The strangest thing happened Wednesday morning at SEC Football Media Days. I went to a Nick Saban press conference, and Story Time with Grandpa Nick broke out.

He started off by telling us what he did on his summer vacation, touring Italy with wife Terry, which was a belated 50th wedding anniversary gift from friends. Thought no one would recognize him there, but “we got ‘Roll Tided’ everywhere we went,” even at the Ferrari plant, and “these cats don’t even speak English.”

Cool story, Daddy-O, tell me more. The only thing missing from his Italian travelogue was a lengthy slideshow of poorly lit snapshots.

Then Coach Saban took over. He talked ball, letting us know Alabama has lots of new players and coaches, per usual, and he’s a big fan of the work fresh offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has done. He touched on the mental game he masters as well as anyone with this bit of wisdom: “Expectations in some way are a premeditated way to create disappointment.”

Translation: You should probably pick Georgia to win the league and LSU to win the West. Please and thank you.

Next thing you knew, he was a kid again, Little Nick standing by the oven watching Grandma Saban bake a cake because “Grandma Saban used to bake the best cakes in the world.” Being Little Nick with a big sweet tooth later satisfied by Little Debbies, he would keep asking, “When is this cake going to be done? When is this cake going to be done?”