Breaking News That No One But Me Cares About

I'm probably the only person in Reno today who really cares about this, but then again what am I going to do, talk about Nevada getting punked by Boise State?

Alabama will fire head football coach Mike Shula today. I suppose it was inevitable, but it's still disappointing when you consider that last year things seemed to be going so well. In 2005 a huge win against Florida (one that earned 'Bama the cover of Sports Illustrated and the inevitable curse that follows that distinction, thank you very much SI), a heart-stopping win against Tennessee, and an oh-so-close loss to LSU had me and a lot of other people thinking that the turbulence of the early '00's (side note: when are we going to decide what we're calling this decade? The aughts? The zeros? Anything is better than not knowing) with its NCAA sanctions and carousel of coaching changes was behind us.

The 2006 season dawned with a real sense of hope, and three straight wins over mediocre opponents propelled a cautious sense of optimism. Then came a painful double-overtime loss at Arkansas. Then Florida avenged last year's humiliating loss by beating 'Bama in Gainsville. Then Tennessee handed Alabama a close loss in Knoxville. Then Mississippi State (Mississippi State!) surprised the Tide in Tuscaloosa. Then another loss to LSU. Then, most painful of all, another loss to despised Auburn, the fifth in a row to the cow college across the state. With the exception of Miss. State, none of those game results were particularly surprising in and of themselves. But when you add it up the results for the 2006 season--barring a bowl game, for which the Tide is actually eligible--is a record of 6-6, with only two conference wins. That, coupled with disastrous records against Alabama's primary rivals during Shula's tenure (1-3 against Tennessee, 0-4 against LSU and the cow college) made today's announcement a virtual certainty.

Everyone liked Mike Shula personally, but making him the head coach at Alabama always did seem a little bit like giving a 16-year-old who just got his license the keys to a new Porsche. Instead of contending for National Championships, it seems clear now that the Tide has slipped into a morass of mediocrity. The past year has made it painfully obvious; the Tide today is a middle-of-the-pack SEC team, capable of beating the top tier schools, but usually doing so only when overlooked.

Like all Alabama fans, I'm sick to death of losing to our biggest rivals over and over while struggling to beat cellar-dwellers like Vanderbilt, but I also know that better days are coming. All the tools are there for someone who knows how to use them, and college football's great powerhouses rarely stay dormant for long. In the meantime, it's hard to be too broken up about football when you live in God's Country. Did you hear? The first big snowstorm of the season is moving through the area right now, dumping perhaps 18 inches of fresh powder up in the high country, and ski resorts all over the Tahoe area are opening up. Looks like it's going to be another great season here in paradise. When you get down to it watching college football is watching a bunch of 20-year-old guys you never met chasing a funny-shaped ball around a field. Snowboarding--now there's something to get excited about.