Thursday, November 1, 2007

David vs. Goliath: A Story of Underdogs

"And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slung it and smote the Philistine in the forehead, so that the stone sunk into his forehead. And he fell upon his face to the earth."
Though these words were written some thousands of years ago, much of their meaning still remains relevant, even to this day. It is a new day, and with it comes a new army to Tuscaloosa, led by a monstrosity of purple-garbed talent and athleticism known only as the Bengal Tigers of LSU. They do not know fear, they do not know caution, and to a man, they do not know a defeat at the hands of the Crimson Tide. It is this vanity, this arrogance, this brashness, that Alabama must exploit and use to gain the victory on the third of November.
On the side of LSU, there stands the coach who knows only brute strength and trusts to chance and fate where his wit has failed. He is a man fallible to cleverness, beaten by discipline, and outsmarted by any man who would dare stand to face his wrath. There has been only one man who has done so, and on Saturday, there will be another.
His name?
Nick Saban.
Saban knows this song, and he knows this team. He built it, he molded it, and he gave it a national name. Now it comes to him, seeking revenge for a wrong it was not entitled to. Now is where the Chosen One must earn his keep; the man chosen to lead a program back from the abyss must now prevail upon the highest stage; a matchup with an enraged rival, ranked in the top five and greater in strength, speed, agility, and depth than any team Alabama has faced this year. It will take every good break, every forced mistake, every full-cranking cylinder, and every last bit of cunning and guile the well-massed coaching staff of Alabama can muster for David to overcome this Goliath. But it can be done, and every man, every woman, and every child who comes to watch the battle of this decade on the plains of Bryant-Denny must believe in it's possibility.
Let the stadium shake as it has never done before. Let the multitudes of the masses' shouts be heard in every corner of the state of Alabama, because the Tigers of LSU are coming to battle.
Nick Saban and the Tide will be waiting for them. Will you?