Bear

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of Bear Bryant's death. It's difficult to explain to younger folks just what it was like to grow up during the dominance of Bear and the Tide in the 70's. In the five seasons from 1975-1979, Alabama lost 6 games. Let me type that again - Alabama lost 6 times in five years. To put that in perspective, Bama has lost at least 6 games each of the last two seasons. Needless to say, it was a BIG deal when Alabama lost a single game back then. Bear Bryant had an aura about him that was incalculable.

I had the incredible chance to meet him when I was a kid. I was around 9-10 years old and my father had obtained tickets for the Senior Football Banquet at the Civic Center here in the 'ham. He took me and my brother Michael, who would have been about 6-7. However, that memory is bittersweet. We saw all of our favorite players and amazingly had the good fortune to meet Coach Bryant and get his autograph. In fact, there was a reporter there who took a picture of the coach flanked by me and my brother on either side of him. Unfortunately, my mother insisted that Michael and I wore the matching rainbow-striped sweaters that my aunt had knitted for us that Christmas, thus ensuring that what should have been a proud highlight for each of her boys is actually now a cringe-inducing moment upon recollection. For one night, my father was a god in our eyes for granting us the opportunity to meet a living legend. My mother, on the other hand, turned out to be the incarnation of evil. I've got a copy of that photo somewhere at home that I'll post if I can successfully dig it out.