Wade, that was an excellent
edition of The Grades, as befits the latest win in an excellent string of 8 in
a row over the Volunteers. Admittedly,
the victory was not quite as flawless and complete as the win over Texas
A&M last week, but let’s be realistic -- fielding one of the youngest and
least experienced teams in the SEC and expecting that level of perfection every
Saturday, especially on the road, is a bit much to ask.
Alabama vs. Tennessee has
always been an oddly streaky sort of thing with the teams trading dominance
back and forth through the almost 100-year history of the series. I, for one, am determined to enjoy the good
years as they pile up. Beating Tennessee
in Knoxville by double digits in a game where everyone can look back and say, “it
easily could have been worse” is a nice place to be. Knowing that this year’s freshmen were in
about 4th grade the last time Alabama lost to Tennessee is a
satisfying feeling.
In fact, Wade has done such
an excellent job with The Grades, down here at the Tire Store we do not have a
whole lot to add.
Forgive us, then, if we add a
slight note of melancholy to the off week.
Regular readers have occasionally seen reference here to the
Correspondent from the Land of Wine and Cheese.
His name was Mark Williams. He graduated
from the Business School at Alabama, married, and moved to France where he had
a successful career. He followed Alabama
football as closely as he could from that distance. The internet
made a huge difference, even if he did occasionally have to stare at a computer
screen into the wee hours of the morning to see a game. For the past several
years, occasionally something in The Grades or the Tire Store Report would
catch his eye and he would send us a short email. I certainly considered him a friend, though we'd never met.
Last month he came back to
America for a vacation. Through clever
planning, he was able to attend the FAU game at the beginning of his trip and
the Southern Miss game near the end. It
was his first trip back to Tuscaloosa in 37 years.
I was fortunate enough to finally get
to meet him at the Southern
Miss game. He told me, “Yes, Tuscaloosa
has changed a lot. But standing here on
the Quad, in some ways it is like I never left.” We mentioned in the Tire Store Report that week
how it was valuable to have someone there to remind us that what
we all share in a love of the Crimson Tide extends beyond football, wins and
losses, and athletics generally. We hear
he was already looking at the new 2015 schedule to set up a return visit.
It is my sad duty, then, to
report that last week Mark suffered a fatal stroke.
Reflecting on Mark’s untimely
passing, I wanted to take a minute to say thanks to all of you who make it
through my long-winded two cents’ worth on Alabama football. I am appreciative of Woody for getting this
started, especially back in the day when I know for a fact he quite literally had more
profitable ways to spend his time.
We find that the distribution
and re-distribution of The Grades has expanded to the point where we don’t even
really know how many people glance at them each week. To say the group is widely-varied is an
understatement -- we know it includes business leaders, stay at home moms and
dads, former players, lawyers, accountants, carpenters, sales reps, bankers,
school teachers, broadcasters, retirees, insurance agents, students, journalists, administrative assistants, investment bankers
-- people literally from Orlando to Seattle and New York to southern
California. It is obvious that I will
never meet all of you in person. But my life
has been enriched by our meeting through this forum.
And so on a beautiful
warm late October Monday morning, I wanted to make sure I took the
time to say “thank you for reading and your friendship”. Roll
Tide, everyone. Rest in Peace, Mark.
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