The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

OUR VIEW

Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:20 PM

OUR VIEW: Alabama May Have Won A Title, But It's Inaction To Three Punks Overshadowed A Great Win For A Great Team

As a Georgia Dawg fan last night (don't worry Nole Nation, my #1 team is still FSU, Georgia is 1A) I like millions of others, was glued to my TV set to see my Dawgs take on the Crimson Tide of Alabama in what turned into an epic championship game that ended with the Tide winning in overtime 26-23 in a beyond the words thrilling game. Let me make it clear this editorial is not sour grapes by a jolted Dawg fan. Alabama deserved to win this game because as in all sports the game is played on the field, and on the field is where Alabama won it.

The win continued to cement Nick Saban's legacy as one of the best coaches in football on any level - college or pro.

Just as an aside, there are not even many pro coaches I know who would have let a freshman quarterback take over in the second half for their regular quarterback who was 25-2 as a starter up to that point. Saban's instincts were that the freshman had the skills to beat a tough Georgia defense that had stifled the Tide in the first half. Yet Saban is not like any other coach. He took the risk. The rest is history.

The game on the field however got overshadowed sadly by three incidents on Alabama's side that makes me sad to see how principles have been sacrificed for winning.

It’s an awful shame to see where the level of respect by young men who play this great game of football has fallen to, and by extension, the lack of action the Tide coaching staff took in all three situations.

First off, Alabama star running back Bo Scarborough was heard coming out of the tunnel at the start of the game yelling “Fu%k Trump” in front of TV cameras. Scarborough denied it claiming he was saying “Fu#k Georgia.” That doesn’t make it any less hideous and I’d just like to say to Bo, "you can listen to the video and you didn’t say Georgia kid, you said 'Trump.' Don't play us for fools. We're not.”

The thing is if I were coaching this young man, I would have sent him straight back to the locker room at that moment. No questions asked. I'd told him that he was representing a university and as such we do not, number one, use that type language on national television, and two, we show respect for our leaders, even though we may or may not agree with them. 

Even if he was saying “Blank” Georgia, he’d been sent back because in sports there is something known as good sportsmanship and even in battle, you show class, win or lose.

There was a nation full of young kids watching this game- and hearing the comments of one of Bama's best players using this kind of language on TV when he was representing The University of Alabama. I’m sure if Nick Saban’s son came to him later that night and said “Blank” Trump then turned to him and said, “It’s ok dad, Bo said it coming out of the tunnel,” then Mr. Saban would have been on the phone to Scarborough quickly thanking him for being such a fine role model to his son.

It was sad for the athlete because he wasn’t brought up any better than to be disrespectful of the kids watching and his President. And sad for the institution of sports, because I believe in the bottom of my heart that former legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant and a list of other coaches of past glory would have booted his butt out of the game before he even made it to the field.

What used to be offensive is not offensive anymore. Winning is everything now a days, principles, class and sportsmanship be damned. Sad.

In another incident Alabama’s Mekhi Brown swang at Walter Grant, who is actually from my own ala mater, Cairo High School in southern Georgia. That didn’t seem to be enough for Brown however, as then on the sidelines, he went after a coach, all the while yelling profanity at the top of his lungs. That too was caught on camera, yet he got to find his way back into the game. On my team he’s gone not just for the game, but probably for a few games next season to let him know we don’t tolerate swinging at another team's player like that, and we sure don't tolerate you cussing at those in authority over you. Again, nothing was done. Brown was right back on the field a few plays later without penalty. Message sent.

Then in the third quarter, Alabama’s Mack Wilson shoved Georgia QB Jake Fromm in the back of the head after a sack, which was a clear personal foul, and should have resulted in a roughing the passer penalty that the not-so-awesome officiating crew from the Big Ten missed. I won't get into it here but they missed a lot of calls Monday night even though ultimately, while the refs sure didn't help Georgia a whole lot, they were not the reason the Dawgs lost.

The bigger question is where was the Alabama brass regarding Wilson, yanking this punk off the field and reminding him that you don't shove your foot in the back of a quarterback's head after the play is over? We call that dirty football and again as a coach had I seen that, Wilson's ass is on the bench the rest of the night at a minimum.

Again, there are some, and I tend to agree, had any of these things happened under Georgia's legendary coach Vince Dooley or Alabama's legend Bear Bryant, and even Florida State's legendary coach Bobby Bowden, all would have not just benched Wilson and these other two kids, they'd likely kicked all three out of the stadium at that minute.

What is tremendously sad is it seems this type behavior is now acceptable and it shouldn’t be. I’m not just calling out Alabama. It’s an across the broad problem at several schools.  

For years the University of Miami gained the reputation of recruiting players with criminal records and a history of thug behavior, but because they could run, punt and pass, it was ok to bring them on the field to play as a Hurricane. Now Hurricane and former Georgia Coach Mark Richt has arrived the culture has changed their thankfully.

It got so bad that the joke in Florida was if a Miami QB and a Miami RB were riding in the car, who was driving? The laughable answer was “the police.”  You could have put a number of other schools in that joke and just about every NFL team in America.

Yes, Alabama is a great football team and in the end, came out of last night's game with their fifth national title since 2009. But their lack of action in these three incidents to me lowered the value in my opinion of the championship trophy Nick Saban held over his head at the end of the game. This is not about X's and O's, this is about something that can't be purchased with money.

You can't buy class and you can't buy manners. Furthermore, you can't make young men respect authority and themselves in that they play the game clean and not act like punks and thugs. As a coach though and school administrator, you can send a message that this type behavior is not tolerated on any level no matter your skill set.

In one of my favorite football movies of all time, "Any Given Sunday," Antoine "Shark" Levay, gave some advice to a young up and coming QB star named Willie Beamen. This is what the "Shark" told Beamen in the movie, who had let success go to his head while acting like these three Alabama players did on the field Monday night.

"You led son, but did anybody follow? For every sucker who makes it, for every Barry Sanders, for every Jerry Rice, there are hundreds of others you never heard of. They didn't make it but should have because they had character even though they didn't have the skills you got Willie. Sure, the game has taught you how to move and run, talk S$#$#, make tons of money, get all the women you want. But remember the day will come when suddenly there's no more women, no more money, no more applause, just you and who you see in a mirror. When a man looks back on his life, he should be proud of all of it, Willie, not just the years he spent in pads and cleats. You got to learn that now, because if you don't, you'll never become a man, you'll go down in history as just another punk."

Alabama may deserve a lot of credit for their play on the field. But they should be ashamed of themselves as a coaching staff and university for allowing three punks to act like they acted on the national stage Monday night without penalty, and in fact, reward. They got to remain on the field and play when they should have been sent a message that their actions are unacceptable and not in the spirit of what the University of Alabama represents or endorses.

The scarier question and the part that eats at me today is not just on Alabama’s side, but the entirety of high school, college and pro sports in general: "is it?"

The answer to that question should make us all pause even though in most cases the answer to that question is sadly it has become the new norm. I had a dear friend surmise that white coaches are worried about the racial backlash of punishing black players because of the fear they have in what the media and other groups will say. If that is true we are in worse shape than even first mentioned.

Sabin claimed after the game he was not aware of any of these incidents and that raises a ton more question but for now I'll just leave things where they are at.

Al Pacino once famously said in the same movie "Any Given Sunday," - "On any given Sunday you're gonna win or you're gonna lose. The point is - can you win or lose like a man?"

Alabama won Monday night, but these three young men won as anything but men, they won as punks.

Let me make a riveting comparison of Tide football players at the end of this editorial to make it clear this is not sour grapes by a disappointed Dawg fan.

The player who actually won the game for the Tide would be a great example to these other three punks as to how to conduct themselves in future games.

Freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa became an instant hero out of no-where with an incredible second-half performance completing 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception to lead the Crimson Tide back from two 13-point deficits during Alabama’s 26-23 win.

To cap off his performance, Tagovailoa threw a game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith to silence the pro-Georgia crowd in Atlanta.

Not surprisingly, the freshman received lots of national attention as he should have after the Tide victory.  When Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde spoke to Tagovailoa  he found out the young man is a man of deep faith. I instantly recognized that during his post-game speech as he praised the Lord Jesus Christ by name for the victory. That took courage in this climate of political correctness, especially on the football field. This kid was not just full of talent, he has the character to go far in life beyond football.

Here’s more from Forde’s story:

"How, in the name of Bear Bryant, did a freshman bench jockey rise to this ridiculously pressurized occasion and become an instant hero?

“I was praying,” Tagovailoa said. “I was speaking in tongues. It kept me calm. I would say my poise comes from my faith,” Tagovailoa said. “I just pray for peace.”

He prayed before possessions. He prayed after possessions. He prayed and passed and scrambled his way into Alabama history. So amidst a field of three punks, there was a shining light for the Crimson Tide.

The irony of this now is how the news media will handle Tagovailoa's faith.

Let's pray he don't become another target like Tim Tebow.  We'll see.

Congrats to the Tide. Five national titles since 2009 is nothing to sneeze at. Just let the value of what you've accomplished on the field be taught to the players who play the game for you that what happens off the field is just as important and how you conduct yourselves in front of millions counts too. A lot!

 

Christopher McDonald, Publisher, Editor in Charge

Great Smoky Mountain Journal