He probably has to say it to some extent. A large part of it probably isn't even the fans. Honestly, every fellow fan I have ever talked to has been tempered by our years of famine, as it were. Every single Alabama fan I know seems to have a clear head that a national championship, while nice, isn't an immediate birthright of our team just by virtue of the name. It's earned on the field and we're in the process of loading ourselves with talent so that we're at least on an even playing field with teams like Florida or USC.
The media, on the other hand, seems to use the word "expectation" in connection with Alabama almost as much as the word "change" was used in conjunction with a certain presidential candidate. In other words, it sounds nice at first, but after a while it becomes over-used and cliche. It's also universally attributed to our fan base. I'm not saying there aren't some how fit that bill. However, I don't see it any more in evidence here than I do with other elite programs.
Frankly, *I* get sick of hearing about it from the announcers every time a game opens. I think what most of us are uncomfortable with is less about CNS' tempering of expectations and more about the fact that the media has pinned those expectations so firmly and disproportionately on us. Thus, when CNS talks about tempering expectations, whether or not he uses the words "our fans", it looks like a criticism of us, which I doubt is the intent. I suspect that his focus is as much (if not more) on the media scrutiny as it is the fans.
