Were Nick Saban's Comments Really That Bad?

[BeeGee]

For those who have not heard yet, the media is freaking out over comments made by 'Bama coach Nick Saban, in reference to his team's recent losses to Mississippi State and Louisiana Monroe. In an attempt to bring across how his team must rebound from the losses, Saban used examples of the 9/11 and Pearl Harbor catastrophes and how they sparked "changes in history".

I was listening to the J.T. "The Brick" radio show last night and J.T. was spazzing out, as he often does, about what a crime Saban committed, and some are saying he should be reprimanded.

What was so bad about what he said though? In my opinion, all he did was use two examples of "Americans bouncing back from tragedy" to communicate (to the Crimson Tide players/fan base) his feelings as to how he intends for his team to respond to a couple of losses that, when you consider the big time coaching position he holds, should never happen.

What's acceptable and what isn't? I know the events he listed brought about a lot of dead Americans, but coaches and players use war analogies all the time. This reminds me of the Minnesota Timerwolves' Kevin Garnett's infamous "I'm ready for war" proclamation, in which he analogized getting ready for a playoff game 7 with getting ready for war.

"This is it. It's for all the marbles. I'm sitting in the house loading up the pump, I'm loading up the Uzis, I've got a couple of M-16s, couple of nines, couple of joints with some silencers on them, couple of grenades, got a missile launcher. I'm ready for war."

Some media lost their religion over his comments and he subsequently apologized for them. Saban, at the very least, is being called to do the same thing.

My point is, the sports world commonly uses war analogies, so what is crossing the line? How was Garnett's analogy so bad when if you listen to an NBA game-call, you'll often hear shots referred to as bombs, and passes referred to as rockets or missiles. The same types of analogies are often used in football game-calls as well.

I really don't have a single problem with Saban's remarks and who knows...maybe he did this by design to spark a little contraversy?

Thoughts?

[Irn-Bru]

It's so bad because many Americans have a religious attitude towards war. It's sacred, righteous, holy, and not to be compared with trivial things.

In one way I agree with this, but not for the reason most Americans hold this opinion. I would hesitate to compare things to war because war is just about the worst thing in human experience. But I wouldn't get mad over coaches and players comparing their mentality to that of a warrior, unlike (apparently) many of these journalists and analysts.

In our culture there is too much nationalism and irrational pride in accidental political affiliation. (Just my humble opinion)..

[BeeGee]

It's so bad because many Americans have a religious attitude towards war. It's sacred, righteous, holy, and not to be compared with trivial things.

In one way I agree with this, but not for the reason most Americans hold this opinion. I would hesitate to compare things to war because war is just about the worst thing in human experience. But I wouldn't get mad over coaches and players comparing their mentality to that of a warrior, unlike (apparently) many of these journalists and analysts.

In our culture there is too much nationalism and irrational pride in accidental political affiliation. (Just my humble opinion)..

Great points.

[1niksder]

My point is, the sports world commonly uses war analogies, so what is crossing the line? How was Garnett's analogy so bad when if you listen to an NBA game-call, you'll often hear shots referred to as bombs, and passes referred to as rockets or missiles. The same types of analogies are often used in football game-calls as well.

I really don't have a single problem with Saban's remarks and who knows...maybe he did this by design to spark a little contraversy?

Thoughts?

I don't have a problem with players and coaches using war/combat analogies as long has they fit... Garnett was saying he was getting ready to battle. Listening to Saban you'd think Mississippi State and Louisiana Monroe skuck into Bama and played a couple of quarters before he knew it was a game. He picked the wrong events, maybe he should have used Veitnam or the war on drugs.

[BeeGee]

I don't have a problem with players and coaches using war/combat analogies as long has they fit... Garnett was saying he was getting ready to battle. Listening to Saban you'd think Mississippi State and Louisiana Monroe skuck into Bama and played a couple of quarters before he knew it was a game. He picked the wrong events, maybe he should have used Veitnam or the war on drugs.

Can't say I thought of it that way nor have I heard it put that way by any media types weighing in, but what you said makes perfect sense. Looking at it from that viewpoint he couldn't have picked two worse events as analogies. Good stuff, man.