year 2: hope springs eternal

i feel it incumbent on me to at least give a few thoughts to the thought-gobbling public on the season which is coming upon us. i know that this will make my last two posts sports-related, but too much of the time that is where my passions lie. so as the baseball season makes its annual run toward the playoffs and my red sox fight for their post-season lives, i split my attention to my other great sports love-the alabama crimson tide.

to say that the last few years have been tough would be an understatement. i, like most tide fans, have a terrifically inflated sense of what we should accomplish. somehow we are still feeding off the crimson dominance of the 60's and 70's, which would in most circumstances just make us sad. but after tasting the golden 92-93 season and championship in my own lifetime, i must admit, i am hooked. i feel like it is our right to be good. but after 2 straight losses to mississippi state, my pride is hurt. no longer are we feared. we have spiraled into mediocrity. after gene stallings, we have endured the jilting of one dennis franchione and a slew of mikes who were all too something. too dumb, too pretty, or too interested in boobies.

enter one nick saban.

the tide turned, so to speak, when the u of a layed down an ungodly sum of money to get their first choice. and again we mattered. if not on the field, then at least on talk radio and sportscenter. alabama had begun the process. the one that would restore glory to a reeling fanbase. it doesn't even matter that his only signature win is on the recruiting trail. heck, maybe that matters more. because with the right kind of players comes the right kind of team and the right kind of program.

enter one julio jones. and tyler love. and burton scott. (and especially julio jones)

when the best players begin to come, all the right things can happen. you get some buzz. the face of your program is lifted. and your on the field product suddenly has the potential to be really good. with a guy like julio, we instantly got a play-maker. a game-changer. a guy that the other team has to consider when drawing up a gameplan. someone that other teams (looking at you auburn. and lsu, tennessee, and georgia. and mississippi state) fear. and so now, as i stand on the cusp of a new season, i am filled with hope. i truly believe that we can win every game. will we? probably not. but we will not be without a chance. we may be young and inexperienced, but we finally have talent. and week by week, the talent gains experience, and the tide begins to swell.

i tend to think and speak sports in hyperbole. even in a 162 game mlb season, i hate to lose. most losses don't even matter individually, but each one feels like a punch in the face. and even more so in a college football season, where you get only 12 chances. and sure, this kind of lopsided passion can lend itself to crushing dissapointment and many an autumn mood-swing. but for right now, with a full season ahead and images of julio dancing in my head, it just gives me hope.