How far we've come.....

Most Alabama fans are probably lost in the whirlwind that has been the Saban-led revival of Alabama football the last 4 years. They are hopelessly stuck in the micro-level world of inaccurate and brilliantly marketed recruiting services, the absurd puffery of preseason magazine articles, in some instances written six months before the teams even begin summer workouts, ridiculous bronze statues of coaches, and the obnoxious pride and bragging that defines what a "fan" really is. What they are not considering is the macro-level impact of all of this.

Coach Saban is turning Alabama into an NFL mill, where Alabama has to beg individuals with questionable backgrounds and values to attend classes for three years so they'll get a better shot at the NFL than someone at another school, under another coach. There is no individual loyalty, school pride, or any of the other attributes of previous teams (and smoking cigars after beating TN and singing Yea Alabama in the locker room doesn't even come close to it either). Alabama is involved in an increasing amount of allegations, investigations, and questionable behavior that barely skirts the NCAA rules. Added to the situation is the current push to pay players, which will finally send college football into the abyss. Players get a free education at the nations best state and private schools and many special fringe benefits, whether the administration would admit it or not. In my opinion, that's enough - the school's budget concerns or annual income is none of the players concern. The average non-athlete student leaves owing approximately $40,000 in student loans and struggles to get a job and repay them. What Saban and others are creating is a corporate atmosphere of money, greed, and profit, where it's all dollars and sense, devoid of all the subjective passion and loyalty that have historically made college football great.

I will follow Alabama football because my family has been following Alabama for a century, and I am a 1995 graduate. I will follow it because of my loyalty to the University of Alabama. I don't, however, agree with the path it has chosen for football, the atmosphere that is being created by Nick Saban, and I will not worship coaches or players. Alabama did well before them, and will do well long after they are gone.

The United States has spent decades sacrificing macro-level national identity, community values and mores, religion, and other social issues for micro-level immediate self-gratification and pacification. It seems Alabama is on the verge of doing the same thing.