GREATEST MOMENTS IN PFT HISTORY: NO. 6

We continue our look at the seven biggest moments in the seven-year history of this jerkwater site by rolling out the sixth biggest moment in PFT history, as determined by a blue-ribbon panel that debated the issue for months. Actually, I put together a seat-o'-the-pants list yesterday afternoon while watching the West Virginia game. And the West Virginia connection is fitting for moment No. 6. It came more than three years ago, when somehow then-Dolphins coach Nick Saban agreed to sit down with yours truly for an exclusive interview after the team arrived in Pittsburgh for a preseason game. Frankly, the interview came as part of an effort by the Saban and the Dolphins to get us to quit posting negative items about the first-year NFL head coach. The problem for Saban was that the local media despised him, in part because he clamped down on access and generally treated reporters like two-headed stepchildren. As a result, members of the South Florida media were funneling to us all sorts of tidbits that they couldn’t print for fear of being excommunicated by Saban. And so we posted an item regarding Saban’s penchant for Little Debbie snack cakes, and the tantrum he threw when the wrong ones were placed in his office. We also posted an anecdote regarding the member of the clerical staff who made the mistake of complimenting Saban on a new haircut. That incident was followed by a memo advising the help to not talk to Saban, at any time. And then there was the nickname -- the Nicktator. We’d like to say we coined the term, but it came from one of the folks in the Miami media who was put off by Saban’s tactics. The original interview, which is still alive and well in our archives, can be seen right here. Saban ultimately lasted only two years with the Dolphins. The thinking is that he was frustrated by the fact that the compressed talent levels from team to team at the NFL level make it too hard to succeed. Saban’s strength is recruiting highly-talented kids to play football for him, via effective one-on-one communication skills. And then lining them up to blow away the opponents. So, after denying for weeks that he’d leave the Fins to take the job at Alabama, Saban bolted for Tuscaloosa, as memoralized in this classic Pic of the Day from Taco Bill. In Saban’s second season back in the college game, things are going pretty well for the Nicktator. Sure, there was that unfortunate “coon-ass” controversy. But, as of today, the Crimson Tide tops the rankings for the first time since the last time the school won a national title. To us, however, he’ll always be the guy who has a soft spot for Nutty Bars. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.