Cla-ssic.
Pat Forde, ESPN.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- When it was over, 89 plastic stadium cups lay upon the grass in the southeast corner of Bryant-Denny Stadium. A few dozen crimson-and-white pompoms, too. And two airplane bottles of booze -- one Jim Beam, one Seagram's.
That's the debris hurled down from the Alabama student section upon the celebrating pile of Georgia Bulldogs late Saturday night after the visitors had the unmitigated gall to beat the Crimson Tide 26-23 in overtime.
It was an atrocious display of fan petulance, but not an unprecedented one. I've seen firsthand a smaller-scale bombardment between the hedges from Georgia fans after a bitter loss to Auburn in 2005. In the SEC, you'd better keep your helmet on after a big win on the road -- and if your uniform ends up smelling like liquor, hey, it should wash out.
Here's what else came out in the wash on a wild night in T-Town: Richtenstein successfully invaded Sabanation. And the canonization of St. Nick was slowed just a bit.
T-shirts reading "Sabanation" are hot sellers in Alabama these days, part of the Nick Saban hysteria that has consumed the state since the day he double-talked his way out of the NFL to resurrect the Crimson Tide. One Alabama couple named their newborn Saban before the guy had even coached a game. An insane 92,000 fans showed up to watch the spring game. Bama gave him a $32 million contract, richest in college coaching history, and hardly anyone blinked.
Marvin Gentry-US PRESSWIRE
Mikey Henderson's TD catch cancelled the T-Town celebration on Saturday.
Then the Tide opened the year 3-0, upsetting Arkansas last week in the final seconds. And the hero worship somehow intensified.
The pregame talk radio Saturday was so full of Saban talk that it seemed he must have been starting on both sides of the ball, in addition to a full load of special-teams duties. One station excitedly reminded listeners that it would carry Saban's Monday news conference live -- fitting for the leader of his own nation.
A win in this game and it really would have gotten crazy. The starry-eyed citizens of Sabanation might have commenced sacrificing virgins on the doorstep of the football offices.