re: Just Back From Tuscaloosa--Impressions:

As an Alabama fan it pains me to admit but you're right about the gameday crowd and atmosphere. I can elaborate as to why.

1. Old money fans. Alabama has been a football power for generations and as such a lot of the fans are the old money crowd. These people just sit in silence and watch the game with the occasional golf clap for a big play. All schools have these folks but Alabama has a lot more of them than most places.

2. Fairweather/bandwagon fans. What's crazy is the years Alabama was struggling the the stadium was actually much louder and more electric. The reason is the people who are going to the stadium when the team is struggling are die hard fans who cheer loud. Right now EVERYBODY and their mamma is an Alabama "fan". It's very en vouge to be a Bama fan and go to the game, etc. So a ton of people in the stadium watching the game are just there more because it's trendy or the place to be. These people will be the first to disappear if the team starts struggling at some point. I see these people every week. A yuppie couple, decked out in Alabama hats and polos and accessories, they get their 5 minutes after kick off, never cheer once, and leave late 3rd quarter. Hate these type of fans and there are now ALOT of them.

3. Championship fatigue. Bama fans have gotten spoiled and can't "get up" emotionaly for any game that isn't an SEC or BCS championship game.

The Alabama road fans are a million times better than the home fans. The people actually willing to drive to an opposing stadium are way more die hards and make way more noise and show way more passsion on average.

As far as the stadium is concerned, Bryant Denny is easily the most physically attractive and comfortable stadium in the SEC. I'm pretty biased but it always amazes me how 'cheap' so many stadiums look. Like Neyland stadium is disgusting, just looking at it all you see are these metal rafters and it just looks run down (and is indeed a dump inside). It proves seating capacity isn't everything.