From an outsider's perspective, Alabama's 2009 home opener against Florida International this Saturday is little more than a tune-up, a breather after a tough first game. 

For those of us who are planning on being counted as one of the 92,000 plus that will be on hand in Tuscaloosa this weekend, it might mean slightly more than that.

For me, Alabama home games (and many on the road) were simply a part of my upbringing. As a kid in the '80s, Bryant-Denny was an awe-inspiring place to be, although the 72,000 seat capacity was roughly three-fourths the size of the behemoth it is today. 

Although much has changed within the program in the last 25 years, the gameday experience in Tuscaloosa remains an ...

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