You had me at Roll Tide!!!!

These two words mean so much to me... they stand for pride in a rich tradition, they stand for Saturdays with family watching football, they stand for precious memories of timewith my daddy. If you don't know this already "Roll Tide" is the battle cry for Alabama Crimson Tide fans. You had to know that there would be a football post ( and probably more) in here . I am from Alabama after all . And in the state of Alabama, college football is a religion. I mean we really didn't have much else ( there's no pro teams), except maybe Nascar. But I never did catch the Nascar bug..

But I did catch the football bug. Some of my first words spoken were Roll Tide. Some of my earliest memories were sitting on my daddy's lap watching the BIG game.. And any game with Bama playing was BIG. But the biggest of all was the Iron Bowl. Alabama vs. Auburn. What a tradition. In Alabama you were brought up having to pick one of the two and My dad taught me early on to loath the colors orange and blue. And to this day I still can't combine those two colors. My daddy taught me all about the " Bear", Bama's and one of college football's greatest coaches. My daddy taught me several of Bear's famous quotes. My daddy also taught me that his lap wasn't the best place to be when Bama scored a touchdown. ( Let's just say I didn't stay on his lap) My daddy taught me the joy of watching your team win the game of the year. My daddy taught me how to overcome the feeling of defeat when you lose the BIG game as the last seconds ticked away. My daddy taught me alot about himself on those Saturday afternoons. He always jokes that you have to " start em young... and raise em right" So some may call it brain washing. I call in good parenting. It created a bond with my daddy like no other. We still watch as many games as we can together. And when we can;t get together we still talk on the phone before kickoff and everytime Bama scores. It wouldn't be the same if I couldn't here him shout " ROLL TIDE"

All of the things that my daddy taught me growing up, I( or I should say we) have handed down to my boys. And they are experiencing some of the same joys with their PawPaw. They love going to his house on game day and cheering on the Crimson Tide. He taught each of my boys to say Roll Tide before they turned one. They love watching all the movies about "The Bear". They love hearing stories about Bama's greatest games. They love learning about their PawPaw too.

Some tease me about the passion that I have for the game, but it is who I am because it is who my daddy is. Once you get it... you got it... There's no turning back.. And who would want to. Roll Tide!!!

" Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself" ( Paul "Bear" Bryant)

And if this is true.... my daddy is a winner!!