77 Year Drought for the British finally ends.

As an adoring nation watched and roared, Andy Murray ended 77 years of frustration at Wimbledon by defeating No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, on Sunday to become the first British man to win the singles championship since Fred Perry triumphed in 1936.

Murray, ranked No. 2 in the world, rode out a lull in the third set to win his first Wimbledon title and second Grand Slam event. He had previously won the U.S. Open in 2012, beating Djokovic for that honor.

The last British tennis player to win a singles title here was Virginia Wade, in 1977.

Murray, who lost the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer a year ago, was foiled on his first three championship points in the third set Sunday, in keeping with the long games he and Djokovic had played under a broiling sun. The game went to deuce four times before Murray finally
prevailed, setting off roars in the stadium and, undoubtedly, around the country.

When Murray realized that Djokovic’s backhander had gone into the net and that the title was his, he pumped his fists and grinned. He hugged Djokovic, whom he has played against since they were both 11 years old, before kneeling on the grass in relief and exultation, eventually climbing toward the box where his friends and family sat. He began to descend toward the court for the awards ceremony and almost forgot to hug his tearful mother, Judy, but went back to hug her.

“I just heard her screaming behind me and I went back,” he said during an on-court interview.

In a nice moment, TV cameras caught Djokovic’s parents hugging Judy Murray.

Murray said he was simply glad to get through a grueling final game and final point as he held off an attempted comeback by Djokovic. Murray was only beginning to realize the magnitude of his feat in the first few moments after the match.

“It feels slightly different to last year,” Murray said, drawing a laugh from the crowd. “I hope you guys enjoyed it. I tried my best.”
Djokovic, the 2011 Wimbledon champion and a six-time Grand Slam tournament winner, had won his previous three matches against Murray — including at this year’s Australian Open — and each time had rallied after Murray had won the first set. But Murray, though vexed sometimes in the third set, wouldn’t be stopped this time.
“Congratulations to him and to you guys. I know how much this means to the country,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “I’m aware of the pressure that he gets…. It’s a great achievement.

“I gave it all. It was an asbolute pleasure and honor to be part of this match, this final.”

The first set took 59 minutes and featured countless long rallies. Murray had three break points in the first game but Djokovic held him off; Murray had four more break points in the third game before finally getting that break for a 2-1 lead.

However, Djokovic broke back and then held for a 3-2 lead. Murray then gained another break, at love, after Djokovic sent a backhand into the net.

Murray double-faulted twice to start the eighth game, which went to deuce four times before Djokovic hit a long forehand and then a forehand into the net to give Murray a 5-3 lead.

Djokovic held his serve, but Murray won his service game at love and cashed in on his first set point when Djokovic sent a return wide.

Djokovic appeared to steady himself in the second set, breaking Murray in the fourth game and building a 4-1 lead. But Murray, pushed by the crowd at every turn, came back to level the set at 4-4 after converting the second of two break points in the eighth game.

Perhaps Djokovic was feeling the effects of his 4-hour, 43-minute, five-set semifinal victory over Juan Martin del Potro on Friday, the longest semifinal in Wimbledon history. He held service to take a 5-4 lead but committed a series of unforced errors that allowed Murray to pull even at 5-5 and then for Murray to break him for a 6-5 lead. The crowd, riding on every move, roared as Murray capitalized on his second break point and gave him a standing ovation when he hit an ace to win the next game at love to win the set, which took 69 minutes to complete.

Djokovic simply seemed to have nothing left as the third set began and Murray won the first two games, but Djokovic found the strength to push back. He won three games in a row to go up, 3-2, with the help of a volley by Murray that dropped just wide and allowed Djokovic to get the break.

Suddenly, Murray seemed to be feeling the pressure and Djokovic gained strength from it. Resorting to more drop shots that seemed to catch Murray wrong-footed, Djokovic broke Murray’s serve again for a 4-2 lead and there was no question that the momentum had drastically shifted toward
the Serb.

Murray halted that momentum by breaking Djokovic’s serve to cut his lead to 4-3. Murray pulled even at 4-4 with a running forehand on game point and then played out a great game to take a 5-4 lead, coming up with a beautiful passing shot to set up break point and winning the game when Djokovic hit a forehand into the net.

Roger Federer loses in second round at Wimbledon.

Seven-time champion Roger Federer was stunned by 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon on Wednesday, his earliest loss in a Grand Slam tournament in 10 years.

The 27-year-old Ukrainian outplayed Federer on Centre Court, serving and volleying his way to a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory that stands out as one of the biggest upsets in Grand Slam history.

The result capped a chaotic day at Wimbledon when seven players were forced out by injuries, and former champion Maria Sharapova fell in the second round to a qualifier.

Federer’s loss ended his record streak of reaching at least the quarterfinals at 36 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, a run that began at Wimbledon in 2004, shortly after a third-round exit at that year’s French Open.

“It’s very frustrating and very disappointing,” Federer said. “But I’m going to accept it and move forward.”

The owner of a record 17 major championships, Federer hadn’t been beaten in the second round or earlier since a first-round defeat at the 2003 French Open.

Federer’s shocking defeat was his earliest at the All England Club since a first-round loss in 2002 to No. 154-ranked Mario Ancic. Stakhovsky is the lowest-ranked player to beat Federer at any event since then.

Federer said the tournament’s ban of the orange-soled shoes he wore in his first-round win had no effect on Wednesday’s match, CBSSports.com reported.

Wednesday’s defeat came on the same grass court Federer has made his own for nearly a decade.

It ended with Stakhovsky converting on his second match point, a 13-stroke rally that finished with Federer hitting a backhand wide.

Stakhovsky fell onto his back in celebration. He later bowed to the crowd as Federer walked off the court with a quick wave.

Federer managed only one break of serve against Stakhovsky, who broke the Swiss star twice. The Ukrainian piled up 72 winners against 17 unforced errors, while Federer had 56 winners and 13 errors.

“I’m still in disbelief,” Stakhovsky said. “When you play Roger Federer at Wimbledon it’s like you are playing two persons. First you play Roger Federer, then you play his ego, and on the Centre Court of Wimbledon, where he is historical. So that’s like playing two against one.”

Blackhawks score 2 goals in :17 to edge Bruins 3-2. 2nd Stanley Cup in 4 years.

An NHL-record unbeaten streak to start the lockout-shortened season.
Three straight victories to clinch the title.
From beginning to end, the Chicago Blackhawks skated away from the rest of the league.
Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland scored 17 seconds apart in the final 1:16 and the Blackhawks staged a stunning rally to win Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final 3-2 on Monday night for their second NHL championship in four seasons.
Jonathan Toews returned from injury to add a goal, and Corey Crawford made 23 saves for Chicago in the first final round between Original Six teams since 1979.
“I still can’t believe that finish,” Crawford said. “Oh my God, we never quit.”
Patrick Kane, whose overtime goal in Game 6 beat Philadelphia to win the 2010 championship, was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoffs MVP.
“It was the best year of my life, just playing with these guys,” Kane said.
Toews scored his third goal of the playoffs to tie it for the Blackawks at 4:24 of the second of Game 6 – exactly two minutes after teammate Andrew Shaw was penalized for roughing.
“In 2010, we didn’t really know what we were doing,” Toews said. “We just, we played great hockey and we were kind of oblivious to how good we were playing.
” This time around, we know definitely how much work it takes and how much sacrifice it takes to get back here and this is an unbelievable group. We’ve been through a lot together this year and this is a sweet way to finish it off.”
Boston, needing a win to extend the series to a deciding Game 7, came out aggressively and led 1-0 after one period on Chris Kelly’s second goal of the playoffs. The Bruins outshot the Blackhawks 12-6 in the first period but the margin dropped to 18-15 through 40 minutes.
Each team got one of its best players back when Toews and Boston alternate captain Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup after leaving the Blackhawks’ 3-1 win with injuries on Saturday.
Toews scored when he got past Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara along the boards in the neutral zone. Chicago’s captain skated up the right side and fired a hard shot from the right faceoff dot that beat goalie Tuukka Rask between his pads.
It was Toews’ second goal in three games. Of Chicago’s last 10 goals, Chara was on the ice for nine.
Boston right wing Jaromir Jagr was shaken up in the first period. He returned for the second but left the bench, and Tyler Seguin replaced him on the second line with left wing Brad Marchand and center Bergeron.
The play that led to Kelly’s goal began after a faceoff that rookie defenseman Torey Krug rushed in to tip toward a teammate. The puck went to Daniel Paille, standing about 40 feet on the left. He passed to Seguin, who caught the puck with his right glove in the slot and dropped it.
Seguin then passed to Kelly, who scored his second goal of the playoffs 7:19 into the game.
It came just seven seconds after a whistle stopped a scrum in front of the net that followed an extended period of pressure by the Bruins.
Just two minutes after the goal, Chicago had one of its best chances of the period when Michal Frolik skated in with the puck behind the defense and fired a 15-foot drive from the left, but Rask made the save.
Boston had another solid chance at 12:24 when Milan Lucic took a 15-foot shot from the slot that Crawford stopped.
After having no power plays in Game 5, the Bruins had four failed advantages in the first two periods.
With 4:01 left in the first, Shaw was struck in the face by a puck when it deflected off the shaft of his stick after Boston’s Shawn Thornton shot it. He lay on the ice before getting up and skating off slowly.
Toews was on Chicago’s first shift of the game. Bergeron had left Game 5 with an undisclosed injury after playing just 49 seconds in the second period.
Five of the last nine Cup finals have gone seven games, including in 2011 when the Bruins overcame a 3-2 series deficit and won their first championship since 1972 by winning Game 6 in Boston and Game 7 in Vancouver.
In 2010, Chicago won its first NHL title since 1961 on Kane’s overtime goal. As they did this year, the Blackhawks won Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead.
This year’s finals have been extremely tight, with three of the first five games going to overtime. Chicago won the opener in three overtimes, then Boston won 2-1 in one extra period and 2-0. The Blackhawks regained home-ice advantage with a 6-5 overtime win in a wild Game 4 in Boston before returning home for Saturday night’s win.
Teams that have won Game 5 after splitting the first four have won the Cup 15 of 22 times since the best-of-seven format began in 1939. But the loser of Game 5 the past six times has won four championships, including the Bruins against the Canucks.
Last season, the Los Angeles Kings beat the New Jersey Devils in six games. This season, the Blackhawks beat the Kings in five games to reach the Cup finals, clinching the series on Kane’s goal in overtime.

Rafa loses in 1st round at Wimbledon.

Lightning struck twice for Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon as the Spanish 12-times grand-slam champion suffered a shock first-round defeat by Belgian outsider Steve Darcis on Monday.

A year after losing to Czech Lukas Rosol in the second round, Nadal was outplayed by the 135th-ranked Darcis on Court One, losing 7-6(4) 7-6(8) 6-4 in front of a disbelieving crowd.

Fifth seed Nadal, who had never lost in the first round of a grand-slam tournament before, appeared to be struggling physically at times but refused to make excuses.

“I tried my best out there in every moment. It was not possible for me,” Nadal, playing on grass for the first time this season, told a news conference. “It is not a tragedy.”

Nadal, who spent seven months out of action with a knee injury after last year’s Wimbledon defeat, served for the second set but Darcis hit back to move two sets in front.

Asked if his knee had been giving him problems, Nadal said: “I don’t want to talk about my knee this afternoon. Anything that I would say today about my knee would be an excuse. The only thing I can say is to congratulate Steve Darcis.”

As the clock crept towards three hours on court, Nadal’s touch deserted him completely and he turned his back on the court, grimacing, after failing to cash in a breakpoint in the eighth game and hitting a feeble forehand into the net.

DARCIS’S DELIGHT

As he served for the match at 5-4, Darcis, sensing blood, put himself ahead with a superb running forehand after chasing the ball across court. Finding himself right in front of the press photographers, he obligingly pumped his fist and roared with delight.

Another Nadal forehand error gave Darcis matchpoint and he finished off the biggest win of his career with an ace.

“You don’t beat Nadal if he isn’t playing his best tennis,” said Darcis, a no-nonsense player who trudged out from every changeover with his towel clenched between his teeth and his head bowed in thought.

“It is my biggest win so I have to be happy. Maybe he was not in the best shape ever but I have to be proud of me,” he told a news conference.

The man nicknamed “The Shark”, after a tattoo he sports on his right shoulder, dropped 22 places in the rankings coming into Wimbledon and said his career had often been blighted by injury.

“I have been feeling really good for a few months,” he added. “For me it was easy today, nobody expected me to win. I really wanted to do something today.”

Darcis, who faces Lukasz Kubot of Poland in the next round, was the lowest-ranked player to beat Nadal for seven years, since Joachim Johansson, the world number 690, in Stockholm.

The 27-year-old Spaniard became the first reigning French Open champion to lose in the first round of Wimbledon since Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten suffered the same fate in 1997.

Nadal’s fifth seeding, in line with his current ranking, had put him in the potential path of champion Roger Federer and home favorite Andy Murray, who will both be relieved to have the chance of profiting from his early exit.

Is Eight Enough?

PARIS — If Rafael Nadal truly was going to be challenged, if his bid for an unprecedented eighth French Open championship would be slowed even a bit, this might have been the moment.
Leading by a set and a break 70 minutes into Sunday’s final against David Ferrer, another generally indefatigable Spaniard, Nadal faced four break points in one game. The last was a 31-stroke exchange, the match’s longest, capped when Nadal absorbed Ferrer’s strong backhand approach and transformed it into a cross-court backhand passing shot.
Ferrer glared at the ball as it flew past and landed in a corner, then smiled ruefully. What else was there to do? Dealing with Nadal’s defense-to-offense on red clay is a thankless task. His rain-soaked 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ferrer was Nadal’s record 59th win in 60 matches at the French Open and made him the only man with eight titles at any Grand Slam tournament.
“I never like to compare years, but it’s true that this year means something very special for me,” Nadal said, alluding to the way he managed to come back from a left knee injury that sidelined him for about seven months.
“When you have a period of time like I had,” he added, “you realize that you don’t know if you will have the chance to be back here with this trophy another time.”
But he does it, year after year.
He won four French Opens in a row from 2005-08, and another four in a row from 2010-13.
“Rafael was better than me,” said Ferrer, who had won all 18 sets he’d played the past two weeks to reach his first Grand Slam final at age 31. “He didn’t make mistakes.”
A week past his 27th birthday, Nadal now owns 12 major trophies in all — including two from Wimbledon, one each from the U.S. Open and Australian Open — to eclipse Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver and equal Roy Emerson for the third-most in history. Nadal trails only Roger Federer’s 17 and Pete Sampras’ 14.
“Winning 17 Grand Slam titles, that’s miles away,” Nadal said. “I’m not even thinking about it.”
This was Nadal’s first major tournament after a surprising second-round loss at Wimbledon last June. Since rejoining the tour in February, he is 43-2 with seven titles and two runner-up finishes. He’s won his past 22 matches.
“For me, it’s incredible,” said Toni Nadal, Rafael’s uncle and coach. “When I think of all that Rafael has done, I don’t understand it.”
No one, perhaps not even Ferrer himself, expected Nadal to lose Sunday.
That’s because of Nadal’s skill on clay, in general, and at Roland Garros, in particular, but also because of how Ferrer had fared against his friend and countryman — and video-game competitor — in the past.
Ferrer entered Sunday 4-19 against Nadal. On clay, Nadal had 16 consecutive victories over Ferrer, whose only head-to-head win on the surface came the first time they played, in July 2004, when Nadal was 18.
Nadal had yet to make his French Open debut then, missing it that year because of a broken left foot. On May 23, 2005, Nadal played his first match at Roland Garros, beating Lars Burgsmuller 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Court 1, known as the “bullring” because of its oval shape.
And so began the reign.
Nadal won a record 31 consecutive matches at the French Open until the fourth round in 2009, when Robin Soderling beat him. In 2010, Nadal started a new streak, which currently stands at 28.
There was occasional shakiness this year. Nadal lost the first set of each of his first two matches and was pushed to a tiebreaker to begin his third.
He barely edged No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic in a thrilling semifinal that lasted more than 4½ hours and ended 9-7 in the fifth set Friday.
By any measure, that match was far more enjoyable to take in than the final, akin to dining on a filet mignon accompanied by a well-aged bottle of Bordeaux one day, then grabbing a hot dog and can of soda from a street vendor 48 hours later.
Under a leaden sky that eventually would release a steady shower from the second set on, Ferrer felt nerves at the outset, he acknowledged later. But after the players traded early breaks, Ferrer held for a 3-2 lead.
That’s when Nadal took over, winning seven games in a row and 12 of 14. His court coverage was impeccable, as usual, showing no signs of any problems from that left knee, which was supported by a band of white tape. His lefty forehand whips were on-target, accounting for 19 of his 35 winners and repeatedly forcing errors from Ferrer.
When Nadal did have lapses, he admonished himself, once slapping his forehead with his right palm after pushing a lob wide. But what’s demoralizing for opponents is the way Nadal slams the door when they have openings, then rushes through when he gets the slightest chance.
He was at his relentless best on key points, including those four break chances for Ferrer at 3-1 in the second set. Immediately after, Nadal broke to 5-1 on a forehand winner down the line.
As Nadal prepared to serve in the next game, a man wearing a white mask and carrying a fiery flare jumped out of the stands nearby. The intruder quickly was shoved to the ground by one security guard, while another went to protect Nadal.
“I felt a little bit scared at the first moment,” Nadal said, “because I didn’t see what’s going on.”
It happened within a few minutes of other actions by protesters, including chanting from the upper deck that briefly delayed play. Police said seven people were held for questioning.
Nadal got broken in that game, then broke back right away to take the second set.
The third set was similar to the first. It was 3-all, then suddenly over. Nadal took the last three games, ending the match with a forehand winner before dropping his racket and falling on his back, leaving a rust-colored smudge on his white shirt and flecks of clay on his stubbled cheeks. Soon he was standing, holding his index finger aloft.
Yes, Nadal is No. 1 at the French Open. When the ATP rankings are issued Monday, however, he will be No. 5, because of points he dropped while hurt.
Ferrer will be at No. 4.
“Yeah, it’s strange, no? I lost the final against Rafael, but tomorrow I am going to be No. 4 and him No. 5,” Ferrer said with a grin, then delivered his punch line: “I prefer to win here and to stay No. 5.”
Sorry, David. This is Nadal’s tournament.
Now the question becomes: Is eight enough?

Alabama Gymnastics Team goes back to back National Championships

The University of Alabama gymnastics team wrote a new chapter in its championship history Saturday night.

Winning the school’s sixth gymnastics national championship is impressive by itself. But winning back-to-back national titles is a new high for the Crimson Tide program.

With a score of 197.85, Alabama edged out SEC rival Florida (197.775) to bring another trophy back to Tuscaloosa.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our athletes,” coach Sarah Patterson said. “We really had a great night. I thought last year was great, but for a lot of different reasons, this year is a lot better.”

During the semifinals, it was the balance beam that got the Tide started off strong, and it was the balance beam ending the finals that got the Tide to its sixth title.

Seniors Geralen Stack-Eaton and Ashley Priess finished up the competition for Alabama. Last year, Priess sat out the season with two hurt ankles, and it came down to her final beam routine to win the championship.

“As it was coming down to the end and I knew that it was (Florida’s) Kytra Hunter on floor, and Ashley Priess was going on the balance beam, and I knew it came down to that routine,” Patterson said. “To have her step in this year and lead with Geralen, I couldn’t be more proud of that moment.”

Priess and Stack-Eaton prayed before they went on for their beam routines, and Priess said it was an incredible moment for her.

Is Roger Federer done?

His coolness may have been undimmed, but what he looks as he is given the runaround by the heavyweight, pummelling, whacking Frenchman is something more debilitating: for a moment he looks old. As Tsonga rampages, he suddenly seemed past it, a spent force, yesterday’s man. His gaunt expression says only one thing: retirement is surely now imminent.

Which is why, even as the odds lengthen exponentially, it seems the perfect time to put money on him winning Wimbledon. In fact, studying that picture of him seemingly lost and forlorn, apparently arthritic and creaking, the only astonishment will be if Roger Federer drops a set on his way to retaining his All England title.

This is what the implacably smooth champion does as he reaches his sporting dotage: he gives the impression that it is all over just before staging a perfectly timed comeback. Writing off Federer has become a routine of the tennis circuit. And just as routine has been the subsequent requirement to make a meal of such dismissive words.

Sure, Federer is now 31. Sure, he has yet to win anything this season. Sure, the twinges in his back are becoming more frequent and more aggressive. But the notion that he is finished at the top of the game is not just premature. It is laughable.

The thing about Federer is that he has always played to his own set of rules. When he was at the summit of his powers six or seven years ago, he appeared not to indulge in any kind of exertion. He could beat the most vigorous thrasher with barely any suggestion of effort.

While opponents changed their sweat-soaked shirts after every set, he looked as if he had just stepped out of an air-conditioned lounge. As a psychological ploy, it was untouchable. It gave him an aura of utter invincibility. That and a range of strokes previously thought only to exist in the imagination.

As he has got older, however, the assumption of superiority has been more frequently challenged. Though the mask of effortlessness has never slipped, the defeats have become more frequent. It is not just Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic who can get the better of him these days.

Juan Martin Del Potro, Tomas Berdych, Robin Soderling and Tsonga have all done it in recent slams. Andy Murray did it at the Olympics. It appears that from a position of total pre-eminence he has been brought back into the chasing pack, dragged down from Olympus to mere mortality. From once being the one and only, he is now no more than one of the boys.

But that does not mean it is over. That does not mean he should hang up his headband and retire to the Swiss mountains to tend to the herd of prize cows he has accumulated over the years, one for every slam. Especially not when his competitive instinct remains undimmed. This is the thing about Federer: beneath that elegant exterior bubbles a boiling determination to win.

You could see that in last year’s Wimbledon final. When Murray won the first set, it seemed as if the plotline was running to a pre-ordained script. A home Wimbledon champion in Olympic year: the force, not to mention the overwhelming majority of the centre court crowd, appeared to be with the Scotsman. There were many convinced this was the moment. We should have known.

Instead of the saltire flying proud above the All England Club, centre court was subject to a display of astonishing competitiveness by the Swiss. Simply refusing to be beaten, Federer hauled back the momentum by sheer force of will. Even against an opponent as determined as Murray, he simply refused to accept defeat. It was a comeback which perfectly encapsulated his latter career: at the very point you think it is over, he storms back.

With Nadal and Murray both circumscribed by injury, with Djokovic distracted by off-court issues, opportunity is opening up for Federer to retain his Wimbledon crown. But it is that defeat by Tsonga and its seeming apocalyptic implications for his legacy that will provide the greatest incentive.

He has no interest in defeat becoming the motif of his twilight playing years. He wants more cows before he bows out. Holding up the trophy in Wimbledon’s centre court on July 7 is the most unequivocal way of demonstrating it is not over for Roger Federer. Only the unwise would bet against it.

2013 National Signing Day Champions- The Alabama Crimson Tide

After the season (and last four years) they’ve had, it is somewhat expected that the Alabama Crimson Tide would be able to recruit top-notch players. Coach Nick Saban has applied his process to recruiting as Alabama tops the list for 2013.

With four five-star and 13 four-star prospects, Alabama is looking to be just as competitive in 2013. Five-star prospect linebacker Reuben Foster, whose creative Auburn tattoo certainly made an interesting statement, has surely had the most colorful road to national signing day (this including the tattoo and taking an unofficial visit to Alabama during his official visit to Auburn, and thus recommitting to Alabama).

Still, Foster is sure to be quite the force for the Tide. A No. 16 recruit overall, Foster will fit right in at Alabama. His size, quickness, and ability to tackle is essentially the tenacious defensive qualities that Alabama is known for having. I predict that Foster will play a big role in Alabama’s defense in the future.

Gaining four-star defensive end Dee Liner (what a fitting name, might I add) in the home stretch help put the Tide on top.

So, what does all this mean for the season to come?

It means Alabama’s chance for yet another National Championship bid is looking to be more and more attainable. With a more mature defense that is sure to be a lot more stingy in years to come, Alabama shows no sign of stopping the process.

2012 National Champions- Alabama Crimson Tide

The players who comprised Alabama’s roster Monday had nothing to do with the Crimson Tide’s gut-wrenching loss to Notre Dame in the 1973 Sugar Bowl, nothing to do with a similarly tough loss in the 1975 Orange Bowl and nothing to do with the other three losses in its six previous tries against the Fighting Irish.
Ask coach Nick Saban, and he’ll go one step further. This year’s team had nothing to do with last year’s national championship or the one Alabama seized in 2009.
His conversations with the team about this very subject were recounted constantly throughout the 2012 season. There was a similar message conveyed before Monday’s BCS National Championship.
“He told us we haven’t done anything yet,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “The legacy was going to be determined by the end of this game.”
These players — recruited exclusively by Saban’s staff and groomed in a program where expectations were re-established as “national title or bust” upon their enrollment — had everything to do with avenging those haunted shortcomings to the Fighting Irish and enhancing the mystique of one of the greatest eras in Crimson Tide history.
And they did it without a hint of drama.

Alabama’s 42-14 victory on a breezy Miami night at Sun Life Stadium was a recreation of the runaway train routs that filled the space between its nail-biting thrillers against LSU, Texas A&M and Georgia.
It’s the first time any team has won consecutive titles during the BCS era. The last time a team won the BCS title game by 28 or more points was 2005, when USC routed Oklahoma, 55-19 in the same stadium. The last team to win three titles in a four-year span was Nebraska (1994-97).
Yet it remained a challenge to find anyone from Alabama’s team to say it was a dynasty — better known as “the D word” among Crimson Tide players who refused to acknowledge it before or after Monday’s dominant performance.
“This one feels great,” senior defensive end Damion Square said. “It’s unique. It’s this one, down in South Florida. The one in New Orleans, that was in New Orleans. I’m going to take all of these to heart.”
For some Crimson Tide players, such as quarterback AJ McCarron, who etched his name next to more records with yet another outstanding championship game performance, it was their third title.
For sophomore safety HaHa Clinton-Dix — who was all over the field in one of the best games of his career — and a number of other underclassmen who embraced elevated roles in 2012, it was the second.
For true freshmen such as wide receiver Amari Cooper and running back T.J. Yeldon, who shined Monday much like they did throughout the regular season, it was the first.
By the logic Saban applied throughout the year, this national championship was this particular team’s first and only. And it wasn’t any easier than the previous two.
“People talk about how the most difficult thing is to win your first championship,” Saban said. “Really, the most difficult is to win the next one because there’s always a feeling of entitlement.
“The commitment that these guys made two days after the we played LSU in the national championship game to be a team, to set a goal to accomplish something of significance is really special for what they were able to accomplish.”
Notre Dame, rejuvenated under third-year coach Brian Kelly after decades of mediocrity, helped make this championship victory appear to be the easiest of the three. The Fighting Irish were frazzled in every aspect of the game — running routes too close to the sideline, missing tackles, muffing punt returns — and the Crimson Tide was there to pounce on every opportunity.
It took the Alabama less than 3 minutes to strike first. It was the kind of drive that would replicate itself three more times during the Crimson Tide’s dominant first half.
McCarron loosened up the Notre Dame defense with a 29-yard pass to Kevin Norwood before he let Eddie Lacy and the Crimson Tide offensive line do the rest. Lacy ran through a gaping hole up the middle to score a 20-yard touchdown.
“I could feel it in warm-ups,” said McCarron, who threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns. “I always feel like if I hit my first pass, it’s going to be a good day.”
Six minutes later, the Crimson Tide did it again. Set up by more of Lacy’s running, McCarron found a wide-open Michael Williams in the back of the end zone with a 3-yard pass to cap a 10-play, 61-yard march down the field.
After ending a first quarter that saw it outgain Notre Dame 202-23, Alabama extended its lead to 21-0 on the second quarter’s first play with a 1-yard Yeldon touchdown run. The Crimson Tide capped the half with a 71-yard drive that ended with a whirling Lacy landing in the end zone after he caught and ran with an 11-yard McCarron screen pass.
It was 28-0 before halftime against a team that allowed more than 20 points just once all season.

“That’s how we practice,” linebacker Trey DePriest said. “It’s an everyday thing. We go against our offense and you see what they just did.”
McCarron’s third-quarter touchdown pass to freshman Cooper went for 34 yards and put him alone at the top among Crimson Tide quarterbacks with 48 for his career. It also capped a 97-yard drive and staked Alabama to its biggest lead of the game, 35-0 — an advantage that was sliced on the ensuing drive by Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson’s 2-yard touchdown run.
The McCarron-Cooper battery hooked up one more time in the fourth quarter for a 19-yard touchdown — one of the final marks on the Crimson Tide’s history-altering night.
“We’ll take a couple of days to celebrate this,” Saban said. “Then it will be time to start building toward next season.”

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