Alabama Crimson Tide football, hoops and misguided righteous indignation

In the football offseason, even with other Alabama Crimson Tide sports to follow and root for, minds can wander. The other Crimson Tide teams and individual sports may be competing for championships but still, for many Tide fans, thoughts don’t stray too far from football.

A good reason why is because the Alabama Crimson Tide has the greatest college football program of all time. So when an opposing coach like Jimbo Fisher decides to engage in a pseudo, tough guy, hissy fit, lots of folks pay attention.

Back to Jimbo momentarily, but first a question about whether performance theatre is as necessary as some coaches believe it to be. Apparently being outrageous enough means there is no risk of shame. But doesn’t Brian Kelly feel embarrassed after he did some kind of dance routine with a recruit from the state of Louisiana? The video below exploded because the recruit, who obviously was not influenced by Kelly’s moves, signed with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

https://twitter.com/DannyLewis2022/status/1487209885385347081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1487209885385347081%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fextra-mustard%2F2022%2F01%2F29%2Fole-miss-head-coach-lane-kiffin-savagely-trolls-brian-kelly-dancing-in-tweet

Then there is the Pearlster on The Plains. Bruce Pearl is a good coach and a better recruiter and sports marketer. His recent crane kick in Auburn Arena was a huge hit with Auburn fans. It was all in good fun right? Maybe it will even reduce frequent references to the ‘swarmy’ Pearl as a sweat hog. In my opinion, the best thing about Pearl is he only visits Tuscaloosa, rather than living in T-Town.

Even someone like Mack Brown, who by all reports is a fine, sincere person, looks like a buffoon dancing in post-game locker room celebrations.

I guess with sports being such a powerful entertainment product, performance art from coaches is just part of the sizzle.

A new Arena for the Alabama Crimson Tide

Speaking of entertainment products – finally – a new arena may move forward on the Alabama campus. There is some question about the best of four locations. What is not in doubt is how overdue the project is and how woefully outdated Coleman has been for many years. Students on three sides of the lower level is a great idea. The renderings look like a great game setting. Maybe the design should make room for more students to stand and cheer.

Getting back to Jimbo. Let’s do the short version and not bother quoting exactly what he said. Jimbo feigned anger, disgust and outrage about suggestions the Aggies were using their deep pockets to sign recruits. His outburst was an extreme response to being offended by things Lane Kiffin and Nick Saban (and others) had said. It was similar to a Hugh Freeze indignation when Ole Miss was caught cheating. From Jimbo, it was just bigger and louder. Something about living in Texas seems to require that. Maybe Jimbo never read Hamlet, but protesting too much is a dead giveaway.

For big-time college sports, now is clearly a Wild West era. In a convoluted way, Jimbo’s histrionics somewhat make Will Wade look less bad. As in Wade saying, yes I cheat, so what?

The best line I saw today about Alabama and cheating is Chargers are used instead of cash. To keep up with A&M, I guess we’ll have to bump up to Ferraris. Just joking of course.