A Proud Generation

If you were a child of the seventies. You remember Bear Bryant and his famous championship teams. You probably graduated High School around the year Coach Bryant retired. You "experienced" Alabama's Glory days. You lived them, loved them and thought they would never end.

Nick Saban now leads the Crimson Tide. It is 30 years later, and with only one non-Bear Championship during that time, the grainy images of those aged victories still look just as clear in your forty-something minds as if they occured yesterday. There is much hope and optimism that Coach Saban can return Alabama football to its once lofty perch. He probably will. Will he win as many as Bryant? Probably not. That was a different era. One you will never see again. You will be proud nonetheless and tell your children and grandchildren the old stories. Sure, it won't be the same as it was back then, but for you, thats okay, because you remember.

Your children no doubt are Tide fans and worship the Bear's memory, however ghostly and faded it may be. But as one generation gives way to the next, has the once vivid image yellowed slightly? After all, children of this decade will have Mike Price, Shula, and Dubose to remember. It has been 17 years since Coach Stallings brought home the last championship. Alabama football isn't the same for your kids as it was you and your fathers. As your generation slips into the golden years and eventually into the great beyond, will the memories of those great years slip away as well? Those who follow will have great memories to be sure, but it will be different won't it?

To face the prospect of it being forgotten is scary indeed. And to hear it vocalized, to see it in writing, will likely stir up emotions. Anger, indignation, denial, and maybe even pride. What about desperation? Are you desperate? As you cling tightly to what once was, knowing it is already slipping from your tightly clenched fists, do you worry that, when you are forced to let go of the burden, that there will be no one there to carry it on? Will anyone even try? Go ahead, let it go now. Make room for the new memories..... It's alright. You can do it. Roll tide.