If perception equals reality…

Tommy Tuberville has a long row to hoe, that’s for sure.

I mean, “the party’s over”?

… But that game is over now. Alabama has a new CEO, and while Saban has looked shaky at times, he proved this week he will be a titanic force in the state and around this part of the country.

So what’s Tuberville to do? Or at $3 million a year (and a $6 million buyout), perhaps the better question is: Does he even care?

And at The Joe Cribbs Car Wash, an offer to a long snapper is taken as a starting point for an angst ridden examination of ‘Bama’s return to the SEC stage.

…For Auburn fans, the year-plus since Saban’s arrival in T-Town have been a lot like living in Rowling’s “wizarding community” after Harry came back from the graveyard at the end of Book/Movie 4 telling everyone Voldemort (the long-thought-dead villain) had returned. Like the wizards, many Auburn fans scoffed outright at the idea of the archenemy reborn and ridiculed those who said it was happening. I would say the majority of us weren’t so dismissive but adopted a easier-on-the-nerves position of remaining unconvinced until seeing the evidence of return first-hand. A very, very small handful believed the archenemy’s full-bodied return was imminent, only a matter of time, which of course is what those on the Other Side have been saying for a while.

Jerry does hold out hope for his side at the end, but still.

Hey, don’t get me wrong here: Saban has proven he’s a terrific recruiter, and this is a ginormous, talented class that he’s landed. ‘Bama fans have every right to be excited. But it’s just one class. And it was bolstered by what’s turned out to be the best in state group of high school seniors that Alabama has produced in a while. Let’s see what happens when the in state class isn’t so strong. Maybe then we’ll see how disinterested Tubby really is.

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UPDATE: Some more thoughts here.