I read some of that thread that Chizad posted where Saban was assumed to be a diabolical mastermind pulling the puppet strings of Auburn recruits for his own purposes.
Yesterday I heard caller after caller to Finebaum denigrate everything about Auburn from its coaching staff to its recruiting effort.
Typical call: "Paul, who done won the nashoneel champeenship? Warn't that Bama? Uh huh. Chuckle. Them Aubies ain't never gonna larn."
Finebaum yucked it up right along with them and at various times took his own shots, ridiculing Gus Malzahn, Trooper Taylor, what it means to be an Auburn man and what the concept of the Auburn "family" represents.
One caller was allowed to ramble for about ten minutes in order to offer the theory that Auburn's recruiting can be tied to two facts: 1) Alabama done got so many good players that they don't need no more to win the next three or four nashunal champahships and 2) Auburn's in the SEC, so players that Alabama doesn't want will play there just so they can get SEC exposure and the chance to play on TV against the Tide. Not only did Finebaum allow this asinine line of thinking to go unchallenged (if this were the case, why isn't Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Vandy, Kentucky, etc. also ranked highly -- and why has Bama itself lagged until the last two years?), but he also agreed with it and offered his support for the theory dismissing Auburn's current recruiting efforts as little more than riding Bama's wide coattails.
We've heard the attacks on various radio stations and media outlets with veiled accusations about how Auburn is getting the interest of recruits.
Today my attention was drawn to a Montgomery station where the topic of the Auburn family was the day's top item -- and it was being ridiculed as comprised of sheep, goats and cows. This coming on a station that's typically more Auburn leaning.
The question now is why. Why is Alabama not simply enjoying its moment of success (fleeting as it will turn out to be) and focusing on their successes? Why does it seem that for every comment celebrating Bama's current position, there are two more directed at downplaying Auburn?
I've pondered this. I've spoken to a number of Bama friends, all of whom want to talk more about Auburn than they do their own team. And I think I've finally figured out what motivates this current epidemic of Tiger bashing.
In a word, it's fear.
They were so dismissive of and contemptuous toward the hiring of Gene Chizik (as was I) that the possibility that he might match or exceed anything that Lord and Savior Saban has done is unfathomable. If Chizik recruits as well as Saban, that diminishes Master Saban's aura of invincibility. It's inconceivable that Buffoon Chizik could ever match Almighty Saban at anything related to football. If dumb old Chizik can hang with Saban, that renders their exalted one mortal -- and we just can't have that.
As long as we know our place and stay humble -- and beneath them -- they will be magnanimous. But should we do anything to remotely challenge their perceived superiority, should our program show any signs of reaching the level at which they think theirs to be (history be damned) then their own gnawing insecurity, their loathing bred of fear will manifest itself in these type of attacks.
They are, my friends, scared of us. For that reason -- and I've said this a thousand times -- we must be vigilant now. It's why when GW makes his Dye rants I can see the microscopic speck of reason buried in the bullshit. They think they've finally turned the tables after years of struggle. The last 30 years didn't exist, they've risen to their proper place in the universe. They will do anything -- ANYTHING -- to protect that, including spending lavish sums of money to make sure we (and Tennessee and Florida and anyone else bold enough to challenge them, but particularly us) stay in our place. They are searching for anything, any tiny thing they can use against us. In 1991 it was a greedy bastard who didn't find the NFL riches he sought and buried a fine man and a great coach under a box of steaks. A box of steaks. Wow, that is so much worse than a house and cars and thousands of dollars, but I digress. They are at their most dangerous now. Some of the dumber ones on this board have ridiculed the "war" but I have been through this several times in my life. I know it to be real.
For all they've accomplished, their most dominant state isn't euphoria, it's paranoia and fear.
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