It’s asked by some, “Could anything good come out of Alabama?” much like they once asked if anything good could come out of Nazareth. ;Don’t you believe them. I’ve read sociological studies in the past that equated the Southern love of football with the tribal warfare in the Scottish highlands, that it’s the modern day way in which our DNA takes care of ancient land disputes. Maybe. Others say that the South rallied around Alabama’s football team in the 1920’s as a source of regional pride. When the South was downtrodden from reconstruction after the Civil War there just wasn’t much to be proud of down South. So when Alabama went to the Rose Bowl and beat Washington or Stanford it gave the entire South something of which to be proud. In the 1960’s there was racism and again football was one of the only sources of pride for Southerners. During those years Bear Bryant’s Alabama teams were the best in the nation. So whatever the sociological reasons, football is important to us in the Southland and it was on full display once again Saturday night as Alabama defeated Georgia 32-28 to win the Southeastern Conference Championship. It was a game of epic proportions and once again a team from the SEC will be in the national championship game. Once again, it’s the Crimson Tide. Roll Tide!

This post was supposed to be about the natural beauty of my home state, but you see, I’m from Alabama and I just couldn’t help myself. I have a tradition when I drive across the state line to visit my kin in Alabama and that’s to put on Lynard Skynard’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” Over the years I’ve come to appreciate more and the more the natural beauty of Alabama. Here’s a quick look from a recent trip home this Fall.

Fishermen on Hillabee Lake, Alabama

The Swann Covered Bridge spans the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River

Forest Moon, Cheaha State Park

My favorite photo just might be a screen shot I made with my phone of an ESPN article right after the game.

Ivan Maisel wrote an article in which he quotes Author Keith Dunnavant saying “that Alabama and Notre Dame had more in common than most fans realized. Each school had used football to overcome prejudices. In the first half of the 20th century, much of America didn’t like Notre Dame because it was Catholic, and didn’t like Alabama because it was Southern.”

That won’t have much bearing on the outcome of the game but it is of interest to students of history. No matter the past, the present should present us with a great national championship game with Alabama once again representing the South. Roll Tide!