The Beatless Beat Writer: Anyone care for a walk?

Who feels like they need a little bit of exercise after quarantine?

This past week, my girlfriend came up to see me for the first time since early March when I went down to visit her during spring break. We typically swap back and forth regarding who’s visiting who, but now it was her turn to come see me.

On one of the days she was here, we decided to go run some errands. After visiting the post office to mail off a package and taking her dog to the vet, we decided to head over to The Park at Manderson Landing to get a little bit of exercise and enjoy the beautiful weather.

After walking a bit and wrangling her dog, who was excited to be out on a walk for the first time in quite a while, we walked past the new Minerva statue that celebrates the 200 years of history in Tuscaloosa. It was my first time visiting the statue, so I took the time to read the markers set in the pathway that noted the historic dates of the town.

Among the historic happenings such as the founding of the city and the University of Alabama being burned to the ground in the Civil War, one date was also highlighted:

1892: Alabama hosts its first football game.

When reading the characters inscribed in metal on the stone pathway, I couldn’t help but crack a smile. Only in Tuscaloosa would football be so important that it would be worthy of being listed among other historic events that changed the course of history for the city.

Football is engrained in the history of Tuscaloosa. It runs in our blood. We plan our calendars around it, circling the dates with crimson ink. We live by it and we die by it. When it comes to passionate football fans, there is no greater example than those that live in the state of Alabama.

After taking in the beauty of the statue, my girlfriend and I decided to make our way home. We drove through the heart of campus down Hackberry Lane, then proceeded down University Boulevard. Along the way, we passed multiple groups of students posing for senior pictures, a small recompense for the graduation that was taken from them.

UA is not just important to its town. It’s also important to its state (or at least half of it). President Stuart R. Bell has repeatedly insisted that students are returning in the fall, and we can only hope that football will also be making its return.

Obviously enough, all of that is still up in the air. However, with cities like Tuscaloosa beginning to reopen, slowly but surely the hopes of seeing football in 2020 are getting brighter.

(Note: Hindsight is 20/20, but I realize that I should have taken photos of my journey. However, I highly encourage you visit the site at Manderson Landing. The statue is quite beautiful, and the dates and history provided by the city of Tuscaloosa are highly educational.)

The Beatless Beat Writer is a series of stories by BamaCentral's own Joey Blackwell. The series is meant to reflect on and discuss Alabama athletics and its fans in Tuscaloosa during the current pandemic.