Crimson Corner: Reflecting on the SEC Tournament

Last week, myself and thousands of others experience the most normalcy at a sporting event since early March of 2020.

At last week's SEC Baseball Tournament, the crowds were held at 50-percent capacity, but a quick look around would have you convinced otherwise.

As I walked up to the gate last Tuesday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium for Alabama's first game against South Carolina, I was still wearing my mask. Despite being fully vaccinated, I — like so many others — have grown accustomed to wearing my mask at any point that I am not at home or in my car.

Upon walking through the metal detector and having my bag checked by security, I decided to walk around the stadium before the game. Since I was there almost three hours early, I wanted to soak in the atmosphere before settling down to work.

I always enjoy the SEC tournaments because of the diversity of fans in attendance. Regardless of what game you attend, you will find fans of almost every school enjoying the action. The first thing I noticed was some Tennessee fans in their bright orange shirts, then some Florida fans in their equally bright orange in blue.

Neither of their teams played that day, yet there they were.

It wasn't until I was all the way through the concourse and headed back to the press box when I realized that no one was wearing a mask. My initial reaction was that the rules were being enforced, and I must admit that it caused me to metaphorically roll my eyes at the situation.

I pressed onwards, and finally made it to the press box. After finding my assigned seat, I noticed how closely they were packed together. I also noticed that hot food was being served — a normal perk for media members that has gone the way of the Dodo since the pandemic began.

As I sat down, I looked down upon the sea of colors from the wide variety of SEC fans in attendance, my eyes looked up at the massive video board in right-center field.

I was shocked and simultaneously thrilled at what I saw.

On the board was a PSA from the SEC to fans in attendance that informed them that masks were not required for vaccinated individuals. For those that remain unvaccinated, masks are encouraged but are also not required.

And then everything made sense. The maskless fans, the packed press box, the hot food being served, the absolute freedom and normalcy that greeted me when I arrived.

The feeling of relief washed over me like a cool rain shower on a hot summer's day.

As a commentator on SEC Network said prior to the opening game of the tournament:

"Baseball is back, and so is America."

My apologies for not remembering who exactly it was that said that. If I did, I would immediately credit them as it is an outstanding quote.

The NCAA Super Regional this past weekend at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa experienced full capacity as well. Unfortunately I could not be there as our site assigned other journalists to that series, but I saw on my television that it was also something special to behold.

Being one step closer to normalcy is something that I've wanted to feel for a long time. We've had it in bits and pieces here and there over the past several months, but last week at the Hoover Met was the most normal that I've felt in over a year. I know it was the same for the thousands of fans in attendance as well.

While it was certainly excited to have been a small part of that tournament last week, it did more for me than give me a temporary sense of relief: it gave me hope for this fall. For quite some time now we've known that Alabama plans on having Bryant-Denny Stadium at full capacity. If that works out, there's no doubt that we'll have a fully-packed Coleman Coliseum as well.

And I can't wait to share those stadiums with each and every one of you when the time comes.