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Diary 119 December 25th, 2004
All good things must end.
Christmas is here. It does not snow in Alabama. Others may tell you different, but I cannot believe what I do not see. I am taught to believe in the good Lord, and that's hard for me. Faith is a tricky thing. Lean not on your own understanding and all that. It's not that I don't want to believe, it's that believing is much harder than speaking words up into the clouds and hoping they will come true. In fact, that's not believing at all. Christmas is always a reminder of belief no matter how many trees and lights and elves and Santas and commercials we throw on top of it.
I want to believe.
Christmas came and went today. It's now 11:39 p.m., and my family is fast asleep after a long day of opening presents, breaking bread, drinking wine and generally loving and enjoying one another. I sit in the glow of our Christmas tree lights, something I've done regularly since the tree went up the day after Thanksgiving. It's a peaceful, quiet retreat, that allows all the voices in my head to slowly die.
Which I need today. Because the only bad news on Christmas came out of Baton Rouge. Nick Saban is leaving. It's not that the news comes as a total shock. There's nothing even wrong with Saban wanting to try his hands at the supposed highest levels of football competition. But on Christmas Day? The gall to make such a decision is either incredibly short-sighted, or remarkably arrogant and probably a little of both. The fact that he couldn't pause for a moment and think, "Ya know, maybe I can wait one day, so people will enjoy their Christmas" says enough about the man.
Yet, I cannot begrudge him too much. LSU has always been my future. I will still lead the resistance. There is a bright light shining in Baton Rouge, one that cannot be quelled by any single man leaving or coming. The torch will carry on and one day, by me. I have faith in a better future.
Good luck, Nick Saban. You will regret this, one day.
That is all for now.