Letters

Time and Tide

Hey, Crimson Tide fans, be careful what you wish for. Your school just hired the Larry Brown of college football (In the Nick of Time, Aug. 27). If Nick Saban is successful in Alabama, three or four years from now he'll say, "Show me the money" to someone else and be gone.
Dave Ayrault
Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.

Rick Bragg's Nick Saban story is the best I've read in SI. Bragg transports us into a world where a tailback runs "like something bad is after him," a coach's aura can "turn a stick into a snake," and fans "spun cotton all week for pocket change." I felt as if I was reading a football article written by Johnny Cash.
Anthony La Pira, Demarest, N.J.

So you put quitters on the cover now? Seven pages of how great Saban is and two sentences about what he did to the city of Miami and the team he left in disarray? Please stop the comparisons between Saban and Bear Bryant. Bear would never quit on his team after only two years.
James Duff, Philadelphia

Your cover story gave me a major case of d�j� vu. A couple years ago wasn't I reading about how Saban—wearing the same lame hat—was going to rescue the Dolphins? That was before he failed and quit on Miami, fleeing to greener pastures. How does that P.T. Barnum quote go?
John Lanteri, Middlebury, Conn.

I have to ask what is more impressive: the fact that 92,000 ' Bama fans showed up, free of charge, to watch a Crimson Tide practice or that 75,000 Ohio State fans showed up (at $5 a ticket) to watch a Buckeyes practice?
Josh Eick, Coshocton, Ohio

I read where Alabama had 92,000 in attendance for the spring football scrimmage. I guess Wal-Mart was closed.
Steve Burris, Atlanta

After Auburn defeats Alabama on Nov. 24 for a sixth straight time, are you going to write a nice big article about Tommy Tuberville's dominance of Alabama?
Chris Marshall, New Market, Ala.

Head Games

Ha-ha, I'm laughing, but I'm not sure everybody got the joke—that is, SI's raising the possibility of Tennessee renaming The Summitt (PLAYERS, Aug. 27) if coach Pat Summitt goes back to using her maiden name after her divorce. With all due respect to a great coach, I don't think UT would want its basketball court to be known as The Head.
Andy Remson, Spring, Texas