Many have likely read it.. For those that haven't.. http://www.al.com/sports/mobileregister/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/sports/1004440504225595.xml
Sports News Bad news, Bear, on Alabama 10/30/01 I t was the end of a glorious Saturday afternoon and the sun was quickly vanishing over the horizon as a howling wind sent golden leaves scattering on the ground. A half moon could be seen rising in the sky as I arrived at Lot 57, Block 30, at Elmwood Cemetery on the western side of Birmingham. I walked from the car toward the familiar marker leisurely, taking in the rows of markers. Finally, the ground shook momentarily and out of the cerulean sky a hot flash of lightning crashed down right in front of me. "You are back." It was the deep, gravelly voice of the Bear. "Yes sir, coach," I said. I had driven over after watching Penn State's stirring 29-27 come-from-behind victory over Ohio State, giving Joe Paterno win No. 324, eclipsing coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's mark of 20 years. "Now, don't tell me you're here because the NCAA is back in on us," Bryant bellowed. "I used to have good friends in that organization and I still can't believe they slammed Bebes Stallings a few years ago for nothing. That was like running a stop sign." I told coach Bryant about the allegations in Memphis with Albert Means and the charges against Logan Young, his longtime friend. "No way," Bryant said. "I couldn't even get that old rascal to buy me dinner. No way he shelled out $200,000 for a slow defensive lineman." "Coach, this isn't about the NCAA mess." "Don't tell me we finally lost to Tennessee this year. I don't like those country, hillbilly, backwoods, sons of ... I knew the streak would end sometime." I took a deep breath and rubbed my hands together to keep warm. "Coach, the news about the streak isn't good. It stands at seven straight." "Hey, listen, you can't have everything," Bryant said. "I beat them moonshine boys 11 straight years. With scholarship limitations, I don't think we ought to hang our heads in shame because of only winning seven straight against Tennessee." "Coach, I'm sorry to report it's the other way around. Tennessee has now won seven straight against Alabama." There was a long period of silence. Finally, Bryant began to speak. "That's incredible. I only lost to Tennessee seven times during my entire career at Alabama." I paused for a moment, realizing there was more bad news. But he interrupted me. "Well, darn it, we'll just try and get a Cotton or an Orange Bowl berth if we can't go to the Sugar. I used to make one phone call and take care of all that. One loss isn't going to ruin a good bowl game." "Coach," I said, softly. "The Tennessee game was the fourth loss of the season. Amazingly, Alabama blew leads in the fourth quarter in three of them. If Alabama loses two more games this year -- and there are four remaining -- it means no bowl game for the fourth time in the last seven years." I listened closely, and thought I heard a growling sound. Finally, his voice was heard again after a prolonged silence. "This is terrible. Well, I guess things do change. I ap preciate you telling me all this ..." I interrupted him. There was more, I said. "It concerns Joe Paterno. He broke your record today. He now has 324 wins." I expected coach Bryant to be upset. But instead, he started cackling. Finally, he calmed down and said: "He couldn't whip me on the field. So if he wants to claim the record, it's OK by me." "So you're not upset?" I asked him. "Not at all. I'm relieved. I thought when you interrupted me and said you had some bad news, it was about that cow college down at Auburn. I thought you were going to tell me something unbelievable like they were on the verge of being No. 1." I said goodbye and as I turned to leave, I could still hear him chuckling. "Now Auburn winning a national championship," said Bryant faintly, "is one thing we'll never have to worry about." (Paul Finebaum's column appears Tuesday and Saturday in the Mobile Register.) To unsubscribe from this list just send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a BLANK subject line and the single word "UNSUBSCRIBE" (without the quotes) in the body or visit http://www.RollTideFan.net
