TIDE PREPARES FOR SDS & FANS GET READY AS WELL...   

     Alabama will head north to Louisville, Kentucky, for their Sweet Sixteen game with San Diego State. Both teams sport powerful resumes.   Alabama is 31-5 and carries the weight of a number 1 seed.   U is a 5 seed and has a 29-6 record.   Alabama has been to the Sweet Sixteen. Ditto for the Aztecs. B ma advanced to the Elite Eight once in 2004.   SDS never made it to the Elite Eight in two appearances. I suspect the Aztecs won't be to the Elite Eight this Year.   

         Tide fans are preparing as well. A lot of lucky shirts will be worn. Some well-worn socks considered necessary for such a big game are a must-do. If you see fans wearing tattered tee shirts, you can bet they are "lucky."  A GPS will direct fans to Louisville. For many Alabama fans, this might be the first substantial road trip they've ever made. Anxiety will be standard behavior for a lot of fans. Post-game plans may be happy-time Bama basketball fans or something akin to the end of the world for others. Younger fans believe Alabama will return to such lofty standings in the future. For older fans, it might be the last chance to see the Tide soar to places they have never seen. The thought or hope Bama wins the national championship is in everyone's mind. 

       I've been a Bama fan since George Linn made the longest shot in basketball history. I was a Rocket Eight fan. Johnny Dee was the man. Jerry Harper averaged 21.5 rebounds a game. Ironically, Harper was from Louisville, Kentucky. The '56 team was 21-3 and 14-0 in the SEC. That was high cotton for Tide fans. I wasn't around for Hank Crisp, but after Rocket Eight, the Tide settled with Hayden Riley. No black Americans played for those coaches. With the hiring of C.M. Newton, things got better. Much better. The Tide made an impact on the SEC and the NCAA. Wimp Newton got Bama into an almost regular appearance in the Sweet Sixteen. Mark Gottfried got to #1 for a week. The Tide made 5 consecutive NCAAs. The program had great players, but Gottfried resigned in 2009. Anthony Grant has a mess to clean up. Grant had a couple of teams snubbed by the selection committee. Avery Johnson was hired and stayed for four years with a losing SEC record. 

     Alabama hires Nate Oats, and this got better. I remember posting that it would take him four years to be successful. Oats won the SEC with players mainly recruited by Johnson. Year three saw the Tide make the NCAA again, but the season disappointed many fans. In Year Four, Oats grabbed the golden ring. So if you are an older fan, such as me, you have seen a lot of bad things and a few good things. Good things are happening now. If Bama wins the Sweet Sixteen game, they should have an Elite Eight foe they will be favored to beat. 

     Young fans tend to demean older fans. They have better seats and don't come to 8PM games. I don't disagree with either of those statements, but older fans have paid for a lot of misery in their lifetimes. If it wasn't for older fans demanding a better program, Alabama may not have hired Coach Oats.