Ecclesiastes 3

Well, what can I say?  It was just time for Alabama to win!  Roll Tide!

All the prophetic people said that 2008 was a year for new beginnings.  I must admit I’ve thought they missed the wagon most of the year, however, I know am beginning to see some new beginnings.  Sometimes, they just don’t look the way we think they should. 

So for all my Auburn friends, forgive me for the self- indulgence, but I do remember how you’ve been rubbing it in for the last six years.  So since this is my blog, ROLL TIDE ROLL! 

Early in the year, even my Alabama friends said that my post on college football was good and they enjoyed it, but not to count on Alabama winning too many.  You know, enjoy it while you can.  So 12-0 later, I’m still enjoying it. 

And to see McElroy, a freshman, throw that touchdown pass to Maze makes me think perhaps our time in college football has arrived again.

In my younger days, Paul Bear Bryant was the coach at Alabama.  We loved the glory days and the rivalry with Auburn and Shug Jordan. Of course, we usually won in those days which is much more fun than losing.   Sometimes, Alabama fans have glorified Bear to the point of almost making him like Jesus.  That is to our shame, but it is not to our shame to honor a man who was known for working harder than his anyone, expecting you to give your very best and then some, being a gentleman to women, loving and honoring his mother and giving his life to something he loved.

Bear Bryant read this short poem every day titled “What Have I Traded” as an inspiration to make the most of each day. 

This is the beginning of a new day.

God has given me this day to use as I will.

I can waste it or I can use it for good.

What I do today is very important because

I’m exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes this day will be gone, forever,

Leaving something in its place I have traded for it.

I want it to be gain, not loss, good, not evil,

Success, not failure, in order that I shall not

Forget the price I paid for it.

Bryant once said, “I’d probably croak in a week if I ever quit coaching.” He retired from coaching at the University of Alabama on December 15, 1982.  Ironically, he died on January 26, 1983, thirty-seven days after coaching his last game.

I remember my husband’s father, Vester, buying the smallest Alabama jacket (size 2) that he could find for Andrew’s first Christmas (Andrew weighed less than seven pounds).  Andrew was born on December 9, 1982, just a few days before Bear retired.  Vester wanted Andrew to have an Alabama jacket that was manufactured while the Bear was still coach.  Well, 26 years, 3 more children, and 8 more location moves later, I’m not sure where that jacket is.  Hopefully, it is buried somewhere in a keepsake box.

So sometimes, we Alabamians who love the University of Alabama (where my daughter and my dollars go),  lose our focus when we talk about the Bear and his legacy or Nick Saban and his four million dollar a year contract. But there is something about the way God made us that makes us want to win – from the moment of our conception when the sperm outraced all the others and connected with the egg and we were conceived.  We were a winner.

I’ve been asked before if I pray about football games to which I reply, “Of course, I’ve been doing that since I was ten years old.  And then, “Do you think God cares who wins?” Well, I’ll leave you to guess my answer but a hint would be the fact that I still have my old cheerleader uniforms.

And does God want us to have fun – absolutely.  Why else would he create college football?

I think I can quote the Bear as we consider the work God has before us.

“In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first – ahead of personal glory.”

“I told them my system was based on the ‘ant plan,’ that I’d gotten the idea watching a colony of ants in Africa during the war.  A whole bunch of ants working toward a common goal.”

“The first time you quit, it’s hard. The second time, it gets easier.  The third time, you don’t even have to think about it.”

“Never quit.  It is the easiest cop-out in the world.  Set a goal and don’t quit until you attain it.  When you do attain it, set another goal, and don’t quit until you reach it.  Never quit.”

“I’ll never give up on a player regardless of his ability as long as he never gives up on himself.  In time he will develop.”

And obviously, I could go on and on but I need to go paint that room crimson and white….  That will give me some time to pray about next week with Florida.