Alabama Crimson Tide

GBJs · Post by **GBJs** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:09 pm

The recruiting part probably hurt the most... coaching DBs will have Saban's hand in it as long as he is here but Pruitt IS a quality coach and has been a force for us in the FL panhandle.

I wish him success as a person, and about as much success as DC as Sal had last year at Tennessee.

GBJs · Post by **GBJs** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:32 pm

GBJs · Post by **GBJs** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:33 pm

I know, I missed it by a day.

The Gray Ghost · Post by **The Gray Ghost** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:21 am

Yes I still miss AA's periodic retelling of the Bear's last game.

AlabamAlum · Post by **AlabamAlum** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 8:29 am

I did not save it. When Wxing died, it was lost....like tears in the rain.

hedge · Post by **hedge** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 8:33 am

I thought they had misspelt goodbye, but when I typed "goodby" a squiggly red line didn't come up underneath, so maybe that's an acceptable spelling. I need to get out more...

AlabamAlum · Post by **AlabamAlum** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 9:56 am

Wow, apparently it lives on the intertubes!

It was a blustery and frozen night as I entered the dank, austere surroundings of the Liberty Bowl on the late December night of 1982. Slow barges lumbered down the Mighty River. Blues bands played as if they were heralding in a fresh lamb to the slaughter.

The Mighty Fighting Illini were big. They were strong. They were mean. The wounded and much-beleaguered Crimson Tide team formed a thin red line as they headed onto the tundra that night.

The rifle-armed All-American, Tony Eason, set his angular jaw against the gale-like, frozen winds on that dark Memphis night. Like a gridiron Baryshnikov, Eason’s 6’4” frame danced nimbly through the pregame warm-ups as he focused his mind on the task at hand: Embarrassing – no humiliating – the great, but terminally ill Paul Bryant and his rag-tag band of undersized and injured players...

Head Coach of the Mighty Fighting Illini, Mike White, knew a pro career lay ahead of him. He chuckled slightly as he perused the gameplan and thought to himself, “This is Bryant’s last game. I’ll make him wish he’d quit sooner.”

The ailing Bryant grimaced as he slowly emerged from the tunnel. Heart disease was killing him and he knew his doctors had warned him about coaching this game, especially considering the extremely harsh weather. He struggled to keep from letting his family – the players – see him in such mind-searing pain as he covertly placed a nitroglycerin tablet under his tongue. He never wanted this game to be about him. He simply wanted the players to hold their heads high and compete honorably for the University, their families, and most importantly, themselves. “Make your mamas proud," he grumbled, as the last of the players and trainers ran from the tunnel.

Somehow, Alabama had managed to keep the game close through most of the game; however, Illinois quarterback Tony Eason was driving his team for what should have been the winning score. But Alabama's defense came through ... one last time for Bryant. Afterward, Mike White, the young Illinois coach, said that he had never seen a team hit as hard as Alabama that day. They were outgunned and out-manned, but they played with incredible heart and won the game for Bear on desire and grit alone.

That fateful Liberty Bowl was played on December 29, 1982. Less than one month later, on January 26, 1983, Bryant would die of heart disease. Coincidentally, less than one month after that, his beloved wife of 59 years, Mary Harmon Bryant, would die, too.

From the time Bryant first prowled the sidelines at the University of Alabama in 1958, until the day he died in 1983, no other team in the Nation won as many games, had as high of a winning percentage, or as many championships. No one was really even close.

bluetick · Post by **bluetick** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:11 pm

Heh. AA is like the guy with a 4 footer for birdie... except it's a bitch of a sidehill slider (miss and it's 20+ feet to save par). He wants to jab it and get it over with but nobody else in the group is even on the green.

the waiting..

bluetick · Post by **bluetick** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:18 pm

hedge wrote:I thought they had misspelt goodbye, but when I typed "goodby" a squiggly red line didn't come up underneath, so maybe that's an acceptable spelling. I need to get out more...

heh @ 'misspelt'

good one

AlabamAlum · Post by **AlabamAlum** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:18 pm

I'm not sure how that metaphor applies, but in the spirit of the season: nice job; good work.

AlabamAlum · Post by **AlabamAlum** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:20 pm

And 'misspelt' is an obscure but accepted spelling.

hedge · Post by **hedge** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:30 pm

It's obscure enough that there was a squiggly red line under it on my screen when I typed it. Now I am enraged to find that it is acceptable, even if obscurely so...

hedge · Post by **hedge** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:33 pm

"I'm not sure how that metaphor applies"

I think he's saying you're a better golfer than the other guys in your group...

AlabamAlum · Post by **AlabamAlum** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:36 pm

Well, that's usually true. I try not to play against people who can beat me.

bluetick · Post by **bluetick** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:39 pm

Yeah, it was weak. Something about having to wait interminably for all of these cheesewiz bowls to clear out so you can get yer reward. It was more of a bad allegory than a metaphor.

Thanks for letting me down easy. In the spirit of the season!

bluetick · Post by **bluetick** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:11 pm

Says here spelt is a hardy wheat grown primarily in France and Belgium. Misspelt could be the stuff left behind, the stuff the thresher missed?

10ac · Post by **10ac** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:15 pm

I miss Wildcat00.

AlabamAlum · Post by **AlabamAlum** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 5:03 pm

It could be, tick. Or it could be just an obscure (and correct) alternate spelling. FWIW, you see 'misspelt' much more in the UK.

hedge · Post by **hedge** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:52 pm

It was a nod to the motherland...

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