In the Nick of time

This tells you everything you need to know about how desperate Alabama football fans are to have a winner.
Last Saturday, during one of those made to order spring afternoons, 92,138 people crammed themselves into Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium to watch a glorified scrimmage.
‘‘It’s ridiculous,’’ Alabama cornerback Simeon Castille said afterward.
He didn’t mean that as an insult. It was expressed with a sense of wide-eyed wonderment.
If a relatively meaningless spring game can generate that sort of insanity, imagine what the demand will be when Auburn or Tennessee visits.
It’s not as if there aren’t other things to do in Tuscaloosa on a lovely April afternoon. As long as Dreamland keeps slathering sauce on barbecued ribs, there’s at least one pleasant alternative to a spring football game.
This one was different, however, because it was Nick Saban’s first. If there hadn’t been a scrimmage and Alabama simply sold tickets for folks to come and gawp at the former LSU and Miami Dolphins coach, the place still would have been packed.
Alabama fans like their icons, and they've been searching for one whose likeness can be chiseled in alongside Bear Bryant on the school's version of Mount Rushmore.
There's still room seeing as how everyone from Ray Perkins to Mike Shula has crumbled under the weight of the pressure that accompanies the job.
But Saban brought a different level of expectancy with him. He’s won a share of a college national championship, at least, and he conducts himself with the steely-eyed demeanor to which Bear fanatics can relate.
So far, he’s played to that crowd effectively. He’s done little to dissuade the notion that he's aloof and occasionally caustic. He's jousted with the media throughout, but that's fine with the Alabama fans who believed him to be a jerk when he coached at LSU. The prevailing reaction seems to be: It's OK if he drips arrogance now because he's OUR jerk.
He wore a suit and tie during Saturday’s game (what, no houndstooth hat?) and often stood in the middle of the action. He had to know that most of the eyeballs in that stadium were locked on him most of the day.
‘‘The great passion and support that we have at the University of Alabama makes me feel great about being here,’’ Saban said. ‘‘I hope that we can continue to channel the energy in a positive way to get where we want to go and continue to build this program into something special that represents the state of Alabama and the University of Alabama in a positive way.’’
And that, ultimately, is what last Saturday was about. Positive vibes.
A football program that has suffered through NCAA probation and a failure to meet expectations is holding its head high right now.
There are window stickers in SUVs that simply say ''S'' with "The coach'' in small print underneath. Rest assured, Saban's approval rating is higher at this moment than the guy known by the capital W.
And, according to a story in the Decatur Daily, one family has already named a newborn daughter Saban.
All of this before Saban has even beaten Auburn, Tennessee or anybody else as Alabama's head coach.
But that’s what last Saturday’s outpouring was really about.
Sabanmania. It’s spreading.
More than 90,000 people filled a stadium and gave Nick Saban a standing ovation because he’s already provided them with something valuable.
Hope.