Who Are We?

I fired off this tweet when I woke up this morning, the day after Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide won their fourth national title in the past seven years:

Nine years from now I hope opposing fans can't stand Georgia and Kirby Smart as much as I can't stand Alabama and Nick Saban.

— Jim Wood (@JimWoodPMP) January 12, 2016

I meant every word of that; however, I do hope people can't stand Georgia and Kirby Smart for what I deem as the right reasons.

To explain, let's go back in time. Let's go back to September 27, 2008, the eve of the infamous blackout debacle against the Tide which many feel was the turning point of both the Saban and Richt eras (in opposite directions). On that date, The Deaner wrote this gem. I cracked up reading this when I came across it recently. Here's the full post:

I'm a big football fan. I love football. I love the players, I love the strategies, I love how the game evolves over time like two roommates adapting to each other's Madden strategies. What I don't love is hearing about the coaches....incessantly. I'll be a hypocrite for 6 minutes though and write about one coach in particular. 

Why don't I like it? Because I don't like to spend my time listening to stories about people like Nick Saban. He's the poster child for ego-maniacs in sports. He's a self-promoting, self-tanning, self-aggrandizing sleazeball. During the time period when he pulled a Petrino on the Dolpins after bolting LSU the stories that came out from the "little people" that worked with Saban sealed it for me. When I make a baby that turns out to be a 6'4" QB with a laser rocket arm I don't want someone like Nick Saban dripping body bronzer on my couch while giving Deaner Jr. the hard sell on why he should come to whatever program Saban is Forbesing and bilking out of private jets, homes, cars, and money. Recruiting Reshrmuiting, I'm glad Saban isn't my coach. 

I feel like convincing myself to root for a guy like this would be like rooting for the Yankees, the Lakers, and Jeff Gordon. No thanks. A lot of Saban apologizers seem to think that you can't run a program with a likable head coach and still stay competitive... I can think of at least two examples and they're both in the SEC. Enjoy your run Bama. You'll all end up hating him too.

The Deaner recently welcomed his first born son into this world. I sent his own post back to him with the following question: if Deaner Jr. does turn out to be a 6'4" QB with a laser rocket arm, can he play for Kirby Smart?

He didn't answer, but boy do I hope the answer is yes.

Tony over at the Georgia Sports Blog and Waitin' Since Last Saturday podcast has said that The Georgia Way is Dead. That if we fired Mark Richt clearly we are not "that" program anymore.

While I agree that the Georgia Way as it was is no more, I do hope Kirby finds his own Georgia way. I hope he wins championships, but I hope he does it with class. I hope opposing fans can't stand him because they can't beat him, not because they can't stand him as a person.