1) I'm exhausted. There really is no offseason, but this one was especially short and busy, while a nasty case of the stomach flu didn't help much either.
2) I just saw/experienced what can only be described as the most remarkable year in Crimson Tide sports history.
The following is a sort of year-end column I wrote for BamaOnline.
(http://alabama.247sports.com/Article/A-year-after-the-tornado-Alabama-came-back-with-a-vengeance-7674).
Seriously, tell your friends because we're proud of what we're doing on the site.
When I get back from vacation, some very big changes will be happening in my life. See? Preparation.
See you soon.
THE YEAR OF CHAMPIONS
The imagery and contrast were impossible to ignore, especially after everything that had been endured.
Two fire trucks were shooting arcs of water over the plane bringing back the University of Alabama softball team from Oklahoma City on Thursday, roughly 12 hours after capturing its first national championship and the athletic program’s fourth since the calendar turned to 2012.
It wasn’t quite as picturesque as the rainbow that miraculously appeared over Tuscaloosa when the gymnastics team pulled in with its sixth NCAA trophy just a couple of months ago, but sure beat how those rescue trucks were used last year in the aftermath of the April 27th tornados that carved up the state.
Perhaps that was the only response that exceeded what Alabama athletes have pulled off.
Deep down we all sort of knew that there was a possibility of things clicking together like this, even after the softball team dropped Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series to Oklahoma. Tuscaloosa was riveted when the Alabama showed that it wanted it more in Game 2, and then proved to be the more resilient and tougher team during rain-delayed Game 3 that went past midnight.
It was as if the Crimson Tide proudly declared: “We dealt with a tornado, and you’re being distracted by some rain? Give us the trophy already.”
Thus, Oklahoma wasn’t the first team to submit to Alabama’s will this past school year, merely the last. The momentum began building with Todd Bramble’s soccer team making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998 (before losing to Miami 3-2 in double overtime), and didn’t end until the Crimson Tide could claim enjoying one of the most successful years ever.
Of course, such things don’t happen overnight. This was Alabama’s eighth appearance in both the College World Series and NCAA Championships, and softball and women’s golf had taken many important steps that led up to these triumphs.
Never before had the Crimson Tide won more than one national title during an academic year, and the numerous crucial factors to why that benchmark was shattered now include:
1) The commitment to excellence.In addition to aggressively hiring promising and/or proven coaches, athletic director Mal Moore’s facilities and endowment initiative, the Crimson Tradition Fund that evolved into a $150 million campaign, paid off handsomely.
In addition to a major overhaul of Bryant-Denny Stadium, Coleman Coliseum and nearly every other athletics facility, Bryant Hall was converted into an academic center that’s contributed to some impressive graduation rates. The initial project was completed in 2006, but the improvements continue.
“We all recognize that we’re now in position that we can compete with anyone in recruiting,” Moore said at the end of the 2006-07 season. “I’ve said to coaches, many times when I’m speaking, and when I’m around and about, we should expect, the coaches should, I should, our alumni, our president, everyone should expect positive results from this, and will. I think it’s an exciting time for Alabama, and for the future down the road at Alabama.”
Granted, there have been some bumps in the road, like when softball coach Patrick Murphy accepted the LSU job last summer only to return a few days later, but pale in comparison to the triumphs including Moore orchestrating the $65 million expansion of the south end zone in time for the 2010 season, making Bryant-Denny Stadium one of the largest and desirable home venues in collegiate athletics.
"Everybody works together,” said Murphy, who similarly spearheaded efforts to make Rhoads Stadium one the best softball facilities in the nation. “One team wins, everybody wins, and it doesn't matter if it's football, gymnastics, women's golf or softball it's good for the entire athletic department and we're becoming so close, as coaching staffs. It's the neatest thing to see that."
2) Nick Saban's arrival.
There’s no way to understate his impact and importance to the university.
While football championships have traditionally led to a spike in applications, Alabama has also been attracting better students and more from out of state. Conversely, it’s helped other coaches recruit as well, and nearly every athlete who just won a ring arrived after Saban landed at the Capstone in 2007.
“We try and contribute any way that we can to the total program at the University of Alabama,” Saban said. “I think that the exposure that they get certainly helps us be successful, and hopefully the exposure that we get certainly helps them.
“In this day and age, the media, press, EPSN, all that is important to being successful.”
It also helps when the only football coach to win three national championships in the BCS era is on campus and occasionally visits other teams.
“I talk a lot with Jay (Seawell). I talk a lot with Mic (Potter), because golf is kind of like a metaphor in life,” Saban said about Alabama’s coaches, and jokes that he likes to get free lessons in return. “You hit a good shot and you have to hit the next one good and re-focus. You hit one in the drink, or the hazard, and you have to re-focus and do it again. That’s a lot like any competitive sport. It’s like a lot like life.
“Focus on the next play. Keep on competing, try and be consistent. Don’t let what happened on the last shot affect the next shot, which is how we try and play with our team as well.”
3) The tornado.
It’s not a coincidence that the four titles came in its wake.
“Absolutely,” gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson said about the tornados impact.
Not only did dealing with overwhelming life-and-death issues and being reminded of them on a daily basis constantly put things into perspective, but caused many Alabama athletes to intensify their efforts.
Yes, they all wanted to win a championship before, but this past year they were also driven to give back, whether it was by volunteering time or bringing home a trophy.
It helped Brooke Pancake make that clutch putt on 18; Jackie Traina notch the final strikeout despite making her sixth start in seven days; men’s golf dominate in the SEC and regional tournaments and be within a hole of its first national championship; Ashley Priess stick the landing off the balance beam to shock Florida again; and the football team destroy LSU 21-0.
So while the Alabama’s 2010-11 academic year will primarily be remembered for how it ended, with devastation and suffering, Patterson pinpointed the word that will be used to describe 2011-12.
“Heart.”
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