A lot of sports fanatics are also Star Wars geeks. I am one of those geeks. It seems so obvious how tonight's BCS National Championship game reminds me of one of those historic George Lucas flicks. You have the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader, or in this case Nick Satan errrr Saban. You had Episode 1 - The LSU Menace, and you later had Episode 2 - Attack of the Miami Dolphins. Then there's tonight. Don't believe me yet? Okay...
Episode 1 - The LSU menace
We'll begin the scene with Nick Saban having already left Michigan State (i.e. Episode 4 - Spartan Wars) and then coaching Louisiana State. In 2002, after winning the SEC Championship and the Sugar Bowl to be exact. That season the Tigers finished 8-5 after very high expectations ended in disaster. Then came 2003 where the team beat everybody except the Florida Gators and wound up in the National Championship against the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl. They beat the Sooners 21-14 and won only the second championship in school history. You could already tell the signs that after achieving such greatness in the early stages that 'Tricky Nick' would show his true colors eventually. He would do so rather quickly, especially considering that his defending champs finished 9-3 with an Iowa Hawkeyes last second pass win in the Capital One Bowl. Saban abruptly left LSU to head to the NFL Miami Dolphins...
Episode 2 - Attack of the Miami Dolphins
After abandoning an LSU team he won a National Championship with, Satan decided that he was going to give the professional game a shot. He joined the Miami Dolphins on December 25, 2004, and gave fans a lot of promises and high expectations for the upcoming season. In 2005, the Dolphins won their first game and then struggled before coming back strong and beating the New England Patriots in Foxboro to finish the year at 9-7 and just missing the playoffs. Then came 2006, where Miami finished 6-10 after being predicted to win a playoff spot. It was Saban's first losing season as a head coach. After repeatedly saying that he was going to stay and help make the Dolphins a playoff team late in the season, Nick decided to jump ship after losing the last game of the season against the Indianapolis Colts. Satan met with Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga and that was that. The move will never be forgotten by Dolphins fans...
Episode 3 - Revenge of the Saban
Knowing that Alabama had him high on their wishlist after the Crimson Tide had fired head coach Mike Shula (son of Miami Dolphins coaching legend Don Shula), 'Tricky Nick' decided to head back to school to coach a team in the same conference as his last school aka LSU. In 2007, 'Bama won its first three games only to finish 7-6 after beating Colorado in the Independence Bowl. Then in 2008 the Crimson Tide won all of their regular season games and then fell apart, losing the SEC Championship to the eventual BCS Champion Florida Gators and then closing out with a Sugar Bowl loss to Utah. Then came the rise to power in 2009. The Tigers went 14-0, beating the Gators in an SEC Championship rematch and a 37-21 victory over the Texas Longhorns in the National Championship. Going into the 2010 season, everybody expected Alabama to repeat and win two in a row. 'Bama lost to South Carolina and later to his former employers aka LSU. They also lost their beloved Iron Bowl instate war to Auburn after leading 24-0 in the second quarter. They did beat Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl though. All of which leads us to now...
The 2011 BCS Championship Game
The preseason #2 ranked Crimson Tide had been rolling through opponents in 2011. That is until they lost at home to LSU 9-6 in overtime. The game marked the first time in history where two squads ranked #1 and #2 from the same conference played each other in the regular season. The loss puts Saban at 2-3 against his former school. Which leads us to now where we have a rematch of #1 and #2, this time it's first in history between teams from the same conference. It's obvious how this plays out folks. If LSU beats Alabama, Darth Vader will likely bolt. If Alabama wins, it's another national championship for the Crimson Tide. This would indicate Satan would stay on board for at least another year to see if they can repeat. If they couldn't, it would mean time to walk away...
'Tricky Nick' is always ready to jump ship, or truck in this case...