I love "my" College Football

I guess I’m the odd man out. I really enjoy college football and I love Bama football.
I will watch key match-ups in other conferences, and I try to watch as many SEC games as possible.
I just don’t watch those games with the same intensity that I watch and re-watch Alabama games. I watch merely for entertainment or to look for weaknesses in a media touted team in case Bama has to face them in a bowl. I root for every SEC team during bowl month because I want our conference to be the absolute, unquestionable leader – especially when the pundits are downplaying us.
Born in ’59, I grew up watching 1 or 2 Alabama games per year and yearning for more, I’d watch whatever game was televised on Saturday. I still enjoy going to a game when I can, but mostly for the atmosphere. I’d rather watch a big game at home on the tube where I can see the plays easier, rewind as often as I want, and don’t get thrown out for disturbing the peace (although my wife has threatened). Even though big time media has brought many choices into my living room now, I suppose there must be a downside as well. My biggest disappointment is how the media has turned into a circus of rating salesmen instead of honorable newscasters and commentators. I could rant for an hour on how I see the current playoff scenario turning into the AP fiasco we had in the 60’s but I won’t. I’ll sit quietly and enjoy all of the college ball I can get, light my bonfire on the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Saturday in October, and save my screaming for Bama games.

selmaborntidefan said:

b) there were no highlight shows unless you had ESPN, who had quite primitive replay techniques and low production values and was only available in a few areas of the country...

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True, but when ESPN first became available where we were, it was amazing. Suddenly, you weren't limited to five minutes of highlights that probably included a minute or two of clips from a handful of games, followed by a few minutes of graphics showing scores of a couple of dozen other games. You had sequential clips with narration and analysis that actually told the story of how a game unfolded. For dozens of games all over the country. We used to watch Sportcenter on Saturday nights in the fraternity house almost transfixed. And, then we'd watch the replays (WITH UPDATES FROM WEST COAST GAMES, FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD!) into Sunday morning. It was really a paradigm shift.

crimsonaudio said:

I used to be a huge SEC Fan - then the dark decade from the mid 90's to the mid 00's came and I saw first hand how gleeful most every fan from every SEC school I cam ears was about Bama's struggles. Many were downright nasty, relishing being Bama hurting.

That did it for me - my attitude now is screw them, I'll never pull for any SEC team other than Bama and couldn't care less about them.

I love watching good football from any conference, but will never pull for another SEC team again unless it helps Bama. if it were possible for every other SEC team to go 0-12 I'd be all for it.

Irrational? Yeah, probably so. But those SEC teams LOVED seeing Bama down, and an elephant never forgets.

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^^^^^What he said times 2^^^^

I can't believe I didn't give proper credit to Coca-Cola and Golden Flake foe Coach Bryant's Sunday replay show.

On Sunday afternoons a LOT of really good NFL games were suddenly abandoned in favor of Coach Bryant and his "Great Pair," even those with Joe Willie, Snake, Bart, Lee Roy and such embroiled in tight games. Those were magical times indeed. :BigA:

Even listening to the radio broadcasts back then often had special charms, there's just something about listening to a Bama game in a crowded dove field as John Forney described the action over dozens of transistor radio as the doves were largely being ignored. Call me crazy, but you had to be there.

Maybe somewhat of a middle gound would be the ideal.

crimsonaudio said:

I used to be a huge SEC Fan - then the dark decade from the mid 90's to the mid 00's came and I saw first hand how gleeful most every fan from every SEC school I cam ears was about Bama's struggles. Many were downright nasty, relishing being Bama hurting.

That did it for me - my attitude now is screw them, I'll never pull for any SEC team other than Bama and couldn't care less about them.

I love watching good football from any conference, but will never pull for another SEC team again unless it helps Bama. if it were possible for every other SEC team to go 0-12 I'd be all for it.

Irrational? Yeah, probably so. But those SEC teams LOVED seeing Bama down, and an elephant never forgets.

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The thing is, it helps Bama whenever any SEC team beats a non-conference opponent. It helps our strength of schedule, which helps us in the eyes of the playoff committee. I believe the SEC dominance in previous years is what put us ahead of Oklahoma State, and gave us a chance to win a national championship against LSU.

I know what you mean, Tommy, you had to have been around in those days. Younger fans missed the glory days of radio when all the major schools had colorful play by play announcers. Those guys were so much better than today's announcers and commentators because they had to describe the action and paint the picture for your mind's eye.

I vividly remember John Forney describing the autumnal foliage of the Smokie Mountains on a crisp and sunny 3rd Saturday in October or a steamy, muggy night in Tiger Stadium. I spent many Saturday's with John Forney.

Catfish said:

True, but when ESPN first became available where we were, it was amazing. Suddenly, you weren't limited to five minutes of highlights that probably included a minute or two of clips from a handful of games, followed by a few minutes of graphics showing scores of a couple of dozen other games. You had sequential clips with narration and analysis that actually told the story of how a game unfolded. For dozens of games all over the country. We used to watch Sportcenter on Saturday nights in the fraternity house almost transfixed. And, then we'd watch the replays (WITH UPDATES FROM WEST COAST GAMES, FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD!) into Sunday morning. It was really a paradigm shift.

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ESPN did get a lot better. I first had them in the summer of 1981 (they began in 1979) in Miss and their shows used to be quite primitive. However, they DID step up production values and their "coming of age" was the 1987 NFL contract where they got some games. That's when ESPN really became a big deal.

I agree with your assessment to a degree.


But the most important thing was UGA and OU suing the NCAA and winning an antitrust suit in 1982. When the court ruled that the NCAA did NOT have the right to oversee TV rights and voided all contracts, the networks were able to get games on the cheap. In 1984, for example, schools got $300,000 for a game when they would have gotten $700,000 pre-lawsuit. The ruling basically said that the home teams could negotiate a TV game as long as the visitors assented to it and agreed with it. It took awhile to work out some of the kinks but the rights were so low back then that PBS was showing a weekly Ivy League game (I could still swear I saw the 1984 MSU-LSU game on the Catholic network EWTN).

Ratings, of course, plummeted because they were now dispersed. You got the 11 am WTBS game (such as our 1984 game with Ga Tech). Consider this: the 1984 Alabama-Penn State game was NOT TELEVISED ANYWHERE!!!! Think about that!! That was the only game in that series NOT shown on TV, and all of the others except the 1990 game were on a major network (ABC in 1981-83-85-86 and CBS in 82-87-88-89). That same year, UCLA and USC had to sue and overturn a provision in their ABC contract so their games with Nebraska and Notre Dame could be shown on CBS.


But I will be blunt - I don't look at those pre-1984 years as the good ole days from a TV standpoint. I DO prefer as many games as possible because I don't watch much else. That said, I'm not "a college football fan" so much as a Tide fan.

Or even an SEC fan. Barely. And I still find it hard to pull for Auburn, Tenn, or LSU.

MN-Tide said:

The thing is, it helps Bama whenever any SEC team beats a non-conference opponent. It helps our strength of schedule, which helps us in the eyes of the playoff committee. I believe the SEC dominance in previous years is what put us ahead of Oklahoma State, and gave us a chance to win a national championship against LSU.

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The ultimate irony?

If Auburn does not come back from 16 down against Utah St in the opener (when we were ALL rooting for the Aggies).....Okie St goes to play LSU....

My very first Iron Bowl was 1971 (moved to the state that year). Both teams were undefeated. There was something special about beating Auburn and destroying their perfect season. I still find myself pulling for them to win every game leading up to the Iron Bowl, just so their misery will be that much greater when they lose to us.

And they do lose to "us". I'm sure that every player on the field can hear me screaming at the TV from 1,000 miles away. I do my part.