'Bama Fans Need a Big Time Program
I see that Tennessee has the #5 ranked team in America. Think about for a moment before you read any further. Why can Tennessee do that and Alabama hasn't done that? The last time an SEC Conference Championship was hung in Coleman Coliseum was 2002. That was 16 seasons ago. The MVP in the Conference that years was Erwin Dudley*. He was first-team All-SEC pick. Alabama is 4th in SEC Conference Championships behind Kentucky, LSU, and Tennessee. The Tide was ranked #1 in hoops for a short time in 2003. Mark Gottfried was the coach. Gottfried continued to coach until 2009. Since 2002 Alabama has not won a regular-season championship or a Tournament Championship. That is simply unacceptable to basketball fans, or at least the ones I know. Whether Avery Johnson can return to the years of Wimp Sanderson, CM Newton, and Johnny Dee remains to be seen. Check with me at the end of next season.
Why doesn't the University of Alabama do anything it takes to make the program big time? It is a question that I have been thinking since Gottfried left. David Hobbs is my friend. So was Anthony Grant. Both were men of high character and could coach the dickens out of the talent they had. David gets a lot of unfair criticism in my opinion. The day before the NBA draft he was assured that Antonio McDyess was returning. He didn't. Who could blame him, and certainly David Hobbs didn't. Hobbs career was turned upside down. Those who criticized Grant needed to understand the culture which infected the program when he took the 'Bama job. To be kind, let's just say it wasn't good. What Grant did was return character back into the program and it took a lot of discipline to do so. That was done at the cost of wins. The question in my mind is why hasn't the University built an arena to better attracts big-time prospects? I know some will say that doing a remodel was good enough. Not in my mind. The seating was not a configuration that puts fans up close and personal when it was built. It still isn't and the students deserve better. I personally think we need to give students better seating. That will cause an uproar with long-term fans. I'm in that group. It serves a better purpose for our students to have the seats. We need a better homecourt advantage. This is a relatively easy fix for your program.
e We have been told of long-term plans to build a new arena. I've seen some nice renditions to give some idea of its appearance. For basketball fans, it might be better to set a date for the groundbreaking, and perhaps find a major corporate sponsor to help defray building costs. Had we done this two decades ago we might have a top ten program? I understand the costs. I understand that football drives the influx of money. I know I get sick to my stomach walking into the Auburn arena and knowing how much better they are now. There are other are other reasons make the Tigers a good team.
If Alabama wants to risk playing second fiddle to AU in hoops in the future can stay in Coleman and keep going to the paint store. Or we can take a chance that it launches Alabama into the next level of college Hoops. The decision is above my pay grade. Alabama has everything it needs to make top ten hoops a reality. In the end, it is about getting good players. We need to give our basketball coaches everything they need to do that.
*Erwin Dudley is still playing in Turkey.
 |
| A rendition of new arena interior |
Why doesn't the University of Alabama do anything it takes to make the program big time? It is a question that I have been thinking since Gottfried left. David Hobbs is my friend. So was Anthony Grant. Both were men of high character and could coach the dickens out of the talent they had. David gets a lot of unfair criticism in my opinion. The day before the NBA draft he was assured that Antonio McDyess was returning. He didn't. Who could blame him, and certainly David Hobbs didn't. Hobbs career was turned upside down. Those who criticized Grant needed to understand the culture which infected the program when he took the 'Bama job. To be kind, let's just say it wasn't good. What Grant did was return character back into the program and it took a lot of discipline to do so. That was done at the cost of wins. The question in my mind is why hasn't the University built an arena to better attracts big-time prospects? I know some will say that doing a remodel was good enough. Not in my mind. The seating was not a configuration that puts fans up close and personal when it was built. It still isn't and the students deserve better. I personally think we need to give students better seating. That will cause an uproar with long-term fans. I'm in that group. It serves a better purpose for our students to have the seats. We need a better homecourt advantage. This is a relatively easy fix for your program.
e We have been told of long-term plans to build a new arena. I've seen some nice renditions to give some idea of its appearance. For basketball fans, it might be better to set a date for the groundbreaking, and perhaps find a major corporate sponsor to help defray building costs. Had we done this two decades ago we might have a top ten program? I understand the costs. I understand that football drives the influx of money. I know I get sick to my stomach walking into the Auburn arena and knowing how much better they are now. There are other are other reasons make the Tigers a good team.
If Alabama wants to risk playing second fiddle to AU in hoops in the future can stay in Coleman and keep going to the paint store. Or we can take a chance that it launches Alabama into the next level of college Hoops. The decision is above my pay grade. Alabama has everything it needs to make top ten hoops a reality. In the end, it is about getting good players. We need to give our basketball coaches everything they need to do that.
*Erwin Dudley is still playing in Turkey.
No comments:
Post a Comment