Now is the Time for Alabama Fans to Show Their Class

By Larry Burton

 

This was a hard loss for the team, coaches and the fan base of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Fans can complain over this call or that call the refs did or didn’t make, decisions by coaching staff that were or were not made or personnel that may or may not have had enough playing time.

Or they can simply say, congrats to Auburn, they played their butts off and they won.

No one thought, or should have thought, that Alabama would never lose. Did anyone think Nick Saban would never make a bad decision or that Cade Foster or any kicker would never miss a field goal?

Alabama’s history of starting slow cost it tonight. Alabama taking a too conservative approach cost it tonight. There were lots of things that didn’t go wrong for the Tide at certain times, but that’s football.

Let the Auburn fans have their day, they’re not ever going to have as many as we do. If they boast, simply say, “You earned this one. Congrats!

Coach Bryant used to preach to win and lose with humility.

People who say someone accomplished things because they were lucky are usually people who have never accomplished anything of their own. Auburn made their own luck, they put themselves in a position to take advantage of a break and they did it. Ask any failure if successful people are lucky and they’ll always say yes.

As a writer, I greatly underestimated Auburn’s skill and more importantly, their coaching abilities and the hearts of the players. As an educated person, I realize that I can not hope to be any more perfect than any football team in my  predictions. As a man I want my son to emulate, I can admit I was wrong. I didn’t just think Alabama would win, but do so in a blowout fashion. Again, I was wrong.

There you go folks, as much as that hurt to write and to say publicly, it makes me proud to able to do it. I represent this magazine, this school, this state, region and sport in everything I write and am proud to be associated with all of these things. I want to proud of the Alabama fan base too.

That’s just the way it should be.

So to Auburn, their players, coaches and fans, congrats. You played a great team today, won and you earned the win. You proved why the SEC is not only the best, but the most exciting conference in all of football.

Larry is an award winning writer whose work has appeared in almost every college football venue. Now he primarily writes for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LBSportswriter