A Friday Flashback
(just in time for the Alabama vs. Georgia game)

It's another Saturday in September...which means it must be time for another Bama football game! But the game this weekend isn't just "another" game...it's #8 Bama visiting #3 Georgia. It has all the signs of being a great grudge-match on both sides of the ball and I, for one, cannot wait to see it get started! (And with that incredible game last night--Oregon State over USC--it changes the dynamics of the game even more!)

Georgia Week has gotten me thinking of one of my favorite football memories, so I thought I'd take all of you with me on a Friday Flashback...football style. (You know you want to travel with me there, don't you?)

It was 2001, about the same time of the year as right now. My cousin, Derek, and his family (Julie and their two children) came to spend the weekend with us. Just some simple family togetherness, right? Well, partly true since Derek has always been a favorite cousin and we always have a great time together; but partly not true, since it also happened to be Bama-Georgia week.

Derek and Julie are both University of Georgia graduates and, until that moment, I never truly realized that someone could love their Dawgs like I love my Crimson Tide. Derek spent most of the weekend trying to get my girls (it was just McKenna and Delaney at the time) to cheer for Georgia; of course, I did my best to teach Beth-Ann how to roll with the Tide.

By the end of the weekend, he had actually helped us learn to enjoy the Dawgs' most famous cheer ("Sic Em Dogs. Woof, woof, woof, woof"); before then, I'd thought it was just a silly cheer. After this, I still thought it was pretty silly...but now I thought it was sort of a fun, silly cheer that I could respect.

Beth-Ann, of course, yelled out a "Roll Tide!" for me (to the chagrin of her parents).

And as the game approached, both Delaney (look how tiny she is there!) and Beth-Ann wore their respective cheerleading attire and shook their appropriate shakers.



I think that most of you know (surprise!) that sports, to me, is a pretty powerful thing. I think it says a lot about human passion and character; about how you respond in the face of the good and the bad.

It's also about family and food and fun...and memories. So, I have a ton of great memories that are enveloped in the world of "sports." But while the game being played is at the heart of the event, it's the people around me during the event that stand out in my mind.

So I think about watching Dallas Cowboys games on Sunday afternoon as a child...but remember my Dad right there beside me.

I remember the night Alabama beat Auburn in probably the most remembered Iron Bowl ever...but I remember more the way my Auburn friend Carol just looked at us all in disgust, walked to her car, and drove off, never uttering a word (but we loved each other the next day!).

I remember the plays and the players and the night Alabama won the national championship in 1992...but remember more the jubilation and laughter with my friends Cheryl and Angela.

And now I'm making memories with my own daughters, and I already have numerous stories that I tell over and over again...and that we talk about amongst ourselves...that revolve around sports.

So, that weekend with Derek and his family, are full of sweet memories for me. And because I experienced that weekend, our game tomorrow night against Georgia is a little more important to me. I will smile when I hear the Georgia fans do their "Sic em dogs," because I've been taught why it's special to them...and will then appreciate my own "Roll Tide!!" even more.

(By the way...in totally related news...I am a new contributor at the Alabama Gameday site. I will be posting regularly there, with a unique "TideChick" perspective on Alabama football. I'm really exited, and my first post--my official "pick" for the Bama game--is up. So go check it out!)

I hope you all have a wonderfully fantastic weekend! We will be doing it the Sports Way all weekend long. Tonight is our high school homecoming game, tonight and tomorrow is Delaney's county volleyball championship, and tomorrow is the Bama game!

Amongst all of your weekend activities, I hope that your very favorite football team win (unless it's the Dawgs!!).