Roy Exum: ‘The Third Saturday’

  • Friday, October 23, 2015
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

So here it is upon us: “The Third Saturday of October.” In college football it is so legendary that my great pal, the late Al Browning, wrote an entire book on Tennessee’s annual date with Alabama. The Crimson Tide is a 14-point favorite going into tomorrow’s game in Tuscaloosa (3:30 p.m., CBS), but I’ve been to more of these Donnybrook moments than I can count and, when I tell you the name Donnybrook originated from the Battle of Bull Run in 1861, I only hope you can imagine the picture.

Originally I was told the reason this was the game “that mattered” was because Paul “Bear” Bryant never could beat UT’s General Robert Neyland, be it Kentucky or Alabama. Later I learned it was because the game was so pivotal, this before the SEC had an East and West Division. When the conference had ten games and ten teams, this one was huge for both upper-tier rivals, both in the conference and almost always in the Top 25.

But after 40 years I now know the truth: no two teams in the SEC play as alike as Alabama and Tennessee. I’ve had a hundred players, from both sides, tell me this was always the “gut check” game and so help me it’s true. Jaw-to-jaw, glory-for-glory, pound for-pound, I know this to be the truth. Think of it this way: During Bryant’s formative years, he studied Neyland like a hungry hawk. When Bryant earned fame, the UT coaches would dissect Alabama like surgeons, trying to figure out what might work. That’s why these two play so much alike.

Older Alabama players used to swear that when Coach Bryant would cruise through the locker room before practice, and if he was heard softly whistling or humming the song “Love Lifted Me,” it was an onerous signal that the toughest practice of the year was fixing to take place. Most years he saved the old hymn for “Tennessee week.” The only game that was bigger for years was Alabama versus Auburn at Legion Field, and the annual Tennessee-Auburn tussle usually in late September was a close third.

I was cleaning out a storage locker the other day and found two copies of one of my favorite books. Entitled “Bear: The Hard Life and Good Times of Alabama’s Bear Bryant,” it was a million seller back in the day. As I flipped through the pages, I can remember one day when somebody in our sports department rushed to find me to say Coach Bryant was “on hold” on my office phone. If “on hold” doesn’t tip you, this was exactly 40 years ago.

When I got to the phone he wasted no time. Coach explained he needed a big favor. “Can you meet me at the airport and help me hawk some books?” John Underwood, a great buddy back in the Sports Illustrated days, had written the ultimate book on Bryant and the man wanted me to help him at book signings at Eastgate Mall, as well as Cleveland and in Dalton.

When he got in the car after we had packed it with cases of books, the first question he asked, “You got what I need?” I told him “yes sir” and we pulled over, where he poured a Bell’s No. 12 scotch over ice with water. “I can’t stand these things but it is important right now,” after he took a swallow. “Thanks so much for this … how many books you want?”

I asked for one for myself and one for my admiring grandfather. He signed both, and to my total dismay, he actually wrote “Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant.” I had learned by being around him for five or six years before that nobody, and I mean nobody, outside of President of the United States, ever called him ‘Bear’ and never got away with it. For many years he hated the nickname.

So we’re at a stoplight and I cautiously said, “You know, in all the years I have known you, I can’t recall you signing ‘Bear’ even if you were asked.” Coach looked over at me, muffled a light laugh, and replied, “Roy, if you are going to be a whore, be All-Whore.”

It was a remark I have never forgotten and if you think that’s funny now, imagine how if sounded four decades ago when it was a horrible curse word. I thought I was going to wreck I was laughing so hard. Coach was the first to teach me how to manage a big crowd. There were over a thousand people wanting to get his autograph and the explicit instructions were: “Do not stop. I don’t care if it’s your wife or the mother of your next son, you don’t stop for anything!”

He grabbed my arm and told me to move fast. When people would call out, want to shake his hand or say hello, he squeezed my arm all the harder until we stopped behind the signing table. He made sure there was a full Coca-Cola bottle on the table – they sponsored his coaching show with Golden Flake – and as we sat down, I was the book-opener and he was the signer. He leaned close again and quipped, “These people may look nice but there are some here right now who hate me … if you see a gun or a bomb you gotta’ shield me with your body … I got some more coaching to do!”

Bryant’s spats with sports writers were historical. Somebody asked him once for a ten-dollar donation to help bury a sports writer and he replied, “Here’s a 20 – let’s bury two,” but for some reason we got along famously, which turned out to be good for both of us in the years that followed.

That book-signing was in the summer of 1974 and Alabama was in the middle of winning 11 straight against the Vols. Towards the end of the string, which UT broke in a thriller in 1982, Coach Bryant said he figured a lot of his books had been burned up. None of us knew, of course, the ’82 game would be Coach Bryant’s last meeting with Tennessee, giving him a 16-7-1 record against the Vols.

In the 1982 win, which made Johnny Majors the nation’s coach of the week, Alabama was trailing by 7 with 17 seconds to play when Mike Terry intercepted the ball against the second-ranked Tide to seal the deal. Tennessee’s fans tore both goal posts down, as well they should have. I also remember Alan Cockrell threw a long touchdown pass to speedster Willie Gault and UT never gave up the lead all afternoon.

Some claim the series has lost some of its sparkle, with Alabama seeking its ninth-in-a-row tomorrow. The Tide is favored by two touchdowns but my experience is that means little. I’ve seen too many underdogs on both teams win in the end in this storied series.

How do I see tomorrow’s game? No team is tougher against the run than Alabama. The defense gave up 44 yards in the whole game against Arkansas and last week held Texas A&M to a measly 32. Add the fact Alabama beat A&M on three interceptions, each for a TD, and I can’t see Tennessee running up many points. Offensively Alabama is every bit as talented, averaging 430 yards per game, and – mind you -- that is 5 yards on every carry and 10 yards on every catch.

Being honest, I’m thinking 41-14 Alabama, but this is “The Third Saturday in October” so you should expect crazy things to happen. They always do.

royexum@aol.com

 

 

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