University of Alabama Football Report for 10/01/04

Croyle has been comforted by an outpouring of support from Alabama fans.Former Tide quarterback Joe Namath, who had his own knee troubles during his playing days, is one of those who have reached out to the young quarterback."Any time a legend calls and talks to you, it feels good," Croyle said.

Tuscaloosa News report, Sept. 30, 2004


Broadway: John Croyle’s boy?

The Brodie: Yes, sir.

Broadway: Surely these are trying times for you, Bobby Brady.

The Brodie: Indeed, sir. I appreciate Milton more. Satan and God, it’s a love story, really. Unhealthy love like that between those couples who wear matching jumpsuits.

Broadway: This comforts you?

The Brodie: No, but it’s useful. Milton, through Satan, says Hell is to be cast from the face of God. For those who have known Paradise and have been cast out, Hell is a lack. “I am Hell,” says Satan. To have your blessing removed is to be cursed. They are the same.

Broadway: Was it Blake who said all men despise that which they possess wholly?

The Brodie: Yes, sir. Carlyle echoed that idea, albeit in a streak of agnosticism.

Broadway: Carlyle! That fascist piker! You kids are irredeemable. That’s how you’ll survive this bear-trap we’re all in. Perhaps, like all optimists, I am a fool. Yet optimism cannot always be without merit. Would it surprise you to know I consider myself a Byronic hero?

The Brodie: It would not, sir.

Broadway: Is it that obvious? My point is that I do not hate myself for it, this role, this knowledge of my role. This blessing, this curse, I possess it wholly but I do not despise it. I am capable of changing my behavior but not the wellspring below it.

The Brodie: And of my role, sir, what should I make of it? Is this my role, the perpetual subjunctive?

Broadway: Let’s contemporize ourselves. The New York poet James Schuyler wrote “I can’t recall when I didn’t love you. God, it must have been awful.” Do you see? Memory is our promise to the past. We forget what we don’t need and use what we remember. Thus, if what-we-wish-to-happen and what-we-wish-to-have-happened are made of the same stuff, I choose the unknown. I shape it, day by day.

The Brodie: This sounds like too much recovery-speak. Moses was allowed, at least, to see the Promised Land.

Broadway: We all have our saviors, boy. And we’ve all been lost.

The Brodie: Roll Tide.

Broadway: Roll Tide.