The so called “progressives” in Alabama are yearning for a Bear Bryant figure in their party.  No, they aren’t fielding a football team; they want a winner on a grand scale.  I would advise them that this isn’t necessarily such a desirable goal.  Just ask current Republicans and Alabama fans.

Bama fans have suffered from an acute complex ever since the Bear left their sidelines.  No coach can measure up.  Coaches have come and gone.  Some went faster than others.  Some won SEC championships.  One won a national championship.  But the Bama fans were never happy.  They threw a brick through Bill Curry’s window for his efforts.  They greeted the hiring of Nick Saban, a proven collegiate winner (and NFL loser), with an orgasmic euphoria.  Saban just finished his first year without a winning record in the regular season.  Let’s just say the honeymoon is over.  The aura of the Bear still hangs heavy at UAT and it tends to stifle any coach who takes the reins.

The Republicans are also coping with their own Bear: Ronald Wilson Reagan.  His name is evoked at nearly every Republican function.  He has been elevated – deified – to a level that is unattainable for any who follow.  For many, his sins have been not just forgiven, but forgotten.  What is left is a litany of measuring sticks and every Republican has their own unique set tailored to their own beliefs about what conservatism is.  In the end, no candidate can measure up to the mythic Reagan standard just as no coach at UAT can fill the Bear’s shoes.

As I alluded to earlier, Reagan had his faults.  He made decisions that would cause him to be castigated as a candidate today and probably labeled a flip flopper.  As governor he signed the biggest tax increase in the history of his state and legalized abortion.  As president he granted amnesty to 3 million illegal aliens and brought us the Iran-Contra Affair.  Yet despite these sundry blemishes on his record he remains, rightfully, a renowned figure - the GOP’s Bear Bryant.

One doesn’t need to follow much of the discourse of conservative pundits and opinion makers these days to realize that every candidate is bludgeoned with some element of the mythic Reagan mantle.  Is the Reagan visage casting a shadow over the GOP so broad that good, possibly great, candidates cannot escape it much like the Bryant shadow has left Tuscaloosa’s football program in periodic disarray for the last two and a half decades?  I think that it may be doing just that.

So, is having a Bryant worth it?  Does the legacy create an effective barrier to comparable success in the following years?  Does the legacy - the dusty trophies and fading memories - help dull the pain of modern day mediocrity?  Or does it only sharpen the agony?

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This entry was posted by Brian on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 8:50 pm and is filed under College Football, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.