By By Chandler Myers
The score on the television read 37-21 as the elated quarterback, Greg McElroy took a knee; the voice on the radio, a Crimson Tide legend, Eli Gold, calling that final play as time winded down on the 2009 football season; confetti started falling from the air and thousands of voices chanted the “Rammer Jammer” cheer blasting through speakers all over my den.
It all signaled the end of the 2009 college football season as the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrated on the field that they were now back on top.
It had been 17 years since the Crimson Tide had finished atop the polls as the National Champions, and for fans all over, it was about time they completed that journey again.
It’s a game that will be remembered for the ages. Maybe not as the best BCS Championship Game ever, but as the one when everything seemed right with the football world when the Tide finally rolled to No. 13.
The voices and images replay over and over, and the outcome is so sweet because it is the same each time.
Yes, the Alabama Crimson Tide won the national championship and it’s about time.
After the game, the thrill of victory ran rampant throughout fans everywhere.
Thousands of fans all over the state made trips to Academy Sports stores to get in line for them to open immediately following the crystal football being presented to Nick Saban and his team.
Frigid temperatures ranging from the teens to the 30s did not stop the most diehard fans from making the trip to their nearest store and waiting for 30 minutes, 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
The wind whipping could not halt the excitement, the buzz that floated around the sidewalk as Alabama fans high-fived one another and yelled Roll Tide to passersby including the Mobile patrolman on his loudspeaker as he drove by.
Hypothermia trying to set in as people piled through the doors not caring about the cold just wanting to be apart of history as it is sure to be told.
T-shirts, hats and pennants too. Great memorabilia that all fans will sport with pride because the new national champions are their Crimson Tide.
It is a night to be remembered by fans here and there. The fans at the Rose Bowl and those that dreamed of being there.
Chandler Myers is sports editor of the Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123 or by e-mail at sports@atmoreadvance.com.