Alabama victory felt all the way in Franklin
The 2012 NCAA college football season has come and gone.
Every team had its ups and downs, but once again the Southeastern Conference dominated the country, at least most of the top teams did.
LSU, Florida and Mississippi State flat out embarrassed themselves and the SEC for losing to their opponents in their respective bowl games, but fans of college football around Franklin County had other things to focus on during the 2012-13 BCS bowl season.
South Carolina won a good game against Michigan. Georgia and Texas A&M helped spread the word about how good the top SEC teams were this year, but it was the Alabama Crimson Tide that sent the final message across the country with a 42-14 beatdown over the vastly overrated Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Irish could hang their hats on wins over such vaunted opponents as Purdue and Pittsburgh.
Stanford was possibly the only legitimate win Notre Dame had all season, but just like the New England Patriots of a few years back, the one loss in the L side of the column was the won that mattered.
The Crimson Tide came away with yet another BCS National Championship victory, amrking back-to-back wins and three wins in the last four years (the other win i that span was by the Auburn Tigers in 2010.
That said, four straight national championship trophies have come home to roost in the state of Alabama.
One day I’m sure the coaches and players at the fine universities in our state will decide to let someone else win for a change, but it might have to wait for a few years, certainly past next year it seems.
The Crimson Tide had two native sons of Franklin County present on the sideline when the opening ceremonies began; senior wide receiver Nathan McAlister and redshirt freshman running back Brent Calloway, both of Russellville and former Golden Tigers.
Not one but two players represented Russellville High School and our county in the largest collegiate sporting event (by importance as well as other factors, of course) in the calendar year.
McAlister is one of few people who can claim to be a part of three national championship-winning teams, and Calloway has two rings to his name now.
College football is a very important spectacle for our county, state and country, and these two young men have made sure that a touch of the victory celebration comes back to Franklin County in person.
