Roll. Tide.
The first two words uttered by fans of the Alabama football program since childhood. It was normal for them to see their parents or grandparents have the television set on the Crimson Tide under coach Paul Bryant, while listening the smooth voice of Keith Jackson taking you through situations within the game.
For those that did not have T.V., listening to Jackson, Eli Gold and Kenneth Stabler (after playing career) on the radio is what got them through the weekend. Having those figure heads that discussed a program that they love so passionately not only drew diehards to Alabama, but it also compelled them to learn more.
Just like all things in life, football goes through cycles.
Nick Saban is highly appreciated at Alabama. From the financial benefits he is paid to the massive flood of fans that attend games on Saturdays, the last thing on the minds of people is Tide football without the six-time national champion. But even with everything at his fingertips, Saban will always find something that bothers him. The lack of support from students against Louisiana boiled in him from last week and the media caught the aftermath on Wednesday.
It’s going through the tough times that helps one learn the significance of his or her favorite team. Things like crappy games, losing seasons, and failed expectation are all part of the process of growing pains. From the pains, fans then start to see their team improve. They begin to see a school defeat some teams it should lose to and develop confidence along the way. Soon enough, the program is well on its way to post double-digit win totals and competing for national titles.
As much as we would like to blame the student body and say things like “take away their tickets,” let’s look at the root of the problem. Back then, the majority of students attending UA hailed from the state of Alabama. Those individuals were raised in a culture filled with understanding the history of Tide football.
They knew what it was like to go on a long stretch of winning championships, but they also knew the feeling of dealing with crippling loses.
Nowadays, the campus is more diverse.
UA wants to have more reach in getting those from New York, California, Texas, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Hawaii and international areas, to prove it has a way of appealing to people from different environments. When this happens, the out-of-state students outnumber those in-state and you have a multitude of minds that don’t know about the Alabama football program.
“I came here because I heard that football is big at UA.” This is the typical response from out-of-state student, upon being asked why he or she chose this particular school. One cannot expect them to fully know or understand the culture immediately, due to not being familiar with it.
On top of this, it also needs to be made known that some of the in-state do not know the history either in terms of football. The new-aged Tide fans came along when Saban arrived in 2007, which means they have no recollection of what occurred pre-Saban from 1997 to 2006.
These fans never saw a 3-8 team in 2004, a program that lost six in a row to Auburn from 2002 to 2007, a school that was under probation because of an issue with text books, a team that went through four different coaches after Gene Stallings and prior to Saban, and an institution that did not win a national championship earlier in the 2000s era.
What these fans and students are used to is seeing Alabama constantly win, because this is the era where their enjoyment for the Tide started. Reasons for them leaving games early or not coming at all include: a pre-meditated thought on Bama winning (so why attend), football is a social event for them (especially freshmen) and they move on to a new event afterwards, and they honestly feel as though Saban’s dominance will last forever and it is really no big deal.
And though the sentiment is understood by some, the idea of not appreciating something due to ignorance looms large. Students take classes during the week that are geared toward a future career; however, there should be a 101-seminar class on the history of Tide football. This will help get students into the mindset of recognizing why others are so passionate about the program, the different coaches and players that dedicated time and physical effort to make it thrive, and much needed history on what makes Alabama the feared school that it is across the landscape.
Along with this, maybe instead of having another movie shown during Week of Welcome, supervisors for Bama Bound and others assisting with incoming freshmen should display different videos that go over football. If nothing else but learning the school’s fight song (because some don’t know it), educating our students on the excellence of our athletics department is a must.
Let us also keep in mind that are athletes are students too.
The same Damien Harris scoring touchdown as a running back is probably sitting in the front row of an English class. While diehard fans know Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts as strong quarterbacks, students recognize them from math class. The self-same things can be stated on other players, and if you take away tickets from students, athletes may become slighted by it.
All in all, UA has some of the brightest minds. As diehards, it is our job to make sure the next wave of fans and athletes not only enjoy their time in Tuscaloosa but also teach them.
It is time for us to instruct the young fans.
Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
