CENTENNIAL

I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said "Well, a-bless my soul"

You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
                     SIXTEEN TONS 

"If God had figured for a man to know what God was doing, He'd have made it that way.
I reckon He's able to do it, but He don't.
He just sticks them here, looks like, and tell them to work it out the best they can.
So that's what I'll do.
I'll go along, using what tools He gave me the best I know how, and if I manage better'n some, or worse'n some, it'll be my own crop. 
Hell, I ain't a man to change."
                                           Buck Bannon from Douglas Fields Bailey's DEVIL MAKE A THIRD

Mama told me when I was young 
Come sit beside me, my only son 
And listen closely to what I say. 
And if you do this 
It'll help you some sunny day. Oh Yah! 
Oh, take your time... Don't live too fast, 
Troubles will come and they will pass. 
You'll find a woman, yea yea, you'll find love, 
And don't forget son, 
There is someone up above. 
SIMPLE MAN by Gary Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant

I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I. 
Refrain

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me!

"This is the beginning of a new day.  

God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use it for good.

What I do today is important as I am
exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever.
Leaving something in its place I have traded for it.

I want it to be a gain, not loss--good, not evil.
Success, not failure,

in order that I shall not forget the price I paid for it."

On Wednesday, September 11, 2013, Bama fans around the world will celebrate the centennial of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's birth. Everyone else will also have an opportunity to commemorate this important anniversary with the premiere of a documentary and the publication of a coffee table book dedicated to our beloved coach's life. The Bryant Museum will open a new exhibit by holding a reception and many of the authors who have written Bryant books will be in attendance. Although these events are significant they really can't compare to the last time Alabama football celebrated a centennial. 

In 1992, Bama saluted 100 years of Alabama football. The music group ALABAMA kicked it all off on A Day with a big concert in Bryant-Denny. There was a black tie gala hosted by ABC-TV announcer Keith Jackson at the civic center in Birmingham honoring the Team of the Century and to cap off the successful sales of CENTURY OF CHAMPIONS commemorative calenders, Daniel Moore prints, card sets, limited edition books, audio tapes and video collections, the University of Alabama football team went out and won the first ever SEC Championship game and creamed Miami 34 to 13 in the Sugar Bowl and won the National Championship.

Let's hope some of that centennial success from '92 rubs off on this current team and THE INVINCIBLE SPIRIT OF THE MIGHTY CRIMSON TIDE makes history this season and the Bear Bryant Centennial ends appropriately with Bama winning an unprecedented three National Championships in a row and breaks the "three in a row" jinx that plagued Bama teams in 1927, 1966 and 1980.