If you’ve ever spent much time in Alabama, you know the old saying that there are two religions in the South: Christianity and college football. If you’ve never been there, you may not understand the significance of this past week’s headlines out of Tuscaloosa. First, you have to understand that probably no other person in the state of Alabama is held in higher regard than the University of Alabama football coach. In many ways he is the pope of this second religion. This goes back to Bear Bryant and the days of Crimson Tide dominance in the sport. In recent years, Alabama has fallen on hard times. Not only has the school not produced on the field, but probation (a near football death penalty) and a few scandals have caused a rumble of discontent among the faithful.
This past off season, Alabama was faced with hiring a new coach after the previous one, Dennis Franchione, decided to leave for Texas A&M. Since most Alabama fans couldn’t even pronounce the guys name, I get the feeling that his leaving was seen as something of a good thing. When it came time to hire a new guy, they once again went outside the fold (it’s common among Southern football teams to hire within the “family”) and decided on Mike Price, the fairly successful coach at Washington State. Not only did this guy not have any ties to Alabama, but he’d been a Pac 10 man most of his career. I’m sure that more than a few of the flock were a bit dismayed, but being the new progressive Southerners that they are asked to be, they flung open their arms.
Fast forward to two weekends ago. Price, now the ambassador of football for the state of Alabama, was playing at a Pro-Am golf tournament in that den of moral iniquity, Pensacola, Florida. As a one-time resident of that city, I can tell you that the temptations are high. After all I’m sure a quick check of the phone book will tell you that churches only outnumber bars by the slimmest of margins, as opposed to a more reasonable three or four to one in the bigger cities of Alabama. Struck deaf, dumb, and blind by these temptations (and a few libations, I’m sure), Price forgot his calling and headed to a strip club. We can only guess what may have happened there (or read the Sports Illustrated article) but eventually Price ended up in his hotel room whispering sweet “Roll Tides” in a couple of strippers’ ears.
Now had this been your average-Joe car salesman from Birmingham—or preacher at the First Baptist Church of Montgomery—forgiveness may have been forthcoming. By rule, Southerners are a forgiving people. Indiscretions can be chalked up to the devil, and a few tears and a lot of prayers could easily have overcome a momentary lapse of judgment. But the church of football doesn’t work that way. Price basically lost his membership along with his credit card. It took the deacons at Alabama a week, but last Saturday they excommunicated the backslider, despite his pleas for a second chance. To besmirch the good name of football is tantamount to the most mortal of sins. Cheating to win can be overlooked. Cheating on your wife is ok. Cheating the name of Alabama football is unpardonable.
My dad is one of the biggest Alabama fans I know. One of my earliest memories is of him screaming at the TV during an Alabama Sugar Bowl game. When all of this came to a head last weekend, I gave him a call. He told me that he was happy they’d fired the guy. In fact, he claimed that if they hadn’t he might have been looking for another church to worship at. When I suggested Auburn, he said that he would never stoop so low.
