In spite of what they might say on talk radio, the conventional wisdom here is delivered with a certain quietitude, not bravado, as if the fans of old are holding out for some class and grace, like maybe they know something everybody else doesn't, yet.

But then there are no Winnabagoes parked on the side of the road, no barbecue grills cooking, the Wild Turkey's not flowing like the Black Warrior River and it's not a Saturday afternoon in the fall.

The educated souls around the faculty at the university say there are interesting parallels to 1957, the year I was born and, more importantly, the year Paul Bear Bryant moved back to Tuscaloosa to take over the Tide as head coach.

Laugh if you will. Then read about the way Nick Saban has taken charge of the program already, the conditioning he's already working on in one of the hottest Marches on record.

They say there's nothing funny about football here?

The word on The Strip is that "there's lots of puking going on," and not just because of an overindulgence of alcohol in the bars. It's time for spring practice and the players are having to adjust to the rigorous conditioning program of a new head coach.

Ed Mullins was here in 1957 as an undergraduate student working in the sports information office. After a career in journalism, he came back to teach and got the dean's job in the College of Communications in my senior year, Bear's last, 1983.

Mullins is mostly retired now and watches more baseball than football. But he says Saban is acting like "Bear reincarnate."

"Bryant was in control, no doubt about it. He had the same no nonsense style," he said.

That's what they are saying about Saban already, although a source in the inner circle said not to make too much of the "Bear thing."

"He's simply a professional and is ultra-dedicated and focused," a spokesman said.

Mullins said just about everyone who really knows anything about the program expects that Saban will find the right players and do the "Bama thing," which might be characterized as taking underdeveloped and unfocused talent - sometimes outright rebels who make a point of breaking the rules - then playing a lot of people and wearing opponents down. The trick is finding a way to win as a team. They should be strong on defense. With a few surprise plays at the right time and some good will from the gods of football, the Tide should be back on top in a couple of years.

The official word is that Saban wants to create a "new Bama thing," which involves developing every player to his fullest potential regardless of reputation, and going after the best players in recruiting. But what's really new about that? Isn't that what every coach wants?

"He wants to develop a team other people dread playing against - regardless of the talent level," a spokesman said.

Bear knew not only how to recruit the best available talent to start, mostly from Alabama. He got the second tier players from around the South and kept them away from Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi. With the Tide back at full scholarship strength after the much deserved back-breaking penalties of recent years, perhaps Saban can do the same - if he can talk the talk to the mammas and do the walk on the field.

I was there for Saban's first press conference. And I don't mind saying I was impressed with his style and control under intense pressure. It gave me some confidence, for what that's worth. Anything can happen on a football field on any given Saturday.

Mullins was a Saban doubter early on and thought he was overrated at LSU - in spite of the national title. But now he's liking what he sees, especially since the talent these days is fairly balanced everywhere.

"With his philosophy and a little luck, he's going to be a winner," the dean said. "I'm looking for the return of the 'good old days'."

One of the similarities will be that Saban also plans on playing a lot of folks and trying different things to keep other teams guessing. He's a defensive genius who may delegate the offensive duties and some of the play calling responsibilities, unlike the departed Mike Shula.

"Bryant used everybody," Mullins said.

If Saban can get the team in shape, try to score early in every game and then hold on and dominate the fourth quarter by wearing down opponents, his relentless plan might work, like a tennis player who you hate to play against for all his spin and stamina and defense at the baseline.

It has been said by some that there are old timers and hangers on at the university who tend to drag things down. That was not denied inside the realm. But the word is that Mal Moore is working to change the culture.

"What really is going on is that the culture here is changing, and it's more than just in football."

As for the goals of a national championship within four years and a place on that walk of champions, "He wouldn't be here if he didn't believe that was going to happen," the spokesman said.

And they say there's nothing funny about football here?

If you think about it, and this is a good thing, college football is about the best spectacle left in the sporting world. It's like watching a Greco-Roman war from the stands.

And Alabama will find a way to compete in the long-run like a well conditioned army or a blue chip stock.

Nothing funny? Come on people. The fans? Are you kidding?

Watching 100,000 college football fans all decked out in Orange or Red and White, full of barbecue and half of them rip-roaring drunk on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the fall?

It's way more fun than going to the mall or watching American Idol or a loud, fast car going around and around on a track or 10 half-naked men dribbling and fighting it out on a basketball court. It's more fun than watching Tiger Woods winning the Masters.

It's as fun as a rock concert for sure, although maybe not as fun as Jazzfest in New Orleans before Katrina.

Football is something we can celebrate in these parts, Mullins indicated, "to sweep all our other real problems under the rug."

Meanwhile back on The Strip, it's a sad thing, but Elvis is having trouble "getting some."

And here's a trivia question worth considering on the radio. Maybe we could give away a couple of free football tickets to the winner. While the university is doing its best to stop students from partying by buying up The Strip and moving all the sin downtown, an old blues bar called Egan's hangs in there. The question is, how many layers of paint are on the wall in the men's room?

If terrorists set off a nuclear bomb in Tuscaloosa, or global warming raises sea levels and moves the beaches from Gulf Shores to Birmingham, 10,000 years from now archeologists and anthropologists will come back and study the writing on the wall in Egan's. But they will have to dig through more than 23 years of painted-over graffiti.

What will they find there?

Enough Roll Tides to make them think a guy named Bear Bryant was god. No matter what they say on talk radio, that's the most important prayer in this part of Alabama.

Roll Tide.