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It is she who washes the good luck tee shirt - ROLL TIDE

This is probably not a big deal for you. For me, it is eye opening and very telling that their is a lot of support for 'Bama basketball. We have had readers from 31 separate countries. 32 if you throw in Mississippi. 'Bama fans are far and wide in their travels. Let me ask each of you a question - have you ever been on a trip when wearing your 'Bama hat  and hear someone yell, "Roll Tide"?  I have had it happen many times. I'm going to California next weekend. I'm sure I'll wear my 'Bama tee shirt and I'm just as sure I'll hear a few Roll Tides. 


My wife and I are going to watch the Auburn - Alabama at a small drinking establishment we know. I've got it already set up. We have advertised for any 'Bama fans nearby to come on down to watch with us. The only thing better than hearing one of those Roll Tides is when you hear Roll Tide  followed by ' let me buy you a drink.' ahh... Can life get any sweeter than that? My wife is very attractive. Her tee shirt looks much better on her than mine does on me. We are only taking our absolute, 100% reliable, and time tested 'Bama good luck stuff. I have a tee shirt that I've worn when watching every game this season except one - The LSU game. We had a lot of guests over to watch the game with us. I couldn't find my tee shirt.   ALL of us searched for that tee shirt. Including the dirty clothes. That might see extreme or silly to people who aren't aware of what the rivalry means. To all us looking for the tee shirt it seemed just fine, even necessary and was taken quite seriously. We never found it. 


I felt we might lose. We later found out the two LSU fans saw the shirt on the kitchen table (it was not yet time for the ceremony of putting on the tee shirt) and they took it as a joke. They said we should have told me but everyone seemed so serious and thought we would get mad at them. Okay, we did get mad. When we couldn't find the tee shirt I went with a fairly reliable back up good luck jacket. I put on the basketball warmup that Derrick McKey gave me. Although it had seen a couple of losses it was the best we could do on short notice. 


It was with a heavy heart and a little trepidation that we started watching the game. I always thought we would win that game. Not finding the tee shirt had allowed doubt to creep in my mind. Our friends noticed the effect and they became worried. At half-time we looked again. By now the LSU fans were terrified to admit they had taken it, and said the baby sitter called and they had to go home. I grew suspicious. Did THEY have the tee shirt? I had no proof other than the early exit. People have been sent to prison on less evidence. 


Everyone in our home had their own good luck charms. One friend had an Elephant bracelet. Another had his favorite hat. You could tell it was Crimson at some time but by that night it was almost dirt brown. My wife went through her clothes and stuff to make sure she didn't put it in the wrong place. We had the lucky stuffed elephant in the room and the banner proclaiming all of our national championships. We keep the banner in a box an, we drape of the banner on a special little frame we built. The draping is always done the same way. Everyone present  had seen this before and when we did that it was like being in Church. Once the banner was in place everyone said "Roll Tide". We had done everything exactly right. Except the tee shirt. However; all the other lucky charms had been present in past losses, including the Auburn game last year. They would certainly not do, and they were simply not up to the task of carrying good luck to the Tide.I grew concerned, even scared. 


Half way through the fourth quarter I was really worried. I, myself, due to lack of due diligence, had allowed the tee shirt to disappear and I had to man up to that fact. No one present thaat night thought that any of this was bizarre or not normal. A couple of guys asked how I could let it happen. Their wives told them to stop."Wasn't it clear that he was already upset."?


I know that there are two types of Alabama fans. There are those who do similar things and those who will not admit they do them. The first bunch is normal. The second bunch needs some type of medical treatment. I want to assure everyone that I now have my tee shirt. It is in my closet in the top drawer, neatly folded like a good soldier waiting to go into battle. I only have had that tee shirt for this season. It was a replacement for the one that had seen too many games and made too many road trips. It had endured a thousand trips through the washer and dryer. It even suffered through a couple of coin operated washers and dryers. I am truly sorry for causing that original shirt all the pain and suffering I caused. I'm sorry for the tear stains and sweat stains where my Right Guard had failed. It survived being torn by a Miami fan in New Orleans. In short, that tee shirt was a real trooper. It was my friend. 


Now I buy new tee shirt at the start of each season. I got the present one for the Capital One Bowl game. It still hasn't seen a loss. It was kidnapped by LSU fans and still found its way back home. I'm going to enshrine it after the Auburn game whether we win or lose. All that seem logical and makes perfect sense, right? Roll Tide my brothers. 


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