Disappointment turns to tragedy.<\/b>
\nSaturday night, I watched my alma mater, the defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide, lose a road game to a Texas Aggies team that had theretofore been the most disappointing team in an upset-ridden college football season. It was disappointing, to be sure, but at least one man took it far too seriously. AL.com (\u201c Argument over Alabama vs. Texas A&M game leads to deadly shooting at Bessemer home \u201c): An argument over the Alabama vs. Texas A&M game led to a deadly shooting at a Bessemer home. The game was in its final minutes Saturday night when Bessemer police say two men got into a dispute at a gathering in the 1000 block of Sixth Avenue North. Lt. Christian Clemons said the argument centered around which team was better. The homeowner asked the two men to leave because they were fighting. Once outside, shots were fired and one of the men \u2013 27-year-old Kealand Amad Pickens \u2013 was struck. The shooting happened before the game actually ended. Pickens was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:23 a.m. Sunday, becoming Bessemer\u2019s 24th homicide of the year. The suspect fled before police arrived, but Clemons said they know his identity. \u201cIt\u2019s another case,\u201d Clemons said, \u201cof resorting to violence to handle differences.\u201d Well, no kidding Detective Columbo. Despite some mixed emotions stemming from the growing awareness of the heightened risk of brain damage that this violent sport brings, I remain an avid fan. Because the Tide has been on a historic run in the Nick Saban era, winning six championships between 2009 and 2020 and being in contention most of the other years, the losses are more agonizing. Followers of my Twitter feed saw my frustrations at the team\u2019s poor performance in real time. But, at the end of the day, it\u2019s just a game. It\u2019s just unfathomable to get into a fight\u2014let alone one that escalates to gun play\u2014over it. This is literally the kind of thing that happens in Third World countries. I\u2019m old enough to remember Colombian star Andr\u00e9s Escobar being murdered after an own-goal against the United States in the 1994 World Cup eliminated the team from the tournament and, Googling for specifics, was reminded that El Salvadoran star Alfredo Pacheco was murdered in 2015 for his role in a matc h-fixing scandal. In those cases, at least, organized crime was behind the hits. Alas, for too many in my erstwhile home state, the vicarious accomplishments of college athletes are central to their identity.<\/p>\n