Does anyone else smell Corndogs?

To say that the Alabama vs. LSU game is big would be a great understatement.  What's funny though is the fact that winning this game gets the victor nothing more than closer to the ultimate goal.  No one will walk off the field with a trophy or a conference championship.  No one will even leave with a Western Division Championship.  All they get is a W.  What they don't get is probably the most important.  They don't get a L in the win/loss column.  The winner gets to move forward towards an undefeated season and a shot a National Championship.  The reason this game is so important is because most people think that the eventual National Champion will come from this game.  A big question running around is "should there be a rematch if people truly think these are the 2 best teams?"  My vote is "No."  This is each teams chance to win.  Lose and you should be done.  Do I believe that these are in fact the 2 best teams in the county? "Yes", but let's say that Bama wins at home and then LSU wins in New Orleans, LSU would win the trophy.  Why?  They are 1-1.  Now if you want to have a best of 3, then sure let them keep playing.  That is not how it works though, and another team should get a shot in the National Championship game.


The history of the Alabama vs LSU game is not what I would call very storied. LSU and Alabama have played every year since the 1960s, with Alabama holding a historic edge in the series, 43–24–5. Many trace the origins of the rivalry back to a 15-game undefeated streak Alabama had in Tiger Stadium, which is generally considered to be one of the most hostile atmospheres in college football.  That's right...Alabama won in what many people consider the "hardest place to play" 15 times in a row starting in 1969.  This rivalry really grew it's legs in the 2000's when none other than Nick Saban became the coach of the Bengal Tigers.  He then began to stock pile talent and won LSU their 2nd National championship.  Then in 2007 LSU backed their way into the National Championship game with not 1 but 2 loses.  The last loss came with the last regular season game against Arkansas in overtime.  I am still in awe over a team with 2 loses getting into the National Championship game.  Regardless of the circumstance, LSU won the game they needed to and defeated Ohio State for their 3rd National championship this time under Les "the hat" Miles.  When Saban returned to College Football from his short stint with the Dolphins and came to Alabama that added even more fuel to the fire.  Since Saban came to Alabama in 2007 he is 2-2 against Les Miles, so this years game will tilt the scales one way or the other.  


I love how both fan bases are so confident that their team will win.  That is how it should be. LSU has destroyed every team they have played, so has Alabama.  The game will probably come down to which team makes the critical mistake that leads to points for the other team.  Who do I think will win?  You aren't seriously asking this question are you?  Of course I think Alabama will win.  Why?  Because we are home, we are deeper, we are stronger, we have a chip on our shoulders, and we know how to DOMINATE!!!  So get ready because the THUNDER is coming!!!  Bryant-Denny Stadium will be louder than ever before and if you are there you better be standing up yelling your guts out!!  When our guys are about to leave the locker room to prove they are the best I hope Saban tells them "You've waited your entire life guys for a moment like this. This is your chance to prove that all the hard work, the blood sweat and tears was all worth it. Your chance to do something great for the people of this city and state. Go out there and Dominate those coon asses!!! Play hard and strong for 60 minutes and take what is rightfully yours...1,2,3 DOMINATE!!!!!!"

Rocky Top, You'll Never be Home Sweet Home to Me

What does the Third Saturday in October mean you you?  I know what it means to me.  It takes me back to Chilly October Saturdays, the smell of grills cooking and fans trash talking each other.  It reminds me of Legion Field and Neyland Stadium.  I recall the smokey mountains in Gatlingburg and the Burning Bush Restaurant.

All these memories started for me in 1989 at Legion Field, when an undefeated Alabama took the field with a running back by the name of Siran Stacy.  He ran all over Tennessee as Alabama beat the Vols that day by a score of 47-30.  Ah, my first win over the Volunteers from The Foothills of Tennessee.  I remember walking to the stadium with my shaker in hand chanting "Tennessee fans volunteer to lose"  with my Pawpaw and Meme right by my side, just as proud as they could be. Meme would tell me "don't count your chickens before they hatch"  Maybe I was a bit over confident for an 11 year old but everyone needs a little swagger about them, right?

This series with Tennessee has always been streaky.  That win in 1989 was the 4th win in a row for bama that would eventually turn into 9 games without a lose.  Then in 1995 Bama lost to them in the very place I first saw them win, Legion Field.  Led by Peyton Manning, Tennessee scored on the very first play from scrimmage and the rest of that night was a brutal memory for me as we lost 41-14.  The Vols went on a streak of their own, winning the next 6 games in the series for a 7 game win streak.  The series went back and forth for the next few years with Bama winning 1, then Tennessee winning 2, then Bama with 1, then one last one for Tennessee in 2006, Shula's last year as our coach.

Welcome 2007, the year Saban came to save us all.  Here comes the streak again.  Every year since has been all Bama, with the only close game being in 2009, which should not have been a close game at all and wasn't till about 2 minutes left in the game.  To say it was a defense struggle the entire game would be an understatement with Alabama only scoring on 4 field goals.  With those 2 minutes left, the score was 12-3 and Bama had the ball.  All we needed to do was run out the clock.  What happens next can only be explained by higher powers.  Mark Ingram fumbles the ball and in a few quick plays Tennessee scores a touchdown making the score 12-10.  "Ok we are still good" I'm thinking.  "They won't get this onside kick."  Well guess again. They get the kick and have the ball with about a minute left.  They make a nice pass over one of our linebackers and they are inside the 30 with time left for a last minute kick to win the game.  There was a Tennessee fan right behind us and I look up at him and say good game, you did what you had to do to win.  They were about to kick a game winning field goal and ruin our undefeated season and our chance at a National Championship.  Remember I said that only a higher power could explain what happened?  As they snapped the ball to the holder, Mount Cody busted his way thru the line and blocked the kick, and as the boom of the block shook the stadium, the explosion of the crowd took over. I felt what can only be described as pure bliss, joy, disbelief.  He saved our season, which eventually turned into a crystal ball.  The other Alabama vs Tennessee games have been blow-outs.

So as we get ready to go for 5 in a row, I take this time to reflect on my 23 games I've watched in this series and remember my grandfather, the wins, the losses, the joy, the pain, and the history of this rivalry that began long before I arrived.  Roll Tide!!!  May we continue to DOMINATE!!  I'll leave you with a bit of tradition.  As Tennessee brings "Rocky Top" into our stadium, we as bama fans will sing along with them but with different lyrics than they use.

"Rocky Top you'll never be, home sweet home to me
F_CK You Rocky Top, Go to HELL Tennessee!!"

Why I DOMINATE?

People often tell me, jokingly I think, "you sure say dominate all the time. Why do you like that word?" Maybe some people just don't get it.  Maybe some people don't like it.  If you are going to do anything right in life you must own it.  Be the best you can be at it. To borrow a great quote from one of my favorite movie Trilogies The Matrix  

Agent Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more than just your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desparately to justify an existence that is without meaning or porpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why?! Why do you persist?!

Neo: Because I choose to.

It is not secret to anyone that knows me that I love Alabama Football.  I have loved it for as long as I can remember.  The first game I have any memory of going to was the 1987 Iron Bowl.  Alabama lost that game 0-10.  We lost but it was no big deal, I had lost many park and rec games though out my early sporting career.  Maybe we would win next time I thought.  Then it happened.  The one event the shaped the course of my football loving future.  As my mom and I were leaving the stadium a Auburn fan came right up to me and my mom and shook their shaker right in our faces and yelled at the top of their lungs..."War Eagle!!!  Bama Sucks!!  Go home Bama Losers!!!"  That one rude fan taught me all I needed to know, this was more than a game...it was personal.  Bama went on to lose the next 2 Iron Bowls as well.  I was older and much wiser when I saw the 1990 Iron Bowl at Legion Field.  We beat Auburn 16-7 and that was, up to that point, the greatest time in my life.  I remember thinking, in the mid 4th quarter after kicking a field goal to make it a 2 score game,we are finally going to win.  That victory, that domination, showed me what it felt like to defeat that which you hate the most.  Fast forward 17 years.  The 2006 season was dismal to say the least.  We were coached by Mike Shula and it was time for him to be relieved of his duties.  Who would we hire, who could we get?  Who would want to come coach this once proud program that had been left at the bottom of the SEC barrel?  Well as you know now, we landed the best coach in the country, Nick Saban.  He reminded me of what it means to Dominate.  He uses the word like I use it.  Be relentless, be strong and give 100% in everything that you do.  Alabama is 43-5 since 2008.  I would say that is Dominating!!  

So to answer the question that so many ask, Why do I dominate? Why do I say it all the time?  Why do I teach my children to do it?  Because I choose to.  If you don't understand or agree then you might end up getting PROCESSED!!