As we head into the weekend, I just thought I’d lead you on a stroll down memory lane.  You’re going to enjoy this.

The date was August 11, 2007.   Know the significance?   Bet you Cary Estes, a Birmingham based contributor for MSNBC.com does.

See, almost three years ago (1,071 days to be exact, but who’s counting?) it was still hip to bash Alabama head coach Nick Saban and the University of Alabama, and on this date Estes wrote a piece about the hated coach and those “crazy Alabama fans” all gaga over their “overrated coach.”

Be my guest and read it here.

He points out the significance of SEC juggernauts Steve Spurrier, Mark Richt, Phillip Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville, while tipping his hat to others like Jim Tressel, Lloyd Carr and (hee, hee) Mack Brown.

Test question: Who can tell me Saban’s collective record against these coaches while at Bama?  And for extra credit, how many have already been processed?

According to Estes, Bama fans were crazy to pin their national championship hopes on a coach who…how did you say it Cary?

“…has won more than nine games in a season only twice.”

Might want to amend that number now, don’tcha think?

After all, let’s be reasonable, right Cary?

“Saban’s career record in 11 seasons as a college head coach  is 91-42-1, meaning he has won 68 percent of his games.”

And now for my favorite quote in the entire piece:

“It is hard to imagine Alabama fans who are thinking national championship by year No. 3 being happy with 8-5.”

Dang, we’ll never know.  But there’s more:

“What is questionable is whether his record indicates that he is worth all the hoopla and the moolah ($32 million over eight years).”

Well, let’s see Cary, in just three years here’s what Alabama head coach Nick Saban has accomplished:

  • A meager 7-6 record in his first outing with a lower tier bowl game victory.  Okay, I get that.
  • But the #1 signing class in the country (2008).
  • Year two: 12-2, undefeated regular season, SEC Western Conference Champions, SEC Championship game appearance (first for the Tide in 9 years), and an appearance in a BCS Bowl (Sugar)…again, their first in 9 seasons.
  • Again, the #1 signing class in the country (2009).
  • Year three: 14-0, undefeated regular season, Western Conference Champions, systematic dismantling of college football’s bionic man in the SEC Championship Game, SEC Champions, appearance in not just a BCS game, but the BCS National Championship game, and a victory in it at that. National Champs.
  • Again, top five signing class (2010, and 2011’s is shaping up to be another #1).

So Cary, that’s 33-8 (an 80% winning percentage, since you like those things) in three years, two division titles and one conference and national title apiece.

Yep. I’d say he’s worth all the….how you say…”hooplah and moolah.”

My question now for Mr. Estes is, seeing that it takes a man to admit he was wrong,  are you a man, Cary? Do you still think Saban was overrated?

In fairness, I’m just having a little fun with Mr. Estes.  It’s easier to look back than to look ahead, and in truth Estes was just bowing to the peer pressure of the day.  He found himself packed in the “Criticize everything Saban and Alabama” boxcar with the rest of the media.  Looking back at his article is like reading a medical journal from the 1600’s.

It just amazes me how journalists can be so wrong and never acknowledge it.  But Cary, if this makes it to you, if you’d like to publish a follow-up article on the matter, given what actually transpired in the last three years versus your fantasy, we would be happy to publish it here.  Just send it to info@capstonereport.com.

In the meantime, don’t feel bad Cary.  At least you know somebody was paying attention.

30 thoughts on “Cary Estes thought Saban was “overrated””

  1. “He found himself packed in the “Criticize everything Saban and Alabama” boxcar with the rest of the media.”

    this is something rush limbaugh and paul finebaum have spoke publicly about for years: the pack mentality of the media and especially the sports media.

    i remember when clyde and mike bolton chided davey allison in a nascar piece about class years ago then after his death, his body’s not cold in the ground and they’re hawking a book thru the snooze.

    again, one has to look no further than the behavior of the sports media in mike shula’s last year.

    i don’t recall ray melick being a big nick saban guy.

    i do recall paul finebaum praising the hire from day one.

    he was a lonely guy doing so.

    as i’ve said before, i wasn’t sure about saban for a while. but i took great solace in that they all hated him.

    i wanted a coach that won games and championships, not media popularity contests.

  2. Saban is overrated. Sure. National Championship. To be honest….I’m glad it’s out of the way. Because THERE’S NO WHERE TO GO BUT DOWN. And to all the idiots who think this is going to be the start of some dynasty…..GOOD LUCK. Makes me proud to be an Auburn Tiger Fan.

  3. Brine, denial wont alter reality,”it’s out of the way” implies there is only going to be 1 NC. I hate to inform you but the next 5-7 (possibly more) years are really going to suck, perhaps taking up a hobby during football season could take your mind off of the beatdowns the Tide will be regularly dishing out!!

  4. “BrineB Says:
    July 16th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
    Saban is overrated. Sure. National Championship. To be honest….I’m glad it’s out of the way. Because THERE’S NO WHERE TO GO BUT DOWN. And to all the idiots who think this is going to be the start of some dynasty…..GOOD LUCK. Makes me proud to be an Auburn Tiger Fan.”

    Do you by chance reed this newspaper?

    https://capstonereport.com/cover/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AU-Pravda.jpg

  5. ITK, Neal McCready did the same thing. In the Mobile Press-Register before Sabana was hired he wrote that “Alabama’s been passed” and that The U of A wouldn’t be able to attract a quality coach such as Saban. Well, he was run out of town and currently works for an internet site that follows the Ole Piss Rebels. Rumor is that the Mobile chapter of the Red Elephant Club got him fired. If so, I want to thank the REC for a job well done. Guys like Estes and McCready are just no-talent bums.

  6. Bamafan, I had heard that. Glad to hear Neal is somewhere his talents can be put to good use.

  7. Isn’t brine tiny shrimp?

    Tell ya what Shrimp, you enjoy and be proud of that AUverage team. You hold your head up high when your team finishes #74 in total defense this season. And come talk your crap to me in section GG row 20 the day after Thanksgiving. Cause you gonna walk over and then eat your Christmas dinner through a straw after I curbstomp your ass.

  8. And for the record, a snide comment about Saban (& Finebaum) got that fat ass Fitsimmons fired from JOX as well. The greatest thing about the return to dominance by Alabama Football is that we don’t have to hear the snide jealous garbage from Auburn, UAB, and other SEC fans.

    No, Alabama will not be on top forever. But the thing that makes being an Alabama fan great is that when we face adversity again, and we will, we will know that we have been to the mountain top. And we can all take satisisfaction in knowing that Cary Estes, the Shrimp, Julia, and Plays with his Balls are jealous of us because they will never, ever see the view from that mountain top. They will never breathe that rarified air. They will never be champions. And thus, their lives are defined by the overwhelming helpless feeling they will face for their lives by knowing that all they can do is try to tear down the Champions. All they can do is make their snide comments in their orange tiger paw pajamas. All they can do is wonder why they will always be second rate.

    Enjoy your free time, Estes. I am a better wordsmith than you on an iPhone.

  9. Well said, Alex. Says alot that WhineB hangs out on an Alabama forum. Guess he wants to hang out with the winners of the world(to paraphrase Steely Dan) than hang with the fans of the Lousiest Village on the Plain.

  10. Nah…I just stumbled across this site…and wondered out loud to my wife how much effort it would take for me to get a rise out of the Saban faithful. We both agreed — NOT MUCH.

    I won’t be back — so don’t bother responding.

    TYPICAL.

  11. Brine, don’t come to a Bama site and talk smack if you can’t take getting smacked down.

    And you will too be back, because you’re Aubsessed with Alabama just like every other abarn fan out there.

    Just know you’re always welcome here. Just don’t expect us not to call you on it when you start spouting B.S.

  12. “I knew I could get rise out of Bama fans. he he he…”

    I’ve never seen a more juvenile fanbase.

    Auburn -> National Champions in September, at home in December.

  13. Joe Auburn -> “Auburn is the greatest team ever! We are so much better than Alabama! We beat them 6 years in a row! What? Another National Championship?! Dang! Well, lets start working on ways to discredit it….again. Maybe, we can come up with something good enough that someone from outside our fan base will believe, too! Since every Auburn fan has a degree from Auburn, we should be able to put our minds together and really blow them away with our genius and wit!”

    My brother-in-law is a huge Auburn homer. He has a degree from Jacksonville State. He thinks JSU is an Auburn satellite campus. I don’t have the heart to tell him the truth. Like most AU fans, he couldn’t handle it.

  14. . . . from Jacksonville State. He thinks JSU is an Auburn satellite campus. I don’t have the heart . . . LMFAO 13

    Alex is dead on – Thought out really well – the analogy used with breathing the clear air at the peak of the mountain is something I will use to explain how barners will never have what we have – much thanks

  15. And here I thought JSU was a step up from auburn……hmmmm…..

    BTW

    “I wont be back… so dont bother responding” has my write in vote for most obtuse post of the year.

  16. I second that notion on the democratic process almighty – it’s just a shame he will be back but underneath another “envy” screen name – shew – I have to say that word a lot around here to the “opposition”.

    Lol

  17. Well, I’ll let you know if two “different” users show up mysteriously under the same ip.

  18. ITK one of those users wouldnt happen to be Kenny Fomby a.k.a.Charles from Reeltown would it? lol

  19. Its likely. Come on guys… Surely even Auburn could not have this many ignorant, socially backward fans…. No…. wait…. nevermind.

  20. Charles “don’t have no use for them magic picture screens with buttons”. (Don’t think he knows about the internet yet.)

  21. Well — Charles would have to go to the local feed store to get dial-up 56K access and stare at “them no good colors” — right on — sitting on the telephone for 2 hours all to scream like an idiot is the only way Charles gets his information.

  22. lol im from tallassee i live in reeltown trust me kenny should go ahead and move to georgia like he said he would if bama won the national championship NOBODY here or there would miss him!

  23. Well, all of the Auburn media is eating their words right now. Still, the most ignorant of the Auburn fans fail to see the truth. They are putting all of their hopes on Chizik, who in comparison to Saban doesn’t come close to measuring up. But in most of the ignorant Auburn fans eyes, Chizik is better, because ‘they whooped Bama for 59 minutes.’ Whose fans has the most delusional fanbase? Go back and watch the game again.

  24. I’m currently watching the Auburn / Northwestern game on ESPNU. Let’s see….they went 3-5 in the SEC. Went 8-5 overall. They “barely” beat Northwestern, so my question is….Who did Auburn beat? In particular, who did they beat that was worth a damn? I remember the Bham news treating Auburn’s victory over Ball St. as equal to Alabama’s win against Va Tech, after that I’m drawing a blank.

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