Bored today ain't cha? -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeff Todd Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 11:05 AM To: RollTideFan-The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List Subject: [RollTideFan] Alabama fans give blueprint for LSU fans
By RANDY ROSETTA Advocate columnist First, three basic facts: 1. Alabama's status as a football school is deep-rooted and forever secure. 2. There are enough basketball programs in the Southeastern Conference with more established traditions that it will be difficult for the Crimson Tide to ever really climb into the league's upper echelon. Of the 12 schools in the SEC, six have made Final Four appearances over the years and Alabama is not one of them. 3. As true as Nos. 1 and 2 are, Alabama and, more importantly, its fan base, are doing all the right things necessary to climb the ladder into the SEC penthouse. See if this sounds familiar... A proud old school in the South has a basketball program that chugs along for years with moderate success, headed by a coach with a colorful personality. Despite that success and the colorful coach, basketball operates in the huge shadow of a football program expected to compete for a national championship every year. After a rocky stretch of down years intermingled with spats of controversy, the school and old coach part ways. A young and energetic coach with Southern ties and success at a smaller school is hired to get the program back on track. After some highs and lows -- low enough lows to prompt some fans to grumble that another change is necessary -- the young new coach guides the program back into national prominence. At about the same time, the gorilla of a football program stubs its toe, allowing the basketball program to briefly bask in an almost equal glow of fan support. So far, this story could apply to what happened at Alabama after Wimp Sanderson took his plaid wardrobe and left Tuscaloosa, as well as what has transpired at LSU since Dale Brown rode off into the sunset. But the stories -- just as the two programs -- have headed down different paths after the rise to prominence. And one of the main ingredients separating the Crimson Tide and Tigers basketball programs, at least for now, seems to be fan support. Support at Alabama wavered a few lean years back, and the Tide fans calling for coach Mark Gottfried's head on a platter. But when things got better, the fans forgave and forgot. Enough so that there was a healthy crowd of 11,500 people at Coleman Coliseum on Saturday when Alabama knocked off LSU. And the crowd made a noticeable difference. People were loud and boisterous, they knew when to be loud and when not to, and they injected some adrenalin whenever the Tide needed an extra boost. In a nutshell, the Alabama home crowd was everything that the LSU home crowd hasn't been this season. In the ultra competitive climate of the SEC, LSU basketball fans should take notice. They need to see if they can one-up their Alabama counterparts. They've got the disgruntled part down pretty well. Five years after John Brady guided the Tigers to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1987 and two years removed from their last NCAA Tournament appearance, LSU fans have grown restless and are lighting up message boards calling for the coach's head. That's all part of being a loyal fan. But so is showing up to support the team, even when things aren't going well. Maybe, especially, when things aren't going well. LSU fans have proven they can have a major impact. Seven Saturday nights at Tiger Stadium every fall are testament to that. For whatever reason, though, that enthusiasm hasn't carried to the winter months and into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, at least not on a consistent basis. There were a few big crowds last season, but support waned as the Tigers stumbled to a 1-5 finish. See any connection there? The biggest crowd this season was an announced total of 10,530 for the season opener against Tulane. The Tigers' average paid home attendance is 8,867 -- a mighty flattering total compared to the actual number of fans in seats (an average of 4,907) -- which ranks seventh in the SEC. Seventh place equates to mediocrity, no matter what's being measured. Which is strange, because it doesn't make sense that LSU fans would settle for mediocrity in anything. They sure don't want it from their men's basketball program. But until the Tigers fans start living up to their end of the bargain, maybe they don't deserve to demand excellence from the basketball team. Click here to return to story: http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/011205/spo_rosetta001.shtml _______________________________________________ RTF mailing list RTF@rolltidefan.net http://rolltidefan.net/mailman/listinfo/rtf_rolltidefan.net _______________________________________________ RTF mailing list RTF@rolltidefan.net http://rolltidefan.net/mailman/listinfo/rtf_rolltidefan.net
