Parity, parity, parity, parity.
I’ve been hearing parity for a while. The fact is, CFB has never been a sport of parity. It has always been the haves & the have nots. Parity is defined as the state or condition of being equal. Well, the fact is, there has never been equals in CFB.
Brothers & Sisters, I would admonish u to go back to the beginning of CFB all the way back to 1869. U will find in every single decade, there were only one to two teams that dominated that decade & u would have a team sprinkled in here or there that would win. I’m talking from Princeton, to Yale, Harvard, Michigan, Minnesota, Bama, ND, Oklahoma, SC, OSU, Nebraska, Bama, Miami.
Truth be told, we didn’t really start having parity or the perception of it from 2002 - 2008. If anything that was the anomaly. Seriously, go see how teams were racking up 4-5 titles per decade &/or playing for it, since the inception of CFB.
Our frustration is not the parity, it’s that we’re on the outside looking in, so we’re tired of seeing the same teams. Ladies & Gents, unless u were an alum back in the 60’s - 70’s, the majority of us ain’t use to being apart of the “have-nots.” We’re used to either winning this thang, playing for that thang, or vying for a big bowl game to put us in position to play for that thang the following season. Literally from 83 - 2004, that’s what we’ve been accustomed to.
Even during our dark period from 95 - 99, we were ****ed, planes flew, but we knew the circumstances for the mediocrity; Butch was coaching w/ one hand behind his back, tied; yet, we still went 4-0 in those mid-tier bowl games, at least.
Listen, call me a mope, I don’t give a Fck; I live in reality. When I see Bama, I see part admiration, part envy, and part hatred. Bama was a suck *** program from 94 - 2006. I’m talking scandals & all that. They did something about it; they hired a former Nat’l Championship coach, 4 yrs removed from his last championship to ride the wave, and said “here’s the check book, whatever u want.” I like that mentality. It makes me envious of that type of mentality. And I hate what Bama has become, BECAUSE of what I see HERE.
We’ve been a middling program from 2005-current. We had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR opportunities to right this ship before it went way, way off course. I can’t blame Bama for us hiring Randy Shannon. On December 8, 2006, we hired Randy Shannon. On November 27, 2006, Alabama hired Nick Saban, yet Saban was in our backyard, coaching at the football stadium we would call home. That 11 day difference would cause a ripple effect we wouldn’t recover from. (Strike 1)
Then we decided to hire a sub 500 G5 coach which majority of us was like, ‘who?’ Then gave this dude a premature extension for winning 9 games although getting embarrassed by UL in a bowl game (Strike 2)
Then we decided to throw the duffel at a coach who was clearly both burnt out & trending down. The dude wanted to retire, and not only did we pay him the most $ in his coaching career, but we incentivized him to coach us by allowing his unqualified son to run our QBs (Strike 3)
And when said coach showed he cared about his Alma Mater, showed he was a scholar & gentlemen by WALKING AWAY from $ left on his contract…instead of using this gift to do a thorough, vetted coaching search (u know, learn from ur mistakes), in 45 mins, we spend $7m to hire back an unproven HC, that’s been a journeyman DC his entire career, from the staff that just failed. (Strike 4)
Man, miss me w/ the parity chit. We created this paradigm shift. We did this. This is our punishment for incompetence. As a fan, I want to win National titles, but folks give me some ACCCG’s. Give me some NY6 games. Give us something to build upon to show we r moving in the right direction.
While we celebrate a 1st rounder or two every blue moon, checking the 53 man roster to see how many fringe players r still playing, these kids r looking at who’s playing for Conference Titles, CFP spots, National Titles, and what school is providing the most 1st - 3rd round picks, b/c those r the guaranteed roster spots.
Anyways, this is my last rant. I just get tired of this narrative. There has never been parity, and we willingly gave up our seat at the table. Those r the harsh realities.