Not Even Morphine Can Help This Bama Team

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

What a wild weekend – and I’m not just talking about on the field. I had a kidney stone attack at about 2 a.m. on Saturday morning and spent last night in the hospital. It was my first visit to a hospital as an honored guest.

I was sent home this afternoon with painkiller and told to be ready to "pass it" sometime this week. And Alabama thought they were having a bad day.

As I lay in my morphine-induced state last night, I looked up at the television and saw the following: Louisiana-Monroe 21 – Alabama 14.

At that point, I realized how really good morphine can feel. Surely I was dreaming. I found out this morning otherwise.

Say what you will about Auburn. But this proud program has never lost to such a dreadful team. Alabama can spin this anyway they want; but they are in worst shape today than they were a year ago.

Many have speculated whether it will have an effect on Saturday’s Iron Bowl. Most believe it will not. I disagree.

This is a devastating loss for the Alabama program. It’s arguably the worst defeat in the school’s history. You don’t rebound from a loss like that in a week.

There’s no way Alabama recovers.

Don’t get me wrong. Auburn will still have to play well to win. But rarely does the better team lose. Auburn is clearly the better team this season.

Alabama fans have to be asking themselves today whether or not they hired the right person. At $4 million a year, there’s zero tolerance for a loss like what Alabama suffered on Saturday.

Can Nick Saban turn the Bama program around? Will he fail again like he did in Miami? Those are all questions that must be answered.

After all, not even Mike Shula brought Alabama down this far.

Let the games begin. It’s officially Iron Bowl Week.