Fans expect Saban to ward off GameDay jinx

The girders and stage frame began going up Thursday afternoon outside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Nearby, the bronze gaze of four champions -- Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Gene Stallings and Paul W. “Bear" Bryant -- looked upon the men busy assembling the set for the popular college football show. Had they known it was ESPN GameDay setting up in their presence, their gaze might have grown a little colder. Every time the GameDay crew descends upon Tuscaloosa, it seems, the Crimson Tide lose. “Well, maybe the fifth time is the charm," said Lee Corso, one of the three ESPN GameDay anchors who speculate each Saturday during college football season on that day’s games. Corso said he was unaware of Alabama’s 0-4 record for the last four times GameDay came to Tuscaloosa, possibly because the sheer number of Alabama fans make Tuscaloosa a favorite destination. Corso said he’s looking forward to setting up outside the Bryant-Denny Stadium, which has grown by about 10,000 seats since GameDay’s last appearance in town. “Alabama fans are as passionate as any fans in the nation," he said. The last time GameDay came to the Capstone was November 2005, when the Crimson Tide was 10-0 coming into that game, even in the face of wide receiver Tyrone Prothro’s career-ending injury five weeks earlier. But the Louisiana State Tigers handed the Crimson Tide its first loss of the season, 16-13 in overtime. Those preparing for Saturday’s match-up said they had no fear of what some consider the GameDay Jinx. For them, head coach Nick Saban is a jinx buster. As the GameDay stage took shape on the Walk of Champions, no one -- not from the RVs set up off Greensboro Avenue to the students walking the campus -- seemed nervous about the fact that Alabama seems to be winless whenever Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler broadcast live from the Capstone. Instead, fans cited the team’s focus and determination, not to mention the new coach. “I think everybody has a new attitude now," said UA senior Brent Nast outside the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house across from Bryant-Denny Stadium. His fraternity brothers agreed, and some even said that ESPN wouldn’t be bothering to come to Alabama this season if Saban had not been hired. “Saban’s a rock star," said 20-year-old Mason Bass, a junior. “And ESPN wants rock stars." Just off Jack Warner Parkway, the RV crowd felt similarly. In fact, they were proud GameDay chose Tuscaloosa for a fifth time. “It shows the country what we’re about down here," said Kenny Griffin, 61. As for the 0-4 record, Griffin didn’t blame GameDay. “That’s not their fault," he said. “But if Corso picks us [to win] then we might be in trouble." Alabama has a reputation for doing exactly the opposite of what Corso predicts for that week’s game. For the 1993 Sugar Bowl, for example, Corso said the Miami Hurricanes would have a walk-off win over the Tide -- a point many Alabama fans have never forgotten in the wake of Alabama’s 34-13 win, which secured the school’s 12th national title. Yet the broadcaster laughed when told of these sentiments. He said he knew that, among Alabama fans in Tuscaloosa, he’s doomed if he forecasts a Tide victory -- or doesn’t. “I can’t win," he said. Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.