Probation really educates fan base on how difficult it is to build a solid team...

Proxigean Tide

All-SEC
Oct 13, 1999
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Reading threads about all our team's holes, weaknesses, youth and inexperience, it really makes a fan (like myself) realize how difficult it is to build quality depth at the SEC level. I know the Internet has made everything much more visible, but I can recall a time when most of us niether knew or cared the names of back-ups past the RB and QB positions.

Remember the good ole days: Freshman playing, much less starting?..never happen...don't have to learn their names for a couple of years. New recruits...I'm sure we got some fine prospects...didn't follow it too closely because they won't play for a couple of years anyway. Somebody got kicked off the team...or didn't pan out...or realize their potential...or make their grades...probably never hear much about it.

I guess probation changes everything. Now we follow recruiting like these kids are the next coming. Now, when kids don't pan out, we wonder what went wrong...how it could happen...we feel a sense of loss because we know AlLL their names. Now we follow everything because we never seem to have enough depth, experience or talent anywhere on the field.

For myself, I can honestly say that I never realized how many players never make it, whether due to injury, grades, discipinary issues or lack of talent. Considering Bama's recruiting was damaged by media reports and NCAA foot-dragging for 2 years prior to going on probation, its amazing Bama has been able to win even 6 games a year for many of the recent seasons.

It does give us something to talk about, but it sure is tough to watch "the process" because it seems it is certainly an uphill battle from the depths of probation. RTR.
 

Tidewater

FB|NS|NSNP Moderator
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Mar 15, 2003
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Considering Bama's recruiting was damaged by media reports and NCAA foot-dragging for 2 years prior to going on probation, its amazing Bama has been able to win even 6 games a year for many of the recent seasons.
Yet another reason to hate those SOBs from Indianapolis. Dragging their feet for two years, gave lowlifes like Fat Phil and Wingnut two years to say to recruits "Don't go to Alabama. They're going to get slammed and your college career won't amount to anything. You'll be playing on a much-reduced squad, you'll have no bowl, maybe no TV appearances."
The ironic thing was the administration was bending over and grabbing their ankles for the scum from Indianapolis as quickly as they could, and the scum still took two years to decide a penalty.
Ceterum censeo NCAA esse delendam..
Call me not a big fan...
 
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GrayTide

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 2005
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Very good and relevant thread. Several points to ponder: 1. Most Alabama fans did not comprehend how far our talent level had sunk from 2000-2006 and some still think our talent level is on par with the top tier SEC teams. 2. Bad coaching hires during this same time period compounded the problem of probation and lack of talent. 3. I agree with Proxigean Tide, it is nothing short of a miracle that during this period of time we actually could field a team that won 6+ games in a year and actually won 10 in 2005. We now have everything in place to return to national prominence, it is a matter of time.
 

J.Will

All-SEC
Mar 22, 2001
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Remember the good ole days: Freshman playing, much less starting?..never happen...don't have to learn their names for a couple of years. New recruits...I'm sure we got some fine prospects...didn't follow it too closely because they won't play for a couple of years anyway. Somebody got kicked off the team...or didn't pan out...or realize their potential...or make their grades...probably never hear much about it.

I guess probation changes everything. Now we follow recruiting like these kids are the next coming. Now, when kids don't pan out, we wonder what went wrong...how it could happen...we feel a sense of loss because we know AlLL their names. Now we follow everything because we never seem to have enough depth, experience or talent anywhere on the field.
It would be the same level of interest even without probation. Take the internet, national recruiting services, coupled with a rabid fanbase, shake well and you get an Alabama message board.
 

Bamabuzzard

FB Moderator
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Aug 15, 2004
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What probation did was allow the gap that existed for decades between us and teams that we normally beat to close and create a new gap between us and them with the exception we're now on the wrong side of that gap. The recovery and rebuilding process is ten times harder now than what it would have been ten years ago because a lot teams in the SEC have gotten a lot better, their recruiting power has strengtened and it is much tougher to get the top talent (year end and year out) without the other newly dominant teams getting equal talent as well.

We've been fighting an up hill battle that's been a booger to climb and at times doesn't seem like we're making much progress. But one would think that it only can get better considering that anything that could go wrong has gone wrong for us for so long now that at some point the "tide" has to turn.
 
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bamaga

Hall of Fame
Apr 29, 2002
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probation also teaches patience to an 'unreasonable' fanbase !
 
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bayoutider

Administrator Emeritus & Chef-in-Chief
Oct 13, 1999
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JessN and several others have tried to educate the fans who read here for several years. We may not have gotten every detail correct but I bet our track record is par or better than any other information source available to Joe Internetreader.
 

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