"Yea Alabama"

I went to my very first University of Alabama football game just a few weeks ago. I remember standing in the crowd with my friends as they cheered loudly and belted lyrics to different songs. I had heard these famous chants before such as “Rammer Jammer” and “Yea Alabama” but I was not able to keep up with everyone as they belted the fight song, “Yea Alabama! Drown 'em Tide! Every Bama man's behind you! Hit your Stride! Go teach the Bulldogs to behave! Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave! And if a man starts to weaken that's a shame! For Bama's pluck and grit have writ her name in Crimson Flame! Fight on! Fight on! Fight on, men! Remember the Rose Bowl we'll win then! Go roll to victory! Hit your stride! Your Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide Roll Tide Roll Tide.” After the game, my friend taught me the words and I ended up getting into a discussion as to why the song is referring to the Georgia Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets when those two teams are not really considered our rivals anymore. The lyrics in this song should be changed from Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets to Tigers and Volunteers. The lyrics of the song were written by a student named Ethelred Lundy Sykes who submitted the song as part of a contest held by the University of Alabama newspaper after the 1926 Rose bowl. However that was 83 years ago, it is time to change the tradition and lyrics of this fantastic song in order to make it relevant to today’s competition between the Tide and our current slew of SEC rivals.

The first mascot mentioned in the song is the Bulldogs. Some Alabama fans that I have talked to said that they feel apathetic towards the bulldogs being mentioned in the fight song. If the “Bulldogs” in the fight song is referring to the Georgia Bulldogs, the rivalry between the Tide and the Dogs is not particularly strong or controversial because the two only play each other twice every six years. There really is no point in keeping them in our fight song when we play them so infrequently and when we do, it has no bearing on our SEC west chances. Though, if the “Bulldogs” in the fight song is referring to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, then the feeling about that rival is still rather apathetic. Most Alabama fans will agree that whenever Alabama plays Mississippi State no one gets too worked up about it or even stresses much at all about the competition. Of the 93 times the two teams have met the Tide have won 72 of those games, that’s a 77% win percentage. If this lackluster feeling is true for most Alabama fans, then why are they mentioned in our official fight song? If we really want our fans to scream the fight song loud and be passionate about the competition mentioned in the song, then we should definitely change the words to “tigers” and “volunteers” like was mentioned earlier.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are the other team mentioned in the fight song. However the Yellow Jackets are not even in the SEC anymore and as a result are definitely not considered one of Alabama’s rivals. Georgia Tech decided to leave the SEC in 1964, after being a part of the conference since 1895. There is great controversy between Alabama’s most famous coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and Georgia Tech’s great coach, Robert “Bobby” Dodd. One theory is that the two coaches had a harsh falling out, despite the fact that they had got along for years and had great respect for one another on and off the field. Another theory stems from a game between the two teams in 1963. Alabama defeated Georgia Tech 10-0, but during that game, an Alabama player came at a Georgia Tech player with his elbow knocking him across the face. The Georgia Tech player suffered a shattered cheek bone and lost several teeth. The public wanted the Alabama player to be punished publically, but Bryant made remarks to the Atlanta media proclaiming that he would discipline his player accordingly and that no one else should tell him how to handle his team members. Dodd was not satisfied because no one really knew if the Alabama player was even disciplined and so as a result Bryant and Dodd stopped speaking to one another and Georgia Tech abruptly left the conference in 1964 after losing another game to Alabama.

By changing the song to mention the tigers, “Yea Alabama” would be referring to two of our big rivals, the LSU Tigers, and the Auburn Tigers. Alabama and LSU have been big competitors in the SEC since 1932, and even more so in recent history after becoming competitors in the SEC West since 1992. The Alabama versus LSU rivalry has gotten an extra dose of excitement due to our current coach, Nick Saban, who has turned Alabama into a winning team and SEC West champions the last two years. The champion before that was LSU. Saban was also the coach for LSU back in 2003 when they won the national championship. Whenever Alabama faces off against LSU, some media outlets refer to the game as the “Saban Bowl”.

As for the competition between Alabama and Auburn, that infamous in-state rivalry has been a big one for a long, long time. Alabama and Auburn had their first match up against one another on February 22, 1893, and since then have competed in the annual Iron Bowl, a series that Alabama leads with an overall record of 39-33-1. Today the games are played at Bryant-Denny Stadium every even-numbered year and at Jordan-Hare Stadium every odd-numbered year. It is one of the greatest rivalries in history that transcends many different sporting competitions between the two schools. Alabama fans take the rivalry against LSU and Auburn seriously every year, and it would be much more appropriate if these two great rivals were included in our fight song.

Another heated rivalry for Alabama is referred to as the “Third Saturday in October”, better known as the faceoff between the Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers. Since 1995, the game between Alabama and Tennessee has been scheduled for the third Saturday in October, which is dubbed the name for this particular rivalry. Since their first game against each other in 1901, Alabama and Tennessee have taken turns holding dominate winning streaks over one another that usually last for several years at a time. The majority, if not all, of the games that Alabama and Tennessee have played against one another have been close, hard fought, physical games that provide a terrific platform of competition that would fit perfectly in our Alabama fight song.

These rivalries have existed for generations of teams and fans. I believe every Alabama Crimson Tide can agree that Auburn and Tennessee will no matter what, be hated, and LSU should remain a tough competitor in the SEC West year after year. Alabama fans as a whole should come together and change the words to include these particular teams. Alabama’s “fight” song is something that is supposed to excite fans and team, something that pumps up the stadium and energizes every Alabama man and woman, young or old. If the teams being mentioned in the song are viewed as apathetic or nonexistent competition, then the words should certainly be changed. Alabama fans are more passionate about our current rivalries between the LSU Tigers, the Auburn Tigers, and the Tennessee Volunteers, which is why mentioning these teams in the “Yea Alabama” fight song will excite all the fans and players much more than it currently does today.