Just for Anne....

I laughed out loud when I got a plaintive little e-mail from a faithful reader of this blog to ask WHERE'S THE FOOTBALL POST????

So here we go.

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

At the beginning of this season, every Bama fan I know was thinkin' we'd have an 8-4 year at least, and a 9 - 3 would be amazing. Well, here we sit at 12 - 0, and not a one of us isn't giddy and surprised.

We are sittin' at the top of every national poll -- by fairly wide margin -- and for those of us who just wanted Bama to end the regular season somewhere in the Top 15, this is gravy. Very, very nice gravy.

Some suggest (and make a valid argument) that we shouldn't be there, and on a reasonable day I understand those arguments, yet I always come back to this: all the other teams who sat at the top for a week or two got in a game somewhere along the way (and not always to "superior" teams) that found them off their feed, and they folded.

We bumbled through a couple like that ourselves -- but we found a way, a resolve, to WIN. There ya go.

Our victory over Auburn this past Saturday wasn't any big surprise, but since Auburn fans were jubilant when they beat a sub-par Bama team in the past I'm not turning down the volume on my glee.

Just in case you're wondering, my thoughts on the notorious "icing the kicker" play:

I don't like this rule. I think you ought to win a game on the field, and not in a rule book. That said, the rule exists and has been used by virtually every coach -- sometimes to their advantage, sometimes not. Every kicker knows this is a possibility, as does every kicking coach, and it is their job to prepare physically and mentally for it. It is not up to Nick Saban to preserve the delicate ego of a young player on an opposing team. One Auburn fan I know on Facebook got a little whiny about the poor fella, but give me a break. This isn't T-Ball, people.

And my thoughts on some noises that winning with a shut out -- by the widest margin in the history of the game -- was somehow tacky: What??? Was Alabama supposed to take a coffee break on defense just to help Auburn score? Were we supposed to perform a ballet midfield when we were in possession of the ball rather than PLAY THE GAME? Geez.

It would have been tackily aggressive had our first team stayed on the field the whole time, but that was not the case. Coach Saban gave us all a glimpse at the future of the team when he called on his second and third squads -- and it appears to be solid.

To my Auburn friends: we understand your pain. We've been there, we know what it's like to play a game where you can't buy a break. We have enjoyed the rivalry even when we've been on the short end of the stick, and what any true football wants when this game is over is the opportunity to exercise braggin' rights for a few days without worrying that fans of the other side are going to bill us for therapy to repair their bruised egos. Auburn fans have stuck those fingers up in the air for six years running -- when Bama made a habit of shooting themselves in the foot with stupid coaching choices, reeling from sanctions (that they deserved), and was in the process of trying to find a solution to our myriad problems.

So, guess what? It was our turn this past week. Deal.

As for what's ahead? I go back and forth over our chances in the SEC game this Saturday. There are a growing number of sportswriters who are beginning to think that we DO have a shot at this. What I want is for Alabama and Florida to have a good game that rivets the attention of the national press and college football fans everywhere, and winning would be nice.

But I already got more than I ever hoped for this season, and win or lose Saturday, and win or lose in whatever bowl game lies ahead -- this season was a keeper.

ROLLLLLLLL TIDE ROLLLLLLLLLL!!!