Their 'Roll Tides' are thick with Bama southern accents, and whole hearted goodness. Their phone calls sometimes make me huff when I am busy on deadline and they just want to talk Bama football. But when I calm down and realize the big picture, I realize I just want to talk Bama football too. And so, we do. Two strangers, laughing about how easy Eddie Lacey spins around opponents, how glad we are Julio is doing well with the Falcons, that we scream "Juuullliiooooo" at the TV just like when we did when he was wearing our jersey. We talk about Nick Saban, how he is a mastermind and we're 'real glad' he's here at Alabama, "the place where he belongs."
When time comes knocking back at the door of reality, these kind strangers usually notice the anxiety in my voice as I glanee at the clock and know I have to get back to work. They say, "alright then, sorry to bother you young lady, just wanted someone to talk to. Roll Tide." I say roll tide back because its as simple as, 'good bye for now', and we hang up. I go on to the hustle and bustle of my work day, they continue on to what ever solitude I envision they have, calling TV stations for company and college football.
No matter who you are, there is nothing like the love of football, like there is here at Alabama. This year I was given the assignment to put together the greatest moments of this past season. I was initially given 3 minutes to capture it all. As you can see, I didn't quite contain it in 3 minutes- but who could? I know there are literally a thousand other ways this video could go. It just scratches the surface of what this past year was. It really only highlights four games, but as I worked it wasn't about the number of games shown. I started seeing the drama of the close calls we had. The passion we were left with at the end, because at the end, we knew we were not lucky, but blessed to be heading to the National Championship. This video doesn't show Stanford's missed field goal, Colin Klien's interceptions, Oregon's stunned defeat- teams that some said, couldn't handle the pressure of being number one. It doesn't show Alabama fans screaming in the streets because we lived to see another day. It does not show one second of the National Championship.
After the 'ship Nick Saban said, "Georgia was, what? 5 yards from being here. We have to get a lot better."
This year's win, the second in a row, was the most like Bama I had ever seen. At least the Bama I had come to know. It was full of story lines, because its true what they say, at Alabama we live football. We lived it in dominating wins where fans had to try to stay humble from. After each 30 point difference in the final score fans still said, "but Missouri could still get us." We lived it when we were tested, and we lived it when our players passion to prove they belonged rang true in important moments to our season. We even lived it when we lost, it sounds arrogant, but when our perfection was blemished. Even though we are privileged football school, it was clear our team knew that nothing is ever given to you, that you play every day as if it was the beginning of time, and every team is fresh with possibility. We played till the very end like we were on a quest for perfection, but what separated us from the rest is that we knew it was impossible to arrive at perfection, but that the battle to be must be fought anyway.
And that is why we win. And that is why I had so much fun putting this video together. Take a look, celebrate, and feedback is always welcome.
Roll Tide,
Tori
