Advertisement

Nick Saban berates the media for all of their praise on the Crimson Tide (VIDEO)

It wouldn't be football season if Nick Saban didn't berate the media — or any season for that matter.

On Wednesday, Nick Saban blew up at the media after days of hearing how his Crimson Tide was the best team in football and were well on their way toward defending their national title.

The media can be so cruel.

"You know, there's a tremendous balance between humility and confidence," Saban told media. "And this game is a struggle. It's a struggle every day. And you've got to embrace it every day.

[Thrash-for-cash not such a bad thing for a financially strapped Savannah State]

"And you've got to go out there and try to earn it every day, to be as good a player as you can be. You've got to have a tremendous amount of character, confidence, mental and physical toughness. You've got to be driven to be the best. And you've got to be able to handle success."

But wait, there's more…

"But when you people start writing stuff about people that we're playing that doesn't give them the proper respect, that's not fair," Saban continued. "It's not fair to them, to their players who work hard. It's not fair to our players, who need to respect them.

"And to make presumptions like you all make really, really upsets me. It really does. It's so unfair. You don't need to write about that. There are so many more good things you can write about happening around here that people would be interested in. I'd love to see some of you do a little bit of research, and figure it out. It would really do my heart good."

Unfortunately, Saban didn't get around to sharing any of those stories or even giving hints about the possible stories he was talking about.

What isn't fair is Saban attacking the media for doing their job. Do Alabama fans want to read the feel-good story about the third-string kicker or the heaps of praise and a potential national title? I'd say the latter. It's early in the season. There will be other things written, but I think the nation is still in shock over the way Alabama handled Michigan and so that's the story.

In all fairness to Saban, he has the unfortunate job of trying to keep his team grounded with so much national attention. He's stressed all offseason that his team is young and experienced, and while the Crimson Tide showed a lot of talent last weekend, how they handle success will really be the test of this team even against a weaker opponent in Western Kentucky.

But this isn't new. Alabama is the defending national champion and there are going to be a lot of comparisons between this and last year's team. If you don't want the publicity, don't be so gosh-darned successful.

"We did play two teams in these neutral site games before, and played horrible the next week, because a lot of the same kind of stuff happened," Saban said.

"I'm just giving you my opinion. I respect what y'all do. I understand you're not here to promote our program. …

"We play the games for a reason. … When we make all these predictions of what's going to happen, it takes away from the game, I think. Just like everybody talks about who's going to win the national championship. Why do we play the games? We've got a lot of great games coming up. Why do we play those?"

H/T to al.com for the video

"Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday

College football video from Yahoo! Sports:

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
NFL's most valuable franchise hasn't been to Super Bowl in 16 years
Video: Can the Yankees right hold off the Orioles?
Andre Agassi joins the U.S. Open Court of Champions >Y! Games: The worst game franchises they keep making games for