I wonder if Coach Bryant would have been like CSS?

[TIDE-HSV]

It's mostly us old folk...

I was on campus when Coach Bryant returned and I know what I'm talking about. Although he signed many items with the nickname and took advantage of it for commercial purposes, he detested the name and was never called that by his players, his assistants or friends. The few reporters who addressed him that way were sorry. On more than one occasion he expressed regret that the incident with the bear wrestling had never happened, so that he would not have been saddled with the name. I don't take the trouble to change it in the body of posts, but I'll continue to correct it to Coach Bryant whenever it pops up in a thread title...

 

[Crimson Hawk]

I agree that he would have been successful in most any endeavor. Nothin' but a winner!

 

[BamaSkins]

Coach Bryant would have been successful anywhere he coached and at any time period he coached in...

 

[rtr12]

I was on campus when Coach Bryant returned and I know what I'm talking about. Although he signed many items with the nickname and took advantage of it for commercial purposes, he detested the name and was never called that by his players, his assistants or friends. The few reporters who addressed him that way were sorry. On more than one occasion he expressed regret that the incident with the bear wrestling had never happened, so that he would not have been saddled with the name. I don't take the trouble to change it in the body of posts, but I'll continue to correct it to Coach Bryant whenever it pops up in a thread title...

That reminds me of a story Mal Moore told. When he arrived at Bama and was introduced to Coach Bryant, Mal said he stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, Bear". Then Mal said, "I was so stupid."

That said, some of you folks need to lighten up. I don't think anyone here would have called Coach Bryant "Bear" to his face, but that isn't the case today, is it?

Personally, I think it's absurd for any poster to correct another poster for saying "Bear" instead of Coach Bryant. If you would rather say "Coach", then feel free and don't presume to think you are such an authority as to "correct" someone else for saying "Bear".

FWTW, Coach Bryant use to hang out at my Dad's pharmacy quite a bit. While my Dad always called him Coach, as did most anyone who happened by, there were always some who stopped in and called him Bear. If he cared, he never showed it at all. BTW, his closest friends called him Paul.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Nevertheless...

all thread titles will read "Coach Bryant." I had the opportunity to be around him some and watch him interact with assistants and with others. I never, ever, heard anyone address him directly as "Bear." So, I have to take contrary tales with a grain of salt. But this thread has degenerated to the level of arguments of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin - unprovable in all cases. Therefore, "click."