Ring around the rosie. Pocket full of posies. Ashes. Ashes. We all fall down.
Man’s time on Earth has been filled with epic periods of time where one group of people ruled a vast amount of land over a large number of people. Many rulers have risen and grabbed hold of the most precious resources on this planet and dominated certain realms for extended periods of time. We call these overwhelmingly powerful entities “empires.”
During our time on the third rock there have been many a great empire. Some of them have covered more land than others. Some were more violent and some were more innovative than others. The Roman Empire gave us many things, maybe most notably, the Roman alphabet, now the world’s most widespread writing system. The British Empire covered almost a quarter of the entirety of Earth! Ghengis Khan and the Mongols brutalized their way to having the most feared Empire in history. These three Empires and every powerful authority before and after them, all have the one key thing in common though; they all fell. And just as it is in politics and war, so it is in sports.
I heard a lot of talk about “Evil Empires” in sports on Bumper to Bumper Sports with Ben Love this week and all of the takes from callers and Tweeters came with the same undertones of despair, as if athletic dominance cannot be conquered. Sure New England has cheated their way to a glorious decade of success for their clam chowder eating subjects. It will eventually come to an end though. And sure the Alabama Crimson Tide have rolled over the college football landscape with Satan incarnate, Nick Saban, for a good while now. It has been a brutal and terrifying reign, but it will end because bad times don’t last, bad guys do.
So as you go into your week off before November 5th’s epic battle for the very soul of college football, I want you to think of those who came before Nick Saban. I want you to think about Ghengis Khan and Torquemada. I want you think about Alexander the Great and Vlad the Impaler. I want you to think about how they rose to power only to face the same inevitable fate their kind always faces.
It is so fitting that November 5th is the beginning of the end for the latest merciless entity that has ruled a vast domain of college football. Remember remember the 5th of November! The day Guy Fawkes blew up Parliament is the same day the Big Red Reign of Terror ends with the ceremonious roar of the king of all beasts! Remember remember the 5th of November for that is the day in which you fight! Remember remember the 5th of November when the Tide went down, on a Louisiana Saturday Nite!
– AM