Alabama Crimson Tide: What Flavor of Kool-Aid Do You Want?

After 10 weeks, the college football season is not shaping up like I thought it would. Before the season, my realistic expectations for the Crimson Tide were seven to eight wins and a small bowl game in December.

I kept thinking about the youth of the team and the problem with arrests (yes I can be honest with myself and admit that we had problems), the problems that surfaced would surely be a distraction to the team, wouldn't they?

Week after week, win after win, Saban kept warning the team, the media, and the fans to not drink the kool-aid. We need to focus on the task at hand. We need to prepare for the next opponent. Does he really think that this young team can stay focused? Are they really buying this nonsense?

Well after 10 weeks, a 9-0 record and ranked No.1 in just about every poll you can imagine, I would say that the team hasn't given in and tasted the kool-aid. I can honestly say that the team is starting to reflect the coach’s personality. I would say that the team has a chance in every single game.

This concept of having a chance isn't new to the Tide teams of the past, but to this new generation of players it's a foreign concept. In our not so distant past we would trip towards the finish line. We would fall flat as we closed in on the light at the end of the tunnel. The team hadn't won a game in the month of November since 2005. Wow.

This new team though reeks of confidence and most importantly, maturity. That's right, maturity. For a team that has played a total of 15 true freshmen, this is amazing. How can a coach take an 18-year-old high school athlete who hasn't played against this type of competition and turn him into someone who plays and thinks like a 22-year-old college senior?

How can a coach convince them that they are good enough when the media and the fans are preaching they are not? I will tell you how....we aren't drinking the kool-aid.