« on: February 02, 2010, 02:06:58 PM »
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Scarbinsky: Saban statue is too much, too soon
By Kevin Scarbinsky -- The Birmingham News
February 02, 2010, 5:30AM
At Alabama, you win a crystal football, you get a bronze statue.
The preacher had a message Sunday, and the message hit home.
"Shun idolatry," he said, and though he didn’t offer any current, real-world examples, his words made me wonder.
Would Nick Saban’s statue qualify?
People are going to flock to it and set down offerings before it. No doubt the accumulation of Little Debbies will rival the Golden Flake bags and Coke bottles people leave behind as a tribute to Bear Bryant two pedestals down.
But there’s a big difference between the Bryant statue on Alabama’s Walk of Champions and the Saban statue that’s on rush order to be ready, if possible, by the April 17th A-Day Game.
Bryant’s never going to lose another game as the Alabama coach. His statue is safe from disenchanted bettors and misguided bricklayers alike.
Of course, the way things are rolling in Tuscaloosa, with a crystal football in the trophy case and more bright and shiny recruits on the way, it may be a while before Saban loses again himself, but that’s not the point.
Here’s the point. What’s the rush?
Shouldn’t someone draw a line between instant gratification and instant deification?
How about a statute of limitations on statues?
Saban hasn’t been at Alabama long enough to see his first signees play their senior years. So why not wait until he’s been here longer than Mike DuBose or Mike Shula before putting him on an actual pedestal?
Alabama’s not the only school to treat a coach as something more than a mortal man who’s good at his job. Even Notre Dame, which should know better, has statues of national championship coaches Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz on the premises.
Dan Devine also led the Irish to a national title, but all he got was a bas-relief portrait.
And Saban won’t be the first coach to work in a stadium with his own larger-than-life self parked out front. He’s just going to set the modern record for the shortest distance between signing a long-term contract and inspiring a lifetime tribute.
Penn State didn’t put up a statue of Joe Paterno until he was in his 36th season as the school’s head coach, 19 years after his first national championship, 15 years after his second.
Florida State didn’t put up a statue of Bobby Bowden until he was in his 29th year as head coach there, 11 years after his first national title, five years after his second.
Paterno and Bowden didn’t get statues at their schools until they won more career games than Bryant. Saban’s getting a statue, and he’s won fewer games in this state than Terry Bowden.
What if someone throws a wrench into the process and Saban doesn’t stay in this job until he retires?
What if history repeats itself, and Alabama struggles in 2010 the way his defending LSU champions did in 2004, and another college program or pro franchise comes along to make him an offer he can’t refuse?
You say Saban tried the NFL and didn’t like it, and that’s true, but people said the same thing about Pete Carroll. He had everything a college coach could want at USC, and where is he today?
Back in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.
There’s no evidence that Saban might leave Alabama in the foreseeable future, but a statue is forever. A head coaching job isn’t. Just ask a Bowden. Any of them.
Come to think of it, the Alabama administration may be thinking about the future in hurrying to get the Saban statue done now.
Given a bronze replica on the Walk of Champions, it does seem less likely that he would walk away from it, to Lake Burton or to a place that has a football team, anytime soon.
So maybe Alabama’s goal isn’t practicing idolatry but ensuring longevity. If hero worship is part of the process, sorry, preacher. It is what it is.
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