Hating on the $EC - Mostly Alabama (and a little Georgia too)

[Dr. Strangelove]

Not exactly Bob Neyland vs Frank Thomas these days...

[AlabamAlum]

W was President the last time the Vols won. Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” was the number 1 song. Mike Shula was the Bama coach. Phil Fulmer was the Tennessee coach.

Urban Meyer’s Gators would go on to defeat Ohio State’s Heisman-winning QB, Troy Smith, for the National Championship.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I thought AA would enjoy this...

At a Touchdown Club meeting many years before his death, Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant told the following story:
"I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player and I was havin' trouble finding the place. Getting hungry I spied an old cinder block building with a small sign out front that simply said "Restaurant."

"I pull up, go in and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems I'm the only white fella in the place. But the food smelled good so I skip a table and go up to a cement bar and sit. A big ole man in a tee shirt and cap comes over and says, "What do you need?" I told him I needed lunch and what did they have today? He says, "You probably won't like it here, today we're having chitlins, collared greens and black eyed peas with cornbread. I'll bet you don't even know what chitlins are, do you?" I looked him square in the eye and said, "I'm from Arkansas, I've probably eaten a mile of them. Sounds like I'm in the right place." They all smiled as he left to serve me up a big plate. When he comes back he says, "You ain't from around here then?"

"I explain I'm the new football coach up in Tuscaloosa at the University and I'm here to find whatever that boy's name was and he says, yeah I've heard of him, he's supposed to be pretty good. And he gives me directions to the school so I can meet him and his coach. As I'm paying up to leave, I remember my manners and leave a tip, not too big to be flashy, but a good one and he told me lunch was on him, but I told him for a lunch that good, I felt I should pay.
The big man asked me if I had a photograph or something he could hang up to show I'd been there. I was so new that I didn't have any yet. It really wasn't that big a thing back then to be asked for, but I took a napkin and wrote his name and address on it and told him I'd get him one and shook his hand and left."

"I met the kid I was lookin' for later that afternoon and I don't remember his name, but do remember I didn't think much of him when I met him. I had wasted a day, or so I thought.
When I got back to Tuscaloosa late that night, I took that napkin from my shirt pocket and put it under my keys so I wouldn't forget it. Back then I was excited that anybody would want a picture of me. The next day we found a picture and I wrote on it, "Thanks for the best lunch I've ever had."

"Now let's go a whole buncha years down the road. Now we have black players at Alabama and I'm back down in that part of the country scouting an offensive lineman we sure needed. Y'all remember, (and I forget the name, but it's not important to the story), well anyway, he's got two friends going to Auburn and he tells me he's got his heart set on Auburn too, so I leave empty handed and go on see some others while I'm down there."

"Two days later, I'm in my office in Tuscaloosa and the phone rings and it's this kid who just turned me down, and he says, "Coach, do you still want me at Alabama?" And I said, "Yes I sure do." And he says OK, he'll come. And I say, "Well son, what changed your mind?" And he said, "When my grandpa found out that I had a chance to play for you and said no, he pitched a fit and told me I wasn't going nowhere but Alabama, and wasn't playing for nobody but you. He thinks a lot of you and has ever since y'all met." Well, I didn't know his granddad from Adam's house cat so I asked him who his granddaddy was and he said, "You probably don't remember him, but you ate in his restaurant your first year at Alabama and you sent him a picture that he's had hung in that place ever since. That picture's his pride and joy and he still tells everybody about the day that Bear Bryant came in and had chitlins with him."

"My grandpa said that when you left there, he never expected you to remember him or to send him that picture, but you kept your word to him and to Grandpa, that's everything. He said you could teach me more than football and I had to play for a man like you, so I guess I'm going to. "I was floored. But I learned that the lessons my mama taught me were always right. It don't cost nuthin' to be nice. It don't cost nuthin' to do the right thing most of the time, and it costs a lot to lose your good name by breakin' your word to someone."

"When I went back to sign that boy, I looked up his Grandpa and he's still running that place, but it looks a lot better now; and he didn't have chitlins that day, but he had some ribs that woulda made Dreamland proud and I made sure I posed for a lot of pictures; and don't think I didn't leave some new ones for him, too, along with a signed football."

"I made it clear to all my assistants to keep this story and these lessons in mind when they're out on the road. If you remember anything else from me, remember this. It really doesn't cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable."

[Jeff Buchanan]

Re the Bear Bryant story ..... ask yourself if you know a lot people in charge of things somewhere that have that kind of integrity. There are some good Bo Schembechler stories like Bear's. These were two men (there are others of their day and time) with prodigious amounts of honesty and integrity. It's nice to hear these stores ........ then pine for men like this these days.

[Cody_Russell]

Bama losing starting WR Jaylen Waddle for the season due to an ankle injury.

Sucks for Waddle because he opted to come back to Alabama. Doesn't suck for Bama because it's basically comparable to Jeff Bezos losing one of his floatees from one of many jacuzzis. Rich person problems.

[Hannibal]

FWIW, I think Alabama is more than 20 points better than Tennessee; however, the Vols are coming off an embarrassing loss and I think Pruitt will have them fired up, Bama is coming off a big win and we usually have a letdown, Pruitt was a longtime assistant and knows the staff and most of the players, and finally, it’s at Knoxville.

Lou Holtz called. He wants his bullshit sandbaggery back.

[AlabamAlum]

Hannibal,

You obviously have no fucking clue what sandbagging is; I’m here to help you:

-Sandbagging would be predicting Tennessee to win the game when I really thought they had no real shot (which they didn’t). Of course, I never suggested that.

-Me saying that Bama is more than 20 points better than the Vols is not sandbagging.

-Me thinking that we would not cover but still win by 17 or so is not sandbagging, either.

-Good teams do not always cover the spread. You know, like Bama did NOT cover against Missouri or Ole Miss this year.

-In fact, when talking about scores ATS, there is no such thing as sandbagging. A sportsbook evens the game by giving points to the underdog. You win or lose ATS, but saying you don’t think a team will cover is never sandbagging. Ever. Not ever. And if you believe otherwise you’re wrong.

[Hannibal]

You still were off on your prediction by a couple of TDs. You're the sandbaggiest sandbagger that ever sandbagged. I'll make sure to pile you in front of my windows in the event of the next flood.

[AlabamAlum]

Hannibal,


The oddsmakers were off by a couple of scores, too, so they were sandbagging for Bama, as well! Damn oddsmakers sandbagging for Bama! Except when we played Mizzou and Ole Miss. Then they were sandbagging for the Tigers and Rebels! Just an idiotic position.

Again: There is no such thing as sandbagging when talking ATS. Bama was 2-2 ATS heading into this game. We had a N.O.T. and a couple of breaks and covered tonight to improve to 3-2 ATS. Congrats to us. My initial belief that we were more than 20 points better was correct .

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[AlabamAlum]

Wiz,

Ohio State just scored again.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...and UNL was just flagged for targeting again...and somewhere in the south...Billy Joe just did his sister...any other revelations for me Einstein???

[AlabamAlum]

The state with the highest per capita incidence of incest is Nebraska. Many believe it is due to the Scandinavian influence since incest isn’t as taboo there as in other areas.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Fake news there Billy Bob...or is it Bobby Joe?

[AlabamAlum]

Auburn got the benefit of a missed call again today that probably changed the outcome. It’s just amazing the calls and lucky bounces they get.