Nick Saban is a idiot

[fanforever]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/colle ... nse-1.html

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Idiot Nick Saban has no defense
Thursday, November 22nd 2007, 4:00 AM


We're sure rabid Alabama fans were apoplectic after their beloved football team lost to Mississippi State and Louisiana-Monroe. But Nick Saban did the unspeakable when he linked those two upsets - which no one will remember next week after the Auburn game anyway - with two of the most cataclysmic events in modern history.

"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event," he said when he met with the media this week. "It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to a catastrophic event. Pearl Harbor got us ready for World War II, or whatever, and that was a catastrophic event.

"And I don't think anyone in this room would have bet that we could lose back-to-back games to Mississippi State or ULM, no disrespect to either one of those teams."

Tell me I misread this.

Tell me the guy was misquoted.

Tell me Saban was temporarily out of his mind when he showed total disrespect for thousands of Americans who lost their lives on Sept.11, 2001 and Dec.7, 1941, and their families.

Here in New York City, we're offended and outraged by those comments and disappointed that a great university has not taken action against a coach who doesn't get it, who actually equated football losses to two historic attacks on our country. Guess he didn't realize people in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. and soldiers from all over the country who were stationed in Hawaii died in those attacks.

A public apology would be a good first step, but we wonder if this guy will ever get it. Losing his job might do the trick, but in title-starved Tuscaloosa, you know that will never happen over something like this.

Alabama officials are busy trying to spin this before Saturday's Iron Bowl against Auburn, claiming Saban did not correlate losing a football game to those catastrophic events. "The message was that true spirit and unity become evident in the most difficult times," spokesman Jeff Purinton said in a statement to The Associated Press. "Those were two tremendous examples everyone can identify with."

Sorry. There is no defense for his comments.

We understand a coach's job is to inspire, motivate and teach his players, but using these horribly conceived analogies is simply irresponsible.

Alabama was one the most august, dignified programs in the country when the late Bear Bryant coached there. But Saban has threatened to change the way the majority of this country views the storied Tide with his latest war references.

It didn't take long for the volatile responses to start pouring in. One caller to ESPN Radio, who identified himself as a New Yorker, said he had lost two brothers in the Twin Towers, and his first inclination was to fly to Tuscaloosa and punch Saban in the mouth.

We love the response to this insanity by Birmingham News columnist Kevin Scarbinsky, who wrote of Saban: "What historical tirade will he reference when Alabama loses a sixth straight game to Auburn? The Holocaust?"

Alabama hired Saban last winter for $4 million a year to rejuvenate a stagnant SEC program. But it has not quite worked out the way he planned, at least not immediately.

Alabama is 6-5 after losing three straight games. The Tide was beaten, 21-14, Saturday by ULM, a 24-1/2-point underdog from the Sun Belt Conference whose coach, Charlie Weatherbie, makes just $130,000 - peanuts compared to Saban's salary. Fans were actually booing the Tide on Senior Day. Saban did not help himself either with the way he dealt with star receiver D.J. Hall. Saban said he had suspended Hall for violation of team rules before the ULM game, then started him in the second half after the Tide fell behind.

Saban apologized to the Alabama faithful after last Saturday's game. He needs to apologize to the entire country, and look at himself in the mirror.

[planet planet]

What a boob.

[Tambourine Man]

The negative impact of his statements will undoubtedly be of Titanic proportions.

[lukethedrifter]

Saban should punch himself in the nuts.

[ThatGuy]

And they're paying the guy $4 million a year? What a turd.

I still can't believe Tennessee actually lost to Alabama. Probably the worst game of the year.