You know you were at Alabama in the 1990s if…

Photo: Schrimscher Media

While we may be living in one of the glory eras of Alabama football, it is certainly not the first, and most likely not the last.

But there is a stable of folks my age who wax nostalgic for our glory era – the early 90s. You’ll see us before the games, as the fans at the Walk of Champions crowd the Saban statue or the Bear statue. It’s the folks in their late thirties and early forties tipping their caps to Bebes.

I started school at Alabama in the fall of 1990 and graduated in 1994. Although we only have the one national title – in 1992, when we absolutely annihilated College Football Public Enemy No. 1 Miami, 34-13 – our record during my time there was, despite what the NCAA will say, 41-6. (I keep our records from games played on the field, not years later in an NCAA office.)

Don’t get me wrong — I salute the Capstoners who celebrated three out of four and a 47-5 record. But for me, that glorious stretch of college in the early 90s will be the greatest time of many of our lives, and not just because of the football.

You know you were at Alabama in the 1990s if:

• You often crave Quick Snack. Starvin’ Marvin with tots, please. That’ll ease the post-swap doldrums.
• You never lost to Tennessee, although that tie still stings a bit.
• You joined in the “Fire Stallings” chants somewhere around the third quarter of his first game against Southern Miss, who was led by some guy named Favre. And you regret it to this day.
• You looked forward to seeing what would happen in the student section the weekend of the DKE “Oakland Raiders” party.
• Doyle and Proctor were always money.
• You still remember your trivia name from The Houndstooth.
• You or someone you know was either arrested or came close at Legion Field at the end of the 1990 Iron Bowl.
• You know who Pauly Shore is, and remember when it was a big deal when he came to Tuscaloosa.
• You waged war with the Palmer Lake Duck.
• You remember when we sold out a game in two stadiums. Thanks, Auburn, for making us have to bring a giant TV to Bryant-Denny.
• Either you had or knew someone who had a Knopke bumper sticker.
• You remember the end of Bama Bino. Courtesy of … The Machine? Oh, Ok.
• You saw Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews and Blues Traveler. In a bar. On The Strip.
• And The Strip was Downtown. At least for college students.
• You remember the “Who Rides the Bus” incident.
• Your name is somewhere on a tile on the ceiling at Harry’s. And you have at least a couple of bad decisions based on a Harry’s Bucket.
• You had a New Potato Caboose T-shirt.
• If someone were ever to say “Copeland and Curry” to you, you would instinctively respond, “BOOKENDS!”
• You knew Dot at Denny’s on McFarland.
• You’ve seen Roadside Attraction, Upsetting the Mothers, Mel and the Party Hats, Storm Orphans, The Grapes and Dash Rip Rock, most likely in a fraternity house.
• When you turned 21, you went to The Corner at midnight.
• You remember when Jeremy Nunley delivered on his “respect” promise to USC’s Steve Tanneyhill.
• You had a spring party derailed by more than a foot of snow, and then participated in one of the greatest snowball fights ever on the Quad.
• You wonder if that guy still goes to The Mound and proselytizes.
• You still have a hard time being mad at Antonio Langham.
• You tell people you went to school with Dabo Swinney.
• You attended the final games at the Plaid Palace. All for free. And you booed Shaq. And went nuts when Darby Rich entered the basketball game.
• You attended the greatest Jimmy Buffett, Bob Dylan and Reba McEntyre concerts ever.
• Pepito’s, Tut’s, Vinyl Solution, Ivory Tusk and the Brass Monkey all mean something to you.
• You know that Solomon’s, The Varsity and the End Zone are the same thing.

You may not have spanned the exact same block of time that I did, but chances are, if you were there for all or some of the early 90s, this is a trip down memory lane. And a visit back to another glory era of Bama. Roll Tide.