When the Volunteers make the return trip to Tuscaloosa next season lets remember the standard that we hold ourselves to. The Crimson Tide stands for excellence and class, regardless of the treatment of rivals or questionable officiating on the field.
tide1009.com
I've never really had a problem with Tennessee or their fans. They always seemed like normal, average CFB fans. The following was probably just an isolated incident from drunk assholes, but it was so egregious that I'm a bit stunned. First (and by far the more minor of the two), fans spat on Saban's daughter at the game. The second incident just bothers me and is on a whole different level.
Kerry Goode was a running back at Bama in the '80s and was the '83 SEC freshman of the year. He went on to play in the NFL for a year or two, but a knee injury ended his career. He then worked as an assistant in the NFL, but spent most of his career coaching HS back in his home town, near where I grew up. Good family, good people. Kerry's always had a rep for just being a super solid, flat out good dude in every way. In 2015 he began having physical problems and was soon diagnosed with ALS, and given about two years to live. He's still alive, but almost completely paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. He can type by voice and is very active on FB, where he constantly preaches kindness, good attitude, being helpful and good to others, and so on. He just published a biography a few weeks ago and was given the Paul Bryant Alumni Athlete Award earlier this season at one of the games.
I knew Kerry slightly when we were both at Bama, but have become friends with him in recent years, and just think of him as one of the kindest, best attitude, decent, good men I know. I've watched him over the past few years deal with a horrible disease that's destroyed his body and will soon kill him, and he's handled it with an incredible amount of grace, dignity, and positive attitude. Never once heard him feel sorry for himself or be bitter. I just think the world of him, which is why the following pisses me off so much.
His son is on the UT staff and got his parents tickets to the game, but in the UT friends & family section. He jokingly posted a pic of himself wearing a Tennessee t-shirt over his Bama gear at the stadium, saying he had to support his son. Later, he and his wife, both wearing Bama gear sat in the UT section. Kerry is obviously profoundly disabled, in a wheelchair, head supported by a halo, etc. Some Tennessee fans cursed him and his wife and threw drinks on them after the game. I'm just disgusted by this. How do you get so wrapped up in a fucking football game or hate another team so much that you do something like that to a disabled person?