At some point, you start to wonder if there's a drug problem in Alabama, and if it's something other than fentanyl or opioids. You start to wonder if Alabama has a stupid-pill problem.
The latest in the University of Alabama's sad basketball saga comes from my friend and former colleague, the esteemed Michael Rothstein, now doing good work in Georgia as ESPN's Atlanta Falcons beat writer. Rothstein reported via Twitter that, after No. 2 Alabama rallied from 17 points down to beat Auburn and secure the SEC title last night, no players were made available to the media in the postgame for the sixth straight game.
Also, the 'Bama SID continued to ignore certain reporters, presumably because they wanted to ask what the hell the school is thinking, allowing star freshman Brandon Miller to continue to play. Or why there was another 'Bama hooper at the scene the night 23-year-old Janae Harris was shot dead with a gun owned by yet another former 'Bama hooper.
Shoot. One of the shunned reporters might even have asked why head coach Nate Oats still has his job, seeing how he seems to have lost complete control of his program.
It's an excellent question, which is why Alabama isn't going to let anyone ask it. That's because the answer is both self-evident and incriminating.
The answer is Alabama has the best basketball team it's perhaps ever had, and Oats is the guy who built it, and why would you want to mess with that? Because a young woman is dead, and her 5-year-old son no longer has a mother?
Come on now, people. It's March, and the Crimson Tide has BASKETBALL GAMES to win.
Problem is, perception is everything in these deals. And hiding your players from the media and cutting off certain reporters because their questions might be embarrassing creates the perception you know what you're doing is wrong. And that just makes you look worse.
The question now becomes what will Alabama do when media availability becomes mandatory in the NCAA Tournament? Will the NCAA, helpless to do anything about the situation in Tuscaloosa, protect the Crimson Tide by imposing its own restrictions on what questions can and can't be asked? Or will the same rules apply to Oats and Co. as they do to everyone else?
I guess we'll see. And, in the meantime, remember this: Alabama's offenses against propriety carry their own punishment.
Which is to say, the Tide will be the team everyone wants to see lose in the Big Dance. Everyone, not just their opponents, will be rooting against them. Every game they play will be a road game in the most hostile atmosphere imaginable.
That's why, if you're looking for first-weekend flameouts, you could do worse than making 'Bama one of your upset specials. Just sayin'.
No comments:
Post a Comment