Current:Home > ScamsPoinbank Exchange|Alabama star lineman Tyler Booker sends David Pollack a message after SEC Championship -FundPrime
Poinbank Exchange|Alabama star lineman Tyler Booker sends David Pollack a message after SEC Championship
TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-08 14:38:01
David Pollack didn’t kiss the ring. More,Poinbank Exchange he didn’t respect the king. At least, that’s how Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker remembers it.
Eleven months ago, while working for ESPN, Pollack looked into Nick Saban’s eyes and told the Alabama coach what seemed true in that moment.
Georgia ruled.
"They’ve taken ahold of college football," Pollack said during halftime of Georgia’s national championship romp of TCU last January.
Saban was on the ESPN set that night. He quietly and respectfully nodded his head.
Pollack’s words caused a stir in Booker, who watched from afar. And Booker says he wasn’t the only Alabama player moved by what Pollack said to the GOAT’s face.
"He was on the podium last year with Coach Saban talking about how Georgia is the new standard, Georgia is the new dynasty," Booker told me after No. 8 Alabama upset No. 1 Georgia 27-24 on Saturday in the SEC Championship.
STAY UP-TO-DATE: Subscribe to our Sports newsletter for exclusive content
Pollack didn’t use the word "dynasty," but I wasn’t about to interrupt a 352-pound man on a quote roll after Alabama's crowning moment Saturday.
So, go ahead Booker. Continue …
"That really sat with me," Booker said of Pollack’s words that night in Inglewood, California, "because I came to Alabama for the standard. I came to Alabama to further the dynasty.
"To hear somebody challenge my coach to his face like that? I take that personally. I feel like everybody who saw it did, and then we responded to that."
Did they ever.
Alabama stopped the Georgia machine in its tracks.
So much for a three-peat.
The way Booker sees it, Alabama’s dynastic dominance can be imitated but not replicated.
"There’s only one Alabama, and there’s always going to be one Alabama," Booker said.
There can only be one Alabama, but I see it a bit differently from Booker. Alabama’s dominance can be replicated, but it’s going to take more than Georgia’s back-to-back national championships to do so.
The Alabama-Georgia rivalry is going nowhere.
Considering the way Saban and Smart continue to recruit and develop talent and supplement their rosters with cherry pickings from the transfer portal, this won’t be the last time these programs clash in Atlanta.
Alabama-Clemson became the rivalry of the 2010s. Advantage Alabama, which won twice as many national championships during the decade as Clemson did.
That gave way to Alabama-Georgia in the 2020s.
Georgia owns the edge this decade. Pollack put it correctly when he said Georgia had taken ahold of college football.
Alabama wrested control back.
"There would be no Georgia without Alabama," Booker said. "We are the standard, and we proved that today. We might have had a slow two years, but the standard is here."
These rivals will begin meeting more regularly starting next year after the SEC eliminates divisions.
Three matchups between Alabama and Georgia within the same season – regular season, SEC Championship and College Football Playoff – is not only a possibility, it probably will happen sometime within this decade.
I'd expect Pollack to light a few more fires. The former Georgia standout turned analyst was caught up in ESPN’s layoffs last summer, but he’s still opining on the web. He recently planted his flag for Georgia ahead of the SEC Championship.
"The better coach is clearly Kirby Smart. Clearly," Pollack said before Saturday's game.
Not on Saturday, Smart wasn’t.
The O.G. restored order.
Alabama’s standard became momentarily imitated, but not surpassed.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
veryGood! (7716)
Related
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- City approves plan for Oklahoma hoops, gymnastics arena in $1.1B entertainment district
- Now a Roe advocate, woman raped by stepfather as a child tells her story in Harris campaign ad
- Singer JoJo Addresses Rumor of Cold Encounter With Christina Aguilera
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Atlantic City mayor, wife indicted for allegedly beating and abusing their teenage daughter
- City approves plan for Oklahoma hoops, gymnastics arena in $1.1B entertainment district
- What to make of the Pac-12, Georgia? Who wins Week 4 showdowns? College Football Fix discusses
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Dancing With the Stars: Dwight Howard, 'pommel horse guy' among athletes competing
Ranking
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Harvey Weinstein set to be arraigned on additional sex crimes charges in New York
- A vandal badly damaged a statue outside a St. Louis cathedral, police say
- Eva Mendes Reveals Whether She'd Ever Return to Acting
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- Alumni of once-segregated Texas school mark its national park status
- NFL power rankings Week 3: Chiefs still No. 1, but top five overhaul occurs after chaotic weekend
- For families of Key Bridge collapse victims, a search for justice begins
Recommendation
A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
Nick Cannon Shares Update on Ex Mariah Carey After Deaths of Her Mother and Sister
Melania Trump to give 'intimate portrait' of life with upcoming memoir
The Secret Service again faces scrutiny after another gunman targets Trump
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
Justice Department sues over Baltimore bridge collapse and seeks $100M in cleanup costs
Riding wave of unprecedented popularity, WNBA announces 15th team will go to Portland
Bachelorette: Jenn Tran's Ex Devin Strader Was Arrested, Had Restraining Order From Ex-Girlfriend in Past