Question about Alabama v ND

[IrishOrange]

On the otherhand, all i EVER hear about is the mighty SEC. According to anyone you ask down here, there is no conference better than the SEC, the worst team in the SEC could whip any team in the Big Ten, SEC is the end all of college football. So I wonder if its just that any of the limelight not directed towards the SEC is an irritant?


which is why the WVU win in the Sugar Bowl over UGA IN Atlanta was just about the sweetest football game I have ever attended in my life

There are morons in every group, SouthernIrish, even in the ND wagon.

I do think that, Top to Bottom, the SEC is a head and shoulders above everyone else, and if you look into it, you'd agree. Not that Penn State or Wisky has to worry about Mississippi State anytime soon. But look what the top half of the SEC did to the #1 team in the country, and what LSU did to your own Irish? There's talent in Dixie, and on average more talent than anywhere else.

I ask that folks please refrain from the tired "academic standard" and "Our old Coach" responses, as they tend to lead to venomous responses

 

[GoshenGipper]

Bear was probably the only Bama man that ever commented complimentary. I've seen a quote in magazines about the Sugar Bowl attributed to Bryant, "It was the kind of game you could sink your teeth into."


Most Bama fans I know proudly state, "I root for Alabama and whoever plays Auburn. And whoever plays Notre Dame."

I have a friend a friend, Bama letterman, whose game watch I used to go to for the Alabama-Auburn game. I'm not a fan of either so I always rooted for the underdog in that game. After the Iron Bowl we'd watch the ND-USC game, back to back on ABC, when they played on the same day at the end of the season. He had a bunch of expensive paintings in his house all commemorating great moments of Bama football. Bear Bryant's protrait over the fireplace dominated the rec room. Being a guest I never vocalized, "Wonder why don't you have any pictures of Bama games against ND?"

After Bama finally beat ND (soundly) in '86 he paid a $1000 for a similar sized picture of "The Sack!", Bama LB Cornelius Bennett almost cutting Steve Beurlein in half. It's painful for ND fans but a great sports action moment (I was amazed Beurlein was able to get up after that hit).

Bear Bryant reigns over the fireplace at my friend's house most of the year. But whenever I'm expected to watch a game, have dinner, or attend a party, Bear gets relegated to the closet and "The Sack", with a spotlight (Bama fans don't understand subtlety), is exhibited for my discomfort.

That's an example of how much Bama fans hate ND.

Many of the Auburn fans I know hate ND although the two school have never played each other. When I point out Bama is 1-5 against ND and the maxim, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". They often reply but you stole 4 national championships from the S.E.C.! It's a tribal thing. Then you get those that are still fighting The War of Yankee Agression, aka The Civil War. Notre Dame represents the Yankees to them. There's another local segement that cheer anytime Catholics lose. They'll be Penn State fans for one weekend this season rooting for the Lions to devour the Catholics, one more time.

.

 

[SouthernIrish]

Well, alrighty then. I guess Bama Son wasn't exaggerating.

 

[dylan020]

Southern....im in school about 45 miles from your son, its STILL HELL! Honestly, i've been down here for 5 years and I get asked the "Alabama or Auburn" question every damn time I meet someone new. Its so bad, Ive dumped girls b/c they were so retarded over it. It's pretty ridiculous....

and they can have Saban...at least 2 more years before they can 'em ha

 

[KAPLAN]

They really do claim 5 National Titles that are not real. I mean they have banners and everything for years they lost 2 games and another team won but some low life in the sticks voted for them so they put up a banner. Here is an email I wrote a few years ago.

Alabama claims 12 national titles and ND claims 11 but there is some discrepancy. I used this page for my research, NCAA Division I-A national football championship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alabama won undesputed in 1925, 1961, 1978, 1979, and 1992
In 1926 They tied Stanford and both have a share
In 1930 Notre Dame won 3 polls and Bama won 1 poll
In 1934 The went 10-0 but 3 out of 4 polls have Minnesota
In 1941 they went 9-2 and all polls say Minnesota
In 1964 they lost the Sugar Bowl to Arkansas
In 1965 it was split and they finished 9-1-1
In 1973 they lost to ND in the Sugar Bowl and both claim the title(AP Went to ND)
ND has 13 where they have won a share

 

[mikeoc61]

HAHA. Man, I sure as hell hope ND is not becoming the the Boston Red Sox of college football.

We could only hope so! We can only hope that they suddenly become one of America's favorite teams again who out of no where win it all!!

Whew....you touched a little nerve there. Hopefully though, there won't be any sh*tty movie with Jimmy Fallon.

 

[Tennesseeirish]

My son said that they talk as much about Notre Dame's season as they do their own. He also said that the talk of the campus is that ND is going to try and steal Saban from them.

That will never happen

 

[Tennesseeirish]

I love WVU. The games are amazing, the country is beautiful. Watching the players come out after a win and lead the crowd singing Country Roads while they blow a train whistle in the distance ranks right up there with the ND experience.

My son plays soccer and the team all got shirts one year that read "Play Like Your Couch is On Fire"

I need to be a couch salesman in Morgantown. Thats my million dollar plan

 

[SouthernIrish]

most of the couches i saw in the student housing needed burning anyway.

my son sent me a link to an Alabama forum. Some are already questioning Saban and he has been only been there four games and they won three of them

 

[ScottMcR]

73 Sugar Bowl

73 Sugar Bowl

I wish ESPN Classic or someone would replay that game in 73,I've been wanting to watch it again for years.

 

[johnnd05]

I wish ESPN Classic or someone would replay that game in 73,I've been wanting to watch it again for years.

Looks like YouTube has a few clips: YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

[portlaNDgal]

I need to be a couch salesman in Morgantown. Thats my million dollar plan

One of my college roommates was from Morgantown. When her friends came to visit, they couldn't believe how nicely ND students dressed for weekend parties, which was still pretty casual. But WVU students wear their rattiest clothes b/c the parties are so crowded, sweaty, and beer-soaked that you don't want to wear anything that you mind throwing away after the party.

 

[ScottMcR]

Thanks John for the youtube clip,haven't seen Tom Clements pass for a long while.I was 18 when I watched that game originally,my brother-in-law was a huge Bama fan,(he had a tee shirt that said,"on the 7th day God created the Crimson Tide" lol).Anyway he was at that game,he hated ND.said he lost a $1000 dollar bet on the game,he also said he cried after the game.Thanks,again,it was a historic game for sure.

 

[SouthernIrish]

This is what a Bama fan told me.
"Most of it stems from as far back as the 1960s when Bama won 2 NC and went undefeated the 3rd year only to be voted behind ND and Mich St. who played to a tie. Read The Missing Ring about the 1966 Bama team.

Then you have the 1973 and 1974 teams denied NC by ND. In 1977 Bama was ranked 3rd and ND 4th going into the bowls. Bama and ND won and the 1 and 2 teams lost and the media vaulted ND over Bama based on the fact that ND beat the number one team. ND has cost us at least 4 NC.

Other reasons are ND losing and falling 1 spot, getting preferential and underserved bowl bids, undeserved rankings etc.

Look how much focus they get on ESPN and they are the worst team in Division 1-A.

Finally, their fans seem to think they are just on a different plane from the rest of us"

 

[SouthernIrish]

and I have a question. Is there another team that has played as tough a schedule as ND the first four games? Didn't all the teams they have played so far go to bowl games last year? So doesn't that skew the stats a little?

 

[GoshenGipper]

No, MSU went 4-8 last year in the biggest and funniest meltdown I've ever seen!

 

[ACamp1900]

Maybe it has something to do with Bear's teams always being overshadowed by ND.

Yeah I just got done watching ND v Texas 77 Cotton Bowl and they talk about Bama cruching tOSU in the Sugar Bowl and how that gives Bama a claim to the title but ND won it outright after crushing #1 Texas...

I have heard Bama fans on message boards drone on about ND getting the respect they deserved and bla bla bla...

and again, they think they have 351 national titles

 

[Legacy]

Also, don't discount race and religion. Alabama's attitude towards Notre Dame was based not only feeling slighted by northern media bias, but by some southern white feelings towards blacks and Catholics. Birmingham's Bull Connor in the '60s pointing firehouses at Civil rights advocates, George Wallace standing at the university's steps saying "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever" in 1963, and an attitude towards Catholics can't be discounted. Alabama's football team was finally desegregated in 1971.

Football is a passion. I remember driving through Alabama past trailers full of cotton on deserted roads wondering where everyone was - and then realized it was a football Saturday.