NCAA Football 2012 - Week 11

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by Smokin' Toaster

First and foremost, Can you quote me where I said "Typical arrogant Alabama fan"?

Here is what you did say Einstein.

Originally Posted by Smokin' Toaster

MJ, It' part of the grieving process for Alabama fans. The superiority complex often mentioned in these threads generates denial and often negates the possibility of losing gracefully.

Now, since you have made an issue out of this, let me give you the definition of "superior":

adjective
1.
making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud: an arrogant public official.
2.
characterized by or proceeding from arrogance: arrogant claims.


How about "superiority complex":

superiority complex
n
an inflated estimate of one's own merit, usually manifested in arrogance


Apparently you are using big words/terms for which you do not know the meaning.

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by basstotheface

Yup.

Ok, well I know dozens of fans too and based on that information, I disagree with you. I'm not sure how scientific any of this is, though

[DigMe]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Yeah, Manziel is scary good. Florida escaped with a win after they made some second half adjustments in the SEC opener for both teams.

I was sort of blah on Texas A&M joining the SEC, but it looks like a good fit so far. I love the matte maroon helmets and their slogan is cool....gig 'em Aggies. I have a Texas A&M hat in my college collection, maybe I'll dust it off and wear it Monday.

-Mike

This post has received the Brad Cook seal of approval.

bc

[Eublet]

Whew! What a day yesterday. Woke up at 3:30 a.m., got some coffee going, woke my 10 year old and 4 year old boys up at 5:45, drove to my mom's house, dropped my youngest off, picked up my sister and niece, and drove 3.5 hours to Tuscaloosa for the game. Tailgated with friends, old and new, which was great. The Bama-aTm connections run very deep. The Aggie fans that were there were some of the most gracious and genuinely excited people to be around. It was awesome seeing them lined up at the Gene Stallings and Bear Bryant statues to have their pictures taken. For those who don't know, both Stallings and Bryant coached at A&M, and also at Bama. There were Aggie old timers there telling stories of the Bear when he was at A&M, and Bama fans both young and old were eating it up like it was new revelation at a tent revival. It was special. Lots of "howdy's" and best wishes on the game. It was great to be there!

Scalping tickets was hard for this one. There was a panic to get in at the last minute. I paid $600 for 4 tickets to sit 4 rows from the top in the north end zone just before kickoff. That's insane. Mostly Bama fans up there, but 10% or so were Aggie faithful.

There was a pregame show saluting a bunch of players who had ties to both A&M and Bama. They called their names out and they walked out on the field. Stallings of course was one of them. The crowd loved it.

Manziel is the real deal. Watching him on TV doesn't do his talent justice. I sat in front of a former player (not Bama) who obviously knew a lot of football also. We were commenting back and forth the whole game about schemes, coverages, etc. Each time Manziel did something we just kind of looked at each other in awe. It was spectacular to watch. He'd get my Heisman vote for sure if I had one.

Bama had no answer for A&M for the first 14 minutes. He could do no wrong. You could see Kirby and Co. frantically working with the defense when they were on the sideline, which wasn't very often. Finally after 3 possessions and 20 points, they got something going that at least slowed them down, holding them to only 9 points for the remaining 46 minutes. I was very proud of the changes they made and they way our guys stood up instead of folding. Bama is a championship-calibur team, and I'm proud of that.

But Manziel was NEVER stopped in the game. He continued to make throws on the run that were just hard to believe. And when he couldn't throw, he was breaking defender's ankles with his scrambling.

I'm still a huge AJ fan. He did his part to get us back in the game. The Yeldon fumble was unfortunate, but the kid is a true freshman and hasn't had time to gain the extra strength and weight that will come from a full year in Cochran's strength program. He's going to be something special in the years to come.

This was the best Bama game I've ever been to. The excitement of what we were doing to fight our way back into winning was something to behold. We were beating A&M, and it was showing. Hard to pickup on this kind of stuff on TV, but the game atmosphere was unreal. They moved the ball on us some still, but we stopped them when it mattered, and they held us on occasion also. The last interception was unfortunate, simply because it would have made the entire game epic, but it wasn't to be. You can't lose a game because of a single play, so that one isn't AJ's fault. He looked great on those deep passes that brought us several scores.

I was thinking just before that interception (as I felt like we would certainly punch one in and win the game) that it felt strange to have won 2 games while totally getting our butts handed to us. I guess that thought was premature.

When the game was over, all the Aggie fans in the uppder deck either stood there, or just sat down. Quiet as church mice, but respectful. Not scared. From my vantage point, I watched dozens and dozens of Bama faithful congratulate them on the win, ask them where they were from, or how long of a drive they had to get home. There was lots of smiling and friendliness. I was very proud then also.

On the Strip walking back toward the car, the bars were already full of fans from both teams. They were sharing drinks together, and I heard more talk of Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings, the Junction Boys, etc. I was happy, and would have loved to have spent the night mingling with strangers if I didn't have 2 kids with me. Next year, I'm going to College Station for the game. I fully expect that it'll be a great experience.

I hate Bama lost, but it's just football. If we win out, and two other undefeated teams lose, I'll be proud to play in the championship game again. But I don't want any part of Manziel again for at least 12 months.

[Smokin' Toaster]

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

Here is what you did say Einstein.




Now, since you have made an issue out of this, let me give you the definition of "superior":

adjective
1.
making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud: an arrogant public official.
2.
characterized by or proceeding from arrogance: arrogant claims.


How about "superiority complex":

superiority complex
n
an inflated estimate of one's own merit, usually manifested in arrogance

Apparently you are using big words/terms for which you do not know the meaning.

Superiority complex is a word Eublet has used and described on several occasions, EINSTEIN. Speaking of arrogant, before you assume that every word I say is all about you, let me tell you, the sun DOES NOT rise and set in your BVD's. Turn down your sense of self importance, or at least get yourself a bag of chips. You still won't be all that, but at least you'll have a bag of chips.

Note to self and MJ5150 - king-biscuit gets very confrontational after an Alabama loss.

And before you ASSUME what I know or don't know, be careful, you may ASS / u / u...that's making an ass out of yourself twice, there's no me there. You're on you own, buddy.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

Does that include Auburn fans? What about LSU fans, I know a few that are pretty serious? Gator fans? Texas fans? Oklahoma fans? I would say all of the major football conferences have a fairly rabid fan base.

Yes. No. No. No. No.

All teams in all sports have rabid fans. I never said the state of Alabama has the only, in your words rabid, fans in the USA. It's not an insult, just an observation from my personal experience participating in the TalkBass Off Topic NCAA Football threads over the years, and attending college football games all over the USA.

Allow me to clarify that this is nothing more than my opinion. It may be totally wrong. You are free to disagree.

-Mike

[Smokin' Toaster]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Allow me to clarify that this is nothing more than my opinion. It may be totally wrong. You are free to disagree.

-Mike

Do you really think that will get you off the hook?

[MJ5150]

Hopefully.

I'd rather talk about my trip to the ND/BC game, but it looks like I'm stuck in the crosshairs of an angry Alabama Crimson Tide fan.

-Mike

[basstotheface]

You went to the ND/BC game? Pics?

[Smokin' Toaster]

Those crosshairs are broad and wide, especially where I live.

I'm an Irish fan and watched the game. ND is not playing up to their capabilities, and I'm afraid if they don't up their game that they could get bit in the butt as well. USC could make their season palatable with a defeat of ND.

Mantai was very quiet, with only the one interception. What were your thoughts on the game?

[MJ5150]

It was boring. ND didn't have to play lights out to beat BC, so they didn't. I'm a big fan of defensive football, and there were some drives here and there where ND cranked up the defense. That was great to watch. Other than that, it was mediocre football. BC is bad, they showed it.

I've been a fan of Gholson for a few weeks now, and now having seen him in person, wow that guy is fast.

The atmosphere was fun. The BC fans were jazzed, and the stadium had that big time college football feel to it. I wasn't expecting that, but I figure much of it was because of Notre Dame being in town. We didn't hang around after the game, we had a two plus hour drive so we scooted out of town quick. A couple ND fans were teasing us about being poor losers, but I flashed my Gators beanie and they settled down.

-Mike

[Smokin' Toaster]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

It was boring. ND didn't have to play lights out to beat BC, so they didn't. I'm a big fan of defensive football, and there were some drives here and there where ND cranked up the defense. That was great to watch. Other than that, it was mediocre football. BC is bad, they showed it.

I've been a fan of Gholson for a few weeks now, and now having seen him in person, wow that guy is fast.

The atmosphere was fun. The BC fans were jazzed, and the stadium had that big time college football feel to it. I wasn't expecting that, but I figure much of it was because of Notre Dame being in town. We didn't hang around after the game, we had a two plus hour drive so we scooted out of town quick. A couple ND fans were teasing us about being poor losers, but I flashed my Gators beanie and they settled down.

-Mike

Shame on those ND fans. What prompted them to give you static about being sore losers?

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by Smokin' Toaster

Shame on those ND fans. What prompted them to give you static about being sore losers?

We were rushing out of the stadium to our car, and got stuck behind them in a line. It wasn't malicious. They were laughing, we were laughing. They thought we were hurrying to get home since BC lost. When I explained how long our drive was, then showed him my Gators beanie, they knew we were just in town to see Notre Dame. We high fived and then disappeared into the night.

-Mike

[Smokin' Toaster]

Ok. I'm well aware that ND has it's share of asshat fans. I'll call them on it in a second too, I've got no patience with them. Does that mean I hate Indiana too? Or maybe just South Bend?

[DigMe]

Funny that a "down year" in the SEC means that only 6 of the top 10 are currently SEC teams.

bc

[basstotheface]

Ugh now A&M fans are doing it. The SEC is not very good this year. The SEC's best OOC win is Kent State.

SEC scheduling is a joke.

[GregC]

Originally Posted by basstotheface

Ugh now A&M fans are doing it. The SEC is not very good this year. The SEC's best OOC win is Kent State.

SEC scheduling is a joke.

Funny stuff. The SEC's a little overrated this year, I think. But there have of course been a bunch more significant OOC wins than that.

[GregC]

Jason, great post, thanks for sharing your experience. I continue to hold A&M fans in high esteem. Maybe in a few years the rivalries will start to get bitter, but it's all good for now.

[Smokin' Toaster]

I agree with Greg, it's still a honeymoon with A&M right now, and the Bear Bryant - Gene Stallings connection is a bit of a buffer right now. If, and it looks like when, A&M builds a bit of winning history against certain SEC schools, you can bet they'll get their own little derogatory nickname. Let's see, an agricultural and mining school.... hmmmm.... can you have two "barners" in the same conference?

<---note smile, please.

I agree with Basstotheface too, the SEC needs to quit whining about what a tough conference schedule they have and using it as an excuse to play patsies for non-conference games. if you examine the out of conference games of ALL SEC schools, it's ridiculous how few Top 10 or top 25 teams you find there vs. how many bottom 25 or at least unrated (by a along shot) teams are there. If an SEC school had gone out and played and defeated a K-State or Oregon or Notre Dame - all SEC fans seem to think this is a given, the national championship picture would be quite different now. And I'm a fan of an SEC school, so I'm not an SEC hater.

[Eublet]

Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Auburn have done their part in playing strong OOC games for a while now. I understand Florida's argument about having to play Miami and FSU every year, and that was a great argument in the 90's. It's kind of lame now, but there's a lot of in-state bragging rights there, so I respect that they hold those games yearly. It would be nice to see them leave their state every once in a while though.

So, that leaves the rest of the SEC, which honestly are all mid-tier and lower teams in the conference. Would it mean anything if Miss St went and played a top 15 team? No. They do play other teams that are roughly at their level though, so I think this OOC scheduling argument against the SEC is a bit lame also. I'd prefer there weren't cupcakes on the schedule, like a Towson, New Mexico State, Georgia Southern, La Monroe, etc, but I also don't expect an SEC to schedule a home and home with a team like Notre Dame in November. There's nothing to gain (typically) when you beat them, but there's a ton to be lost when you don't. I'm not just singling out ND (of course there would be a lot to gain from beating them right now since they're having a rare great season). The same could be said for a team like Oklahoma St, TCU, BYU, etc. It just doesn't make sense to gamble on those games at all, especially financially since it costs so much to have those games regardless of where they are played. The bowl games allow teams to matchup at the end of the season, and I'm perfectly happy to let conferences beat up on themselves through the regular season. I do like opening the season with big OOC games though.

I also don't think ANY top 10 team ever gets to the end of the season in a major conference because they play a soft OOC schedule. That's a very lame argument to me. Always has been and always will be. Teams do get there all the time because of their very weak in-conference schedule (See Boise St, Hawaii a few years back, etc). That's much more of a travesty IMO. I'm looking forward to a 4-team playoff. I hope it goes to 8 teams soon after, but if it goes higher than 8, it'll ruin everything.