don’t I start playing golf? There is greater utility in that I imagine than sitting through a football game that is not even on pay-per-view television. It was on the radio. Alabama just lost a game that was not televised. Let that sink in.

So Lord Saban rolls into town, not on a white stallion, but in a white Lear Jet. He hires a crackpot staff and installs a new “4th quarter” program. Eleven games later preparing to face Auburn, Alabama sits with the same record as a year previous, having spent millions of dollars in paying off Shula and paying for Saban. It’s evident. Welcome to middle (bottom) tier Southeastern Conference football. Stuck in the muck Alabama is.

A trip into Tuscaloosa for the traveling team no longer means a loss. It means a once in a lifetime chance for every player on that visiting team to imprint history. Unfortunately for Alabama fans, a four or five year stint dawning the crimson jersey no longer means excellence. It means mediocrity. It means losing to Auburn six straight years (trust me). On Saturday, who had more to play for? La Monroe or Alabama? The question does not even need answering. Alabama players could care less about playing on Saturday. They are more interested in drinking, yelling in the streets, stealing textbooks, and playing on Sunday.

This negativity does not help the football program but it does help me sleep at night. Additionally, I think Alabama proved my point for the SEC not being that good.