Everyone remembers that girl. Every guy wanted to be with her. Every girl wanted to be her. She carried a 4.0 GPA and looked like she stepped off the cover of Maxim. You never really considered it a possibility.
After all, she dated law students, med students, SGA Presidents, you even heard she had a fling with a Congressman. She could not have been more out of your league. But, through some quirky twists of fate, somehow, you got your shot.
Alabama football in the 1970s was like your days in high school—you had everything. But most of all, you had the girl. Having this girl was the equivalent of having Paul "Bear" Bryant. People felt you had an unfair advantage in life because you had her. Everything went your way. You were friends with whomever you wanted as your friend.
Sometimes, you took other people's friends, just so they couldn't have them. Whatever rivals emerged, you dominated them. You enjoyed victories in all aspects of life. It wasn't as much you, as it was her. She made you who you were. And you prospered. You became a legend.
But like all good things, this came to an end. It wasn't anything you did, it was just time. She rode off into the sunset as the girl against which all others would be measured. You were devastated. Unsure of which direction to follow, you left home and went to college.
Without "that girl," you entered school a shadow of your former self. Afraid to do anything else, you got involved with another girl from your old life. This was not the same. Yeah, she looked good. Yeah, she had the resume. But she just couldn't give you what "the girl" could. After a few months, you parted ways.
Still hesitant to leave your comfort zone, you found yet another with ties to home. Only this time, she didn't look that good, and didn't really have the resume, either. Though you had some good times, you noticed that other guys you used to bully were all of the sudden bullying you.
After a particularly disturbing stretch of humiliation, you realized it was her fault. You tried to make a break, but she embarrassed you in public-tried to make you out to be abusive and impossible to be in a relationship with. Things ended badly.
After a freshman year filled with this turmoil, you realized that your status as the legend that you once were was beginning to fade. But then, starting your second year, you met somebody new. Like the ones before, she came from your hometown, too. She had moved away a long time ago, to Texas, but she was back.
Like you, she had been through rough times away from home. When you first saw her again, things were awful. The first month was filled with disappointment. You thought about cutting ties, but then everything turned around. You thought she was cute at first, but then she got HOT.
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about 1 month ago
Ingram, pretty good buddy!
Lets see, we had Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike Dubose, Dennis Francione, Mike Price, Mike Shula, and now Nick Saban.
The persecuted, the great, the self-destructive, the self-centered, the stupid, the nieive, and now the excellent!
from about 1 month ago
I appreciate it! The first one was Perkins-I was a little young so I had trouble with that one....
about 1 month ago
That made my morning!
about 1 month ago
Thanks Tom. I didn't realize it at the time, but this article makes NO sense to anyone who hasn't closely followed the program for the last 25 years. Glad you enjoyed it!
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