Alabama Fans, Let’s Lose With Class And Some Human Decency

Gather around Alabama fans. We need to have a talk about social media and losing with some class and human decency.

Just as any typical Sunday would go for me, I spent the day with family with the occasional check of Twitter to make sure no breaking sports news was coming out. Some of the things I saw where unbelievable and made me down right ashamed.

Yeah, we lost. Guess what happened the past three years? Losses in each regular season with two BCS titles and a season where we had a chance to go to the SEC Championship and possibly the BCS game if not for a loss in the Iron Bowl. As fans we have survived losses and certainly will survive more.

It seems to me from reading social media that some fans just want to use Alabama’s success as a reason to trash talk but when the going gets tough, those same people are nowhere to be seen. I know losing sucks but I can guarantee you one thing. Not one person on social media hurts worse than those players that have sacrificed hours of their time and lives to practice and work to give those same people behind the keyboard something to cheer about on Saturdays.

Sure folks are going to second guess a play or perhaps wonder if Player X would have been better than Player Y in a certain situation. There’s nothing wrong with that. It comes from the passion of being college football fans. However, there is a difference between passion and the delivery that some choose to use.

“It’s awfully important to win with humility. It’s also important to lose. I hate to lose worse than anyone but if you never lose, you won’t know how to act. If you lose with humility, then you can come back.” -Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant

Here is an example. As most of you know, Kenyan Drake suffered a horrific injury during the Ole Miss game and could possibly take away his whole 2014 season. Not even hours after Drake had surgery to repair his injured leg and probably while still feeling the effects of anesthesia, one fan actually took the time to send him a tweet to tell him that he was disappointed in Alabama’s play on Saturday and how the team looked. Really??

These same folks will be the first ones to scream at the top of their lungs when someone publishes an article about an Alabama fan doing something dumb. Newsflash: You are part of the problem.

I always have fun leading up to gameday. I always talk a little smack with people and then when the game is over, I always tell the same ones “Great game” or “Your team looked great out there” and then get ready to do it all over again for the next game.

If you fall under one of the unacceptable fans that I mentioned above, give me a shout and I will help you find somewhere to purchase gear for another team. Alabama played football prior to 2009 and they will continue to play after a loss to Ole Miss. For all the others, I will probably talk to some of you this week and on Saturday when we take on the Razorbacks.

I’ve cheered on Alabama even when there wasn’t much to cheer for and a loss during week six sure won’t be enough to turn me away now.