Let's do the math, or should I say the new math, that leads to Alabama's claim of 12 national championships.
Our instructor: None other than Wayne Atcheson, director of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.
As sports information director under former Alabama coach Ray Perkins in the 1980s, Atcheson started going through the records book, he says, to give his school its historical due.
The 12-titles claim drives rival schools nuts, and, admittedly, the 1941 crown comes with more than a little tin (mash here, and be sure to check out the cool graphic at the bottom by Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News). But Atcheson says other schools are just as aggressive in writing their own legacy. And if you want to argue with this fine man of God, go right ahead.
Alabama, of course, goes for No. 13 tomorrow night.
But, if you like, we can call it a Bama's Dozen.
Michael Gordon
P.S. - Peter St. Onge: A more accurate counting of Alabama's national titles can be found here. Or you can try the NCAA's count, which is nine (although they place two of those titles in the iffy "retroactive" category.) Using Mr. Atcheson's methods, Auburn fans could count themselves four national titles. We don't.
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5 comments:
6 Titles added years(many many) after the fact, yep that sound legit. Bama finishes 3rd in the SEC, but still gets a national title? Bama has a great history, why do they feel the need to inflate it?
So . . . Alabama goes for its 12th National Championship on Thursday night . . .
Let's see... multiply by the square root... carry the 1... yep, I'm pretty sure that by this accounting, Georgia has 37 national championships.
Use the Vulcan mind meld if you want.
We still got more than you.
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