If Nick Saban Likes Kicking Butt, He's in the Right Place
By Kyle Koster
There will be plenty on the line when Alabama and LSU renew hostilities tomorrow night in Death Valley. The SEC West. A spot in the College Football Playoff. Bragging rights. All that good stuff.
The game will also serve to answer the questions: just how far have the Crimson Tide distanced themselves from the rest of the nation? Just how unfair is adding a Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback who never makes mistakes into the mix? Should we save time and energy by just giving the Tide an annual bye into the semifinals?
Sure, laugh at that. Deep down, in your heart of hearts, you know it’s not a ridiculous proposition.
Alabama has not been tested. In this, their biggest obstacle to date on the road, at night, in a loud stadium against a great team, they are two-touchdown favorites. At this point, watching Nick Saban’s team play is like watching a movie that you’ve seen before. You’re intimately familiar with how it will end. The conflict never resonates because you know the protagonists will figure it out and escape scot-free.
Alabama winning has become a foregone conclusion. Saban has morphed his method of motivation from avoiding rat poison to a more enjoyable David Caruso impression. Check out this one-liner from earlier this week.
" The caller asked: If you win the toss, Coach, will you elect to kick or will you elect to receive? Saban paused for a moment and then responded. “I hope we elect to kick ass is what I hope we do,” he said, drawing laughs from the crowd at Baumhower’s Victory Grille. "
Oh heck yes. The Tide are always looking to send a message. Tomorrow’s result will speak louder than all the previous ones this fall combined. Saban wants blood. Bama wants to crush hope — for both LSU and for any other team that dare want Bama.
Saban wakes up in the morning with two things on his mind: oatmeal cookies and kicking ass. He’ll have had his cookies by Saturday night, and hungry to do the other thing he loves. Could be very bad news for the Tigers and the rest of college football.