They called it Ali v. Frazier and that's how it felt. There were punches. There were counterpunches. There were the equivalents of sucker punches by UF's Brandon Spikes. In the end, Bama was knocked out of the title ring by Florida Tim Tebow. Saturday night was the closest we've ever had to a playoff and Bama didn't make the cut so I won't complain in the least about being 12-1 but left out of the title game. The stronger team won and that's good for the game. I just can't wait until we're the stronger team... but I suspect I won't have to wait long. If Saban recruits this offseason like he did during the last offseason, we'll all have to explore the word "juggernaut" and how it applies relative to Bama's current situation. A'ight?
That said, man, it always feels colder after a loss in December. And it was raw in Atlanta on Saturday night. Despite being numbingly cold after the game, that loss stung... for the fans, the coaches, and most definitely the players. Nobody wanted the magic to end (at least not in the Bama camp, though I suspect the Jen(n)s are happy!) We all wanted the senior players to go out on top, where they deserved to be. We all wanted to give Saban a triumphant return to Miami. I personally wanted one last title season so I can semi-retire. I'm tired exhausted. I'm broke. My kids are older and I want to spend more time with them on the weekends as what used to be a weekend respite is now the hassle of all hassles. But there's no doubt about it, a win on Saturday night would have made it all worth it.
Still, I'm proud. Very proud. We won't be back. We are back. Our future is bright. We're back in the BCS Sugar Bowl (cha-ching)... but this time it's not so sweet. Thanks for EVERYTHING, players and coaches. See you in '09!
PS: With Christmas right around the corner, I won't be updating here as much as I would like. I know you are all are just lost without your daily Steph fix :) so I've started a twitter account. I believe you can "follow" me by going to twitter.com/bamasteph.
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6 comments:
This is SO well-stated. You have a way with words and after every sentence I was saying to myself "That's EXACTLY how I felt." You summed it up beautifully for all of us Bama fans!
As always, THANKS GINGER! You know how to make my day! :) I just added a link to an article on Bama's locker room after the loss. It's a good read. It was a good season. We'll get em next year!
I am a little excited that Florida won...Ok, VERY excited. What can I was raised a Gator! SO...I'll go ahead and say it...you guys had a good season, but I am VERY excited to see Florida up for another National Championship!
Well said! What a season it has been! I hope we can finish it off with a Sugar Bowl win against the Utes, but even if we don't it has been a great year. Coming into the season we had more monkeys on our back than we could carry. By season's end we were standing tall with ALL those monkeys gone . . . the future certainly looks bright. ROLL TIDE!!!
Jenn, you are totally forgiven! :) We'll meet up with the Gators again next year.
P-Paw, it would have been nice to make a run of it this year. I'll try my best to be back there in '09. Meet ya there?
10-4, I'll be there!
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