The Alabama Crimson Tide

I want to give a little backstory before I start posting about our trip.  Some thoughts about our team and our school.

At Alabama we have a rich tradition.  Before this season we had 12 National Championships and 21 SEC Championships.  When my Mom was in school we won a National Championship her freshman AND sophomore years.  But, in the 25 years that I had been alive we had only won one, in 1992.  I vaguely remember the game.  I remember going to school the next day and wearing an Alabama shirt because I was so proud.  But then we got into some rough years.  We got into probations, coaches who didn't know how to act right off the field, and losing to your rival an insane number of years in a row. 

But the beauty in Alabama fans is that....we were still fans.  We still remembered our 12 National Championships and enjoyed celebrating our team no matter what they were doing.  We weren't fair weather fans, we were just fans.  We knew that all programs have lows and, although I got sick of hearing it, we were rebuilding.  I can't tell you how much I loved seeing the new statues of our Championship winning coaches outside of the addition to Bryant Denny Stadium.  Because, that's what Alabama is.  Sticking together when you're down and staying proud of what you've already accomplished.  Alabama is, like Bear Bryant said, acting like you've been there before.  Whether where you are is up or down. 

And that's why this trip meant so much.  Jason and I were discussing it on our way out on Monday that all season it's been "when we go to Pasadena."  The dress that Charlotte wore to the game was given to her by my Mom at a baby shower at the beginning of last May.  When I opened it she said that it was a 9 month size so that Charlotte could wear it to the National Championship.

The thing about Alabama fans is that we always believe.  We believe the best in our team until we are shown that we need to modify our expectations.  This year's expectations were no different than my expectations during the Shula years when I would pencil the SEC Championship game into my planner at the beginning of the season with hopes that we would be there.  We believe in our boys and that they can play to the best of their potential.  The only difference with our expectations this year and our expectations every other year is that this year, our boys met us right where we were expecting them to. 

Sometimes it's fun to be surprised.  Birthday's, Christmas, engagements.  All of those are better with surprises.  But trips to National Championship games are the best when you hope from beginning of the season to be there and then you get to go.  It makes it sweeter when you can write the date and time of the National Championship game in pen over your penciled in previous version.  Yes, this game was sweeter because of where we've been for the past few years.  It was sweeter because of how quickly Coach Saban brought us here.  But mostly it was sweet because we know how hard our boys worked to bring us there.  

Now, if you're not an Alabama fan chances are you aren't still reading this but just in case let me clarify.  Alabama is a place rich with tradition.  We pride ourselves on having class and "acting like we've been there before" but that doesn't mean that we don't have rogue fans.  There are Alabama fans who aren't good sports, who drink too much and are inappropriate, and who don't have good manners just like there are those fans from Auburn, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.  I apologize if you have a negative experience with a fan like that.  I had one with one of our own fans in the Rose Bowl.  It happens with fans from each and every school.  But just like you don't want someone to judge you based on one mistake from our life, you shouldn't judge a whole program or school based on a few fans who don't embody the principles that that school is trying to uphold.

For the most part, Alabama fans try to display class and pride in their school and not work at tearing down other fans.  That's what I love about Alabama.  Our tradition.  Our pride.  Our class.  We have learned a lot in the last decade as Alabama fans.  How to lose and how to win.  Our history, our pride in our school, that's what made this win so sweet.  Because now we're a part of Alabama's rich tradition.  It isn't just something that our parents took part in but something that we were there for.  And being there....that's something you'll never forget.