Alabama Football Season Opener Versus Wisconsin

Hall of Famer Marino “The Godfather” Casem, longtime coach at Alcorn State and Southern University, is credited with arguably the best explanation of college football’s significance in the South:

“On the East Coast, football is a cultural experience. In the Midwest, it's a form of cannibalism. On the West Coast, it's a tourist attraction. And in the South, football is a religion, and Saturday is the holy day.”

Today No. 20 Wisconsin takes the field against No.3 Alabama at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.  The game airs on ABC at 8:00 PM ET.

Pot-stirring sports pundits have been saying that Bama Head Coach Nick Saban is miserable in Tuscaloosa, but he shut down that BS and the hooey about this being his last season at Alabama saying, "In no way, shape or form have I ever even mentioned to anybody that we weren't really happy here," he said. "I don't know where that came from."

Everyone seems concerned about the QB position for the Tide, but as we saw last season, Blake Sims put that question to rest in short order and I suspect it’ll be a non-issue again this season.  In preseason camp, there were three players vying for that slot and now it’s down to two according to Saban who never mentioned which two were in contention.  Were I to guess, I’d say it’s between Jake Coker and Cooper Bateman.  Saban’s thoughts are, "When you have two guys that are doing pretty well that you're really pleased with, why do you have to choose? Maybe it's best to give both guys an opportunity at some point in time in the game and they both have the opportunity to prove what they can do in the game, which is ultimately the most important thing to our team."

The Tide is a double-digit favorite to win against the Badgers.  ESPN’s Lee Corso put on the Alabama mascotheadgear on College Gameday so I’ma thinking my boys come up winners tonight. 

I hope they’ve got “Dramatic Chipmunk” queued up on the Jumbotron at AT&T Stadium to effectively distract Wisconsin’s kicker like the Minnesota Golden Gophers did two years ago.

Let the smashmouth football begin.

ROLL TIDE ROLL

And because no football post would be complete without pom-poms, please enjoy these lovely southern gals:

As I See It

On Tuesday morning following the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game, the front page of The Wisconsin State Journal carried the headline:  Out-Duked.  The Herald Sun in Durham boasted:  Devils Take 5.

The Badgers were thought to be the team with more momentum going into the game having defeated the perfect 38-0 star-laden Kentucky Wildcats.  I listened to countless sports analysts like Jim Nantz, Greg Gumbel, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Clark Kellogg and Ernie Johnson, Jr. prattle on and on about their “predictions” for a Wisconsin win over Duke.

I understand, believe me I do, that there is widespread dislike for Duke.  There will always be haters. In an open thread at Ace of Spades, Y-Not wrote before the semifinal games last Saturday night, “True Americans will be rooting for the Spartans and the Badgers.  Just sayin’.” 

Die-hard Badger fan and blogger friend Steve, proprietor of Grandpa John blog, was nothing but a class act before and after the big game between the two schools.  He offered a correction to my brackets saying, “Sorry in advance for my Wisconsin drubbing North Carolina.”  Of course, he was right.  I had picked the Tarheels of North Carolina to advance to the Final Four against the Badgers.  When they lost I began rooting for Wisconsin because I, like so many others, dislike Kentucky (the second-most hated basketball team in America).

Monday afternoon, well before tipoff, Steve posted a comment asking, “Whatcha doin’ this evening?  It oughta be good, both teams are HOT!”  On Tuesday after Duke’s spectacular victory Steve wrote, “Congratulations! Duke did a great job. (Whimper, whimper.)”

This year’s tournament was filled with upsets and heroes and some of the most unforgettable moments I’ve ever witnessed.  It was heartbreaking to watch the hurt the Badgers felt when they lost.  One photograph told the story most poignantly.  It depicted all five Wisconsin players leaving the court with their hands on their heads in disbelief, confetti falling all around them, realizing their historic run in the tourney was over.

At the same time, Duke fans were euphoric.  I was among them.  I wanted to post an article here right after the game, but decided against it.  It would have sounded like bragging.  I didn’t want to do that.  Instead, I’ve waited a few days so that I might congratulate Wisconsin on a courageous game—a game that was hard-fought, physical, emotional and charged with electricity.  The basketball world may have wanted a Duke-Kentucky championship game, but what they got was a magnificent game played with tremendous heart.

Who knew the headband message “De5tiny” (the piece of tape the Blue Devil mascot wears across its forehead) would come true?

Nike Basketball tweeted this inspiring message:

Play for a legend. Win for the legacy. #justdoit pic.twitter.com/0A02bpLeUv
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) April 7, 2015

By now the tears have dried for Kaminsky, Dekker, Koenig, Hayes, Gasser, Showalter, Jackson and Dukan.  It’ll be hard to put aside the disappointment, but years from now they will have a story to tell of how they won more games than any other in their program history.  It was a remarkable journey that was 74 years in the making.  They should be proud.  They were a formidable opponent.  It was “One Shining Moment.”