The Greatest Season Ever

Four weeks ago today, my beloved Crimson Tide won its 13th national championship, and it still feels wonderful.  I’ve just taken this time to revel in the feeling of being champions again after so many years in the wilderness.  I waited a while to write anything about it to gain some perspective on how amazing this season truly was.

After reflecting on all that was accomplished this season, and as a student of Alabama football history and someone who has experienced much of the past decade from the inside… I can say unequivocally that this was the greatest season in the history of the Alabama Crimson Tide, and is clearly among the greatest seasons in the history of college football.  A bold statement, given the Tide’s rich tradition and legacy of championship teams and players, but I am certain it’s an accurate assessment of this magical season.

So why will 2009 go down as the greatest season in Crimson Tide history?

THE NUMBERS:

- 14-0.  Alabama became just the third team in the history of college football to finish a season 14-0, and the first SEC team to do so.

- 4th straight for SEC.  Alabama secured the SEC’s fourth consecutive BCS national championship, becoming the first SEC team this decade to finish undefeated and win a national championship

- We beat the best to BE the best.  In 2009, Alabama defeated the last three national champions – Florida (2008 and 2006), LSU (2007), and Texas (2005)

- We did it the hard way.  Alabama went undefeated through one of the nation’s toughest schedules, including three teams ranked in the top ten in the final AP Top 25, and five total Top 25 teams.  In fact, Alabama became the first team in NCAA history to defeat 10 teams with winning records, all of which went to bowl games.  Avenging last year’s close loss to Florida in the SEC Championship Game, Alabama defeated the #1-ranked Gators to win this year’s SEC Championship, snapping Florida’s 22-game winning streak

- SIX.  Alabama was the first team in NCAA history to produce six first-team All-Americans in one season (Mark Ingram, Rolando McClain, Terrence Cody, Mike Johnson, Javier Arenas, Leigh Tiffin)

- 57 and 32.  Alabama appeared in its NCAA-record 57th bowl game, and secured its NCAA-record 32nd bowl victory

- The first win.  Alabama defeated Texas for the first time ever, erasing one of the weirdest gaps in Bama’s storied history

- DEFENSE.  Alabama finished the season ranked second in the nation in total defense (244.14 yards per game), second in scoring defense (11.71 points per game), and second in rushing defense (78.14 yards per game).  The #1-ranked rushing defense was Texas, who allowed an average of 72.36 yards per game; Alabama rushed for 205 yards in the BCS Championship Game against the Longhorns, more than two and half times their average.

- Best of both worlds.  This is the first Alabama team to have SEC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in the same season (Mark Ingram and Rolando McClain)

- 10.  Alabama won 10 games in a season for the 30th time, an NCAA record

- 13 and 22.  Alabama won its 13th National Championship and 22nd Southeastern Conference Championship

- The First Heisman.  Mark Ingram became the first University of Alabama player in its long history to win the Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to college football’s best individual player.  Ingram set the tone for the Tide all season long with a bruising running style that relied heavily on gaining tough yards after contact. Ingram rushed for an Alabama-record 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns, and added 34 yards and three touchdowns receiving.  Ingram was a longshot to win college football’s highest individual at the start of the season, but his consistent weekly production and clutch performance in the SEC Championship Game helped him capture the Tide’s first Heisman as a sophomore.  His humble and tearful acceptance speech will go down as one of the best and most memorable in the history of the Trophy.

- The Butkus and the Lambert.  Rolando McClain became the Tide’s second winner of the Butkus Award, presented to college football’s finest defensive player.

MY MEMORIES:

- THE PROCESS.  Seeing an underdog team get over the hump and become a champion before our very eyes is just magical.  Who would have ever believed that Nick Saban could turn this team into college football’s best in three seasons?

- CHARACTER.  The character of this team will go down in Alabama history as legendary, and the just sheer want-to of its leaders was amazing to watch.  Fighting through tough games and close calls with a sheer determination, this team just REFUSED to fail.  I love that.

- THE TRUTH.  Rolando McClain is the TRUTH.  He’s been my favorite player for three years, but he’ll likely go down in my memory now as my favorite ever.  His combination of fierce play, sheer will, intelligence, and leadership is unmatched in my lifetime.  His legend in my mind was secured when he prevented excited Tide players from dousing Coach Saban with the customary Gatorade bath as the seconds ticked down on the SEC Championship Game, saying “we’re not done yet.”  That’s leadership, and that’s what legends are made of.

- THE COACH.  Nick Saban’s leadership, fire, determination, focus, and will to focus on the process and create champions has engineered one of the most unimaginable turnarounds of a program, both in attitude and outcome.  The guy just won’t QUIT, and his team took on that personality as well and bought into his system.

- THE IDENTITY.  This team just lined up and BEAT you.  No silly spread, no goofy trick plays, no reliance on some gimmicky “system”.  This team, for 14 weeks, just HIT people.  That is Alabama football.

- DOMINATION.  Alabama football’s legacy has always been running the ball and playing stout defense.  This team just took that to an entirely new level by dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and just being more physical that its opponent.

- THE MOMENTS.  The magic moments from this season are endless, and will forever be etched in our memories…  Terrence Cody’s miraculous block to beat Tennessee…  Trent Richardson’s unthinkable touchdown run against Arkansas when he broke tackles from everyone on the roster at least twice…  Julio Jones’ screen-pass-turned-73-yard-game-winning-touchdown against LSU…  Javy’s record-breaking punt return…  Any of a hundred Mark Ingram runs in which he punished a defender for additional yardage after contact…  Greg “ice in his veins” McElroy’s brilliant last-minute drive against Auburn, capped by senior Roy Upchurch’s touchdown catch to win the game…  McElroy’s bunny hop down the sideline against Florida to gain a crucial first down…  Ingram exploding on a screen pass down the sideline to shift momentum for good in the SEC Championship…  the classic Ingram/Saban chest bump as the seconds ticked down on Bama’s 22nd SEC Championship…  Marcell Dareus’s pick-six interception return against Texas, including one of the sweetest stiff-arms and spin moves you’ll ever see by a 300-pounder…  Eryk Anders blasting Texas QB Garrett Gilbert late in the fourth quarter of the BCS Championship, causing a fumble that would lead to Mark Ingram blasting through the Texas line with a clinching touchdown, and falling on his knees to look skyward as Bama clinched its 13th national championship.  The list goes on and on.

- THE UNKNOWNS.  The unknown and underrated players who stepped up and filled roles to transform this team from a good one to the best team in America… these guys are special.  Colin Peek.  Barrett Jones.  William Vlachos.  Trent Richardson.  Marquis Maze.  Mark Barron.  Marquis Johnson.  Marcel Dareus.  Eryk Anders.  Nico Johnson.  P.J. Fitzgerald.  The list goes on and on.

- THE ROSE BOWL.  Winning the championship in the Rose Bowl, the granddaddy of them all and where Bama put itself on the map, was just PERFECT.

- THE DETHRONEMENT.  Tim Tebow is a great player who has cultivated a very positive public image, but I’m not gonna lie – I was absolutely SICK of him.  Completely dominating him in his final SEC game was some kind of sweet.

- CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN.  This season effectively put an end to 17 years of frustration and misery in Alabama football, an era filled with coaching changes, scandals, NCAA probations, and heartbreaking losses and turns of fate.  They say you can only truly appreciate the mountaintop when you’ve spent time in the valley, and that is absolutely true.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

“I think everybody should take the attitude that we’re working to be a champion, that we want to be a champion in everything that we do.  Every choice, every decision, everything that we do every day, we want to be a champion.” — Nick Saban, during his introduction as Alabama’s head coach, January 4, 2007

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.  This nation is crimson.  Roll Tide Roll!

 

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More:

• Complete MLS Listing
• See the Virtual Tour
• Contact our realtor, Carol Jackson

 

CHAMPIONS!!!

Mission accomplished, 37-21.  ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

• Alabama Football Wins National Championship No. 13, Beating Texas 37-21

 

What does this game mean to you?

Sure, all the standard words are being used to describe what’s at stake Thursday night… pride, strength, tradition, desire, glory.
 
All apply.  But none capture it.  None do it justice.
 
This isn’t a football game, people – it’s the pride and passion of an entire state.
 
The University of Alabama is our heritage.  Our legacy.  Our community.
 
As an alumnus of this university, I feel the pride and sense of belonging that being a part of it entails.
 
As a fan, I’ve seen college athletics unite people into communities like nothing else.
 
As an athletic department veteran, I’ve seen how truly difficult it is to build a championship program.
 
As a servant of this University for almost nine years, I have a unique understanding of what football means to it, and to our state, and how it binds us all.
 
As a firsthand witness of our last national championship 17 years ago, I know what a truly magical moment feels like.
 
I understand how rare, and how fleeting, and how special those truly perfect moments really are.
 
A magic moment is to be treasured, and remembered, and appreciated, and cherished.
 
And that’s why this moment is so big.  120 teams fight each year for the chance to be in the spot we’re in right now, and 98% of them fail.  It’s all in front of us.  Glory awaits – the kind that stays with us forever.
 
I have intentionally avoided discussing this game much over the past 30 days, simply because I knew that doing so and allowing myself to be swept up in all the hype would wear me out and I wouldn’t enjoy the feeling this game should truly create.
 
And now, now that it’s here, now that this epic battle is right around the corner… I feel it.
 
The fire.  The fury.  The desire.  If 85 crimson-clad young men in Pasadena, CA feel what I feel on Thursday night, we’re all going to have an amazing night.
 
This team – this collection of individuals who have played as one – has accomplished so much.  And yet, everything is at stake.
 
At its most basic level, Thursday night is about a bunch of 20-year-olds from one school attempting to prove their relative superiority over a bunch of 20-year-olds from another.  It’s just a sporting event, an athletic contest.
 
But that doesn’t even begin to describe it.
 
It’s about being champions.
 
It’s what we’ve been waiting for.
 
Let’s go be champions, boys.
 
Roll Tide.

 

Let’s go be CHAMPIONS, boys

Best video ever.  RTR, baby.  Beat Texas!

 

UA.edu receives high praise from EDU Checkup

Reposted from WebTide:

I wanted to share the following independent review of UA.edu, which was recently conducted by EDU Checkup, a higher education blog and review site. The review was very positive – in fact the reviewer (Nick DeNardis) tweeted that UA.edu is “one of the highest scoring sites on @educheckup”, and called it “rock star work” (http://twitter.com/nickdenardis/status/5894882926).

Overall, UA.edu received a 98% on visuals, 99% on code, and 93% for information, for an overall score of 97%. While it’s certainly nice to receive such a high score, the most gratifying part of the review is to see an impartial observer pick up on many of the intentional design decisions made during this process and appreciate the rationale and the work that went into those choices.

The review, in video form, is here:

http://educheckup.com/2009/11/20/the-university-of-alabama-episode-129/

Also, UA.edu is currently featured on eduStyle.net:

http://www.edustyle.net/site.php?site=3512

 

KOL, Will, and nighttime at Bryant-Denny

This past weekend, we saw Kings of Leon and Will Hoge in Birmingham on back-to-back nights, and tailgated and went to the Bama-South Carolina Homecoming game on Saturday. The concerts were amazing – two of the best shows we’ve seen. And the game was great – it was Cathy’s first big SEC game, and her first night game at Bryant-Denny. A truly great weekend!

Kings of Leon Concert Photos

Will Hoge Concert Photos

Alabama Football 2009 Photos

 

Barbados!

For our first anniversary, Cathy and I took a second honeymoon to Barbados and stayed in a luxurious resort called The Crane, overlooking Crane Beach, which was profiled by Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous as one of the top ten beaches in the world. It lived up to the hype, and then some. An amazing, wonderful week with my wonderful wife, and a perfect way to mark our first year together.

Barbados Photo Gallery

 

AWESOME

 

The next generation of UA.edu

Launched today, the refreshed UA Home Page features a modernized look and feel, simplified navigation, updated functionality, a content-centric design, and close integration with the new Touching Lives campaign.  The sixth major version of the UA Home Page updates the previous look launched in December 2006, and we’re excited about the new site and the possibilities it represents.  Roll Tide!

www.UA.edu

More:

• UA to reveal new marketing campaign (The Tuscaloosa News – 9/4/09)
• UA’s homepage gets new look (The Crimson White – 9/4/09)
• New ad campaign explains UA (The Crimson White – 9/4/09)
• A new UA Home Page debuts (WebTide – 9/1/09)