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About the Author - TheBigThree
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Nick Saban Compares Louisiana-Monroe Loss to 9/11, Pearl Harbor
by TheBigThree
>7 days ago

"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event. It may be 9-11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II, or whatever, and that was a catastrophic event." --Nick Saban

No, Nick Saban was not lecturing on "Seminars in American History: American Catastrophe" when he made the above remarks.

He was tapping into two of the most somber and infamous events in the storied history of our nation to provide his football team -- his freaking football team -- with motivation for recovering from a "catastrophic event," namely, the Tide's humiliating loss last Saturday to Louisiana-Polk, or Louisiana-Tyler, or some Louisiana-[President's name goes here] school.

What a dunderhead. What an absolute, uncompromising dunderhead.

When Bluto asked if it was over "when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor," I laughed. Why? Context. Comedy.

When Saban equated 9/11 and 12/7 with the gridiron monstrosity of 11/17, I sat befuddled. Why? Context. Misplaced.
 

Like, sorely misplaced.

Don't allow anyone -- any media outlet, any university administration official, any anybody -- tell you otherwise: Saban dove out of bounds. Hell, he fumbled the ball in his own endzone with 0:01 on the clock in the fourth quarter, up 5, against Auburn.

Get the point?

To be frank, I'm not very big on athletes and/or coaches analogizing sport to war. Simply put, sport is not war. It's not even close.

That goes for you, Kevin Garnett.

That goes for you, Kellen Winslow.

That most especially goes for you, Nick Saban. You dunderhead.

To the contrary, sport is a respite from war. It is a respite from heartache. It is a respite from the catastrophe with which Coach Saban compared his team's plight. Make what you will of the man, but do you remember the electricity that shot through Yankee Stadium when President Bush threw the first pitch before Game 3 of the '01 Series? I doubt I stand alone and I doubt I stand with everyone, but to this day, I have never felt more tangible senses of relief and joy as they relate to sport as I did during that moment. That's why sport is, contrary to what many say, more than "just a game."

It's evidenced by the bond my father and I share when we make our annual travels to Lexington to watch Kentucky basketball.

I cherish those times. Someday, they'll never come again.

It's evidenced by the frustration/apathy turned joy/euphoria that the Indianapolis Colts can bring me any given Sunday.

Horse won its first Super Bowl during the same weekend of my 21st birthday. Larger than life. Larger than "just a game."

It's evidenced by the Iraqi National Team capturing the Asian Cup in soccer this past summer.

I speak of the World Series bringing a broken people together. Think of the unity this must have brought to a completely shattered people.

Oh, yes, Coach Saban. To many, I'm sure Alabama football is more than "just a game." Perhaps that was the crowd to whom you spoke when you made your ... interesting comments. But in no way was the Louisiana-Jefferson, or Louisiana-Roosevelt, or the Louisiana-Whoeverthehell debacle "a date which will live in infamy."

You're recovering from a catastrophe of mass embarrassment, not from a catastrophe of mass destruction and death.

Get it straight.

Dunderhead.

Source: (CBSSportsline)
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290 days ago
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Why don't you tell us how you really feel. In all seriousness, great blog post.
 
290 days ago
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I understand being upset over a loss to UL-Monroe, but what do you expect him to say?  I had to replace another laptop and a window after the game.  I was pissed too.

 

A Saban spokesman said the coach chose the 9-11 and Pearl Harbor references to illustrate the challenges facing his team.

What Coach Saban said did not correlate losing a football game with tragedy; everyone needs to understand that. He was not equating losing football games to those catastrophic events," football spokesman Jeff Purington said in a statement to the Associated Press. "The message was that true spirit and unity become evident in the most difficult of times. Those were two tremendous examples that everyone can identify with."

It sounds to me like he is trying to motivate his team and get them ready for Auburn.  You might have heard of them.  They are the the biggest rival for the Crimson Tide.  It's kind of a big deal.  After a team loses to someone like UL-Monroe, you have to find something to say to them.  It's not like they just lost to LSU and you can pat them on the head and tell them it will be ok because they just lost to the #1 team in the country.  You have to find some kind of way to motivate them and make them feel better after and embarrasing ass whooping.

 

At least he's not sitting around with his head up his butt and feeling sorry for himself.  He's trying to get them ready for the next game.  Who cares how he does it?  As long as he is doing something.
 
290 days ago
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I've been reading some more message boards around the web regarding this and it seems that a lot of people feel the same way as the author of this post (except none of them are Alabama fans).

 

Let me clear this up for you, TheBigThree:  He wasn't comparing football to national catastrophies.  I think this line sums it up best:

 

"The message was that true spirit and unity become evident in the most difficult of times. Those were two tremendous examples that everyone can identify with."

He wasn't comparing football to Pearl Harbor or 9/11.  He was talking about how people pick themselves up after a devastating defeat.  And yes, losing to a 24 point underdog to make it 3 losses in-a-row is a devastating defeat.  Especially when you are on the verge of not getting to a bowl game.  He is in no way trying to say that losing a football game is like someone flying an airplane into a building.
 
290 days ago
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tpowell25 wrote:

I've been reading some more message boards around the web regarding this and it seems that a lot of people feel the same way as the author of this post (except none of them are Alabama fans).

 

Let me clear this up for you, TheBigThree:  He wasn't comparing football to national catastrophies.  I think this line sums it up best:

 

"The message was that true spirit and unity become evident in the most difficult of times. Those were two tremendous examples that everyone can identify with."

He wasn't comparing football to Pearl Harbor or 9/11.  He was talking about how people pick themselves up after a devastating defeat.  And yes, losing to a 24 point underdog to make it 3 losses in-a-row is a devastating defeat.  Especially when you are on the verge of not getting to a bowl game.  He is in no way trying to say that losing a football game is like someone flying an airplane into a building.

I've heard people say similar things, namely, he wasn't comparing the game to Pearl Harbor/9-11.  In that respect, there's no argument: Nick Saban did not say of the game "this is like Pearl Harbor or this is like 9/11."  It's the very fact that he felt it necessary to invoke those events to shed light on how his team must come together after a "catastrophe."  Coming together after the losses of thousands of lives and coming together after a loss to a mediocre football team are altogether dramatically different.  Obviously.  I still think the "citing" of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, if you will, was unfounded.
 
290 days ago
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TheBigThree wrote:
I've heard people say similar things, namely, he wasn't comparing the game to Pearl Harbor/9-11.  In that respect, there's no argument: Nick Saban did not say of the game "this is like Pearl Harbor or this is like 9/11."  It's the very fact that he felt it necessary to invoke those events to shed light on how his team must come together after a "catastrophe."  Coming together after the losses of thousands of lives and coming together after a loss to a mediocre football team are altogether dramatically different.  Obviously.  I still think the "citing" of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, if you will, was unfounded.

He said the first thing that came to mind.  Apparently, a situation where people had to rise up out of adversity.  It may not have been the best analogy, but have you ever heard anyone say something off the top of their heads that didn't exactly pertain to their current situation?  I know I have.  It's not like he sat down and thought this speech out.  He said something that popped in his head.  I think a lot of people are making way too much out of this.

 

I've sat back and watched plenty of people take jabs at Saban this season.  Most of the time it's pretty funny and sometimes it's just out of pure dislike.  But I don't think this is something that should be turned into a serious issue. 

 

And I'm sure there will be plenty of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 jokes thrown around in here and around the media if Bama loses to Auburn.  That's fine.  It's all in fun and everyone enjoys ridiculing someone successfully when they fail at something.  Not a big deal.  But lets not make mountains out of molehills.
 
288 days ago
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(Edited 11/22/07 9:48AM by JBrenn)
I just think he was trying to get his personal feelings out there, and people project their own, which tend to discount/invalidate his. (Sry to rehash, but a to your last posts' first paragraph powell)
In sticking with historical comparisons, what about he and Benedict Arnold (for the Phin fans)?
 
285 days ago
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he make comment but still lost to auburn  make no diffenert ..ohh i forgot he cant beat auburn at auburn s field (0-4) GOOOOO WAR EAGLES 17 TO 10 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 
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