Being a witness to destiny is a rare privilege when it happens in any way, on any stage, at any level, but when it plays out over the course of four-plus months of a college football season, in the sport’s most brutal conference, with a schedule littered with enough land mines to blow up the dream several times, it just has to be celebrated.
To say the 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide was a team of destiny doesn’t fully give this amazing squad the credit they deserve, and earned. Destiny implies that factors out of their control were at play, guiding, and prodding and assisting, and if there’s one characteristic that stands out about this dynamic collection of incredible championship talent it’s this: The Tide earned everything they got and deserved everything they won on the field.
But off the field, there was a feeling of destiny that surrounded this special team. Never have college athletes and coaches played for a bigger purpose, or had their championship season enjoyed, and needed by more people than Nick Saban’s latest collection of BCS Champs.
Congratulations to a great football team, for the staggering accomplishment of not only winning the 2012 BCS Championship, but doing it with style, flair, and utter and complete domination. In a word, the only way to describe this season, and this team, which carried the hopes and dreams of an entire community on their shoulder pads is this: Destined.
I am an Alabama Crimson Tide fan. I love their history, their uniforms, their stadium and their mascot. What’s not to love about an elephant? And the fans are just so damn passionate. I was at the Florida vs. Bama game in Gainesville this fall, and got to see it in person. I couldn’t believe how many Bama fans were there— and what struck me about most of them was this quiet confidence that straddled the line of cockiness but never crossed it. Kind of like they knew their team was great, they knew they would win that game that night, and that’s just the way it was.
Anyway, I was rooting for the Tide in the BCS Championship game. I wanted Alabama to win the National Championship ever since that terrible tornado wiped out a huge part of Tuscaloosa last spring. I just respect greatness, and in my mind there is no greater coach than Nick Saban, and I’ve never seen a defense as bad ass as Bama’s this past season. I had a blast putting together the book on the 2012 Champs. It was cool watching the resilience it took to rally after losing to LSU earlier in the season, and I had no doubts, with 40-plus days to prepare, Saban would coach circles around Les Miles and he did.
I’m very proud of our new book, “Pride Of The Tide!” and if you are an Alabama football fan you have to have it. It will be for sale throughout the Southeast this week, starting Thursday (Jan 12) and you will probably do a double take when you see the cover. It has a photo more rare than a Bigfoot sighting. More unbelievable than a Republican campaign sign on Alec Baldwin’s front lawn. We got a shot of Nick Saban smiling, celebrating and cutting loose.
Hey Bama fans—that alone makes this book a must have! Enjoy the book. It’s my favorite of the 20 or so I’ve done. Order it online here—www.rylinmedia.com
I have a funny feeling I’ll be doing my third Bama Championship book next year at this time.
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