The college football season is back, and so is Nick Saban’s weekly radio show. That gives the Alabama Crimson Tide coach the opportunity to provide insight on his team while also criticizing the media’s more traditional analysis.
During this week’s show, Saban implored the media to focus on what’s happening now instead of attempting to look for more intriguing matchups on Alabama’s schedule. The legendary football coach expects sports media to worry about breaking down a game against Utah State where Alabama is a 42-point favorite, instead of looking for teams on the schedule who actually have a chance at beating the Crimson Tide. Yeah, OK.
Nick Saban already in mid season form👀🍿 pic.twitter.com/175b8n8fH4
— BamaOnLine (@BOL_On3) September 2, 2022
“I encourage everybody to be positive and to create a legacy for what we wanna do this season,” Saban said wishfully. “And you contribute to it in a positive way, not in what I read these guys write all the time about, ‘How can Alabama run the table? I mean, can’t you figure out something better to do than that? I mean, come on!
“We’ve got to play one game at a time,” Saban continued. “How can Alabama lose to this team? How can this team beat Alabama? Three months from now, who gives a sh*t?! I mean, how about this game? How about the church of what’s happening now? Can we focus on what’s happening now? How come nobody’s interested in that? Why do we have to go all the way?”
“One game at a time” is traditional coachspeak, but it’s the exact opposite of what sports content creators attempt to do. Does Saban really expect the fans and media to go to the “church of what’s happening now” and be worried about Alabama’s game against Utah State as if the matchup contains any sort of suspense?
Allow me to introduce Coach Saban to the world of sports media, where they focus on the “now” a little bit, preview the future a lot a bit, and rehash the past the most. No one loves to play the “what if?” game or have a Mount Rushmore debate more than sports media. As for today’s game? They’ll worry about that later.
