Being an Alabama football fan sure has been easy lately, especially for those students who don’t remember seasons of the mid-2000s and the 21 vacated wins of 2005-07. Today, we’ve got the best coaching staff in the game, the greatest gameday experience in the country and players who work their tails off year round to compete at the highest levels week in and week out. Unfortunately, when 101,821 disciples of Bear congregate in Bryant-Denny Stadium and hear “Dixieland Delight,” any dignity of held by our program is thrown out of the window by a well-hydrated student section.
After we in the south endzone of Bryant-Denny yelled “F*** Auburn” no less than 20 times during last year’s Iron Bowl, the Athletic Department thought to itself, “Maybe we shouldn’t play Dixieland Delight anymore.” And that’s a good decision. If this song comes on the stadium speakers, every person (toddler to grandparent) in the stadium, every reporter in the press box and every television viewer watching our games across the country will hear those words and judge our University. That’s a shame.
We attend a school steeped in the finest tradition in the game of football. Over 60 years of captains’ footprints and handprints mark our quad around Denny Chimes; we were the first and most successful Southern football team to ever play in the Rose Bowl; we’ve won more post-season contests than anyone else; we officially claim 15 national championships and could easily claim another five (’45, ’62, ’66, ’75, ’77). With that in mind, how do we as students choose to carry this tradition forward? We taint it with arrogance even though, from the bleachers, we are only spectators of the game, and we still manage to put our worst foot forward. Well, I think we all know better than that.
When you’re growing up playing sports, how do your coaches tell you to act after you make a big play? “Act like you’ve been there before” is usually what I heard; win with humility. That generally involved a quick and respectful celebration before a swift return to business. As a student body in the stands, I would like to see us act like we’ve been there before – because we have. We know what it looks like to win a game, and we often take pride in being seasoned winners. I’d like to be able to take pride in how we celebrate that. We can still be loud and disruptive to opponents’ efforts without stooping to crass and offensive language on a national stage.
This piece isn’t meant to point any fingers – I have shouted those words in the fervor that is fourth quarter Alabama Football. Rather, as we discuss the effort to bring back “Dixieland Delight” to Bryant-Denny, I want everyone to consider what this song and our actions represent. When we scream profane words about a game, are we behaving with the sportsmanship and class our tradition suggests we possess?
To the SGA Senators, lead the student body with dignity, and reject any legislation supporting this song. To the University administrators whom this issue concerns, stand by your decision and keep this song out of our stadium. To fans everywhere, let’s show our school spirit by respecting the legacy that’s been handed to us.
Jeff Rogers is a junior majoring in chemical engineering.
