Category: Alabama Crimson Tide

It’s a Good Weekend When…

It’s a good weekend when…

  • The two soccer teams that your sons play for go a combined 4-1 for the weekend…
  • When you oldest son manages to travel from Tuscaloosa to Huntsville for a brief visit, then on to Atlanta for a Dave Matthews/Allman Brothers concert and then back to Tuscaloosa without getting into yet another wreck…
  • The Crimson Tide beats the so-called “experts'” 3 1/2 point spread against Vanderbilt and wins by a margin much closer to what you predicted…
  • You become a full-fledged convert to the Crimson Way by staying up late watching Auburn lose in OT to South Florida and then high-fiving it with Number Two Son, the former Vols fan…
  • You step on the scales and learn that you’ve actually lost 2 lbs over the past week and a half despite the fact that you haven’t run a single step…
  • You get to teach a class at church that you’re actually excited about (Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline)
  • Your friend who moved to Egypt shows up unexpectedly for a visit bringing with him his friend Akhmed who is visiting a Christian church for the first time in his life…
  • Akhmed enjoys your class and you get to visit with him for a while and make a new friend from a faraway place…
  • You get to teach Akhmed the all-purpose, always-appropriate phrase, “Roll Tide, Roll!”
… Read the rest

The Greatest Alabama Fan in the World

She might as well have been sent straight from central casting.

She was fifty-something, a beautician or some kind of county court clerk if I had to guess, five foot two and 110 lbs if she was an ounce. Her nails were painted a glossy Crimson, her skin was leathery brown, probably from a few too many sessions in the tanning bed. Her hair was bleach-blond, her brown dirt, brunette roots proudly showing through. She wore a Bama tank top, grey sweatshorts and Roll Tide flip-flops. She was loud, salty and full of sass, in a Steel Magnolias, Ouiser Boudreaux sort of way (although I can assure you, she was no Cajun).… Read the rest

Awkward

So we’re on our way to T-town, and we stop at that nice rest stop on I-65 just south of Cullman, the one where if you’re going south, you end up on one side of the building, and if you’re going north, the other. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.

I’m standing there in my Bama cap and crimson polo, you know, doing what guys normally do in that particular situation. Out of the corner of my eye, I sense movement–an orange and blue blur. I look over and standing next to me is some yahoo wearing an Auburn t-shirt and visor.… Read the rest

Gameday Behavior

The University of Alabama promotes good sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches and spectators. Fans must conduct themselves with good sportsmanship to reflect the high standards of honor and dignity that characterize The University of Alabama. Anyone associated with an athletic program or event should reflect respect, fairness, civility, responsibility and courtesy to others. Profanity, vulgar cheers, intimidating actions, intoxication, belligerent or abusive behaviors will not be tolerated. Fans attending Alabama football games are expected to stay off the playing field, including after the game, and will not throw objects onto the field.

Positive support of the players, coaches and officials is strongly encouraged.

… Read the rest

Each Moment Is, and Always Has Been, a Gift

I knew that drop off day last Thursday would be busy and unpredictable, so I took Number One Son out to lunch at Little Rosie’s on Wednesday to serve up a little fatherly wisdom along with some steak fajitas, chips and gaucomole on the side. So far so good: no apparent E. coli poisoning.

I started off by saying that if I were to tell him everything that I know that he needed to know as a college freshman starting out, that I would flat-out fry his brain. Instead, I promised to keep it simple.

First, I wanted him to know how I “backended” into my career as an optometrist, having never even thought about that profession during college, but instead seeking it out after my first choice of clinical psychology “didn’t work out.”… Read the rest

Dropping Off a Kid at College

We’re off to Tuscaloosa today to drop Number One off at Bama. That’s right, pull up to the curb, shove him and his stuff out the door, and then pedal to the metal baby!

I know, I know, it probably won’t be quite that simple. First off, you won’t be able to even find the curb for all the hundreds of cars ahead of you, and then there’s the small matter of getting the stuff up to his room. And do you think Eyegal is just going to plop all that junk in there without doing some “arranging?” I don’t think so.… Read the rest

Forrest Knows Best

gumpbamacoach.jpgSome of us will be headed down to Tuscaloosa later today so that Number One can attend Bama Bound, the student orientation at the University of Alabama. Needless to say, he’ll be facing some very tough decisions.

Nah, I’m not talking about classes. I figure that there’ll be plenty of sections of “N’Yuck, N’Yuck, N’Yuk–The Three Stooges in the 21st Century” and “Careers in Guitar Hero–You Too Can Be Ronnie Van Zant” to choose from.

I’m talking about more important stuff like football.

You see, since the resurgence of interest in Crimson Tide football following the hiring of multimillion dollar messiah Nick Saban, the student government moved last spring to only allow entering freshman to attend part of the scheduled home games so that more tickets could be spread around and more students could attend.… Read the rest

March Madness Memories

I have my share of March Madness Memories, both good and bad.

Among the bad–last year, when I finished dead last in my own pool and looked on in agony as the fabulous Blue Devil duo of Redick and Williams ended their otherwise stellar careers on a down note to LSU.

But anytime your favorite team plays deep into the tourney or wins it all, it’s a good year; and needless to say, as someone who bleeds Blue Devil Blue, my good years far outweigh the bad. Of course, barring divine intervention, Duke will not go far this year (I have them making the Sweet 16 after eliminating perennial tournament underachiever Pitt, then falling to UCLA), and considering my poor track record in prognostication, I turn my attention this morning to some good March Madness memories from the past.… Read the rest

Same Gospel? Part II

Whatever did we do prior to YouTube?

Here are some clips of Micah Armstrong during his recent mission trip to the University of Alabama as he riffs on the topics of:

By way of contrast, here’s a clip of N.T. Wright at Seattle Pacific University as he weaves a very different-sounding Christian narrative.

Like I said, two different men, two different tactics. It seems to me, though, that there’s a difference between being a “fool for Christ” and being a clown. No wonder everyone’s so confused these days.

… Read the rest

He’s Bama Bound

davids-senior-formal.jpgBig Mama has called her native son and Number One has answered–he’s Bama bound.

Number One had literally been losing sleep over the Big Decision, so torn was he between choosing The University of Alabama and his parents’ alma mater (Hail!) Harding University. I had lunch with him a couple of weeks ago to see how things were going and to let him explain to me his reasoning. At the end of that conversation, I was impressed. Number One understood full well what he would be gaining and losing with either choice, and he was able to list off the pros and cons of each with ease.… Read the rest