As another game day approaches this weekend, the campus will grow into a sea of crimson and white, with cries of “Roll Tide’” audible from Bryant-Denny to Innisfree.
The Alabama faithful begin making their way to Tuscaloosa in RVs with A’s plastered to every imaginable corner and grills and tents secured to their tailgates, ready to be used excessively in the days to follow. It is a feeling that is only truly felt and understood by members of the Alabama football family. On Saturdays in the fall, we all bleed houndstooth and we all live or die by the final numbers on the scoreboard.
The experience that is a Tuscaloosa Saturday afternoon in the fall is at least one idea a majority, if not all, of our campus can agree upon. It unifies a student population that is divided on other issues. It is our common ground.
We cheer together as Trent Richardson makes defenses look like ankle-biter squads, and on the rare occasion when our powerhouse falters, we all feel the agony of defeat that sweeps over as hard as one of Dont’a Hightower’s bone-crushing hits. When the band begins to play “Yea, Alabama” after a touchdown, 100,000 of our closest friends begin to sing along with each other. After another Bama victory, the student section rocks with chants of “Rammer Jammer.”
But, most of all, its a time when we as a student body are able to join together in the magic that is an Alabama football game and agree that above all, we hate Auburn, love Bear Bryant and would rather have a national title than an A in calculus.
Now, flash forward to Monday morning after a game day. The tents are gone from the quad, the last of the RVs are driving down McFarland and everybody is shouting “Roll Tide” just a little less frequently.
It’s obvious the euphoria felt on Saturday has worn off when you pick up The Crimson White and under the headline celebrating the recent win is an article bashing yet another part of our University.
Whether it be a certain student group, University administrators, or the unjust tragedy of being asked to register your bike, no area of our campus is safe from regular criticism by our student body. It seems as though the past weekend, when our campus was filled with excitement and an atmosphere that is the true representation of southern hospitality, never occurred. It was merely a mirage of what a united student body really looks like.
So, where does the difference lie between Monday morning, when class is back in session, and a Saturday spent enjoying a football game?
To find that answer, we must look back to this past April. In the days and weeks following the devastating tornado that ripped through our home last spring, our entire student body stood together as we faced an opposition that was far worse than any our football team has ever gone against within the confines of Bryant-Denny.
Together, we worked to bring back normalcy to Tuscaloosa and our campus. We did whatever possible to help our neighbor and fellow student.
If we have the capability to accomplish this all when we work together as fellow members of our University, why do we only wait for a home game or an event as tragic as this past April to do this? Why don’t we strive for the strong, unified student body that was seen throughout Tuscaloosa in April and still continues to be seen on eight days in the fall?
In the end, it comes down to caring for something bigger than ourselves or the immediate social circle we claim as our own.
Our University cannot reach the goals we wish to achieve or set the standards we wish to see put in place if we continue to create a separation between how we act when we are forced to come together as students and our normal day-to-day interactions with one another.
So, my recommendation for solving the problems across our campus? We should all start treating everyday a little more like a football Saturday.
Brad Tipper is a sophomore majoring in political science and economics. His column runs biweekly on Wednesdays.
