Mal Moore Quote and Personal Reflection

Intl.Aperture

All-American
Aug 12, 2015
3,681
23
57
Chesapeake, Virginia
[FONT=&quot]"When I was a little boy, the men in my family would go bird hunting on Saturday afternoons. But the birds often went unshot. The hunters would find the Alabama game on the radio, and there in the fields of broom sage, their good dogs milling restless around their feet, they would stand at the open doors of their trucks and hang on every call, perishing one play, resurrecting the next. I can still hear it."[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]- Mal Moore (Alabama Athletics Director)


Here, just hours before two old blood Southern adversaries are set to reel forth and make war on one another for sporting glory I just wanted to pause for a moment to reflect on the reason that we are all here today.

That love of Alabama Crimson Tide football, how we came to be here, and why it matters just so damn much.

My first encounters were very similar to Moore's. Though we never stopped our proceedings in the wood I would sit in between my Father and my Grandfather on the bench seat of an ancient blue Ford Ranger ( my Grandfather had specifically requested the bench seat so that I may ride in just that spot) and listen to the radio call undulate in and out as we bounced home at dusk over the unpaved logging roads and out of the thick longleaf pine.

My Father and Grandfather were not and are not exuberant men. Successful plays were often met with silence and the creaking of leaf springs and at most only an "Ah-Ha!" escaped from my very frail Grandfather.

For me, Alabama football was always a part of a greater whole. It was tied up in the land, it was tied up in the people - it ran through the family. It was truly heritage in every sense of the word: the team a living personification of the state's attitude toward adversity.

I can smell the truck interior and see the fading tree line.

I can still hear it too, Mal. And I'll never forget the sound.[/FONT]
 
Last edited:

bamamc1

Hall of Fame
Oct 24, 2011
5,409
3,934
187
Haleyville, AL
I don't think we all fully realize the significance of what Coach Moore did and it's impact on the University. As the years roll on, I think it will become a legendary story to be passed on to all Tide fans. We had the right man in the right spot to get us the coach of a generation. Thanks so much Coach Moore and enjoy the game tonight. RTR
 

CB4

Hall of Fame
Aug 8, 2011
9,459
13,453
187
Birmingham, AL
Takes me back to the late 1960’s and hanging on every call by John Forney on that small beige transistor radio. The rest of the world was a million miles away. Just me, John Forney, the Bear and Alabama football.

And in good times and bad times, I’ve lived and died with it many a fall Saturday.

And I wouldn’t change a moment of it.

RTR
 

bamamc1

Hall of Fame
Oct 24, 2011
5,409
3,934
187
Haleyville, AL
Takes me back to the late 1960’s and hanging on every call by John Forney on that small beige transistor radio. The rest of the world was a million miles away. Just me, John Forney, the Bear and Alabama football.

And in good times and bad times, I’ve lived and died with it many a fall Saturday.

And I wouldn’t change a moment of it.

RTR
Well said.
 

78Alum

All-American
Aug 1, 2007
2,676
725
162
67
Alabaster, AL
Takes me back to the late 1960’s and hanging on every call by John Forney on that small beige transistor radio. The rest of the world was a million miles away. Just me, John Forney, the Bear and Alabama football.

And in good times and bad times, I’ve lived and died with it many a fall Saturday.

And I wouldn’t change a moment of it.

RTR
Me too. Roll Tide! So ready for this game.
 

tidegrandpa

All-American
"When I was a little boy, the men in my family would go bird hunting on Saturday afternoons. But the birds often went unshot. The hunters would find the Alabama game on the radio, and there in the fields of broom sage, their good dogs milling restless around their feet, they would stand at the open doors of their trucks and hang on every call, perishing one play, resurrecting the next. I can still hear it."
- Mal Moore (Alabama Athletics Director)


Here, just hours before to old blood Southern adversaries are set to reel forth and make war on one another for sporting glory I just wanted to pause for just a moment to reflect on the reason that we are all here today.

That love of Alabama Crimson Tide football, how we came to be here, and why it matters just so damn much.

My first encounters were very similar to Moore's. Though we never stopped our proceedings in the wood I would sit in between my Father and my Grandfather on the bench seat of a and ancient blue Ford Ranger (my Grandfather had specifically requested the bench seat so that I may ride in just that spot) and listen to the radio call undulate in and out as we bounced home at dusk over the unpaved logging roads and out of the thick longleaf pine.

My Father and Grandfather were not and are not exuberant men. Successful plays were often met with silence and the creaking of leaf springs and at most only an "Ah-Ha!" escaped from my very frail Grandfather.

For me, Alabama football was always a part of a greater whole. It was tied up in the land, it was tied up in the people - it ran through the family. It was truly heritage in every sense of the word: the team a living personification of the state's attitude toward adversity.

I can smell the truck interior and see the fading tree line.

I can still hear it too, Mal. And I'll never forget the sound.
This whole post needs to be permanent top of page, I appreciate every word.
 

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