I am a: Quirky sysadmin. Geek. Gamer. Comic fangirl. My little space, my home on the interwebs. I blog about personal stuffs, work, various coding projects, and anything else I feel like.

Every Friday morning it starts, the good-natured ribbing between friends and co-workers. Everyone knows I’m a big Alabama fan, and most will try their best to wind me up. However, last few years have taught me to keep my mouth shut when it comes to football. I may smile and play it down, but really my inner teenager is screaming, “Oh yeah? Come over here and say that to my face!” :lol:

My team is doing pretty well so far. Personally, I think Special Teams still needs a little more work, but the Offense and Defense are shaping up nicely. There’s no doubt about it, I love my team. An Auburn alumni tries to get a rise out of me with the ole “Alabama fans are the most obnoxious fans! They’re a pimple on the butt of the SEC!”

Oh great, acne jokes … :dry_tb:

I countered with, “According to Fox Sports, Notre Dame fans are.”

“But,” he corrects himself, “Alabama is up on in the top 10 on that list.”

He’s right, we are. And like many of the teams on that list, we proudly puff out our chests and wear it like a badge of honor.

No. 8 / Alabama

“Crimson Tide fans take living in the past to a whole new level. How long has Bear Bryant been gone? They brag about how many titles they’ve won and proclaim their rivalry with Auburn the greatest ever, but they’re on an 0-6 streak in the Iron Bowl. Maybe they’re the ones who started this whole “SEC” chant thing; if your team can’t win, hide behind your conference’s success.” — Lisa Horne

In retort, I’d like to post something I received in an email. I know we still have a long way to go before we’re “National Championship material”, but we’re doing a lot better than we have been in recent years — and we’re doing a lot better than most other teams’ (and their fans) have expected.

We laughed when Mike DuBose admitted the affair with his secretary.

We laughed when DuBose turned Alabama from team ranked No. 3 in the preseason into a team with a 3-8 record.

We laughed when the NCAA came to town and pointed the barrel of the death-penalty gun at the Alabama cheaters.

We laughed when Dennis Franchione dropped the rope and ran to Texas A&M.

We laughed when Mike Price had his date with Destiny.

We laughed when Mike Shula couldn’t beat Northern Illinois, much less Auburn.

And we laughed when Alabama, the desperate bumpkins that they are, paid nomad mercenary Nick Saban $4 million dollars a year and then promptly lost to Louisiana-Monroe.

We aren’t laughing now. Saturday night, Alabama (5-0) unleashed a decade’s worth of frustration on the Georgia Bulldogs and sent a loud signal to all of college football:

‘Bama is back in a big way. It’s not surprising that Saban is winning. The man can coach, and any coach with a clue should be able to win at Alabama – the obvious implication being that a lot of cluelessness emanated from Tuscaloosa before Saban arrived to clean up the mess.

Still, it’s surprising just how quickly Saban has turned the Crimson Tide into one of the nation’s best teams. Most people expected that to come in 2009 or perhaps as late as 2010 when he’d have a full stock of his own highly-prized recruits.

But name a team with two more impressive victories than Alabama’s season-opening 34-10 destruction of Clemson or its 41-30 blitzing of the Bulldogs on Saturday in Athens. The polls now have Alabama at No. 2, its highest ranking since 1993.

That ’93 squad was coming off a national title and was coached by Gene Stallings, the closest thing to Bear Bryant the Alabama family could find. His team were tough, disciplined and physical. They won old-school as the antithesis of Steve Spurrier’s Fun ‘N Gun. They were pretty much the opposite of the Keystone Cops routine Alabama has spent running for much of the time since Stallings’ departure in 1996.

Saban has brought that swagger and discipline back. Alabama is the fiercest team in the SEC, the antithesis of Urban Meyer’s dinky spread attack. The Tide hits you harder, blocks you harder and tackles you harder.

Playing Alabama these days is just so uncomfortable. Bryant would approve. The Tide plays with the passion of a team that simply won’t be denied and the innocence of a team that doesn’t know it’s not yet supposed to be this good.

This comes from Saban, the perfect coach at the perfect time. After a decade of dysfunction, Alabama needed a no-nonsense coach who’d be strong enough to take control of the program and tell the good-old-boys to butt out of his business. It needed a coach confident enough in his abilities to do the right things over the expedient things. That he has stepped on a few toes – especially a few media toes – only endears him to the win-starved faithful.

We laughed when Alabama coaching searches turned into three-ring circuses. We laughed when the rumors first surfaced that Alabama was pursuing the coach of the Miami Dolphins.

We laughed this summer when Forbes magazine named Saban the most powerful coach in sports.

Who is laughing now?

Certainly not Georgia or anybody else in the SEC.

Did you notice something else about that beatdown Saturday? So many of the plays were made by freshmen and sophomores.

Dark days are ahead for ‘Bama haters. Tide fans will be unbearable. Their team might soon be unbeatable.

We’re not there yet, but we will be soon. And you can expect me to be unbearable! :twisted:

ROLL TIDE ROLL!