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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       In Loving Memory

OUR SON

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Justin Hornsby 07/01/1990 - 03/17/2017

#JustinLivesOn

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Sure miss watching Games with these Two
Jamie Hornsby   -     Doris Veazey
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ROLL TIDE

17 National Championships –

I have been fortunate enough to witness the last 8 in person.

 Funny thing is, in Alabama, seldom do you pick your “Team”.  It is usually handed down generation to generation.   You are either a Bama fan, or a fan of the team on the plains. Cool

 My greatest memories of the Crimson Tide are numerous.  From my late Father and I listening to John Forney and Doug Layton paint the picture of each play via the radio in our living room, to watching the 92 National Championship Game live in NOLA with my late Mother.  Or the 2012 National Championship with our late son, Justin Hornsby. Seeing the last 5 National Title Games live with my wife Michele (as a fan) I have lived the dream.  And I must say the latest National Championship in Atlanta rivals that 92 game from the standpoint of excitement and awe. 

You hear players say “I dreamed of playing at Bama” – well as a fan, growing up in the tiny town of Goodwater Alabama, I dreamed of seeing Bama play in person.  That dream came true as I saw my first Bama game in 1977, at the age of 18.  Of course Bama rolled to a 55-6 victory over the Cardinals of Louisville in a game that is forever etched in my memory.

Back in those days, memorabilia wasn’t available like it is now, and I became a collector of “unique” Bama stuff.   Good luck stuff – and the passion of collecting Alabama Memorabilia began to rival the passion of being a fan.  Whether it was a statue of an Elephant or a Bama Football player, and I begin to collect unique things as the years passed. 

My collection of unique Memorabilia has continued to grow, and turned into my collection of Tide Rides. Each year for the past 8 years, one or more of the Tide Rides, have been part of the annual Bama Homecoming in Tuscaloosa.  That too has been a great experience as a fan, to see the faces of other fans enjoy the parade. 

I developed this space to share those with you as a collector or as a Bama fan, I hope you enjoy.  

Each week during football season, I update this site (Blog-Scroll Down) and share my thoughts and my predictions about the upcoming game. 


To the left, you can click on the links for portions of my collection and the Tide Rides.
 
I would like to invite you to check out what the folks at Reese's have done.  The official candy of NCAA football, contacted me with interest in doing a story about "TIDE RIDES" and the fan who would have such a collection.  Yours truly obliged, and it was a good decision.  The crew spent a few hours with Michele and me and were the nicest people.  The entire crew was fantastic, but special thanks to Joey, Sarah and Marty.  You are welcome back anytime !!! There is a link at the bottom for you to enjoy the segment..entitled, "BAMA'S BIGGEST FAN"  ....yeah, I know.....  keep the comments about the title to yourselves... 
 
"LETS GO REESE'S

Enjoy and Roll Tide!!!!!!!!
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Latest Addition to Tide Rides !!!!!

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Monday, October 8, 2007

BOY DO I LOVE A PARADE!!!!!

I already lead a charmed life.  Many times I have to pinch myself to make IMG_6778.JPGsure I am not dreaming.  A wonderful family, plenty of necessities too many non necessities, good health, great wife…great kid, good looks…ahem, well perhaps I was dreaming a bit on that last one.

But this weekend, I added to that list of good fortunes in my short life.   Saturday I had the privilege of being a part of the University of Alabama Homecoming Parade.   So what!!!... many may say…and my answer to that is simply… WOW.

Of course you’d have to know me a little bit to understand but having been an Alabama fan all my life  the team, the game, the University  are all much larger than life.  Although I was one of those “spoiled” Bama Fans, I grew up in an era without million dollar coaches, multimillion dollar television contracts, probation was something that happened to a person who had broken the law, not a school, and players played for pride, and class was not something that someone skipped, it was something preached to the players and the fans.  There were few, if any talk radio shows, the coaching was left to the coaches and the second guessing took place among the Monday morning QBs at the local hang out.  Sometimes you had rebuilding years…coaches weren’t fired after bad games everyone remembered that the players wanted to win, just as badly as the fans wanted them too…and they were kids, yes just out of high school… playing for their families, the fans, the coaches and the University…. Not what round they were going in the NFL.

A lot has changed…indeed… but my passion for the game but College Football and especially Alabama Football, is still the most exciting, most fun, most unpredictable game in town.

Being a fan all of my life…nearing 50 years… J I have seen the great and the bad.  I was fortunate enough to enjoy all of Coach Bryant’s National Championships…and was also grateful to have been able to witness in person the 92 National Championship Game truly a game and experience I will never forget.  

This past Saturday I was fortunate enough to add to that list, as I took a couple of my TideRides, my motorcycle and my truck and participated in the 2007 Homecoming Parade.  Having seen the Homecoming parade as a spectator, I thought being involved would be much the same.  Boy was I wrong, with my truck being driven by my nephew, Bryan Morgan, and his dad Jackie Morgan,  a passenger in front of me, my wife and son, Michele and Justin respectively, walking with our banner in hand in front of them,  we pulled onto University Blvd and I was amazed at the throngs of people…all of course clad in Crimson and White..fans, all of them, young, old, all colors all shapes all sizes…all there for one single purpose…to support their team!!!!   As we tarried our way and I began to get comfortable with the pace, I begin to notice all of the youngsters…toddlers, adolescents, teens…ect…as they too were there to enjoy the atmosphere of College Athletics… to cheer to have fun…and as I rode through the streets and the little ones would wave and smile.. tears welled in my eyes… because I felt if only a smidgen somewhat personally responsible for that smile…and as I continued through the route, I reflected to all my Saturdays where I made certain I would be able to watch or listen to the Game… and I felt like the luckiest guy in the whole world, to be a part, even if on a small scale of something so GREAT.

Next year I hope to be back…and have my Mother Ride in one of the Tide Rides!!

Roll Tide

Mon, October 8, 2007 | link 


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