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A Look Back At 2000 Ten Years Later: Part 2

selmaborntidefan

selmaborntidefan

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A Look Back at 2000 Ten Years Later: Part 2 - THE SECOND HALF
by Bill Brown (selmaborntidefan)
August 17, 2010

Read Part 1 here

It was hard to believe at 3-4 the Crimson Tide was still leading the SEC West. In fact, if the Bama boys could sweep the November slate then they would square off once again with the Gators and Visor Boy to determine the SEC champion. The loss to Tennessee got the mind of Mal Moore seriously considering a coaching change. What happened over the next week sent Moore’s mind into hyper-drive.

It should have been so simple. Tiny little Central Florida was coming to Tuscaloosa for homecoming. Unfortunately, DuBose was 0 for 3 in what is usually considered a gimme game. Twice he had lost to Louisiana Tech, but what rained down on the afternoon of October 28, 2000 would affect lives far beyond the playing field. Bama fans were glad to note the return of former AD and Bama QB Steve Sloan to the Capstone, serving as UCF’s AD. The game was going to be a wipeout, everyone knew that, so fans enjoyed the festivities and got ready for the deluge of points.

Well, not exactly.


READ MORE HERE
 
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theBIGyowski

theBIGyowski

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Aug 4, 2005
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Great job...and I think you nailed it.

I was a freshman at the Capstone for the 2000 season. I came in a naive student fan who had watched the Tide dominate the West for the most part in the 90s. I was at the Orange Bowl earlier that January...and I was mistaken when I thought we could just correct what went wrong in 1999 to get back to a BCS bowl game.

I was at every home game in 2000...so I got to see all of those heartbreaking losses. The loss to LSU didn't hurt me as much as it did my dad, who was a freshman at Alabama in 1969. Amazing that it was our two freshman years that were the bookends to the Tide's dominance in Baton Rouge.

I had no clue what was going to happen to our team and the only reason I didn't give up hope was because we were going to get a new coach.

Being on this side of the decade now...with a National Championship in the books it's easy to brush off the 2000 season, but the scars are still there. I still say the two worst games I have ever witnessed were during the 2000 season. The Southern Miss (21-0) game was the most pathetic showing I have ever seen from a Crimson Tide football team. The Iron Bowl (9-0) was overall the worst football game I have ever attended. Both teams played like garbage and the weather was like salt in the wound. I believe it was just warm enough that we didn't have snow...but rather a frigid constant rain. We were only trailing 6-0 at the half. A touchdown would have won the game at that point...which is why people stayed. Not scoring at all in your own stadium was pathetic.

I remember the flyers all over campus that said "Fire Dubose" on them. Wow...what a huge change from August 2000 to November 2000.
 
R

rhunter

Scout Team
Aug 9, 2010
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Great read and nice analysis. I'd forgotten about the punching incidents but boy did that say a lot about the lack of discipline.

What I take away from those 1997-2004 years is those losses to the UCF's and La Tech's and No. Ill. teams that made you the laughingstock at the water cooler on Monday AM's. It seemed like every year had one and although CNS had his ULM loss, I sincerely hope those are gone for a very long time.

As the season went on that year I remember making the LSU game and keeping the Red Stick win streak alive was the main thing- and with that close loss I just lost all hope for beating AU even at home.

Now with Dubose back in "big time" coaching at Memphis I hope he's got his life turned around. Man that was a rough year!!!! Glad it's in the rearview.
 
T

TRU

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Oct 3, 2000
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Thanks for the great summary. It was really the start of a lost decade. I remember that I was heading to the Birmingham airport for a flight to somewhere or other the weekend of the UCF game and pulling over in the left hand lane of the road to the garage to listen to them kick the field goal to win. I cheered, knowing that Dumbose was really finished and thinking that the nightmare was finally coming to an end. Little did I know...

IMHO Dumbose has to go down as the worst coach in Bama history. Ears might have a poorer record on the field, but Ears did not cause any lasting damage. When he left and Bryant took over, things improved quickly. But Dumbose, apart from being a poor coach, saddled Bama with sanctions that took years to overcome. His stench hovered over the program for a long time after his departure.
 
mikes12

mikes12

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I had such high hopes going into 2000, along with season tickets. While that was not the merriest stroll down memory lane, let me share a few snippets from my own memory.

The Ole Miss game. I just knew we'd turned the corner after that rousing win. Surely we were back, and whatever demons we had finally had been exorcised. Wrong. Apparently seeing the movie 'Remember the Titans' did more to motivate the team than our coaching staff did.

The Auburn game. I remember showing up to this one a little late, and hearing the announcer present Shaun Alexander to bring out the game ball. I couldn't see this because a bunch of Auburn fans were blocking the way as a large crowd and not letting people get to their seats. This was the only game I ever left early. The rain and cold were bad enough, but the players and worse, the coaches, had obviously quit.
 
J

JDCrimson

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I can tell you the actual low point of Alabama football in that USM game. If you will remember, I think this was the year of the Pancake Posse.

Anyway there was a timeout called by Alabama. If I remember correctly most of the team went to the sidelines during the timeout. Anyway the team went back on the field and lined up. The ref set the ball for play and wound the play clock. Apparently there was some confusion, but the center snapped the ball and Tyler was still on the sidelines getting some last second instructions. Apparently, it was supposed to be shotgun formation play but the QB was back there to receive the snap. The ball rolled like 20+ yards all while Tyler was over close to the sideline.

Absolutely the most disgusting and pathetic thing I have ever seen in college football period. It makes me angry just thinking about it.
 
R

rhunter

Scout Team
Aug 9, 2010
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That's right about Cottrell- I had visions of all those fantastic 90's FSU players wearing Crimson and White for years to come- Shame to see how his career ended up.

While being a complete coward for not holding the rope, you have to give credit to fRAN for his two good years on the field- Although 7-6 in 2001 was not a great year- the Iron Bowl win felt great and our 2002 team deserved even better than 10 wins if the focus/game planning had been there for the AU game instead of hashing out T A+M contract details- That team was very good but will always be overshadowed by the probation and the coach leaving the way he did.
 
bamachile

bamachile

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Jul 27, 2007
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Great job. I still say you're making it all up as we didn't really play football that year. It's certainly a rough time period to remember, and it's almost unbelievable now to recall just how much hope we put in "Fran the man" after that debacle of a season. I was working in Louisiana at the time (before moving here permanently), and the locals had similar hopes for their Michigan State hire - I remember thinking that they both had a lot of potential. Honestly, I feared then that LSU had the edge with Saban, but I had high hopes that our TCU hire would work miracles. Ten years certainly changes things...
 
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