tambo410

Congrats. EV is a great pick up. Thought we had him there for a moment. Hope to see y'all in Pasadena.

Amen to that!

First, congrats on a great class. I may be wrong but "process done" sounds a lot like Saban who constantly refers to "the process". I guess we'll see soon.

We do have as relatively soft a schedule as you could get playing in the SEC West. That said, aTm & LSU will be difficult, fortunately they are not back to back like last year. I don't expect much from VPI but when that game was scheduled I thought it would be a good test in game 1. We will also have the SECCG against most likely UGA or FLA if we are fortunate enough to get by aTm and LSU. Either of those teams could be better than they were last year...

I appreciate all the kind posts... Certainly speaks to the class of your program and fanbase. I have to say I was impressed by your young men and CBK. In defeat they were extremely classy and respectful. To answer the questions above, which are by no means easy to address, IMHO, Bama is great as a result of a commitment to excellence in ALL aspects related to athletics and providing opportunities for our student athletes. Saban made it clear from the beginning that everything we do, and my we I mean everyone including the fans, must exude excellence and be with purpose. The purpose = to win championships. The most important aspect, because anyone can call for excellence, is that for the most part we all have bought in. What is even more impressive is that this commitment has spread within the athletic department to other sports. Last year we won championships in football, gymnastics (back2back), women's golf and softball. Other sports are definitely on the rise as well. The 5 factors (really 4) for success according to Saban are discipline, commitment, toughness and effort. What I will say is that, and it has happened over time, we have been able to recruit kids with good character and work ethic that take personal responsibility for themselves and their teammates. We have very little off-the-field issues and the players seem to demand excellence of themselves and their teammates; as witnessed by the player leadership council deciding to send the two players who broke curfew home from the BCSNCG. In addition, our performance has improved in the classroom as well, in spite of what some of you think. While we are not ND or Stanford, we are moving in the right direction, our grad rate and GSR are good and improving and players are getting meaningful degrees. I will also say that we are now at a point in recruiting were we are more selecting than recruiting. Sure we don't get everyone we want, but if we want you, we are tough for other schools to compete with. Our facilities and program is top notch and Saban can close. I also think if there is any question as to a players character, work ethic or ability to carry the load, we pass on them, regardless of their football ability, which is not something that all programs can do. Do I think ND can do this...? I don't see how you couldn't. With your tradition & recent success, CBK's ability to recruit and recent commitment to upgrading facilities/programs, I would think the ceiling is as high as you want to take it... Sure it will take time and consistency in recruiting to stock up, but you are already 2 really good classes along the way. I do think easing up on the entry requirements would help but I would assume to a degree that already goes on a bit anyway, even if it is not out in the public. As a funny side, my roommate in college needed athletic dept help to get into Bama (he has the GPA, just not the ACT score), I did not. He consistently performed better than me academically and was Dean's list every semester. Me, not till my last two years. So I think helping a student athlete, who is going to give back tot he school, is appropriate in some cases. I am glad to see CBK coming back. I doubt he ever really planned to leave, rather he took advantage of the opportunity to gain some leverage to drive improvement for him, his assistants and facilities/programs. It is a shame it had to come to the point it did, and this stuff was just not offered to him w/o him having to play hardball, but it is good to see you have a coach willing to take risk to get what is can and is just. Good Luck next season. Hope to see you in Pasadena!

To be fair, I think if we had interacted pre-Saban you would have a similar opinion of our fanbase as you do for those other schools in our conference. We often heard we acted entitled on the basis of our former glory (sound familiar - not that I agree it applies to your fanbase). I think Saban has taken us back a bit to the days of the Bear when it was not only important to win but to win with CLASS. There is a famous quote from the Bear when referring to his players, “I have tried to teach them to show class, to have pride, and to display character. I think football, winning games, takes care of itself if you do that.”

No hard feelings. ND fans were getting it worse on Bama boards. Adieu

Well I don't know if anyone could tell. Obviously he has a place as our HC as long as he wants it. I think for him it will more than anything come down to if he is still being challenged. He seems in good health, his kids are grown, his life is like the first lady of Tuscaloosa and he is probably more powerful in the state than the Governor (ala Coach Bryant). So really I don't think it is an age thing. I think the best indicator will be if Coach Kirby Smart sticks around. I think he is being groomed as the heir apparent. If he stays I would mean, to me at least, that an exit plan is in place.

I wanted to give y'all some time before I came back to let things settle down on the board. It was a heck of a game and completely caught me by surprise, as I am sure it did you. I thought this was going to be a real tight game as I mentioned in my comments on this board several times. I don't feel the need to go into the details of the game, we all watched it and it has been discussed to death here already. That said, I did want to offer my sincere congratulations to Notre Dame and its fans on a heck of a season. Y'all are back among the top of the college football universe and that is good for ND and it is good for college football. Traditional powerhouses need to continue to be powerhouses for our great game to continue to grow. Thank you for your hospitality over the last several weeks. I enjoyed our conversations and talking football with many of you. For the most part I was treated with respect which is all I could ask for and more than I expected. I will definitely snoop your board in the future and if y'all want some insight on Bama or the SEC, feel free to reach out to me. Your team and your fans are a class act! Roll Tide! :cheer2:

That's not exactly what he said.... But nice try. Good luck tonight and tell your wife those try's have been dying for years!

Hopefully y'all wont mind me posting in this thread... I wanted to say a few things and share an article with you that sums up my feelings for our two great schools having the opportunity to meet on the gridiron to play for all the marbles. I have enjoyed my time here with you on your site. Most of you have been very accommodating towards me. The southern stereotypical crap has been left to a minimum for the most part and we were able to cover a lot of good ground leading up to this game. I appreciate the insight you provided on your players, coaches and thoughts on this game. I do believe ND is back and regardless of the pains ND has caused many Bama fans I think that ND being relevant again is good for college football. I hope as the sport progresses and time passes we will have more frequent opportunities to pay one another and that the rich traditions of our schools will live on. I hope for a good game tonight. A hard fought, clean, injury free slug-fest that allows our players and coaches to demonstrate their skill be rewarded for their hard work and dedication to their sport. I wish each of you the best as well. Please take a moment during the game to think about how lucky we are that our two teams are on this stage, have the right to play in this game as a result of the sacrifices made by our armed forces and contemplate the great history of these two programs! I will probably lurk from time to time for the rest of the day today and I certainly be back tomorrow, either to accept your congratulations or eat crow should the Tide not Roll. I wanted to pass along the following article as it sums it up for me and adds some perspective beyond just the game... http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/40867258/ Good Luck Irish! Roll Tide Bama -- 14-9

Not me but I was cut off on the way home from the Ravens game tonight. They started mouthing off at my wife as well. Was that you?

Y'all should never listen to FinebAum... Ever. He is just a rabble rouser and you will learn nothing of the game or the team from listening to him. I can't be any more clear on that point. Dribble, nothing more. If your impression of our garbage comes from that show you are being mislead. More of the fans calling in are auburn fans by the way.

I know that was tounge in cheek but if you got to the game I think you will see there is a lot of wealth among Bama fans. A lot of it old money yes, but still a lot of wealth. I am from and live in the Baltimore DC area so I am used to being around wealth but it impresses me and my wife every time we travel to Bama games, people are well dressed, classy and not what you, our the southern stereotypes, might expect. Sure we have our slobs but all fan bases do, even ND.

It would not surprise me at all if ND has more fans in south Florida and even more at the game, this being your first taste in a long while. We had more fans in the Rose Bowl against Texas, less that LSU (by a lot) in the Sugar bowl last year and I would expect a lot less this year. Fortunately the fans have little impact in games like these. There will not be enough of one teams fans on way or the other to get loud enough to impact the play. From the pics I saw it looks like everyone is having a good time, which is really the purpose of being there.