Thoughts from the Chick

So, I just heard a new one - RTOTA (standing for “Roll Tide On That Ass”).

Ha!  I think I like it!

Know what I like even more (and even Saban, who “doesn’t put a lot of thought into these things”, liked and mentioned in his post-game)?

That we’re the first team in 35 years, since Alabama 1973 -1974 seasons, to put up 2 consecutive unbeaten regular seasons in the SEC.

I’m also happy that we survived the “shitstorm” that Auburn threw at us yesterday.  They played a hell of a game.

Ok - enough about that - let’s start thinking about this weekend.

I couldn’t watch the end of the game yesterday.

I quit watching somewhere halfway through the 4th quarter after we had to punt again.  I started working on a pizza for dinner, and when we started driving and scored, I decided it was best that I stay put until the game was over. 

I didn’t want to jinx anything.

I think maybe today I’ll go back and watch the last drive now that I know how it’s going to end.

And I have to say that I’m really proud of the way our team fought back and found a way to win.  We hadn’t had to do that this year and an important characteristic of championship teams is to be able to fight back and fight through adversity.  And if we want to be a championship team, we needed to be able to do that.  (Can you tell I’ve been listening to Coach Saban?  I’ve bought in, Coach, I promise I have!!!)

Now, let’s all forget the game yesterday and get our minds right for this coming weekend.

If you want to see some classic Saban - take a look at the post game - I can’t get the video to embed, so CLICK HERE to go to the TideSports site and watch.

It’s Gameday!!!  It’s Gameday!!!

I’ve watched the interviews.  I’ve listened to the players.  And I hope that they are buying into what Coach Saban continues to preach - that it’s about playing each game.  It’s about not getting too emotional and taking care of business.

I have heard what the Auburn nation is saying - that they are going to be loud, that they will have the crowd on their side, and that they are going to pull off an upset. 

We know the Alabama team has heart.  That they are tough.  That they are well coached. 

So, what I hope for our team is that they go down to the Plains and take care of business.  That they don’t let the crowd and noise affect them.  That they dominate early and continue to dominate through 4 quarters. 

The gametime countdown begins…

Are any of you there today in Auburn???  What’s the atmosphere feel like?  I hope you’re seeing lots of Bama fans mixed in with all of that orange and blue…

Seriously?

I really want to know -

Why would you ask a question that you know is going to: A) get you chewed out and B) make you look like an idiot? 

The reason I ask is because in last night’s press conference, someone asked Saban about the schedule for Thanksgiving - saying that it was extremely “unusual” for players to get to go home after practice on Wednesday if they live within a 2 hour radius of campus.

For heaven’s sake - they have to return by noon on Thursday!!!  It’s not like they are leaving and then just have to show up down in Auburn on Saturday. 

And if you remember from last year - they allowed the same thing.  They were able to go home for Thanksgiving on Thursday if they lived within 2 hours and then had to return by that evening to prepare before Saturday’s game.

The only real difference this year is that the game is on Friday.

And here’s the thing that really bothers me more than anything else -

If Saban hadn’t let those kids go home, the same reporters would be callin’ him an asshole for not letting them go see their families.

C’mon.  Why not focus on the Sabans and other coaches having these players in their homes.  About how they give up their holiday family time for their players, their fans and their jobs.  Why not focus on those positive things instead of asking stupid questions that only put a bad taste in peoples’ mouths.

Here’s the press conference if you’d like to listen for yourself:

Click Here

The Sports Illustrated 11/30 issue will feature a cover and in-depth story on Mark Ingram. 

Here’s hoping that publicity like this will give Heisman voters even more reason to VOTE FOR MARK!

I hit the jackpot!!!!  The jackpot of Alabama videos, that is.

If you’ve been on Coach Saban’s website, you know that there are awesome video montages of games from 2007 and 2008.  But they haven’t loaded the 2009 videos yet. 

I found out  yesterday that UASports has started posting them on YouTube.

You can watch all of them by clicking here. And I’ll start posting them as they are added after the games.

The most current one available, and my personal favorite so far from this season, is from the Mississippi State game - gotta love Coach Saban and those players - what a great game:

I read that statement last week, and it made me think – 20 years ago, in 1989, Alabama played Auburn at Jordan Hare Stadium for the 1^st time in either school’s history.

Do you remember it??? 

I do – I remember the T-shirts that all the Auburn fans had with “The Ticket” on it.

I remember driving down to Auburn the night before the game with my dad, mom and sister.  My dad wanted to see what the atmosphere was going to be like.  He wanted us to be a part of it. 

This was a historic event in the State of Alabama!

So eventhough we didn’t have tickets for the game the next day, we drove down to Auburn from Sylacauga that Friday night, hung out for awhile, watched the pep rally, got taunted by Auburn fans, and drove back home. 

I remember how disappointed I was when Alabama lost the next day, and how I hated knowing that at school on Monday all of the kids who were Auburn fans would have on their t-shirts and would be bragging.

To think that was 20 years ago is almost unbelievable to me, because I remember it all very, very well. 

So, now that I’m feeling really old now - my hope is that this year’s game down on the Plains has a very different outcome than that game did 20 years ago!  But it’s fun to think back and remember those times, isn’t it?  

What do you remember about that game?

A little Sunday morning montage for ya….