Bert Bank

Alabama broadcaster Bert Bank died this week and a lot of people who knew him are telling of their friendship. I didn't know Bert Bank but I can certainly thank him in his role that helped me follow the Tide in the 70s. After moving from Alabama to Tennessee, it was even more important to hear the Tide on the radio each Saturday. Hard for many of the younger people to believe, there was only one or may be two games a week on television and the NCAA had limits of 5 appearances in two years on teams. So, radio was the main vehicle to follow the Tide. Alot this week has been made of Bert Bank's creation of the Alabama football Network in the 50s but it was his creation of what was called the "pic-o-dixie" network that affected me most. Before a Nashville station picked up all the Bama games in 1977, it was the "pic-o-dixie" network that carried a game to stations throughout the Southeast each Saturday. Usually, the station that carried, say, Tennessee, would cary the POD network game if it didn't conflict. So, many Saturday's in the fall(since Bama was usually the spotlighted game) as many as 200 stations in the region would carry the Alabama game. It was truly easy to find what Bear's Boys were doing on a Saturday in the South. It didn't hurt coverage back then that Alabama played top opponents in addition to SEC teams. I think of the 1978 season when Alabama played Nebraska, USC, Missouri and Washington in addition to the SEC games. That year the Missour(#10) and Washington (#19) games were on the radio only in addition to the SEC games that year.
Thanks to Bert Bank following the Tide was a lot easier for a misplaced Tide fan in the 70s!