The Fans Are Being Conditioned?

Apparently so if you talk to ESPN’s Ivan Maisel:

Once upon a time, if Alabama went to Vanderbilt and won by just 14 points, there would have been a Crimson Tide wave of teeth-gnashing from Huntsville to Mobile.

Radio shows throughout Alabama would have been full of calls of “What’s wrong with our boys? Geez, we’re talking about VANDERBILT, the doormat of the SEC. We pad stats against Vandy. EVERYBODY pads stats against Vandy.”

Yet on Saturday, when Alabama exited Vanderbilt Stadium with a 24-10 victory, Nick Saban’s first SEC win as the Prince of Tides, there wasn’t a hair-trigger reaction of panic.

Slowly, but surely it seems, Saban is conditioning Alabama fans, like he did LSU fans, to accept that building a championship program is a process. It’s about changing a mindset, about working toward consistency.

Are we going to be the Pavlov’s dog of fanbases now?

While I think Maisel is one of the many reporters out here over hyping how Alabama fans criticize their coaches, I do think that there are some fans out there that have a tendency to overreact to bad news.

I happen to think that most average Alabama fans realized that anything can happen this season, good or bad. Of course, I doubt we’ll ever be able to change the minds of those that criticize us, so there is really no need to argue with them.

SEC Power Poll: Week 2

1. LSU

Their Defense is like ceran wrap: absolutely suffocating.

2. Florida

Tebow looked great again. Troy was able to score 30+ points on the Defense, which leaves me wondering what kind of score we should expect for the Tenn. @ Fla. game. Time will tell for this group of Gators.

3. South Carolina

Huge win for the Cock faithful. Blake Mitchell just danced into all of our hearts.

4. Tennessee

Looked like they still had some problems in the 1st half. fortunately for them, they were able to shine in the 2nd half. Phil is rollin’ baby! (pun intended)

5. Arkansas

Move up because of Auburn and Georgia losing. Houston Nutt brings his running attack to Tuscaloosa this coming week. I’m starting my week long freak out about Jones and McFadden…….. now!

6. Georgia

All of their momentum may have been sucked out after that loss to the Visor. Does anyone else think that Mark Richt looks extremely bronze?

7. Alabama

Since when is a 14 point win an ugly win? Well, it was on Saturday. The Defense was able to push around Nickson and the Vandy Offense, which didn’t have their best game. Our Offense just could not get anything going in the passing game. Thank goodness for Terry Grant. Bama will get a good boost in my poll if we can take it to the Hogs.

8. Kentucky

Looked O.K. against another cupcake. That defense should really worry UK fans out there after giving up that much yardage to the Kent State QB.

9. Auburn

You just lost to a Big East team…… wow. It’s the NO DEFENSE conference! They’re 2 years removed from C-USA! I know this team is more talented than they are letting on. For shame!

10. Ole Miss

I’m left thinking that Missouri doesn’t have much of a Defense. Not to take away what Seth Adams did, but you don’t let a rookie QB pass on you like that if you plan to compete for the Big 12. FOOTBAW WIFF MISSOURAW!

11. Vanderbilt

Earl Bennett gave a solid performance, but he certainly wasn’t the Superman newspapers were making him out to be. It’s hard for a program to win a home game that has an away game atmosphere.

12. Mississippi State

I still don’t think I really need to say much here. Michael Henig had a moral victory for not pulling another…. Henig. Yes, I’m afraid he’s coined his own term for horrible QB play.