Nobody cares whether they are liked, Keith; it only matters if they strike oil in their front yards. My oil is in.
Satan and Bama will fail together. A. Leon Polhill FlaNative1845 330 NW 45th Street Gainesville, FL 32607 (352) 367-4642 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 7:25 AM To: gatortalk googlegroups Subject: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] Saban reminds 'Bama fans of Bear Bryant <,"I think he really wants to be liked. I just don't know if he understands how to be liked.">> Maybe that is my problem also :-) ... Or maybe some people don't care if they are liked ... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [gatornews] Saban reminds 'Bama fans of Bear Bryant From: Art Wroble <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sat, October 18, 2008 6:00 pm To: GatorNews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <http://www.palmbeachpost.com/custom/nospider/impl/images/channel_headers/pa lm_beach_post.gif> <http://www.palmbeachpost.com/custom/nospider/impl/images/channel_headers/he ader_sports.gif> Saban reminds 'Bama fans of Bear Bryant <http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2008/10/18/a1b_sa ban_1018.html> Listen to this article or download audio file.Click-2-Listen By BEN VOLIN <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 18, 2008 He doesn't wear a houndstooth hat and he only has one, not six, national championships. But less than two years since taking the head coaching job at Alabama, Crimson Tide fans already are comparing Nick Saban to the school and Heart of Dixie state's legendary coach. "Coach Saban reminds me a lot of coach Bear Bryant," said John Clements, 66, a former president of the Alabama Alumni Association and a member of the university's president's cabinet. "Coach Saban has the ability to instill the same kind of rabid enthusiasm and the hero worship, if you want to put it that way. He is exactly what the University of Alabama needed." Sorry, Dolphins fans. If the mention of Nick Saban still makes your stomachs churn, you might want to stop reading. Saban has the once-disgraced Crimson Tide rolling again, in the second year of an eight-year, $32 million deal he signed in January 2007 after bolting South Florida. To Tide fans, who have endured probation, 3-8 records and the Mike Price/stripper fiasco since winning their last national championship in 1992, Saban has been worth every penny. Alabama enters today's game against Ole Miss with a 6-0 record, a No. 2 ranking in both The Associated Press and coaches polls and signature road wins this year at Clemson and then-No. 3 Georgia. And the "most powerful coach in sports," as Forbes magazine called Saban last month, is doing it faster than most people expected. "That's why Alabama paid him the money that they did," said Jim Hawthorne, the radio voice of LSU football for 26 years who saw Saban win a national title with the Tigers in 2003. "I told anybody who would listen to me that Nick is going to have Alabama back on top.'' Fast rise for Alabama The Tide has not played in a significant bowl since losing the 2000 Orange Bowl to Michigan. But from the day Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, he has instilled a winning culture. It began with his first recruiting class last winter, considered No. 1 in the country by several recruiting outlets, and is continuing on the field this fall. "Quicker than anybody believed, he's got the Crimson Tide right at the top of the charts again," said Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for Scout.com <http://scout.com/> . "The next thing you know his problem will be: How does he convince kids to come in and play when they're going to have to wait and compete for spots because they have too much talent on board?" The Tide was a disappointing 7-6 last year, but Alabama now is the only undefeated team in the SEC. The Tide could be headed for the national championship game - at Dolphin Stadium. Saban, naturally, isn't talking about national titles and he's working to avoid having his players get caught up in the hype. "What I tell them is, 'Can you tell me who was ranked where on this date a year ago?' And if anybody can tell me that, then I guess it has some significance," Saban said this week. "Otherwise, it doesn't and therefore we shouldn't be worried about it." Some unhappiness Not everyone is marveling over Saban's success. One school, according to Friday's Birmingham News, has hired a private investigator to probe Saban's recruiting practices. Then there's Auburn, Alabama's heated and hated rival. Under Tommy Tuberville, the Tigers have beaten the Crimson Tide six consecutive times in the Iron Bowl. But Saban's rapid rise, especially on the recruiting front, has contributed to the disappointment of Auburn's 4-3 record, landing Tuberville on the hot seat. Asked this week about Saban and the Tide's ascension past Auburn, Tuberville paused for a moment and said, "Next question.'' A Saban title shot in South Florida would especially sting for Dolphins fans, still angry about his abrupt departure after fulfilling just two years of a five-year contract. If the Tide ends up in the Jan. 8 BCS championship game, not everyone will be watching. "I'll have nothing to do with it," said Joe Rose, the former Dolphin turned radio analyst and morning talk-show host. "I'll watch the game, but I won't get involved in anything." Saban's softer side The promise of a better future under Dolphins football boss Bill Parcells has softened some of the blow from Saban's exit - he claimed he was "not going to be the Alabama coach" just weeks before taking off for Tuscaloosa. But Rose still hears plenty of jabs, and delivers a few himself, at Saban. "I take shots at him all the time," Rose said. "I don't think people think much of his character, his word, or anything about him. He's a great college football coach - period." The negative vibes aren't lost on Saban, who said during an ESPN interview last week that his image is somewhere along the lines of "Attila the Hun.'' But Hawthorne, the LSU radio voice, said few people realize there's a softer side to Saban. Last March, Richard Gill, a prominent LSU booster, died suddenly at 64. Saban, who hasn't been associated with the Tigers program for nearly five years, attended Gill's funeral in Baton Rouge. "He came in without any fanfare," Hawthorne said. "He didn't do it for publicity's sake. He came out of respect for that gentleman. Only reason I know about it is because someone who attended the funeral told me." Saban still jousts with reporters, but Ray Melick, a Birmingham News columnist who has covered the Tide since 1986, said the coach doesn't always relish the confrontations. "What you don't see is how many times in a press conference he'll go off on a tirade and then he'll call that reporter back and say, 'Look, I wasn't mad at you,' and almost apologize," Melick said. "I think he really wants to be liked. I just don't know if he understands how to be liked." For now, he's loved in 'Bama and not liked by the fans of SEC rivals. "Everyone is just so gratified that we're where we are at this point," said Clements, the Alabama alum. "He is the right man at the right time." Copyright 2008 The Palm Beach Post. All rights reserved. By using PalmBeachPost.com, you accept the terms of our visitor agreement. Please <http://www.palmbeachpost.com/info/content/visitor_agreement.html> read it. Contact <http://www.palmbeachpost.com/help/content/help/customer_service.html> PalmBeachPost.com | Privacy <http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/shared/services/policies/privac ypolicy.html> Policy Cox Newspapers, Inc. <http://www.palmbeachpost.com/shared-custom/nospider/impl/images/logo_cni.gi f> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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