I loved this one krut!!! Now I am ready to suit up and kick some Orange tail!!!
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 9:01 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [RollTideFan] If ewe haven't seen it.. forwarded message: Greetings Bama Fans! It's UT Week in TitleTown ladies and gentlemen. You know the best thing about Daniel Moore paintings? Even though they do a beautiful job capturing the moments most associated with the game they represent, they also evoke memories of the moments leading up to these plays that were often as big (if not bigger) than the actual game winning plays themselves. There's no 'Goal Line Stand' if Don McNeal doesn't appear from nowhere to stop Penn State receiver Scott Fitzkee at the one two plays earlier. There's no 'Kick' from Van Tiffin if Greg Richardson doesn't drag the Auburn defensive back halfway across the field in an effort to get out of bounds to stop the clock. There's no 'Block' by Thomas Rayam in Happy Valley if Tide defenders don't stop Blair Thomas inches short of the goal line moments before. The funny thing about plays like these is that when they happen, when you're there in the stands and you see them, or when you're at home watching the game on television, they seem so large, so defining, that you're sure you'll be singing the praises of the men responsible for years to come. But those thoughts are brief. They get caught up in the wave of emotion that follows when the field goal is good, or blocked, or the touchdown scored, or the end zone protected. It's the kicker or quarterback that gets carried off the field, and rightfully so, but it's the guy that made the touchdown saving tackle, or the key block to open up the hole, that makes Alabama football so damn wonderful. So damn wonderful. Football is a team sport. It is a drama that is played out over the course of an hour, but it's made up of quick moments that turn goats to heroes. It's moments like these that etch the names of Alabama football players in the aura and tradition that makes this program so special. I bring all this up because I was thinking about Stacy Harrison earlier today. Do you remember Stacy Harrison? He played defensive back at the Capstone in the early 90s. Wore #1. He was a solid performer. Not that big. Not that fast. At the beginning of the 1990 season he had taken his share of heat, just like every other player that wore Crimson and White. Bama had a new coach and had lost three games (by a total of eight points). The games they'd won were not that impressive (victories over Vanderbilt never are). The offense was too conservative, the defense couldn't stop anybody. In fact, they couldn't even stop a high school team (insert Lee Corso reference here). Alabama was expected to roll right over and die against a superior team from Knoxville that year. The coach would be run out of town, Bama would suffer a losing season. All hope was lost. Somebody forgot to tell Stacy Harrison. With :48 seconds left in a 6-6 ballgame Tennessee lined up for what would be a game winning field goal. Bama had blown yet another game. Somebody forgot to tell Stacy Harrison. Somebody forgot to block Stacy Harrison. The painting shows Phillip Doyle booting the game winning field goal, but if you look closely, standing on the sidelines you see #1, and you remember. You remember that winning big games in big settings is about big time players stepping up and making big time plays. It's about never letting down, never taking a play off. It's about holding the block for one second longer than you usually do or laying out for that pass that's usually out of reach. It's about patience and pride and determination. It's about wrapping up. It's about staying focused. It's about respect. And it's about guys that fight hard enough, stay with it long enough, and believe in themselves and the guys around them enough that they find themselves in the right position, at the right time, to make the tackle, or get out of bounds, or block the kick. "I was determined to block that field goal. There was no way I was going to let Alabama lose." No way. No way. All Alabama did after that game (a game that was supposed to mark the end of life as we know it) was win 35 of their next 39 ballgames. This is the Third Saturday in October. That means something folks. It meant something to our grandfathers. It meant something to our fathers. It's sacred. It's pure. It's beautiful. It's Crimson and Orange. It's Bryant and Neyland. It's Alabama and Tennessee. And I love it. I love it. I love it so much I can't stand to think about it because all I want to do is get up, hand in my resignation, fill up the gas tank, put on my 'Nothing Sucks Like A Big Orange' t-shirt and make that wonderful drive down the road to the most beautiful campus in the land, walk to the Quad and yell at the top of my lungs: I HATE TENNESSEE! And I'm going to die if it doesn't hurry up and get here. This is a chance to make things right. It's a chance for some guy in a Crimson jersey to put disappointing seasons and losses behind him and do something. It's why I'm sitting here thinking of Stacy Harrison. It's a chance to become part of Alabama lore. We need to let Tennessee know what it means to play Alabama. It's about tradition. It's about memories. And it's about the future. I can't wait. I can't freakin' WAIT! In case your not fired up enough already I offer the following example of what it means when Alabama plays Tennessee. It's a quote from Tennessee lineman Bull Bayer about Bama All-American Bully Van de Graaf who lined up opposite him in the 1913 Bama-UT game: "His ear had a real nasty cut and it was dangling from his head, bleeding badly. He grabbed his own ear and tried to yank it from his head. His teammates stopped him and the managers bandaged him. Man was that guy a tough one. He wanted to tear off his own ear so he could keep playing." Oh My God! Somebody call a doctor! I'm about to have a stroke! I'll meet you on the Quad in two hours. I HATE TENNESSEE. YOU SHOULD TOO. ROLL DAMN TIDE! ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net