Everybody's Jealous-- And That's FINE...!

Well, it's official. Nick Saban is on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and everybody's gunning for THE University of Alabama Football Program. (Note the capitalization of the entire title!) This strikes me as kind of hypocritical, since EVERYone was proclaiming The Tide's 'irrelevance' not long ago.

Say what you want about the man or the program, but you can't deny it. Once again, Tuscaloosa has become the center of the universe. And rightfully so. Everyone hates us because of our arrogance and perceived superiority. (Decades of winning and expecting to win will do that to a fan base.) Sure, we became lax and had a few down cycles. But we were always 'this close' to victory.
Just ask last year's national champion Florida Gators, who we played oh-so-close but gave away a fumble on a tying/winning drive. Or the Arkansas Razorbacks. Or the Fat Orange In-breds up in Tennessee. All of these games weren't in reality won by those teams as much as given away by ours. Now that we have a legitimate championship-caliber coach, and kids who want to play for the man as well as the program, things are looking up.
No more '3 runs up the middle and punt'. No more sitting on a 1-point lead and 'hoping' for the best. The fire is back. We're going straight for the jugular.
6 Days 'Til Kickoff. I can't wait.