God Didn't Approve

We in the American South are often accused of making college football into a religion.  We laugh about it but know there is at least a hint of truth to the charge.  It was on display at the Southeastern Conference  (SEC) Media Days recently (Friday, 22 July 2011) at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alaabama.

Each year the SEC football coaches, their staffs, some of their players, and innumerable newspaper, magazine, radio, television, and internet reporters gather to discuss the upcoming football season.  They talk about team strengths and weaknesses, up and coming players, and anything football related.

An Alabama fan, Eric Blackerby, of Columbiana, Alabama, was spotted wearing a tee-shirt with the logo "I HATE AUBURN ."  Asked about the shirt, NIck Saban , the coach of the University of Alabama football team responded, "I would tell him it's not personal, that it really isn't personal.  That is not really the way that we should respect the opponents that we have."

Asked later about Saban's comment, Blackerby responded, "It's like I went to church and God told me that he didn't approve."

Roll Tide in Jerusalem

Here in Birmingham we are often accused of making Alabama and Auburn football into a religion.  It's probably true. We love our football.  You rarely go a day without seeing someone wearing a sweatshirt from one of the two teams (and from other Southeastern Conference schools and numerous other less well known smaller colleges and universities). You'll often see a car with Alabama or Auburn insignia on the side panels or with school flags flapping in the wind.  My favorite is a tiger tail hanging out of a car trunk, as if someone has abducted Aubie, the mascot of Auburn University.

Ashley Makar is a divinity student at Yale University and a Birmingham native.  She is of Egyptian ancestry.  Her father is a cardiologist in Birmingham.  Recently, in Jerusalem, she ran upon a startling sight, the Alabama the Heart of Dixie souvenir shop.  Of course, she had to check this out.

The owner of the shop is Hani Imam, who lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama from 1984 to 1994.  At the shop he has Alabama items and decorations but sells Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Holy Land items to religious tourists.  Imam watches Alabama football games on his satellite television and is hoping for them to repeat as national champions.

As Makar left the shop, the Muslim manager, Dia Abdeen, smiled and said, "Roll Tide!"

Makar, Ashley, "Viewpoints: There's a Heart of Dixie and a Roll Tide in Jerusalem," al.com.  http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2010/09/viewpoints_theres_a_heart_of_d.html