Rat Poison & Swamp People

Florida is ready to chant "WE WANT BAMA!" but you know, they really don't. When you are king, everyone wants to dethrone you. Are the Gators those conquerors? Anything is possible, but more likely we'll see another stellar, focused performance by the Tide for the win.

And how about Bryce Young? Cool, collected, and capable like his predecessors.

And have you seen our guys in the NFL? Wow, last Sunday was like college game day! When will someone figure out a 100% Crimson Tide team would be unbeatable. Oh well, they're getting there one draft pick at a time.

Anywho, let's get this done!

Go 'Bama!

The Game's Afoot

April 30, 2005

Hi There,

We want you to turn here for what you need when you need to know about University of Alabama sports. Since our inception we have discovered that there is more to Alabama than football. Yup, believe or not the Crimson Tide has other teams. I know, I know, but not only do they field numerous teams, the Tide is actually pretty good at some of those other sports. Not only that but some of the rivalries are quite heated. For instance, Alabama’s gymnastics team finished second nationally to its bitterest rival Georgia. In the world of gymnastics the feud between Bama coach Sarah Patterson and UGA coach Suzanne Yoculan is right up there with Coach Bryant and Bobby Dodd or for you younger folks Fulmer and Spurrier.

We also play baseball and softball pretty darn good too! But, let’s get real. We know you want football and lots of it. Well, we will do our best to give you the most comprehensive coverage of Alabama football that you can find everywhere.

But wait--there's more! Over the course of the next year or so I'll drop you a line and let you know what I think about what is going on. I'll offer you my opinions on whatever seems appropriate. As far as my prattling goes keep in mind what the philosopher said, opinions are like, well uh, like noses, everybody's got one.

Email us and let us know what you think. Shoot, we may even share your comments, who knows. Make us your homepage and check us out everyday. We'll have the information you need and if we don't let us know; we'll try harder.

Like you I love the University of Alabama, not only am I a Bama fan, I'm also an alumnus, Class of 79. So rest easy and know this all of us at MY Bama are committed to bringing you the information you want and need.

Roll Tide!!

Joseph E. "Fox" Brent

May 22, 2005

May and Mike DuBose

Perhaps the coach is right, maybe there are powerful forces controlling the football program. Who knows? I guess Coach DuBose has or at least had inside information on what was going on at the Capstone during the years he coached there and while he was there during the Stallings era. The power broker theory sort of falls apart with the whole Mike Price-Coach Fran debacle. Were these power brokers unable to find a coach that they knew would move the team forward while keeping the tradition alive or are these power brokers just not real good judges of character? I guess that is not necessarily the hallmark of a power broker, but it probably helps. 

Why would the powerful choose a coach that was not really interested in staying in Tuscaloosa or one that did not understand what it means to be a head coach in the Deep South? You'd think they could have devised a workshop regarding the acceptable behavior for head football coaches, a handbook or a power point presentation might have worked. That's one thing, but there's really no explaining fleeing Alabama for Texas. That one probably just slipped past those brokers, if you like cow horns on your Cadillac, the Lone Star State is the place to be. Maybe he just had a preference for beef BBQ. The egos are bigger out there too.  

It would have to be May when an interview with a high school coach moving up to Division III gets so much ink. I will concede that this was no ordinary high school coach, but you will have to concede that it is a slow football news month.  

The sad thing is, both Alabama's baseball and softball teams will be playing in the post season. I know, we are not talking football here, but these kids wear crimson and white and they are representing my alma mater with distinction.  

One other thing while I am on a roll here, it seems to me that women's sports just simply do not get the coverage they deserve. I know this probably does not come as news to those who play or follow women's sports. I had never given the matter much thought, but now that I am chasing down news for MyBama.com, it is practically impossible to find three stories on the women's softball tournament, which by the way the Tide won.  

I know that football drives the train and I can't wait for summer practice to start, but I think the softball team deserves more attention and better coverage.

Roll Tide

Joseph E. "Fox" Brent

June 01, 2005

Your Source for the Crimson Tide

Another Entry

This is another blog entry. It may seem quite a bit to offer this much. Never have so few done so little.

This is another blog entry. It may seem quite a bit to offer this much. Never have so few done so little.

This is another blog entry. It may seem quite a bit to offer this much. Never have so few done so little.

March 31, 2006

All's blog that ends blog

March 31, 2006

The Blog is working... somewhat

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March 31, 2006

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Blogging is a Responsibility

You need me to write more. Feed me! Feed me! I am the web monster...

A Day

To show how much we appreciate those of you who have been loyal mybama readers we are going to give away some T-shirts. We printed up a few and we want to GIVE them to you. Stay tuned to this site for updates on how to grab your FREE limited edition, collectors’ series mybama.com T-shirts. You know you want one!

Hey have you guys noticed how good the softball teams is? Did you notice they rudely kicked the Big Orange right out of T-town? Oh yeah Roll Tide!

Remember we are all you need to know when you need to know it!!!

Alabama 9 UK 0

Fox

No football!

OK so here we are it is not quite the doldrums yet. I mean the weather is getting nice. Go out and paint the house or whatever that big project was you put off once football season began. Go to the movies, take the wife/husband/kids/significant other somewhere they’d like to go. All of these things should get you through until say June. I know there will be more vacation time and stuff during the summer. Yeah but then it gets hot and you find yourself inside with the TV and well there is no football.

OK there’s arena football. It’s OK for a quick fix. Unfortunately, it’s like drinking a Bud Light when you want a real beer, it just ain’t the same. If you must do arena football go to a game at least you might get a T-shirt.

Speaking of T-shirts I’ll give a mybama T-shirt to the first three people who can tell me who was Richard Todd’s backup. I only have medium, large and XL. But one is yours if you can give me the correct name.

Roll Tide

Fox

Free T-shirts!

A pizza deliverer faces all sorts of obstacles. I had drunken frat boys steal pies out of my car, the engine in my old VW fell out, but this was the first and only time I had to face inspection by Alabama quarterbacks.

So you can see how I remember Jack O’Rear. Now I’ll give you an easy one the first three people who can tell me Shaun Alexander’s number will get a free mybama T-shirt. This is our way of thanking our readers and celebrating our first anniversary. So read the blog and get a T-shirt. It’s that easy.

Roll Tide

Monday Morning Blues

Take heart, I know it’s tough but I also know you support the Tide. Have you been paying attention to the baseball, softball and gymnastics teams? Guys we are doing great. The baseball team has beaten Mississippi State and South Carolina both teams were number one at the time we took them down. We are now leading the SEC. My only concern is that little episode in Lincoln, Nebraska earlier this year when the Cornhuskers handed us our hats. The good news is this year we can hit and pitch.

On the softball front Stephanie VanBrakle is something else. I got a chance to see her pitch she is simply amazing. I am far from an expert on softball but I think this year’s edition may be something special.

The gym team is doing what it does every year competing for the NCAA championship. Coach Patterson and the women on the team are to be congratulated once again. I don’t want to jinx them so I’ll back off here. Good luck out west yall! Bring us back some hardware.

Remember if you want to contact us if you have questions, comments or just want to say hello you can get us at editor@mybama.com.

Roll Tide

Supporting the Tide

If you live in the Tuscaloosa area get down to the game and show your support for Bama softball. There is a doubleheader on Friday night and a third game on Saturday. If you have girls who are playing softball take them and let them see how fast pitch is done. It might be a tough ticket so get one ASAP. With the baseball team out of town this will be the best show in Tuscaloosa this weekend.

I still have a few T-shirts to give away its been great hearing from all of you loyal mybama readers, keep those cards and letters coming in ;-). You all have no idea how lucky you are to live in this electronic universe. There was a time when I lived in Jackson, Mississippi (in dark days of the late 1980s) that I would have to walk down to the public library every day and read the two day old Birmingham News to keep up on the happenings of our beloved Crimson Tide. It was worth it, but it was frustrating. I wanted that info right now! Well you’ve got it, we’re just one click away.

I know you don’t want to be left out of the new mybama T-shirt craze that is sweeping the country. So here’s the deal. I’ll give three more away. I mean first you have to read my brilliant and insightful blog. Let’s face it I’m an English minor and I can write like nobody business. Shoot, I was in Tuscaloosa when Coach Bryant was there and the wishbone ruled. It was a kinder, gentler, lazy, hazy, crazy time. We loved it and some of us even got out of town alive and with a degree, no mean feat.

Back to the T-shirts. If you can’t answer this one you must actually be an Auburn fan. The first three people who email me at editor@mybama.con and tell me Coach Bryant’s full name will get a T-shirt.

Roll Tide

Electric Football and other pastimes

It was a short lived tradition, but I remember that it went on for at least part of a season. This was likely during the 1968 or 69 season, when there were more losses than usual and thus the need for the healing salve of electric football. I think Jeff McIntyre described the football in electric football as closely resembling a piece of lint, as I recall it was felt, which is like lint but somewhat denser. I have a pretty good memory for useless information and thus the information on the felt football. As I recall each team had a quarterback that could pass said ball. The machine was turned off and if you hit a player with the ball he was given the ball and then the machine was turned back on and play resumed. I think there was a kicker as well.

We often found that the linemen actually ran better than the runner backs they were then converted to running backs with the ball tucked under one of the legs. Hey it didn’t have the realism of today’s virtual video games, it was more interactive and frankly required a whole lot of imagination. As I recall the players I had were yellow and white. One had to imagine crimson jerseys, it was fun, and it paled in comparison to backyard football in the “stob bowl.”

Electric football soon gave way to stereos, girls, concerts and dreams of college, but in those care free, innocent, preteen years electric football was a great way to help our boys find a way to even if the had to do it with a yellow plastic lineman.

Roll Tide

Home Grown

Now I don’t haunt the message boards, so I might be way off base here, but I haven’t noticed that being an issue here, that is at Alabama. As I say I don’t haunt the message boards. That said, I don’t give a hoot where the players come from as long as they can play some serious football. Over the years Alabama has always had a good pipe line into Mississippi and to some extent Florida. Lately, we have grabbed a number of players from Kentucky, California and Texas. I know every year the goal is always to win the in-state recruiting battle, but are there people out there who really want Mike Shula or any coach to only grab Alabama players?

If that had been the case over the years we would have missed out on a few stars that not only are part of Alabama lore but national lore as well. Think about it Joe Namath, Don Hutson, Dwight Stephenson, Ray Perkins, Barry Krauss, Shaun Alexander and Derrick Thomas to name just a few, were from other states. These guys were All American, All Pro some are in the NFL Hall of Fame and some of them are just plain legendary. Let’s face it the most famous Alabama player of all time was from Arkansas. Recruit Alabama only? I think not, while the list of All Americans and other famous Tide stars does include a majority of players from Alabama, the rich heritage of the Crimson Tide just would not be the same without those players from out of state who came to the Capstone and made their mark. After all once they come here it becomes home and sometimes Momma calls them back.

Roll Tide

Good Night & Good Luck

Earlier this week there was some discussion regarding who was the best athlete on the University campus. That is probably an not unusual occurrence. However, this discussion was about Ashley Miles. What’s more you had some football players conceding that she might be in the top two. Ms. Miles has had a career at the University that will not be duplicated any time soon.

She has done something that has not been done in twenty years, really the dawn of her sport, win three vault titles in a career. This is no small feat. In addition, she has earned 12 first team All American honors, again no small feat. If Ashley Miles does not inspire you, you simply cannot be inspired. She is now talking about trying out for the track team since she has exhausted her gymnastics eligibility.

Perhaps her greatest legacy and that of the gymnastics program at the University is the effect it has had on girls in Alabama. Statewide, gymnastics programs have grown and the competition and the participants have only gotten better.

While representing the University of Alabama, Ms. Miles has earn the respect and admiration of her peers and fans. I have not followed her entire career, I have only had the privilege of keeping up with her over the last two years. When mybama.com went on line last year, it was during the gymnastics season. I had the opportunity to follow last year’s team. I must admit I am now a big fan.

Another thing, Ms. Miles is one of the most real athletes I have seen in years. She has confidence, poise and she is truly a team player. I think when she said “. . . [Y]ou can’t be disappointed if you do your best and leave yourself out there.” I’m sure she meant it. All coaches preach this, but often it sounds hollow, from Miles it sounds sincere.

Good luck Ashley and thanks for the memories. As an Alabama alumnus, you have made me proud and I know I’m not alone.

Roll Tide

Move Over Bama Nation

I for one am flabbergasted. Even if you take away the places where we have military bases, there are still a lot of countries out there that have found our site. This proves that the foreign students that come to the Capstone leave as Bama fans. I guess this means that I might have to learn to type in a new language or three. Shoot, I might have to learn to type!

Dang, this is pretty darn exciting if you ask me. Fortunately, as the blogger, I can pretend like you asked and go on my merry way happily typing, writing the blogs you’ve come know and love.

Anyway, looking at the list of countries from which Alabama fans, and we know they are Alabama fans, have sought us out, it is simply mind boggling. Many of them are warm places with beaches – Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Greece as well as India and France. I kid you not - France - and also, some places that make me want to scratch my head – Iran, Malaysia and Croatia, go figure. The Bama Nation is now Bama World, except that sounds too much like a mall store, so I think we’ll seek another moniker. I am open to suggestions.

While I am on a roll here, I reckon I’ll say a thing or two about the NFL draft and the strange measuring tape they use to pick players. I have a friend who always joked that when the NFL seeks a quarterback they are looking for someone who is 6’6” with a cannon for an arm. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to care if he can actually hit receivers down field with said cannon or can walk and chew gum at the same time, but hey that’s why they get the big bucks, right? (Not the players, those making the picks, I mean.)

The SEC’s defensive player of the year was the 33rd player taken! I just don't get it. I guess those guys that pick players of the year in the SEC have different criteria. Oh well, Brodie has gone off to the Chiefs, that seems like a good fit. The big surprise was Roman Harper, way to go guy! Good luck to all the Alabama players who have a shot at the NFL. We’ll pull for you even if you do end up in Dallas!

Roll Tide

Oklahoma!

For Coach Patrick Murphy and the three Tide seniors (Dominique Accetturo, Staci Ramsey, Stephanie VanBrakle) this is big, this is huge. For the program it could be life changing. Last year Michigan was the first team from east of the Mississippi to win a softball title. Alabama has the opportunity to be the first southern team to do so.

This year Alabama signed its first player from California. The Golden State is considered the epicenter of softball. No doubt TV exposure from previous World Series appearances helped secure that player. A title would act like a magnet, as the song goes everybody loves a winner.

Regardless of the outcome of the series, the University of Alabama softball team has made May fun! I have become a softball fan. I am excited that I will have a chance to watch a game on television. Coach Murphy and the other members of the Alabama softball staff have created a solid program. It is a class operation and a credit to the University.

Go out to Oklahoma and make us proud. Win some games have some fun and remember there are people back home who are pulling for you!

Roll Tide

Well I never!

All of a sudden homerun and well, I think the air went out. We did score on UCLA. We managed to score in both games, there are some teams that can’t say that, and we gave Northwestern all that they needed and then some. It was a great run by a great bunch of kids and they should be proud. The achievements of the 2006 U of A softball team are note worthy and we look for more of the same in the future.

Then the end of the second game of the Tuscaloosa super regional. First Carolina hits a three run homer in the eight inning. Then Alabama counters with three run homer in the top of the ninth, only to be up staged by a two run homerun in the bottom of the ninth. Oh man, oh the humanity of it! Talk about your highs and lows. Who knew we could get so up for baseball!? Mercy!

Here again this team went to heights that nobody thought they would achieve. One has to especially feel good for Spencer Pennington. Let’s face it, most Tide fans memories of Pennington are of an over thrown pass to Prothro in the end zone at the end of the Music City Bowl. While it was unfair many blamed him for the loss. To his credit, Pennington has been a big part of this baseball team.

So now what? The slows of summer really set in. I don’t care about major league baseball. I could care less about the World Cup. I know I should, I mean every child under the age of 12 in the US is playing soccer. I don’t know it just doesn’t crank my tractor, if you know what I mean.

This is the time of year when I find myself watching the occasional arena football game. We have a team here and I’ll probably take in a game or two. I’ve even been known to watch Canadian football. When I get really desperate, generally about mid-July, I’ll pull out a tape of an old Alabama game and watch it. Most of the ones I have are from the 1980s and 1990s, I watch the Tide win. I don’t keep the losses.

Here’s hoping you have a swell summer. Do some grilling, go to the beach, find a hobby, read some good books. You can do this, the time will pass and before you know it, well, not before you know it, it will be September 2, 2006.

Roll Tide

The Curliest Month

Oh well, we move on. In August two-a-days begin. At least we'll get some notion of who will be starting, what sort of team will be emerging and perhaps some actual news. The bad news is come September we might be in blackout mode for three weeks. Unless Hawaii is televised or possibly Vandy as the Jefferson Pilot game or Lincoln Financial game or whatever they’ll be calling it this year we really don’t have a prayer until the Arkansas game. The good news is by then we'll know what sort of a team we have. Well not really, as the competition will be modest at best. We shall see.

Hawaii – The last time we played them they pretty much made us look silly and finished the meltdown of Mike Shula’s first team. I honestly think the strain of that year was just too much on the seniors and though Shaud Williams gave it everything he had it just wasn’t enough. The defense couldn’t deal with the pass and we just plain got beat. OK 2006 – I think what could happen here is we will find out if we have any kind of a pass rush. Hawaii’s offense requires a killer pass rush to disrupt the timing of passing game. To work well the damage has to be done with the D-line and as little blitzing as possible. This is not a news flash. I also don’t think this is one of June Jones’ best teams. I think the game plan will be to slam Hawaii’s running game, what little there is of it and to make the QB pay every time he drops back. On offense look for Ken Darby and company to run the ball and the clock and let the late summer weather in Tuscaloosa do its worst to the kids from the island paradise. I suspect Wilson will throw some, safe, timely passes. Look for him to go long and try to work his go to guys into the mix just to keep the Hawaii defense honest. They’ll score on us and likely make it scary in the first half.

Alabama 35 Hawaii 17

Vanderbilt what can one say. Well, one could say their offense is in Denver. They do have a new QB from Arizona, which will help some. Vandy like Mississippi State always brings their A game to Alabama, this year will be no exception. The Commodores will just be back from a serious whuppin’ at an early game, 11AM start, at the Big House and it simply will not get any better. They might well have to deal with two early games in a row. Vandy still has some scary wide outs, a decent QB and they’ll have a game under their belts. Our game plan? See above. They’ll score and they’ll make us sweat for a half, hopefully not any more than that. After Hawaii the Bama offense and defense should have some confidence.

Alabama 24 Vandy 10

LA Monroe has come off of two 5-6 seasons. This year they are picked to finish 5th in the Sunbelt Conference. Look for the Tide to score early and often. We should see some more passing and maybe a backup QB or two. This will be the final tune-up game before things get real. If our defense has the kind of pride that they have shown the last two years this may well be a shut out, unless Coach Kines wants to see his youngsters play. Hopefully, we will not play down to our opponent.

Alabama 35 LA Monroe 0.

Your proud prognosticator will have more later. I have to think and that hurts my head bone if I do too much all at once. Oh and for those Tide fans out there who are rubbing their hands together over the whole Auburn and grades thing. Forgetaboutit! It's grades and academics guys. Remember when that prof at UT tried to show the same sort of thing was going on in Knoxville. It went nowhere and so will this. Lots of students look for easy classes. If you are a student there is always a grapevine regarding courses, where you can get an easy grade and a quick three hours. I suspect the administration will put a limit on the number of directed studies any professor can do in a given semester. We’ll see some new majors on the AU football team, but that will be the end of that. What I want to see is a victory at Bryant-Denny on November 18, 2006. That will make me really happy!

Roll Tide

Summer Time Blues

Game 4 – Arkansas by the time we line up against the Hogs they will have played Southern Cal, Utah State and Vandy. I don’t think USC will hang 70 on them in Fayetteville. However, I don’t think they’ll win either. We should roll into Fayetteville 3-0 and the Hogs will be looking at 2-1 and we should have the same SEC record, thanks to Vandy. The Hogs are going to be minus a running back and if they start a freshman at quarterback it could be a very interesting season. Mustain has talent, but the SEC ain’t high school. The Hogs are tough in Fayetteville and we have developed a pretty good rivalry with them since they came into the SEC. I look for a close game with Bama pulling it out late.

Alabama 17 Arkansas 14

Game 5 – This is the one that the Gator Nation has circled on their collective calendars. Revenge will be on the minds of the Gator faithful. Though, you know everybody will deny that there is any motivation from last year’s game.

They got Tebow, but we have Coach Mike. I know there was a collective groan from the Bama Nation when Tebow signed with Urban Meyer’s bunch. Though, when you think about it logically, was he really any more likely to have signed with us than Brodie Croyle was going to play for Florida State? I think not. The fact that we got as close as we did speaks volumes about our coaching staff. Florida will be tested twice before we hit Gainsville. By this time both teams should know what they are made of. According to those who know these things, we have no defense, we have an inexperienced quarterback and well, we are a middle of the pack SEC West team, same as last year. Right. Well, I am going out on a limb here I think Robinson and Castile handle the UF wideouts and Alabama’s running game controls the clock and we sneak out of Gainsville with a game nobody thought we’d win.

Alabama 21 Florida 20

Game 6 – Duke? If we were playing basketball there might be some drama here, we are not. Chalk another win up from the box of Little Debbie’s scheduled into Byrant-Denny in 2006. Duke, please those guys haven’t played any real football since before Spurrier left for Gainsville.

Alabama 35 Duke 7

I noticed Coach Mike has put on a little weight. My only concern is the last coach we had with a body like that landed us in some serious probation. I don’t think that is the road we are heading down. I think Shula has the Tide headed in the right direction. The O-line shuffle between the Auburn game and the bowl proves somebody was thinking. Yeah, I know they should have done it befor the Auburn game, but you can what if these things to death. This year I think we’ll see some marked improvement in the offense.

Until next time Roll Tide Yall!

A New Era

The mood coming out of camp from both the players and coaches is positive. They seem to be thinking reload, rather than rebuild. Nobody seems to be in a panic over players leaving camp, Juwan Simpson's punishment or wide receiver. In fact, everybody seems to be on an even keel. So what’s up?

I think what’s up is the Tide is back. We had our hat handed to us once last year. It happened in Lee County, from the first play forward it just got ugly. Did you notice there was no melt down at the bowl game? Something is up in Tuscaloosa. There is an Alabama man at the helm and continuity with the coaching staff. There are what, three coaches with head coaching experience, not counting Mike Shula. Continuity is what this program needed. Well, now it has it and Alabama is poised to make some noise in the SEC.

Prosnostications Part III

Ole Miss – This is the second home game in a row before the trek to Knoxville. Will the Tide be looking ahead? I don’t think so. If we are percolating along like I think we will be John Parker Wilson should be turning some heads about now and Ken Darby will be making his move on Shaun Alexander’s record. Look for a nice offensive performance and a dominating defense.

Alabama 24 Ole Miss 7

Tennessee – Well, well, well, well, Knoxville, Tennessee, here we are and it is the third weekend in October. I think that’s an omen. This is a streaky series and it’s Alabama’s turn to get on a roll. The kids loved getting that monkey off their back last year. I know that as it turned out, that wasn’t the best Vols team in a while. But, you know what, whenever one of those mid-majors beat us in a bad year they don’t ever remember our record. It was UT and we won. This year the Vols will be looking for some pay back, but it ain’t a gonna happen.

Alabama 14 Tennessee 13

Florida International – Home Coming, need I say more? OK, that’s why we play the games. Coach Don Strock, who many of yall will remember as Dan Marino’s backup for so many years, is back in Miami as the head coach of the Golden Panthers. Coach Strock cannot have very good memories of Tuscaloosa. In 1973 Alabama pasted his Va Tech squad 77-6. I don’t look for this game to get that out of hand, but it could be our second shut out.

Alabama 42 FIU 0

I want to give away some more mybama tee shirts. What Alabama player was in three Super Bowls with three different teams? The first three people who email me the correct answer will get a tee shirt.

Roll Tide

The evil begins

Let’s just take a look the concept of a playoff. OK, the way the wags envision a playoff is with eight teams, a seven game format, seven venues. That shortens the post season considerably. It will also shorten the pay to the various universities and conferences. It will enrich TV networks. But, that’s OK because we will have a "real" national champion. Those one-loss teams and those no loss teams, like the immortal Auburn team of 2004, will now have a chance to play for the national championship.

Last year, the SEC member schools shared slightly over $20 million in revenue from bowl games. Lets say we have a playoff and one SEC school gets in; will that school have to share the money? Will it be distributed evenly? Will it be $20 million? What about the poorer schools, how will they fare in this new setup?

The poorer SEC schools will lose big time. The smaller conferences are going be left out in the cold and college football as we know it will be changed forever. But, we will have a "real" national champion and the TV networks will make lots of money. The only way that a playoff could actually work to the satisfaction of all the Division I schools is if the system included all of the conference champions and several at-large teams, same way the lower divisions work it out. If you don’t do that you’ll simply have the power conferences playing for the championship every year and the "have nots" become “who cares.” So what would be the point of them even being in Division I?

The bowls have always been a reward for a good season. Boise State, Southern Mississippi, South Florida and 6-5 schools near and dear to our hearts have the opportunity to play on a national stage. If you are an alum or fan you can go to Shreveport, Mobile, Nashville or various other towns and get into the bowl hoopla as your team plays one more game. Win or lose you have a good time. Your team gets extra practice and more TV exposure and some money. I know it often costs schools to go to one of the smaller bowls, but you don’t see anybody turning them down.

If we do away with the bowl system and institute a playoff system, on the whole college football will lose. Fans might win, because you have a clear-cut winner, but the color and pageantry of what is college football will be gone. The bowl games have been a part of college football for nearly 100 years. Do we really want to scrap something that is so much a part of the college tradition? If we trash the tradition, we simply have NFL light.

Division I college football is the only sport where the regular season games really count. In basketball, baseball, and the NFL everyone talks about the second season or a chance to start over. There is no second chance in Division I football, which is why fans, players and coaches sweat bullets over every game. Every game matters; and every now and then somebody knocks off a big guy.

Sure, a playoff would generate a lot of interest and excitement, but at what cost? There are many teams that went undefeated and were not ranked number 1. That just generated heated discussion during the off season. A playoff will prevent this from happening, true. Somebody will win the last game and claim the title. Maybe it would be great for the sport, but I don’t think so. The bowls are as much a part of college football as mascots, cheerleaders, fight songs, and RVs. Frankly, I think we need to keep them all.

Roll Tide

Are you ready for some football?

Even as a kid the only thing that brought on as much anticipation as the college football season was Christmas. I mean, Alabama will be teeing up and kicking off. We don’t have John Forney anymore and I’ll have to listen to Eli and the Snake on my computer, but hey, that’s all right. The funny thing about the anticipation is that I’ll be both excited and a nervous wreck. Over the course of the season I’ll determine which shirt I can wear while watching the games, which can coolie I can use and other rituals. Of course, my wearing and/or using the appropriate can coolie are based on not jinxing the Tide. I know I am not alone here.

I had a friend who was convinced she could tell if Alabama was going to win based on Gene Stallings' cowlick. She was dead serious. I mean it. She and her mother have matching Alabama tattoos on their ankles. You think they might be Tide fans? And they are from Tennessee! My mother gets ‘feelings’ about the Alabama-Auburn game; we have learned to trust those. You know what I mean, you know your pre-game rituals, dust ‘em off and get ready, ‘cause the Tide’s a gonna roll!

OK Tide fans - time for the last installment of the fearless prognostications.

Mississippi State

Mercy – you and I know this one will not be easy. Sylvester Croom knows as well as Mike Shula that Mississippi State always plays Alabama tough. I know Mississippians who can tell you exactly where they were when Mississippi State knocked off Alabama in 1980. The Bulldogs will be better this year. Look for a tough defense. It just will not be enough. Alabama will be on a roll, pardon the pun, come 4 November. We’ll have to avoid looking ahead to LSU but that should not be a problem.

Alabama 24 Mississippi State 10

LSU

This is the one game that has given me fits. It’s in Baton Rouge and it should be a gimme to pick. But things have changed since "the streak." The good news is Mike Shula; one of Ray Perkins’ boys is at the helm. Unfortunately, that might not be enough. I just don’t see us pulling this one out.

Alabama 14 LSU 21

Auburn

I reckon this is the big cabloona. We all know that Auburn is primed to become a 21st century dynasty in the SEC. You’ve been reading the papers - I mean, we’ve posted those stories right here in mybama. They have the firepower; they have a defense; and they have the world’s best coach. But, as Keith Jackson would say, Whoa Nelly! I can only say this. Coach Mike won his signature game last year and this year he bought a new house. He’s about to get that puppy paid for. The last time we played them in T-town we finally scored. It’s time for that monkey to be removed from our collective backs. It won’t be easy and it won’t be pretty.

Alabama 12 Auburn 10

Now I know you are wondering if this boy has taken leave of his senses. I mean, people who are actually paid to do this stuff have Alabama battling for third place in the SEC west and heading for the Music City Bowl. Well, I ain’t saying for sure we’ll go 11-1. I think we could. I also think we are going to be better than people think. While we are on the subject, will someone please explain to me how a 5-6 Tennessee team is ranked in the AP top 25 and we are not? Please, come on, I really want to know! I guess it’s OK to figure Shula got lucky and, well, Fulmer had this little meltdown, but now everything’s OK. We shall see. Don’t you just love college football!

The first three people who drop me an email at editor@mybama.com - you can question my sanity or just say hi - will get a free mybama.com tee shirt!

Roll Tide!

Odds & Sods

As for South Carolina, we saw a good defense and the usual Spurrier offense. You'd think Mississippi State would have seen that double pass play coming; it's been a Spurrier favorite for years. I think they killed us with that play in an SEC championship game during the Stallings era.

I know this was the first game and I expect both teams to improve next week and they'd better. Georgia is coming to Columbia and Auburn will be in Starkville. The latter will not be pretty and, depending on the UGA quarterback situation, the Gamecocks could have their hands full.

How about Coach Mike throwing the Hawaii reporter out of practice. I reckon he shouldn’t have brought up that 2003 game. Seems to have hit a nerve, that's a good sign if you ask me, and no one did. What about Juwan Simpson, will he play on Saturday?

Here again, nobody asked me, but I think he should sit Saturday. Some things are just more important than Ws and Ls. I realize most of the charges were dropped, however, he didn’t exactly set a good example for the rest of the guys. I think we can win without him and I think a one game suspension is warranted. That was the punishment for John Parker Wilson’s DUI and when all was said and done the crime Simpson was charged with was about the same. I guess we’ll see this evening.

Get your game face on Alabama and Hawaii is next!

Roll Tide

mybama down

Game Won

The inability to run in the second half is an area of concern. However, overall the line played well and I think we�ll see better rushing numbers over the course of the year. Vandy is next up, beating the Commodores will put the Tide at 2-0, 1-0 in SEC play. *Note to the guys in crimson you must take Vandy seriously, they have some weapons.

As I watched many of the games that were on last weekend I kept coming back to the same question. They are not televising the Hawaii game why? It�s not that I didn�t enjoy watching Georgia man handle division IAA Western Kentucky or the tussle between Arkansas and USC or that nail bitter at Auburn. Shoot the Penn State-Akron game was one for the ages. Except for Ole Miss-Memphis and Notre Dame-GA Tech the rest were snooze alarms. If I was an Auburn, USC or Georgia fan I would have loved what I saw, but I doubt if any else much cared. I won�t even mention the UK-Louisville game.

Oh, I know I said I thought Juwan Simpson should have sat out the Hawaii game. I still think that. However, now that we have more information, it seems that perhaps the coaching staff is trying to build a little character rather than punish players. I say way to go!

I don�t think Coach Shula spit on the tradition at Alabama, as a columnist for a Mobile newspaper put it. Nope, the way discipline is handled is the coach�s decision. I don�t think Ray Perkins spit on tradition when he took down the Bear�s tower or put names on the back of the uniforms. Each coach has to do what he thinks is best. They pay them lots of money, frankly, hard earned money, when you realize that your future is in the hands of teenage and 20-something male college students.

Onward and upward, I know I am supposed to be all agog over the upcoming Ohio State-Texas game (the talking heads keep telling me this). Well, what can I say, I�m waiting for the Vandy game. I mean ooh Texas replaced their quarterback, who�d thunk it (they had to or they wouldn�t have a team). Do you really think burning up the Mean Green really told us anything? Please, turn down the hype machine for a week or two anyway.

Roll Tide

Young�uns

Have you been reading what the players are saying? There is not one speck of panic or doubt in the minds of the residents of Bryant Hall. These young men just see an opportunity to get better. We have six, count �em six, seniors starting. This is a young team, a team that is still searching for an identity and that is not necessarily a bad thing. They just barely won the last two games, true, but the operative phrase here is "they won." They could have choked but they didn�t; they found a way to win.

There are going to be some bumps down the road for sure. They�ll probably lose a couple of games, shoot, maybe more than that, but then again, they might just find themselves and over achieve. It�s like my brother said yesterday evening. "They ain�t no way John Parker could throw a touch pass the way Brodie did last year." Well, duh. But, you know what, by the Tennessee game he sure is gonna have a better handle on the offense than he does now.

Lighten up on the whole running game thing, too. Justin Britt and Andre Smith weren�t even listed in the depth chart in the media guide. People like to go on about the so-called skilled positions but playing on the line in a complicated offense ain�t no walk in the park. These boys haven�t jelled yet. When they do, brother, it�ll be Katie bar the door. They�ll be kickin� butt and takin� names.

2006 is going to be a wild ride. There are going to be growing pains. This team just might surprise some people, too. This is the most confidant team we�ve had since the 1999 SEC championship team. These guys just expect to win and they expect to get better. Where we see problems they see opportunities. OK, I�ll put a sock in the Pollyanna machine, but I�m telling you, these guys are going to surprise us this year.

Roll Tide

No news will be good news

OK � I figured that it would be nice to offer my tens of fans some words wisdom, kicking off this football weekend with a toothy grin, sending you off on that smiley-faced weekend that you so richly deserve.

So here we go. I think Alabama will win. I think we�ll finally get on track and maybe score a couple of dozen points, maybe more. I reckon Coach Kines and his charges have brought in some tutors and they now have moved past calculus and are well into differential equations. Those boys are smart and they are going to be good too. I just can�t wait to hear what Coach Kines has to say next week; the boy is a quote machine. Don�t you just love him?

I can�t wait until next week. I have yet to actually see the Tide play. I haven�t seen so much as a single filmed highlight. So win, lose or draw (which ain�t possible anymore) at Arkansas at least I�ll get to see how the guys look - how they line up, how they react to blitzes, what the O-line looks like in action, how many tattoos are visible, their hairstyles and Coach Mike�s new hat. Of course, I�ll also see a stadium full of hog hats. Oh boy!

But, that�s next week. This week it�s the War Hawks. I look forward once again to hearing Eli and the Snake deliver the telecast from Bryant-Denny and, as usual, I�ll be staring at my computer screen trying to figure out if it�s helpful to know that the Tide is going from left to right as I listen.

Roll Tide

I�m Movin� On

First of all, I have no idea what Shula has done to raise the ire of the mainstream print media in Alabama, but he has or at least a portion of them. I mean, does the coach come out, flip the assembled multitudes the bird and say something like, "Ask your #%$@!$@#$ questions you bunch of dimwitted newts." I�ve not been to one of his press conferences or post-game interviews, but somehow that scenario seems unlikely. So there must be something else I�m just missing.

Personally, I think this is a non-issue that has been blown way out of proportion. The notion that seven players have been suspended for transgressions over the summer might be the sign of a tight ship rather than one without a rudder. The "violation of team rules" caveat covers a multitude of sins. This could be anything from skipping class to not making grades, wearing a cap backwards or being arrested for an unlicensed gun. What we seem to know is that, with one notable exception, none of those players were arrested for anything. Let�s face it, if they were arrested we sure as heck would have known about it. An Alabama football player can�t stub his toe without making the sports section, especially high profile players.

Mike Shula has never discussed his in-house policy for the treatment of players for their transgressions. He�s not going to begin now and he shouldn�t. I don�t pay much attention to what goes on in the Loveliest Village on the Plains but I reckon Tommy Tuberville is simply just more user-friendly, as far as the media goes, and more transparent in his treatment of players. That is his prerogative. Shula is not Tuberville, he is not Bear and he is not Mike DuBose, so get over it. He is his own person, running the program as he sees fit. He got a big raise, he got his assistants raises and the Tide is 13-2 over the last two years. That may all change Saturday but it will not be because of the way he deals with players who violate team rules.

I�m done. I refuse to mention this again. I will not post any more stories on "suspension-gate" as some wag labeled it. Unless some new evidence comes out that indicates that players have been breaking the law and getting arrested, as far as I am concerned this is over, finished, end of story.

Oh, I guess we are playing a football game this weekend. It�s going to be on national network television. They are a 2-point favorite. This is our make or break game or so I have been told. If we lose this game the season unravels and the sky falls. Chill, it won�t happen.

Roll Tide

Where Do We Rate the Pigs?

I am not saying this is another 1992 team. First of all I think this team has a better offense than the 1992 team, which couldn�t pass to save its life. Jay Barker, bless his heart, was no passer. I know he won a slew of games and his name is pretty high on the passing charts, but that boy could throw some ugly passes. Be that as it may, I think J. Parker Wilson has the chance to be one of the best. I also think that we will be able to run the ball this season (really, really I do). Our defense is not 1992 caliber either, but it ain�t bad. It�s just very young. That�s why they keep getting us on those draws and Utah passes. You might see one or two of those this weekend.

I think this will be one of those knock down drag outs. I think we�ll pull it out and go on to bigger and better things. Check with me Sunday. I also think Troy will beat Nebraska and that Kentucky will scare Florida to death. I�m not saying they will win, but it might not be the 20 point whuppin� that has been forecast.

Have a swell weekend. Stay dry and have fun.

Roll Tide

Wide Right

The sad thing was we played much better than Arkansas. I�m hope that Houston Nutt will make sure Mike Shula is on his Christmas card list, because we probably saved his job. I like Houston Nutt, but I don�t like him that much. The one fear I have and I know I am not alone here is that this could turn into 2003 where get close but no cigar in a bunch of games that could go either way.

I just don�t think so. This team has reached a crossroads in this young season, they can mope over this game or draw strength from it. I think they will choose the latter. I think they will grow from this game. The team will regroup and go down to Florida and play the best game they�ve played all year. I have to keep telling myself this is a young team, a very young team. They will get better, it might not be this year but it will happen. I still have a lot of faith in them. I think they can win most of the rest of the games. It will be tough, but the loss in Fayetteville may well help them pull themselves together. Arkansas got real lucky and sometimes it�s better to be lucky than good. These kids are confident. If you, the fan, are disappointed, imagine how those kids feel. Fortunately, they are not through and they will surprise us this year and if they don�t, well I like Shreveport.

Roll Tide

Gator Bait?

I was reading Gator Country and it seems they look at us as a tune-up for the big games that follow. They are expecting to beat us worse than they beat Kentucky. Really. I hope somebody out there who might know a Bama player will forward this little tidbit to them http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=168&p=2&c=572192. I�m sure it will make pleasant bedtime reading up at Bryant Hall. Be sure to point out the last section of the article.

I realize that they have revenge on their minds, but to dis us by saying they�ll beat us worse than they beat Kentucky, well! It could happen I suppose. To quote Gator Country: "Bama�s offense has not been that great and very one dimensional this season." Well, that is true to some extent; we have been fairly one dimensional, but that aspect has moved the ball well and point production has improved in each game. I mean, the mighty Gators only hung 26 on the Cats so let�s not get carried away here.

The offending paragraph continues: ". . . they will be bringing a much better defense than Kentucky. Still, it should be a much less stalwart offense than Kentucky brought to Gainesville. . . ." You read it here first. Kentucky managed 39 yards on the ground and just over 200 yards through the air. I�m sorry, we may not be USC but I really think we can hold our own with Kentucky.

I was in the dumps after Arkansas stole a win right out from under our noses. Shoot, now I�m pumped. So, they think we�ll limp in with an offense that will gain less than 250 yards. Cool. "Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you." Oh yeah.

Roll Tide

Out of my head

Rader has been at the helm of the offense for four years. He was there when Ken Darby had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. He was in charge when Brodie Croyle became Alabama�s all-time leader in passing TD�s, passing yards, pass attempts and completions. He was in charge when the Alabama rushing attack ended the 2004 season ranked 4th in the SEC and 26th nationally, despite losing its entire backfield to season-ending injuries. Darby finished the regular season last year ranked fourth in the SEC and 42nd in the nation with an 88.5 average. No doubt there have been some coaching blips, but for the most part the hand at the tiller has been steady. These are the same coaches who can�t do anything right this year. Sorry, perhaps the youth of the team might have something to do with all of this. Nobody wants to hear that, but hey, the facts are the facts. Even if we tank the rest of the year, and I don�t think we will, we will be the team to beat in the west next year.

Think the odds can�t be beat and we can�t pull the upset? Did anybody watch Rutgers and Louisville last night? It could happen. It will happen. Keep the coaching staff, keep it together and stay with these guys. They are our team. Talk radio is just that. It�s a forum for anybody with a telephone, which certainly narrows the field ;-).

I want to thank my friend Higgy for helping me get my head back on straight. We�ve had hard times; we might see some more, but by jingo there is light at the end of the tunnel. There has been nary a hint of any sort of NCAA violations since Shula has been at the Capstone. He is recruiting solid players and he plays by the rules. The man may not be a media darling but he is a good person and in the long run he will get the program where it needs to be. The teams that win consistently keep their coaching staff together. When you go down that slippery slope of firing assistants you can end up like Bill Curry at Kentucky and brother, that wasn�t pretty. To quote my buddy Higgy, �Losing sucks but we ain't losers we�re just temporarily inconvenienced.�

Roll Tide

I know, I know

The other thing I know is there are a whole lot of underclassmen on the Alabama squad. John Parker Wilson will get better. The offensive line will get better and the defense will continue to improve. We are going to be good. I know that is all well and good but it didn�t help much this year.

We have at least one game left this year. If we win that game we could very well have one more. If we beat Auburn next week in Tuscaloosa it changes everything. I know that and you know that. It won�t matter what happens in a bowl game. Beating Auburn will heal all the hurt and make for a very happy off-season.

Even though we lost to LSU we should go into the Auburn game with momentum. We played a good game against a superior opponent. Nobody in the Bama Nation wants to hear that LSU or Tennessee or Florida are superior opponents, but the fact is they are. We played all of those teams well. No we did not beat any of them, but they knew they were in a game. Last year a bunch a seniors who had been through the blender willed the Alabama team to a 10-2 record. They handed the reins over to a bunch of talented young players. They have played like a young bunch. They have made mistakes and they blew a couple of games, but they will learn.

We will be the underdogs next week. We have never beaten Auburn in Tuscaloosa, doing that will change everything. Watching Georgia take Auburn apart provides hope. We are every bit as good as Georgia, shoot we beat Vanderbilt. The Alabama offense came to life in Baton Rouge, they just didn�t have quite enough to get over the hump, but Auburn and LSU are two very different animals.

Roll Tide

Iron Bowl

I think that all coaches should be given five years to implement their program. That gives them a chance to play with their players; players who will have bought into what they are trying to do. After five years, if the results are not up to snuff, then you evaluate where your coach and team are, not before.

Be that as it may, much has been written and said about the significance of this game. Some commentators have bemoaned the fact that the game has no national significance, yet it is being televised on CBS. Go figure. I say, who cares if the game has any national significance. If you grew up in Alabama or went to school at Alabama or Auburn and had the least bit of interest in sports, this game matters. It matters a lot.

Beating Auburn will not change Alabama�s record much. If the Tide wins they will end up 7-5 as opposed to 6-6. If they win, they will end up 3-5 rather than 2-6 in SEC play. Not much of a change, really. Winning will mean that they have beaten two teams with winning records. Here again, not much of a difference. So will beating Auburn really make any difference?

Are you kidding!?! I mean, beating Auburn would change everything. Shoot, you would be able to walk up to your favorite Auburn fan and say: "I got two words for ya! Roll Tide!" Oh yeah, that�s what I�m talking about! I know I would feel better about the season. Hey, your guys went 7-5 somebody might tell me and I could say, �yeah, but we beat Auburn� and I would grin from ear to ear. No national implications my foot! For the Bama Nation scattered across the country this game has all sorts of implications and I for one will sit down with my Bear hat on and roll some serious tides!

Roll Tide Roll

Horseshoes and hand grenades

Meanwhile, the Shula haters in the Bama Nation are livid. They are on the phone spewing venom on the talk radio airwaves worse than any Auburn fan could possibly deal out. For them I can only say I hope you don�t have a heart attack screaming into the phone. For the rest of us there is likely a very long wait until we get to see the Tide play football again. If you care about basketball, we�ll probably do win some game and make the playoffs. But somehow I just don't think that will make up for what just happened.

One comment I feel compelled to make is I don�t think the people who came up with the schedule did Alabama any favors. Sure, I know they were trying to get enough wins to make a minor bowl. However, we played up or down to our competition, so why not at least play up to some better teams. Oh well, none of that matters any more.

I have hope. We will have good players coming back. We have the makings of what could be a very good team. I know that really doesn�t help much right now but that is all I have to offer. In the end we finished 6-6 and only beat one team with a winning record. We played very well against good competition, but could not beat them.

I am numb and I really hate that feeling.

Class Act

The fallout from the Auburn game or perhaps the culmination of a season that never got off the ground is beginning to get scary. Several major Alabama dailies reported that Shula�s job status was in doubt or, as one put it, the situation was "fluid." Have they gone crazy down there?

If they fire Shula, not only will it cost $4 million, but who are they going to bring in? At this point who would want the job? Not to mention, we start back at ground zero one more time. I think everybody was very disappointed with the season, especially the last game. But shouldn�t we have some nonsports writer/talk radio reality check here? They were only really expected to win seven games, eight outside, if they beat Arkansas. The big downer was Mississippi State. There is simply no way to put a good spin on that one.

There is a lot of shouting and anger right now. Everybody should calm down, go have Thanksgiving dinner and see how the bowl situation shakes out, then come back and make some decisions. There will be changes. I suspect that Dave Rader and most of the offensive staff will go. It might not be fair but they are going to make some kind of changes in Tuscaloosa. I do not agree with the writer who suggested that the special teams have not done anything since Prothro got hurt. Sure, last year just fielding a punt was an adventure. However, this year Javier Arenas got better and better as a return man. He set the Tide up in good field position on the last punt against Auburn. He even returned a punt for a touchdown and had a long punt called back on an awful call against Mississippi State. Beating up the return game just does not wash.

Shula deserves one more year. Firing the coach now sets the program back, it costs lots of money and at this point who do they bring in? I do not see a winning scenario here, then again I am a history major. I am not on the board of trustees; nor am I a sports writer or a talk radio addict. So what do I know?

Roll Tide

Curiouser and curiouser

For in truth there are no facts to be reported. The athletic department issued a statement and then took a long holiday. This statement was picket apart like left over Thanksgiving turkey. What did Mal Moore mean when he said X? What is being evaluated? As Sigmund Freud once said �sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.� Maybe there is a sinister plot a foot to bring in Steve Spurrier, Nick Saben, or some other name brand coach who is bored at his current digs and would like to come to Tuscaloosa and have his every move examined like some flayed bass.

Maybe next week we will get some real facts. Perhaps Mal Moore or Dr. Witt will either fire Shula or give him their blessing for the coming season. Everybody was disappointed with the season. Perhaps a long weekend to think all of this over was exactly what the doctor ordered. If the only fans and media could have taken a break as well. Oh well, if they did what would we have posted!

Roll Tide

Just plain wrong

Did you all read his statement? We will not see his kind around here for some time to come. But that�s OK right? I mean he was a loser. He couldn�t do anything right. His teams couldn�t score in the red zone and they couldn�t beat Auburn. None of the facts matter. None of the issues he inherited matter. None of the good will that he brought to the University matters. All that really matters is his record against SEC west teams and, of course Auburn. I think that is a sad. They say good guys finish last and Mike Shula is certainly a good guy. He did not deserve this. It�s too bad we�ll never know how good he could have been.

Mike, I never met you. I�ve followed you from your first press conference until today. In fact, I watched you play. You were good. I, and I know I am not alone, will miss you. Thanks coach!

Roll Tide

Be careful what you wish for

Sure there could be an instant turn around. Yup, we could make the SEC Championship game next year. Or the whole thing could just go to hell in a hand basket. The players never quit on Shula, but who�s to say they won�t quit on the new coach? What if his style is simply not suited to the players that are at Alabama and it takes a couple or three years to get everything where it needs to be? What if this coach loses to Auburn next year? It could happen. Do we fire this guy? I mean we will have lost six in a row.

I want to be optimistic here, I really, really do. But this just too much like some Greek tragedy. I mean we are eating are young here. What this program needs is continuity. If we get a coach who comes in and either bombs, takes too long to get his system into place or flees for greener pastures we will have to start over one more time.

How many times can we start over and still hold any claim to being one of the premier programs in college football? It seems to me that the powers that be at the University are seeking somebody who will come in and fix everything right away. Fix the offense and get the team back to where it was, oh say a year ago. If they do great, if they don�t . . . .

Playoffs! Enough already!

They are right when they say that college football is the only sport not decided on the field. I�ll go one better they are right when they say the BCS is busted. It is. Don�t fix it let it die whenever the current contract is over. Let�s just go back to the way things were, let�s just have our bowls and hope that one and two play each other at the end of the day. If they don�t everybody will argue and complain and life will go on.

I heard somebody say over the weekend that an 18-team college football playoff would be the most exciting event in sports. Maybe, then again what would happen to the college football that we have come to love and cherish? I�ll tell you, it will become NFL lite. The regular season will not matter. Nobody will watch the games until November and most people will not watch them until the playoffs begins, much the same way many people treat college basketball or the NFL. That is the way of a playoff system, the regular season is just an avenue to the playoffs; it has no other value.

Let�s look at this proposed playoff. Who will decide which teams get in? I have heard all sorts of numbers the bowls plus one; eight teams; eighteen teams? Why not 32 or 64? How will they deal with Notre Dame? Will conference titles count? Will the Sunbelt, the MAC, Mountain West, WAC and Conference USA be included? Will they throw the non-power conferences a bone and let one of them every leap year?

I know college football is very close to NFL lite now. However, college football still retains some intangibles that make it different from the NFL. The bowl system is one of those, they are unique to the sport. Perhaps the thing that sets college football apart from the NFL is the whole atmosphere of the college game. The passion of the fans and the way those fans and even whole states identify with their team or teams. The other intangible is the players; the Terry Davis�s, Van Tiffin�s, Steadman Shealy�s and Steve Higginbotham�s who would never play in the NFL, yet are all part of Bama lore. Every college team has those players, without them you have a farm system, and adding a playoff is heading straight in that direction.

Roll Tide

Three and out?

One hopes that that sooner or later the gang that couldn�t shoot straight manages to hit something or Mal Moore might find himself coaching next year. I�m sure it will not come to that, but then again, I�m sure that in their minds, the reason we are in this predicament to begin with was they had to hire someone quick the last time. Well, as my Momma says they made their beds now they have sleep in it.

Unfortunately, for all of us who love the Tide we are in that bed with them. We don�t have a coach and we are rapidly approaching recruiting season, a bowl game and spring practice. I know we will have someone on board soon, the question is who will it be and will it be the preverbal homerun or another sacrifice fly.

Roll Tide

Fearless Bowl Predictions

Dec. 19 Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego, TCU vs. Northern Illinois, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
I personally love Poinsettias and bowl games so this is a match made in heaven. TCU has a 10-2 mark and was second in the Mountain West Conference. For Bama fans it is the team that brought you Coach Fran, but we won�t hold that against them. The Northern Illinois Huskies finished 7-5, third in the MAC western conference; though they did beat MAC Champion Central Michigan and they also beat us once upon a time, we won�t hold that against them either. Northern Illinois has the nation�s leading rusher in Garrett Wolfe; TCU placed four players on the defensive side of All Mountain West Team. This one probably won�t be a shootout. My nod is to TCU.

Dec. 21 Las Vegas Bowl, BYU vs. Oregon, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
It�s always fun to watch BYU; they throw the ball a lot, after all they are in the Mountain West, where offense rules. In fact, they won the Mountain West. Oregon, on the other hand, is from the PAC 10 and they have the worst uniforms on earth. They are ugly. They change them every year and they just seem to get uglier. Oregon finished fifth in PAC 10 with a 7-5 record. Go with BYU, they have much better uniforms.

Dec. 22 New Orleans Bowl, Troy vs. Rice, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
I�m a history major and the University of Troy just has weird connotations for me; I mean Helen, Asia Minor, wooden horses and such, maybe I�m just a little weird. I love it that Rice is in a bowl. I know it can�t be true but the last bowl game I remember Rice being in was in 1954 when Alabama�s Tommy Lewis jumped off the bench and tackled Rice�s Dickey Moegle. This is a bowl game that brings two teams to New Orleans and that�s always fun. I heard Rice has a real good receiver and Troy is from Alabama. I was going to go with the team with the most mythological background but it seems that the Rice owl mascot came from a design for the Owls of Athena so both teams are steeped in mythology, so I�ll just give the nod to Rice - better record, better conference.

Dec. 23 PapaJohn's Bowl at Birmingham, Ala., South Florida vs. East Carolina, 1 p.m. (ESPN2)
Pizza and football, you gotta love it. The fans of both teams should quaff a few at the Tide and Tiger before heading down to the game, that is, if the Tide and Tiger is still there. South Florida knocked off Louisville last year and West Virginia this year. East Carolina has Skip Holtz and a long tradition of knocking off big name teams. Ah, December in Birmingham, it�s likely to be right cold or at least cold for those folks from eastern North Carolina and south Florida and it could be just plain cold. Say hello to Vulcan and goodbye to the Pirates, South Florida should simply be too much.

Dec. 23 New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque, New Mexico vs. San Jose State, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
This is one of two bowl games that are home games for one of the participating teams. At least they�ll sell some tickets. The San Jose State Spartans tied for third in the WAC and the Lobos of the University of New Mexico finished fifth in the Mountain West. This game kicks off a double header on ESPN and features two teams that SEC people know absolutely nothing about in a brand new bowl. Sounds like fun to me. I was going to go with New Mexico but they lost to Portland State and, well, you just can�t do that, so I give the nod to San Jose State.

Dec. 23 Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa vs. Utah, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
My, how the mighty have fallen. Utah was clamoring for a BCS berth only a few years ago and now they are in Fort Worth. Tulsa was once coached by Dave Rader, which is as good as any reason to pull for them. Tulsa wins the award for the wackiest nickname, Golden Hurricane. Hurricane in Oklahoma? Utah defensive back Eric Weddle was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and Utah is pretty good; they beat several teams that are in bowls. I look for Utah to take the wind out of the Golden Hurricane.

Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl at Honolulu, Arizona State vs. Hawaii, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Hey, we did beat a team that�s going to a bowl! This is the second of two home bowl games. Arizona State finished fifth in the PAC 10 and Hawai�i finished 10-2; they scared us to death and Boise State as well. The Warriors are tough at home and I still love the run and shoot. I pick Hawai�i.

Dec. 26 Motor City Bowl at Detroit, Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
It�s the day after Christmas, Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan. I know you�re thinking, ohmygod I�m going to die. No, really, it�s not that bad; the entertainment district is really quite nice and so is Ford Field. They brew some really good beer in Michigan, at last count they had over 65 microbreweries and brewpubs. Whoa! I�ve wandered off topic. CMU is the MAC champion and MTSU is the Sunbelt Conference champ and they have the SBC coach of the year, Rick Stockstill; CMU lost their coach to Cincinnati. Both of these teams have some talent. I will go with CMU because my wife is an alum.

Dec. 27 Emerald Bowl at San Francisco, Florida State vs. UCLA, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
I wonder how many FSU fans will travel to California for this one? FSU had the kind of season we did, except they just fired their offensive coordinator. On the other hand, UCLA knocked off USC, mercy didn�t that throw a monkey wrench into the works? If UCLA can come down from the high of whipping USC they should dispatch FSU easily. On the other hand, Bobby Bowden may have a little magic left. I�ll go with the Seminoles for old time�s sake.

Dec. 28 Independence Bowl at Shreveport, La., Oklahoma State vs. Alabama, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Somebody�s going to come away from this game with a losing record. I think the Tide is going to come out and try and win one for Coach Shula. Honestly, this is a tossup. OSU beat Nebraska and Kansas. Both teams are going bowling and Nebraska came close to winning the conference championship. If the Tide offense can get past the whole red zone thing we should handle OSU, if not, it could get ugly. OSU is a 2-point favorite; we might have a new coach by then, there are a whole lot of intangibles. I think we win.

Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl at San Diego, California vs. Texas A&M, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Coach Fran got a somewhat better bowl than we did and he also did the equivalent of beating Auburn by beating Texas. Cal, on the other hand, got embarrassed at UT, got beat by USC and their coach has been mentioned as a replacement for Mike Shula. Well, as a loyal Tide fan who never got a Coach Fran bobble head, I can�t in all good conscience give A&M the nod. Frankly, it really just depends on which A&M team shows up, the one that beat Texas or the one that struggled to beat Army. A&M has the most to lose, go with the Golden Bears.

Dec. 28 Texas Bowl at Houston, Rutgers vs. Kansas State, 8 p.m. (NFL)
I feel that it�s simply wrong for the NFL network to be televising college games. It�s much akin to creeping socialism, if you ask me. This is a game I would like to watch but as it is not on my cable package so that ain�t gonna happen. I love Rutgers. This is a team that has lived on the edge all year. Rutgers has been winning with good defense and a running game, good old school football, and they have a coach smart enough to say no to Miami. It will be interesting to see how the Big East does against the Big 12. I think Rutgers wins; they simply have too much defense and I think they can control the ball.

Dec. 29 Music City Bowl at Nashville, Tenn., Clemson vs. Kentucky, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
The whole state of Kentucky is happy, well, sort of. A lot of people still don�t like Rich Brooks and now they figure they are stuck with him a while longer. Say what you will, UK can score points; they can�t stop anybody, but they can score. If Clemson can stop Kentucky�s passing game they win in a walk.

Dec. 29 Sun Bowl at El Paso, Missouri vs. Oregon State, 2 p.m. (CBS)
Missouri came in second in the Big 12 North, which makes them third overall, I think. Oregon State beat USC, one of two teams to do that. For Missouri this was a disappointing season. It started like a house on fire and ended up in smoldering ruins. They dropped three in a row before winning the �Border War� with Kansas. Oregon State, on the other hand, had a good year save the inexplicable loss to Washington State. This game will be all about offense so if you like defense, forget it. Frankly, if you like defense, December 29 is just not your day to be watching football. I think Oregon State has been more consistent and will bring back a victory from El Paso.

Dec. 29 Liberty Bowl at Memphis, Tenn., South Carolina vs. Houston, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
The SEC and Conference USA at one of the South�s oldest bowls. The Old Ball Coach brings his Gamecocks to Memphis for a fun time of BBQ and blues. His boys will feast on the Cougars of Houston. The Conference USA Champions were too much for Southern Miss but they will not have the firepower to hang with the boys from Columbia; give this one to South Carolina.

Dec. 29 Insight Bowl at Tempe, Ariz., Minnesota vs. Texas Tech, 7:30 p.m. (NFL)
The Golden Gophers, at one point during the season, lost four in a row. They recovered and ended their season beating Iowa. (Early in the season Brent Mussburger said that Ohio State was clearly number one because they had beaten Iowa, OK fine.) At any rate, we have 6-6 Minnesota team against a 7-5 Texas Tech team. The Gophers have great fans but the Red Raiders have a much better offense. Tech played the heavyweights of the Big 12 tough; they only lost to Texas by three. Minnesota is a team that shows up for bowls. I think the Golden Gophers will figure out the Tech spread offense and shut it down enough to win.

Dec. 29 Champ Sports Bowl at Orlando, Fla., Maryland vs. Purdue, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Purdue and Maryland come into this game with similar records. They would be identical, except Purdue lost to Hawai�i and thus they are 8-5. Purdue has one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, gaining an average of 425.8 yard per game, with almost 300 of that coming through the air. Purdue, a team known for offense, named a defensive player, fifth-year senior Anthony Spencer, as the team's Most Valuable Player. This game will come down to which team plays the best defense. Neither team has been able to stop anybody all year but I think Maryland has played a tougher schedule; for that reason, I�ll pick the Terrapins.

Dec. 30 Meineke Bowl at Charlotte, N.C., Navy vs. Boston College, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Boston College brings a 9-3 record and a 23rd national ranking to this bowl game. Navy has a similar record but Navy has played a much weaker schedule than BC. Boston College is led by First-Team All-ACC Quarterback Matt Ryan, who is ranked number one in the ACC in passing offense and number two in total offense. BC lost its coach to NC State, that won�t matter though. The Middies are good but they are simply not good enough to beat BC.

Dec. 30 Alamo Bowl at San Antonio, Iowa vs. Texas, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Both of these teams had disappointing seasons. Texas hoped to compete for the national championship and didn�t even make the conference championship game, plus they lost to Texas A&M. Iowa was also expected to make some noise in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, they just never got on track. Iowa lost to Indiana and dropped three in a row to close out the season. The Longhorns come in 9-3 and are looking to end the year on a high note. Look for Texas to take care of business in Houston and the fellas from Iowa City to have a rough day.

Dec. 30 Chick-fil-A Bowl at Atlanta, Virginia Tech vs. Georgia, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
For both of these teams this was a down year. Both made up for it by dispatching their most hated rivals. Tech beat Virginia and Georgia knocked off both Auburn and Georgia Tech. Georgia is led by a redshirt freshman quarterback who was named to the All SEC Freshman team. On paper, Virginia Tech is probably the better team. The Hokies have a good defense and great special teams that just might be enough to get them past the Bulldogs.

Dec. 31 MPC Computers Bowl at Boise, Idaho, Nevada vs. Miami, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
The bowl game on the blue field. You know, it only makes sense that if you are going to play on fake grass you might as well have fun with it. It�s plastic, after all, and you can make it any color you want. So we have the criminal element of college football vs. Nevada. The Wolf Pack played a pretty good schedule; they beat Big 10 �power� Northwestern and they were pounded by Boise State. I figure Miami is in a state of disarray, however, with Larry Cocker coaching his last game I figure the players will be out to win one for their fired head coach. Give this one to Miami.

Jan. 1 Outback Bowl at Tampa, Fla., Penn State vs. Tennessee, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Is Joe Paterno out of the hospital? As much I hate the Big Orange, I figure they win this easy. Penn State is out of its league here. Only some strange bowl tie-in causes this kind of train wreck. Look for UT to score early and often.

Jan. 1 Cotton Bowl at Dallas, Auburn vs. Nebraska, 11:30 a.m. (FOX)
Does Auburn prove they should be ranked in the Top 10 or does Nebraska do to the Plainsmen, what Wisconsin did last year. Who knows? Auburn beat us so they probably really don�t care. I have no clue. Nebraska did not look great against Oklahoma. Can the Cornhuskers tame the Tigers? The answer is yep, I think they can. However, I don�t think they will. I think the boys from Lee County will show up this year and make the SEC proud.

Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl at Orlando, Fla., Wisconsin vs. Arkansas, 1 p.m. (ABC)
One day I hope to move to Wisconsin; they have really good beer and football-friendly people. Wisconsin has a bad habit of showing up and embarrassing SEC teams in this particular bowl game. Ask the Auburn folks. Wisconsin finished 11-1, second in the Big 10 by virtue of losing to Michigan. Houston Nutt has a good team; he deserves to be SEC coach of the year. He went from a coach on the hot seat to a hot commodity. Wisconsin has a good team but I don�t think they can stop the Hogs running game.

Jan. 1 Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla., Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia, 1 p.m. (CBS)
This one should be interesting. The Mountaineers were one win away from a BCS game but the loss to South Florida knocked them out of contention. Georgia Tech dropped the ACC title game to Wake Forest. Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson won the Biletnikoff award as the nation�s best wide receiver. It won�t be enough. West Virginia kept their coach and they just plain ought to be excited. I look for the Mountaineers to take the Yellow Jackets.

Jan. 1 Rose Bowl at Pasadena, Calif., Southern Cal vs. Michigan, 5 p.m. (ABC)
The main reason so many Big 10, and especially Michigan fans, were so up in arms about the BCS selection of Florida over them is because now they are back in the Rose Bowl. This is a game they have trouble winning. Bo was awful in this game and in the spirit of the late coach and athletic director, I look for Pete Carroll�s bunch to send the Big Blue back to Ann Arbor with another Rose Bowl loss. It only seems right.

Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl at Glendale, Ariz., Boise State vs. Oklahoma, 8:30 p.m. (FOX)
This game will demonstrate why the mid-majors don�t belong in a game with the big boys. This field ain�t blue and OU is not Hawai�i. Bob Stoops� team will demonstrate how defense works. Remember what Georgia did to this team last year? This could be worse. They�ll play Boomer Sooner so many times the band will be as worn out as the football team. Sooners in a run away.

Jan. 2 Orange Bowl at Miami, Wake Forest vs. Louisville, 8 p.m. (FOX)
It�s time for the Cards to put up or shut up. The Big East has been whelming once again. Yes, I know Louisville beat Miami, but who didn�t? This will actually be an interesting game. I am not sure I believe in either of these teams. Is Brian Brohm for real or has he just padded his numbers against second rate teams? Is Wake Forest really that good or is the ACC really that bad? Honestly, I just don�t know. Wake Forest went into Tallahassee and made Florida State look really, really bad; that doesn�t happen often. I�ll go with Wake Forest in a close one.

Jan. 3 Sugar Bowl at New Orleans, LSU vs. Notre Dame, 8 p.m. (FOX)
Can you say overrated? I know I can. If Notre Dame was in a real conference they would be in a world of hurt but shoot, they can whip up on Army, Navy and Air Force and then whine because nobody takes them seriously. LSU is for real. They stumbled against Auburn - the stars must have been in the right place that day - and they lost to SEC champ Florida, but since then they have been on a serious roll. I look for the Bengal Tigers to make for a big party in the Big Easy for the purple and gold. Geaux Tigers!

Jan. 6 International Bowl at Toronto, Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan, Noon (ESPN2)
So, this bowl game is in Canada, eh? Shove off you hosers! Cincinnati placed six players on the All Big East Team, however, they have a new head coach. Their old coach is now the head man at Michigan State. Both of these teams are known for defense and the game could come down to a big play. Cincinnati upset Rutgers, proving they can play with the big boys. I think they�ll handle the Broncos of Western Michigan.

Jan. 7 GMAC Bowl at Mobile, Ala., Southern Miss. vs. Ohio, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Is this a great place for this bowl or what? There is a lull between the last BCS game and the national championship game so two minor bowls are shoehorned in between. Brilliant! Mobile in January - will it have better weather than Birmingham in late December? USM has had their problems scoring all year. I watched them in the C-USA Championship game and they never could get it together. Ohio is also trying to bounce back from a loss in their conference championship. The seafood is good and Mobile is a nice place to visit. I give home field advantage and the game to USM.

Jan. 8 BCS National Championship at Glendale, Ariz., Ohio State vs. Florida, 8 p.m. (FOX)
This is the big enchilada, the game for all of the marbles. On paper, Ohio State should win going away. They are the media darlings. They have a quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy. ESPN and ABC have been in love with this team all year. Florida has had its ups and downs, however, they got better as the season went along and they knocked off Arkansas in the SEC Championship game. Florida has a good offense and a defense that can make plays when it has to, especially in the passing game. I am going against conventional wisdom and picking the Gators. I think that by game time they will be sick of hearing about Ohio State and why Michigan should be in this game and not them. They are out to make believers out of the nation and I think they will.

Bonus extra! Now that you have worked your way through the longest blog I have ever written you can have a prize. The first ten people to email me at editor@mybama.com will get a free tee shirt. The mybama tee shirt makes the prefect Christmas gift and best of all � they�re free! I only have XL, L and M. To get yours, email me and give me your name, address and size and I�ll put that puppy in the mail to you.

Happy Holidays

&

Roll Tide

The new coach

Last year Kines created a defense out of air. It was not a great defense, but it was more than adequate. If there had been a complementary offense we would not be in this mess. I sincerely believe that.

We need a coach who is going to shoot straight, with the administration, media, fans and especially the players. The coach must have good communications skills. He must be able to call his own shots and he must be given enough time to get his players and program in place.

ESPN and many other commentators keep saying that Alabama fans and boosters are being unrealistic because the landscape of college football has changed. I really don�t buy that. No, you can�t bring in 125 players and build a program back up overnight. However, it�s not like Mike Shula left the cupboard bare. There�s talent in Tuscaloosa and if someone can come in and work on recruiting there is still more to be brought in. Alabama is a fine program, with a winning tradition and great facilities. Someone can come in here and win, year in and year out. I�m not saying they�ll dominate the SEC, but they can compete and win.

The new coach will be expected, probably unrealistically, to beat Auburn next year. This coach will be given a honeymoon period. My guess is it will be two years before the talk radio buzz gets to the big boosters or whomever it was who decided to pull the plug on Mike Shula. In a perfect world, with the level of talent in Tuscaloosa, that would not be a problem. Unfortunately, the world is not perfect, and if the style of the new coach does not mesh with the players on campus, there might be a very long row to hoe. As John Lennon said �It will be just like starting over.�

Roll Tide

Happy Holidays

In 1843 Charles Dickens so eloquently wrote of Christmas as ". . . a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

No matter what holiday you celebrate this time of year, the sentiment is the same. Be kind and giving this holiday season. I hope to have you all back in 2007. On behalf of everyone who helps to bring you this website and the information, thanks for coming by.

Happy Holidays and, of course, Roll Tide

It's Saban!

Damned if we do . . .

I must admit that my voice was one that expressed surprise and even dismay at the firing of Coach Shula. I think it is more than fair to express an opinion on something and then move on. However, I think they have beat that horse to death. I even heard some incredibly disparaging remarks about Tuscaloosa by the worldwide leaders this morning. You�ll be happy to know according to one of their on air radio personalities Tuscaloosa has no steakhouses and a steam bath in T-town is when your hot water heater explodes. These remarks were made in response to the Saban�s seeking a different lifestyle, i.e. one in a small town associated with a university. I reckon all one needs for a good lifestyle is a spa and a good steakhouse, never mind any of those darn quality of life issues.

If you have monitored our site you have seen numerous articles that bashed the Coach Saban for what he said before he left Miami. Other articles and editorials just flat-out trashed him as a person. All I can say about that is, I reckon in the next few weeks and over the next year, we�ll find out what kind of stuff Nick Saban is made of. Is he here to stay? I don�t know. The smart money says he�ll abandon us in three or four years and take the next job. At this point I am assuming he is here to stay, at least for eight years.

I also want to say I am excited. I am very, very excited. I am looking forward to recruiting and spring ball and I�ll be counting the days until 09/01/2007 and the kickoff of the Western Carolina game. It won�t be on TV, but it really won�t matter. The Saban era began today. Hopefully, it�s the beginning of a long and productive era that enhances the legacy of the Crimson Tide.

Here�s hoping our future�s so bright we gotta wear shades!

Roll Tide

Thoughts on $32 million

The efforts of Mal Moore and those in charge at U of A over the past five years must have been leading to this day. The idea was to push Alabama into the forefront of the college football world. They spent $100 million dollars upgrading the facilities in Tuscaloosa. They have a show place with Bryant-Denny Stadium and the practice facility is second to none. Now they have the coach that they wanted.

Hiring Nick Saban was huge success. Alabama got reams of media attention. The press conference was carried live on national TV. There have been thousands of words written in the print media. Hundreds of newspapers and every major network carried news of the hiring of a football coach in Alabama. Much of the publicity was not favorable, which was to be expected. Be that as it may, for two days the top sports story in the nation was the wooing of Nick Saban.

I think all along the plan was for one day, maybe for one month Alabama could stand alone on the top of the heap in the world of college football. Something they have not done since 1992. They have the best facilities, the highest paid coach and for a short time they can bask in the glow of what Mal Moore pulled off. It is unlikely that Saban will remain the highest paid coach for long. Once that happens everyone can cringe and beat up Ohio State, Oklahoma and anyone else who tries to one up Alabama. It was likely for these reasons and to make absolutely sure that Nick Saban would come to Tuscaloosa that all of that money was thrown at him. Now he has to earn it. For the record, if he does what he is paid to do, and fulfils his contractual obligations, I think it will be money well invested.

Let me repeat it is a lot of money. It is probably too much, especially given that the U of A administration flatly ignored a request from the faculty senate to add a $0.50 surcharge on all tickets to athletic events with the money raised going to buy books for the library. This is something I feel should be done. I am, and always will be an Alabama football fan, but I am also an Alabama alumnus and I believe we should also support the University�s academic mission. For the uninitiated the athletic department at most, if not all major universities, is a separate creature from the university. That is, the funding for the athletic department comes from the revenue generated by ticket sales and other sources, such as bowl and TV revenues. Thus the money to pay coaches does not come out of the university�s operating budget. Conversely the money generated by the athletic department generally stays with the athletic department, that is they don�t share with the rest of the university. This may have something to do with the congressional investigation of the nonprofit status of the NCAA.

Hold the Phone!

Of the rest only Ole Miss, Western Carolina, LA-Monroe and Vandy could be listed as pretty sure wins. I would stick Miss State in there, but then again . . . . We have seven home games, which include Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU. We have to go to Jacksonville to play Florida State, which will NOT be a neutral site and of course we have to go to Lee County.

All of that said we should win eight games, which would be a major improvement from last year. That is a far cry from a western division championship, but I don�t think we are there yet. The good news is there was youth and talent on the football team last year. Those young players will get better. All I am saying is just don�t expect a miracle. We will lose a game or two. When we do, remember that Nick Saban is the same coach that you fell in love with in January.

Roll Tide

Why Bama Fans Are Football Fans

Oh well, as the Bear used to say, "Basketball is what you do between football and spring football." Truer words have never been spoken. Bama basketball I�ll take a pass. Meanwhile St. Nick is shaking up the recruiting world. Even if doesn�t get any of the big name kids he�s going after; at least he�s got their attention.

Oh and how about Mike Shula being in the running to be the head coach job with the Miami Dolphins? Wouldn�t that just be great? We could swap coaches, no harm no foul. I�m not sure how it would play in south Florida, but one never knows. Good luck Coach Shula!

What is up with the Manning Award? I just don�t get it. Is this the award for the best quarterback to never win a championship in college or what? Do they pick guys who came close but no cigar? That can�t be it because Matt Leinart and Vince Young both won it. You got me.

I do have to agree with the Montgomery Advertiser writer who said that Saban�s policy of limited access to the press could cause trouble. Nobody is hungrier for information than Alabama fans. He�ll probably figure that out when 50,000 people show up at the A-Day game. Here�s hoping St. Nick lands some big ones!

Roll Tide

Where have all the good times gone?

Question one: Will the Alabama women�s team win a SEC game this year? They�ve been close at home and have looked a lot like the men�s team on the road. Question two: Will the men�s team win a SEC road game? It looks highly unlikely. On the road those guys melt faster than a Gulf Shores snow. Can you say NIT?

The only real question on my mind is, when is the A-Day game? I reckon we�ll probably have to wait until after February 7, 2007 for that little tidbit of information, but that�s OK. No matter what happens with recruiting, Saban has already stirred the pot. He has gone after Auburn commitments, Florida commitments and LSU commitments and it looks like he has snagged a former Michigan commitment. It should make for a feisty Media Days in July and a real snappy football season.

The final question that lingers is, will 92,000 people show up to watch the A-Day game? Only time will tell. I dropped my crystal ball this morning and everything is just a little fuzzy.

Roll Tide

Resurrection Shuffle?

The first time we lose a game, and folks, that could happen as soon as September 15 when Arkansas comes to Bryant-Denny, the universal cry of �We are paying that SOB $4 million and he can�t beat Arkansas!� It could happen. It might well happen. I know there will be a honeymoon period, but I think people are expecting this amazing turn-around.

It could happen; it might happen - the turn around that is - but then again, for the most part, these are going to be the same players who went 6-7 last year. They are going to have to learn a new offense and a new defense. They should be better; the freshmen will be sophomores and the sophomores will be juniors. The whole offensive line comes back. Jimmy Johns will be back, except that I heard some stupid rumor that he will be playing linebacker. Where do these things come from? There will be gaping holes on the defensive line, at linebacker and in the defensive backfield, it could be the second year in a row where the offense will have to win games.

The good news is that John Parker Wilson will not be a new starter. The wide receivers are good and there is a nice stable of young backs that can give it a go. However, who will play fullback and will it matter, since we are clueless regarding the whole offensive scheme. Ah, the off season, it gives you something to think about. Stay warm, y�all and try not to get too carried away. After all, it�s only January and we don�t even know all the coaches� names yet.

Roll Tide

Another First

I reckon we�ll find out something about the overall direction the team will be headed over the course of spring practice. That is, if he allows the media access to the show. Saban�s staff muzzle is going to take some getting used to. Those of you, who feel that the fourth estate is the spawn of Satan, will come to realize that they are also the nice folks who provide us with all that information about the Crimson Tide to which, we have grown accustomed. There will be no more of those absolutely swell Joe Kines' quotes. I for one will miss those.

The spring game will be the next first. At some point we may find out what all of those coaches down in Tuscaloosa do, but then again maybe not, you just never know? I mean this is very much like either a wedding or a funeral. Every passing week, holiday and season will bring a series of firsts. For better or worse all of us Tide fans are along for the ride. I hope he�s got some good tunes.

Well, those in the know say the recruiting class is nothing special, middle of the SEC pack. Which is probably in the top five in several conferences. It will be interesting to see how many of the kids contribute in the long run and how many of them graduate. Here�s to the fall!

*In the English sense, that is, he stirs the pot and likes to mix it up.

Roll Tide

�

Getting ready for spring

What is up in the SEC? If Frank Broyles retires are Houston Nutt�s days numbered? What�s up with Auburn�s schedule? I mean Kansas State, New Mexico State, South Florida and Tennessee Tech; I haven�t seen anything that lame since Bama�s 2006 schedule. Oh well, Auburn should be 4-0 going into Gainesville, if they come out 5-0 I�ll be impressed.

Spring practice at the Capstone should be quite interesting, if for no other reason than to get a clue of where Coach Saban will take the Tide. I don�t know about you, but I really have no idea. All I remember about his LSU teams were they were generally pretty good. Then again Coach Fran creamed one of them, Coach Fran did have his moments. Will Saban put in a system and stick to it? Will he rearrange things to fit his talent? I must admit I just don�t know. I know Mike Shula had a plan and for better or worse he stuck with it. I think considering all things that he would have had a good 2007 team. I reckon that means Saban should have one as well. The only fly in that ointment is the whole learning new defensive and offensive schemes.

Oh well, the future is hard to read. That�s why we wait and see. Here�s hoping the Alabama women�s basketball team wins an SEC game and the men beat the Big Blue. Have fun see ya next week!

Roll Tide

Who's going to run the ball?

Who is going to run the ball next year? Gone are both fullbacks Tim Castille and Le�Ron McClain as well as starter Kenneth Darby. That leaves Jimmy Johns, Roy Upchurch, Glenn Coffee and Ali Sharrief with any real game experience. Coffee spent most of the year hurt. Upchurch hurt his ankle in October and Sharrief played only sparingly and now there is talk of moving Jimmy Johns to linebacker.

Saban brought in one fullback, Jermaine Griffin, but he is a good one. Griffin never lost a game in high school and rushed for over 1,000 yards last year. The other two backs coming into the program are Demetruis Goode who was in prep school last year and grayshirt Jamar Taylor who will participate in spring drills. Taylor appears to be a solid player, but he may not be a big play threat. A wildcard in the mix is Marquis Maze. Maze is listed as an athlete and could be a playmaker. Maze may push Javier Arenas as a return specialist, if Arenas can catch on as a wide receiver. However, Arenas has quietly become a solid punt return man.

Saban talked like he wasn�t going to redshirt anybody, but that could just be talk. Will these new comers be expected to play right away? Everything could come down to the offensive scheme. If they run a two back set, there will have to be a blocking back, be it a true fullback or Johns or someone else in a different role. If the offense is geared to passing, that changes everything.

Of the backs from last year�s team, most just lack experience, there appears to be talent. Glen Coffee looked pretty good in 2005 finishing third on the team in rushing yards. Johns has proven he can do the job, but can he be a featured back? Sharrief had flashes last year in mop up duty and Upchuch had modest numbers before he was injured.

Where does that leave the backfield? It's a question mark, but so was John Parker Wilson last year. Saban is savvy, the fact that he only signed three backs indicates he probably is comfortable with the guys on campus, most of them are unproven but they all have talent. How will Saban use the talent from last year and how or will he mix in the freshmen? Some of these questions will be answered in the spring. The rest will have to wait until August.

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BaBaBaBaaaaaaaad!

I read an interview with Coach Saban today and he seems to speak in tongues. He has taken coach speak to a new space and time continuum. I only hope the players can understand what he is saying and that some how it translates to wins. Though the coach said: �I never make predictions, I never really worry about what the outcome is going to be. I worry about all the things we need to do to get the best outcome. And I know that's foreign to a lot of people because everybody is so result-oriented.�

I�m afraid the Bama Nation is a tad on the results oriented side. They are going to expect to win next year. Unfortunately, they are going to expect to win early and often. Those members of said nation who addicted to talk radio will have no idea what Coach Saban is talking about. They don�t know nothing about no process. They will simply not understand why the boys didn�t get the process completed in time to beat LSU or Tennessee or Auburn.

Don�t get me wrong, I think the team will be much better than they were last year. They were young last year and now they have a year�s worth of experience. The bad news is they have it in a system that will not be used in 2007. They have the spring and fall to learn a new one, plus they have Western Carolina and Vandy before they take on Arkansas. So they can get the system down and get to work on the process.

In reality we should know a whole lot more after the spring. We should have a clue where the team is headed. If Saban is as aggressive in the reshaping of the team as he has been in recruiting everything should take care of itself.

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It�s not over �till it�s over

One of the best quotes after the Alabama-Kentucky game was from Kentucky�s Ramel Bradley "We're a much more dangerous team when everybody's scoring.� Ya think? This guy is either destined to be a sports writer or a coach. I reckon some Alabama player could have shot back, �We win more when we can hold a lead.� Well, whatever.

At any rate, we are less than two weeks from the start of spring practice. I know I sound like a broken record, but I am really excited about that. It will be interesting and they can�t lose. I wonder if the press coverage of the Alabama spring practice will be better than Auburn�s. It strikes me that they really haven�t been getting an overwhelming amount of ink. It could be timing; basketball has been in full force. However, now with both the Tide and the Tigers in NIT land there should be less competition for the writers� ink. Plus, with the new coach, everybody�s going to want to find out what he�ll do with the team and how he�ll treat reporters. Yet another Nick Saban first, we�re in for a whole season of them.

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Day Dreaming in Crimson & White

When I was at the University in the 1970s I only went to a couple of games. In the world of student tickets and seating frat boys ruled. The seating was general admission in the student section and the Greeks got the best seats. They sent their pledges to save them. Those poor kids probably had to get up at some ungodly hour, with throbbing heads and save seats, I mean whole sections, for the upperclassmen. We didn�t get up early and it was often more trouble than it was worth to see a game at the stadium. That sounds sacrilegious now, but we were lazy.

Regardless, we either watched the game on TV or gathered around a radio and listened. It was a social and cultural thing that crossed all sorts of lines economic, political, racial you name it, Alabama fans gathered together and rolled some Tides.

One of the coolest things I can remember was sometime before the 1975 Sugar Bowl game some friends and I had gone down to Grant�s �on 10th Street baby,� (10th street is now Paul Bryant Drive) to buy some beer. I remember saying how about a big Roll Tide and my compatriots obliged me. A Tuscaloosa patrol car was driving by just as we were yelling. He put on his brakes, stopped, rolled down his window and both cops yelled, �Go to hell Notre Dame!� That was too cool, because we figured they were gonna bust us.

While in school, I worked a various pizza establishments. One year we played Nebraska during the regular season. The game was early, one o�clock, kickoff or something like that. I was the day manager. Generally, during the day you make ten or twelve pizzas and get everything ready for the night shift. Needless to say by 2:30 everybody in T-town decided they needed a pizza right now. There was one driver and me, it was loads of fun. At one point some frat boy called and wanted a pie and I had to tell him it would be at least two hours to deliver the pizza and he wanted to know why. No doubt, that boy went far. I think we won and they pretty much had to carry me out of there. Oh, of course, we had the game on the TV at the pizza joint.

Here�s hopping all of your Tide memories are in color!

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Duh!

It seems so simple; yet it also seems to be a concept that is often overlooked in order to get someone�s system in place. Major Applewhite, the new offensive coordinator, said just that. He isn�t going to try and pound the star shaped peg into a round hole. He is going to try and utilize the players currently available in Tuscaloosa. Mercy!

It is so very exciting to listen to the philosophy of this coaching staff. It is one that has not been heard in Tuscaloosa since the 1990s and maybe even, dare I say it, since before 1981. Given the now astronomical expectations of the Bama Nation, we can only hope that the philosophy turns into something more tangible.

Realistically, there should easily be seven wins. Depending upon many factors there could be as many as ten. Those extra three will be the result of a better conditioned team with fourth quarter staying power and a little luck, which this program has been woefully short of the last few years.

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A playoff � myth and reality

One wag suggested that there should be January madness for college football so that the wow and excitement (it is so hard for me to write these words in conjunction with basketball) of the NCAA Tournament can be felt in the world of college football. I say fine. If you are going to have a tournament have one. None of this pussy footing around with some silly plus four or whatever bastardization of the bowl system that the compromisers are seeking.

If you are going to wreck college football, you might as well go all the way. Get rid of the entire bowl system � goodbye Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton and insert name of corporate sponsored here bowl, bye! Ditch �em, who cares. Now we set up the tournament format. Now you take the eleven major conferences plus, of course, Notre Dame and come up with some sort of system. That will give you 12 teams you might as well have 36 more and go with an even 48. We can come up with some sort of seeding system based on the phases of the moon, leap year, strength of schedule, coaches� salary and AP ranking.

You invite all the conference champions and get rid of the lower seeded teams by having them play teams from real conferences. You are down to 24 teams then you keep going and finally we have Brent Musburger and Joe Theismann call the Microsoft Windows-Dell Computer-Budweiser National Championship game presented by Three Musketeers, coming to a flat screen near you in HD. Unfortunately, this or some kind of less sarcastic version is the only way you will ever have a real playoff. Do we really want to destroy the bowls altogether? To do a playoff and do it right I�m afraid we must. I mean the bowls have been around nearly 100, but shoot that was before cable and without cable, well you know.

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Coach Speak Cubed

Q: What did you think of the state of this program when you got here?

A: I would really rather not get into that. Then I'm going to get into comparisons, criticisms, whatever. And I'd rather not do that. What I always said, it is what it is. You take it from where it is and you try to make it as good as it can be. You try to build off of what you have and make it better and better. That's what we're trying to do. It is what it is is all I can say. I'm not saying it is what it should be, I'm not saying it's what it could be and it's certainly not what it was. It is what it is and that's what we have to deal with.

What the heck was he saying? I can understand not wanting to compare what he is doing with what Mike Shula did. I can understand wanting, perhaps to wait until maybe after the spring to make some evaluation on the team, but seriously what was he saying. There is a whole bunch of words and not much meaning.

Let�s evaluate:

I would really rather not get into that. (I don�t want to talk about that.) Then I'm going to get into comparisons, criticisms, whatever. (I�m not going to talk about that.) And I'd rather not do that. (I don�t want to talk about that.) What I always said, it is what it is. ("It is what it is." I really hate this phrase, it has no meaning whatsoever and it seems to be really in with people who want to say lots of words, but not really say anything.) You take it from where it is and you try to make it as good as it can be. (We want to make the team better than it was last year.) You try to build off of what you have and make it better and better. (We want to make the team better than it was last year and continue to improve.) That's what we're trying to do. (An actual statement.) It is what it is is all I can say. (Here again, he�s saying nothing.) I'm not saying it is what it should be, I'm not saying it's what it could be and it's certainly not what it was. (I have no idea what this means.) It is what it is and that's what we have to deal with. (We have to play with the players that we have and we won�t have any new ones until the fall.)

If you didn�t know any better, you�d think he was from the government and he was here to help. I, like most of the rest of the Bama Nation, have put all my eggs in Nick Saban�s basket. It is way too early to start evaluating the man or his coaching style. I just hope that once we start playing games and there is a problem with say the defensive line, he will actually tell us something like "The tackles are not getting the job done and we are going to have to think about some personnel changes." That might be hoping for too much.

In the end, like everybody else, if he wins I�ll be happy with the coach speak.

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Spring Football

It seems they found several. They seemed to have been amazed that there were people who lived in Lexington who were not Kentucky basketball fans. I found this whole thing absolutely amazing. Tubby Smith left UK with almost no press fanfare. No gnashing of teeth, no a good man was sent packing. There was no story about the crazies who ran him off, nothing about the win at any cost mentality.

Well, sometimes I am just plain amazed. We might be crazy, god love us, I know we might be. But, I honestly believe we know that there are a few people who don�t share our passion and I don�t think a story on it would make the front page of either the Tuscaloosa News or the Birmingham News.

It makes you wonder if the national media wasn�t out to get Alabama after all. Oh well, I reckon when you are the best people feel like they have to take shots. Or the truth is probably that basketball really is only the thing between football and spring football just like the Bear said.

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Mercy!

Let me say I was a Mike Shula supporter. I thought he was a good coach and did well by the program. I don�t think he should have been fired last year. He was, and we have a new coach. Frankly, I think we have the right coach for this point in time. I think Nick Saban will do what we all know needs to be done in Tuscaloosa. Restore the swagger, beat the teams we are supposed to beat, win some games we are not supposed to win and then become one with the SEC Championship game, which will translate into becoming one with the national championship.

How long will it take? I have no clue. I can tell you one thing. By the end of the Arkansas game we will know what kind of team we have. Western Carolina will shake out the bugs, Vandy will be Vandy. If we just plain whip them it will be a step in the right direction. Arkansas will speak volumes. If we take care of business at home against Arkansas, this team might have a chance to do something special.

Can we beat Auburn? Can we beat Tennessee? Who knows? If we begin to crush weak teams in the fourth quarter, if we snatch a game in the fourth quarter we will know that things have changed. I just want to see one game, one game where we come back in the fourth quarter and pull it out. Score when we need to in order to pull out a win. That would simply be special. When that happens and people I think it will. We will know that St. Nick has arrived and that we have all been good boys and girls and the coal will be replaced by some very special presents!

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This, That and The Other

The only highlight at this time among Alabama spring sports is the softball team. The baseball team is in a tailspin and the youth and inexperience of the gymnastics team finally caught up with them at Salt Lake City. The softball team is on a roll. I think I said that last year and I hope I don�t put a hex on them again this year.

There is the NFL draft. The only real question seems to be will Brady Quinn go higher than JaMarcus Russell? There really shouldn�t be a question, but since Brady Quinn played for Notre Dame he is garnering much more attention than if he say played for Mississippi State or Missouri. Can any of you say Rick Mirer? I know I can and I think Mr. Quinn is in the same sort of bust category. We�ll see, regardless he�ll soon be a rich young man.

Spring football gave us all hope. What we must remember is that Nick Saban has the same players that Mike Shula had. The good news is those players were young last year and are a year older now. They should, and I think, will be better next year. They will not win 12 games and most likely will not make it to the SEC Championship game. I don�t want to throw cold water on the party, but we are not quite there yet. We still have to beat Auburn and LSU to get to Atlanta, it could happen. Stay tuned.

Spring Game

You have to remember that it was a spring game. It was not like they emptied the playbook. It was fairly vanilla. There are also some glaring problems. Either the return guys are really, really good or we have a coverage problem. I remember we were awful at covering kicks last year. There were also way too many dropped passes, another hold over from last year. The punter looked good as did both place kickers.

The defense didn�t exactly shut down either offense. That might be a mixed blessing. It is a young defense in a new scheme. The offense looked comfortable, the run game produced and John Parker Wilson looked very smooth in the shotgun. The defense made a couple of plays in the secondary and even got some pressure on both quarterbacks. A good pass rush would be a most welcome change.

One really cool thing I noticed about the A-Day game was how they cut the grass. I know this sounds strange, but it looked swell. The field at Bryant-Denny has a big circle with a �A� in the middle. What they did was cut the grass in concentric circles; radiating out from the big A. It looked good on the TV. I don�t remember that from last year it was a nice touch.

As the coach says it is part of the process and it is what it is. All in all railing on the team�s performance in the A-day game is like beating up a movie you liked. There is always some stuff to pick at, but overall I was happy. The bad part is I want to see more and I want to see it now. Alas it�s May.

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Softball

The way that the team has plays is a reflection of Coach Murphy�s savvy. This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year. He lost the whole infield and his ace pitcher from last year. Regardless, they began in the year in the top ten and even rose as high as number one this year. Softball has entered its tournament phase. Hopefully, the Tide can prevail in the SEC tournament and then move on to bigger and better things in the NCAA tournament.

The young women who play softball for the University are great representatives of our school. They have won and lost with style and class. Unfortunately, for them every time I have watched them on TV they have lost. But, you know what, I am going to keep watching because I know that sooner or later they are going to win one of those big games and make us all proud.

This has not been a stellar year for the sports teams of the University of Alabama. Softball has been one of the very bright spots. Here�s hoping that they will continue to win and bring home a championship. Regardless, they have exceeded all expectations.

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Does Bama Really Eat Its Young?

I realized we have had a herd of coaches since Gene Stallings rode into the sunset. So let�s recap. Following Stallings was, by popular demand, Mike DuBose. One thing that should be made perfectly clear is that fans really wanted this guy. DuBose compiled a stellar 23-24 record. He started off 4-7, 7-5, 10-2 and 3-8 He lost twice to La Tech and Mississippi State (OK these were some of Jackie Sherrill�s best teams) and he lost to Central Florida. The melt down of the 2000 team was just amazing. He probably should have been fired at the beginning of the 1999 season after the sordid affair with the secretary came to light. He did win the 1999 SEC Championship, the last one we have won and he beat Florida in the Swamp.

I know people might say he wasn�t given enough time and there is something to that. However, after the debacle of the 2000 team, it was simply time for him to go. In a recent interview he said that he was so not ready to be head coach at Alabama and it�s hard to argue with that.

Next in the coaches hall of shame was Dennis Franchione. Coach Fran is the last Alabama coach to beat Auburn. He compiled a very respectable 17-8 record at the Capstone. Then right after the mass production of the Coach Fran bobble head dolls he fled to College Station, Texas. Leaving Mal Moore to hold the rope. Fran was a good coach but as they say in Hollywood it just didn�t take. There have been all kinds of things written about the contract extension that he didn�t sign and the clauses that were in the contract. Perhaps the University tried to do some strange things contractually, but be that as it may; Fran got out of the kitchen. He was not shown the door.

Then there was Mike Price, the coach who almost wasn�t. Price with his spread offense flew into Tuscaloosa and was prepared to launch an air attack the likes of which the SEC had not seen since the days of Hal Mumme. Then came the fall. It seems Coach Price had a thing for nudie bars. What was the man thinking this is the Bible belt, not the great northwest? As they say wham, bam, thank you ma�am and Mike Price was indeed shown the door.

That brings us to Mike Shula. Mike, bless his heart, left Alabama with a 26-24 record, a winning record. Unfortunately he did not leave on a high note. One thing that can be said about Coach Shula was that he was very loyal. That was also his down fall. I honestly think that if he had canned his offensive and special team coordinators he would still be the headman in Tuscaloosa. I also don�t think he was treated as well as he could have been. We have yet to hear his side of the story and given the class of the man, we are not likely to any time soon.

So if you add it all up three were fired (is it really fair to count Mike Price?) and one ran away. Is the University a coach�s nightmare? Can anyone meet the Tide fans expectations? The answer is no and yes.

Being the coach at the University of Alabama is a job unlike any other. Tommy Tuberville may be under a certain amount of pressure at Auburn, but it is nothing like the job in Tuscaloosa. Maybe there are a pile of babies out there named Tuberville, but I�ll bet none of them got that name before he coached a single game. In addition to the pressure the job can be very rewarding. For instance, I�ll bet if Nick Saban beats Auburn this year he will not have to pay for his house. Oh and there is the not insignificant matter of $4 million dollars per annum.

I really don�t think most Alabama fans are insane. There are some fueled by talk radio and other hallucinogens that just feel that they have some right to make utter fools of themselves. These would likely be the same brain trust that threw beer cans at the NASCAR race in Talladega or at least their kissing cousins.

What we want from a football coach is one who can win football games. A guy who will keep the program disciplined and out of trouble with the NCAA. Someone who will insure that the team improves over the course of the year and yes beat Auburn more often than not, in reality that is not reaching for the moon. It would be more than nice if they won one or two national championships along the way.

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What was he thinking?

This incident was blown out of proportion. It seems that someone from a University of Miami fan site saw Saban talking to the would be players and contacted the Miami Hearld. To their credit they did not go over the top with some inflamatory story, but simply asked the question "Did Saban commit an NCAA violation?" It seems likely that he did though it was a minor one. Apparently, these minor violations happen all the time.

The story hit the AP wire and before you know it Saban was once again everywhere. Two things quickly come to mind here. First Nick Saban should have known better than to be making small talk with would be recruits. Two the media either has a thing for Nick Saban or Alabama or both.

The good news for Alabama is the new story on the Auburn recruits and what looks like a case of someone messing with their grades and/or transcripts. It doesn�t look like anyone with Auburn was involved, but at least for now it has replaced the Saban story. Ain�t the off season fun. I wish we could just play football and complain about dropped passes and a lack of a running game.

Be that as it may, Nick Saban cannot afford to play fast and loose with the NCAA rules. We have been down that dusty road and the end results are not a pretty sight. Here�s hoping that St. Nick shows a little more discretion in his recruiting activities. Say what you will about Mike Shula; there was never a murmur of NCAA violations flying around the football program when he was at the helm. I don�t know about you, but I liked it that way.

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Vindicated! Sort of

The magic number 2014 has to do with the current contract between the Big 10 and the PAC 10, the Rose Bowl and ABC. (2010 is when the current BCS contract is up.) Without those two conferences there simply is no deal. Another deal breaker was Dr. Machen�s insistence that all of the Division I schools share equally in the revenue from the proposed playoff. My guess is the president�s like the money they are getting from the current system. The SEC just divided $122 million between the twelve member schools. That is a nice chunk of change.

The only way I could ever see a playoff working is something on the scale of the basketball playoffs. A field that size, 64 teams,would allow more teams in, which would more or less replicate the bowls. Thus allowing the various schools to gather the profits from those games and TV,which is after all, what allows the universities to maintain their athletic programs, including all of the women�s and other non-revenue sports.

I�ll beat the dead horse one more time. I know yall are getting sick of this, but probably no more than I am of hearing the drumbeat of a playoff each season. A playoff will kill college football, as we know it, period. It will not be the same. It will be something completely different.

Why do we need a playoff? 1) So ESPN will shutup. You and I both know that will not work. No matter what they won�t like it. Somebody will be left out the playoff and the talking heads will go on adnauseam. 2) So the championship can be decided on the field? Please. Half of the fun of college football is arguing about who has the best team. That is only closely followed by pointing out all those great teams that got the shaft, such as the 1966 Alabama team, the 2004 Auburn team, how many undefeated Penn State teams were never ranked number one? 3) None of the above. We don�t need one. Only the power of ESPN has brought the clarion call into the living rooms of people who heretofore were perfectly happy watching their teams play in the Babybackribs.com Bowl.

I promise I�ll stop when they stop. It is now less than 90 days until kickoff. It's going to be a long hot summer.

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Football Potpourri

Jimmy Barnes has decided to move on. My lord, people have gone crazy. How will that effect the football team? Well, duh they�ll have one less quarterback and it could have some bearing on the NCAA�s Academic Progress Rate or APR. Kids leave, for whatever reason, it happens. I know he came highly regarded from California. But as I told a friend of mine the other day they all come highly regarded. They are all the best thing since canned beer, unfortunately sometimes they just turn out to be more like a warm PBR. I am not saying Jimmy Barnes is or was he just needed to be elsewhere and that�s OK, I hope he does well. In all sincerity I do, he seemed like a nice kid.

Will there be an SEC Network? Well I hope so. That will make my eventual relocation to Wisconsin have a much shorter transitional period. I can keep the Tide by my side. I can watch all of those Alabama-LA Monroe games that aren�t televised elsewhere. It would be great. I mean the Big 10 and Mountain West have one, you know it is sort of like cell phones and digital cameras everybody else has one so we got to get one too. Gadget guys are like that and I reckon the SEC is the king of gadget guys, I mean after all one of our own invented the BCS.

The Saban airwaves have quieted down. One summer SEC meeting is over and come July with Media Days we�ll have the last one before �fall� practice starts. During Media Days we will be voted to finish third in the SEC West. Get used to it Bama fans that is where we will be relegated for the next couple of years or so. Of course that really ain�t so bad considering LSU and Auburn are likely top ten teams.

Here�s hoping the grill is kind to you and the skeeters don�t bite too much and you manage to keep from getting sun burned. Have fun, listen to some good music and sip a cool beverage.

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Make it stop!

To my knowledge no coach at Alabama has ever been fired for not winning a national championship. Granted I don�t remember a coach before Paul Bryant. As memory serves Ray Perkins left to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bill Curry left to coach the Kentucky Wildcats. Gene Stallings retired. I realize there is talk that he less that willing retired, but he was not fired. Mike DuBose resigned as I recall; though his firing would have been a done deal. Dennis Franchione left to coach Texas A&M. Mike Price was fired before he ever coached a game. Mike Shula was fired. There are various explanations for that but he never won any sort of championship. So I suppose an argument could be made that he was fired for not winning a national championship. So I reckon one person's facts are another person's, how shall I put this delicately, BS?

So what is going on? How will the University and the fans react to the upcoming football season? Well, most likely it will be a year that will start off with very high expectations, that will be tempered as the reality and limitations of the team emerges. I don�t think the fans will be throwing themselves off bridges and threatening Nick Saban, if the Tide doesn�t win twelve games. What I think people will be looking for is a team that gets better as the season progresses. That is the sign of a well-coached team.

Also, something is very, very badly misaligned in the universe. The media, which once could not say enough nice about Mike Shula is beating up Alabama like nobody�s business; all of the media, that is, except Paul Finebaum. I�m sorry but something is very wrong with this picture. I can�t remember the last time he had anything good to say about the Crimson Tide.

My thought is that we are in one of those Star Trek episodes where somehow we have floated into a temporal anomaly. We are doomed to stay there unless Jordi or Dax can somehow rig up a tacion burst through the deflector shield and knock us out of the loop; or until the season starts and an actual football game is played.

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Whoa!

This must be the year of the reversible coach. We got Billy Donavan going to the Magic and then he got to thinking and well never mind. It happens. How many times have you made a big decision and then wanted a �do over?� These guys were lucky, they got one.

I am happy for Coach Wells and the Alabama program. They had a rough year, but they did all right. He had to make some tough calls this year. Wells made an example of a starting pitcher who did not toe the line. Was the best call for the team from an athletic standpoint, probably not? It was probably the best thing for the team in terms of discipline. That�s a good thing and it will likely pay off down the line.

This is one time I can quote Yogi Berra in context or at least paraphrase him. I guess it really ain�t over until it is over or some such. Welcome back Jim and good luck in 2008!

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July

The weather is actually rather pleasant for July, damp. I know it is hot as three ovens and dry, dry, dry at home (Birmingham). I am getting the itch to put an old football game in the VCR, I have no games on DVD, I am old school as are the games, Gene Stallings vintage. I�ll try and hold out until the NFL preseason.

This year is one of massive anticipation for Tide fans. Duh. If you can see catsup pouring or not and hear Carly Simon singing you are not alone. How will the Tide do this year? That is the $4 million question. I have no answer. Last year if I didn�t say, I should have, we had a young team and they should be better next, that is, this year. The question is how much better. We ended up 6-7 so will we be 7-5 or 8-4 or what? The question is can we squeeze out a win or two against Arkansas, Georgia, Florida State, Tennessee, LSU or Auburn? I think we have a real good chance of winning two and possibly three of those games.

It will all come down to two things � defense and rushing, again duh. If we can find a way to stop some people, that includes finding a pass rush, we have a chance. If we can find a way to move the ball consistently on the ground we have a chance. If we can do both we will be fine. We will be able to throw the ball and but we need balance or John Parker Wilson will have a long season and he�ll be plenty beat up before it is over.

I don�t think Nick Saban can actually do magic. It will probably get rocky in the first half of the season. What I want to see is the team learning from its mistakes and getting better by game six. I will truly believe in St. Nick when we pull one out in the fourth quarter. Hope all is well where ever you are.

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Lester!

For now LSU has walked the walk. It will have to keep on keepin' on over the next year to back up the coach�s flamboyance. Come November 10 he and the Bayou Bengals will have to come to T-town and play what I hope will be a much revitalize Crimson Tide. He may walk out of Bryant-Denny with a win but it won�t be easy and it may not happen. I still think we are a year away, but I digress.

Let�s talk perspective here, Alabama fans got ripped for showing up in large numbers for the A-Day game. LSU fans on the other hand are obsessed with USC. Lester ripped the PAC-10 and one of the teams he picked on was Cal. Shoot they are a cakewalk, last year they were 10-3 blasting Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl. I know Lester is probably one of those conservative nuts who think Cal is nothing but a bunch of hippies, like when he was in college. You know the truth of the matter is that Ann Arbor, where Lester went to school, is like the Midwest equivalent to Berkeley, but that is neither here nor there, after all we all know how tough the Big Ten is.

So here�s to the up coming football season! Let�s hope Lester can accomplish his goal of getting all the lime light away from that coach at Alabama.

Roll Tide

Crime & Punishment

Based on what we have seen from the coach up to now all of this will likely play out in a very predictable way. That is, Saban will handle the situation the way he sees fit. He�s unlikely to comment at length on it and he will move on. End of story.

The one thing that I think we can expect is there will not be a repeat of the ice cream cone comment from any of the players involved. First of all the players almost never get to talk to the press and that just doesn�t seem to be the attitude that Saban is seeking from his charges.

On an unrelated note Tuberville is already whining and the season is still a month away. Ah, football is in the air you can feel it.

Roll Tide

Are We Really Crazy?

Now Webster�s defines a fan as �An ardent devotee or admirer, as of a sport, athletic team, or famous person. [Short for fanatic].� We shan�t argue with Mr. Webster. I think all of the above pretty much fits Alabama fans. We are devoted to our team and ardent supporters and perhaps at times a little fanatical, well OK sometimes a lot fanatical. But is all of that a bad thing?

What we have is a group of people who have been denied for a long time. We were chastised by the NCAA. Yes, when the team went on probation we took it personally, it wasn�t fair and we didn�t like it and we knew what would happen and it did. We lost and we have lost consistently. Frankly, if we had been Kentucky or Vanderbilt or Mississippi State and have the same record as we have had since 2000 we would be good with that, but we are Alabama. We are not happy. We want more. We have been subjected to a turnstile of coaches who have taken us on an emotional roller coaster ride and we have felt every twist and turn along the way. It has not been fun.

With Nick Saban we see, perhaps for the first time since Dennis Franchione beat Auburn, a ray of sunshine some hope that perhaps we can be more than just a storied program. Alabama fans, the good ones anyway, are historians and we remember the past. However, we are as a collective, sick and tired of losing. We are sick of Phillip Fulmer�s smug smile after beating seven times in a row. We are sick of Tommy Tuberville sticking is fingers in the air. We are ready to win some games. Period. We want to be feared. We want to be able to win some games just because we are Alabama. We want people to melt in the fourth quarter, because they KNOW they have no chance, we are Alabama and they are not.

We have done the melting over the last few years and it just plain hurts. It hurts our pride, it hurts our self-esteem and we just plain don�t like it. Is Nick Saban the answer? I don�t know I hope so. The one thing I do know is that he has won everywhere he coached. He turned an LSU team that had become a doormat into a winner that has to count for something. Maybe he is over rated, but he is probably still rated higher than Mike Price, Mike DuBose and Mike Shula.

People say that if he doesn�t win the national championship in three years we�ll turn on him. Well, maybe, hell we turned on Bear. I will guarantee you this if he can deliver the kind of consistency that Gene Stallings did; he will not have any problems staying Tuscaloosa as long as he wants. Along the way he�ll have to endure his share of pissing and moaning from the fans, but I think by now he knows that that�s just part of the job description. If he gets us to a BCS game in year three I�ll be happy. To tell the truth if we beat Auburn on or before year three I�ll be very, very happy.

Roll Tide

The Beginning . . .

Fall is over a month away, but the start of football season, specifically college football season and most especially Alabama football season is the beginning of a very special time. I speak not only for myself but also for all of us who answer to the Roll Tide. Those of us who each fall start off 0-0 with high hope and great expectations.

For me the last few years it has begun with the sounds of the local high school band practicing nearby. This year they must have had to replace a lot of talent, because they seem flat. Regardless, the sounds of those kids means football season is almost upon us, which is the season of hope, a time for the Bama Nation to rise from its slumber from the doldrums of the sorry summer sports and NASCAR which, as far as I can tell, never ends and embrace the only true sport � Alabama football!

I�ll leave you with that thought, as I will be on vacation for the next week or so. Don�t worry the folks at mybama will keep you pulled into the whole fall camp thing and I will return ready, more than ready for the first game to begin. The kickoff � Alabama vs. Western Carolina � are you ready? I know I am.

Roll Tide

Is it a new day?

Since I got back I have been pouring over the news from the Tide practices and I have to say I like what I am reading. It�s not like there has been much news regarding the depth chart or any sort of overall assessment of the team; it�s more of an attitude thing.

The players that have spoken to the media exude confidence. They are all talking about the team. It all sounds so good. Is it too good to be true? Is it all hype? Will it all come to pieces the first sign of trouble, with the first loss? Only time will tell. There will be a loss or two or three this season. I know we all want to believe that the Saban regime will turn this thing around right now. Unfortunately, it ain�t gonna happen.

We should win the first two. That is Western Carolina and Vandy. Then if we beat Arkansas, well if we beat Arkansas we automatically improve our standings in the SEC West and exceed expectations. It is as simple as that we go from fourth in the West to third. If that happens we could get on a roll. That is the first big IF.

The September schedule is just plain brutal. After Western Carolina and Vandy comes Arkansas, Georgia and Florida State. If we win three out of five that would be good. Four out of five would be great and to win all five, well that would simply be too good to even think about. Though it is not as long a shot as it might seem.

October is another fun month. Again it starts off with two very winnable games Houston and Ole Miss followed by Tennessee we should win two of the three, beating Tennessee is very possible, but is it probable? It is at home, could be could be.

November is a bear. Here again two out of four is very probable. LSU is perhaps the most anticipated game of the year. The media should be in a frenzy. Depending upon how we�ve done to this point we might be in position to determine the outcome of the SEC West or at least alter its course. Beating LSU would be swell. Beating Miss State will be necessary and taking Auburn would be sweet.

In the end I figure 7-5 maybe 8-4 if all the planets line up. You just never know this could be the year we actually beat somebody we are not supposed to beat. It has been such a long time since that happened. It would be oh so very nice.

Roll Tide

We still don�t know nothing

Over the years there gets to be a point in fall camp where I really get tired of reading about how the team is doing and I want to see how they are doing. I think that�s what the players mean when they say they are tired of playing Alabama. I have reached that threshold.

If you haven�t figured it out yet Saban isn�t going to actually tell you anything. He says he is a process guy and maybe he is. Therefore, the whole thing will always be a work in progress. I guess if the team wins the national championship the process will be over, though I doubt that. For a perfectionist there is always something you could have done better.

If they win the national championship and lose a game in the process, they could strive to go undefeated. If they win it and go undefeated there will probably be some statistical category they could do better at; there are always ways to improve.

How good is Alabama? Has Saban made a real difference? Who knows? I stand by all of those things I have written in the past. We will not know much until after Arkansas. [Unless of course we manhandle Western Carolina and Vandy.] We must be a better fourth quarter team and we must beat somebody we are not supposed to beat. When all or part of those things happen, we can say Saban has put his stamp on the team.

I know that I used a double negative in the blog title. I get to do that because I grew up in a trailer park and I get to do it because I know better. To all my English teachers in high school and college who worked so hard, you didn�t fail I really do know that the title should read: We still know nothing. I also know or at least I think, based on the scrimmage and reading the news, that the defense could be an issue.

Roll Tide

Just not sure

Now I just don�t know. The word out of Tuscaloosa, well frankly there isn�t much word out of Tuscaloosa. There are holes in the defense, we got no proven running back and a whole new system and a whole new set of coaches. All of which is yesterday�s news. The interesting thing is that various media outlets have done lengthy stories on our new coach. Prognosticators are beginning to mention the Tide as an SEC dark horse. So what does it all mean?

Who the hell knows? I wish I could offer some sage advice, but in the immortal words of Jacob Marley (famous ghost not rasta man) �I have none to give.� I honestly just don�t know. I think Saban can coach. He worked a miracle at LSU. They were just plain awful before he came and now they are a �powerhouse.� I think he and the team will make us proud this year. We haven�t been proud in a while, not since Mike Shula�s boys thumped Florida.

Things are weird in the SEC this year folks are talking about Kentucky like they are going to be contenders. I was almost a believer on that one until I read a footnote in one report that mentioned that only two starters from last year�s offensive line return. That could be a huge problem, but I digress. I mean it�s Kentucky and practice doesn�t start until October ;-).

I am still pumped I think we should be much improved over last years squad. I think there is reason for optimism. I am not worried about the off the field issues. The Tuscaloosa police have always had a bad habit of harassing students. I think the coach handled it well. He did not handle like The Bear would have but this is 2007 not 1967 and times and people have changed. I hope that come December we�ll look back on this year and say wow that was great I can�t wait until next year and if we are real lucky we might play a couple of games in December or maybe even January.

Roll Tide

Ronald McDonald

I mean, if say, Mal Moore has gotten some really bad collard greens and decided to hire Ronald McDonald the whole Bama Nation would've only stressed Ronald�s positives. Hey, they guy has red hair. Yeah, he�s used to the spotlight and shoot kids love him. He�s a great strategist; he can always get away from Hamburgerlar. Give me a break. Alabama fans, real Alabama fans, are ALWAYS pumped at the beginning of the season. The really crazy ones, like me, remain hopeful to the bitter end, like last year.

For instance in 1989, Bill Curry�s last year, I was in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. I remember telling a friend of mine that it would be fun, but we just weren�t gonna beat Miami. A group of Alabama fans overherad my remark and began to chant �Bill will, Bill, will, Bill, will!� Well, Bill didn�t but you get my point.

The chickens have come home to roost, push has come to shove and what not. It is the Wednesday before game day. We�ve had injuries and suspensions. Are we ready? Well the good news is we are playing Western Carolina. They were awful last year and it looks like they may be awful again this year.

In days of yore we would play down to the Catamounts and let them score first and maybe even let them lead 6-0 at half time. If Coach Nick is the Coach Nick we all hope he is, we should pound the North Carolina felines into the turf at Bryant-Denny. It should be over by the middle of the second quarter.

I am hoping we just take control, the offense gets hot and the defense shows it has some spunk. I want to see a whole lot of Greg McElroy. Actually my guess is we will see a whole different Crimson Tide football team. If this game shows us nothing else it should show us that Saban has instilled a killer instinct into these boys. My guess Alabama 48 Western Carolina 0. Here�s hoping we have a really good weekend.

Roll Tide

A Nice Start

Much ink has been spilled explaining to us that this game meant nothing and that from it we learned nothing about Nick Saban�s 2007 edition Crimson Tide. We actually learned this is NOT Mike Shula�s 2006 Crimson Tide; some of the names are the same, but the results were different. These Tiders did not struggle to put down this foe.

True this team may be weaker than Florida International or Duke, but there was never any doubt. Even if the Catamounts had scored on the pass that was called back, it would have only been a hiccup. Well, there would have been 90,000 people groaning and thinking here we go again, but the team simply reacted differently. It seemed resilient and confident.

What the team lacks is experience. That will become an issue as the season progresses. We will face teams that are better than Western Carolina; in fact, it is safe to say that every team we�ll face will be better that WCU. However, I think and I hope that this team will get better as the season progresses. The young defensive players will grow into their roles and the offense will get more in sync. If that happens this team will surprises us all and a few opponents along the way.

Regardless, Alabama walked off with a win on Saturday. We are 1-0 heading into the SEC schedule. The trip to Nashville will not be a cakewalk. Vandy has the same kind of offense as WCU, only better. They took some really good teams, including us, to the wire last year. Let�s hope that the improvement between the first and second game pushes Alabama�s play up a notch, because Vandy too will have made adjustments and tweaked their attack.

For now take some time to savor the fruits of the first win of the Saban era. Let�s hope that there are a bunch more.

Roll Tide

I hate playing Vandy

The thing with Vandy is you are supposed to beat them. If you beat them close � it�s like what was up? If they beat you � it�s like ooooh you got beat by Vanderbilt. They always bring their A game when they play us and you can bet they�ll bring it again this year as well. In case for some reason you missed it, Vandy quarterback Chris Nickson, is a former Alabama Mr. Football. The Tide didn�t really want him, Vandy did and he has something to prove, in case they needed a little extra incentive.

The other thing is Vandy Coach Bobby Johnson has slowly been developing a good team in Nashville. So far it has not been reflected in the win-loss record, but that could change this year. This is a solid, well-coached team that has a good chance of knocking us off. This is the classic trap game, except for a couple of things.

One: I don�t think this coaching staff is going to let these guys overlook anybody. Shoot, they can�t; it�s not like they�re coming off some stellar season and teams just wilt when they take the field. Two: The players who were on the team last year know they needed a fourth quarter field goal to beat them in Tuscaloosa and that was back when we had a defense.

We can win this game without our best defensive effort. It won�t sit well with many Bama fans, but it may become the hallmark of this team, we can simply out score them. If we can keep Vandy from getting on a roll then we should be alright. Frankly, I look for the defense to be improved from last week. I don�t know how much but some. We won�t stop Earl Bennett, but we can contain him. If we do that and contain Nickson we should be alright. I see the Tide by seven.

Roll Tide

I am beginning to believe

Yeah, I know we got some help from the officials, but those are the breaks; breaks we just didn�t get last year. I know we didn�t throw the ball well. You can pick both wins apart. I mean Western Carolina is a bad I-AA program and Vandy is, well Vandy. But, we didn�t lollygag around in either game. We won both games and we looked good doing it.

We punished Vandy with a young defense that is aggressive, hits hard and swarms to the ball. They are young and they are going to make mistakes over the course of the season. They have already made some, when they make them in the next four weeks they will only be magnified. Face it, the competition is going get a whole lot tougher.

Oh and did I mention the running game? If you haven�t noticed we have a running game and not one but three very capable backs. Terry Grant � OMG � that boy is going to win us a game this year all by his lonesome. He killed Vandy in the second half. Our line took control and he just gashed them.

So far so good, we actually got better from week one to week two. Now we get an ESPN game at Bryant-Denny when Arkansas rolls into town. Once again this game will define our season. Yeah, I know it�s the third game, but folks this is the real deal, Arkansas. Kevin Scarbinsky put it very well this morning in the Birmingham News: "Beating Vandy is old news. Beat Arkansas and you stop the presses." I could not agree more.

If the defense continues to improve and we can slow their running game we can make a statement and perhaps Saban can achieve another first, beating a ranked team. I don�t know when the last time we beat a ranked team. Honestly, I haven�t a clue it must have been 2005 when we went 10-2.

One quick aside, I mean, I am as happy as the next guy the South Florida beat Auburn. That�s the good news the bad news is now that the talking heads at ESPN are going to be off the scale about how great the Big East is. I mean you know not one of their teams has lost a game yet, right. I don�t think we should bother talking about who they have played or anything. Yes, South Florida beat Auburn, but when you look at the rest of the clubs that have been thumped by the mighty Big East you might just have to come back into reality � I mean Murray State, Eastern Michigan, Duke, Navy, Middle Tennessee State � I admit beating Auburn is one thing . . . but, I digress.

Here�s to the trend of weekly improvements to continue. Here�s hoping that the Tide�s confidence is on the upswing. Here�s hoping that we finally beat an SEC team that isn�t from Mississippi.

Roll Tide

Arkansas

The question is will we? I mean how can we the cards are stacked against us, even worse than last week. I mean we have to face a Heisman Trophy candidate and a second running back who is just as good. Our defense is better but is it still suspect? Our passing game was subpar and we can�t be one-dimensional and beat the Hogs. What can we do?

What I suspect we�ll do is come out throwing. Yes, really, I think John Parker Wilson has heard all he wants to hear about how stinky his passing has been. I think they�ll open the game with a pass and then use the pass to set up Terry Grant. I think our defense will slow down the Hogs running backs and make Arkansas beat us through the air. I don�t think they can do that.

I don�t think we can totally hog-tie (pun intended) McFadden and Jones, but we can keep the damage to a minimum. If we do that Casey Dick has to beat us throwing and I don�t think the Hogs have the air power. This game will turn into a slugfest, running and defense and I give us the 90,000 fan edge.

In the end I believe we will beat the Hogs in Tuscaloosa. I think we take it by three. That will give us a two game home winning streak, if two can be a streak. I don�t know but the whole tone coming out of T-town is different, last year the team talked a lot � this year they are taking less or at least differently. They are talking about concepts rather than specifics, I reckon they have bought into the process, Saban, thing and beating Arkansas will be the next step in the process.

Roll Tide

Oh My God!

One thing I�ll say right now, if Darren McFadden doesn�t win the Heisman Trophy, then there is something bad wrong. I have never seen a running back that could do what that guy does. Man!

OK let me say that I literally have Alabama football memories that span my entire life. I�m sure if I thought about it I could come up with a game that was as or more exciting than this one. However, given the whole context of the day � Auburn losing, Tennessee losing and Notre Dame losing � it just doesn�t get much better than this.

It took me a day to actually be able to put this whole thing in perspective. I have read a whole lot of what other people have said and I think some of them, especially Cecil Hurt, were right on the money. Nick Saban has not magically produced better players in Tuscaloosa, he has just taken the ones that are there and made them better.

In the days of yore, when a coach stalked the sidelines with a rolled up program sporting a hounds tooth hat, his players knew, they just plain knew, they would find a way to win. Over the last two decades that knowing has been whittled away by a parade of coaches. I think the last three just did it in. Now, maybe, just maybe, these guys are beginning to believe that they too will find a way to win.

To be honest with you, I simply don�t think we have the horses to go toe to toe with LSU and beat them straight up. But you know what? I am beginning to think that might be the only game on the schedule in which that will be the case. We�ll see and we�ll get another good test next week.

The Georgia game should answer more questions and it will be our second SEC home game on TV. If we can win this one we�ll be looking good. We have already equaled our SEC win total of last year. That�s right, we beat Vandy and Ole Miss last year. Maybe, just maybe, we can send these seniors out with one fine season. It�s way too early to be counting any birds, but the sun is out and they are singing.

Roll Tide

Don�t Worry be Happy!

First off, some of those big time bloggers have cool sites and show up all over cyberspace (you�ll notice I don�t, well I have a cool site). Well, shoot they have all been going on about all the stuff WE MUST DO! Well, yeah and you know what I think, they are probably right. Our offense does turn the ball over too much. Our defense is short handed and we might have a let down against UGA. Shoot we might figure out how to get out of Iraq, anything�s possible.

The long and short of it is, some of us are worrying too much to enjoy the ride. If we are real lucky boys and girls Nick Saban will be with the Alabama family for a long time. This is his maiden voyage. Nobody expected us to be very good, myself included - seven-eight wins tops, right?. Well, we might win more, you never know. But, we'll never have Nick Saban�s first season again. Can you imagine being around for Bear�s first one? I was three at the time so I don�t remember a whole lot of it.

The point is this is history, we should all be savoring this. Someday you�ll be able to tell your grandchildren that you saw the Alabama-Arkansas game, where the Tide finally got over the hump. You saw John Parker Wilson stare down that Hog defense and he didn�t blink. That's the stuff of legend.

I know I�ll probably be one of the first not to heed my own advice. As soon as the Alabama-Georgia game kicks off I�ll be one great big bundle of nerves. But, you know what, I�m gonna try, yup, I�m gonna try to have fun watching it. Win or lose and I think we�ll win, I just wanna have fun.

The good news is the Tide will be well prepared. The bad news is you got a bunch of teenagers and twenty-year olds out there and shoot they beat Arkansas in the last eight seconds. They might still be feeling that, again I don�t think so.

Here�s hopin� that we have a swell weekend. Chill and if you can�t chill, well swill. If you�re in Tuscaloosa say Hi to Eagn�s, Byrd Hall, BBQ and all those other things that make T-town special.

Roll Tide

Reality Bites

We probably won�t be 7-1 when LSU gets to T-town either, though it could happen. But, that�s OK, the truth be told Saban really doesn�t have a magic wand, he really can�t spin straw into gold or create a defensive linemen out of air or freshmen. Everyone repeat after me � we are not an elite SEC team � yet. I hate it, you hate it, but it's just a fact. Will we get better? � Yes.

The thing to keep in mind is that the guys on the team are real live human beings and they like you were pumped after last week�s win. I�ll bet they read the papers and cruised the internet and just luxuriated in the warm after glow of finally pulling a game out in the fourth quarter. It was swell.

They were flat in the first half Saturday. This is not the 1992 Tide. They cannot come out flat against a good team and win. They have to on their best game and for thirty minutes they were not playing their A game.

I don�t expect FSU to be a walk. Do you think Jimbo Fisher saw the last two games? Do you think he just might try to load up and run it on us till they can�t run any more? I�ll bet he does and maybe a throw screen pass or two while he�s at it.

I honestly think this game was a reality check for the team as well as the fans. I don�t think they�ll make the same mistake twice. It might not matter down the stretch � FSU, Tennessee, LSU, and Ole Miss will be looking to kick a little booty. The good new is we have already equaled our SEC win total from last year. We are playing better than last year. Though the Georgia game looked way too much like a Mike Shula game � close but no cigar.

Reality bites big time. I was really hoping the crimson glasses would hold out and we�d be headed for that big bowl game somewhere warm � not northwestern LA. Keep the faith yall the season�s is still young and maybe St. Nick can coax a few more good plays out of those boys. We�ll win more that we lose and maybe get a few style points. It could be worse.

.Roll Tide

Free Shoes University

Nothing. Shoot we have had some boys attending roadside prayer meetings with Tuscaloosa�s finest and the whole thing with grades at Hoover High School. Sooo I reckon we can just let those without sin cast the first stone.

Well the rumble on the river or whatever the PR folks in Jacksonville have dubbed this inter-conference showdown is a made for TV special. If you have read anything about the game you have learned there�s more connections between Alabama and FSU than JFK, Abraham Lincoln and the Johnsons. It�s a slam, bang folksy, feel good story that we all want to be a part of. Gag me with a spoon. It�s all too happy. It all reads like an after school special.

What this game will come down to is which offense can score on the other team's defense. In short, who scores the most points, naw that can�t be it. Wait � I�ve got it. Here�s the thing FSU has no discernable offense, though their defense seems to be pretty good � at times. Alabama has a passable defense and the offense � when it�s on can score on anybody. The story line is will the good Alabama offense show up? Will it be able to put points on the board against FSU's solid defense? Conversely, can FSU�s under achieving offense manage to gain yards, control the clock and score against Alabama�s defense? Did I say all of this twice?

What I see is this. The smart money is on FSU. I think that�s because Bobby Bowden is a crowd favorite. I�ve never been accused of being smart. I think with the Darren Mustin and Brian Motley back in the lineup the defense has more oomph. I think the run game reappears and JP has a good game and � drum roll please, the Tide by three. Have a nice weekend yall!

Roll Tide

The Process Continues

What do we know? Well, I think the defense, on the whole, played better than it had for most of the season. FSU got two cheap touchdowns, but for the most part we did a pretty fair job of keeping them contained.

The offense, on the other hand is MIA. What is going on with that? Can JP only get it together when the chips are down? You can�t just blame him, he was running for his life all afternoon. We didn�t set the world on fire with the running game either. So what�s next?

If Nick Saban has truly made a mark on this team it will go out Saturday and take care of business. It will dispatch Houston and get ready for Ole Miss. If this is 2006 � we come out flat and pussy foot around until the fourth quarter before managing to knock these guys off. That is not what needs to happen. To get back on track the Tide must come out a put a serious whuppin� on Houston before they can even get their bearings.

At this point I think we are seriously looking at 7-5. We have Houston, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and LA Monroe that will give us seven wins. We will not be favored against Tennessee, LSU or Auburn. Anybody who had delusions of grandeur regarding Auburn surely must now be back on the reality train after what the Tigers pulled off in Gainesville.

I know it is not Crimson correct to say, but Tuberville�s Lee County bunch came out and made Alabama (the state of) proud. They went in there reared up, got tough and proved that the spread offense is nothing more than an overblown gimmick. They took Tim �one trick pony� Tebow to school on how you stop the quarterback draw. OK, ok so he knows two tricks; he can pass � but that�s not what he does.

This is a process, as the coach says. Saban is still working with the same players that suited up last year, with the same baggage. It�ll get better. But it might not be this year, though I hope I�m wrong.

Roll Tide

Homecoming

The loss at FSU last week stung. Overall the Tide defense played well, with a couple of costly lapses. With Brian Motley and Darren Mustin back again there should be more bite to the Tide attack. A good push up front will go along way.

The Cougars will present problems with their unique spread offense. However, good as they are they�re not an SEC caliber team. Their defense has been giving up a lot of points, which could help JP and the offense gain, some much needed confidence.

It is homecoming and the Tide generally does well in these types of games. I think this game should give Alabama the opportunity to get better. If they play like I think they will, which means not like would have played last year. They will come out and score on the first drive and then shut the Cougars down. I suspect Houston will score some points. It might take a drive or two for the Bama defense to adjust to the Houston attack. After that they should take control.

I look for some early passing and then a steady dose of running from Alabama. I think they will want to try and score quickly and then pound on the suspect Houston defense. If Alabama comes into this game flat it could be a long frustrating afternoon. I just don�t think that will happen.

I think the Tide takes this one by two scores. Happy homecoming fellow alums and Roll Tide!

Halfway

What I figure is this � long-term we are moving along the correct path. It�s going to be a bumpy ride, which by the way is more or less what Coach Nick promised. He never, ever promised an SEC championship this year. We �uns just got all kinds of excited after Arkansas. The offensive problems surfaced in the Vandy game and they haven�t gone away.

The good news is the defense is improving and depth is developing. That might keep us in some games. I am done counting chickens. How many games will we win? Check back with me in December. We have won four � we might win six and we might win eight. Who knows?

The bad news and it isn�t really all that bad is that the offense and its coordinator are also in learning mode. Saban seemed to indicate after the game that the offense didn�t take what Houston�s defense was giving them in the second half. In other words � if they stack the line burn �um with the pass. Maybe he was trying to see if we could out physical them and it turned out we could not. Saban didn�t second guess Applewhite and neither will I. The season is only half over � not all the way over. There is a lot of football to be played.

Saban isn�t ready to throw in the towel and neither am I. The season is only half over. If we beat Ole Miss we win more SEC games than we won last year, which is pretty sad. If we beat Ole Miss we position ourselves with a realistic chance to go to a bowl game. The road ahead will be bumpy in the short term. In the long run the pavement is going to get smoother and the Tide is going to get better.

Roll Tide

Ole Miss

In the long-run that might be a good thing. The team has a chance to focus on Ole Miss and get ready for the second half of the season, which will be every bit as challenging as the first. Ole Miss is an SEC team that took Florida to the wire; they cannot be taken lightly.

This game will be close and the Tide faithful just might be in for another white knuckle ride. It is really difficult to say one way or another. Trying to predict how this team will react is like trying to predict the weather in Kentucky. As they say up here "If you don�t like the weather wait a day it will change." The team culture that was built up by the other coaching staff will take a while to overcome. That is what we must endure I fear.

The game is in Oxford and the Rebels are a proud program and they will have a home crowd behind them. Will that be enough to get them over the hump? Probably not, that said who�d a thunk Auburn would beat Florida or Stanford would beat USC. To win the Tide will have to go to Mississippi and take care of business. It�s kind of like losing weight. You got to eat less and exercise � or in the case of footbal play for 60 minutes. There are no magic formulas, both require discipline and both can be done.

Roll Tide

Who were those guys?

You know I don�t know, but these guys have done what I hoped that would do they beat somebody they weren�t supposed to beat. Yeah, I know the Tide was favored by one point, but after last week did you really think they�d beat Tennessee? I didn�t. I have been on vacation and just plain spaced out last week. But like any good Bama fan I got back in time to watch the biggest game on the third Saturday in October.

Man oh man � I just could not believe what I saw. I didn�t write a blog this week but if I had I would have said I don�t think we beat Tennessee this weekend. Well, folks I was wrong and I couldn�t be happier. I want to say that St. Nick has done what he was paid to do. After the suspensions of five players at least two of them starters � he got the team together and beat a ranked team and not just any team Tennessee � 41-17

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Eight Game Checkup

It has been one hellva ride so far. Let�s recap Western Carolina � perhaps the most anticipated opening game since the Tide opened at USC in 1970. Nick Saban has arrived and the Hypo-meter is off the scale. Bama took care of business 52-6. The Tide played three quarterbacks and just literally ran wild. Everybody was very please Hypo-meter is pegged.

Alabama traveled Nashville the next week. The Tide faithful bought all the tickets that were available, including Vandy season ticket packages, which must have done weird things to the annual ticket sales statistics. Anyway the Tide whipped the Commodores 24-10. This game brought to light a slight problem at the quarterback position. In fact, I think it was and is less of a problem, but rather J.P. Wilson simply getting a handle on the new offense. Hypo-meter still pegged and everybody happy especially the Vandy athletic sales office.

The Hogs came to Tuscaloosa the following the week. This game has been pivotal to Alabama seasons ever since Arkansas joined the SEC. The winner usually does well, the loser . . . . This game had it all. Arkansas came in playing man � ouch. DJ Hall runs wild Alabama goes up three scores. Arkansas scores ten Alabama scores ten. Alabama�s defense leaves the building and Alabama is down seven in the fourth quarter. Then a miracle occurs. Alabama scores the next ten points, the last touchdown with four seconds left. Hypo-meter explodes Tide fans are convinced that the national championship is next.

Unfortunately Georgia was next, bummer. This was a game that just never felt right from the get go. We just never got untracked, though we did manage to get it into overtime. But in the end the Dogs prevailed 26-23 in OT. Hypo-meter sagging, joy has left the Bama faithful, shock, etc. In fact, that dang reality bug bit us in the butt. The whole team had not bought into Coach Nick�s program and it showed, as did our lack of defensive depth and inability to convert third downs.

Florida State the neutral site game. More hype � Saban vs. Bowden. Bobby Bowden has always loved Alabama, shoot he�s from Birmingham. They jilted him for Bill Curry in the 1980s, don�t go there. Anyway Bobby wants to win bad, apparently we didn�t pretty much didn�t end of story. We don�t show up until the end of the game FSU 21-Alabama 14. Hypo-meter put away for the rest of the season everybody�s bummed lots of tickets available for homecoming.

Homecoming and Houston � last years C-USA Champion, no problem right we kick butt and move on to Ole Miss. Wrong. The defense took the day off or something. Here again I think there are a couple of things that came into play. Houston was actually a lot better than we gave them credit for being. As Coach Nick said �We aren�t going to beat anybody this year just because we are Alabama.� Our defense was and is our weak point. That�s not picking on anybody it�s simply a fact. We have some pretty good veterans and a whole bunch of underclassmen who are getting a heavy-duty dose of on the job training. In summation Simeon Castille intercepts Houston in the end zone on the last play of the game Alabama wins 30-24.

Ole Miss in Oxford the conventional wisdom is they are awful, we go there and do our best to make them look real good. This is actually a game of missed opportunities fumbles and interceptions kill drives and Ole Miss plays one of its best games of the year. In the end Nick Saban earns in $4 million by getting a call reversed and the Tide leaves Oxford 27-24. Hypo-meter hidden in back of attic with the Christmas decorations.

What everybody seemed to miss in the Ole Miss and Houston games was that we won. It wasn�t pretty, but we won nonetheless. We even came back in the fourth quarter for the second time this year and pulled it out, which was two more times than we had done that in the last four years. People are thinking well you know I like Nashville it�s a party town and it is better than Shreveport.

Then Tennessee comes to Tuscaloosa. Man what a difference a week makes. We take a quick 10 point lead the Vols fight back and go ahead 14-10. We then get in gear and score 14 more and go up 24-14. Then a bunch of strange stuff happens at the end of the first half � bad kick � Coach Nick goes ballistic. Late hit penalty � Coach Nick goes ballistic. UT kicks field goal half ends Alabama 24 Tennessee 17. Then a miracle occurs here. Alabama scores the next 17 points while keeping UT from scoring any. Bama prevails 41-17. Life is good. Hypo-meter found it�s pegged once more Tide (6-2 4-1) in tie with LSU (7-1 4-1) for lead in SEC west. LSU comes to town next week.

Saban � �It�s the next game.� Miles � �It ain�t about the coaches.� Fans go nuts. Game on CBS � everybody, including yours truly is off the scale. Do we win? I ain�t saying at this point. Will it be fun you bet?

Roll Tide

Hype Mid-week

Anyway it�s Wednesday and everybody is keeping a straight face. It�s the next game. It�s a big SEC match up. They have a great program and tradition and we respect them. We love puppy dogs, our grandma�s apple pie and the good ole USA.

PLEASE � Les Miles wishes Nick Saban was never born. Saban will be a thorn in Miles� side until LSU wins another national championship and that might not do it. If LSU beats Alabama on Saturday will that prove Miles is a better coach or simply that he has better players? On the other hand if LSU loses in Tuscaloosa Saturday everything that LSU and Miles have worked for goes out the window. No national championship, no SEC championship and Miles has to sit in Saban�s shadow one more year.

If Alabama loses it�s no big deal. We weren�t supposed to win in the first place. We have already won six games and we have four to play. We will beat LA Monroe, which will give us seven wins and some kind of bowl game. If we beat one of the other three teams we win eight and get a slightly better bowl. If we win eight we exceed all expectations. Frankly, we have already done that just by beating Tennessee.

So Alabama fans don�t worry be happy. Have a party on Saturday. Cook up some ribs, have some cold beverages on hand and throw down. Win or lose we are the winners, because we will be much better next year. Shoot next year Les Miles could be in Ann Arbor and his SEC troubles could be behind him. On the other hand Nick Saban just might be the coach we all hope he is and we might pull off a monumental upset.

Roll Tide

And the winner is . . .

The answer to that question isn�t easy and it ain�t short. The short answer is I think LSU will take Alabama in Tuscaloosa. I know that�s wrong, but it's just how I feel it will come down. They have better players and more depth and often that is what prevails when the chips are down.

In the long run Alabama will win and win big. It just might not do it this year. I hate to be negative, but I spent last year being disappointed and I�ve decided to revert to hoping for the best and expecting the worse. We can beat LSU. If we play inspired football like we did against Tennessee we can beat anybody. We finally have a coach who will make both the tough and the creative call. Opening the Tennessee game with an onsides kick was just swell.

We�ve won six games; we�ll win at least one more. After this weekend we will all know a whole lot more about the grit at Alabama than we have ever before. This is a game Coach Bryant would have won. He loved having highly ranked teams come in just so he could take them down. Kentucky beat these guys; we can beat these guys. Nobody in the country can cover DJ Hall man to man and JP Wilson has finally got the offense.

I love being right. Here�s hoping the Crimson Tide goes out and makes me feel stupid for picking against them. I really, really, want to be wrong. I believe � I�m just gun shy.

Roll Tide

Shoot

They out played us yet we hung around and even got ahead. Finally in the end with a bunch of all SEC defensive players against the second team Bama O-line LSU prevailed. I don�t know about you but I�d say somebody did one hellva coaching job. I�ll let you fill in that blank.

If big Les can manage to get past Arkansas he should have clear sailing for the BCS. If he�s lucky he�ll draw Ohio State, big whoop. If he does can you say national championship? He finally got that Saban monkey off his back though. Yep he came in here and whumped our butts three ways from Saturday. I know the whole state of Louisiana is one happy bunch of folks they kicked Nick�s butt.

I�m disappointed, you�re disappointed and J P Wilson feels like, well you know what he feels like. And if any of you yahoos out there are blaming him for this loss you can just go suck an egg. That boy played lights out. As the stranger said �Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.� They got us this time but we may have just become relevant.

Roll Tide

Upon further review . . . we can still win 10

Upon further review I reckon the realist in us was right. The conspiracy theorist in us might wonder about the Caddell catch and just might wonder where those guys were low those many years ago when LSU was mugging D J Hall in the end zone and intercepting passes and changing the game. But, we know that there is no conspiracy by the networks, the SEC and the Big Ten to insure that LSU and Ohio State play in the big game at the end. I mean if you start believing that stuff you might start believing in WMDs and other far-fetched stuff like that there, but I have strayed.

We actually do have a shot at a ten win season. It starts on Saturday. We have to go to Starkville and take care of business. We love Sly and we want him to hang around and go to a bowl game. We just want him to do it by beating somebody else. It�s games like this where the coach earns his four million. He has to make those kids realize that Miss State is next and they must beat them. Period. Look what happened to Kentucky when they forgot to show up.

I think we go into Starkville and do what is necessary. TCB as Elvis used to say. The Bulldogs are good and getting better, they�ll run on us, but I don't think they can stop our passing game. Shoot, LSU couldn�t stop our passing game. We just couldn�t block their pass rush. I think we take the Bullies by a touch. It will be a tough hard fought game, just like everytime we play those guys.

Roll Tide

Irrelevant

This was my second attempt at this blog. Believe me you did not want to read my initial emotional tirade on the train wreck in Starkville. Upon further reflection I�m glad my job does not depend on the emotional ups and downs of teenagers and twenty-something males. I was one once and we can be flighty. Saban didn�t earn his money Saturday. Sylvester Croom did, but Alabama sure helped him. Without our generous offense State is still waiting on bowl eligibility. But we were and they are.

I suspect we sleep walk through the LA Monroe game and hopefully find a way to beat the War Hawks, otherwise we�ll have players in the early all star games. I figured we wouldn�t have a chance against Auburn, but then I watched them have their own train wreck. Auburn gets an off week before the Iron Bowl. If they can generate a pass rush we�re toast. I don�t think we can block the little sisters of the poor.

Until Alabama can over come either emotional losses or emotional wins for that matter we have no relevance in the SEC, much less the national scene. If the debacle in Starkville proved anything, it proved that we are most certainly irrelevant. We threw away what could have been a nice season. All that can be salvaged from this year is to win out. Only beating Auburn will ease the pain of what could have been. With any luck both teams will come into Jordon-Hare 7-4.

I digress the Iron Bowl is two weeks away, if we learned anything in Mississippi it�s that this edition of the Crimson Tide can�t look ahead, or back for that matter.

Senior Day

As annoyed as most of us were last week we all need to keep things in perspective. We are on tract to be about where all the realists thought we would be and that�s OK. We are on an upswing recruiting seems to be going well. The Tide has 22 seniors playing their final game at Bryant-Denny. This will be an emotional day for them and their families and a good opportunity to take the team out on a winning note. Beating the War Hawks will guarantee a winning season for the Crimson Tide and that will make it a feel good day for all concerned.

Over the year we have been on a serious roller coaster. After Arkansas we felt like we had the world by the tail. Then we found out that things aren�t always as easy as they seem. Then along came Tennessee and we knew we were gonna kick butt and take names. Same drill as before two losses. What does that mean? Who knows?

We have had textbookgate, which has hurt us more than anybody cares to mention, especially in the last two games. I reckon eventually whatever happened will be explained and I suspect it won�t happen again.

There are some great players in this senior class that we�ll always remember D J Hall, Keith Brown, Darrin Mustin, Matt Caddell, Justin Britt, Simeon Castille, Keith Saunders, Jamie Christensen, Jonathan Lowe, Chris Capps, Wallace Gilberry and of course Tyrone Prothro. These guys had games we�ll always remember. The other seniors: Eric Gray, Marcus Carter, Marcel Stamps, Demarcus Waldrop, Forress Rayford, Matt Collins, Morgan Garner and Joshua Curry all deserve a big way to go from all of us who won�t be at the game on Saturday.

Go out winners guys. Go out with class.

Roll Tide

What can you say?

Look on the bright side!

Your holiday plans may be easier. With three losses in a row the best the Tide could hope for is a trip to Shreveport. It�s after Christmas and you could get home before New Years. Shoot, if we lose to Auburn you might not have to worry about anything. Heck that trip to the in-laws for the holidays will go off without a hitch.

This should help recruiting. Any potential recruit watching the Alabama-UL Monroe game could see that there is an opportunity to start at just about any position. This team needs help and new players might be just the answer!

The loss to LA Monroe might hurt LSU�s BCS hopes. That�s right this means LSU�s nail bitter victory over Alabama three weeks ago looks pretty sad. It should drop them in the computer ratings and maybe give a big boost to Kansas. Imagine how Tennessee must feel right now getting pummeled by a team that couldn�t beat LA Monroe.

We won�t lose any more games to teams we are supposed to beat. That boat has done sailed. Do you seriously think we�ll be favored against Auburn? So if Auburn beats us it won�t be an upset. We can take solace in that. I mean if they are favored by a touchdown and we lose by three we beat the point spread. Hey it�s something.

So as you go about getting ready for the work week and you have to face those happy people who�s sports teams showed up this weekend just think happy thoughts. You could be upset and all but it won�t help. The season is almost over. Keep in mind that we can only lose two more games at worst and those losses won�t be upsets. It ain�t much but it�s all we got.

Roll Tide

Thanksgiving & Auburn

In the list of things to be thankful for � we can thank our lucky stars we are not Notre Dame. Talk about a meltdown, they are staring at 2-10. They are the feel bad story of the year, plus deep in our bad ole hearts of hearts we get a warm fuzzy feeling every time they lose.

At least LA Monroe was Division I-A or whatever they are calling it these days. We didn�t lose to Western Carolina and we didn�t lose to Appalachian State. Face it guys this has been one strange and wonderful football season. Kansas, that�s right Kansas, has a shot at the national title game (at least of Saturday AM). Did you ever in your life think you would live to see that? No you didn�t your lying so stop saying it!

You got to see Coach Fran get his comeuppance. He left us for Texas A&M and now they are showing him the door. If you saved a bobblehead, you could send him one; he might appreciate it � not. In the end I kinda felt sorry for him, but only a little.

Arkansas � you gotta love those guys talk about a mercurial team. We beat �em, Kentucky beat �em and then they go into Death Valley and run a modified single wing and kick Les Miles uppity butt in three over times was that nice or what. Dang. Wooo pig Soooeee!

Nick Saban came to Tuscaloosa. The results, so far, have not been exactly like he or we would have hoped. But as the poet said �the times they are a changing.� The man is bringing in three, four and five star prospects. He will have a top ten recruiting class and we will be better next year and the year after. Saban will make a difference, he may have to root out those who don�t believe � sort of a 21st century junction boys � but in the end once he gets his players in place � look out!

Auburn � our last chance for redemption, can we take down Tuberville�s Lee County Tigers on the plains? This time last week I wouldn�t have given you a plugged nickel for our chances. Today I like �em. It�s fourth and one and if we don�t make it we are sitting home watching the Papa John�s.com Bowl on the TV and that is not a very satisfying scenario.

The Tide and the crowd were flat last week. Go into Jordan-Hare flat and we�ll get to see what embarrassment looks like. It�ll be honk if you intercepted JP Wilson and Tuberville will be raising two hands and we and by extension the players and coaches at Alabama really, really don�t want that. These are really not bad football players. They ain�t great, but they ain�t bad. If they go out and play winning football, for four quarters they�ll win; if not we are in for another long year.

I think they�ll do it. My momma thinks so too and that counts for a lot. It doesn�t guarantee a win, only the players can make that happen. If they can�t get up for Auburn, they just simply have no business wearing those crimson jerseys. I think they win � it�ll be close but I think we come out with more points.

Roll Tide

Six in a row

The truth of the matter is this Alabama team talked alot. I will be very happy when we have one that wins alot. I guess that will happen in my life time, shoot I'm only 52. St. Nick was paid $4 million to keep what happened the last four weeks from happening.

I know if I was paid that kind of money and got those kind of results I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. I hope he can't. I hope that he stays awake until he figures out a way to convince his players to play winning football or finds some who will. So far, so bad.

I honestly hope we don't make a bowl game. I just don't think I could sit and watch us lose one more game this year, though I guess technically it might be next year. A loss to some middle of the pack team would just be too much. Frankly, it is like last year different coach same result.I know I am not the only Alabama fan, alum or innocent bystander to just say enough is enough.

To bowl or not to bowl?

I truly and honestly have mixed feelings about this I�m not sure we deserve a bowl. However, from the point of view of team preparedness it is important to get the extra practices in that come with a bowl game and in truth I have calmed down some after the SIXTH straight loss to Auburn � which is unacceptable but unfortunately a fact.

It looks like there is a fairly real possibility that we could make a lower tier bowl. Much the same as last year. I still can�t get my arms around the melt down over the last month. Nobody seems to know what happened and I sure hope it gets fixed by next season or there will definitely be some hard questions being asked.

It will be another long off season. Hopefully, this one will not involve people being arrested or other off field problems that this program simply does not need. Recruiting is going very well a couple more commitments will make for a special class. It could happen, but given everything else that has happened this season who the heck knows.

I look forward to maybe a bowl and to spring practice. I think come spring we will find out if changes are in the wind or if we are going to be looking at the same product as last year. Rumors abound with head coaching jobs opening up. Major Applewhite has been mentioned for the Southern Miss job. No doubt other assistants may also move. That is inevitable with a good staff.

Let�s all keep a positive outlook and hope that the process will work and that in the end this thing will get turned around. It has been dismal for too long. This year was particularly frustrating especially after the high of the Tennessee game. The fall was puzzling and painful. Good times are a coming I hear it everywhere I go, says the poet.

Roll Tide

Playoff?

In a playoff system the winner of the Big East would have been assured a spot in the playoff and the Pitt game would have been a chance for West Virginia to rest their starters and simply play out the season � win or lose it wouldn�t have mattered.

It did matter the Backyard Brawl lived up to the hype. A determined, overachieving Pitt team took down the Mountaineers. It was an incredible thing to watch. Not only that but Oklahoma took out Missouri, which was not really unexpected, to throw the BCS into turmoil. Is this a great country or what?

Some of the talking heads at ESPN just had no clue what to do. One guy kept prattling on about as of right now (late Saturday night) we don�t know who will be in the BCS championship game, like that was a bad thing. Here again with a playoff there would be more certainty, all the final upsets would have done was move teams around in terms of seeding, not throw the whole thing into chaos.

This is swell. I mean this is just great teams on the verge are suddenly taken down in what has been the most exciting and unpredictable college football season in memory. College football is reaching parity. The scholarship rules are actually leveling the playing field. There has been no dominant team in college football this year. No team has been the clear number one, the Heisman race is much the same. From a fan�s perspective it just doesn�t get any better than this.

The only down side for me, and I must say all Alabama fans, is the dismal way our team melted down at the end of the season. But who knows we may get a shot at going out winners. It may be in Shreveport, but heck if we win it would sure feel better than last Saturday. Better days are ahead. Rivals ranks the Alabama recruiting class as number 3. That will be good news in the days to come. Les Miles is staying in Baton Rouge. That�s good, we need him and Tuberville to stay put. We can�t beat them if they leave and beat them we will.

Roll Tide

Missing In Action � Part I

I know many of you set your clock by these things so hold onto your hats, get an adult beverage if you are so inclined and wade through my take on the most wonderful time of the year. I just love bowl games. I mean you have your gala halftime activities, your local color, teams that don�t often play each other squaring off and in the end somebody can claim to be the national champion and somebody else can be POed about it. Is this a great country or what?

Poinsettia Bowl � Navy vs Utah � Both teams are 8-4 Navy is an independent and Utah finished fourth in the Mountain West Conference. The Navy players can all die happy because they finally beat Notre Dame for the first time in 42 tries. You gotta love that. Shoot you gotta love anybody that beats Notre Dame. The smart money is on Utah. I, however, have never been accused of being smart. I�m going with Navy. They�re not a flashy team, but they are due and the fact that they beat Notre Dame should give them incentive to win a bowl.

New Orleans Bowl � Florida Atlantic vs Memphis � The Florida Atlantic Owls beat Troy to claim the Sun Belt Conference title and a shot at the New Orleans Bowl. Howard Schnellenberger�s team may not be on a collection course with the national championship, but they have improved this year. Knocking off Troy was a big deal. Memphis, finished 7-4 and may not be quite as happy to be in this game as FAU. Nationally, this game may not be much of a blip on the radar screen, but it means a lot to the Owls. This is FAU�s first bowl and I look for them to go to New Orleans and take care of business and that�s bad news for Memphis.

PapaJohns.com Bowl � Cincinnati vs Southern Mississippi � This bowl could go either way Cincinnati has to feel rooked by not being in a higher tier bowl, though the truth be told that�s the Big East Conference�s fault and not theirs. Southern Miss is in disarray. I have no clue why they fired Jeff Bower, they did and they will lose this game. I have always had a soft spot in my heart or USM, but this silliness pretty much took care of that spot. Cincinnati will come in with a chip on their shoulder and take it out on the Golden Eagles.

New Mexico Bowl � New Mexico vs Nevada � It�s the Mountain West against the WAC. New Mexico is 8-4 and has now been bowl eligible for seven straight seasons. Nevada is 6-6 and like lots of teams squeaked into a bowl. The good news for the bowl folks is that they have the opportunity to sell a bunch of tickets. I saw both of these teams play over the course of the season and I don�t recall either setting the woods on fire. I�ll give New Mexico the nod as the game is on their home field.

Las Vegas Bowl � BYU vs UCLA � Probably the thing you notice most about this bowl is how off the radar screen BYU has been this year considering they are 10-2 and won the Mountain West. The great teams led by record setting quarterbacks have left Provo and moved on. UCLA on the other hand has the dubious honor of being one of the teams that Notre Dame actually beat this year. UCLA is another team in a bowl with a different head than they started with. Look for UCLA to continue to struggle and for the Cougars to get revenge in this rematch.

Hawaii Bowl � Boise State vs East Carolina � This will most likely be the empty seat bowl. The only time this bowl ever does well is when Hawai�i is in it. Boise State is pretty good they only dropped two games this year an early match up to Washington and the last game of the year to Hawai�i and are ranked number 17. East Carolina is 7-5 and didn�t look particularly good getting there. South Florida thumped them last year in the PapaJohns.com Bowl. This year the only thing that will be different is the venue. East Carolina simply will not be able to handle Boise State�s offensive firepower. The Bronco�s will sink the Pirates in the warm confines of Aloha Stadium.

Motor City Bowl � Purdue vs Central Michigan � Ah spending the holidays in Detroit, the people mover, Greek town, the brewpubs (there must be two dozen). Detroit can be lots of fun, really I not making that up. The game is inside, it will be seasonal with snow and much good cheer. Plus this one involves my wife�s alma mater, not that she gets really wrapped around the axle about these things. At any rate it�s Central Michigan at Purdue a pretty good MAC team against one of the most up and down teams in the Big Ten. Purdue is the favorite; it�ll be a CMU home game. I say go with the Chippewas.

Holiday Bowl � Texas vs Arizona State � This is the bowl for teams that just could quite get it together. Texas, talk about one great big disappointment. This is a team that was heading for the BCS or so said those who are in the know. Well, that didn�t happen. Arizona State also managed to choke at just the right moment or they too would have ended up in the BCS. At any rate you have two ranked teams ASU is 12 and Texas is 17 squaring off is what could be one of the better match ups of the early bowl season. Honestly, I look for Texas to take this one. ASU is one of those teams that have a good record, but when they had to win they just couldn�t do it. I think they will end 10-3 as will Texas.

Champs Sports Bowl � Boston College vs Michigan State � Well, these guys get to go to Florida so that�s good, I guess, that is if you want to see the mouse. State played well against the lower tier Big Ten teams but couldn�t handle the better teams. After BC�s fantastic Thursday night finish against Virginia Tech they tanked against Florida State and Maryland, which not only killed their season but also Matt Ryan�s Heisman hopes. Oh well, life�s hard and then you die. No worry BC is better than State and they will beat on the Spartans in Florida. The Michigan folks won�t care because it will be warm from Kissimmee to Orlando and they�ll get to see the mouse and no doubt a gala halftime extravaganza!

Texas Bowl � TCU vs Houston � This was supposed to be Big XII vs C-USA, I reckon the Big XII didn�t have enough teams to fill their bill so they took TCU from the Mountain West in this match up of former Southwest Conference schools. This most likely guarantees a pretty full house and it should be a pretty fair game. Gary Patterson�s teams usually play good defense. Houston on the other hand is all about offense averaging over 500 yards a game. I saw Houston play a couple of times and was frankly whelmed. Even though this will be a Houston home game I just don�t think they have it in them. I think TCU will take this one and for once the �experts� agree. Have fun in Houston yall!

Emerald Bowl � Oregon State vs Maryland � Well sports fans this is actually a mismatch. I know Maryland knocked off BC, but they just strike me as slow and plodding. Maryland backed into this game with a 6-6 record while Oregon State comes in with an 8-4 mark. The Beavers are on a roll they won six of their last seven and took out Oregon in the Civil War. Regardless, of the injury to Oregon�s QB they still won and thus finished third in the PAC 10. Maryland was not quite as good, if it wasn�t for wins against Villanova and Florida International these guys would be staying home. The Terps won�t do the ACC proud. This one could get ugly, Beavers in a big way.

Meineke Car Care Bowl � Wake Forest vs Connecticut � This one makes you want to run right out and get a new muffler. The one thing I don�t like about the bowl games as they currently exist are bowls that have no identity other than their corporate sponsor. In the beginning . . . bowls had a regional affiliation and their name reflected that. This new corporate sponsorship thing has taken that away and given us, well nothing but a stupid name that TV announcers have to repeat. Why couldn�t the name be something like the North Carolina Bowl presented by Meineke Car Care? Why can�t health insurance be free? I digress. Here we have a Big East and ACC match up. Wake Forest finished third in the Atlantic Division and were not nearly as strong as they were last year. UConn on the other hand kinda fell apart at the end of the year after a very promising start. As a rule I have little faith in the Big East. However, in this case I think UConn is actually the better team, though others would disagree. Let�s just say I think the Huskies will put a whuppin� on the Demon Deacons, which is actually a very strange nick name for a Baptist school when you think about it.

Liberty Bowl � Central Florida vs Mississippi State � Sylvester Croom went from the hot seat to the high life. Croom has finally got the Bulldogs believing. You gotta love the way he went on about people dissin� his program by calling every win against a quality opponent an upset and how much he hated the term �Croomed.� UCF is listed as the favorite; they are the C-USA champions with a record of 10-3. Be that as it may I look for Croom�s Bulldogs to stay on the roll they have been on. UCF is good, no doubt about it, but Croom has the guys in Starkville on a mission. I look for Mississippi State to take this one with defense and a solid running game.

Alamo Bowl � Penn State vs Texas A&M � This bowl features a couple of disappointing teams and yet another minus the head coach they started the season with. It is, and I know most of your Bama fans will agree, a darn shame that Coach Fran was shown the door at A&M. Penn State started out like a house on fire and then they started playing the better Big Ten teams. Along the way they even helped Michigan get back on track. Penn State ended up 8-4 so it could have been worse. Texas A&M had a fair year, which was made much better by knocking off archrival Texas in the last regular season game. Given the disarray in College Station I look for the Nittany Lions to refocus and take the Aggies in a close one at the Alamo Dome. San Antonio is a great place so have a good time yall, if nothing else Texas A&M should help sell a bunch of tickets

. Roll Tide & Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays

On with the bowl predictions! First of all let me say that I know we have all been disappointed with the Tide�s season thus far in 2007. What started out great just fizzled out in the end. They may win the bowl or not, but good times are a coming, count on it. We all got just a little too excited and had hopes that were a tad too high. High hopes are our due we�re Alabama � Nick Saban will have us back where we need to be. Maybe not next year but soon and when we get back look out!

Independence Bowl � Alabama vs Colorado These teams both backed into bowls thanks to the tie-ins that their respective conferences managed to put together. Frankly, it doesn�t matter how or why we are in our 54th bowl game just relish it. Since our much celebrated slide we have only won two bowl games � the 2001 Independence Bowl and the 2005 Cotton Bowl, we have lost the 2006 Independence Bowl and the 2004 Music City Bowl. Well, it is time to stop the bleeding. Colorado is a good team. But the truth be told we are better than than are. They are a passing team, which offers hope. The people who have hurt us are teams that could play smash mouth and run the ball. Once again lots of words have been coming from the players in Tuscaloosa. I hope this time they can back them up. Two 6-7 finishes would make for a really long off-season. Once again I will go with the experts and pick the Tide. We have a pretty good pass defense. We have got some people healthy and pretty much the whole team is back and fully functional for the first time since Tennessee. I see it Bama by a field goal.

Armed Forces Bowl � California vs Air Force The name of this bowl is not a good indicator of how it will play out . . . then again. Air Force has had a good season, though they lost to Navy and a clunker to New Mexico. Cal�s season came unraveled at the end dropping three straight including an inexplicable loss to Stanford their archrival. I don�t know but the magic eight ball says upset special Air Force stays on a roll in Texas.

Sun Bowl � South Florida vs Oregon Oregon lost Dennis Dixon in the ninth game of the season and the team was never the same. The Ducks limp into El Paso hoping for a miracle. They�ll need it South Florida rose as high as number two in the BCS standings this season before a mid season melt down. The Ducks have a good team but without Dixon they are very average. The colder temperatures in El Paso may affect the Bulls but not enough to help Oregon. Look for South Florida to notch win number ten.

Humanitarian Bowl � Georgia Tech vs Fresno State The bowl on the blue carpet in Idaho, yes that�s right plastic comes in colors. This game features Georgia Tech, yet another team minus a head coach and/or with a new one, vs a team with an established head man. The Fresno State Bulldogs traditionally have a pretty good team, well, pretty good for the WAC. GA Tech hasn�t beaten Georgia during the current Bush administration and this last loss brought in a new coach. He won�t make any real difference in the bowl game. GA Tech is a better team than Fresno State, however, given the changes in Atlanta Fresno will pull this one out, because they just want it more.

Music City Bowl � Kentucky vs Florida State The headlines accompanying this game are not the sort that Bobby Bowden or the FSU players really had in mind. Over thirty players will not make the trip to Nashville due to a cheating scandal connected with an online course. Free Shoes University has become Free Scores University and frankly they should have stayed home, but that wasn�t my call. Kentucky should beat these guys straight up. For the first time since the 1950s the football Cats are doing better than their basketball brethren. Go Big Blue!

Insight Bowl � Oklahoma State vs Indiana Indiana in a bowl game? That�s right this is their first post-season action since the 1992 Independence Bowl. Oklahoma State beat Alabama in the Independence Bowl last year. Indiana has to be the sentimental favorite, but the Cowboys lead the betting line. I will be pulling for the Hoosiers, but it won�t be enough. Make it Oklahoma State to win two bowls in a row.

Chick-fil-A Bowl � Clemson vs Auburn The annual I-75 funfest. Ah Atlanta lets see there�s traffic and the Weather Channel and uh traffic and well never mind. I guess if you live in Alabama or South Carolina it�s close. The bad news is many of the cheaper fans will just drive in and drive out and not spend any time in Atlanta�s famed hotels, but they will get to experience the joy of Hotlanta traffic twice in one day, oh joy, oh rapture. Did I mention how much I love Atlanta? Now back to the game � well Clemson is the favorite with the folks in Las Vegas. In reality Auburn should beat them. However, Auburn has a real bad habit of choking in bowl games. They can�t manage to choke when they play us, oh never mind. At any rate given that they are minus an offensive coordinator look for the annual Auburn bowl meltdown to continue Clemson by at least three.

Outback Bowl � Tennessee vs Wisconsin The question here is which Tennessee team will show up? The good news for the Vols is that David Cutcliffe will run the offense against the Badgers, which is bad news for the guys from Wisconsin. I honestly have no clue how this one will play out. I know many Tide fans are generally fans of anybody who plays Tennessee. In the spirit of SEC togetherness I will give the nod to the Vols, mainly because I have simply never believed in Wisconsin.

Cotton Bowl � Missouri vs Arkansas If all things were even and the season was going along like it was in November I�d say Arkansas no problem. However, Arkansas is yet another team with a new head coach. Houston Nutt is now in Oxford, Mississippi and Mike Sherman is in Fayetteville. The Hogs still have Darren McFadden, who should have won the Heisman, the question is will that be enough. The other variable in this game is that Missouri lost the Big XII championship and thus found themselves in Dallas. To make matters worse they beat Kansas and the Jayhawks made it to the BCS. So it all comes down to whichever team shows up. I honestly suspect it will be the Hogs. They have a very simple game plan � get the ball to McFadden. If they can do that and keep it away from Mizzu�s potent spread attack it should be all Arkansas. Otherwise . . . given the variables I�ll take the Hogs.

Capital One Bowl � Florida vs Michigan This is the media darling game. As we all know by now Tim Tebow is the greatest football player who has ever lived or will ever live. I mean he is simply the greatest player anybody has ever seen and if you have missed that I just don�t know where you have been. Whatever. Michigan has a new coach too. Michigan is a team that has been counted out so many times this year it ain�t funny. I suspect the one thing that will happen here is Michigan will take a page out of Auburn�s book and actually defend Tebow. For the life of me I just don�t understand why teams have trouble defending this guy. Hello � he is going to either run a quarterback draw or throw the ball. Auburn just stood him up and made him throw. In short yardage situations they stacked the line and stopped him. The problem with picking Michigan in this game is that the spread killed them all year. I�m afraid it will kill them one more time. Rack up another one for the SEC.

Gator Bowl Texas Tech vs Virginia I love watching Texas Tech these guys wing the ball and make it look easy. They can score and score in bunches. Virginia is 9-3 and had a good year, which included an inexplicable loss to NC State. Virginia is a good team, but they don�t see the likes of Texas Tech in the ACC. That�s the bad news, the good news is they have a month to prepare for them. I think that gives them an advantage. Alabama held Tech to 10 points in the 2005 Cotton Bowl. I look for Virginia�s defense to rise to the occasion and for the Cavaliers to score enough points to bring home a win.

Rose Bowl � Southern California vs Illinois This should be a no brainer � USC in a walk. However, people have been underestimating Illinois all year. Nobody and I mean nobody is giving the Fighting Illini a chance in this game. USC was supposed to be the greatest team ever in the history of college football this year and they were supposed to be playing LSU for the national championship � didn�t happen. I think Ron Zook finally proves he can coach and the Illini bring the Rose Bowl trophy back to the Midwest.

Sugar Bowl � Georgia vs Hawaii The run and shoot vs old school SEC. At this point Georgia is probably the best team in the SEC. They went to Knoxville and got waxed or they�re in the BCS championship game. Life takes funny bounces. At any rate Georgia has a month to prepare for the Warriors passing attack. If they were playing Hawai�i in the regular season there might be a different out come. They ain�t. Can you say blitz? Hawai�i is good no doubt about it, but they ain�t SEC good. They�ll score some points, but after the first series or two UGA will have adjusted to the speed of the Warrior attack. Solid defense and a serious running game will take care of this latest mid-major who is crashing the BCS party. It�s the Dawgs in a big way.

Fiesta Bowl � Oklahoma vs West Virginia West Virginia is in a downward spiral. They lost to Pittsburgh in the last game of the regular season and it was not a pretty loss. They have lost their head coach and they are now facing a very solid Oklahoma team. At this writing they had not hired a head coach. Don�t look for their fortunes to improve much in Arizona. Oklahoma handled Missouri�s spread option, they�ll handle the Mountaineer�s as well. The Mountaineers will have to wait until next year for a bit of good news.

Orange Bowl � Virginia Tech vs Kansas Kansas is one of the feel good stories of the year. Kansas feasted on a batch of cupcakes to open their season and plowed through their tough Big XII slate before being derailed by Mizzu in Kansas City. Regardless they won 11 games for the first time ever. They are real happy to be where they are; they were not expected to be this good. They won�t sneak up on anybody next year, but that�s the future right now they have the Hokies. Virginia Tech has been hot and cold all year. LSU thumped them and they let Boston College come back on them after leading the whole game. In what has been a very down year for the ACC they beat BC in the rematch and made the trip to Miami. It won�t matter the Jayhawks are a team on a mission. Kansas with an exclamation mark!

International Bowl � Rutgers vs Ball State This is one of two minor bowls that are sandwiched between the BCS games and the BCS championship. This one can and will get ugly. Ball State finished second in the MAC West. Rutgers, which was probably way over rated, is still much better than Ball State. David Letterman U will have to wait another year for a bowl win. Look for Rutgers to run and run and run some more. The Scarlet Knights in Canada big.

GMAC Bowl � Tulsa vs Bowling Green In some bizarre twist Bowling Green finished second in the MAC East, but Miami didn�t have a winning record so the Falcons are headed to Mobile against Tulsa the runner-up in CUSA. One thing you can count on in Mobile in the wintertime is rain. However, Alabama is in a deep drought. So you really can�t count on anything. Look for the Falcons of Bowling Green to upset Tulsa in the port city.

BCS Championship Game LSU vs Ohio State Call this the Georgia got screwed, game. All the nonsense that Les Miles has said about them being the only team to have not lost during regulation play is nothing but hooey. I know that the BCS has chosen a team that didn�t win its conference to play in the Championship once before, they just lacked the fortitude to do that this year and besides LSU was scheduled to be in this game since August. Ohio State has fought their way through a brutal Big Ten schedule to get to New Orleans. I guess we all care. LSU should win this game, which is why they might lose. The Bayou Bengals have found a way to lose to Kentucky and Arkansas during the regular season and they should have lost a couple of more. It�s way past time for Miles� luck to run out. If there is any justice Ohio State will win this game in three overtimes. That way Les Miles can say he has not lost a game in regulation all year. Life aint fair LSU by seven.

2008

The bottom line and I truly hate that oh so 80s expression is they won the game, which is something they had not done since beating Tennessee. Winning is a good thing, it sure beat losing to Colorado.

Much has been made of the fact that the Independence Bowl is the bottom feeder bowl for SEC teams, ask the South Carolina players if they had rather be in Shreveport or watching the game at home. Yes Colorado is the bottom of the Big XII. I hate to say this but right now Alabama is not exactly the toast of the SEC. We are about where we deserved to be and maybe a notch up given how we finished the season.

I am really happy we won. I was shocked and amazed we won. The way things came unraveled this season winning had become a phantom. We won and I have been in a much better mood the last couple of days because of it. I�ll bet lots of Alabama fans, players and coaches are also a little happier. Hey, that�s good that relives stress and just makes you feel better. I�m for that.

I think what happened this year just shows how low the program had sunk. It also demonstrated that one man simply couldn�t do it all by himself. We should be better next year. I seriously doubt if we will win the SEC championship, but we might win eight games and that would be swell, especially if one of them is Auburn.

We will have a bunch of issues heading into the spring. Can you say defense. That's going to be a big issue until we get depth, which could be a couple of years down the road. The offense should be better simply because it will have been installed for a year. There will be new playmakers in Tuscaloosa and JP will not be asked to win so many games by himself. That might have been a large part of the problem down the stretch when we simply could not run the ball.

Things will change in 2008. Don�t get stressed over them. St. Nick might not get all the players he wants. Right now our recruiting class is number two according to Rivals, for whatever that's worth. Everybody knows Saban can recruit and it will pay off, but it will take time. It�s a young team that will likely be young again next year, which will make for more roller coaster moments. But, hey think Rolando McClain and Terry Grant and be happy.

Lastly, on behalf of all of us at mybama.com � myself, Joni, Phil, Floyd and our newest and best staffer KT � Let me extend our best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year.

Roll Tide

Rainy Day Thoughts

A really wonderful case in point is the whole Tim Tebow thing. ESPN has anointed him as the greatest quarterback who ever lived. I swear they said he could do everything but fly. One thing they pointed out was that many quarterbacks coming out of college with great statistics are �system� quarterbacks. In fact, they tossed Alex Smith into that category. Is it just me or did Alex Smith come from the same system that Tebow is in? Wasn�t he at Utah when Urban Myer was the head coach? Just something to think about.

Anyway the college football season is over and our winter of discontent now begins. We still have national signing day, which may or may not mean anything. Does anybody remember Lennie Patrick? He was the second highest rated running back in the country behind Hershel Walker back in the day. I reckon that says something � so if we don�t get that five-star player you think we have to get or else just keep that in mind.

As for the future one Alabama columnist has declared that if there aren�t 92,000 people at the A-Day game Nick Saban�s season or tenure or something is a failure. Write this down. There will not be 92,000 people at the A-Day game. Bama fans have been there and done that.

Was 2007 a lost season? Nah � shoot they won one more game than they won last year. There are some really talented young people in the starting line up and heck that�s something. Will be win the SEC championship next year? No. Will we better? Yes.

Perhaps some of the guys weren�t buying into the Coach�s program. He was playing with someone else�s players. He redshirted nine guys and we have the number 2 rated recruiting class in the country (I know what I wrote above, I get to do that because I am writing here and trying to make a point and trying to keep you positive, remember we are all part of the process). Hang in there we�ll be better and we will win � shoot next year we could be bowling in Tennessee!

Roll Tide

Failure?

I get lost with this sort of stuff. Yeah, I guess right after the season Saban said he didn�t think anyone was leaving. Two did who knows maybe more will. What does that mean? Who knows? Does it mean Saban is a bear to work for and these guys were looking for easier digs? Maybe.

In the case of Applewhite, let�s face it the guy is a folk hero in Texas. His dad may have been the biggest Alabama fan on the planet, but does that translate to the man himself? Maybe for a time until he played for Texas. He probably had a warm spot in his heart for Alabama and then, well Mack Brown said wanna come coach at Texas. Of course he said yes. Being a position coach at Texas does not have the glamour of being offensive coordinator at Alabama, but it don�t have the pressure either, which is another way of looking at this.

The whole Middleton thing didn�t get much press until Applewhite left. Yet Middleton left Alabama for Duke, but he was also made associate head coach. David Cutcliffe is a known and respected head coach, who was shafted at Ole Miss. If he can do anything at Duke, he�ll be out of there and on to a much better job in three years or so and Middleton will likely go with him. It wasn�t really a bad career move for Coach Middleton.

The Alabama football team didn�t set the woods on fire last year, after a hot start the offense went in the tank and didn�t come out until the first half of the Independence Bowl. That ain�t good. But next year is a different year. There will be a bunch of new players and the opportunity to make amends. Let�s wait and see before we start bashing the coach and his process.

As for basketball at the Capstone, well if you like Alabama winter sports let me suggest gymnastics. Basketball doesn�t seem to be going anywhere good. Let�s not fire Gottfried yet, he�s only two years away from an Elite Eight finish. The good news is spring practice isn�t that far away.

Roll Tide

The Future

Then again the longer I listened the more I realized the more those guys talked the less they said; they just worked at fanning flames. They brought on a special guest I�ll call him PF. He has determined that Alabama Coach Joe Pendry is �a retread� and �a cancer.� It was at this point I realized I was being sucked hopelessly into the mindless abyss from which phone calls would have to be made and shouting at the radio would be necessary. I quickly pushed Hayseed Dixie into the CD player and motored on to Tuscaloosa and a date with BBQ. I was not pulled into the dark side.

Tide sports are in the winter transition phase. The basketball team is set to take on LSU in a showdown for last place. I predict as bad as LSU is Alabama will find a way to loose. I do not really give a flip about basketball, but a good friend, who is also an Alabama alum, pointed out. The SEC is a good basketball league, when we stink it really makes us look bad. I reckon. I just don�t see any hope of a turn around. But then given my level of round ball understanding I could be wrong. The Tide could get on a roll and kick butt.

The softball team is picked to win the SEC. The gymnastics team lost to Georgia, which does not bode well for the rest of the season. Don�t get me wrong, they�ll do OK, but they will not win the NCAA�s.

Finally, saving the best for last. The Alabama football recruiting class is now Number 1 in the nation. I don't ever remember us having a class ranked that high. The multi-star recruits just keep jumping on the bandwagon. It will be interesting to see how the class finishes and how they are worked into the scholarship numbers; already there are more players than slots.

The gridiron future looks good. It could be a long winter for the basketball team, but spring and summer could be fun. Here�s hoping yall have a nice February and a fun filled Fat Tuesday!

Roll Tide

We�re # 1! We�re # 1!

Fellow Bama fans, my day job has had me in the wilds of Louisiana and I found myself in Marksville, which frankly is a very special and quite wonderful place. The people are friendly, the food is great and they have some incredible Civil War sites, but the motel I stayed in didn�t have internet access so from Wednesday until Saturday afternoon (February 9, 2008) I missed all of the excitement, well, people kept me in the loop. And, of course the people who do the real work at mybama also kept YOU in the loop. At any rate I was offline, but now I�m baaaack!

The long and short of the recruiting process be we number one or number seven seems to indicate that St. Nick has reclaimed his status, shined his tarnished crown and is ready, and perhaps more importantly equipped to bring our beloved Crimson Tide out of the wilderness and into the promised land! Can I get an Amen!

One recruiting class does not a national champion make. However, if anybody was paying attention those seniors that led the LSU squad to the 2007 national championship were the products of Nick Saban�s recruiting. Just in case you some how missed it that same Nick Saban is now recruiting for us and soon, very soon his efforts will begin to translate into the win column.

I don�t know how he is going to shoehorn 30 people into 25 slots, but you know what, I�ll just bet he can do it. I am waiting on spring practice, lets face it, it�s less painful than watching basketball. Well, they�re great and they�ll get better and soon they�ll be winning SEC championships and that�s all I�ll say about that.

You know the best thing about spring practice? The best thing is, everything will change come August, when all of those freshmen show up. Some of those guys will get redshirted, some will start, some will make a difference and some will wash out, it is the way of college football. But the best part is I just can�t wait until August, August is like Christmas, it�s the start of football season, and oh . . . don�t get me started it�s only February and we�re # 1!

Roll Tide

Humble Pie

Now I know, and in fact I offered a caution, that having the number one recruiting class in America does not insure you�ll win the national championship. It doesn't even mean that any of those players will ever accomplish anything. But they just might.

Now I have read lately that getting a bunch of four and five star recruits can just cause problems with them fitting into your team and making it academically. That�s true. Nobody wants a bunch or whiners and prima donnas nor does anybody want somebody who can�t workout and chew gun at the same time. Oh I also hear that something like 28 of the 30 members of the the number one recruiting class in America will pass muster academically.

As Alabama fans, alums and other interested bystanders are we taking this whole having the the number one recruiting class in America too seriously? Have we just got to wrapped around the axle with this thing? Well, boys and girls if you think back to the days since Gene Stallings �retired� exactly how much have we had to cheer about? I think we beat Auburn twice, Florida three times, twice in one year, and then there was that whole Prothro thing the other time. We won one, count �um, one SEC championship and that was last century. We beat LSU a couple of time � we won ten games twice � both have asterisks (we lost to LA Tech the first time and we lost to Auburn and LSU the last time).

So, I have included this educational video Tide Educational Video for you to think about when times get tough. When your Auburn or LSU friends remind you of just how far the mighty have fallen. Watch this video (over and over - you should probably turn it up to 11 as well) and remember that last year we had the number seven recruiting class in American.

I know it�s hard to be humble when you have the number one recruiting class in America but you must try because it proves nothing. Just yet.

Roll Tide

March

Perhaps the most significant thing that has happened over the winter is that Paul Finebaum has turned on Nick Saban. Frankly, I was getting worried having Finebaum behind the Alabama coach. I mean he�s bashed every coach who has been there since he began writing for the Birmingham News low those many years ago. So now everything seems back to normal.

Player arrests. Well, it strikes me that we should all calm down and see how the off-season shakes out. Students are going to get into trouble on the strip. I did and everybody I knew did to some extent. It happens. Armed robbery is another thing altogether and that guy is gone.

I have a feeling that several more players will find reasons to give up football or transfer before August. There are too many freshmen coming in and last years team simply did not cut it down the stretch. We�ll see, just keep an eye on that.

Hey we have basketball teams. They play in the SEC. They will end their season soon. We might as well keep both coaches because it will cost a lot of money to get rid of one of them.

I�m not sure what to make of the baseball team. I think it could be another in a long line of long seasons. The softball team will be good again, I'm just unsure how good. They failed their first real test in Washington. Our hockey team made the playoffs. You knew we had a hockey team right? We golf good. How good will the gymnastics team be? Good question, I think better than anyone expects, they are being dissed. I think that will help down the stretch.

Spring practice starts soon; it will be interesting to see how all of that goes. Especially since a whole bunch of those freshmen will play next year. I think we�ll see several on defense, perhaps a quarterback and a running back. It will be great when we get to the position where we can redshirt these guys. We�re a long way from that, which is why we will not challenge for the SEC championship this year. I think we�ll make more noise than last year, but it won�t happen. I would settle for not collapsing down the stretch.

One last note on Louisiana. I spent the month of February in the Bayou State. I met some good people, ate some good food and talked a little football. It was 50-50 on Nick Saban. On the one hand people figure he is already trolling for another job. On the other they loved him when he was at LSU, we didn�t take him from LSU and they think he�ll do well in Tuscaloosa. One person said they thought he�d be in Alabama for a long time. I hope he�s right.

Roll Tide

Spring has sprung

Yes indeed, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls � St. Nick and his charges have hit the field and trying once again to jump-start the �process.� We all know that next season will be better. The Tide will shake off the dust of last season and remember that you win games in the fourth quarter and you, never, never lose to LA Monroe. We will just forget that ever happened, sort of like Mike Price.

This spring practice will be interesting in that in the long term it may mean nothing, unless somebody gets hurt. The real molding of the team will commence in the fall when the new recruits find their way to Tuscaloosa.

However, that does not mean that much can be gleaned from the fifteen practices between now and mid-April. Backs will run, a new offense will be installed, some new linebackers will be sought and there�s the whole spring break thing � will that mean jail time or have we sorted that out? Who knows?

Well, the basketball team surprised me and upended Florida, can they beat Mississippi State? We�ll have a new women�s basketball coach and that�s a good thing. The softball team is doing pretty good and the gymnastics team will be REAL good, next year.

Hope you all have a fine St Paddy�s day.

Roll Tide

Attitude Adjustment

The 2007 version of the Crimson Tide flopped down the stretch. They even blew a game to LA Monroe. That absolutely should not have happened. That should have been what Todd Blackledge called a helmet game. LA Monroe should have melted in the fourth quarter simply because they were playing Alabama. It went the other way and that has to change.

Two things must change in 2008 for the Tide to get back on top. An infusion of top flight players on the roster that has been done. The other is a change in the team�s mentality. They absolutely must come to believe that they cannot lose. The must believe that they can win any game on any day. Given that they have melted down in November over the last six years it will take a combination of house cleaning and good old fashion attitude adjustment. It might take a little �my way or the highway� from the coaching staff and it will also take a win where they were not supposed to have a win.

Fortunately, the Tide will have the opportunity to get that done quickly. Alabama will no doubt be an underdog against Clemson. Clemson is now poised to be the team to beat in the ACC. Alabama has a long way to go before it can climb into the SEC race. Besting Clemson in Atlanta on national TV will go a long way in changing the team�s outlook. This whole situation is not unlike losing weight, it actually took a while to gain all that weight and it takes a while to take it off, the same can be said for a losing mind set. Alabama is not the Alabama we all knew and loved. They wear the same uniforms and play in the same stadium, but they are not feared. Teams don�t worry coming into Bryant-Denny, that has to change. Nick Saban was hired to make that happen. I think he will and I look for some tangible results this year.

Roll Tide

. . . and taking names

Next year we hope that our team will be improved. I am not expecting miracles, but I do expect some improvement. From reports of the spring workouts it sounds like the older players have bought what Saban is selling and are doing a little of their own coaching. That�s a good thing.

I still don�t think we have the talent to win a SEC championship. That said I think we have a team that is good enough to do better than Shreveport. I�m hoping for Atlanta. I�ll know we are really headed in the right direction when we beat somebody we�re not supposed to beat and we don�t lose any more games that we are supposed to win.

The Tide will be leaner; it needs to get meaner. They need to be serious trouble and make people worry about playing them, especially at home. Except for Auburn, we have a very doable schedule in Tuscaloosa. Win all of those games and we�ll be fine, win a couple more and we have done good.

Notes and such the Bama golf team won the SEC men�s golf championship. I didn�t realize it but it was the first championship of any kind we have won since 2006. It may not be the last. The softball team is on a tear, they have won over 20 in a row and they don�t show any sign of cooling off. If they can keep up this pace they should make it to Oklahoma City for the World Series.

Stay dry, stay cool and Roll Tide!

Playoffs . . . again

Not only that but ESPN has been instrumental in adding bowl new bowl games. They own the Papajohns.com, New Mexico, Armed Forces, Las Vegas and Hawaii bowls and the newest bowl game in St. Pete/Tampa. So when those boys come on your TV and tell you as the poet says, �how white your shirts can be,� or some such just keep in mind, who is proliferating and profiting from the �excess of bowl games.�

One other small detail to keep in mind is that who is televising 23 of the 34 bowl games. Yup, you guessed it ESPN. So when they get on their high horse you can just snicker and know that they are blowing smoke where the sun don�t shine. You can especially get a real horselaugh if you hear them going on about the power conferences going for the money rather than the good of the sport. Pleaaaazzzee, you don�t own, create and televise bowls if you think they be bad. End of story.

The BCS and the respective commissioners who govern that organization pretty much killed any notion of a playoff until 2014. That is, unless somebody dies or retires in the meantime. 2014 is a long way off and the whole notion of a playoff will not go away between now and then. Shoot by 2014 ESPN could add another bowl or two. In fact, one in Utah was just put on hold.

The good news, I guess, for SEC fans is the conference now has nine bowl tie-ins with the Papajohns.com bowl now set to have the lowest tiered SEC team against a Big East team in the Football Capitol of the South. This should enhance the bowl�s attendance and make for a much better bottom line; not that it has been doing all that bad.

Nine teams going to bowls, shoot it�s almost like the NHL playoffs, almost nobody stays home. Frankly, if you want to change something, lets look at bowl eligibity. With the twelve game format perhaps one should have to win seven games to go to a bowl. That would make for a better scenario and would not leave the loser of one the lower tiered bowls with egg on their face and a 6-7 record. At 7-5 the worse you come away with is 7-6 and that ain�t bad, it ain�t good, but it beats the heck out of 6-7. We�ve been there and we don�t want to go there again.

Hope you is swell and the off season passes quickly.

Bama wins 4-1

2000 days and counting

Another interesting stat is that we have shutout Auburn 21 times, they have NEVER shut us out. That should give you some comfort However, as we all know in the world of sports, that�s yesterdays news what have you done for me lately. Unfortunately the answer is not much. Try not to despair and before you know it, it will be June and football season will be a mere 90 days away that�s doable. You can handle it.

In the meantime tune in a watch the best team at the Capstone play in the college softball world series in Oklahoma City. The girls have got it going taking care of business in the regional and then the super regional dispatching Jacksonville State and Missouri in workmanlike fashion.

The Tide softball team is not flashy. They are just good. They have good; not great pitching, solid hitting and they can play defense. Unlike 2006, their last trip to the world series they have three pitchers that can get the job done. They are one of the best offensive teams in the country and they have one of the best coaches.

Tune in to ESPN Thursday night and watch the Crimson Tide take on the Sun Devils of Arizona State at 7PM eastern time. Coach Murphy and the girls have done the University proud. One sports write called the Alabama softball team a juggernaut, making reference to football teams of the past. These young women are good, the Bear would be proud and Tide fans should tune in a support them.

Roll Tide

Softball

The Tide failed to win their first game at the WCWS again. They are 0 for 5 in first day games. Maybe if the beat ASU things turn out differently. They didn�t and they had a much tougher row to hoe, as it were.

The good news is they got the Arizona monkey off their backs by beating the Wildcats in the first elimination game on Saturday. They took out UL Lafayette in the second. They just had no answer for ASU�s pitching. In fact, I think pitching and savvy were the big difference between the Tide and ASU and thus between going home Sunday and playing in the finals. Then again it just may have been timing and luck, I am a novice softball fan and I�ll leave the serious evaluation to someone with more knowledge than yours truly.

It seems to me that in softball pitching is everything, we have two fine young pitchers in Charlotte Morgan and Kelsi Dunne. They are only going to get better. The experience they gained in the WCWS will on help them next year. Alabama has talent and they will make another run. Coach Murphy has done an outstanding job. He and his team represented the University with style and class. You just gotta love �em.

One other thing I want to say I have been an Alabama football fan as long as I can remember. Right now I can safely say my second favorite Alabama sport is softball. Shoot, Charlotte Morgan played with a broken foot. Talk about toughing it out, Coach Bryant would be proud. In fact, we should all be proud. Those girls went out there and did their best, it did not end the way we had hoped but we got great TV exposure and lots of kudos from the ESPN folks. Here�s hoping that next year they take it all and I hope to make a special trip to T-town to see them play!

Roll Tide

Season 2008

I�ve seen a couple of the magazines and I read Josh Moon�s predictions in the Montgomery Advertiser for the upcoming season. The magazines, Lindy�s and Athlon�s took the safe route. They picked us third in the SEC west. A good safe pick, because frankly the team is a mystery. Josh Moon, who I respect, predicted 7-5, with no wins in any of the games we shouldn�t win. He even gave the Arkansas game to the Hogs.

Wellllllllll, I can�t go there, I just have a sneaking suspicion that thing will get turned around in 08. I think the new players will come in with a different attitude than last�s year�s guys and the old guys will either have bought into the process or will be playing football somewhere else.

How do I know this? I don�t know nothing. I�m just some guy writing a blog for mybama.com. That said I�ve been keeping an eye on things and I do know a little bit about football and football coaches.

Nick Saban, gets $4 million a year to win college football games. He won more than he lost last year, but just barely. The overall psyche of the team did not seem to change from 06 to 07 especially down the stretch. So what gives?

First off I think there is or hopefully was a culture on that team that just was not conducive to wining, especially doing what has to be done to win in the fourth quarter and down the stretch. Saban�s fourth quarter program made them stronger physically, but the mental part didn�t seem to click last year. That should change this year. I think we will see a new look Crimson Tide in 2008, different attitude, different results.

On paper they really shouldn�t be that much better. In fact, they could have some serious issues on defense. The good news is they don�t play games on paper. If a bunch of those incoming freshmen play this year, they should only get better as the season goes on. That�s when we�ll know if the Tide has turned the corner. We don�t have to win ten games to prove that. What we have to do is get stronger, more focused and better as a team in October and November. If we do that everything else will take care of itself.

Roll Tide

I'm ready to get pumped!

Well, maybe, perhaps Nick Saban is a coach who only cares about winning. Maybe he's a coach that really doesn’t care about his players, the program, our reputation or the alum’s and fans who feed off the program and maybe John McCain will vote to fully fund Amtrak.

So what the heck is going on? I don’t know. Frankly, I really have no problems with the arrests down on the strip. I went to school at Alabama and Tuscaloosa’s finest could have issues with students. Add in a bunch of African American students in what was once a lily white student district and well maybe you get a couple more arrests than were actually called for – or perhaps because they were football players they made the news.

The real question is how many students were arrested for disorderly conduct during the same time frame? Were drunken frat boys busted for yelling at passing cars, their girl friends and other frat boys? Did a bunch of hippie/commie/whatever we call the evil liberal students these days also get busted for similar offenses during the same time frame, not to mention your garden variety students? You know they did but these busts did not merit national newspaper coverage because they were not on the football team. They may have had a full ride via the university because they were smart little dudes or dudettes, but that don’t matter.

So I say let that go. Now what do you have? Two really dumb boys who did something, really stupid. Jeremy Elder holding up students at gun point. This boy was going places. Then there was Jimmy Johns; Lord help him. The young man had everything going his way and frankly he blew it. Did other students/football players know he was selling cocaine? The short answer is probably, would they have ratted him out, unlikely.

Did the coaches know? Here is the gray we get put on probation for another five years and we never beat Auburn question. Here I have to say I don’t know. I want to say nope they did not have a clue. I honestly hope that’s the answer. If they knew and did nothing we should voluntarily shut down the program because then you are simply into another place Alabama football does not need to go.

Here again I don’t think so, I think Nick Saban is an honest man who cares about his players and young people in general. Is he obsessed with winning – oh yeah. Is that wrong, no. If he’s the head coach at Alabama and he’s not obsessed with winning he might as well leave now. We are obsessed with winning and I think I can go on record now saying we really, really want to win more than seven games in 2008.

So where does that leave us? Well, I think we are in a position to move forward. Jimmy Johns has to go to court and deal with his drug dealing problems. The Alabama coaching staff has to figure out what went wrong and how can they fix it. Is this a systemic problem or is it simply the case of a couple of guys who just went one step too far. Did they miss the warning flags because they were not trained to deal with this sort of stuff? Did they miss them because they were obsessed with recruiting? Did they miss them because they looked the other way? We just don’t know now do we? I am going to assume that coaches are not trained social workers, they were trying to coach and recruit players. Did they fail Jimmy Johns and Jeremy Elder or did those players simply make colossal mistakes?

I don’t have all the facts; I can’t answer those questions. At this point I am going to stop feeling crappy about my school, the football team and the future. I am going to get pumped about the coming season.

I’m ready to get pumped!

Well, maybe, perhaps Nick Saban is a coach who only cares about winning. Maybe he's a coach that really doesn’t care about his players, the program, our reputation or the alum’s and fans who feed off the program and maybe John McCain will vote to fully fund Amtrak.

So what the heck is going on? I don’t know. Frankly, I really have no problems with the arrests down on the strip. I went to school at Alabama and Tuscaloosa’s finest could have issues with students. Add in a bunch of African American students in what was once a lily white student district and well maybe you get a couple more arrests than were actually called for – or perhaps because they were football players they made the news.

The real question is how many students were arrested for disorderly conduct during the same time frame? Were drunken frat boys busted for yelling at passing cars, their girl friends and other frat boys? Did a bunch of hippie/commie/whatever we call the evil liberal students these days also get busted for similar offenses during the same time frame, not to mention your garden variety students? You know they did but these busts did not merit national newspaper coverage because they were not on the football team. They may have had a full ride via the university because they were smart little dudes or dudettes, but that don’t matter.

So I say let that go. Now what do you have? Two really dumb boys who did something, really stupid. Jeremy Elder holding up students at gun point. This boy was going places. Then there was Jimmy Johns; Lord help him. The young man had everything going his way and frankly he blew it. Did other students/football players know he was selling cocaine? The short answer is probably, would they have ratted him out, unlikely.

Did the coaches know? Here is the gray we get put on probation for another five years and we never beat Auburn question. Here I have to say I don’t know. I want to say nope they did not have a clue. I honestly hope that’s the answer. If they knew and did nothing we should voluntarily shut down the program because then you are simply into another place Alabama football does not need to go.

Here again I don’t think so, I think Nick Saban is an honest man who cares about his players and young people in general. Is he obsessed with winning – oh yeah. Is that wrong, no. If he’s the head coach at Alabama and he’s not obsessed with winning he might as well leave now. We are obsessed with winning and I think I can go on record now saying we really, really want to win more than seven games in 2008.

So where does that leave us? Well, I think we are in a position to move forward. Jimmy Johns has to go to court and deal with his drug dealing problems. The Alabama coaching staff has to figure out what went wrong and how can they fix it. Is this a systemic problem or is it simply the case of a couple of guys who just went one step too far. Did they miss the warning flags because they were not trained to deal with this sort of stuff? Did they miss them because they were obsessed with recruiting? Did they miss them because they looked the other way? We just don’t know now do we? I am going to assume that coaches are not trained social workers, they were trying to coach and recruit players. Did they fail Jimmy Johns and Jeremy Elder or did those players simply make colossal mistakes?

I don’t have all the facts; I can’t answer those questions. At this point I am going to stop feeling crappy about my school, the football team and the future. I am going to get pumped about the coming season.

And So it Begins

It will be interesting to see if the media also votes Alabama third in the SEC West. I�ll bet they do, everybody else has. They kinda have to, on paper Auburn and LSU are much better. Fortunately they don�t play football games on paper. I have played them with a paper football but that�s something else altogether.

July and August are the season of unbridled optimism for football fans, especially Alabama football fans. I have never known my brother to admit in his life that Auburn had a better team than Alabama, ever, not once and he loved Bo Jackson. Well, Bo was from Birmingham.

He�ll tell me when I talk to him Auburn ain�t got squat, except he won't say squat, if you know what I mean. I think they might, but I also think they have a new offense and a new QB, so we�ll see what we will see.

The kickoff of football season always gets me going on two fronts, it means soon, though not soon enough, there will actually be football. It also means that soon, though not soon enough, it will cool off. Both of which are just swell with me.

I have ventured across the Mississippi into Arkansas and it promises to be hot while I�m here. Frankly, I know it will be hot here until probably until mid November. But that�s OK it�s summer in the south, so its hot. We swelter through the heat. I�ve got friends who say the only answer is to go reptile and lay in the water all day, others revel in it working out in the heat. I just piss and moan.

Southerners sweat through the summer to be rewarded with the best college football on earth. We have it. No other region or conference compares to SEC football, the passion of the fans and the just plain love of the sport. Yup, we are as batty as bed bugs, just plain loony and I�m proud to be a part of it.

Roll Tide

.

What did I tell you?

When Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News hints around that Kentucky might come to T-town and knock off the Tide you just have to stop and go whaaaa? I mean yeah, UK had a couple of good seasons, but their offense graduated. Maybe UK will be pressing the likes of UT, UGA and the mighty Gators for SEC east dominance. Somehow it just doesn�t feel right.

Regardless of how good or bad UK is, just plain blowing off Alabama seems like a bad idea. I know we melted down at the end of the year, so what else is new? I just have a feeling that the bad old days are behind us. I�m not saying we�ll win it all, or even the SEC or the SEC west. I�m just saying the days of fooling around with the likes of LA Monroe are over.

The long and short of it this year is we will have a very young football team. They will make bonehead mistakes, because they don�t have the experience. They will also make some great plays because they are good athletes. It will be a roller coaster, but I don�t think it will be the same as last year. We may loose but we will not be embarrassed again. Keep in mind Saban�s LSU club lost to UAB.

A bunch of the freshmen class will play. Some people you never heard of will emerge from fall camp. Here�s a serious prediction; we'll get no real news out of fall camp that is, not helpful news. The good news is that we won�t have to wait long to see how much we have progressed. The result of the Clemson game should be a good barometer.

Roll Tide

We really are irrational

The gist of his piece, which is quite good, is that the University still thinks they are a real football power and that they don�t realize that Auburn has now not only caught up with them, but has in fact gone past them. Maybe in the short run that�s true, I mean you really can�t argue that Auburn has beaten us a whole bunch of times in a row. That recently we have had a whole bunch of coaches come and go.

The long and short of it is that the love of Alabama football is not a rational thing. It's sort of faith based. Most people who follow the Tide are either devoutly religious or were reared in that culture and simply can�t shake the concept of faith. We just simply know that it�s only a matter of time before Alabama is at the pinnacle of football success.

Yeah, Auburn has beaten us six times in a row or whatever the number is, so they�re still Auburn. They could beat us from now on and nothing will change that. A good case in point is back when Auburn went undefeated and didn�t go to a BCS title game. If Alabama had gone undefeated we would have. Our name has cache. Alabama is a nationally known brand, for want of a better term. Why do you think we went to bowls when we were 6-6 and lost to LA Monroe?

I mean no disrespect to Auburn. I may be alone or at least in a small pool when it comes to that but I respect Auburn as an institution of higher learning and I have even been know to pull for them when they weren�t playing us. Other people, my brother for instance, would never admit that Auburn had a better football team than us, never. When I ask him what he thinks he�ll tell me Auburn ain�t got nothing.

The point to be made here is that Josh Moon was almost right. The University does think highly of its football program. For that matter, it thinks highly of its academic programs, it�s snooty. We believe that we are an elite institution, we just do. The record might not reflect that right now but it's just a down cycle. We have those every now and then. Look at the 1980s. Then in the 1990s we were back on top.

As the coach says �It is what it is.� We just know, we just know for sure, we will be the best again. It is just a matter of time. The good news is that time is drawing near.

Roll Tide

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The Woodford County High School band is practicing I can hear them out my window. My allergies are getting worse � football, football season is upon us. Oh this time of the year just makes me giddy. It is just the best time of the year the heat of summer will soon be a thing of the past. Fall will roll in and the Crimson Tide is undefeated.

There is so much to look forward to the games, tailgating, and the unmitigated joy of it all. No matter how hectic my schedule is no matter how awful my workload is football season just lightens my load. It makes my life a little bit better.

To make things even better, this season the Tide will be better. They will win some of those games they are not supposed to win. They will not melt down in November and they will not play their last game in Shreveport. It�s all true and it�s all possible and we sports fans get to sit back and watch it happen. Is this a great country or what?

Roll Tide

2008 Fearless Predictions

Clemson � This is a big game on a big stage in Hotlanta, like you don�t know. The smart money is on Clemson. They are the media darlings of the ACC; picked to win it all. Back in the spring when I spoke with Clemson alum, I asked him if he was going to the game and he said no that we don�t do well in Atlanta. I want to pick Bama in this game, I really do. Clemson has a real bad habit of choking when they are supposed to be great.

I just can�t give us the nod here. We have to many unknowns and question marks. This will be a close game. We�ll make �em sweat, but our inexperience defense just won�t be able to stop the Tigers when the game is on the line Clemson 24-20.

Tulane � I know this is silly but this is a very important game. We have just sucked in games we are supposed to win over the last ten years. What I want to see here is a serious thrashing of the Green Wave and honestly I think I will. I believe the guys in Tuscaloosa are processing St. Nick�s process. They will be looking for redemption and some respect. Alabama 35-15.

Western Kentucky � The second straight night game in Bryant-Denny, it should still be nice and warm when the Hilltoppers visit. This game should be a laugher and it will be, after Tulane we get some things sorted out. The team is together and hitting on most if not all cylinders. Alabama 42-10.

Arkansas � The first real away game of 2008 will be in Fayetteville. This is Arkansas; the winner of this game usually has the better season. Arkansas has lost a pile of offensive firepower. They have a new coach and a new staff. Several prognosticators have picked the Hogs to take down the Tide. Take it from Uncle Fox it just ain�t a gonna a happen. Bobby Petrino is good; I watched his Louisville teams run up some big numbers. But, you know what he ain�t in the Big East no more and Casey Dick ain�t Brian Brohm.

It will be the typical Bama-Arkansas game, except I think if we get a big lead this time we won�t let it slip away. The Hogs are kinda short on Darren McFaddens too. Look for the Tide�s defense to begin to gel and the offense to start to take charge. Alabama 24-14.

Georgia � The good news is we�ll have four games under our belts, the bad news is they will too. Georgia is good, real good and we won�t be playing them in Tuscaloosa. We will make a game out of this and we might scare them. This is one of those games that we have no business winning. That is why any other year I�d pick the upset. I just can�t do it this year. I�m afraid I�m gonna have to get all republican on ya. Georgia 24-14.

Kentucky � The Cats play three tune up games before they come to Bryant-Denny. The only real game they play is Louisville, the season opener. If they beat the Cards they�ll be sitting pretty at 4-0 and we�ll be a smarting at 2-2. Think we might be one angry team? I think Alabama will. We have only lost to this team twice; in 1927 and in the wonder years of Mike DuBose. I really don�t believe that Nick�s boys are going to choke on these Cats. If Saban and his group can coach and I think they can Alabama will be 2-1 in the SEC at the end of the day. UK has a pretty good defense, but they really have no offense. This year is the Tide�s year to really make a move. Alabama 24-14.

Ole Miss � We have only lost once to the Rebels in Tuscaloosa. Bill Curry has the dubious honor of being the coach on that clunker. Nick Saban has had all of the shame in T-town that he is planning on having. Ole Miss has a new coach and Houston Nutt has given us fits over the years, but 2008 will not be the year of the Nutt. Bama gets it done on both sides of the ball as they prepare for the late season run. Alabama 28-7.

Tennessee � Its not the third weekend in October, but it�s still the Vols and it�s in Knoxville. Alabama took UT to the woodshed in the best game they played in 2007. Phil Fulmer�s charges are going to have plenty to play for and no doubt they�ll also remember the 07 game in T-town. Fulmer loves to beat Bama. This game will be the one that tips the season win it and we get a New Years bowl. I want to say we pull off the big win in Knoxville. I think the noise and the element of revenge are just too much for this young squad. Tennessee � 28-17.

Arkansas State � Homecoming in Tuscaloosa, ah the quad, Egan�s and the parade. This is the perfect get better game after UT. I know I know you're thinking remember last year when LA Monroe came to town. That was last year this is the 08 Tide. Alabama cruses to its first November win since 2005 Alabama 42-7.

LSU � This game will be a three-ring circus, mostly likely complete with clowns and a high wire act. The LSU fans are gonna be pumped. If the game gets one of those ESPN slots where it�s played at like 8PM the place will be out of control, lets just say the Bayou Bengal fans will be well oiled. This is another game that could go either way. Both coaches will play down the whole Saban coming back to Baton Rouge thing. Les Miles ruffled some feathers back in the summer with his comments about Alabama and their inability to beat any team in Louisiana, they stung, but were on so true. Here again the atmosphere will be an issue. The Tigers just have a few better players than we do. The Tide will be trying to win one for the coach, but it just isn�t to be. LSU 21-17.

Mississippi State � We have been Croomed two years in a row. I am real happy that Sylvester Croom has done so well in Starkville. However, it is way past time to get back to reality. This time it�s Alabama with revenge on its mind. Nobody, but nobody will be talking about revenge, you�ll hear it�s the next game, an SEC game. Well it is and it will be only this time with the historically correct finish. Alabama 21-7.

Auburn � The Iron Bowl, the biggest annual sports event in Alabama, or perhaps biggest event period. This one�s in Bryant-Denny where we have had zero luck taming the Lee County Tigers. This is the year of the number one recruiting class, this is the year where Tuberville has the opportunity to hold up seven fingers. If those freshmen are going to grow up this is the game to grow up in. This is the game where legends are made where moments become paintings, where careers are made. This is John Parker Wilson�s time to become the star. Will it be Wilson, Julio, Tiffin or somebody else? This will be the game that we will all remember when the fingers finally came down.

Nick Saban holds up one and the curse is over Alabama 24-17.

If I did my math right we end up 8-4 and make it back to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. It ain�t New Years Day but it�s not Shreveport either. What a ride and what a season.

Keep in mind that everything can and will change if A) the team gels like nobody�s business and those freshmen play like veterans by the third game. Or B) the freshmen play like freshmen and we melt down one more time in November. Here�s hoping for one swell season.

Roll Tide!!!!

First Game 2008

Nick Saban�s second year of the process offers us renewed hope. Will our beloved Crimson Tide finally rise back into the national spotlight? Tonight at 8PM eastern it will for a few hours. Win or lose we�ll be on the national stage.

That�s great. It�s important for the program and all, but we need more. For Alabama to be in the mix to be part of TV commercials and part of the national buzz potential has to turn to reality. It won�t happen this year. We won�t win the SEC. We will build a foundation for the days ahead.

The kids starting will take some licks, make some mistakes and at the end of the season be better than they were on August 30, 2008. There will be more wins this year. Next year will be better still.

The season is at last upon us. Life is short enjoy, the 2008 edition of the Crimson Tide. I don�t know about you but a half-hour before the game I�ll be pacing and practically hyperventilating. It�s all good, it�s football time. It�s the Tide � it don�t get any better than that.

Roll Tide!

Thirteen and Rising?

I want to jump on the Bama bandwagon and get all kinds of excited, but I am way too gun shy at this point. I was wrong about my Clemson prediction, but I stand by my Tulane prediction. This is a seriously important game for us.

I�ll believe we have a totally different team, if we come out and take care of business Saturday night. If, on the other hand, we come out and let Tulane score, get ahead early and then we have to pull it out in the fourth quarter, I�ll figure, oh well same old, same old.

I don�t think that will be the case. I like what the team is saying. Of course, that was before they were ranked number 13 and got their picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated. That could change many things and not for the better either.

Tulane is a team that is not supposed to be good in Conference USA. This should be a game that we take over early and get some playing time for the second teamers. Over the last few years, we have had very few games where we actually got to do those things, because we were too busy trying to win the game. Can anybody say LA Monroe?

One of the best things that came out of the Clemson game was when Andre Smith went down (not that, that was a good thing); the team did not miss a beat, wham, right back down the field. When Clemson ran the kickoff back, wham they went right back down the field. You gotta love that. John Parker Wilson didn�t throw an interception, which was good, but you know he will. How will he respond when he does?

I hate being negative, but I am still skeptical. I want to be giddy; I really want to just get that old fashion feeling, when you just knew we could beat anybody we played. I reckon I�ll have to wait a few more games. If we are 4-0 heading to Georgia, I just might be feeling good.

Roll Tide

2-0

By my count we are now down two starting offensive linemen and Javier Arenas and Leigh Tiffin are also hurt. At this point I don�t see any reason to back off my 8-4 prediction. Anybody who watched the Tulane game can only come to the conclusion that Clemson was hopelessly over rated.

Let�s hope we show up for Western Kentucky next week. I was sorely disappointed with the way the team played tonight. I know I won�t make many friends saying this but it seemed a lot like the same old, same old to me.

Roll Tide

Alabama 15

Sun Belt 1

There has been a lot of talk coming out of Tuscaloosa this week and none of it has been happy. Nobody was pleased with the way the team played against Tulane and that�s a real good thing. Maybe, just maybe, they�ll believe Coach Nick when he tells them they have to show up and play, no matter who is lining up across from them. If we show up and play offense like that against an SEC team it could get down right ugly. The good news is I think they will be alright. I think perhaps finally they might understand that they just can�t show up and win games. They aren�t that good yet.

WKU runs a spread and no doubt they run it real well. I don�t think they are going to have the team speed to keep up with Alabama. I don�t think they�ll be able to stop Cody and that will open up everything else, which is bad news for the Hilltoppers. Western will try some disguised blitzes. They won�t work. You can bet the house that every form of blitz known to man was thrown at the offense this week in practice. I reckon by now they�ve seen it all.

With Andre Smith back in the line up look for the running game to set the pace. Once that starts clicking look for the offense to open it up and throw to the wide outs. For the good of the team psyche they need to make some yards and score some points. I look for them to do both. The team wants redemption. That�s good for Alabama and bad for WKU.

Roll Tide

Alabama 15 Sun Belt 1

There has been a lot of talk coming out of Tuscaloosa this week and none of it has been happy. Nobody was pleased with the way the team played against Tulane and that�s a real good thing. Maybe, just maybe, they�ll believe Coach Nick when he tells them they have to show up and play, no matter who is lining up across from them. If we show up and play offense like that against an SEC team it could get down right ugly. The good news is I think they will be alright. I think perhaps finally they might understand that they just can�t show up and win games. They aren�t that good yet.

WKU runs a spread and no doubt they run it real well. I don�t think they are going to have the team speed to keep up with Alabama. I don�t think they�ll be able to stop Cody and that will open up everything else, which is bad news for the Hilltoppers. Western will try some disguised blitzes. They won�t work. You can bet the house that every form of blitz known to man was thrown at the offense this week in practice. I reckon by now they�ve seen it all.

With Andre Smith back in the line up look for the running game to set the pace. Once that starts clicking look for the offense to open it up and throw to the wide outs. For the good of the team psyche they need to make some yards and score some points. I look for them to do both. The team wants redemption. That�s good for Alabama and bad for WKU.

Roll Tide

What does 3-0 mean?

Well, yeah as always we had expectations that were through the roof. Sure, but did you really think, we�d beat Clemson or were you just hoping? You knew we�d have a let down against Tulane, you know you did, go ahead admit it. When it happened you were glad we won, but you figure, you saw it coming. When we beat WKU you kind of saw that coming and you kept waiting for the other shoe to fall some good player to get hurt or an arrested or something. When nothing bad happened and we passed Auburn in the poles your thinking - �Hummmm could this be the start of something, really cool?�

Up next - Arkansas from what you�ve seen the last couple of weeks they don�t inspire fear in our hearts. Plus those in the know have made us nine point favorites. So what gives? It�s early in the season that�s what gives. Remember last year when we started 6-2 and everything went to � well it got ugly? Yeah, well I know I remember and I remain gun shy. I�m not from Missouri but I think they�ll have to show me before I can let myself go.

This should be an interesting game. Unlike our last three opponents the Hogs are going to come out throwing. If we can get pressure on their quarterback we should be OK. I don�t think they�ll be able to stop our ground game. My main concern in this game is our quarterback play. J P Wilson has only thrown one interception and he shook it off and did fine afterwards. The Hogs have yet to record an interception, but if they pick off JP will he melt down?

So far this year things haven�t exactly followed the same script as last year. Maybe, just maybe the corner has been turn on the implementation of the process. Time and the next two ball games will certainly go a long way in telling the tale.

Roll Tide

4-0

I kept watching and I kept expecting something bad to happen, but it never did. Arkansas played as well as they could. When they scored we answered and after a while they just didn’t seem to have any answers. Our defense was opportunistic and the offense just lived on big plays. If we had needed a sustained drive we might have been in big trouble (see I told ya you could nit-pick it to death) we didn’t and it didn’t matter.

I can’t remember when I saw an Alabama team make that many big plays. I can call to mind lots of times when other teams had that many against us, but not the other way around. In the end it was just real satisfying to watch them dismantle Arkansas.

When I knew the worm had turned was at the end of the first half. I just kept thinking great it will be 35-14 and they get the ball back in the second half and then bang 35-21. But, whoa Nellie – Bama stoned them at the goal line and ran out the half up 35-7. Then Coach Nick tells the TV sideline reporter that his defense has to play better! My oh my it just makes ya proud. But, what makes you prouder is that they came out in the second half and did just that.

Next up Georgia – have a nice weekend yall!

Roll Tide!

The Dogs and the Tide

Alabama has the opportunity to get into the national title conversation with a win. With a loss we probably fall out of the top ten and come down to reality. Frankly, that�s not much fun and nobody on our side wants to do that.

Can we beat Georgia, yeah, we can beat Georgia. We will have to play our best game and in the end it will come down to John Parker Wilson making a big play. All of this black out and psych out that is going on between Mark Richt and Alabama is window dressing. Its fun, but it won�t matter after the first few minutes of the game.

Thus far Alabama has not had to worry crowd noise. They silenced the crowd in Fayetteville and the Atlanta crowd was out of the game by the middle of the third quarter. It will be a whole different story in Athens. If all goes well, of course, it won�t be an issue there either, but all may not go well and we may need a fourth quarter drive to win the game. That will be when the rubber meets the road. When people step up and when heroes are made.

John Parker Wilson has had a great career in Tuscaloosa. I suspect he would trade all the yards and completions for one championship. Saturday night might be the game where JP becomes a Tide legend.

Roll Tide

Movin� on Up

I won�t do it, not because I don�t feel like it but because it ain�t over till its over. There are still seven games to be played and maybe nine. As the coach says lets wait and see the whole body of work. Don�t you love it when he talks that way?

The thing I have come to love most about Nick Saban is that there is simply no pleasing the man. No matter what they do they can do better. To quote the coach: �You don�t have to be sick to get better.� I mean last week at Arkansas they were up 35-7 and what does he say? �We�re making too many mistakes on defense.�

It reminds me of another coach that prowled the sidelines at Bryant-Denny Stadium. I know I might be going off the deep end here and it�s only September and we could yet melt down, but I just don�t see it. We may lose some games, but we ARE NOT going to melt down.

Bear would have been proud of those boys on Saturday night. They came out controlled the line of scrimmage and ran the football at will. They threw some timely passes and what do you know they're up 31-0 in Athens, Georgia. Give me a break? Shoot he�d a loved �em last week when they put a serious woodshed whopping on the Hogs in Fayetteville.

These are guys who have suddenly found out what it takes to win football games. I guess Coach Nick must have run off the people who were not getting it. I�ll beat the dead horse some more, there was another coach a long time ago who did something similar. I am profoundly happy. Oh and just keep reminding yourself they�re playing fifteen freshmen.

Roll Tide

Keep on keepin' on

The longer and much more acceptable answer is that if Alabama plays up to its capabilities there is no way the Cats come out of Tuscaloosa with a W. For the Tide to keep their season rolling they have to stay away from the Kool Aid and play lights out.

Look for UK to come out early and try to frustrate the Alabama offense. They'll put eight men in the box and try to stuff the Bama running attack. If Alabama comes out flat the Cats should be able to do just that. UK's defense is looking to make a name for itself and pushing around the Tide in T-town would be just the ticket.

UK had a lot of success in their opening game against Louisville stuffing their run and making the Cards one-dimensional. That's what they'll try in Tuscaloosa. It might work for a quarter; it might even work for a half. Alabama's defense and JP Wilson will have some say in this game as well. If the Tide offense can't get going early in the game look for the Alabama defense to put pressure on the UK offense and try and take control of the game.

The UK special teams will be looking to make some plays too. Alabama's kick coverage has looked abysmal at times this year and UK has made some serious noise in the kicking game. Exploiting Bama's special teams is probably Kentucky's best bet to score.

Ok, OK, I had to say all of that. If this was the Alabama that we have seen in the last six or seven years, I would have to go with an upset special here. This isn't last year's Crimson Tide. The deal is they might come out flat and have to take a punch or two from UK. Kentucky is an SEC team and they'll be seriously fired up for this game.Look for Alabama to take UK's best, shake it off and then take care of business. It won't be pretty, but Nick's boys will keep it going one more week.

An aside here if I might. It was much easier writing this stuff last year. I am best at being hopelessly optimistic, holding hands and generally being the Tide fan in misery therapist. I, like you, had become so used to mediocrity that I had just come to accept it as the norm. My hope here is that I'll have to learn a whole new way of dealing with the Tide. Success, will mean I'll have to focus on football and how it all works. Dang, I might have to read some stats and try to figure out a few Xs and Os. If the Tide keeps rolling I might be forced to actually try and find out what exactly cover two is. Here's to having cover two down cold.

Roll Tide

Keep on keepin� on

The longer and much more acceptable answer is that if Alabama plays up to its capabilities there is no way the Cats come out of Tuscaloosa with a W. For the Tide to keep their season rolling they have to stay away from the Kool Aid and play lights out.

Look for UK to come out early and try to frustrate the Alabama offense. They�ll put eight men in the box and try to stuff the Bama running attack. If Alabama comes out flat the Cats should be able to do just that. UK�s defense is looking to make a name for itself and pushing around the Tide in T-town would be just the ticket.

UK had a lot of success in their opening game against Louisville stuffing their run and making the Cards one-dimensional. That�s what they�ll try in Tuscaloosa. It might work for a quarter; it might even work for a half. Alabama�s defense and JP Wilson will have some say in this game as well. If the Tide offense can�t get going early in the game look for the Alabama defense to put pressure on the UK offense and try and take control of the game.

The UK special teams will be looking to make some plays too. Alabama�s kick coverage has looked abysmal at times this year and UK has made some serious noise in the kicking game. Exploiting Bama�s special teams is probably Kentucky�s best bet to score.

Ok, OK, I had to say all of that. If this was the Alabama that we have seen in the last six or seven years, I would have to go with an upset special here. This isn�t last year�s Crimson Tide. The deal is they might come out flat and have to take a punch or two from UK. Kentucky is an SEC team and they�ll be seriously fired up for this game.Look for Alabama to take UK�s best, shake it off and then take care of business. It won�t be pretty, but Nick�s boys will keep it going one more week.

An aside here if I might. It was much easier writing this stuff last year. I am best at being hopelessly optimistic, holding hands and generally being the Tide fan in misery therapist. I, like you, had become so used to mediocrity that I had just come to accept it as the norm. My hope here is that I�ll have to learn a whole new way of dealing with the Tide. Success, will mean I�ll have to focus on football and how it all works. Dang, I might have to read some stats and try to figure out a few Xs and Os. If the Tide keeps rolling I might be forced to actually try and find out what exactly cover two is. Here�s to having cover two down cold.

Roll Tide

It�s All Good

The Tide gets a week off before facing a mercurial Ole Miss team that also has an open week. Houston Nutt has always had a bad habit of bringing his A game to Bama. The October 18 game should be no different. In fact, from here on out everybody is going to come out swinging. I still don�t think we can go through the season unscathed, but then again I thought we�d lose to Clemson and Georgia. So what do I know?

So far the ride has been fun. It has been frustrating at times; the Tulane and Kentucky games both drove me nuts. The highs and lows of Georgia game were something else. The complete domination of Clemson was loads of fun and watching a whole bunch of players get into the Arkansas game was just swell.

Where do we go from here? Well, the first thing as the coach would say would be to take care of Ole Miss go 7-0 and 4-0. That gets you into position for a serious run at an SEC title. There are some serious challenges along the way; UT in Knoxville for one. I don�t care how bad Tennessee is Phil Fulmer will have those boys sky high. He loves knocking us off. He also has the added incentive of getting thumped last year.

However, I�m getting ahead of myself and the season, swilling the Kool Aid as it were. Whoa Neely! Let�s take the next week and see what�s what. Last year during the bye I think we had that whole textbook thing. Let�s hope those nice young men can stay out of trouble and keep reaching for the stars.

Roll Tide

Sittin� Pretty

Think about it the team is number two, the guys say that doesn�t matter. Do you really think that it was OK that Texas leapfrogged them for number one? Do you really believe they are good with that? You don�t think they might come out and make a statement on Saturday, just maybe try and impress somebody that they are as good as advertised? Let�s just say it could happen.

Alabama has not won all of its games in a real flashy, sexy, media friendly way. I know we were the media darlings after we beat Georgia. Now the flavor of the week is anybody in the Big 12. They put up gaudy numbers, score lots of points and look good on TV to casual fans and people who love the NFL. If you like real football where the teams play defense you may find the Big 12 a little hard to deal with. But I digress.

That�s OK we won our last national championship with a team that just won games. It had a great defense, a good running game and a quarterback that threw lots interceptions, but made plays when need be. Does any of this sound familiar? The best news to date is that John Parker Wilson has cut down on the interceptions and has managed the games very, very well. He has not been put in a position to have to win a game this year, at least not yet. If he is he�ll come through. He has the receivers and the line to get the job done and as a bonus extra this year he has the confidence.

So when you hear that the SEC is not so tough. That Clemson was over rated, that Auburn, Tennessee, etc. are having a down year. Don�t worry about it, we are sittin� pretty.

Roll Tide

The Third Saturday in October

Knoxville in October the leaves will be turning, the checkerboard end zones and the chance to notch 46 victories over UT. That�s what it�s all about Bama-Vols, tee it up and see who wants it bad enough. The sports radio types have already written in a W here and the odds makers are on our side too, but it is UT in Knoxville.

If you don�t think we�ll get their A game you have another think coming. Phil Fulmer�s job is on shaky ground and beating Bama might not salvage it, but it sure won�t hurt. The UT players won�t be talking about revenge either; nope they�ll say it�s just another SEC game. Yup, and the Beatles were just another rock band.

Phil Fulmer would rather beat Alabama than win the lottery. Alabama and Tennessee is big, when you�ve been playing somebody for nearly 100 years there�s some tradition there the kind you just can�t find anywhere else. Alabama-Auburn is kinda like a family fight, UT and Bama well it�s just plain war. If you know, you know, if you don�t I really don�t have the space here to go into the complex and ugly nature the series has taken on the last five years or so.

We whipped �em like a stepchild last year and they are going to want to return the favor. Shoot they beat us and they derail the Alabama BCS express. Oh yeah, I think they might just be ready. I think they just might have upset on their minds and I think if we don�t come out and finally play a complete game it just might happen. I don�t think so but it could.

So here to the third Saturday day in October even if it�s the fourth Saturday in October, Let�s roll some tides yall. Get yer game face on it�s the Vols!

Roll Tide!

That was Alabama football

The smack down of Tennessee was something to behold. No it wasn�t pretty it was just plain thorough. There was a time in the first quarter. I think about the time Arenas fumbled the punt that I figured well this is the game we lose. Then something funny happened UT kicked a field goal, after first and goal at the five. A flipping field goal, are you kidding me? Then we got that punt blocked, OK time for the crowd and UT to turn it up a notch. Somebody turned it up a notch, but it wasn�t UT.

Alabama knew what to, they knew what had to be done and they went out and did it. No panic, no worry about UT getting good field position or breaks. They just lined up and made Tennessee look like we looked for about the last five years and it wasn�t pretty. No, in fact it was beautiful. That was Alabama football! It was it really, really was the Bear, Frank Thomas, Gene Stallings, Wallace Wade all of them would have been proud. They took care of business like they had been there before.

Kinda makes ya proud.

Roll Tide

No �0� for November

The good news is that this year I think the boys are paying attention. I think they have swallowed the Saban line � hook, line and sinker. Which, if you�ll forgive me saying it should avoid a homecoming stinker. Sorry, I couldn�t help myself.

Arkansas State should be a game where they start off fast and are able to rest the starters in anticipation of LSU. They will have to put ASU away and look good doing it. Otherwise Coach Nick will be unhappy. The truth be told I expect them to sleepwalk through this game. I expect them to win, but I really don�t expect a lot of style points, don�t expect 69-0.

I�ll stay away from the Kool Aid here; I�ll talk about LSU at the appropriate time. November has not been the kindest month and as with all things Alabama let�s go one game at a time. Take care of ASU, get out without any serious injuries and prepare for the next game. It ain�t rocket science.

Let the joy of the 2008 football season continue on its merry way. None of us expected this, well none of us who were actually grounded in reality. I�ll bet now there are hundreds, if not thousands of Alabama fans who swear they knew it. I�ll tell you right now that I wasn�t one of them. However, I�m one happy boy and I want to stay one watch out for Arkansas State they beat Texas A&M and we do not need another LA Monroe.

Roll Tide

Time to end some streaks

You know I read in one of the Louisiana papers that some of those folks hate Coach Nick, yup, really, really bad. This is not news right? Well, the person who was quoted suspected that we all hated them as well. I don�t know about you but I don�t hate LSU. I mean unless we�re playing them I really don�t think about them too much. It�s not like they�re Auburn, Tennessee or Notre Dame or something.

Until Nick Saban arrived at LSU we had beaten them at home for like 30 years running or something. From 1969 until like 2002 or some such, so you really didn�t worry too much about the Bayou Bengals. That�s all changed now they have beaten us like 7 of the last 8 times and they�re part of that whole ugly November thing. As I mentioned earlier that simply has to stop. It will not do and it has been going on long enough and well it�s time to end it. This year would be a real good year to do it. So think back to your Kool Aid � the LSU streak ends in Baton Rouge Saturday afternoon.

Those guys can just go on hating the Nicktator. If we beat them they�ll have all the more reason to hate him and us. As far as having coaches up and leave you for money or whatever should we break out the violin here? Do we need a list? Ray Perkins runs off to coach the Tampa Bay Bucs and that was when the Bucs were REAL bad. Bill Curry bolts for Kentucky � I don�t care what anybody says he left. Gene Stallings gets forced out and we get Mike DuBose oh those were good times. Dennis Franchione left for Texas A&M � Texas flippin� A& flippin� M for the love of God. I will not even begin to discuss the embarrassment of the whole Mike Price thing oh yeah its rolling baby! Cry me a river.

Sorry I digress. If Nick Saban leaves after this year that�s his business I won�t love it but I�ll deal with it. You think maybe he�ll leave us for UT? He has brought us back and we are on the brink of the Promised Land. Oh man, oh man I know you feel it too. But I have partaken of WAY too much Kool Aid and I fear I have lost all control of my thought processes.

I�ll leave you with these thoughts. Nick Saban says he�ll be in Tuscaloosa for a while. I believe him. I don�t know if that means he�ll retire in Alabama but if he brings home some serious hardware while he�s in town; I�ll go take a picture of his statue. On the other hand if we loose a game or two down the stretch that is November that�s OK too. I had them pegged for 8-4 and they have already done one better that that.

Roll Tide

One Down & two to go

10-0

I don�t know if the LSU game was a classic but it took me on an emotional roller coaster, a horror hay ride as it were. I had a real bad feeling about this game all day Saturday. I was feeling good all week but on Saturday I just felt like well, this is when it all goes awry.

It was the mirror image of Tide games this season. Instead of jumping on LSU in the first half they saved their best for the second half and OT. Regardless, Alabama never seemed over matched just out of sync. The first drive should have ended in a touchdown. Earl Alexander was just trying to do too much. You can�t fault him for that same with Arenas on the punt return.

In retrospect it seemed like the team was trying really hard to win one for the coach in Baton Rouge. They wanted to make a statement. In the end they did, they gutted it out. A former walk on safety made three interceptions and almost single handily willed Alabama to win the football game.

The best thing about the outcome of the game is that Nick Saban still won�t talk about the SEC championship or the BCS because we still have to play Mississippi State next week. You gotta love it. You really do stay focused Tide fans and hopefully it will all become crystal clear in the next couple of weeks.

Roll Tide

Croomed?

That is except maybe when he thinks about being passed over for Mike Shula or when he is coaching the Mississippi State Bulldogs. My guess is that Sly Croom has moved on past the snubbing by Mal Moore and the Tide brain trust. He is a good man and a solid coach. Does he use that as motivation for his players? You becha. Will the MSU Bulldogs be primed to take Bama down? You becha.

All that stands between Alabama and 11-0 going into the Auburn game is a feisty bunch of Bulldogs from Starkville. All of my life that team has played us tough. It did not matter who the coach was or what their record was. They came out swinging and played as physical a football game as anybody in the conference. That won�t change on Saturday. Croom�s charges will be fired up looking to make MSU history. Ya think Sly has reminded them what happened the last time MSU played a number ranked Crimson Tide. He remembers he was a coach on that 1980 Alabama team. Forget everything you think you know this will be one tough football game. No style points here and we better be ready.

I believe that Sylvester Croom is a very good coach who will eventually win at Mississippi State. I just would rather he not begin those winning ways this season in Tuscaloosa. This is number two of the three streaks that simply must come to an end. I wish the Bulldogs well the rest of the year but we need to keep on keepin� on and only one team can win Saturday. The Tide will find a way.

As November is nearly half over I wanted to say goodbye to one of my loyal readers. Sue Campbell my sister-in-law will be retiring this month. Sue knows as much about football as I do about modern Jazz, but bless her heart she has been reading my blogs from the get go. Thanks Sue, have fun in Burt.

Roll Tide

Two down and one to go

Let us not swell from the cup. We must remember the St. Nick rule one game at a time, the next game. Am I being delusional or am I the only one not having one tiny bit of trouble concentrating on this particular game? I mean it�s the boys from Lee County, those fine fellows whose coach has been raising one finger a year for the past six years. Remember fear the thumb? We are past the thumb and heading for a peace sign.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls this will not do. This has to stop now. You do know, I�m sure you know, that not only have the Lee County Tigers beaten us six years in a row, but we have never, ever beaten them in Tuscaloosa. That is just plain wrong. It must stop it has to end right now or at least on November 29, 2008.

I know there are many of you out there who are now bathing in Kool-aid who are way ahead of yourselves. Yes you are swimming in the pool, you have moved on to Atlanta or heaven forbid on to Miami. Well, let me tell you this. I honestly don�t care if the win the SEC championship, I don�t care if they stick us in the Papa Johns.com Bowl I want to end the six game losing streak. Everything else is just fluff. Those are bridges I�ll cross when I get to them and folks we are a long, long way from them.

I know we will be playing in Atlanta. That�s great it�s a couple of years ahead of schedule and man don�t you feel good about that. But just think how just plain rotten you�ll feel if we went into that game 11-1. I don�t know about you but right now. I feel good, my life seems better, the economy doesn�t seem so bad and everything just seems bright and more cheerful. Why? Well, the Tide just keeps on winning. Auburn is next and for that feel good feeling to continue the Tide must roll one more time in Tuscaloosa and go someplace no other Crimson Tide team has ever gone before, a victory over Auburn in T-town. Oh it would be just swell.

Roll Tide

A-U-B-U-R-N

Empty, dank and totally unfulfilled that�s how it would feel. There have been enough fingers raised by the head Tiger in Bryant-Denny. There are demons to slay and up to now the Tide has been Buffy-like in the house cleaning that has taken place. Win one more for the Bear and for all of us Tide fans out there who have just plain had enough.

The ghosts of losing in Bryant-Denny to the hordes in orange and blue must be exorcized. The Tigers have owned Tuscaloosa. Never in the long and proud tradition that is Alabama football has the Tide won against Auburn on its home field. That time has come. Six in a row is plenty. I know that the coach says nothing that has happened in the last six years or since 1893 will have anything to do with the football game on Saturday. I suppose he�s right, he seems to have been right up to now.

That�s for the players, we are not playing the game. We are the fans. We don�t win games, most of us never suited up in crimson. But, we are the life blood of college football. The good, the bad and the ugly, we are what makes the sport so special. College football fans are just plain wonderful. Alabama fans are the best, we have the tradition, we have the fight song and we have the Rammer Jammer.

And I can tell you as a card carrying alum that the University of Alabama is one very special place. Unless a miracle occurs here I won�t be in T-town for the doings. I�ll be in front of my TV watching the number one team in America take care of business.

Wait for it . . . .

Roll Tide !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Week

What can you say about the Auburn game? It was just swell. I just felt so good and it made my holiday weekend. Let us now drink deeply from the Kool-aid. Now wipe off that red mustache and let us now think about the Georgia Dome.

If you are alive and you follow college football you now know two things. First � the Tide will lose and the mighty Gators will cruse into Miami to thrash whichever Big 12 team comes their way. I suspect if it plays out that way U of F would indeed thrash any Big 12 team that came their way. The second thing is the best teams in the nation live in the Big 12. You have heard it all year. Man those boys can score like nobody�s business and it is a shame that two of them can�t play for the national championship because they are simply the best.

Right. OK the mighty Gators may well beat us in Hotlanta this weekend. It could happen, it may well happen, but then again it just might not. We have won twelve games this year. In the SEC, which is the same league that Florida plays in, now I know we haven�t scored 100 points or anything, but we still won. Shall we wait until after the game to give the Gators the national championship. One thing I will say, if they beat us I�ll be pulling for them to take that trophy.

The other thing I know is they do not have a clue how to play defense in the Big 12. Did you watch the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game? If OSU could have made a stop, one stop, any stop they could have won the game. The Sooners couldn�t run on OSU. Then again I could have completed passes on OSU. I don�t know what kind of defense they were running but it was sad. The Tide or the Gators could stop those guys. No way OU scores 60 points on either Bama or UF.

Well, I reckon we�ll see what we will see. Here�s hoping we�ll party like its 1992.

Roll Tide

It was a swell ride

I know we were all hoping for two more wins, but sometimes the team with the best players wins. They made a few more plays. It�s disappointing , it�s sad, but it�s a beginning and not the end. Alabama has a shot at 13-1 and a top five finish. That�s a far cry for 7-5 and third in the SEC West.

Saban and Myer could turn into Stallings and Spurrier it could be the season ending match up that the whole country watches. The nuclear arms race is on. I feel for those nine seniors. They wanted it, they deserved it, but life isn�t fair and it�s seldom a feel good movie. They turned around the program and for that we owe them our thanks. Way to go boys, keep the faith, we love you.

It will be interesting to watch Florida play Oklahoma. I really don�t see a shoot out. If Florida proved one thing to me Saturday night it�s that they�re a tough team that knows how to play defense. Oklahoma has not seen an SEC defense this season and they are in for a rude awakening. I hope UF hangs 60 on them. It�ll be a tad harder for Oklahoma to put 60 on Myer�s bunch they�re a little better than the 116th ranked pass defense the Sooners played Saturday night.

On to New Orleans, it is a nice consolation prize. Who ever we play better come ready, these guys want to finish the season on a high note.

Roll Tide

Bowls, bowls and more bowls

I offer below part one of the annual fearless bowl predictions. Have fun, stay safe and have a great holiday season. Regardless of which holidays you celebrate do it right and be with those you love.

EagleBank Bowl � Wake Forest vs Navy

This one is at old RFK stadium in DC. I swear that at some point earlier in the year Navy accepted a bid to the Poinsettia Bowl, maybe I was just hallucinating. The Midshipmen won�t have far to travel from Maryland to DC and the trip from Winston-Salem should be fairly easy for Wake as well. Travel arrangements aside this bowl could well come down to not only who shows up, but who show up and wants to win. Wake has been remarkably hot and cold this year. My thought was to give Navy the nod, but let�s face it they lost to Notre Dame and they were the only team with a winning record to do so. So I say Wake Forest.

New Mexico � Colorado State vs Fresno State

This one of the few bowl games with a real name, I hate the dot com bowls and the ones shamelessly named after a product or company. Oh well, nobody cares what I think. The Rams of CSU are one of those 6-6 teams that made their way to a bowl due to a conference tie-in. They didn�t beat any of the better teams on their schedule. Fresno State is a team that was penciled in to be a BCS buster when the season began. They started out with a bang beating Rutgers in NJ, then kinda fizzled out toward the end. They won seven but were hoping for much better. I look for the Bulldogs to get it together and take out CSU. Fresno has at least one quality win under their belt and this might make a poor season feel just a little bit better.

magicJack St. Petersburg � Memphis vs South Florida

It�s the Conference USA at the Big East in a year when the Big East did not set the world on fire. South Florida has been a major disappointment. They have been all over the map. In the last game of the year in the snow at Morgantown they could not generate enough offense to win a 13-7 struggle. Both teams lost close game to Louisville, which is not saying a lot as U of L went 5-7. I�m going with South Florida because on paper they are better and as bad a Matt Grothe looked in Morgantown, I think he�ll look better in warmer weather.

Pioneer Las Vegas � BYU vs Arizona

I could go on at length about the PAC 10 and how Arizona is in a real BCS conference and has better players and tradition and such. But I won�t BYU will kill these guys. It will get ugly and stay that way. Look for the Cougars to win by three scores.

R+L Carriers New Orleans � Southern Miss vs Troy

Over the years Southern Miss has had a reputation of knocking off the big name teams. Then they up and fired their coach. USM has been competitive this year but only won six games, which ain�t so good in Conference USA. Troy blew a 31-3 second half lead at LSU, you gotta wonder. If the real Troy shows up the Trojans will bring home the bacon in the first of two bowl games in the Crescent City. I think the real Troy will show up. They have an offense and I think they can take USM.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl � Boise State vs TCU

This might actually be one of the better bowl games of the season. Boise State is undefeated and TCU is 10-2. TCU lost a heart breaker 13-10 to Utah and got swatted 35-10 by Oklahoma. Gary Patterson�s Horned Frogs are known for their defense and Boise is known for its offense, though they are not all that shabby on the other side of the ball. Boise is probably very disappointed to have been shunned by the BCS. If Boise State doesn�t show up this could get ugly. I don�t think that will happen. I look for a real hard fought contest that will turn on a TCU defensive play. I give the Horned Frogs the nod by a field goal.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl � Hawaii vs Notre Dame

Charlie Weis�s boys come into paradise on a roll or something like that having dropped their last two including a serious clunker at home against Syracuse. Hawaii on the other hand is 7-6. Let�s face it neither of these teams set the world on fire last season. Hawaii is still picking up the pieces of June Jones heading to the mainland. On the other hand Notre Dame is still trying to live up to Charlie Weis� first couple of years. This might be one of the worst games of the bowl season. Notre Dame needs a win in the worst way and Hawaii can be one of the hardest places to win. I really want to pick against Notre Dame but something tells me they�ll pull this one out in the end.

Motor City Bowl � Florida Atlantic vs Central Michigan

Detroit the day after Christmas it could be fun indoors and they have microbrews at the stadium or at least they once did. Central should have taken Ball State, they didn�t and here they are in what will be almost a home game. Howard Schnellenberger�s Owls are 6-6 while Central comes in 8-4. I look for Central to take this one in a walk. The Owls are simply over matched. Call it CMU by two touchdowns.

Meineke Car Care Bowl � West Virginia vs North Carolina

West Virginia has had a very disappointing season to say the least. They were the preseason favorites in the Big East then they lost to East Carolina and everything just went south. All in all they finished 8-4 but I know some Mountaineer fans and they just simply aren�t happy. North Carolina on the other hand has to be just beside themselves with an 8-4 record. They beat Notre Dame, which used to mean something but then they had their hats handed to them by NC State. This one will not be pretty North Carolina plays good defense sometimes, but this is Pat White�s last game in a Mountaineer uniform. West Virginia�s speed and the spread option will just be too much for the Tar Heels.

Champs Sports Bowl � Wisconsin vs Florida State

This is one of those games that just makes you scratch your head. It�s the underachiever bowl. Wisconsin was supposed to be the team to beat in the Big Ten � didn�t happen and FSU has been missing in action for the last few years. I don�t know why but Wisconsin seems to show up for bowl games. Maybe it�s the warm weather, whatever it is they�ll do it again. The Seminoles are going down.

Emerald Bowl � Miami (Fla) vs California

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Miami used to be a team to be reckoned with. You always saw them on ESPN with all those former, now pro players, telling the current bunch how they had to keep winning to �keep the tradition� going. That�s what happens when your tradition is all of ten years old. Oh well, the Cal Bears have some real tradition and they just have to go down the street to get to this bowl, which might not be a plus. Is Cal disappointed to get the PAC-10 also ran bowl or are they just happy to be anywhere? This is almost a toss up but I am going with Miami in a very close game.

Independence Bowl � Northern Illinois vs Louisiana Tech

The result of a very down year in the SEC is this match up. The SEC could not fill nine spots must less ten so the Independence Bowl went for a homer. LA Tech has a bad habit of winning when they are not supposed to. Frankly, I was not impressed when I saw Northern Illinois play. It seems to me that if the stars line up right LA Tech could have the crowd and the game. I am going with the Bulldogs from Ruston, Louisiana in this one.

Papajohns.com Bowl � NC State vs Rutgers

The best team in the Big East vs the most surprising team in the ACC. This also will be a better game than its standing indicates. Rutgers didn�t get it together until later on in the season. They may well be the best team in the Big East right now. They kind of got on a roll. They play old school solid football. NC State is sort of in the same boat they started out slow and finished strong winning their last four including the rivalry game with UNC. This could be very interesting. I am inclined to go with Rutgers in the best game of December 29.

Valero Alamo Bowl � Missouri vs Northwestern

It been a long, long time since Northwestern was in bowl and Michigan stayed home, 2008 was that kind of year. This game pits the Missouri Tigers with one of the best offenses in the country and one of the worst defenses against a pretty good Northwestern team. The Wildcats are 9-3 with an inexplicable loss to Indiana. This game will be high scoring because Mizzu simply can�t stop anybody. It also unlike that Northwestern will be able to completely shut down Chase Daniels and the Mizzu passing game. In the end however, the team with the defense will prevail chalk this one up for the Big Ten.

Happy Holidays!

2008 Bowls Part 2

Roady�s Humanitarian Bowl � Maryland vs Nevada

I love the bowl with the blue field. Plastic comes in colors and it�s just swell to see people using that technology. I also think it is a good thing that 40 other teams didn�t opt for red, orange or purple grass but a little blue is a good thing.

Nevada is third in the WAC with a 7-5 record. They lost to Hawaii but beat LA Tech both of whom finished with 5-3 conference records. Maryland finished fourth in the ACC Atlantic division. They are one of six teams in the ACC to finish with a conference record of 4-4. They also finished the season 7-5 on a two game losing skid. Soooo it begs the question who will emerge successful on the blue turf. Well, I am going with Nevada. I think the ACC has been the weak sister all year. I just don�t think they can cross the country and come out a winner. I look for the Wolf Pack to handle Maryland on the WAC home turf as it were.

Texas Bowl � Western Michigan vs Rice

I think I said this last year and I�ll say it again this year. I think it is simply wrong for the NFL network to be covering college games. I don�t get it, I can�t see them and I don�t like it. Regardless we are looking at a Rice team that lost to three bowl teams Vandy, Texas and Tulsa. These guys finished 9-3 and are all about offense. Western Michigan also lost to three bowl teams Ball State, Central Michigan and Nebraska and they too finished 9-3. This could be a very interesting game that could fall beneath the radar. Or Rice will score a bunch of points on these guys and win by three scores. I�m goning with Rice and a lots of points.

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl � Oklahoma State vs Oregon

This is game matches the flash of the Big 12 against the Pac 10. If you watch ESPN by now you know that the Big 12 is the power conference. That is they can score a powerful lot of points but they can�t stop anybody else from doing the same. The Quack Attack is 9-3. Oklahoma State lost to the power teams in the Big 12 Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech. I watched them play OU they couldn�t get a stop. They could move the ball but they could not stop the Sooners. I don�t think they�ll be able to stop the Ducks either.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl � Houston vs Air Force

This is a rematch of a game that Air Force won in Dallas 31-28.Rematches can be tricky. Air Force has had absolutely no success in this stadium, which should have absolutely no bearing on this game whatsoever. Houston comes into this game winning seven and losing five. The Cougars have had an OK season unfortunately it won�t get any better. Air Force has a very solid team and I look for them to take control of the line of scrimmage early and literally run all over Houston.

Brut Sun Bowl � Oregon State vs Pittsburg

Big East vs Pac 10 no contest, the Big East has been down and there�s no covering that up. Pitt has had its moments. The Sun Bowl won�t be one of them.The Beavers have too much fire power for the Panthers. Pitt goes down.

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl � Boston College vs Vanderbilt

The Music City Bowl is a real fun game and you get to see it played in a first class stadium. This has been a relatively down year for the SEC and real down year for the ACC. Be all that as it may. No matter how bad BC is they are better than Vandy. This ain�t gonna be a pretty bowl season for the SEC.

Insight Bowl � Kansas vs Minnesota

The underachiever bowl II Minnesota comes to Tempe with a four game losing streak while Kansas arrives after knocking off Mizzu. This is the second appearance in this game for Minnesota, while Kansas makes its first. Either way I figure the Jayhawks take the Gophers to the cleaners. It would be easier to pick the Gophers if they hadn�t lost to Michigan but they did and the blow out loss to Iowa just doesn�t inspire confidence.

Chick-fil-A Bowl � LSU vs Georgia Tech

You know all of those people who said Les Miles was winning with Nick Saban�s players? Well, who knows they just might have been right. He sure ain�t winning without them. He went 7-5 and was real lucky not to be 6-6. Where has his defense gone? Where has his offense gone? I don�t know. GA Tech is not fancy they just line up and run the ball. The last time they faced a team like that they lost, it was in overtime but they still lost. Look for that to happen again 0-2 for the SEC.

Outback Bowl � South Carolina vs Iowa

When a Steve Spurrier team is living on its defense there�s a problem and there�s a problem. The Gamecock�s just have not been a real threat in the SEC East. When the chips are down they just can�t get it done. Iowa has improved over the season and comes in with a three game winning streak. Meanwhile South Carolina has lost two in a row. I just don�t see the head ball coach pulling this one out, in fact it could get down right ugly. SEC 0-3

Capital One Bowl � Georgia vs Michigan State

Michigan State was the third best team in the Big Ten, which means they lost to Penn State and Ohio State. Well, there you go. The Spartans have a very serious running game and all in all are a pretty fair team. Georgia on the other hand is a pretty fair SEC team, probably the third best team in the conference. Both teams come to Florida with season ending losses. In this case I look for the Georgia offense to show up in a big way. Matt Stafford can put some points on the board. I�m not sure if the Bulldog D will be able to shut down Javon Ringer but they will be able to slow him down. Throw those Dawgs a bone. UGA wins one for the SEC.

Konica Minolta Gator � Nebraska vs Clemson

Dabo Sweeny took over the reins at Clemson and proved he was ready for primetime. These are two proud programs in search of the glory of the past. Clemson seriously failed to meet its preseason expectations. Nebraska on the other hand finished 8-4 with a three game winning streak. This will be the second really big test for Dabo. I want to pull for Clemson because Dabo is one of Bear�s boys, but I just don�t see it happening. The Big Red nation goes back to Lincoln happy.

Rose Bowl � Penn State vs USC

Everybody says this game will be different that this isn�t your grandfather�s Penn State. Well, phooey I say, it may not be your grandfather�s Penn State but it's Pete Carroll�s USC. Penn State was the class of the Big Ten, which as a conference had ten teams and most of them were not very good. Don�t get me wrong Penn State will make a game of this they have a pretty balanced attack. But just keep in mind when Ohio State came to California and played USC it got ugly. That could happen here but I simply don�t see it. I think Penn State will keep it close for a half before USC�s defense wreaks havoc. Chalk up another for the men of Troy.

FedEx Orange Bowl � Cincinnati vs Virginia Tech

Say what you will about the Big East and I won�t, they placed a bunch of teams in bowls and for some reason they get an automatic BCS bid. I guess the interesting thing here is one reason the Big East got that bid to begin with is Virginia Tech, which is now in the ACC. Times change, Cincinnati used to be in Conference USA. My point? Well, I won�t say these guys don�t deserve to be in the BCS, rules are rules. Somebody from the ACC had to finally win the conference title. Cincinnati won the Big East and here we are. I�m going with Virginia Tech.

ATT Cotton Bowl � Texas Tech vs Ole Miss

I want a homer here and say Ole Miss will take Texas Tech in a walk. Forget about it. It won�t happen. Ole Miss came out of nowhere and had a real good season. They are the only team that will beat Florida this year. This was a real down year for the SEC. What can I say we couldn't fill all of our bowl slots and some of the teams that went probably should be in lower tier bowls, oh well. If Ole Miss has a weakness it's pass defense, which could be a problem here. On the other hand they led the SEC in sacks. If the Rebels can control the clock they have a good chance of taking down the Red Raiders. Alabama did that in 2005 and won by three points. Somehow I just don�t see Ole Miss pulling this one out. I think Mike Leach�s spread will be too much for the Rebel�s to handle and I think Tech wins this one in the fourth quarter.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl � Kentucky vs East Carolina

The Wildcats come into Memphis without Randell Cobb their do everything quarterback/receiver. That means the burden of the offense will fall to Mike Hartline. Hartline isn�t a bad QB. Unfortunately, he won�t get much help from either his receivers or his running game. That's not a good recipe for success. In a normal year this would be a no brainer SEC beats Conference USA going away. It�s not. East Carolina is the Conference USA champion and early in the season they were being penciled in as a BCS buster. Well, that didn�t quite work out. They have a good team and they ended the season on a three game winning streak. UK on the other hand is coming in on a three game losing streak. UK�s best game of the year was probably the loss to Alabama, after that the season kind of went into the tank. If they could generate some offense they might pull this one out. The SEC bowl season stays bleak. Chalk up one for Conference USA.

Allstate Sugar Bowl � Alabama vs Utah

Alabama and Utah in a game that many Alabama fans see as a big let down. Lots of Bama fans seem to think we should be playing Texas or some such. Well, get over it. As the coach says it is what it is. We play Utah. Right now I�m sure Utah is sick of hearing about the SEC and how Alabama is gonna whip them but good. If the Tide goes into this game with the same mindset as the fans the Crimson Tide could get waylaid. It won�t happen. Nick Saban will have his boys prepared for this one. We've never won a BCS a game and this is the opportunity to do so. The team wants to send the seniors out winners. Look for it to happen. Also the Andre Smith thing is just the kind of adversity that this team needed to keep it focused.

International Bowl Buffalo vs Connecticut

This Canadian bowl has that back east flavor to it. Buffalo is the Cinderella team of 2008. Turner Gill is the hot young coach. Gill gets his squad ready for big games and he gets the most out of his players. UConn has been all over the place this year they beat Big East Champions Cincinnati but were thumped by Pitt. I honestly think that Buffalo is the hot team. They'll come into this game fired up and ready to play. It�s not a trip to Florida but it is a bowl. Give this one to the Buffalo Bulls.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl � Ohio State vs Texas

I could go on at length here but why? Texas and Ohio State I know OSU has gotten better as the year went on, but they will not beat Texas. The Longhorns are really disappointed that they're not is south Florida and that they missed the Big 12 Championship game. If they are over that they will clobber the Buckeyes just to prove a point. If not it could be a close game either way go with the burnt orange.

GMAC Bowl � Ball State vs Tulsa

Ball State saw its season unravel when Buffalo upended them in the MAC Championship game. Then their coach up and left for San Diego State, what�s up with that? Tulsa is also a disappointed team. They too were penciled in as BCS busters until the Arkansas Razorbacks rained on that parade. I think in this case the Cardinals come out to win one for the new head coach. This will be a much better game than people think. It is a lower end bowl, but these are a couple of pretty good teams. It should be a shoot out and it will be fun to watch.

National Championship Game � Oklahoma vs Florida

This should be an interesting game. It features the last two Heisman Trophy winners and a couple of teams from the 2008 power conferences. It�s the Big 12�s offense, which has been on fire this year vs the SEC and Florida�s version of the spread, which features Tim Tebow. Florida has a defense something the Sooners have not seen much of this year. The question is can the Sooner D stop Tebow? I think the short answer is no. I think this Florida team is on a mission. When the chips are down they�ll simply put the ball in Tebow�s hands and let him win the game and that he�ll do.

Hey Happy New Year everybody. Hope you are safe and sound and that you had a good year. Here�s hoping that Bama wins one more game this season. Be safe and such. Don�t drink and drive.

Roll Tide

The sun will come up tomorrow

The truth of the matter is that Utah is pretty darn good. We are also not as good when Andre Smith isn�t in the game. Take out Mike Johnson and you are in a world of hurt. Injuries are really no excuse. The deal is those Utah coaches are pretty smart. They watched film and saw what a lot of people saw. Our DBs are average.

Utah makes a living throwing the ball. We really haven�t done that well against good passing teams. What we have done against good passing teams is try and run the ball and keep their offense off the field. That worked twelve times this season twice it didn�t.

Nick will get some DBs and we�ll get better. Just keep in mind we won twelve games. We got to the Sugar Bowl. I guess that�s the good news. Just think how happy we made everybody in Utah. Well, probably not everybody. I�ll bet there are some die hard BYU fans who were pulling for us.

Well � here�s looking for spring practice and the next great recruiting class!

Roll Tide

Twelve and Two Ain't Bad

I�ll let the readers decide if Utah bitch slapped Alabama as so many other scribes have written. You can say Andre Smith wasn�t there or you can say Utah just wanted it more, for whatever reason the Tide did not show up and the rest, as they say, is history. To end the year ranked number six after starting off at number twenty-four, with no love and no respect means something.

The future will be interesting. There will be a few answers in the spring, but honestly, don�t expect to really know what�s what until August. The O-line has to be replaced, there will be a new quarterback and the running game may well see a shake up. Our defense will be solid, if anything it should be better than last year. It is unlikely the Tide will win twelve straight games next year. That doesn�t mean they won�t win the SEC west nor the SEC. Florida will remain the team to beat, but we will not be picked third in the west.

So you might as well watch some NFL. Keep reading mybama for recruiting news. We�ll be there for spring practice as well. Oh yeah and we�ll keep you up on those other spring sports too. If I didn�t say it already Happy New Year, I hope all of our readers have a prosperous and safe New Year.

Roll Tide

Ten Things

1. Start a betting pool on how long it will be before the Alabama men�s basketball team wins an SEC road game.

2. Try and predict the number of total points by which the Alabama women�s basketball team will lose the next three games.

3. Start a Mark Gottfried watch. How much longer will he coach in Tuscaloosa? Will he make it through the season? Who will replace him?

4. Keep up with the Alabama gymnastics team. They�re good, they�re young and they�ll get better as the season goes along.

5. Read a book. I know the economy is bad, so check one out of the library. Reading is good for you.

6. Buy a new music CD or download some tunes.

7. Call your momma. She misses you and you can tell her all about the Bama gymnastics team.

8. Put a bird feeder in your backyard. You can get a book and identify the different birds that visit. If you�re not a book person you can look them up online. Some of you can do that on your phone. Cardinals are red they�ll remind you of the Tide.

9. Watch the Super Bowl. Both teams have Alabama connections and at least one Alabama player from the Tide is on each team.

10. Watch those football videos of last season, especially the Auburn game that was fun.

Cheer up before you know it, it will be national signing day. You can read mybama and see who signed with the Tide. Always loads of fun. Then you can grouse about who got away. Then before you know it those daffodils are out of the ground and they�re throwing the pigskin around in T-town.

Have fun, stay warm. If anybody has any better ideas please let me know. I�m in the same boat you are!

Roll Tide

We�re Number 1 - AGAIN

I thought we�d have a good year, a top ten class, but man, no matter how you slice it or what you read we finished no worse than third. Yeah, some of these kids might be a bust, but it doesn�t matter, because in the long run this is gonna help. The kids want to go where they can be winners. They want to go where the other real good players are headed and Momma Nick has got them coming to T-town like lemmings to the sea.

I also really liked what Coach Saban said about recruiting and the University in general: �This is one of the places I enjoy most to recruit to because of the attitude toward recruiting here, the positive energy we have. Our administration does an outstanding job. Dr. Robert Witt talks to every recruit every recruiting weekend. One of the finest administrators ever in terms of helping us recruit football players.� It makes you think the boy might be planning to hang around for a while doesn�t it.

Did any of you read the piece in Rivals where Tennessee Coach Lane Kiffin accused Urban Myer of cheating and gave Lance Thompson credit for Alabama�s recruiting class? The Alabama-UT game will be special this year I can tell you that for sure and Coach Kiffin's really gonna love that trip to Gainsville. Talk about pouring some gasoline on a fire. I reckon he�s just a passionate young coach or something.

Man, oh man, you gotta love the SEC. It�ll be fun next year.

Roll Tide

Walking in the rain

I must admit that as far as round ball goes I am less than enthusiastic. However, I am happy they have won a few lately I mean it was getting down right embarrassing. That�s all in the past now, well sort of. I suppose there will be some sort of resolution in that we�ll get a new coach. The real question with that is will Mal Moore actually hire somebody with the credentials and ability to take the Tide further than they have ever been before? Or will he just hire a cheap competent coach who can grow into the job? Hard to say, we won�t know until after the NCAA tournament � so don�t hold your breath � you�ll pass out.

The bummer of bummers happened this weekend as the weather caused the cancellation of the Leadoff Classic in Columbus, GA. The Tide softball team returned from the west coast with a less than successful Cathedral City Classic. They won more than they lost, but for reasons that are hard to explain they just can�t seem to hit pitchers from the PAC 10 or for that matter the west coast. They had some issues with Hawaii as well, though they did dispatch Hawaii.

As far as the softball world goes I still think the PAC 10 teams have a mystic that no other conference or region can match. The Tide will have to prove to itself it can handle those girls before they can actually do it. I know this sounds real Zen or like some sort of silly psycho babble, but trust me it�s not. Think about Nick�s boys and the whole last season thing. In a way that�s different in that Alabama has its own mystic in football, they just had to begin to believe.

The softball team exorcized a demon last year by beating Arizona. They needed that in the worst way. They were unable to come back and lost to eventual National Champion Arizona State 3-1 twice, which is respectable. Coach Murphy remarked that for the first time UCLA had some respect for the Tide when they played. It should also be noted that UCLA scored all of its runs early on after that Kelsi Dunne shut them down. The trouble was the Tide couldn�t get their bats going, dang those west coast pitchers.

I look for better things. The UCLA game might help in the long run. Next week the Tide is back in action at the Easton SEC/PAC 10/Big 12 Challenge .This tourney brings Georgia, Washington and Baylor to town. Washington has been a thorn in Bama�s side so hopefully more demons will be exorcized. The gymnatics team may have also turned the corner. I reckon we�ll see.

Well hope you get some snow where you are, if you don�t like it stay inside and watch some sports, a movie or better yet read a good book. Here�s hoping that everything is swell where you are.

Roll Tide

End of March

Things are in serious flux at the Capstone. As I type a job offer has been made to Anthony Grant to be the next Alabama basketball coach. He seems like a good fit. I will admit I know enough about basketball to be dangerous, so take whatever I say about round ball with a grain of salt. It seems that this guy worked under Billy Donavon and Donavon, I believe, was a Rick Pitino guy. Rick coaches pretty good basketball. So, as I say, it seems like a pretty good fit.

Spring football is underway and that�s a good thing. The winter sports, with the exception of gymnastics, have been less than satisfactory. Let�s face it basketball has pretty much been an embarrassment. The women�s team was just plain awful and the men�s team really wasn�t that much better. So we�ll leave that painful subject and move on.

This spring football is always a new beginning and this one is no exception. Between now and April 18, some positions are likely to be decided. A starting quarterback will probably emerge out of the 15 practices. I honestly suspect Greg McElroy will be the starter. I also believe that Star Jackson will play as a change up. This is not rocket science. Running back on the other hand, is a little trickier. I think Mark Ingram may come out of the spring as the number one back.

However, I don�t think that question will be settled until the end of summer camp. Trent Richardson will be in the mix. Given the flux in the offensive line I suspect that some new wrinkles will be put into the offense to try to get play makers in space. This may well be an opportunity for Terry Grant to come back into the scheme as a third down back or a back in a no back set. Grant proved he could move the ball, but got lost last year as Saban went with heavier backs in his ball control scheme.

The offensive line is the wildcard. This new group may be better at pass blocking than run blocking, in which case I suspect the offense will adapt. Truly, nothing will be settled along the offensive front until summer when D. J. Fluker arrives on campus. Perhaps this year rather than one bruising line it may be a line that can be replaced in various situations or just to spell players. Regardless, the spring will provide some answers but not all, not by a long shot.

The situation with the line may well determine what direction the offense takes. Better pass blockers may well create a quick set throwing game, which could move the sticks and set up both the run and the long ball. A consistent threat with the long ball has been a problem, if solved, it could open up everything. If defenses stack the box the Tide can throw to Julio and hopefully Marquis Maze or one of the four freshmen that the Tide signed in the winter. With a second legitimate receiving threat Alabama could cause some serious problems for defenses.

Spring practice will answer some questions but several very big ones will not be answered until late August and might not be answered until the Virginia Tech game. The defense, unlike the offense is simply retooling and most likely will be better than last year. The missing factors last year were a consistent pass rush and a lock down corner. Utah demonstrated what happens when you lack both of those options.

Roll Tide

A little about basketball

Basketball is the second biggest sport at the University. It�s second by a mile, but second nonetheless. It�s a TV sport and a big revenue sport. Grant will get plenty of face time on ESPN and CBS, but perhaps more importantly, he�ll get plenty of face time on WAPI and all the other Birmingham stations, as well as, those scattered from Huntsville to Mobile.

This is a big deal. To say I am proud of the University and the state of Alabama would be an understatement. The most significant thing is that there was no thing. Not once, from anybody did you hear, ever, even so subtly, that U of A needed a white guy. It was the best coach and those at the top of the list were African Americans. Mal Moore targeted who he wanted and he went out and brought him home.

Not only that, but when Grant asked Wendell Hudson what he should do, Hudson basically said come on in the water�s fine. This is as far from the Governor standing in front of Foster Auditorium and fire hoses and police dogs in B�ham as you can possibly get. It is so far, that we might as well be in a different place and time, which in fact we are.

I am not allowed to post Paul Finebaum articles on this website, but if you want to read a fine piece of journalism check out his March 31, 2009 piece called Grant Historical, Quality Hire for Alabama. Finebaum nailed the whole hire and what it meant. I couldn�t have ever said it nearly as eloquently as he did, and coming from someone who I personally think knows and understands the sports scene in Alabama it is a fine, fine piece. That�s not to say I always agree with him, but what the heck.

Roll Tide

A Day

At this point the question of who will be the starting quarterback has been answered. Saban won�t say squat until August, but unless McElroy is run over by a car he�ll start against Va Tech. If he is run over by a car we are in a world of hurt. Neither Darrah nor Jackson was impressive. Darrah, the walk on, looked somewhat more poised but he missed a bunch of open receivers. Hopefully, Jackson just had a bad day.

The starting offensive line looked pretty good. The five sacks of McElroy were touches and most would not have counted in a real game. Of course, the defense was hand cuffed as well, so we can call it a draw. The real concern was lack of a running game. However, it really didn�t look like either side tried to establish one. With Upchurch and Ingram out I reckon the coaching staff decided to throw the ball. It says something when the best running of the day was Marquis Maze on two end around plays.

Maze was the biggest surprise for me in the game. If he continues to impress he could really become an important part of the offense. If a second receiver can be developed to stretch the defense it will change everything. Teams will no longer be able to sell out covering Julio. Look for Maze, Mike McCoy and Julio to start in the fall. That should be a good solid lineup.

The defense sort of let Coach Nick down, but I wouldn�t worry. They�re better than they looked and they�ll be ready come September. They still need a shut down corner. Mike McCoy exposed a problem with the DBs with his touchdown catch in the second quarter. Kareem Jackson had McCoy covered but he never found the ball. That was a problem all last year. Teams could throw on us even when we had them covered. That has to change. The Florida game and the Sugar Bowl exposed some serious defensive problems, the no huddle and the spread gave us fits. No doubt, these issues will be addressed in the summer and fall.

All in all the Tide looks pretty solid coming out of the spring. If they had not had the year they had last year, I would say they are due for a breakout season. What we might see this year is a little bit of a let down. I don�t think they�re going to win twelve straight games. That said, I think they�re still the team to beat in the SEC west. They could stumble in Lexington or in Oxford, but don�t quote me.

Can they beat Florida? That�s the real question? Time will tell and I don�t know about you but I can�t wait until September!

Roll Tide

Who are these people?

Saban made some remarks after the A-Day game, that when taken out of context, sounded like he was blaming the fans for the Sugar Bowl loss. What he said was: �I want our fans to understand that when they don't have positive passion and energy for what we're trying to accomplish, then it affects everyone. Last year's team was a great example of that... There's very little interest from our fans, our players or anybody else to play in the Sugar Bowl, which to me is a tremendous opportunity. I tried to tell everyone, you're only going to remember one thing about this game and that's the outcome. So there's no interest, there's no passion and everybody is embarrassed because of how we played. Well, it's because you didn't have any passion for it, you didn't have any interest in it, you didn't have any enthusiasm to do it, and that's across the board. And that's not right. We go to a BCS bowl game, everybody ought to be positive and enthusiastic about what we're doing.�

One Birmingham reporter made it quite clear that Saban wasn�t blaming the fans for the loss, but rather hoping they would look on the season as a whole and see what the team accomplished rather than letting the Sugar Bowl loss define the team.

The fact of the matter is that many Bama fans did feel slighted when we drew Utah. They wanted Texas or some other �name� team. It didn�t happen and the fans were disappointed. The team was down and frankly never recovered from the SEC Championship game. The team didn�t show up at all in the first quarter. You know this and I�ll leave that dead horse alone.

Out of this silliness has come all manner of people going off the deep end. One guy has railed on about how Coach Bryant would never blame the fans, he would take the blame. That�s true. But, Coach Bryant doesn�t have anything to do with this, except, he is and always will be the standard by which the program will be judged. At least by the Bama Nation, even those who never saw Bryant coach a game.

That legacy scares some people, but I really think Nick Saban embraces it. If he can win at Alabama, and I for one think he will. He can put his stamp on one of the most storied programs in college football. That, friends and neighbors, is no small spuds. Saban did more last year than anyone thought he could, including yours truly. I did not think that team had twelve wins in it. It did and that was all coaching. The 2008 team was not all that talented.

Sometime last year my stepfather asked me if I thought Saban was the next Bear. I said yes. I was wrong. Saban is not the next Bear. There will never be another Bear. The times in which we live are simply different. Coach Bryant was at Alabama during one of the most trying periods in the state�s history. He created a football power and helped usher in integration at the University. Both of those things are important accomplishments. He made us feel good about our state, when everywhere you turned we were scorned. He won football games and that allow us to forget the other stuff, if only for a few hours. If you weren�t there, it simply cannot be explained.

What Nick Saban is, is the next great coach at the University. There have been many, Frank Thomas, Wallace Wade and Gene Stallings to name the best of the rest. Unless something unexpected happens Nick Saban be immortalized in bronze forever scowling out at University Boulevard. That will be a good thing.

Nick Saban doesn�t hate the fans and we certainly don�t hate him. In two short years he gave us reason to believe. We always believed, but Saban has moved our belief into the realm of reality. It can and will happen. We will win a national championship under his watch.

Roll Tide

A Chance for Greatness

This team is good it has great leadership and first rate talent. It can win it all. For those of you who have not kept up with the Bama softball program let me give you a little background. There are five seniors on this team and they all start. Brittany Rogers plays centerfield and has hit .457 for the year. She is perhaps the most dangerous player on the team. Once she is on base she can score. She is fast and has the green light to steal anytime she wants. She has stolen 47 bases this year.

Kelley Montalvo plays third base the way Rashad Johnson played safety. The woman has a motor that never stops. She helped set an NCAA record for double plays against Texas the NCAA regional. She�s a nonstop player who can catch anything that gets close and can hit as well. She is currently batting .298, but she has nearly doubled that in the post-season.

Ashley Holcombe is the Tide catcher. She is all SEC as a defensive player selection. She can throw a player out at second from her knees. Holcombe is batting .302 she has a team-high nine RBI off four hits and has hit two home runs in the post-season.

Kellie Eubanks, the Bama shortstop, hits .212 and is a fine defensive player. Lauren Parker transferred from Baylor she was injured most of last year but she has come on strong this year batting .333 with eleven stolen bases. Over the course of their careers, all of the seniors have either been All American or All SEC. These seniors have made three trips to Oklahoma City. They are no longer happy just getting there, they want it all.

In addition to a fine senior class, Alabama has the SEC player of the year in junior Charolette Morgan. Sophomore pitcher Kelsi Dunne, who set an NCAA record with back to back no hitters in the post season was an all SEC selection. The upper classmen are not the only impact players on the team. Two freshmen have also made major contributions. Amanda Locke is the SEC freshman of the year and Cassandra Reilly-Boccia, is this year�s slugger, with a .636 average in the postseason.

This team has a legitimate shot at winning it all. The key is simply to win the first game. They have never done that in the six previous trips to Oklahoma City. If the Tide can win that first game and find a way to keep their bats hot they just may bring some serious hardware back from Oklahoma. They�ll have to play their best and likely knock off their SEC nemesis Florida along the way.

Good luck girls! You�ve made it to the big time. This time is your time. Play your game and everything else will work out.

Roll Tide

A year to remember

I am new to fast pitch softball, but I have quickly become a fan. It's an exciting sport and one that is fun to watch. I have enjoyed following the Tide over the last few years and have seen some good players come and go.

I want to echo the words of Coach Murphy when he said this was a special senior class. As I say I am new to the sport, but I admire those seniors. It will take some getting used to watching a game without Kelley Montalvo snagging hot hoppers and her infectious energy. We�ll miss Brittney�s speed and her smile. Ashley Holcombe�s solid work behind the plate has set a standard that will be tough for the next girl to meet. Kellie Eubanks and Lauren Parker were solid players who wore the Crimson jerseys with class and style.

It will be hard to replace those seniors, but Coach Murphy has already said that Bama will not be rebuilding, they will be reloading. I�m already looking forward to next season. This team was good, they showed us how a team could fight back from adversity and they fought hard. It�s tough to loose like they did. Some people will say that things happen for a reason. To all those seniors and to Kelsi Dunne I say sometimes bad things happen to good people. You did your best. Nobody can ask any more than that.

Roll Tide

Again!!!

I reckon it really doesn�t matter, except in the record book department. That�s really where this hurts, especially the bowl loss. I�m not real sure about all of this vacating wins stuff. I guess that means we just can�t claim them. We didn�t win but Texas Tech still lost. I guess the players get to keep all of their stats � even though they now make no sense whatsoever.

This is like one of those Star Trek episodes where something weird happens to the space-time continuum. You know Brodie Croyle threw four touchdowns against Florida in a game we didn�t win but they lost? I don�t know it just seems somehow so very academic. I mean that in the very worst sort of way. In that silly, department politics, tenured facility sort of craziness that leads nowhere and in the end doesn�t ever get anything much done, unless you count going to meetings.

Oh well, this too will pass. I tend to agree with Sports Illustrated�s Andy Staples when he said he didn�t think the NCAA would ever again �drop the hammer� on a program that was �as financially critical� as Alabama, FSU or USC. I think he has a good point. Think about it. Bama is poised to make another run at the SEC West, for that matter if the stars line up, the SEC. If we get kicked off TV they have to fill slots with Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas and LSU. Forget about Mississippi State, Vandy or Kentucky. Let�s face it Alabama has name recognition, people everywhere love to hate Florida and then there�s the hat. Plus this year we�ve brought in a clown. So the SEC is and will continue to be a three ring circus. But and this is a big but � it is a three ring circus with the biggest TV contract in the land. Pretty much every game they play this year will be on TV. That means real American dollar$ to the networks and the sponsors.

So anyway, let�s face it this sucks. I want the bowl win back. That field goal was ugly but it was good.

Roll Tide

Three twinkes and turkey surprise.

The only marquee game is the opener with Virginia Tech. This will be on TV and it should once again set the tone for the upcoming season. Tech will have a stout defense, good special teams and an offense with a experienced, solid QB that can make plays with his legs.

This game will show how good the Alabama defense is and it will also give us a clue of how Greg McElroy handles big time pressure. All in all it should be a very entertaining game. Don�t look for us to jump out to a big lead and thump last year�s ACC champs. I think early in the season you�ll see the Tide play to its defense and the offense trying to make just enough plays to win.

Then again, Saban can often be anything but predictable, so we�ll see. I like Alabama 21-17.

The second game at Florida International is first of the three twinkies. I know very little about the Panthers. They won five games last year and only played two �money� games. If the Tide stumbles at Va Tech, look for them to take it out on the Panthers. If the beat Va Tech they may well sleep walk through this one.

Regardless, look for the Tide to chalk up a win. I like Alabama by 21.

The Mean Green of the University of North Texas comes into Bryant-Denny on September 19 ending a two week TV blackout (Though with the new TV package these games might be on one of the compass Fox channels, but since I don�t get those it is moot). I hate it when that happens, if we were playing Indiana or Iowa State there would be a chance for TV and most likely with the same out come. Anyway, I don�t make the schedules, I just write the blogs and I�m sure neither Mal Moore nor Nick Saban really cares what I think. The Mean Green roll into town looking to be the second Sunbelt Conference team to whip the Tide and limp out the second one we thump this year. This one could get ugly.

I like Alabama by three plus, touchdowns, in this one and look for some backups to see some serious playing time.

The last of the twinkies will come at a good time. UT Chattanooga comes to town between the Mississippi State game and Auburn. This should give the Tide a breather before heading to the Iron Bowl and beyond. This football championship subdivision or whatever the heck I-AA is these days will be another laugher in T-town.

Let me say this one more time Bama by three easy.

That pretty much wraps up the non-conference stuff. For the most part it�s nothing to be proud of, frankly it is rather sad. Surely there are some lame schools from some real conferences they could bring in and play. Shoot, they could even do a home and home. Oh, well, just think next year we get to play Georgia State!

Roll Tide

Twelve and Zero

Last year, everybody said Alabama was a year away. So we kick butt and take names and this year, they say we�ve got too many holes. Did these guys not look at the roster last year when they made those predictions? John Parker Wilson was a senior, no matter how you slice it, you gotta replace that quarterback. Andre Smith was a consensus All-American. He was being touted as the first overall pick in the draft, did anybody really think he�d stay? The loss of Glenn Coffee was not expected, but then neither was the rise of Glenn Coffee.

So I ask you what gives? I have no doubt that Florida is the team to beat in the SEC. They can be beat, Ole Miss did it and we came close. We all know the sweetheart team in the SEC is Ole Miss. That love is built upon them beating Florida and Texas Tech. I know Texas Tech beat Texas, but still it�s a gimmick offense, remember we beat them in the Cotton Bowl and I think they were the highest scoring team in the country and we held them to 10 points. OK Ole Miss did beat Florida. All that said I just don�t believe in Ole Miss. In the west that pretty much leaves us and LSU and we have LSU at home.

What I am saying is that I agree with the computer that says we�ll win twelve games. I just honestly don�t think there�s a team on our schedule that we can�t beat. Here�s the deal. This team is going to have a world class defense. Saban has brought in some linebackers that are going to have instant impact, plus they have some kids who played last year and are now ready to help out. I think this year they�ll put Dont�a Hightower�s hand on the ground and generate a serious pass rush, something that was missing last year.

The defense will just simply stop the run and make everybody beat us throwing. Now, if we have a pass rush then it gets tough to throw the ball. We�ll win game one with tough defense and an optimistic and cautious offense. Then they have Florida International and North Texas to get the kinks out of the offense before they play Arkansas and Kentucky. At the end of the day they�re up five and O.

I know what you�re thinking, I can hear it, Uncle Fox you�re saying Auburn, Mississippi State and to some extent Arkansas and Ole Miss are going to run some kind of spread offense. And Fox we got our butts whipped when we played those spread offenses last year. I�m going yup, you�re right. I also gotta say that Nick Saban noticed that too. If anybody can come up with a way to shut down that offense he�s the man. Last year we couldn�t do what we needed to do to make the defense work. We needed a one more lock down corner and a serious pass rush. I�m telling you we are going to have those things this year.

Our big showdown comes in Oxford on October 10. This is where the rubber meets the road. If we have gotten past UK and Arkansas at this point, that means the offense is at least working. It also means the Greg McElroy has five games under his belt. Oxford will be rocking, but Oxford ain�t no Swamp. Shoot the place doesn�t hold 50,000 people. They came to our place last year and made us sweat on national TV, and that just won�t do. This is where it all comes together and we make a serious run. I say we win by seven. That puts the Tide up to 6-0.

Steve Spurrier is going to be seriously annoyed that the Gamecocks are Bama�s homecoming opponent. If this was the old days he�s make us pay. It�s not and he won�t. Times are tough for the old ball coach and they just don�t show any signs of getting any better. He just never has found a quarterback and the Fun �n Gun just ain�t no fun if you don�t have one. 7-0.

Ah, Lane Kiffin comes to Bryant-Denny most likely sporting a serious 2-4 record and it could get really ugly on the fourth Saturday in October. Laney and the gang said some stuff they shouldn�t have about the university and it�s coaching staff. Nobody will say anything except it�s the next game on the schedule. It is that and we will just plain love this. Bama airs it out and has a swell day. 8-0.

The Hat brings the Bayou Bengals into town with one and most likely two losses. LSU hates us more than anything. It seems somehow we stole Nick Saban from them via the Miami Dolphins. I don�t know, so I don�t ask. I think Nick likes this game too. It won�t be easy it never is, but our defense shows up and our offense does what it needs to. 9-0.

We roll into Starkville sky high. We always have trouble with Mississippi State. This year will be no exception. Dan Mullen will have that spread installed and it will be just like the Gators � minus Tim Tebow and a whole n bunch of speed. This one too could get ugly in the second half. 10-0.

We beat UT-Chattanooga and get ready for Auburn. 11-0.

Many, many monkeys were chased off last year. Auburn fans were sure the streak would go on forever, we knew different. I think last year the Tigers kinda quit on Tubberville. Then again I think we were much better. I think we are much better one more time with gusto. Don�t be surprised if Auburn is leading at halftime. It seems to me we were often leading at halftime during the dark times. Regardless we pick up win number twelve.

Say what you will I can see this playing out. Then again McElroy gets hurt the defense tanks and we stumble to 8-4.NOT.

Roll Tide

Derrick Thomas

College football, Alabama football was what was important. We�d watch highlights of the weekend�s college games on a grainy black and white TV and listen as Keith Jackson or some such reviewed a few highlight from around the country on Sunday morning. It was a serious thrill when Bama was on that show. Of course, we watched the Bear Bryant Show and we often even watched Shug Jordan. These shows were generally Sunday morning before the NFL and in those days the AFL.

At any rate for the most part my professional football allegiance was always to the team with an Alabama quarterback. My first love was the Green Bay Packers and Bart Starr. Birmingham over the years worked out strange deals with networks or something. All I know is that we got the New York Jets each week when Joe Namath played. Those were games one did not miss. We even got CFL games so we could watch Johnny Musso play.

I have to admit I was never much of a Kansas City Chiefs fan. By the time Derrick Thomas was playing for KC I was out of Alabama and Chief�s games were few and far between. Sometimes you�d get one but not often. It was great to see him play, even though I usually was pulling for the other team. Unless they were playing Denver and I was for anybody who was playing Denver.

My Derrick Thomas memory comes from when he was playing for the Tide. I�ll admit that my memory is rusty, I don�t know what year it was, but Bill Curry was coach. I remember we were playing Kentucky and they were beating us. It seems we had our starting quarterback go down with a knee injury and it was getting ugly. Derrick Thomas took over the game. He hurried the quarterback, sacked the quarterback and slammed running backs down. At one point he flat out told them you are no going to beat us we�re the University of Alabama and we don�t loose to Kentucky. It seems to me we won in the last minute with a TD pass in the corner of the end zone. That would not have been possible without the defense shutting them down and just plain getting in their heads.

I have this memory etched in my mind is of Thomas grinning from ear to ear and Bill Curry with his arm around him as the game ended. We had won. Derrick Thomas had made it happen. Thanks for the memories Derrick!

Roll Tide

Football Season

I thought what the heck I could weigh in on a few things before the season started. Let�s talk about attrition, then again why? I can�t believe this was such a big issue during the fall training camp. The guys in question didn�t work out for one reason or another and they found other places to play football or got medical scholarships. Everybody that thinks Nick Saban is running off too many good football players raise your hand. I think he�s getting rid of players that A) don�t fit in, B) aren�t working out or C) don�t want to be part of the process. This is a non-issue � period.

Let�s look quickly, at the next in the parade of why did we spill ink and kill trees for this? Nick Saban and the press. There should be some Tim Burton horror show music inserted here. Saban is a my way or the highway kind of guy. Those darn sports writers want answers to questions Nick just doesn�t want to answer. Some of them insist and Nick gets feisty. That�s when he lectures them and generally says stuff that make him sound like a jerk. Well, this ain�t gonna change and it seems pointless to run these stories every so often they seem to come once a year at least. Oh and just for the record I actually like the press.

Now we�ll take some questions from the audience � Yes Skeeter from Center Point. �Hey man what did you think of fall camp?� Well, Skeeter, I�m glad you asked that question. I think the most important thing that came out of fall camp was the quiet. It seems to me over the last six or eight years, shoot probably longer than that you heard all this talk from the players about proving themselves or I don�t know lots of talk about what they had to do to win. From this camp you heard a whole lot of people who just wanted to get better. They want to help their team mates. There was talk, there is always talk. But, it was different. It was quiet, determined talk, not of what they have to do to play Alabama football, but what THEY need to do to get better. That�s the kinda talk you want to hear. These are people with confidence.

OK next Mary from Knoxville. �Fox, I know you�re not a fisherman, but what do you think of this thing with Julio and Mark Ingram and that whole fishing trip down at Gulf Shores.� Mary, I think this whole thing is just plain dumb. So if you play football you can�t have friends and you can�t go fishing. Give me a break. Where will it end? Will, a player have to report he got a date because he was a football player. I mean you know that NEVER happens. Will the University have to disassociate that student? I guess it�s OK if they�re a student, but what if he�s dating a local. OMG. This whole thing is just too stupid. We�ll probably get the death penalty over this.

That�s enough questions time for a wrap up. There�s nothing to the attrition thing. Nick Saban can be mean to reporters and kinda preachy. Finally, don�t go fishing with your friends especially if they are older than you and have a condo. Trust me these are all words to live by. Finally, I like you, am looking forward to game day. It�s fast approaching and let�s face it what could be a better way to start the season than with two top ten team indoors on a fast track. Yeah Momma! There�s only one thing left to say.

Roll Tide!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss!

Saturday night the long cruel summer of our discontent ends and might I add not a moment too soon. If this was an NPR moment, which it should be, there would be the sounds of tailgating, the roar of the crowd and the interviews with the faithful. All that jazz you get for the beginning of spring training. I know somebody out there cares about baseball. I digress.

Football is on the horizon. We�ve now sat through two weeks of NFL preseason games and our appetite has been whetted for some serious, real, college football. It�s time, lord, its past time. We need it, if for no other reason than to quiet the noise in the background. But, us you and I, us Bama fans, we need it like a junkie needs his fix. It has been hard this long summer. Now its game week and we are ready, we the royal we the faithful of the royalty of college football and you know who you are seriously ready.

Will we beat Va. Tech? I think so. Will we go undefeated, we could, we might not, but we will not go 7-5. We will be a force in the SEC race. I know the fashionable pick this year is Ole Miss. Maybe they�ll beat us, even if they do that�s no guarantee they go to Atlanta and we stay home. I just don�t see it, but I�m hooked by St. Nick in such a real way that I just can�t see us folding, not this year, not this time, not again.

Then again I could be wrong, but I don�t think so. There will be a learning curve at the quarterback position. That�s the bad news. There will be a learning curve for the offensive line, that�s more bad news. But, and this is a monumental but. We have a world class defense. I think it will be better than last year. We will win games with the defense. We rode one all the way in 1992. That year our offense was just plain awful. We had a veteran quarterback who threw buckets of interceptions and the defense bailed him out time and time again. If the offense goes south, look for that to happen again.

They�ll keep a tight reign on McElroy. If he throws bad balls, we�ll run the ball. I know that, you know that and every team we play has got to know that. Bring �em on. I said this earlier in the summer and I�ll say it again. There�s not a team on our schedule that we can�t beat. Will we win all twelve? I hope so, I think so, but it ain�t set in stone. We got a shot, a better shot than we�ve had since Gene Stallings was walking the side line and that�s been way too long.

So sit back and enjoy the ride. The season begins on Saturday, you can feel it. The air�s cleaner, your car�s running better, and you even like work better. It�s here. Get down with yo bad self.

Roooooooooooooooll Tide!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Yeah!

It was anything but pretty, but when the chips were down the Tide found a way and a will to win. The first half was just plain crazy. There�s no way we should be down a point at half time, but there it was. The two teams battled through a scoreless third quarter � then the Tide asserted itself when it really needed to.

The offense came to life scoring 18 points in the last stanza and in the end stamped out any Virginia Tech threat with a defense that finally found a way to sack a quarterback. Virginia Tech will probably go on to win the ACC, but Alabama was the best team tonight.

The cool thing is I think this team will get better. It was the first game and for most of the first half it looked it. Sloppy plan, dumb penalties and poor kick coverage kept Tech in the game. In the end Alabama�s rebuilt line and the untested quarterback proved that the Tide may yet be a force in the SEC and beyond.

We�ll see. At any rate Bama comes out of Atlanta 1-0 and that�s a good thing.

Roll Tide!

FIU

The $64,000 question is: Are we still the same old Alabama or have times finally changed? Two things come quickly to mind LA Monroe and Utah, the two major embarrassments of the Saban era. The Mike�s had numerous embarrassments but that was then, this is now. To take that next step beyond a one hit wonder it�s time to start crushing the people we are supposed to crush and move on.

We should respect our opponents. I totally agree. However, we should not play down to them. We should get to the game take care of business and move on. No slow starts in the first half where they begin to believe they can win. This is what Todd Rutledge once called a helmet game. Basically we show up and they fold like a house of cards. To do that, we have to come out on offense and defense and remind them exactly who they are playing. Score some quick points and shut them down. End of story.

I�ve no doubt that FIU�s first team has some good people on it. No doubt they have some guys who can make a play, shoot guys that can score on us. That�s not the point. They play in front of 20,000, probably on a good day. They will come into Tuscaloosa and face 92,000 people. If we start to score those 92,000 will go nuts and it will seriously be over. They won�t be able to hear. They�ll get rattled and we finish them off. That is the way it should be.

Since Bear Bryant retired in 1982 we have had this horrible habit of playing down to the competition. If we play Ball State we beat them by 17 � Auburn plays the same team and hangs 55 on them. I am not advocating running up the score I am advocating some serious TCB as the King would say � that is taking care of business.

Here�s hoping that lots of people get some playing time because the starters ran the Golden Panthers out of Bryant-Denny by halftime. Play a good clean game, show some class and score some points.

Roll Tide

Ugly but good

Hopefully, this is the wake up call those boys in T-town needed. Some times you have to find one more score, one more tipped pass and one more stop. I guess if you want to watch Alabama you might as well wait until the fourth quarter to tune in, that seems to be when they decide to play ball.

The good news is they do. The bad news is somebody might be a little better down the road. At this point we�ll take what we can get and I�ll take 40-14 every dang day. Just keep winning guys.

Roll Tide

Casualties and Concern

Alabama has had awful kick coverage for years. However, it has never been this bad. Saban says they�re just not staying in position during the course of the play, that is staying in their lanes and that looks about right from my end. Generally, that�s how you beat kick off coverage is that guys get out of their lanes. For whatever reason, trying to make a play, trying to impress the coach with the big hit, some of those guys just can�t stay put. Worse perhaps are the safeties getting out of position and letting the whole thing get away. I can live with a 40 yard return. Our defense can hold but a TD is just not acceptable.

The injuries to Julio and Roy Upchurch are troubling, but I don�t think the end of the world; unless, of course, they turn out to be chronic. We got lucky last year and had no major injuries, you knew that wouldn�t last. Injuries are a part of football. The fact that people stepped up, most notably Mike McCoy and Trent Richardson also speaks volumes. The depth on this team will allow it to continue to play at a high level without some starters. That said we will need Julio down the line and because of that I would not be a bit surprised if both he and Upchurch watch North Texas from the side lines.

The pass defense � what can one say. Last year it was our Achilles heel. Florida and Utah exposed and exploited it. This year we have had some serious gaffs and breakdowns. The Va Tech debacle is well chronicled. FIU also did some stuff in the first half that was not pretty. On the up side in the second half against FIU when they went to more zone coverage and heated up the pass rush, FIU�s production went way down. Perhaps, there might be some hope.

All in all I think the 2009 edition of the Crimson Tide is a good solid football team. Is it a championship caliber team? That remains to be seen. North Texas may or may not turn out to be another Tulane or La Monroe. I don�t think so, I think it turns into a Western Kentucky � but we�ll see. The Arkansas and Kentucky games will for sure tell us something. Both are solid SEC teams and both rely on the passing game. Get past those two games with a W then we will know something.

Don�t jump the gun here. North Texas is coming to T-town and it�s on TV. The last thing this program needs right now is a meltdown on the first game of the day on the third football Saturday in September. Again � take care of business.

Roll Tide!

Let the games begin! Part II the SEC

This Saturday the Hogs come to town to open SEC play and everything changes. Alabama plays on real national TV and the country will finally get a look at Greg McElroy. This could be a game where the Tide needs to score a bunch of points; if the Georgia-Arkansas game is any indication.

If we get into a shoot out, for the first time in I can�t remember when we can hold our own. I don�t think it will come to that. Unlike Arkansas or Georgia, Alabama has a defense, which will likely be the difference in this game. Arkansas will score some points. Bobby Petrino has more trick plays than you can shake a stick at and one or two will work.

Our starters got rested last weekend and by Saturday Julio and Roy Upchurch should be good to go. The Arkansas game is always pivotal to the season. The winner generally goes on and has a good season, the loser not so good. I�m not sure that will be the case this year. Arkansas will win some games this year, even if they lose to us. They�ll win some games simply by out scoring people.

The Hogs passing attack will be a good early season test, one we need to pass. Our secondary is still suspect. This game will provide some serious experience for the corners and safeties. Unfortunately, it will be a learning experience and we might take some lumps. Arkansas� Ryan Mallett is one of the better quarterbacks the Tide will face this year and Petrino�s schemes are solid and they work. Against Georgia Mallett set a school record with five touchdown passes. He�ll try and match that performance in Tuscaloosa. It might be harder against our defense, it better be.

The Razorback passing game is the challenge for the Tide defense. The challenge on defense for the Hogs will be the one, two, three punch of Ingram, Richardson and Upchurch. Once we beat on �em for a while, it should open up the passing game. The Tide should be able to control the clock with the ground game and then take shots down field when the opportunity arises.

Saturday starts the real season for the Crimson Tide. We have one quality win and two good wins against Sunbelt Conference teams. We have emerged with only three serious injuries and so far we�ve only lost one player for the season. Julio may have played if we were playing Arkansas or Ole Miss. They didn�t need him so he could rest. Arkansas may not be the best team in the SEC, but they will bring their A game to T-town. This game is just what we need to see where we are in terms of playing up to SEC conference standards. This will be an fun game to watch. It will pit a serious offense against a serious defense, something will have to give.

Roll Tide

McElroy and Defense

Then Alabama woke up scored 14 points, which basicly iced the game. The Hogs to their credit, did not throw in the towel. They came out in the second half stoned Bama and took the ball down the field and cut the score in half. That momentum lasted one play. McElroy hit Maze - 80 yards TD - end of story.

It was not a complete game there were again gaffs in the pass defense and we probably have lost Hightower for the season, which is no small spuds. However, I think the team has proven it can take some licks, adjust and find a way to win.

OK � I know that Arkansas is not an SEC heavy weight. However, they are a quality SEC team and they are precisely the kind of team that last year we let hang around and cause us trouble. See Bama-UK last year. This team may not have put Arkansas away in the first half, but they came out in the second half and just ended the game. It was over when Maze caught that pass and took it to the house. Over, they gave us their best shot and we answered in one play and that is demoralizing.

I read a bunch of stuff last week about how McElroy is over rated and has been too hyped. Well, maybe � he doesn�t have a cannon for an arm. There are a lot of things he can�t do. Maybe his best play today was when he got Arkansas to jump off sides when they had us pinned on the goal line. That, my friends, is winning football. I think Al Davis said it best low those many years ago � Just win baby!

Roll Tide!

Concern in the Commonwealth

UK will show a great deal of improvement against the Tide. Joker Phillips is simplifying the game plan. He is taking out most of the audiles and they�ll try and run the play as called and keep the game fast paced. Look for them to try and get the ball to their playmaker Randall Cobb. They�ll line him up in the wildcat and try and hit him with passes either short out in space or try and hit a homerun with him going deep.

Kentucky is not as deep as Alabama, but don�t be fooled they have good skill players and if we go to Lexington thinking this is a gimme it could get ugly. Not that I think they�d blow us out or anything, but a one point loss is as bad as 50.

Fortunately, I think this a whole new Bama. The Arkansas game sort of showed that and this should be the game that clinches it. If the Tide rolls into Commonwealth Stadium and plays like they�re capable of playing all should be OK in Bamaland. If not, well we don�t want to think about if not.

It will be a beautiful day in Lexington. The weather will be prefect � mid-60s and sunny. Keeneland isn�t running and basketball hasn�t started yet so there should be no distractions for the Kentucky faithful. This will be their best chance to get loud and disrupt the Alabama offensive signals. McElroy might have trouble changing plays, though Commonwealth Stadium is one of the quieter places to play in the conference.

It will be interesting to see how the realigned Alabama defense looks on Saturday. Will they be prepared enough to shuffle players in and out when UK makes personel changes? Will the new lineup be able to shut down UK�s running attack and force Mike Hartline beat us throwing the ball? They got some good yardage out of the passing game last year. The good news is we have a better pass rush than we did last year.

Strap it on and get yer game face on its Alabama and Kentucky at Commonwealth in the morning game!

Roll Tide!

In the End . . .

OK, OK maybe it wasn�t that bad, but you get my point. Or maybe you don�t. We got no style points, Florida looks unstoppable and we look, well very stoppable. First of all you have to give Kentucky a lot of credit, they played very well. They ran on us and stuffed our run, at least for a while. They generally exposed the worse of our weaknesses, pass defense and the revamped linebacking corps. The good news is we found a way to win and except for a few very tense minutes in the first half Kentucky never really threatened to take control of the game.

It was a very workman like performance that will not drop the team down in the rankings, but it won�t leap frog Texas either. It was a win Alabama goes to Ole Miss 5-0 and there's nothing wrong with that. The Ole Miss game is not as huge as it was a month ago, but it is still a very big game. Ole Miss has a seriously good quarterback and we will have to bring our A game to Oxford to put this one in the win column.

The Kentucky win was not very unsatisfying. We won the game, which by halftime was no longer in doubt. Again hats off to the Cats for getting a long sustained drive to get that first touchdown. They just manhandled us on the goal line. The long pass play to Cobb was also a thing of beauty. Randall Cobb is a serious playmaker and things like that are just going to happen. Even, if in your heart of hearts you just know they shouldn�t. They did, does that make us bad or does it show a Kentucky team that found some heart? I don�t know, probably the latter.

I still don�t get the fourth down pass into the end zone at the end of the game, but I don�t call the plays. I got the fake field goal that struck me as a run time off the clock sort of play if they make it � first down, if not, UK gets the ball on their end of the field, but the pass Well, I just didn�t get it. Oh well, In the end it was a win. That�s really all that matters.

Roll Tide !

Oxford town

Back in the summer Ole Miss was the sexy pick to win the SEC West. They had the hype, the quarterback and the coach. So it was written so it shall be. Then Ole Miss played South Carolina and the hype machine kinda spluttered. That could change again, if the Rebels beat the Tide.

If Houston Nutt can get his charges up for this game, if he can convince them that no one takes them seriously, that it�s them against the world. They could take down Alabama. A Mississippi win would have major ramifications for not only the SEC West race but for the national championship.

The good news for the Tide faithful is that we have a coach on our side that can do a little motivating of his own. Saban and Nutt have been playing each other on and off for nine years. Saban took a couple of years off to check out the NFL, before he checked in at Tuscaloosa. Now the Nutt-Saban thing is an annual event, only the colors have changed. Saban knows that Ole Miss will throw the kitchen sink at the Tide defense. Then just to make matters worse they will probably come up with some blitz packages and disguised coverage that have not been used to date.

Alabama will have to weather the storm. It will be very much like the Kentucky game, but with offense. Don�t kid yourself Ole Miss can score points. Saban too will scheme and design his defense to counter whatever Ole Miss draws up. It could be a shootout and fortunately we can hold our own in a shootout.

Look for Alabama�s pass rush to make Snead uncomfortable. That�s the key to disrupting the Ole Miss passing game. South Carolina did that and forced them to turn to McCluster and the wildcat. They�ll gain some yards and probably score some points, but in the end I think our defense is up to the challenge. It may come down to some William Faulkner like drama, but the Crimson Tide should abide.

Roll Tide

Week in review

I am finally ready to concede that we have a very good football team. How good the next few weeks will tell. Our defense is off the charts. The offense doesn�t make mistakes and it can make big plays when need be. I also get the feeling that if we had to throw the ball, we could. Last year when we got in those situations, John Parker just got killed. I don�t know how it happened but this line is simply more versatile than last year�s version.

The thing that gets me is the buy in from this team. I mean when you�ve got Mark Ingram obsessing over missing a block that got McElroy sacked and you�ve got McClain saying over and over they just need to improve. You really have to believe that they have bought whatever it is that Nick Saban is selling. They really don�t care about rankings and they are on a mission. Man oh man this could get very real.

Scheduling South Carolina for Homecoming may not have been the smartest thing, but it might pay off. The Gamecocks are going to come in fired up. Steve Spurrier probably has not been somebody�s homecoming opponent since he was at Duke. He�s not really gonna like that. The question is can he actually do anything about it? They won�t lay down, but I just don�t think they have the firepower to take out the Tide. I think their defense will keep them in the game for a while but we will pull away and I think you�ll see an improved red zone offense as well.

This should be a loud game. The crowd will have all day to get ready for this one. The students and alums will be fired up. Given the weather of late it could be chilly and wet. Make no mistake about it � the Gamecock�s will come in to T-town looking to make a name for themselves. Spurrier remembers the good old days when Bama couldn�t buy a win against his teams. He�ll remind his charges of that.

If this edition of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team is serious about Atlanta and beyond they CANNOT look past South Carolina. If they do so they do it at their peril. Last week was swell, this week is shaping up to be another good one.

Roll Tide

Will Rogers never met . . .

I realize that 33 games into the Saban era we, that is Tide fans have become, well what we once were expectant. That is we simply expect to win � all the time. There�s nothing wrong with that � but and I mean big BUT, ya still gotta play the games. South Carolina has a good football team and I think we are getting too complacent. When I say that I mean you and I the fans � not the football team, they are likely very aware of it.

Coming at the halfway point of the season and at homecoming all sort of leave me, well kinda numb. I still find it hard to believe that South Carolina was chosen for homecoming over UT Chattanooga. Does any SEC team really need the added incentive? It wasn�t my call so I reckon I�ll let that lay. I mean shut up already. OK.

At the halfway point of the season I think there is no doubt that this team has found it own identity. It is different from last year�s team. Maybe it can�t impose it will on teams the way that the 08 edition did, but honestly I think that�s a good thing, because this team is more versatile. It can pass when it has to, which the 08 model simply could not. It was sad to see John Parker Wilson take a five step drop. You knew he was gonna get decleated and he did almost every time.

Greg McElroy still takes way too may hits, but he does have enough time to throw. I am encouraged by that, very encouraged. I don�t begin to know how an Alabama-Florida match up would play out when and if it materializes. I think it would be an interesting game and I think the Florida-LSU game might be a good model; lots of defense not a lot of scoring. We�ll see, again I think we are better than last year and I don�t think they are quite as good.

Until December let�s stay away from the Kool Aid and take this thing one game at a time. Consult your higher power, check into a 12 step program, Bama fanatics anonymous. That might help but I doubt it. You want to win it all and you want it right now. The dirty little secret is . . . wait for it � so do I!

Roll Tide!

Slow down and watch the squirrels

Let�s take a look at the McElroy situation first. OK he had two sub par games. What happened? Well, what most likely happened is that two very savvy defensive coordinators looked at a whole lot of film and figured out what got the boy out of his comfort zone. Then they threw a whole bunch of it at him. Shoot folks football ain�t rocket science. We got to remember this is the first time the young man has started. He�s new at all this stuff even if he says he's not. He�s a smart guy, he goes through his pre-snap reads, then all of a sudden � somebody shifts or puts their hand down or it looks like man coverage when it�s cover two. All of that gets, well, like confusing.

The boy is frustrated, mad and confused. He says he�s going to get it straightened out so let�s and by let�s I reckon me and everybody else who is just going crazy here, cut him some slack and see how he does next week. If he gets anywhere near back on track we�ll know he�s in the process of fixing it. Cause boys and girls he's about to run into a defensive coordinator that is going to make him think they�re squirrels running around on the turf at Bryant-Denny. If that doesn�t work they�ll just try and beat him up, which I think he�d prefer, because squirrel hallucinations are really bad for your concentration.

What about those kickoff coverage and return teams � what can you say. I reckon we are just going to have to live with that. We can�t cover kicks. It is a fact, hopefully next year they�ll bring in somebody that can teach kick coverage 101. Then they can address returning kicks. How many good returns have we had called back because of a penalty? Three you say, yeah on Saturday.

OK, I said I wasn�t going to beat anybody up. So let�s talk about something good. How about Mark Ingram? Man that boy can play some football. I mean he�s just amazing. Watching that last drive was something to behold, everybody in the place knew they were going to run Ingram. They put him in the Wildcat and he ran and ran and ran. They slowed him down but they could not stop him. Then he made the red zone problems go away all by himself. Dang! It�s a good thing he scored because he was beat. I thought they�d have to carry him back to the sidelines. What an effort. What a dude, glad he�s on our team.

I saw Shaun Alexander get that 296 against LSU. It was a thing of beauty, but it was not the brute power that Ingram hit South Carolina with. Alexander was a freshman and he didn�t even start that game. He was finesse and speed. Ingram is raw power. He just took over the game. It was a Tebow kind of moment. Makes you hope you get to see those two go head to head � it could be a game for the ages.

It�s Big Orange time in T-town on Saturday. It�s not the third Saturday in October but it will do. I hate to admit it, but it seems that Lane Kiffin has settled down and coached a pretty creditable game at UT. Frankly, this game scares me. BUT � it�s UT not South Carolina and as any red bloodied Alabama fan, player, coach or alum can tell you, that means something. So cool �em down, crank it up and get ready for one serious SEC show down.

The schedule makers must really love us Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU all in a row three out of four are ranked and the other one is Tennessee � get past this bunch and you�ve done good. October becomes November. Remember, it hasn�t been that long ago when we could buy a win in November and some coach was telling us we couldn�t beat any team from Louisiana. I just love the SEC and we are just getting warmed up. Oh and did you hear? WE�RE NUMBER ONE!

Roll Tide!

The Big Orange

I remember one time Alabama wore red shoes against Tennessee. We lost, Bear threw those shoes out, we haven�t worn red shoes since then. I don�t know if Saban is as superstitious as Bear. I doubt it Saban only believes in hard work and focus. Yeah, right that�s why he eats two Little Debbie oatmeal cakes every morning.

The one thing that bothers me about Saban is his lack of excitement about big games. As we all know, all games are big. The truth of the matter is especially at Alabama, some games are simply bigger than others. The Tennessee game is one of those.

We may have had a down game for South Carolina, I mean we were supposed to beat South Carolina � yeah they played a great game and all and we put tape on the grass for the field goal kicker, but still the game was NEVER in doubt. Anyway � my point is Tennessee is so not South Carolina.

Even with Saban as the coach, a few other people probably know what this game means to the alums and fans. So I don�t think there is gonna be any problem for the Tide to get up for this game. UT has a good defense and a good running game. They will test us, ask Florida, but we will win. I think that McElroy will find his touch once again. He has to if they Crimson Tide is hoping to go deep into the post season.

I don�t know if the boys carry on the old tradition, if they do, then I suspect there will be a few cigars lit up on a cool Saturday evening in Tuscaloosa. It won�t be easy, but Bama will bring home number eight.

Roll Tide

The bye week

If you watched and listened to games over the weekend, you heard many times that Alabama is not worthy. Brent Musburger said that he felt/thought that the voters would jump Texas over Alabama in the polls. His compatriot, Kirk Herbstreit, concurred. It seems our quarterback is a drag on the team. We are in the words of those �in the know� one dimensional, while Texas on the other hand has Colt McCoy and are sensational. Perhaps.

I think the boys probably sat and watched a few of those games too. They didn�t have to practice or play. They had some time on their hands. Over the last three or four weeks everybody was going on about how good they were and now they have lost their luster. I honestly think that�s a good thing. Now they just might go into the LSU game with a serious chip on their shoulders. They just might want to prove that they are as good as people thought they were when they were rolling along.

The long and short of it is all they have to do is keep winning and everything else will take care of itself. If they don�t it doesn�t matter. They are going to a bowl. They can tank from here on out and still get a New Years Day game. There are teams out there that would sell their souls for that. These guys aren�t looking for a nice bowl. They want a little bit more.

Now we all saw how good Florida was against Georgia. We heard all the good things about Tim Tebow and his fellow Gators. My, my what a stellar bunch of truly fine fellows. I guess it was just me and they were playing Georgia and well, did anybody really think that Georgia would beat Florida. I mean Georgia got seriously thumbed by Tennessee. It was the game of the day in the SEC. In reality there really weren�t any good games in the SEC on Saturday, with the possible exception of Auburn and Ole Miss or Kentucky and Miss State the rest were not even close.

Be all of that as it may. The Tide is back on the docket this weekend and the Bayou Bengals will come calling in T-town, the throw down showdown for the SEC west. If the Tide handles LSU at Bryant-Denny, something they have not done since 1999. They will be the prohibitive favorite to end up in Atlanta.

One thing at a time, LSU is a serious challenge, Mississippi State is looking better as is Auburn. This will not be a cake walk. That�s OK too because Bama has the chops to get it done.

Roll Tide

To the winner . . .

I�ve heard this game compared with all sorts of things, heavy weight fights, major land battles, Armageddon, no just kidding, but you get the point, everybody, except Nick Saban thinks this is a biggie. It is you know. There�s a lot at stake, if say the Tide wins we win the SEC west title for the opportunity to play Florida for the SEC title game.

If we lose, we are not out, we just have to sit back and wait for somebody to upset LSU. It could happen, then we are back in the SEC title game. Then if we beat Florida everything BCS wise seriously goes haywire. But, for the moment we won�t go there, because for the moment we don�t have to.

I honestly think Alabama will win this game. I just think they will, I think they are the better team plus they still have something to prove. As a matter of fact, they really are pretty good. It was interesting this week when all of the statistics came out that showed them to be better offensively than they were last year, you remember last year, when we were number one for over a month. Back then nobody thought we were lame offensively, they just thought we pounded teams into submission.

Anyway, that was then this is now. So tomorrow in Tuscaloosa 184,000 blue eyes will gaze upon the prescription turf and watch a monumental battle. Some of those eyes will be slightly bloodshot either from the night before, the morning preceding or the University of Alabama tradition of bringing bourbon into the game and filling your Coke or I think in this case Pepsi cup with it. Be that as it may they will all be gazing at the field watching what should be a slugfest.

Or will it � as my brother said last night, it�s about time we lit somebody up. It might as well be LSU and it might as well on Saturday. Look for Greg McElroy to throw some nice passes and look for those passes to gain yards, which oddly enough will open up the running game. It could be loads of fun. Here�s to a happy Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

Roll Tide

We just beat the . . .

I gotta say I�m proud, proud to be a University of Alabama alum. I tell you what I think Saban has now exorcized all of the demons. Before you know it he�ll beat Texas and that one will be gone as well.

This is the first time in I can�t remember when, we got down against a good team and when we had to score we did. What a game. Every time you looked up somebody was being helped off the field; so many injuries, so many commercials.

It was not pretty, it was not perfect is was, as advertised, the best game of the day a heavy weight fight, won by TKO. So many mistakes on both sides, I�m glad I wasn�t Saban�s headset, I�m glad I wasn�t Julio Jones on one particular play. It was one fine football game especially when the score ended Alabama 24 LSU 15.

This may well have been the break out game for the Crimson Tide � stay tuned.

Roll Tide

This about that

Way back when in the dark ages. I remember one year we were playing LSU and one of their cornerbacks shoved our wide receiver down and intercepted the ball. It was plain as day, no penalty, no nothing LSU won of course. We got over it. They can get over it.

Do LSU fans really need another reason to hate us? I don�t think so. If they do, well I reckon here�s a new one. I personally like LSU fans. I really like Louisiana, I spent a month there last winter it was swell. It�s like a whole different country and it is great. The people are great and the food is outstanding.

So in the immortal words of Tom Petty � you believe what you want to believe. I don�t think there is a conspiracy to keep Alabama and Florida winning. Lord knows over the years there have been some bad calls that have gone against us. It happens, football is played by and officiated by people and they make mistakes. Honestly, they do. So let�s move along here.

Does the bad call bother you? It don�t bother St. Nick and even if it did whacha gonna do? It�s not like there�s a do over. I respect Les Miles for taking the high road here. Though, it�s not like he had much choice, if he complains the league fines him. I have to admit that this year the officiating has had a lot to be desired. I have made remarks about it to friends and family. What do they do get new officials, from where the Big Ten? Heaven help us if they do that.

I guess the thing that gets to me is that what we saw was a really great football game. It�s a shame nobody is talking about the game. Both teams laid it on the line. Alabama came out ahead in the end. Three years ago it was us who fought the good fight and lost in the fourth quarter or in overtime. I guess if Alabama or Florida goes on to win a national championship they�ll be people who said they had help from the refs. It�s all because of the HUGE TV contract, you know. I guess. Really? Didn�t the league sign this contract with ESPN and CBS and don�t the networks have to pay for a product even if Vandy suddenly wins the title?

It strikes me that some games have been shown simply because it was Florida or Alabama. I�m sorry but the South Carolina-Arkansas game was better than the Florida-Vandy game. The difference, now that the SEC has the big contract is that they have to think nationally, rather than regionally. It�s no longer an SEC audience they�re trying to please but the rest of the country. Think NASCAR, from a fan�s perspective, an SEC fan that is, no good can come of this.

Think Sunday NFL games and think about all those years when you got to watch John Elway and the Broncos manhandle Seattle. With the new SEC TV contract we�ll get to see the highest ranked teams manhandle the also rans at the end of the season, rather than the competitive games, simply because viewers want to see the higher ranked teams.

Oh well, whatcha gonna do. All I know is if we keep winning we go to LA. Nick knows that too. Oh and just for the record I thought the ball was intercepted.

Roll Tide!

Cow Bells

Mississippi State always plays us tough keep that in mind. You might also want to remember that Mississippi State was the team that kept Bear from winning three consecutive national championships when they knocked off the Tide in Jackson in 1980.

This game will not be a gimme. It�s an SEC game and the Bulldogs feel like they should have beat LSU and they took Florida to the wire. For the Bama bus to keep rolling we have to get past the trap in Starkville or the dream is over. On that note, it�s really interesting what has been and hasn�t been said in Tuscaloosa this week.

There was no wild celebration on the part of the players for winning the SEC west. It was almost an after thought. That�s nice but, we have miles to go before we sleep or some such. I don�t think they will be looking past Mississippi State. There may be an emotional let down, after the LSU game you'd expect one. They are going to get the Bulldogs best shot. I figure they�ll throw in a few wrinkles we have not seen. So what else is new?

Look for us to keep throwing to open up the run. Then just give them a good solid dose of Mark Ingram. It may be a special team play that breaks it open. Lately teams have held Arenas in check, some teams used great punts and coverage, others with directional punts. He might get a chance to make a play in this game. He is tantalizingly close to getting both the NCAA and the SEC punt return yardage records. It would be great to see him get it. If not this week then by the end of the season.

This will be a physical game. Though MSU runs the spread, they pretty much run the ball, using misdirection to spring Dixon. That�s what they�ll try to do to us. They�ll try to get our defensive backs and linebackers spread out so they can exploit the middle. It will probably work to some degree. Dixon is a good back and he will gain some yards.

They key will be to keep them to third and long. If Alabama can make them have to throw we will win the game. If they put us in the same situation, that too is advantage Bama. Our passing game is simply better than theirs.

In the end the Tide will prevail. It will make you crazy. Hang in there the guys will pull this one out. We have five more games to go. This time this game decides how many marbles are at stake in the last game.

Roll Tide!

The calm before the storm

Think about it � Cody, Arenas, Mike McCoy, Eryk Anders, Drew Davis, Brandon Deadrick, P. J. Fitzgerald, Baron Huber, Marquis Johnson, Mike Johnson, Tyrone King, Colin Peek, Cory Reamer, Chris Rogers, Brian Selman, Ali Sharrief, Leigh Tiffin, Roy Upchurch, Lorenzo Washington, Justin Woodall, as well as "walk ons" Hampton Gray, J. B. Kern, Chris Scott, and Heath Thomas, these guys have seen a lot of changes at U of A, good changes.

This game is one I would have been concerned about two years ago. Remember we lost to LA Monroe two years ago. So anything can happen. I�ve no doubt we might sleep walk through a part of this game. I also have no doubt the Tide will finish this game. If lots of starters don�t get a good deal of bench time, that means things did not go well, which means the coach will be seriously unhappy and by extension you and I.

UT Chattanooga will come in to Tuscaloosa fired up. They will hit Alabama with everything they�ve got. They have nothing to loose. If I was their coach I�d pull out all the stops. Nobody gives them a chance so why not just let her rip. If it gets ugly then you can go back to the run game and the base offense, otherwise what the heck.

The weather doesn�t look promising in T-town on Saturday so it might keep the crowd down. I know my brother will be there rolling some tides. I think on senior day the weather will hold off until late afternoon, which should give them a chance to get the game in without rain. Go on down have a cool one at Egan�s and then head over to Dreamland later.

Is it too early to be thinking about those boys in Lee County? I guess so. Don�t want to make coach mad.

Roll Tide

Time for a new streak

Somebody asked me if I was nervous, depressed or hopeful regarding the up coming Iron Bowl. I guess I am none of those things. I just simply feel that the Tide will win the game. I think this team is a whole different animal from teams we have seen populating the sidelines in Crimson jerseys over the last ten years or so. This is a team that just knows how to win. More importantly it is a team that expects to win.

That said I would not be at all surprised if Auburn was leading the game at halftime. I�m not saying they will be. I�m just say it wouldn�t surprise me. Think back on all those years during the Auburn win streak. I swear we were ahead at halftime in most of those games. I might be wrong, but it sure seems that way.

The Auburn team will come out of the tunnel so fired up they�ll hear �em in Montgomery. I mean those boys are gonna be ready for bear. They�ll need to be, they will hit the Crimson Tide with everything they�ve got and then some. Folks this is the 20th anniversary of the first Iron Bowl played at Auburn. If you don�t think that means something ask any Auburn fan.

Before that the game had been played in Birmingham with split tickets. It wasn�t until after Coach Bryant died that the venue changed. Pat Dye got the game moved to Auburn and then it eventually became a home and home series like any other SEC game. The move was a testament to the strength of Pat Dye and maybe the weakness of Bill Curry or maybe it was the right thing to do, but I know it did not sit well with the Bama Nation. We kinda felt like some of the special was taken away with the move and the loss of the split seats. Oh well. Just, FYI we lost that first game. Of course, Bill Curry never beat Auburn.

I want to wish all of the Alabama fans and alum a Happy Thanksgiving!

Roll Tide!

12-0 the sequel

Are you proud of those boys or what? Yeah, Mark Ingram had a bad day. I�ve haven�t seen a team key on one player like that in a long time. So what does Saban do shifts the offense to Trent Richardson and Julio. The defense had one bad play in the second half and other than that the Tide was pretty much in control everywhere but on the scoreboard.

I want to give credit where credit is due. Auburn played lights out. They came out with guns blazing and threw everything including the kitchen sink at the Tide. That reverse for the first touchdown was a thing of beauty. The onside kick was brilliant. It was all clicking. The stadium was rocking and the home team was up 14 zip.

More credit where credit is due. No panic on the Alabama side line second quarter we tie the game. Second half Auburn scores when they catch us in a corner blitz and lead 21-14. Last drive of the fourth quarter McElroy takes the Tide down the field and throws a TD to Roy Upchurch. Alabama�s first and only lead of the game. You have to be very, very happy for Upchurch, he�s a senior and you know that meant a lot after what he�s been through.

Given how the game went Saban has something to talk about and coach up the next eight days while they get ready for Florida. It has been a swell year. It will get sweller (I�m an English minor so I know that�s not a word), but if we beat Florida everything changes.

Here to the 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide � the regular season is over. The next game will decide where they play � in a bowl game or the championship game.

Roll Tide!

We�ve got �em right where we want �em

This is great. That�s just what those guys in T-town need. If they needed just one little bit of incentive to get them over them hump this has to be it. The players can surf the web and find out how good Florida is, how they are a team of destiny, how Tebow will find a way to win. Ya think that just might get �em a little fired up?

I was watching to ESPN and one of the talking heads was rattling on about Alabama. He was saying that we would have to pass to beat Florida and last year we couldn�t protect John Parker Wilson but get this, he was saying that the line last year was better at protecting the passer than this year's line. To date Bama has given up 14 sacks for 69 yards. Last year we gave up 25 for 178, even if you throw out Utah�s eight we are still doing better and the yardage is MUCH better. I wonder has that guy even watched Alabama play? If so was he paying attention? Who amongst us does not think the passing game is better this year than last year? The line this year is more athletic and the backs can all pick up the blitz. We�ll see.

Anyway, so now here it is. It comes down to this game, one more time. Will Nick Saban be Gene Stallings, will he continue to get to the SEC title game only to fall again and again to the Mighty Gators? Stallings was one for four. So far Saban is 0 for 1. I personally, don�t think Saban will end up like Stallings, for one thing I think Saban embraces offense. The other is just harder to put your finger on it. Stalling won a national championship at Alabama and then everything sort of went down hill.

Saban wants a legacy. He wants Alabama to become Florida or at least what the nation perceives as Florida. To become this untouchable, unattainable football power that has a mystic greater than any other school; a school that will win because its opponents are intimidated, a team that finishes and one that punishes opponents. In the 1970s we were that school, except for Notre Dame, but let�s not go there. Bear won and he won and he won some more. What�s more he did it the right way.

That my friend is what Nick Saban wants. And you know, you know good and well YOU want it too. This Saturday could be the beginning. Mercy!

Roll Tide!

Rarified Air

I feel great. It was just swell. It was what we wanted, what we had hoped for and way more than we expected. Take that Gator Nation. Lose the ugly uniforms, those things are awful. The longer I watched the more I kept telling myself there�s still time they�ll mount a comeback. Then Arenas intercepted the ball in the end zone and the commentators kept saying he threw a bad pass � did it matter at that point it was over set, match, point. 2009 SEC champions get out the hats and sell the tee shirts. Momma!

The coach had it planned and bless his heart in the interviews he found something to harp on. We lost our focus in the second quarter. By jingo they didn�t lose it in the second half. They shut out the Gators and may well have secured Alabama�s first Heisman Trophy, mercy would that be sweet or what.

We, and by that I mean the Alabama faithful, have lived in purgatory since that heady night in 1993 when Gene Stallings demonstrated that championships are indeed won by defense. It was ugly and it was over at half time. A serious beat down of a team that was unbeatable going for three rings or some such.

In three short years all of the bad has been swept out of Tuscaloosa and of our collective hearts. You can feel the love. You can feel the joy. It�s Christmas, bowl week will be coming on and we have to wait to the very end to see our guys play. Just so you know we have never beaten Texas. There was a time I would be worried about that little bit of trivia. That was before 2009. Nick Saban has exorcised so many ghosts and killed so many demons that one more just seems like a speed bump on the way to number 13. Lucky 13 � all the leaves are brown and the sky is gray . . . we ain�t just dreamin� California here we come!

Roll Tide!

Hot Damn

Well there is a great big one that can be filled the first week of January. That�s when we want to talk team. That�s when Mark Ingram and the rest of those boys get a chance to shine. They will, don�t worry. For now sit back and bask in the glow of the Hiesman and the other awards that have come to the Crimson Tide.

Keep in mind that those awards are the result of great team play. That way you don�t have to feel conflicted. This 2009 Alabama football team has hung together as a team better than any in recent memory. The Nicktator has worked his magic on those guys. One game left. It won�t make or break the season, but it will secure a legacy and bring the final piece of hardware home.

The other thing to keep in mind as you leaf through the virtual sports section is that we will lose some assistant coaches this year. Don�t fret, that is the price of success. You want to wish those guys well and thank them for all they have done. We�ll miss them but Coach Nick will just find somebody else to keep the machine humming along.

Roll Tide

Fearless Bowl Predictions 2009 Part I.5

New Mexico

Dec. 19 Albuquerque, N.M.

Fresno State vs. Wyoming

This game pits the Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences. It is one of the first two early bowls and is set in one of the most beautiful places in the US. Fresno State finished third in the WAC behind Boise State and Nevada. Wyoming finished fifth in the Mountain West. Wyoming features QB, Austyn Carta-Samuels, the Mountain West's freshman of the year. That�s the good news. The bad news is that Wyoming ranks 112 in offense. They don�t have much of a running game. Fresno State on the other hand has the nation�s leading rusher in Ryan Mathews. If Carta-Samuels could get hot Fresno�s secondary is questionable at best. Carta-Samuels could lead the Cowboys to an early season upset. That is unlikely Pat Hill is to good a coach to let a freshman quarterback beat him. Look for the Bulldogs to blitz and disguise their coverage to confuse the freshman. In the end the better team takes home the trophy. Fresno State 28 Wyoming 7

� St. Petersburg

Dec. 19 St. Petersburg, Fla.

Rutgers vs. UCF

It�s the knights bowl � that is the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers vs the Golden Knights of Central Florida. Ironically this game features one of footballs oldest programs at one of the newer members in a fairly new bowl. What does any of that have to do with anything, well nothing really, but it seems like fun facts to know and tell. I mean it�s the bowl season useless facts are all the rage. The game also features two 8-4 teams. UCF won five of its last six the only loss coming to Texas. Rutgers lost to the trio of Big East heavy weights � Cincinnati, Pitt and West Virginia. On paper Rutgers should have the edge in this game. They play in a tougher conference � forget that these are two evenly matched teams. UCF�s pass rush might be the difference in the game. Rutgers starts a freshman QB and if the Golden Knights could get him rattled it might make for a long night for the knights from Jersey. The smart money is on Rutgers. They have won three straight bowls and are looking for a fourth, it won�t happen.UCF 21 Rutgers 20.

� R&L Carriers New Orleans

Dec. 20 New Orleans, La.

Middle Tennessee State vs. Southern Miss

This could be the most interesting game of the early bowl season. If you like points this could be the game to watch. The Blue Raiders feature a fast paced spread offense that averages over 30 points and 400 yards per game. Southern Mississippi counters with an equally high octane offense, which also averages over 30 points and 400 yards per game. Both teams can light up the scoreboard MTSU finished second in the Sun Belt Conference and USM was one win short of the C-USA championship game. Honestly, this one should be a dandy. A game featuring this much offense will likely come down to who can make that last stop. Defense gives the Blue Raiders an edge. MTSU was ranked in the top three in every defensive statistical category in the Sun Belt Conference. The Golden Eagles also hold up well on the defensive side of the ball except for pass defense where they are ranked near the bottom in C-USA. That will not get the job done against MTSU. I hate picking against USM but in this case I have to go with the Blue Raiders. MTSU 42 USM 30

� MAACO Las Vegas

Dec. 22 Las Vegas

Oregon State vs. BYU

This is a game where both teams probably feel like they deserved a better bowl. As the coach says it is what it is � so this one could come down to who shows up. The Beavers just missed the Rose Bowl when they lost to Oregon in the Civil War on December 3. That spoiled their season and sent them to the desert. Oregon State leads the PAC 10 in passing but is the middle of the pack in most defensive categories. BYU on the other hand had dreams of the BCS. They started out on the right track by beating Oklahoma. Then they inexplicably lost to Florida State and their only blemish in conference play was a blowout loss to TCU. Both teams are ranked in the top 20. If the stars line up this could be a barn burner. I don�t look for that to happen. The inconsistency of Oregon State is going to catch up to them in this game. The Cougars will simply want this one more. BYU shows up in big games, especially in bowls. Look for the Cougars to make a statement by crushing the Beavers. BYU 28 OSU 7

� San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia

Dec. 23 San Diego

Utah vs. Cal

Last year Utah thumped Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and became the poster program for those playoff fanatics. That was last year, TCU is in the BCS and Utah is in San Diego. The Utes are still a very formidable team. Their three losses were to Oregon, TCU and the Holy War at BYU. California�s four losses were ugly the only close one was a 31-14 home game against Oregon State. This one could get ugly. The Golden Bears have an OK offense but they have no defense. The good news is they are fourth in the conference in rushing defense. The bad news is they are eighth is pass defense. Look for Utah to light up the PAC 10 representative. Here again the Mountain West representative has something to prove and the PAC 10 team has a bowl tie in. The Utes proved they could run with the big dogs when they embarrassed Alabama last year. That�s probably the good news for Cal. No doubt the Golden Bear coaches will remind their charges of that fact. It probably won�t be enough. The Utes will come out like a house on fire. When they have a month to prepare they can slice up anybody and they will slice and dice Cal. Utah 35 Cal 17

� Sheraton Hawaii

Dec. 24 Honolulu

Nevada vs. SMU

June Jones returns to the islands with his new team to face a team from his old conference in his old stadium. If nothing else this game should be entertaining. This is a very big game for SMU. Not only is it their first bowl trip in 25 years they also had the biggest turn around in the NCAA this year from 1-11 to 7-5 and a tie for first in C-USA Western Division. This is a feel good story for Jones, the Mustangs, their fans and alumni. The Nevada Wolf Pack comes to the game after finishing second in the Mountain West Conference. The Wolf Pack features three 1,000 yard rushers: Colin Kaepernick, Kyle Larimer and Vai Taua. This is the first team in NCAA history for one team to have three 1,000 yards rushers. This should be a high scoring game and fun to watch. Jones� run and shoot is these days old school. Jones� teams usually feature a decent running game and a fast paced passing game. This year the Mustangs average over 300 yards per game with over 100 on the ground. My guess SMU 42 Nevada 38

� Emerald Bowl

Dec. 26 San Francisco

Boston College vs. USC

As bad as USC has been this year and they have been bad at least by their standards. An 8-4 finish was not what they had in mind and losing to Arizona was just wrong. That one finally knocked them out of the top 25 for the first time in ages. Realistically, one would have thought this might be a rebuilding year. They started a freshman quarterback and lost numerous starters to the NFL. Media darlings that they were they stayed in the top ten until the Arizona game. Oh well. All that said they are playing Boston College. As bad as USC has been and they have been very, very bad. Boston College has the dubious distinction of losing to Notre Dame they squeaked past Maryland and Virginia and all in all are a fair to middling team. As bad as USC is they will win this game, for no other reason than just plain pride and the fact that they are the better team. BC�s only hope is that USC doesn�t show up because this is a low end bowl. Don�t count on it.USC 31 BC 14

� Meineke Car Care

Dec. 26 Charlotte, N.C.

North Carolina vs. Pitt

North Carolina is one of those teams people just want to say is on the rise. Butch Davis is a good coach and so he�ll have them in the BCS in no time. Not by losing to Virginia, Florida State and NC State. It is the ACC and anything can and does happen. Pitt on the other hand must feel crushed. They were this close to being in a BCS game. They blew a huge lead and lost to Cincinnati. This should almost be a home game for the Tar Heels, unless of course they are playing a basketball game the same night, which as luck would have it they are not. Pitt probably feels like the team that was shafted, let�s see BCS � Meineke Car Care Bowl that�s almost the same. This really is a zany game � both teams lost to NC State both barely beat UConn. I don�t know, my guess here is that since it is in Charlotte, I�ll give the edge and the game to UNC. Tar Heels 21 Panthers 20

� Little Caesars Pizza

Dec. 26 Detroit, Mich.

Marshall vs. Ohio

This was supposed to be a Big Ten MAC match up. It�s so not. Ohio lost the MAC championship game to Central Michigan and they, the Ohio Bobcats, ended up in Detroit. Marshall replaced a Big Ten team. Marshall is 6-6 while the Bobcats come in at 9-4. This one could get ugly. Ohio is not a flashy team they are well coached and solid. Marshall is just glad to be in a bowl. There are lots of people in the Detroit area with ties to West Virginia so there will be more than a few Marshall fans at Ford Field. Defense is the strong suit of this Ohio team, which also led the MAC in turnover margin. Marshall on the other hand led C-USA in time of possession. This might be one of those games that could be a defensive battle. Then again it might be one of those games that the only reason you are watching it is you are at home the day after Christmas and there is not much else to do. My pick? Ohio 28 Marshall 7

� Gaylord Hotels Music City

Dec. 27 Nashville, Tenn.

Clemson vs. Kentucky

Did I mention that this is Kentucky�s fourth bowl in a row? I�m sure Rich Brooks has or will. This is a first in school history. If they win, it will be four in a row they have won, which is needless to say also a first in school history. Three of the four have been Music City Bowls, but who�s counting. UK is actually not a bad team. They often inexplicably lose games they should win, but hey nobody�s perfect. One day they will beat Tennessee, really. Clemson may be the surprise team of the ACC. They made it to the championship game, lost and made their way to Nashville to face Kentucky again. Dabo Sweeny has done a pretty good job with the Tiger program. He has them headed in the right direction and this may be a pretty good game. UK has a pretty good defense and a decent offense, if they don�t get one dimensional. My guess is that Clemson will stack the box and try and make UK beat them through the air with Morgan Newton, a freshman, who will make his eight consecutive start in Nashville. Every time I pick against UK they prove me wrong. This time I just won�t do it. South Carolina beat Clemson and so will Kentucky. Wildcats 21 Tigers 17

Independence

Dec. 28 Shreveport, La.

Texas A&M vs. Georgia

Neither one of these programs is happy to be in Shreveport, well maybe A&M, but certainly not Georgia. Generally, if you are in Shreveport, you are bowl eligible and not much else. Georgia is 7-5 and A&M is 6-6. Either both teams will end the season with identical records or one goes home a loser. A&M has played well at times. In a losing effort the Aggies pushed Texas to the wire unfortunately A&M�s defense failed them. Georgia beat the eventual ACC champions Georgia Tech in their last regular season game. This was during a run in which they beat Auburn and lost to Kentucky at home. As I say this is not the most joyous of seasons for either team. The good news here is that since Georgia has no offense and A&M has no defense this could be a high scoring affair. Then again who knows it really just comes down to who shows up. Georgia Coach Mark Richt�s seat is getting warm. He needs this game to sooth some feathers in Athens. Oh did I mention Georgia has some issues with its defense as well? In this case I look for the Bulldogs to come out on fire and win one for their coach. Georgia 21 A&M 20

Champs Sports

Dec. 29 Orlando, Fla.

Miami vs. Wisconsin

The Big Ten love games in Florida. Those snow birds get to fly south and have a big time on the beach or close by. This is the chance for Wisconsin to win ten games, which would give the Big Ten four double digit programs for 2009. Miami can also finish in double digits with a win in this game. Miami averages over 400 yards per game. That have a good quarterback and have shown a great deal of promise this year. Coach Randy Shannon is on the cusp of getting the �U� back to where they are accustomed to being � in the national title hunt. But first they have to figure out how to win the ACC. Wisconsin on the other hand is the perennial other team in the Big Ten. In the old days it was Ohio State and Michigan and Wisconsin was always just on the edge. Michigan has slipped but Wisconsin still can�t quite push to the front of the line. I still don�t believe in Wisconsin but somehow I think they�ll beat Miami. Badgers 20 Hurricanes 13

EagleBank

Dec. 29 Washington

Temple vs. UCLA

This is Temple�s first bowl game in 30 years not only that it is their first winning season since 1990. This is a big deal for the Owls. This is a team that was a perennial homecoming opponent. In four years Coach Al Golden has taken the Owls from a doormat to a contender. The move to the MAC was a good one. The Owls had eight all conference players including Bernard Pierce, the MAC Offensive Player of the Year. UCLA on the other hand finished 6-6 and while that is way below what they hoped for it wasn�t bad. The Bruins have a very young team and Coach Rick Neuheisel has them in a bowl his second year in LA. On paper this should be a no brainer � UCLA from the PAC 10 pushes around a team that is just plain happy to be in a bowl. Fact is UCLA is not that good. Temple has something to prove, they are hungry.

Temple 24 UCLA 17

Pacific Life Holiday

Dec. 30 San Diego

Nebraska vs. Arizona

These are two teams that came close. Nebraska lost to Texas in the Big 12 championship game 13-12. They held the Longhorns in check and frankly should have won the game. A kick out of bounds at the end of the game was probably the difference, that and Nebraska�s total lack of offense. Both Arizona and Nebraska finished second in their conferences. Nebraska has been steady since Bo Pelini took the reins of the program posting back to back nine win seasons for the first time since 2000 and 2001. Arizona under sixth year coach Mike Stoops has also made steady progress. The Wildcats boast a balanced offense and a defense ranked in the Top 25. Nebraska�s Ndamukong Suh was recently named the AP Player of the Year. This is one of the top non-BCA bowls in college football. This game generally pits two top teams together and this year is no exception. Both teams are ranked in the top 25. This game will come down to two things. Can Arizona handle Ndamukong Suh and can the Cornhuskers move the ball on the Wildcats. My guess is that Arizona will slow down Suh enough to get past the Cornhuskers. Arizona 14 Nebraska 10

Roady's Humanitarian

Dec. 30 Boise, Idaho

Idaho vs. Bowling Green The bowl on the blue turf, this used to be the only way you got to see the blue carpet. That was before Boise State became a household word. This bowl was designed to be fan friendly and over the years it has not disappointed. The average score has been 35-25 we�re talking lots of offense, fun to watch, perfect holiday entertainment. This game features two of the country�s top passing teams Bowling Green is eight in passing and Idaho is eleventh. Bowling Green's Freddie Barnes leads the nation in catches per game and is five short of the Division I (FBS) record. Idaho�s Mike Iupati was recently named All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, he was also a finalist for the Outland trophy. This game will be all about the offense, if you like lots of passing tune in. This should be a home game for the Vandels from nearby Moscow. I look for the home field advantage to turn the tide.Vandals 38 Eagles 31

Fearless Bowl Predictions 2009 Part I

New Mexico

Dec. 19 Albuquerque, N.M.

Fresno State vs. Wyoming

This game pits the Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences. It is one of the first two early bowls and is set in one of the most beautiful places in the US. Fresno State finished third in the WAC behind Boise State and Nevada. Wyoming finished fifth in the Mountain West. Wyoming features QB, Austyn Carta-Samuels, the Mountain West's freshman of the year. That�s the good news. The bad news is that Wyoming ranks 112 in offense. They don�t have much of a running game. Fresno State on the other hand has the nation�s leading rusher in Ryan Mathews. If Carta-Samuels could get hot Fresno�s secondary is questionable at best. Carta-Samuels could lead the Cowboys to an early season upset. That is unlikely Pat Hill is to good a coach to let a freshman quarterback beat him. Look for the Bulldogs to blitz and disguise their coverage to confuse the freshman. In the end the better team takes home the trophy. Fresno State 28 Wyoming 7

� St. Petersburg

Dec. 19 St. Petersburg, Fla.

Rutgers vs. UCF

It�s the knights bowl � that is the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers vs the Golden Knights of Central Florida. Ironically this game features one of footballs oldest programs at one of the newer members in a fairly new bowl. What does any of that have to do with anything, well nothing really, but it seems like fun facts to know and tell. I mean it�s the bowl season useless facts are all the rage. The game also features two 8-4 teams. UCF won five of its last six the only loss coming to Texas. Rutgers lost to the trio of Big East heavy weights � Cincinnati, Pitt and West Virginia. On paper Rutgers should have the edge in this game. They play in a tougher conference � forget that these are two evenly matched teams. UCF�s pass rush might be the difference in the game. Rutgers starts a freshman QB and if the Golden Knights could get him rattled it might make for a long night for the knights from Jersey. The smart money is on Rutgers. They have won three straight bowls and are looking for a fourth, it won�t happen.UCF 21 Rutgers 20.

� R&L Carriers New Orleans

Dec. 20 New Orleans, La.

Middle Tennessee State vs. Southern Miss

This could be the most interesting game of the early bowl season. If you like points this could be the game to watch. The Blue Raiders feature a fast paced spread offense that averages over 30 points and 400 yards per game. Southern Mississippi counters with an equally high octane offense, which also averages over 30 points and 400 yards per game. Both teams can light up the scoreboard MTSU finished second in the Sun Belt Conference and USM was one win short of the C-USA championship game. Honestly, this one should be a dandy. A game featuring this much offense will likely come down to who can make that last stop. Defense gives the Blue Raiders an edge. MTSU was ranked in the top three in every defensive statistical category in the Sun Belt Conference. The Golden Eagles also hold up well on the defensive side of the ball except for pass defense where they are ranked near the bottom in C-USA. That will not get the job done against MTSU. I hate picking against USM but in this case I have to go with the Blue Raiders. MTSU 42 USM 30

� MAACO Las Vegas

Dec. 22 Las Vegas

Oregon State vs. BYU

This is a game where both teams probably feel like they deserved a better bowl. As the coach says it is what it is � so this one could come down to who shows up. The Beavers just missed the Rose Bowl when they lost to Oregon in the Civil War on December 3. That spoiled their season and sent them to the desert. Oregon State leads the PAC 10 in passing but is the middle of the pack in most defensive categories. BYU on the other hand had dreams of the BCS. They started out on the right track by beating Oklahoma. Then they inexplicably lost to Florida State and their only blemish in conference play was a blowout loss to TCU. Both teams are ranked in the top 20. If the stars line up this could be a barn burner. I don�t look for that to happen. The inconsistency of Oregon State is going to catch up to them in this game. The Cougars will simply want this one more. BYU shows up in big games, especially in bowls. Look for the Cougars to make a statement by crushing the Beavers. BYU 28 OSU 7

� San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia

Dec. 23 San Diego

Utah vs. Cal

Last year Utah thumped Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and became the poster program for those playoff fanatics. That was last year, TCU is in the BCS and Utah is in San Diego. The Utes are still a very formidable team. Their three losses were to Oregon, TCU and the Holy War at BYU. California�s four losses were ugly the only close one was a 31-14 home game against Oregon State. This one could get ugly. The Golden Bears have an OK offense but they have no defense. The good news is they are fourth in the conference in rushing defense. The bad news is they are eighth is pass defense. Look for Utah to light up the PAC 10 representative. Here again the Mountain West representative has something to prove and the PAC 10 team has a bowl tie in. The Utes proved they could run with the big dogs when they embarrassed Alabama last year. That�s probably the good news for Cal. No doubt the Golden Bear coaches will remind their charges of that fact. It probably won�t be enough. The Utes will come out like a house on fire. When they have a month to prepare they can slice up anybody and they will slice and dice Cal. Utah 35 Cal 17

� Emerald Bowl

Dec. 26 San Francisco

Boston College vs. USC

As bad as USC has been this year and they have been bad at least by their standards. An 8-4 finish was not what they had in mind and losing to Arizona was just wrong. That one finally knocked them out of the top 25 for the first time in ages. Realistically, one would have thought this might be a rebuilding year. They started a freshman quarterback and lost numerous starters to the NFL. Media darlings that they were they stayed in the top ten until the Arizona game. Oh well. All that said they are playing Boston College. As bad as USC has been and they have been very, very bad. Boston College has the dubious distinction of losing to Notre Dame they squeaked past Maryland and Virginia and all in all are a fair to middling team. As bad as USC is they will win this game, for no other reason than just plain pride and the fact that they are the better team. BC�s only hope is that USC doesn�t show up because this is a low end bowl. Don�t count on it.USC 31 BC 14

� Meineke Car Care

Dec. 26 Charlotte, N.C.

North Carolina vs. Pitt

North Carolina is one of those teams people just want to say is on the rise. Butch Davis is a good coach and so he�ll have them in the BCS in no time. Not by losing to Virginia, Florida State and NC State. It is the ACC and anything can and does happen. Pitt on the other hand must feel crushed. They were this close to being in a BCS game. They blew a huge lead and lost to Cincinnati. This should almost be a home game for the Tar Heels, unless of course they are playing a basketball game the same night, which as luck would have it they are not. Pitt probably feels like the team that was shafted, let�s see BCS � Meineke Car Care Bowl that�s almost the same. This really is a zany game � both teams lost to NC State both barely beat UConn. I don�t know, my guess here is that since it is in Charlotte, I�ll give the edge and the game to UNC. Tar Heels 21 Panthers 20

� Little Caesars Pizza

Dec. 26 Detroit, Mich.

Marshall vs. Ohio

This was supposed to be a Big Ten MAC match up. It�s so not. Ohio lost the MAC championship game to Central Michigan and they, the Ohio Bobcats, ended up in Detroit. Marshall replaced a Big Ten team. Marshall is 6-6 while the Bobcats come in at 9-4. This one could get ugly. Ohio is not a flashy team they are well coached and solid. Marshall is just glad to be in a bowl. There are lots of people in the Detroit area with ties to West Virginia so there will be more than a few Marshall fans at Ford Field. Defense is the strong suit of this Ohio team, which also led the MAC in turnover margin. Marshall on the other hand led C-USA in time of possession. This might be one of those games that could be a defensive battle. Then again it might be one of those games that the only reason you are watching it is you are at home the day after Christmas and there is not much else to do. My pick? Ohio 28 Marshall 7

The Last of the Bowls

Texas

Dec. 31 Houston

Missouri vs. Navy

� The Texas Bowl is the successor to the old Bluebonnet bowl, which became the Astro-bluebonnet bowl, which is probably way more information than anyone wanted, but hey it�s the holidaze and you get that sort of thing sometimes. This bowl is a contrast in styles. Missouri runs a spread while Navy runs the triple option. Navy�s game plan will no doubt be to hold the ball, score points and keep Missouri�s high powered offense off the field. Navy is going to its eighth straight bowl game and Missouri to its sixth. The Midshipmen have never defeated Missouri. I like Navy in this game. The Middies have won nine games. They beat Notre Dame and Wake Forest and lost to Hawaii, they have had a good season. I think if they can control the ball they can beat Missouri. No one has run Navy out of the park, all of their losses including one to Ohio State have been close. All of Missouri�s losses were to Big 12 teams and all but the Texas loss were fairly close. I just think Navy�s ball control trumps Mizzou�s spread. Navy 27 Missouri 17

� Bell Helicopter Armed Forces

Dec. 31 Fort Worth, Texas

Air Force vs. Houston

� Houston lost the C-USA title game to East Carolina. The Cougars have one of the most prolific offenses in the nation scoring less than 30 points only once. If there is a down side to Houston it is their defense, which surrendered 374 points, which is slightly more than Air Force scored all season. Then again Air Force�s defense gave up less than 200 points and in fact the Falcon�s have the nation�s best pass defense. On the other hand, the Air Force Academy is third in the nation in rushing offense. This is a rematch from last year and a cool contrast in styles. Houston is a slight favorite in this game. I am going to go with the Falcon�s. I feel if they can control the ball and run it against the Cougars they will frustrate Houston and a frustrated team makes mistakes. Air Force 21 Houston 18

� Brut Sun

Dec. 31 El Paso, TX

Stanford vs. Oklahoma

� This is a game for a couple of teams that had season that they didn�t expect. The Sooners were expected to challenge for the national championship. That train got derailed in the first game when BYU knocked off Oklahoma and Sam Bradford got hurt all in one awful night. Stanford on the other hand found a running back and made a whole lot of noise in the PAC 10. The Cardinal is 8-4 with victories over USC, Oregon and Notre Dame. On top of that Toby Gerhart finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting and was named first team All American by the AP. Mercy it really doesn�t get much better for the Cardinal. This is a big time game between two big time programs. It should be a fun match up. If you have not seen Gerhart play you are in for a treat, he is a one man wrecking crew. Stanford has come a long way in the past five years and this bowl is a great reward for them. On the other hand Oklahoma has fallen on hard times this year. They went from the BCS to the Sun Bowl and while it�s not the Independence Bowl, it quite a tumble. I mean these guys gave up 70 points to Texas Tech. I don�t think the Sun Bowl will make them feel much better. Stanford 37 Oklahoma 14

� Insight

Dec. 31 Tempe, Ariz.

Minnesota vs. Iowa State

� This bowl pits a couple of 6-6 teams against one another in a game that�s on the NFL Network. So lots of people won�t see it. Most of them probably won�t mind. Both of these teams have had their moments this year, as it turns out they have had an equal number of good and bad moments � that�s how you get to 6-6. Paul Rhoads won six games in his rookie season, which is a first in Iowa State history. I wish I could get more excited about this game. I like the Golden Gophers, I mean let�s face it they have one of the coolest names in all of college football. They are from the upper Midwest and they play in a dome, weird. Iowa State is one of those teams that has a good year once in a blue moon and since there is a blue moon the night of this game I�m going with the Cyclones. Iowa State 17 Minnesota 7

� Chick-fil-A

Dec. 31 Atlanta

Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee

� The Vols and Lane Kiffin in a bowl can bad press be far behind? You know at the beginning of the season I expected this guy to fall on his face in a serious way and it just didn�t happen. You got to give credit where credit is due he made Tennessee better and he did it his way. You may not like it, you may think he�s a clown, but you gotta admit they are better than they were last year. Virginia Tech ends the year where they began it in the Georgia Dome playing an SEC team. Tech has had a tough year. They lost most of their running game but still managed to finish second in the ACC Coastal Division with a 9-3 record. The Vols come in with a 7-5 record, but the wildcard here is the Vols defense. The Big Orange seriously slowed down Alabama in Tuscaloosa. I look for them to find a way to stop the Hokies as well. Chalk up another one for the SEC. Tennessee 24 Virginia Tech 13

� Outback

Jan. 1 Tampa, Fla.

Northwestern vs. Auburn

� How did Auburn come from last year to the Outback? Well shoot I reckon you have to give Gene Chizik credit he has instilled pride back into the Tigers and they have indeed made some noise in the SEC. This game is a huge turn around for a team that seemingly quit on Tommy Tuberville last year. Northwestern has also done very well for itself in the Big Ten. They ended the year on a roll winning three in a row including knocking off then undefeated Iowa. Both of these teams run the spread. Auburn�s defense has been, well to say inconsistent is being nice. They couldn�t stop anybody from running the football and then just slammed the door on Mark Ingram in the Iron Bowl. This is one of those games that should be fun to watch. Generally, you want to pick the SEC team in this sort of game but I just can�t make myself do it. I hope I�m wrong but I just don�t think Auburn�s defense has two games like the Iron Bowl in it. I also don�t think they can run on Northwestern. In a shootout Northwestern 42 Auburn 38

� Capital One

Jan. 1 Orlando, Fla.

Penn State vs. LSU

� LSU is another team that has seriously disappointed this year. To make matters worse the NCAA is looking into something in Baton Rouge. None of that bodes well for the Tigers in Florida. Penn State comes in finishing second in the Big Ten. The ageless Joe Pa has once more got this team winning games and doing it with style and class. The Hat is a weird guy but most of the time he can coach them up. This one should come down to defense. Both teams are fairly evenly matched and on paper LSU is probably the best team. If there are no time management issues in this game the Tigers of LSU should prevail. I don�t know why but for some reason I get the feeling the LSU will pull this one out. LSU 17 Penn State 13

� Konica Minolta Gator

Jan. 1 Jacksonville, Fla.

Florida State vs. West Virginia

� This is Bobby Bowden�s last game and that�s the only reason his team is in Jacksonville instead of some lesser bowl. This game pits Bowden�s old team against the team he will forever be associated with. It is just really too bad he couldn�t go out a winner. West Virginia is simply a much better team. Florida State�s defense is awful and the offense really isn�t much better. They have had their moments but for the most part when push came to shove the bully took their lunch money. Look for West Virginia to run and run some more on the Seminoles. FSU will come out blazing for a quarter or two but the Mountaineers will put the fire out. WVU 35 FSU 10

� Rose presented by Citi

Jan. 1 Pasadena, Calif.

Ohio State vs. Oregon

� The granddaddy of them all the oldest and best know of all the bowls. It is unfortunate that the tie-ins kept it to the Big Ten and the PAC 10 but it has been going on so long that it has become a fun tradition and once more here we are. A serious old school vs new school in every way you can possibly imagine. Oregon of the ever changing uniforms and OSU of the three yards and a cloud of dust school of football will clash in Pasadena. Honestly, in a perfect world Oregon should run the Buckeyes out of the ballpark. They won�t the inconsistency that is the Ducks will rear its ugly head and Ohio State will find a way to slam the door on this super duper Duck offense. Yes Virginia defense still wins championships. This game may not be for all the marbles, but it is still a big game. In the end OSU�s defense will shut down the quack attack and the Buckeyes will make the Big Ten proud. Ohio State 24 Oregon 13

� Allstate Sugar

Jan. 1 New Orleans, La.

Cincinnati vs. Florida

� This is a game with the strangest storyline of all. Urban Meyer quit, then he unquit, sort of and who knows what tomorrow will bring. Cincinnati on the other had had its coach bolt for the big bucks in South Bend. Ah to be of Irish descent in the USA. Cincinnati is the beast of the east. They are the best the Big East has to offer. Florida got the second place trophy in the SEC. That is generally not a good thing for the psyche of the team that got it � see last years Sugar Bowl. The good news for the SEC is that Florida really, really wants to send Tebow out on a high note. That�s also the bad news for Cincinnati. I know that I�ll make a lot of Big East fans mad, but I don�t think this one will even be close. Gators 35 Bearcats 10

� AutoZone Liberty

Jan. 2 Memphis, Tenn.

East Carolina vs. Arkansas

� It�s kinda cool how they have placed some lesser bowls around the big ones. It gives the smaller bowls more exposure and it gives us crazies more to watch. This should be a pretty interesting game. East Carolina once again represents C-USA in the Liberty Bowl. Last year they came very close to beating Kentucky. This year they will face a much better Arkansas team, a team that actually has an offense. Bobby Petrino has turned the Hogs around and they will be making some serious noise in the SEC in the next few years. Once he gets his players in there look out. The ECU Pirates are always tough. They are like Southern Miss one of those teams that can and does beat the big boys fairly regularly. The bad news for the Pirates is it won�t happen this year in Memphis. I know the Pirates took out the high octane offense of Houston, but Houston is Houston and Arkansas is not. Look for the Hogs to end their season on a very high note Arkansas 28 East Carolina 14

� International

Jan. 2 Toronto

South Florida vs. Northern Illinois

� A bowl in Canada eh? You becha. Well, the MAC gets another chance to win a bowl. I think they are 0-14 or some such. That�s the bad news. The worse news is don�t look for it to improve in Canada. Northern Illinois finished second in the MAC Western Division, a pretty distant second to Central Michigan, CMU finished 11-1 and NIU was 7-5. regardless these guys are in a bowl and on a mission to bring a win home for MAC pride. South Florida is in a very similar boat they also come in 7-5 and have dropped their last two games. This game is a long way from Florida the good news is that it�s in a dome. South Florida lost their senior quarterback early in the year before that they were looking for big things, after that they were looking to get by. They�ll get by the Huskies in this up north bowl. South Florida 17 Northern Illinois 10

� Papajohns.com

Jan. 2 Birmingham, Ala.

UConn vs. South Carolina

� It�s SEC light but it�s on January second so? Well, I guess those guys who get all excited about playing in a New Years Day bowl should be excited about playing on January second? I don�t know. All I know is this game will come down to which South Carolina team shows up. South Carolina comes in 7-5 having beaten Clemson in the last regular season game. UConn had a tragic season a player was gunned down and they just couldn�t buy a win. UConn played the elite of the Big East well dropping games to West Virginia, Cincinnati and Pitt by a total of nine points. Once again I hate to go against the SEC but I just don�t see the Old Ball Coach pulling this one out. UConn 24 South Carolina 12

� Valero Alamo

Jan. 2 San Antonio, Texas

Michigan State vs. Texas Tech

� The soap opera bowl, talk about distractions, Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach was fired before the game and the team will be led by interim Coach Ruffin McNeill. This story just gets weirder and weirder, Leach was a strange ranger in the close and conservative world of college football and he probably rubbed somebody the wrong way in Lubbock, oh well. What does that have to do with the bowl game you ask? Plenty. If the team decides to win one for the old coach it could be important or if the team decides that the University quit on them, they might just return the favor. If the Red Raiders can generate the kind of offense they are capable of I don�t think Michigan State could keep up with them. In the end my gut tells me that Tech will be too distracted and too divided to pull this off. Michigan State 24 Texas Tech 21

� Tostitos Fiesta

Jan. 4 Glendale, Ariz.

Boise State vs. TCU

� This is one of the big games, that is as in big money. It is interesting that the two so-called BCS busters in one bowl. Frankly, I think that wasn�t the best idea, then again nobody asked me. They never do, strange huh? You know I have kinda kept up with Boise State all year and they are, or so ESPN tells me, the best football team since shoulder pads were invented. Unfortunately for them they will now be playing a team with an actual defense. That does not bode well for the Broncos. The way I see this playing out is that TCU can and will get pressure on the Boise quarterback Kellen Moore early and often, which should cause him to make uncharacteristic mistakes. TCU is good, very good, they have a defense that could stop many BCS teams and they have a good offense to go with it. Boise feels like they were snubbed. They are going to feel worse when TCU get through with them. TCU 28 Boise State 10

� FedEx Orange

Jan. 5 Miami, Fla.

Georgia Tech vs. Iowa

� This bowl is known for its gala halftime shows. This is one of those bowls when you wonder if the non-BCS qualifiers might be right. Georgia Tech lost to Georgia who ended up in the Independence Bowl so go figure. I honestly think that either Boise State or TCU could beat them, but then again that�s why they play the games. Iowa was in the hunt for either game in Pasadena until their quarterback got hurt. All in all, the Orange Bowl is not a bad consultation prize. Ricky Stanzi will be back under center for the Hawkeyes, which frankly for me turns the tide as it were. Georgia Tech is a good solid football team, but I don�t think they have what it takes to hang with the kids from Iowa City. Georgia Tech will play well for a while but they will not make through four quarters. Iowa 28 Georgia Tech 10

� GMAC

Jan. 6 Mobile, Ala.

Central Michigan vs. Troy

The last best chance for the MAC to win a bowl is in Mobile. Central Michigan is the class of the MAC. CMU quarterback Dan LeFevour is the first player in NCAA history to pass for 12,000 yards and rush for 2,500 yards. He is the real deal he makes the CMU spread work. Troy is the top of the heap in the Sun Belt Conference. This is two champions going at each other. The crowd in Mobile should be overwhelmingly behind Troy. Only 173 miles separates Troy from Mobile so look for a lot of Trojan fans. Troy has a bad habit of beating teams they shouldn�t beat and ordinarily I�d pick the kids from the wiregrass, but I just can�t do it. The pride of Mt. Pleasant has come to Mobile. They have the best chance of finally ending the MAC bowl drought and do it they will. This should be a fun high scoring affair. Chippewas 42 Trojans 28

The time has come

Everybody and their brother are picking Alabama to win this game. Well, not everybody Bob Gresie is going with Colt McCoy. There�s a lot to that � all of the intangibles are with Texas � the whole David and Goliath thing. But you know I think I�m on the whole Josh Moon Bama bandwagon thing. The Tide is gonna kick ass and take names.

� Yes if we lose it will be worse for us than Texas because we are so heavily favored, well not heavily favored just heavily talked up. But you know what, we got that joy last year when we forgot we were playing in the Sugar Bowl and got our fannies tanned. So ya think St. Nick has the boys ready for this one? If I were a betting man, I�d bet on it. If he doesn�t, at this point they�re simply not going to be ready.

� For those of you who are into the whole Bear � Saban comparison thing think about this. Bear took players to bowl games and one year he would be strict with curfew and what not. If that didn�t work the next year he would adapt and try something different. The Nicktator has a process and he is convinced it will work and he will not change his way of doing things. Saban isn�t Bear he�s Nick. God bless him, he�ll always be Nick. You gotta love that. If he comes home with the crystal football he�s gonna have a statue in front of Bryant-Denny, which he�ll shrug off as clutter. Nick hates clutter. That�s a good thing � if he wins he�s gonna have more clutter than he knows what to do with. If he doesn�t he�ll be right back at it next year. Shoot, if he does he�ll be right back at it next year.

� The thing about Nick is when he is done at Alabama the Tide will be on top of the football world, right back where we all want it to be, where we should be. If we win we'll be there now. If we lose, well we�ll still be ranked in the top three next year. Nick�s gonna be reloading in 2010 and the Tide will be ready to rumble. These are good times to be a Crimson Tide alum, fan or hanger on.

� Tune in, throw down and Roooooooooooll Tide!

Thirteen

It was not pretty in fact it got down right dull in the third quarter � then it got interesting. But when push came to shove Nick�s boys found a way to take the trophy home. Tomorrow this will hit home for me and the rest of the Bama Nation. For now just enjoy the ride.

� Roll tide Roll!

National Champions

Alabama would likely have won even if Colt McCoy was playing. The score would have been different at halftime and the Tide would not have gone into a shell in the third quarter. The long and short of it is we won. We won the game with defense and a tough running game. When push came to shove the defense made a play and ended the game.

� Is this the best Alabama team ever? I have no idea. This was a team - I think that was the real difference between Alabama and Texas. Colt McCoy was the key to the Texas offense. He�s the reason people are talking about an asterisk. Texas came back and made a game of it? What�s up with that? Somebody had to lose the game - the Tide won. I thought they should have taken a knee on the last touchdown drive, but that wasn�t my call.

I am still just in shock about the whole thing. The football program was in such disarray for so many years. I remember LSU putting 600 yards on our defense in Tuscaloosa when Coach Fran was in town. Mike DuBose won the SEC and lost the Orange Bowl and then melted down in 2000. Mike Price well that was just plain embarrassing. Mike Shula - I really liked Mike Shula. He was a nice guy who cared about Alabama but nothing ever happened. He�d win some and he�d lose some but he could never win in November. It was baffling and I the eternal optimist kept coming up with reasons why we would be better next year.

Then they brought in Nick Saban. Saban goes 7-6 in his first year. That team couldn�t finish games and didn�t show up for Louisiana Monroe, much like Shula�s team didn�t show up for Duke. The Louisiana Monroe game was the most embarrassing thing ever. Then the next year we win the first 12. There were some close calls. We let Georgia almost come back from a 30 point lead. Then we lose to Florida and ugh Utah.

� Close but no cigar. It was strangely reminiscent of Shula�s 10-2 teams. I know what you�re thinking, come on Fox this was so different. Really? Losing to Utah in a very ugly game. Losing to Florida in the SEC championship. I could just see all those Alabama-Florida games where Steve Spurrier beat Gene Stallings again and again. It was just too eerie.

I didn�t factor in the St. Nick equation. That is the difference. Nick�s not Bear, he�s Nick. He has brought us home from the wilderness; we have seen the light and he brought us to the promised land. So you will just have to forgive me as I pinch myself because this has been a long time coming. I was in college during the glory days of the 1970s. Remember: �They have a name for winners in the world and I want a name when I lose. They call Alabama the Crimson Tide . . .� Yes Virginia there is a Steely Dan and there was a Bear and there was a steamroller called the Crimson Tide. It was just swell.

Well, Bob it looks like St. Nick is the new coach, the new master of Xs and Os and a recruiting machine. Will we win 14 every year? No. When one team gets on top others load to find a way to beat them. Ask Florida. To quote Mark Ingram �We back.�

Roll Tide

I finally did it

You know � been there done that, got the tee shirt. Well maybe that was it. I just wanted the moment to last a long time. It was a long time coming and now we have a long wait before we get to see them play again. Yeah, ESPN will probably show the spring game. There�s the whole recruiting thing. But it�s just not the same. I gotta get a life and get over this stuff.

I got this email from a cousin today. There was an orange and blue tee shirt that said �I�m wearing this Auburn shirt because I went to Auburn. You�re wearing that Bama shirt because you went to Walmart.� Yeah, well first of all, my cousin went to UAB. The other thing that struck me was I�ve been to Auburn they have trailer parks, but you know I don�t remember if they have a Walmart. You might have to go to Opelika.

It strikes me that just about any SEC team, with the possible exception of Vandy would have trouble with rocks and glass houses if you get my drift. It was still kinda funny. I reckon we�ll have to get used to this kind of stuff again. Remember the UAT thing. Oh well, I can live with it.

You know why? Last time I checked we were the BCS, AP, USA Today, Sporting News and the Eufaula Tribune number one Division I, Football Bowl Subdivision college football team in the US of A. I reckon the only vote we didn�t get was in Idaho. I can live with that too.

In case you are wondering I got the gray one with the crystal football like the guys got in Pasadena. It somehow seemed right. Anyway as you get into those winter sports just remember basketball might get better but it doesn�t look to be this year. The gymnastics team is gonna be good and then there�s softball!

Roll Tide

Take a deep breath

Recruiting is what it is. We have known for a couple of months that we weren�t going to come in number one. I know, the bad part is in some circles we came in behind Auburn. That�s OK too. You see this way those Auburn guys can rant and rave about how good their class was and how they whipped us and what not. That�s when you remind them oh yeah that�s right yall won the Outback Bowl. What was it we won oh yes IT WAS THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.

This is a weird time of year. At least it is for me. I sort of keep up with the recruiting stuff, well I keep up with it more than I keep up with basketball. But all in all, it sounds like we got a bunch of pretty good football players, it sounds like on paper Texas and Florida and some others might have gotten a couple that were better. If you look back over the last five years, I suspect those same people got better players, on paper, than we did every year, except 2008 and 2009. It will be OK by the time kickoff comes in September you�ll have forgotten all about this, trust me.

So what do you think about Nick�s statue? Well, come on they left a spot for one right there in front of the stadium, did you think they�d wait until he left or retired? Think about this. When they bring those high school boys down to T-town they show them the training room, the practice field. They show them the dorm and campus and let them eat a football player meal. Then at some point they take them to Bryant-Denny and they walk around and go inside. You reckon they might show them the statue? Why�s that there? The prospective player might ask.* It�s there because Coach Saban won Alabama�s 13th National Championship. The guide might reply. Now we can�t put up any more statues but we can sure win some more championships! *Most likely only if the prospective player is from, oh I don�t know Canada, would they not actually know about the statue but you get my point.

Let�s talk about basketball, what you say let�s not. Well, somehow I feel like I should, though for the life of me I can�t figure out why. Well, I honestly think the women�s team is better than it has been. I have been looking at the scores and it seems like before we were losing by 30 and 40 points and now we are only losing by ten or less. That doesn�t count the LSU game, but I guess that was an exception and they�ll get better yet.

The men�s team has been up and down. Those folks that know basketball say that�s to be expected. I guess that�s true Coach Grant doesn�t have his players in yet and some of the one�s he has probably all haven�t bought what he�s selling. I suspect it will come. Chances are it won�t be this year. It would be nice to not lose to Auburn all the time, especially since they are really, really bad this year. Oh well.

We�ll, let that lay there and move on. As far as the gymnastics go it would seem Georgia is toast. Auburn beat them recently, I wonder when the last time they lost to Alabama and Auburn in the same year was? This could be Alabama�s year. I get the feeling that Sarah Patterson and those girls are loaded for bear and they�re just getting warmed up. I�ll bet they�ll be better by spring.

Roll Tide

Who Dat!

I hope Tide fans will forgive me this excursion into pro football, to quote Bob Cratchit �It�s only once a year and it won�t be repeated� or words to that effect. I have a long and sad history with Super Bowls. More often than not my team was on the short end of the outcome. You see I have never been a Cowboys, John Elway or Steelers fan. I can just about count the number of Super Bowls that ended well from my point of view on one hand, though that might be an exaggeration, but not by much.

This win by the New Orleans Saints is a win for everybody who�s ever been down and out. It�s for everybody who found a way to get up every morning and keep going no matter how bad things had gotten. This is a win for all of those losers out there who found a way to win.

This win isn�t just for New Orleans, though god knows they needed one. No this one�s for Thibodaux, Bayou La Batre, it�s for Pearl, Mississippi, for Gulfport, Mobile and all those places that all these years have watched the Saints on the TV. I spent two years in graduate school in Mobile and we got the Saints every Sunday. I remember an incredibly embarrassing moment when Joe Namath was doing color commentary during a game when the Saints were getting pounded and as they are want to do the commentary began to drift. They began talking about the Saints helmets. The play by play guy asked Joe what he knew about the fleur-de-lis on the Saints helmet and Joe said he thought it was a spear point. Well, he was a journalism major.

I spent two great years in Jackson, Mississippi, which is by the way, the friendliest city on earth. In my living room I watched Bobby Hebert try his best to lead the Saints into the promised land. It was close but no cigar. It didn�t matter people still followed them. We watched and we would mostly be let down. This one is for all those great people in Jackson.

This win is really something special. I�ll admit I�m not traditionally a Saints fan I�m more of a Packers, Jets fan. In fact I was pulling for a Vikings-Jets match up. This is the Saints, this is the town that begat the Aints, these are the people who went to games wearing paper bags over their heads. This is the Big Easy, this is a place and you know this if you�ve ever been there that�s out to take you for all you�re worth. My good friend Woody once asked a merchant at the Old Jackson Brewery if it was possible to get out of New Orleans with $20 in your pocket and the clerk said and I swear I�m not making this up. She said is you car full of gas. If it is and you�ve got $20 in your pocket, get in that car and go home.

That says it all. One last thing, I�m sure Archie Manning loves Peyton. I�m sure he�s a good Dad. But, you know what in my heart of hearts I�m sure he was sad that Peyton�s team lost. But, I�ll bet somewhere at some time he smiled. His Saints had finally won the Super Bowl. This one was for all of us who love life, have been down and out and love New Orleans and everything it stands for, all of it.

Expectations and Reality

Its way too early to push the panic button, but unfortunately it was probably a serious reality check. If they don�t spank USA they could be in for a world of hurt. I expect Coach Murphy will move people around and try to find some answers. I suspect by the end of March the team will be much better, college isn�t high school and he is playing some awfully young people. It will be OK.

This is one of those times when you have to think about those kind of expectations. The football team will be facing those next year as well. The shelves are stocked everybody says. Well, maybe, but will the same chemistry be there that was in place the last couple of years? That�s the problem with the softball team. A bunch of All Americans are gone and a bunch of highly recruited freshmen and sophomores and being plugged in it will be a tough few weeks until they settle in.

The real good news is Missouri was a pretty darn good team. At least they did not start out with a lightweight and get their clock cleaned. They were just out of sync and the leadership that had been there is gone. That will have to develop. These girls are good and they will find a way.

Roll Tide

Nice turn around

Or can we? It was too early to push the panic button after the debacle against Missouri. It is probably still too early to get comfortable with this team. Youth is both a blessing and a curse. The new players have a boat load of talent, but not much experience. Playing in Florida helped, it took them away from home and gave them some much needed experience against good competition and they came through.

I got the feeling that Ohio State felt they could have won if they had all of their lineup intact. Then again who knows, maybe sour grapes? The Tide comes back to Alabama to play UAB In Birmingham in their brand new stadium. This is always a good trip. The Tide generally prevails but the Blazers would love to take out the Crimson Tide while they are still young and vulnerable. What a great way to open the new softball complex. The Tide on the other hand would love to spoil the party.

UAB handled USA better than the Alabama did so this could get interesting. Then again, I want to think that these girls are on a roll now. So we�ll see. I look for the girls to come back from south side with a win.

Roll TideFox March 01, 2010

Basketball Final

That�s OK. I figure they are pretty much trying to figure out how to play by the new rules. Some guys have probably bought in and some just haven�t. You�ll remember Coach Nick had the same problem his first year. This whole getting a lead and melting down thing is just too eerily familiar. But, judging Anthony Grant right now is just a waste of time. If there�s not some improvement next year then it�s time to reflect, but still not time for action.

There is absolutely no reason not to believe that Grant will get the job done. He tutored with one of the SEC�s best. At this point in time he�s playing the hand he was dealt. Basketball, unlike football, can be changed with a couple of players. Look at what Kentucky has done. They bought in a couple of ringers and wham, bam, thank you ma�am.

I�m not saying that the Tide will be challenging for the national title next year, but they could give the SEC west a serious run. I mean it�s not like anybody is running away with the title. For that matter the whole of the SEC, save a couple of teams scares no one. But that�s fodder for next year.

Right now I guess we�ll just have to see. There are at least three more games to play this year and who knows they could get on a roll and win the SEC tourney and head off the NCAAs. Hey don�t laugh it could happen.

Roll Tide

In the end

As you will recall Saban�s first team had trouble finishing games. That�s the same problem that Anthony Grant�s team is having. I look for that to improve next season. If Alabama can get some of the round ball talent that has been going out of state the sky is the limit. UK is making some serious noise with Alabama talent.

This season was pretty much what you would have expected, it was transitional. No doubt some people still aren�t buying what Grant is selling, or they only started late in the season. Also this is not the most talented team in the SEC. Upgrading the talent level is a priority. After that making a run at least at a SEC West title is well within the realm of reality.

Nobody�s happy staying home in March, but in the state of Alabama there�s lots of company.

A cold softball game

In the first game Bama took control late and muscled past the Wildcats. In the second game the Tide came out and looked sort of sloppy in warm ups and got sloppy on the field. There were a couple of errors and pitcher Charlotte Morgan got rattled and let the game get away from her. Her replacement, Lauren Sewell started off shaky but recovered and finally got the Tide out of a bad inning.

The way the game ended was impressive. Down 5-2 Bama struck back and got the score to 5-4 before finally losing in the last frame. This was only the second time that the Tide has lost to UK in 14 years, not too shabby. This is a young team. As Coach Murphy said they take two steps forward and one step back. These girls have a lot of talent. They just have to gel as a team. It will come.

I am going to have to say also that I think the cold got to them. It was in the upper 40s for most of the game and the wind was blowing. I just think they got up here and it was colder than they were used to and in the second game it got into their heads. It happens. I know both teams had to play in the same weather, but I know how one can get distracted and I think that was a factor.

These girls will get better and better as the season progresses. They showed signs of being a good team in Lexington. Don�t take anything away from UK they had two pretty good pitchers and nothing got past their shortstop. Also UK�s left fielder made a sliding catch on a ball that everybody in the stands was sure was a base hit or even a double. The Cats played well, but we still should have won the game. There are a lot of games left and they will only improve.

Roll Tide

601

Over the course of the three game series with South Carolina, Bama scored 37 runs and gave up three. Bama also hit nine home runs. In the last game alone the Tide scored 21 points off of 19 hits. It was ugly and it was exactly what this team needed after a long road trip and a cold day in Lexington, both literally and figuratively. The 21 runs and 14 runs in one inning both tied schools records. Alabama is now in second place in the SEC West behind LSU. The Tigers have not lost a conference game this season.

Granted South Carolina is not one of the better teams in the conference, they are still an SEC team and the Tide just clobbered them. UAB comes to town this week followed by Florida. LSU also has to come to Tuscaloosa. If Coach Murphy's charges can keep up the momentum things could get interesting come May.

I want to say congratulations to Coach Murphy on his 601 Alabama win. Here�s hoping for 600 more a couple or three World Series victories.

Roll Tide

A pretty dismal weekend

It could have been worse I guess. I mean second at the SEC is pretty good, except Alabama had been ranked number one for the last month. The NCAAs are on the horizen so good things could still happen on that front.

The baseball team got hot and now has pretty much been extinguished losing five in a row. It seems like the same old, same old. They can�t hold a lead, except this year they don�t seem to be able to hit like they were last year. New coach, same result, it�s early yet so hold on good things could be coming. By that I mean Jacksonville State.

The softball team is young and keeps making youthful mistakes. Errors are costing them games. They out hit Florida in the third game and still lost by two. Errors, errors and more errors are killing them. Much of this can be attributed to inexperience. The pitching has been an issue � Dunne gave up four straight walks against Florida in game three, Morgan gave up homeruns as did Locke.

Well whatcha gonna do. I wouldn�t be making any plans for the college World Series games � not yet anyway. I still think there is hope on both fronts but lets wait and see. Oh and by the way the Tide is still ranked number one in gymnastics. The poll is based on scores so there you go. The gym team is the number one seed in the region to be held in Lexington, Kentucky.

It could be worse � spring football might not be underway. Hope you are having a nice spring.

Roll Tide

For the sake of the readers

Here�s the deal. On the one hand I have no excuse on the other hand I am having a new kitchen put in. Do you have any idea how many contractors and bankers it takes to get new cabinets and a floor? About thirty, plus or minus. Thus far we have been three weeks without a functional sink or stove. The fridge has been in the dining room (working) and the stove has been in the living room (not working). It has made domestic relations somewhat � shall we say interesting. The good news is it�s over now. Yea!

OK now back to our previously scheduled program. I can�t get a handle on the baseball team. Though I think the prognosis is not good. They can beat Jacksonville State this much we know. I�m not sure how much else we know. SEC teams seem to pose a threat as does the likes of UAB. We�ll check back with these guys this weekend and see where we are.

Softball is a whole different animal. Since dropping two of three to Florida, the Tide has rolled. They whipped Auburn over the weekend and took out LSU in a midweek doubleheader. The girls came from behind in both games and dispatched LSU. If they are not very careful they are going to become good with a capital G. I may not be sure of where the baseball team is headed but these girls may well be heading back to Oklahoma City.

As far as the football team goes I say don�t worry be happy. The offense is going to take care of business next year and you�ll see a whole new Julio. I think for the first time since Tyrone Prothro went down there will be a passing game in T-town that will scare somebody. They have the potential to be seriously scary. If they can throw the ball, score points in a hurry and then turn the game over to the backs nothing but good can come of that.

Trust me the defense will not be an issue. There are a bunch of young, big, fast and talented players looking to make a name for themselves. Look for it to happen. They�ll make some mistakes early on, but by November, if not before, they�ll be cookin� with gas. The secondary should be taller and faster. The linebackers will just be trouble and the line will be younger and faster than last year. Seriously, don�t worry about it.

I�m not saying we�ll repeat as the BCS champions, but I�m not saying it won�t happen either. It will be fun and we�ll be the team to beat until somebody beats us. In the mean time if you�re thinking about remodeling your kitchen. I have one word for you don�t. While in the end it is worth it in the middle it is a great big pain � which is what our linebackers will be inflicting upon the rest of the SEC come fall.

Roll Tide

Party like its 1979

Long, long, time ago, in a universe far, far away I heard a new Steely Dan song part of the lyrics were �They have a name for the winners in the world.� It was on the local T-town radio station right after something off the Stones It�s Only Rock & Roll lp. Anyway, as I say, it was a long time ago. I was living in some dumpy apartment on 10th Street, which is now Bryant, I think.

None of that matters, except; there�s a reason that Steely Dan chose �They call Alabama the Crimson Tide� to illustrate the winners in the world. It was the heyday of Paul �Bear� Bryant�s coaching career. In 1979 they were destined to win another national championship. In the 1970s even when they didn�t win the trophy they were in the discussion. Bear just reloaded year after year back then and marched off to immortality.

Think about this Nick Saban is getting a statue for winning the national championship. Somebody on ESPN said the Alabama second string was the fifth best team in the country. I mean is it me or are we heading for the Return of the Jedi?

Folks break out the polyester and the vinyl and get down with your bad self; because it�s time to party like its 1979. Nick Saban has brought in enough blue chippers and over achievers to field two football teams. The Tide will be ranked number 1 in August or September whenever the preseason poll comes out. Take it to the bank.

The Tide will get everybody�s A game. They might not win 12, but they�ll be in Atlanta and they�ll be in the discussion for the BCS Championship, if not in it as the favorite, in what will be 2011 by the time it�s played. Unless Coach Nick leaves or there is some awful meltdown in team discipline and more probation comes down the pike, you can count on this for a while. Happy days are here again.

Friends, the Tide, as my little brother would say is �loaded for bear.� The offense is going to be special and the defense will gel. They�ll get burned a couple of times but the offense will be able to score on anybody. It is going to be fun. Now comes the bad part, the summer of our discontent. Take heart the softball team is getting better and better and the gymnastics team has a VERY real shot at a national title. It ain�t football but it ain�t bad.

Roll Tide

SEC Champions

Coach Patrick Murphy�s softball team lost five senior starters off last years team, which made the semi-finals in Oklahoma City. Four of those starters were All Americans. As a result a bunch of freshmen and sophomores were pulled into starting roles and thrown into the fire.

After a brutal early season schedule, which included number 1 Washington and number 2 Michigan as well as number 8 Missouri, gave the young players a serious trial by fire. It was a rough month or so they were 18-7 with a 3-2 SEC record. Not bad for lots of programs. Way below par for this program. Then after dropping two of three to Florida at home the team came together and reeled off twenty-one straight wins to take the SEC championship, only the second one in the history of the program, the last coming in 2006.

The rest of the conference also saw something special, for the first time in history one team grabbed all the post season awards � player of the year Charlotte Morgan second year in a row � she is also first team All-SEC. Kelsi Dunne was voted SEC pitcher of the year and was named first team All-SEC as well as All-SEC defensive team. Kayla Braud was named SEC Freshman of the year. Braud, a Eugene, Oregon native, led the SEC in runs scored (38), ranked second in batting average (.500), hits (42) and on-base percentage (.580). She was named to both the first team All-SEC and freshman All-SEC teams.

The cherry on top was Coach Patrick Murphy was named SEC coach of the year. What he was able to accomplish with this talented but mostly untried team in the second toughest conference in the nation is remarkable. Murphy and Saban share a common trait, both are great recruiters. Next year the top pitcher in Texas, one of the top high school players in the nation, will be suiting up for the Crimson Tide. Murphy like Saban will simply reload.

However, let�s not get ahead of ourselves. There are two more nice pieces of hardware that these girls can bring home. The SEC tournament starts tomorrow in Fayetteville. The Tide wants to stay on a roll into the NCAAs. If they win the tournament chances are they will have to get past Florida. Doing that would definitely help them with the NCAA tournament seeding. Plus it would be nice to even the score with the Gators.

The big prize is the national championship, which will be determined at the college softball world series in Oklahoma City. Could this be the year that the SEC finally brings home the trophy? Let�s hope so and let�s hope it ends up in Tuscaloosa.

Hats off to Coach Murphy and the SEC Champions Crimson Tide Softball team!

Roll Tide!

Oh ye of little faith

I mean let�s face it until about a two weeks ago I was pretty sure the Tide was all but dead. No pulse, no chance. Something happened. Maybe it was getting their backs against the wall. Whatever it was they found the will to win. That really is a good sign, hopefully, a sign of things to come. Regardless, they�re going to the SEC championship series in Hoover.

Perhaps the happiest people on earth are the folks in Hoover. An Alabama team at Hoover sells tickets. An Alabama-Auburn matchup is the best possible scenario. Of course, to keep the Tide in Hoover for any length of time they actually have to best Auburn, which may be a tall order. Then again the Tide is on a roll.

Honestly, it�s very hard to see Alabama winning the SEC tournament, but stranger things have happened. If they stay on the roll they have been on and can find enough pitching to hold a lead they have a shot. In the post season that's really all anyone can ask. They have a chance and with any luck what so ever, they�ll play well enough to get into the NCAA tournament.

Once again that�s all anyone can ask is a shot at the post season. Here�s to the baseball team. I�m hoping for a long and successful run!

Roll Tide

Don�t cry no tears

If you don�t know Charlotte Morgan you just don�t know Alabama softball. She has been the face and the heartbeat of the team for the last two years. She has all the heart you could ask for, she has the attitude of a linebacker and she always brought her A game and she cared. She cared for her team, her school and her teammates. Charlotte is one stand up girl.

I never met her. I saw her play in person only once. That�s my loss. She is the only starter the softball team will lose next year. But, she was the leader on a team that had no business getting as far as they did this year. This team had seven, count them, seven new starters and they were one out away from the world series.

It�s a crying shame that Charlotte couldn�t finish up her career with a national championship ring. She got a SEC ring and was the SEC player of the year for the last two years. That�s some good stuff. It�s not what she or the team was hoping for, but stuff happens, as a friend of mine once said sometimes bad things happen to good people. Well, it did and that�s really a shame.

I know she was disappointed when they lost the last game to Hawai�i. But, she kept her game face on and said no regrets. We did our best. Charlotte we are going to miss you. We really, really are, all of us, everybody who cares about the Crimson Tide, you are a role model. Not just for little girls learning to play softball but for middle aged guys who love to watch it.

Thanks kiddo, thanks for giving your all.

Roll Tide

A look ahead Part I

Given the way Coach Nick likes to do things you�d expect that he�d just plain hate this, but I think Coach Nick�s got a secret weapon � the open dates. Oh yes, he will be using the US vs Them of the open dates as a motivational tool. Let�s face it if Alabama can take out six consecutive SEC opponents who are idle the week before they meet, it will be quite a feat and I rhymed too.

OK here we go � San Jose State on paper this should not be much of a game, shoot on the field this should not be much of a game. This will likely be one of the few pay-per-view games the Tide will play this year. These guys aren�t a good WAC team. I mean they didn�t have much of a rushing game just over 70 yards per game. So you are saying, yeah it�s the WAC so they can throw the ball. Uh, well no, they don�t actually seem to be able to do that either, we are looking at a 207 yards per game average. The good news is they can�t stop the run so this puppy should be over by halftime. Look for the Tide to show absolutely nothing new while they dispatch the Spartans in what will likely be a very lackluster performance.

Alabama 35 San Jose State 10

Penn State � Alabama vs Penn State is a series that should be an annual event. I remember we played them several times in the 80s and 90s and they were all great games. These are both very tradition rich schools that LOVE their football. I�ve seen Penn State students wearing t-shirts that said �Our Drinking Team has a Football Problem.� A shirt you won�t see sold at the bookstores in Tuscaloosa, but you gotta love it. Well, some of you might not love it, but I think it�s a hoot and I was on campus for a game and these folks rival LSU for partying. This might be one of the, if not the, toughest game we play all year. There will be a whole lot more offense, on both sides, than most people imagine. I look for it to be close, scary close, early on. However, the Tide will pull away when the running game gets untracked in the second half.

Alabama 28 Penn State 20

Duke � David Cutcliffe should never have been fired at Ole Miss, I just wanted to go on record as saying that. The Blue Devils were 5-7 last year and they played Va Tech close; then they lost to North Carolina and the wheels came off. This is a basketball school. It�s what they care about � see Kentucky in the SEC. Yup, Cutcliffe just might get these guys to a bowl in the next couple of years. Shoot there�s like 31 of �em, I mean UK has gone to 4 bowls in a row. The admissions policy can�t be that much of an issue � see Duke�s basketball success. Again, this is a basketball school. If Cutcliffe can win 7 games and get to a bowl he�ll be a hero and let�s face it if he does that he�ll be gone. This one will be close in the first quarter � sorry this ain�t Mike Shula�s Crimson Tide � it St. Nick�s.

Alabama 42 � Duke 10

Arkansas � The Hogs are the sexy pick in the SEC this year. Ryan Mallett is the Jevon Snead of 2010. He�s the guy who�s going to set the world on fire. He can run Bobby Petrino�s offense and this will be Louisville II. Oh, wait they were in C-USA and then the Big East. Oh I think the competition might be different. Nah, what was I thinking. Shoot they went to the Liberty Bowl last year. Actually, I kinda like the Hogs, I have good friends in Arkansas but . . . . Ryan Mallett will set the world on fire and he will set a bunch of records and those ESPN guys will just be going gaga over all the points that they will roll up on Tennessee Tech and LA Monroe. The train might wreck in Athens, but I doubt it. Anyway Bama should roll, har, har, into Fayetteville with a 3-0 record. For all that silly talk about ditching Arkansas and adding, I don�t know who, Florida State, please � don�t you guys remember that FSU had a chance to come into the SEC and chose the ACC � duh, because they could win lots of game and they did for a while, but I digress. Where was I, oh yeah, I think Alabama vs Arkansas has turned into a very nice rivalry. The winner of this game generally has a good season. So, how do I see this � like last year�s, except in Fayetteville. Bama just has too much defense for the Hogs. Mallett will challenge the new defense backs. However, the Hogs will not be able to handle Bama�s front seven. This game will be closer than we want it to be.

Alabama 27 � Arkansas 20

Roll Tide

A Look Ahead Part II

I digress. The Tide and the Gators in a regular season match up. Doesn�t happen very often and until last year the prospect just plain filled me with dread. Times change, Man, do I like writing that. Woohoo, I mean there is a new sheriff in town and a new big dawg on the block. What sort of team will the Gators be when they come waltzing into T-town? They will have played Miami of Ohio, South Florida, UK and Tennessee, frankly we should know a lot. None of those teams are going to challenge for the national championship, but a couple of them, might challenge the mighty Gators. UK would love to knock them off, but, we all have those things we wish for, that aren�t ever going to happen. Urban Myer without Tebow, I just don�t know, now we get to see if he can coach. I just don�t think this is going to be the same kind of Gator team that we�re used to. I�m just not sure they can run with the big dog.

Alabama 35 Florida 21

Well, now we begin to get into that fun run where all those SEC teams have an open date before playing the Tide. Steve Spurrier�s Gamecocks will have played Southern Miss, Georgia, Furman and Auburn before the Tide heads to the east coast to see if Steve Superior has finally found a quarterback. Think what you will, Auburn, Georgia and USM will challenge the Gamecocks, if they get through that four game stretch unscathed they are heading for a nice season. Bama will have just played Florida and this is one of those trap games that St. Nick simply does not believe in, stuff happens. I just don�t think any bad stuff is gonna happen in Columbia. Even if Garcia is the answer at quarterback, I just don�t thinks these guys have the horses to take down the Tide. I figure we come out slow get behind and then kick butt.

Alabama 32 South Carolina 14

The schedule is beginning to get kind of deep at this point, this is game seven and the second SEC school fresh off an open date is rolling into Tuscaloosa looking for trouble. The good news is Ole Miss will get a peck of it. I just don�t think the Rebels are going to be in the same league as the Tide. This might be an early in the day game, you know the old Jefferson Pilot slot, if that still exists. Though, these guys sometimes give us a scare, it won�t happen this year. Bama is looking to make a statement and Houston Nutt could be in for a long year.

Alabama 35 Ole Miss 3

Last year the Vols came darn close to spoiling Alabama�s perfect season. Everybody was expecting Lane Kiffin to fall on his face and that didn�t happen. This year everybody is ready to give Derek Dooley a pass. The stuff you read kind of makes it sound like this might be, what they used to call, a rebuilding year. Well, shoot, they get a by week before they play us and this is UT-Bama. Did you really think the game last year and I mean in your wildest dreams, would end up 12-10? Of course you did, we all did. Did you really think we would be totally unable to run the ball on them? Get real, I mean that�s as weird as me watching the game in Jersey City, which happened by the way. Hey we won. We�ll win this year and believe it or not the Tide will be seeking some revenge. This game will be closer than we want it to be.

Alabama 21 Tennessee 10

Roll Tide

A Look Ahead Final Edition

The Tide rolls into Baton Rouge in what is sure to be an ESPN night game. Unless the Bayou Bengals just melt down, this puppy will be on the tube. LSU is not getting a lot of love from the media and as a fringe member I don�t think I�m gonna give them much either. By the time this game rolls around much will have been decided and only the strong will remain. I honestly think Alabama is better than LSU. They will be pumped to play us. They don�t like us. Their fans hate Nick Saban and somehow blame us for his leaving. They truly want him to fail. The hat will be ready and the joint will be jumpin� but it won�t matter. Alabama�s front seven will harass Jordan Jefferson all night, forcing him into mistakes, which will cause turnovers. Those will be the key.

Alabama 21 LSU 17

I think I have gone on record a number of times saying I really hate playing Mississippi State. It�s a no win situation. They have always played us tough and many times they have made games into a nail bitters. This year they just don�t have what it takes to run with the Tide. Even an off week won�t help. They will be strong the first half and then the Tide�s running game and defense will simply wear them down. Again, turnovers will key the victory. Unlike LSU, the turnovers will lead to lots of points. This one is at home and it is in the stretch run leading to Auburn. The Tide will not take them lightly.

Alabama 35 Mississippi State 13

This is one of those games that really should never have been scheduled. The only storyline is Bill Curry returns to Tuscaloosa. That�s yesterday�s news he came back with Kentucky. This one could get really ugly. It could be name that score. Look to see lots of second team play, maybe even some walk ons. Honestly, they should pull the starters in the first quarter. I really hope it�s not on TV. No matter what, no good can come of it. If we score 70 points it will look like we ran it up. If it�s close we look bad, real bad.

Alabama 49 Georgia State 3

The last in a long line of teams roar into T-town following a bye week. Woo hoo I say. Bring on the Tigers. Last year the Tigers came tantalizingly close to spoiling a perfect season. They ran some trick plays and you really just had to admire how well they were carried out. One of those touchdowns was a thing of beauty. The question is in my mind is Chizik really the answer? Or did he just get players that quit on Tuberville to play for him? I reckon we�ll see this year. There will be no surprises and the game will be in Tuscaloosa, where until just recently we had never beaten Auburn. In the world of Crimson Tide football the phrase until recently is applicable a lot lately and that�s a good thing. I think the Tigers are a good football team, they may be the second best football team in the SEC West, but they are not the best. Rivalry game, really tough first half � look for the Tide to prevail.

Alabama 35 Auburn 21

Now I know that I have us running through the schedule unscathed. In my heart of hearts I just really fear that will not happen. On paper I think we are the best team in the conference, but they generally don�t play these things on paper. Since Saban got here the Tide has been very lucky with injuries. That could change, they rode out Hightower last year, but something worse could happen this year.

The Tide is looking at a pretty brutal schedule. Then there is the bonus extra of seven teams with a bye weeks before they play us. It just seems too tough to handle. It could happen, nobody thinks it will, but it could. I think it might. No one has won back to back national championships since USC did it in 2003-2004 and one of those was a split championship with Saban�s LSU team.

Shoot it�s about time somebody did it again, it might as well be us!

Roll Tide

This, that and the other

Football season means, this awful hot weather will finally end. I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and I have always hated the hot weather. Yes, by jingo I will gladly trade the hot for the cold ANY DAY � but I digress. Football is so close you can taste it. I can hear the high school band in the afternoon, a sure sign. My allergies are starting kicking so good things are around the corner- football - cool weather.

I thought I�d weight in on a few things. How about that whole Ole Miss and Jeremiah Masoli thing? You know the guy had some police blotter problems at Oregon. It�s not like the whole Jevan Snead thing where he was disgruntled and found his way to Ole Miss. No, this guy was shown the door by the Duck�s management. So what do I think, well if it works out Houston Nutt looks like a genius, if it doesn�t Houston Nutt might well be looking for a new job. We�ll see.

Next up, Arkansas as the sexy pick in the SEC; I have given a great deal of thought to this one. It seems that every year somebody gets the nod as the next SEC team on the rise; the one that�ll take down the big boys. Last year it was Ole Miss because they beat Texas Tech. Texas Tech, come on, these guys showed up with as SEC defense and the whole air raid went south. I don�t want to beat up the Hogs, but unless they have found a defense they really aren�t going to set the world on fire.

The Hogs start out with Tennessee Tech and LA Monroe. You can take it to the bank that Bobby Petrino�s squad will score a hundred points in those two games. Ryan Mallett will throw for 600 maybe 800 yards. The numbers will be incredible. The ESPN boys will be drooling and telling us he is the next Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning or some such. Then they play Georgia and Alabama. We�ll see.

A lot is being made about Blake Sims and what position he�ll play on the 2010 edition of the Crimson Tide. I honestly think that if they could put somebody behind center who is a real duel threat in the wildcat, it would put a lot of pressure on defenses. It might not happen this year, but I think Saban is looking for that guy. He had something like that at LSU and if he could pull that off in Tuscaloosa � it would be Katie bar the door. Blake Sims may well be the guy, but if it happens it could be mid-season before he is turned loose.

Finally, the whole can Saban keep these guys focused to win another SEC championship and an NCAA title. I think the short answer is yes. That said I just don�t think they�ll go through the season undefeated. One these guys no matter how focused they are, are still very young people and they will either get complacent or cocky and they�ll learn a very hard lesson somewhere along the line. Two too many SEC teams have an open date before they play us. Then again Greg McElroy may leave college never having lost a game as a starter. Then again he could get hurt and it could get ugly.

Well, here�s to less than thirty days until kickoff. Man oh man I just can�t wait!

Roll Tide!

Aaaaaaaaah

The NFL preseason is OK but it�s not real football. On September 4 � the real football season kicks off. Alabama opens against San Jose State. We should clobber them, but that�s simply not the point. The season will have begun. We�ve, all of us from that region of the world where college football is be all and end all are quietly getting very excited. When I say we I don�t just mean Tide fans, but Auburn fans, LSU fans and yes by God Vandy fans. We are collectively pumped and ready to go.

For Tide fans it�s a time to let some doubts start to creep in. You�re wondering, just starting to wonder, if that revamped secondary can really stop anybody. You know you are, you have your doubts. But, you don�t care. The season is crashing through the woods like some deranged redneck on a four wheeler. It�s going to be on us soon and then before we know what happened it�ll be over.

Football brings the new year � the change in the Southern season that is necessary. It just gets bad hot and after a while � you just don�t think you can take another day when everything just sticks to you. You need a break. Then comes football. It don�t matter that the first four games might be played in 90+ weather. The cool is coming and you know it.

Plus we�ll get to watch Nick�s boys play some football � lots of football. They�re coming out of the tunnel ranked number one and I�ve not really heard any Bama people talking about that. Everybody�s happy, but they knew it was coming. The new wind blowing out of T-town is like something that hasn�t hit us in 30 years.

It�s a warm, friendly summer breeze. It�s the cool promise of fall. It�s the birthright of every Crimson Tide fan. To sit on our collective duffs turn on the TV and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have returned to the pinnacle of the college football world. We sniffed it under Gene Stallings, but now it�s like being parked next to a really good BBQ joint, man you can just smell it and Bubba don�t it smell good!

It smells like winning, it smells like a winner, man it smells like home. It�s like a warm kitchen on a cold day. It was a while coming. But I believe as long as St. Nick is walking the sideline, and recruiting kids to come to T-town, we are going to have that feeling. He ain�t the Bear, he�s St. Nick, there�s a difference, a big difference. It�s a style and time thing, but if you don�t get it � it can�t be explained. Now we won�t win a national championship every year � but we�ll be in the mix, we�ll be in the conversation � that�s what you want, shoot that�s all you can ask for if you are a Tide fan. You know it, you know you do.

I can feel the goose flesh crawling up my neck. The season is upon us. I really, really just can�t wait!

Roll Tide

The dang statue and San Jose State

The notion that the administration should wait until Saban retires, leaves Alabama, or dies, seems wrong. If Saban fails miserably over the next few years, they won�t take away the national championship unless it turns out he was cheating. I don�t think that was the case. Is it me or is it true that U of A did not erect any statues until they renovated the stadium in the early part of the 21st Century. All of the guys with a statue, except one were dead and the other, Gene Stallings was retired. Is that a precedent or coincidence?

They�re going to put a statue up, get over it. I think I can safely speak for the majority of Alabama fans � when I say if Saban left at the end of the season, I�d be disappointed, but I wouldn�t hate the man, well if he left to go to Auburn I might have an issue but other than that I�d wish him well. I don�t think he�s going anywhere. I guess we�ll see after next year, that�ll be his fifth season, that�s how long he lasted at LSU and Michigan State. If he stays for six we win.

The San Jose State game now takes on a different look. With Mark Ingram out I expect the offense to run the ball more than it would have had he been in the game. Huh? You say. Well, here�s the thing, I think with a healthy Ingram, the Tide works on its passing game in preparation for Penn State. Now they�ll try and see what sort of running game they have without Mark Ingram. They know Richardson can get the job done, but what about the rest of those guys? That�s the real question. If they get in trouble, they�ll throw the ball. I don�t expect much trouble.

First games, especially games like this one rarely tell you much. I don�t think they�ll unleash their whole offense or even their whole defense. Next week will tell us more. I think we win this one easily. San Jose State is under a new coach, who�s trying to rebuild a program that was awful last year. They�ll get better but not this week. Look for Alabama to score early and often. Look for lots of players on both sides to play. Look for St. Nick to be unhappy after the game.

Roll Tide

Headin� for game two

The Tide dispatched SJSU by halftime and we got to see lots of players play and nobody got hurt and that was a good thing. Also, there will be no appeal of the Dareus suspension, which is also a good thing. This is probably due to the fact that a player remains ineligible during the appeal process and who knows how long that could take. The suspension will be over next week.

Penn State should be an interesting match up, if nothing else from a historical perspective. Also these guys aren�t chopped liver. They have known all summer they were going to play the defending national champs. They know who Alabama is and they will be pumped to play. Big game atmosphere will not bother them. They�ll get after it � count on it.

They dispatched Youngstown State and are now focused on the Tide. This is not some undermanned WAC team. This is a team with pride and tradition. All this silliness about will Nick Saban call off the dogs if he gets a big lead might well be premature. Penn State will not lay down. They are going to come into T-town prepared and ready to rumble.

This will not be some disco showdown with people wearing silly uniforms. I mean did you see those things Boise State and Va Tech were wearing. It's like minor league baseball, change the uniforms every other year so the fans have to buy new jerseys. OK, so minor league baseball teams change their names, but you get my point. Those things Va Tech were wearing looked like something out of a video game, which I�m sure was the point. Saturday you�ll see old school uniforms and old school coaches going after each other in the classic atmosphere in Bryant-Denny.

I say � good on! Fancy uniforms do not a great team make.

Roll Tide!

Two down and ten or twelve to go

Yet you still have to wonder are these insurmountable issues or just things that can be worked out as the season progresses. I think the latter. Last year our pass defense was suspect, if we were going to give up a big play it was generally through the air. This year the whole bunch of them seem to bend. Penn State drove into storing position several times, yet they only managed three points. That�s pretty good.

Duke should not make much difference, except we will get to see if Mark Ingram and Marcell Dareus make the team even better. The front seven needs a push up the middle and lord knows we need a running game, well we need one of those things.

Duke, well David Cutcliffe wants big time football in Durham. He�ll get it this weekend, though it won�t be exactly what he has in mind, just yet. These are not Mike Shula�s football players. They�ll not play down to Duke. They�ll take care of business and Saban still won�t be happy. And that�s a good thing.

The rubber hits the road week after next as the Tide heads into Fayetteville. However, I�m getting ahead of myself and the coach will not like that anymore than he�ll like questions about resting starters. Duke can score points and we need to shut them down score, win the game and move on.

Roll Tide

Duke

Maybe it�s my allergies, maybe it�s that I haven�t had a day off in a month or maybe I've finally gone round the bend. It's just that the whole thing seems so surreal. I mean think about it � we are playing Duke and it�s on TV and people are talking about it � why? What�s the storyline here? All week reporters and beat writers have been searching for whatever they could find.

OK I�ll give you Wallace Wade � shoot we have a statue of him and Bear said he�s the one that got the ball rolling (no pun intended) on this whole Alabama football thing. Yes they beat us in the 1945 Rose Bowl. David Cutcliffe graduated from Alabama and is one of Bear�s boys. There are Alabama kids on the Duke squad. Duke sold out its season ticket packages, probably mostly to Bama fans who wanted to see the game. OK, OK I�m a Lebowski, you�re a Lebowski � yes, yes? Sorry where was I � yeah it�s Duke and it�s on national TV � not ESPN but ABC. So what gives, why the buzz?

Maybe it�s a slow sports day, well maybe. This is a big opportunity for the ACC to make a statement, well I guess. Like I said I have a weird feeling about this thing. You say it just couldn�t happen � not under Saban�s watch. Think LA Monroe. Yeah, I know that was his first year and they all weren�t bought in. Stranger things have happened � well no not really.

Honestly, I think we crush them, take care of business and then we all watch Auburn and Clemson and pull for the Tigers. I think it must be my allergies. Anyway I really do think we�ll win. It�s Friday go home.

Roll Tide

Wham, bam, thank you ma�am!

Yeah, I yelled at the TV when the defense let them get those field goals and that TD. I was levied, I mean come on. Hey, they scored 13 � we scored 62 and it wasn�t that close. Where I live they switched to Wisconsin-Arizona State in the fourth quarter. I think it was 55-13 at the time. The issue was no longer in doubt and frankly it had not been for quite sometime. Cutcliffe�s boys played hard but they we simply out manned.

Arkansas � ah the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. Be careful going up the pig trail there are lots of twists and turns. It can get a little scary if you�re not paying attention. Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel. This game should tell us something about whom we are and where we�re going (please note the correct usage of the personal pronoun � though who reads so much better.)

Numerous people have this one penciled in as an upset special. There�s something to that. We have a green as grass secondary, the defense as a whole is new and different and Mallett can flat out throw the football. Bobby Petrino can coach quarterbacks and this game could turn into a shootout. That�s the bad news.

The good news this year is if we get into a shoot out we can run with the big dawgs or in this case hawgs. The only thing that has stopped the Alabama offense has been Alabama. The Tide can run and throw the ball and they seem much better at protecting McElroy this year. The line has given up five sacks this year Virginia Tech got that many in Atlanta last year. McElroy has time to throw and the smarts to make good decisions.

If need be, we can win a shootout. I don�t think it will come to that. We�ll get burned on a couple of passes. Mallett is good and we simply do not have the personnel we had last year. But just like Bobby P will design a game plan to exploit the green Bama defense, St. Nick and Kirby Smart will design a defense to confuse Ryan Mallett.

Arkansas will score � we will give up some big plays � it won�t be easy but the Tide will bring home the bacon from Fayetteville. Pun intended.

Roll Tide

Sweet

This bunch clawed its way back from a 20-7 deficit to beat the Razorback 24-20 in Fayetteville. Give the Hogs credit they played lights out. There was a time when I was seriously concerned that this things could get ugly. The Tide did not panic. They came back after halftime and shut down Ryan Mallet forcing him into two critical interceptions.

This game will no doubt help Bama�s young defense, which will need to get old in a hurry given what�s coming down the road. Hat�s off to Arkansas a fine game played. I suspect Nick Saban will have to reimburse the University of Arkansas for the paint job in the visiting team�s locker room. I seriously doubt if there is any paint left on the walls after his little talk at halftime.

4-0 The Mighty gators come calling next week.

Roll Tide

Gator Bait?

You choose. I think this is a game that is Alabama�s to loose. Florida, even with their heavy package cannot stop Bama�s running game. There are two serious questions � can the Tide pass on the UF defensive backs and can the Bama defense stop the UF quarterback play.

For both teams the answer to who�s the best on October 2, 2010 comes down to defense. In this game the team with the best defense will win. Defense wins championships. It is very likely that these two teams will play again in December no matter who wins tomorrow.

My guess � it�s close but Alabama finds a way to win � Alabama 28 UF 21.

The Road to Damascus

This conversion of mine came after I had written a tirade on Boise State, in which I compared them to Mississippi State moving down to C-USA and winning fifty games or so. What I got to thinking about was the 1966 Alabama team, which was denied a third national title because they were seen as the poster child for segregation. Was it fair � no, but that�s exactly what happened. They were ranked third to intergrated teams that played for a tie.

If an SEC team be it Alabama or Florida or somebody else runs the table they�ll be in the title game. If Ohio State runs the table they�ll be in the title game and Boise State is out. However, if one or the other stumbles badly and Boise State wins out they should get a chance.

I agree with all the Boise State could not win in an SEC, Big 12, Big 10 schedule � but that�s not the cards they are dealt. This is a new world with TV and the internet. This Boise State team is talented and well coached. Next year, they will not be this good � this is the perfect storm or it could be, if and this is the huge if all of the breaks go the way of the team from Idaho.

Next year this team will probably still be a good WAC team, but it will not be a national contender. That is simply a fact. This is their best shot, maybe the best shot any non automatic qualifier has to win the national championship. However, before we get ahead of ourselves there are a ton of games to be played. Boise State has to beat Nevada. Everybody else has to keep winning to strange things can and do happen.

I will say this right now no matter what happens I hope Alabama is not the team that faces Boise State in that title game. It�s a no win situation � if you win by two points, you win but there will be lingering doubt. Think about last year. Heaven forbid if you loose. My god you lost to Boise State and there is no way you live that down, not in the hearts and minds if Tide fans everywhere. If however, you wax them, well discussion is over � point proved. That I guess is what remains to be seen.

The thing is I think if Boise State gets to the title game they win. I say these things and I am so often so very wrong. They will pull every trick in the book out and they�ll make up a few along the way. An experienced defense might be able to handle that, but misdirection works against young aggressive defenses. If it comes down to one play, Boise State no doubt has some trick that get them that yard or five yards that they need. They couldn�t beat Alabama straight up, but then they don�t play straight up. They bring the funk � it is simply part of what they do.

I reckon we�ll see.

A Scary Match Up

This South Carolina game shouldn�t be close, but one never knows. You or rather I get the feeling that one day Steve Spurrier will hit the right combo and bang. So far that hasn�t been the case. The Auburn game was interesting in that they (SC) jumped on top, Auburn adapted and Bob�s your uncle � Gamecocks bite the dust.

Like everybody we play this year, the Gamecocks are going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at us and try to build a lead, slow the running game and fluster McElroy. Its a good combo and the right recipe to follow, it�s just hard to prepare. It could happen. They could build a quick lead and our offense could tank. Our defense might have spent all of its luck on the Bryant-Denny turf. I just don�t think so. I think those boys make their own luck.

What continues to amaze me is the way they talk and approach games. It is precision. They approach these things like it�s a class or a business trip or some such. They don�t brag, they don�t get cocky in the paper. They laugh and they joke, but on the field they get really, really serious. Man, it�s kinda scary.

See I�ve talked myself into thinking this won�t be a problem. Then I don�t play for Nick Saban, for him and them, it�s a serious problem because they are the next game on the schedule. Nick sees a problem and figures out ways to solve the problem.

Roll Tide

Was it Smoke and Mirrors?

What did we learned today. Well, we learned that even if you can score, you can�t win if you can�t stop the other guy. We couldn�t stop the other guy end of film. Well, the world won�t end. Trust me the sun will come up. But, if the debacle in Columbia is any indication of how the rest of the SEC will treat us after a bye week, it could be a long season. I suspect Nick will right the ship. But I tell you what I�m not looking forward to playing Auburn�s offense or LSU�s defense.

See ya next week.

Roll Tide

No Good

Sometimes you can find a silver lining in a loss. Oh I don�t know like say the defense play well. No. Or say they running game was good. Nope. Or special teams looked great. I don�t think so. Then again sometimes you just get whipped by a team that was feeling it and that�s exactly what happened in Columbia, South Carolina, on national TV in front of God and everybody. It was ugly and unfortunately it was inevitable.

If you think about this rationally you kinda had to expect a let down after the Florida game; maybe not a meltdown, but a let down. Well we got one in spades. The other thing to keep in mind is how young this team is and how much media hype they got after the Florida game. If we didn�t do it, LSU certainly exposed Florida as the paper Gators that they are. Can you say Outback Bowl? Anyway those kids kept hearing how they were the cream of the SEC crop and the media pretty much anointed them the SEC crown. So they figured all they had to do was get to Columbia and the rest would take care of itself.

Well, I reckon that�s why they play the games. So where does this leave us. I mean the mighty have fallen. I�m not sure who the flavor of the week will be. We might be back to Boise State or we may have moved on the Oregon. Anyway we are now number eight, which if you�re keeping score is now one number below Auburn. I figure a little salt in the wound is always good for the soul. It builds character don�t you know.

This weekend if you have some chores you need to take care of you�ll have plenty of time. The game starts at 9 p.m. eastern on ESPN2. Yes the mighty have fallen. That�s OK we still control our destiny and we can still get back to the title game if we win out. That seems like a lot of IFs at this point.

Maybe the game was a good reality check. Crashing to earth always works wonders. The kids that thought they could mail it in have now found out differently. As somebody said we have now entered the big boy part of the schedule. We have Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU Mississippi State GA State and Auburn. Ole Miss is first up and they are Homecoming. I honestly don�t think I�d want to be the Rebels on Saturday. Do you think the Crimson Tide might just be a little bit angry after that debacle?

Coach Nick now has what he lovingly calls a teaching moment. Hey, all we did was show up and we got our hats handed to us. Y�all want to have that happen again? If these guys have character the answer will be no. If not we could be looking at the Chick-fil-a Bowl.

I don�t think so, but then again I�m a hopeless optimist. Shoot, I thought we�d beat South Carolina.

Roll Tide

One More Chance

You know that can�t feel good. You know Coach Nick is POed and you�ve got Ole Miss Black Bear Rebels spouting off about beating the �Almighty Alabama.� Got motivation? Here�s some motivation. After loosing to South Carolina if they lose to Ole Miss they will have lost to a team that lost to Jacksonville State and Vandy, ooooh that�ll make your day just pondering it.

So if the Rebel Black Bears beat us is Houston Nutt a genius? They say Steve Spurrier is again. If the Tide hopes to make any noise in the last six games and be part of anything worthwhile in the national picture the turn around must begin Saturday. Next up Ole Miss. The unfortunate thing is that now they� re all must win games. From here on out everybody�s got an open date and they will all be looking to make a statement.

The only thing good that can come of the loss is to fight back and play Alabama football. I guess we�ll see.

Roll Tide

It was ugly but it is a W

Saban was right when he said when they crowd the line we have to throw the ball. There were times when they did. It didn�t help any that Julio was out. You have to give him and Darius mounds of credit for playing when they were hurt. I want to write this team off and say well there�s always next year. But they just keep playing hard.

Last week Spurrier had two weeks to do what he did and then he goes to Lexington and lays and egg. So where are we, well we are still in the hunt. Next week we play Tennessee and Auburn and LSU play. Things will get interesting from there. The SEC West may well come down to the Iron Bowl.

A win is a win. It wasn�t pretty and St. Nick will spend all next week with his nose out of joint and that�s a good thing. The guys came back from a loss and won the game. They have to get up to go to Knoxville. It will not be easy to win up there. They�ve had a week to lick their wounds after what Georgia did to them. UT will be looking to take us down and Nick will be looking to get better.

I�m betting on Nick.

Roll Tide

UT

I think the fans and the team might have overlooked UT last year. That worked out OK, but it could have been a disaster. This year, if anything, Tennessee is worse than they were last year. On paper they don�t have a chance. That�s the good news. The bad news is they don�t play these games on paper. They�ll play this one in Knoxville. It will be a struggle. UT got hammered the last time out and will be looking to bounce back and get some sataisfaction.

This could be one of those upsets in the making, if the Tide doesn�t show up and play Alabama football. This would be a good game to get the running game going again. Last year UT was the last game of the mid-season slump. I hope this year doesn�t follow the same script. The word coming out of Tuscaloosa is that nobody is looking forward to the bye week. Let�s hope so. They need to stay focused on what they need to be doing this Saturday.

I don�t think we�ll get caught in a trap here. The offense wants to get back on track and they keep saying it�s something they can fix. Well, fix it already and let�s get this thing in high gear. If Alabama hopes to be in the national title picture they have already lost all of the games they can afford to lose.

I�m looking for the Vols to hang tough in the first half. Then I look for Bama to pull away in the second. I just don�t think these Vols have the horses to stay with the Tide for four quarters.

Roll Tide

Rocky Top

The Vols played their hearts out in the first half, but in the second half the bigger and better Crimson Tide exerted its will and ended the thing in the third quarter. Alabama played they way they should have in a game they honestly should have won going away. They took UT�s best shot, shook it off and won the game.

This team still has a shot at something special. They just have to keep winning and the rest will take care of itself. They get a well deserved week off before heading to Baton Rouge. Everybody take a deep breath and get ready for the final stanza.

Roll Tide

Bye Week

I guess if the TV is right Auburn is an unstoppable juggernaut. Of course, three weeks ago that�s what the talking heads said about us. I reckon we�ll see there are still a few games left to be played. If all goes according to form the Iron Bowl will be the national championship elimination game. Again we�ll see.

One thing I did notice over the weekend is that it�s certainly a football world turned upside down. Who in their wildest dreams would have thought that Baylor would be ranked and Texas would not? Even so who thought that Baylor would beat Texas at home? That was just plain wrong. Texas played for the national championship last year since then they have sunk like the Titanic.

What about Notre Dame? I mean I like watching them loose as much as the next guy � but to Tulsa at home!? Come on. That�s just sad I know they lost their starting quarterback, but still. . . . The surreal part is they have a national television contract for a team that can�t beat Navy and Tulsa, sad, sad, sad.

What�s up with the SEC East? I guess somebody will eventually win it, but I don�t see them going to the Sugar Bowl. I think that will be reserved for the team that doesn�t make the trip to the SEC championship from the west.

And so it goes. The news this week on the Tide was sparse, sorry about that. I reckon since the Tide had a bye I more or less took one as well, sorry about that too. We are back and they are back and we�ll all head down to Baton Rouge and play LSU. There won�t be as much Auburn news this week as Cam and the indestructible Lee County boys take on UT Chattanooga. That young man does have a winning smile. He�ll be smiling even more when they hang 70 on the Mocs. But, the good news is we can watch our boys battle the Bengals on the bayou. By the by there aren�t any bayous in Baton Rouge, but that�s neither here nor there.

Hope your week starts off well � those Mondays can be bad sometimes. Keep your head on straight and don�t text and drive. I, for one, am looking forward to the LSU game. I love playing the hat.

Roll Tide

Son of gun will have big fun on the bayou!

The second half of the season approaches and there are four games left � three very serious games and maybe, just maybe the SEC Championship game. It�s not just a roll of the dice, it�s a take care of business and the rest will take care of itself kinda thing.

Is LSU�s defense built to stop us? Probably. Can we score on them? Yes. Can they score on us? That, my friend, is the $64,000 question. If they cannot throw the ball, they are going to be in for a world of hurt. We may not have the best pass rush in the SEC and that�s a fact, but if they have to throw, we can flat get after them.

Granted Auburn rolled up over 500 yards on those guys, but AU only scored 24 points. If LSU could have thrown the ball they may well have won that game, they couldn�t and they didn�t and so here we are. Auburn is undefeated and I have LSU fans telling me that they want us to take them down, Auburn not LSU.

So here we go. This is a day game, not their forte at LSU. They are creatures of the night. This should be like the last three, a knock down, drag out fight. If we can get our offense in gear early and jump on them we should be alright. If on the other hand, they jump on us. It could be a struggle and it could get tense. I�m hoping for the best and expecting the worse � I always do.

I�ve got to admit I do love Louisiana. It�s one swell, there ain�t nothing like it anywhere else sort of place, but I just don�t want them winning this game. We have historically played well in Baton Rouge. I hope history can repeat itself and we come home winners.

Roll Tide

Stick a fork in it

Well, as that hero of the Deep South Ronald Reagan would say don�t worry, be happy. The good news is that at 9-3 the Tide will end up at a bowl game that you won�t have to get a second mortgage on your house to go to. I mean let�s face it the Capital One or the Outback Bowl are games to which you can actually obtain tickets.

I guess there�s a silver lining here, but me, me the hopeless optimist just can�t find it. Actually, I can � it appears that if Auburn beats Georgia they are in � so even if we beat them it won�t change anything, except � it would give them one loss and then they might miss out on the BCS championship. Well, dang that would be awful.

Oh, well. You know I got too used to winning and I forgot the last time Nick�s boys won the BCS Championship the next year they were 9-3. Well there�s a real good chance that history could repeat itself or not. I wish I was, but right now I am not too full of optimism.

Well, here�s hoping next Saturday is a better day.

Roll Tide

Spoiled

The Tide isn�t a bad football team and there is still time for it to be a very good football team. However, those premature talks of dynasty are over, at least for this year. The thing about us, that is Alabama fans, is that we do expect to win. Even when the team is hopeless � we really do we expect to win. We got used to losing, but we didn�t like it and every summer we just kept thinking that this would be the year we turned the corner.

Guys we have turned the corner. If we finish 9-3, 8-4 or 7-5, we have still turned the corner. We have come in from the wilderness that descended upon the Bama Nation after Gene Stallings called it quits. Those days are over. Nick Saban might have a poor year and I mean poor by the standards set in his first three years. But, guys there are teams in the country that would kill for our record and our talent.

What remains to be seen is if this team can pull itself off the mat and say enough. We have taken everybody�s best shot and we have two blemishes. Our options are to stay the course and more blemishes. Or take charge and be the best team we can be.

The Tide has issues. For reasons that no one has explained, at least to me, they can�t run the ball. They can stop people from moving the ball on them and the end result has been two losses. They have not gone south. They fought to the end in both of those games. And, and mark my words, LSU has played its best game of the year. Their offense has done all it can do. It will not rise to that form again.

Can we beat Mississippi State, well yeah. At least we have them at home. We can mope and feel sorry for ourselves or we can go out there and show the world that Alabama is still a force to be reckoned with.

Roll Tide!

They Didn�t Go South

Many people we figuring that the Tide was done for the year. They had nothing play for but pride � well that and another 10 win season and of course there is Auburn. Mississippi State hung tough for a quarter then the Tide kicked in another gear and took over.

It was a good win on a night when the stadium wasn�t full and the fans were in a funk because Auburn had locked up the SEC west. The character of this team showed through. It was a gritty display of toughness in a game the Tide simply had to win.

If they win the next two games the season is redeemed. Beating Auburn would cure a lot of ills and help salve the pride of the Bama nation. Right now Auburn and Cam Newton just flat look unbeatable, but is anybody unbeatable? I reckon we�ll find out in two weeks.

Roll Tide!

The Big Game at the End

The scrimmage with Georgia State went well. I mean we could pick nits but why. It pretty much went as expected. Saban could have named his score. It was nice to see Bill Curry back in Bryant-Denny. I always liked the guy. I suspect he�ll do well at Georgia State and I wish him all the best.

This week is the lead off to the holiday season, which means there�s a lot of noise with basketball that gets in the way of real sports, but I guess that�s OK. Thanksgiving is coming and it is one of those truly American holidays. It�s all about food, family and football and that�s all great. If you don�t like football you most likely aren�t reading this � so I can get away with that.

The Auburn game, oh yeah this will be interesting. I saw that we were the favorite? What�s up with that? Do the boys in Vegas know something we don�t? I guess we will see. The local bloggers don�t think so. Most people who are local � Southern aren�t giving us much of a chance. I mean nobody else has stopped Cam Newton, we couldn�t stop LSU and South Carolina and look how Auburn handled us last year. I reckon they have us pretty much where they want us.

Nobody in the right mind will actually think we could stop Nick Fairley, keep him out of the backfield and/or run on them. Shoot they�re 11-0 and we well we�re 9-2. Well, some people say we have nothing to play for. Well I�ll tell you what. Beat Auburn and you are 10-2 and you beat Auburn.

Oh yeah.

Roll Tide!

The Iron Bowl

I guess that�s OK someday they�ll talk about iron men or some such nonsense. Some reporter will try and figure it out and might eventually get it. None of that really matters. What matters is the game. That�s what has always mattered. This is a game that on paper Alabama should lose. I don�t care what the Vegas line is the Tide really wouldn�t seem to match up well against this particular Auburn team.

The difference here is that the Auburn team is far from complete. Much has been made about the extraordinary coaching job that has transpired on the plains. That coaching comes down to finding and getting Cameron Newton to Auburn. The rest is a fancy spread attack, not unlike Boise State. Maybe Gene Chizk might be the best coach since Shug Jordan I personally think the jury is still out on that one.

Regardless, coaching will be the difference in this game. Once again Auburn, like five other SEC teams, has had an open date before they play Alabama. So the Auburn offensive coordinator will have prepared many special tricks for the Bama game. The key to this game will be slowing Cam Newton and slowing the Auburn pass rush. If the Tide can do both of those things and get positive yards in the rushing game they should be able to come out ahead in the game.

Here again, it will come down to which coach has devised a game plan that best takes advantage of the other teams weaknesses. In our losses we have not been able to get timely stops. Auburn has had no losses so it would appear they have no weakness. They have Cam, they have Fairley and Chizk � I mean those guys are loaded for bear.

For one game they have to come into Tuscaloosa and run their offense in a very loud place. I�m sure they have worked that out � I mean this is the greatest show since Tebow. I reckon we�ll see. I think what will happen is that Greg McElroy will be driven to the ground in one of those patented Fairley tackles. That will do the trick. McElroy will shake himself off and the team will rally around him and they will finish the game ahead on the scoreboard.

Roll Tide!

And the walls came tumbling down

The bright side is and yes there�s a bright side, if you want to go to the bowl game you can afford it. Your children�s college fund will remain intact. There will be no pressure on us in the bowl game. Plus and this is a pretty good plus � we can still get ten wins. That�s OK.

We will have a pretty solid team coming back next year. Perhaps we can find a way to get both sides of the ball in sync next year. We can just wind up and shoot for the moon one more time. We should be ranked in the top 15 in the preseason poll. That gives us nowhere to go but up. For all of you Tide fans who live in Alabama just grin and bear it. I�ll go humble myself to my vet. It�s his year I�ll let him rub it in.

Anyway � 9-4 really isn�t all that bad. Shoot Auburn was 8-5 last year. The sun will come up and I hear it will be warmer tomorrow.

Roll Tide yall!

Let it go

I know somewhere out there somebody has started a firenicksaban website. I know it, because I googled it. Let�s not loose our perspective here. I mean the Birmingham News gave the Alabama Iron Bowl coaching a C. They specifically cited halftime adjustments. Is it just me or were they running up and down the field on those guys at halftime? I mean what adjustments. Hey Mark, don�t fumble the ball OK. Hey Trent, you wanna catch that thing before you celebrate. Come on, Saban can still coach.

Sometimes it�s better to be lucky than good. I�m just saying. If you win 12 games you either have way more talent than everybody else or you have to have a combination of luck and skill. We simply did not have that this year. Hey, it happens. I also don�t think we had the same kind of leadership we had last year.

I know at this point we are a middle of the pack SEC team. We had a chance to win 11 games this year. The only team that really thumped us was South Carolina. We should have won both the Auburn and LSU games, we just didn�t make the plays when we needed to and they did. Last year it was the other way around.

Don�t get me wrong here, losing to Auburn is just plain unacceptable. It gnawed at me all weekend. I went to bed Friday night and then got back up and watched the fourth quarter of the Boise State game because I couldn�t sleep. I just couldn�t get it out of my head. So I know how you feel. It will pass but it won�t really get any better until we beat them. You know that�s true.

We are still going to a good bowl and it looks like Nick has some good prospects coming in next year so don�t fret. If we get real lucky South Carolina will beat Auburn. But I don�t much think so.

Roll Tide

Should we be happy?

I might be wrong here but I don�t remember this out pouring of jubilation on the part of Auburn fans last year. I don�t remember Auburn fans being really happy that their team blew a lead and lost to the Tide. Did I miss something? Are Alabama fans the only petty, jealous fans in the state? I think not.

Last year my cousin, who is an Auburn fan and not an alum, sent me this internet posting that depicted an Auburn fan wearing a shirt that read: �I got my shirt at Auburn because I went there you got yours at Walmart.� The message was pretty clear Alabama fans were a bunch of redneck yahoos who just go to Walmart and have never been on campus and pretty much couldn�t spell campus; while Auburn fans are sophisticated alumni types. Did I mention my cousin did not attend that school?

I think on some level after the national championship game is over and if Auburn wins Alabama fans will feels some sort of state pride. But, I don�t think happy is one of the emotions that will come into play. No, I don�t think happiness is likely to be the foremost emotion welling from the Tide faithful.

I personally took a great deal of umbrage from the whole Walmart tee shirt thing. I am an Alabama alumnus. I graduated from the University. There are thousands of others just like me. Shoot, many of us actually listen to NPR and some of us have never listened to sports talk radio. For the record my shirts were ordered off the internet or purchased at the University Supply Store and I have been known to shop at Walmart.

Auburn fans can enjoy their moment in the sun. They can revel in the whole Cam Newton thing. They may even be able to collect their second national championship, third I guess, if you count the one from Golf Digest. I see no reason why the Tide faithful should be all awash in their happiness. I will admit I was pulling for them last year in the Outback Bowl. It was the whole SEC pride thing.

One wonders if the various outlets in Alabama keep an archive of their past. It would be interesting to see the Sports Sound Off from last year about this time or to hear some of the callers to WJOX in Birmingham from this time last year. I�ll just bet those sophisticated Auburn fans were calling in and writing in singing the praises of the Crimson Tide and expressing their undying happiness that the state had such a great football team representing them in the BCS title game. Yup, I�ll bet those AU fans were lavish in their praise.

Anyway, I will say congratulations to the Auburn team. They did win the Iron Bowl and they�re grabbing all the hardware and they get to play in the big game at the end. Go out and make us proud. We�ll see you next year. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Roll Tide

Happy Holidays!

If you celebrate Christmas � Merry Christmas! If you celebrate another holiday I hope it is all that it should be. At home we have a blanket of lovely white snow this Christmas morning. The snow, which I never had growing up in Alabama, adds so much to the festive nature of this holiday.

To all Alabama fans everywhere � Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May everything you hope for in the coming year come to you and most of all may you be happy and safe!

Roll Tide Yall!

The Last Game of the Year

The worst stain of all is Auburn. I�ll just leave that alone, I think the future will take care of that. There are rumors floating around that Julio might just stay for his senior year that could have a domino effect. If he stays, that pretty much changes everything as far as the offense goes.

Just think Julio in an offense with a quarterback built to throw the ball. No knock on McElroy, but he was not the best QB in the SEC, the smartest maybe but not the best. I suspect he�d admit that if pressed. The two on the roster now A. J. McCarron and Phillip Sims were top recruits and Saban is bringing in another highly touted QB from Florida. Trent Richardson will be back. Maze and Hanks will be back and the whole line minus Carpenter. All of which could add up to one of the most potent offenses in the SEC. Of course, Julio has not made that commitment yet. So we�ll wait and see.

The game should be a good one. This year the Big Ten is looking to make amends for poor showing in bowl games over the last few years. The NCAA has decided to help them by not suspending five Ohio State players until next season. I don�t know what�s up with that. Oh and you heard they didn�t know what they were doing was wrong. The Cam Newton rule enforced one more time. Try that the next time you get caught speeding � see how far that gets you.

I�ve only seen Michigan State play a couple of times this year. I saw the Notre Dame game, but I must admit I didn�t see the end of it. I wasn�t real impressed. I saw them play Wisconsin, I think I was at my brother-in-laws in Michigan and I�m pretty sure that was the game that was on both Michigan and State won that day as did the Tide.

I really don�t know what to say. The odds makers have us as the favorites. Well you know how well that has worked out this year. I guess 9 out of 12 times they were right. Could they be right 10 out of 13? I think being the favorite will help MSU. They�ll likely come in with a chip on their shoulders. I figure they will throw everything but the kitchen sink at us in the first half. If we can finish the game we will win.

If we show up ready to play, we will win. If not it�s a 9-4 season. Duh, sports is so easy sometimes, we�ll end up with a 9-4 season. You think? My gut is we win the game. I think the team was just flat embarrassed by what happened with Auburn. They feel awful and the want to make amends. They have the talent to pull it off and for the first time in weeks they have the starting line is back together that should make a world of difference.

Roll Tide

Happy New Year

New Years Day brings parades and lots of football. I love New Years Day football. It�s the last big glut before the season is gone. I�m not sure I like the way it has been stretched out now. It kinda makes it last a little longer, but it�s not the same as it used to be.

Things change and that�s good, change is progress. Life is a long series of changes some good, some bad. We turn the calendar and look forward to the next day, the next year and the next challenge. Our team did not live up to the expectations this season. That�s OK, there�s next year. We�ll know in the next few weeks what that team will be made of � that is, who�s leaving and who�s staying.

It�s all good. The cycle of the football calendar is part of life and we all know it. There is the preseason, the season, bowl season, recruiting and spring ball, followed by the long wait until August. Enjoy life everyone. There is more to life than football. Sure there is, but it sure adds some spice and fun to life, which can sometimes be scary and stressful.

Happy New Year and Roll Tide

Defense

All in all it was a win-win situation, well sort of. I figured if Auburn lost, well the SEC had to lose sooner or later and on their watch would have been sweet. On the other hand if they win the SEC wins five in a row and the home state takes home two in a row. I have to admit that last thing was not the top of my list for happy, happy, joy, joy. But, what are you gonna do? Every 50 years or so Auburn should win a national championship, I mean it is only fair.

The Tide finished number 10 or eleven depending upon your poll, I�ll take 10. The hammering of Michigan State was nice. It didn�t make up for the worst quarter of college football I�ve ever seen in my life, but this too will pass. It looks like recruiting is going well. It also looks like there is a good core of players coming back next year for another run at the BCS. I guess we�ll see.

Roll Tide

Some Things

Auburn � I know AU fans felt the same way last year, but that�s different and beside the point. I am just sick of Auburn and Cam Newton.

College Football Playoff � Please just go away. Go far, far away. Go to Idaho or east Kentucky or like Reform, Alabama or to DC.

People Who Don�t Use Turn Signals � OK so it�s not sports related, I just don�t get it how can you be driving down the street and just turn? I don�t know, maybe you�re updating you facebook or texting your mother.

Sports Writers Who Use Basketball Analogies When they Are Writing About Football � I don�t know enough about basketball to follow these yahoos. Post up? Huh?

The Big East � How are they an automatic qualifier? OK, so Pitt beat Kentucky, what else ya got? UConn in a BCS Bowl, that was good right?

Teams That Have Inappropriate Uniforms � I�m not talking home and away, I�m talking Oregon with silver and gray? What�s up with that? Aren�t they yellow and green? West Virginia did the same thing in their bowl game. Gray cammo � what�s up with that? I especially loathe those teams with one color uniform like all green or all blue or some such.

Brent Musburger � I know the guy is like 70, but he�s been the same way for 30 years. Mr. Hype and Hyperbole just call the game. When he started I always figured he was some frat boy whose daddy got him a job.

The ESPN Monday Night Gang � OMG � when they did bowl games I wanted to turn the sound down. All they wanted to do talk about was some player�s pro potential. Did they think that maybe, just maybe somebody out there actually cared about the game?

I was going for ten things but it has been that kind of winter. Hey, don�t worry be happy. It will be fall before you know it. Anyway, I hope you all are doing swell out there in mybama land. It�s good to be swell. Enjoy the snow, winter can actually be fun � keep saying that.

Roll Tide!

Enough Already

OK I like a good Auburn joke as much as the next person, but recently I read some disturbing things that makes me want to hide under a rock. Some yahoo went over to Auburn and put a mega amount of plant poison on the live oaks at Toomers Corner.

For me one of the most enduring and sacred things about college football are the traditions of each school. Those trees at Auburn are like Denny Chimes or the quad at the University. It�s part of Auburn. Killing those trees because you hate Auburn University�s football team is beyond wrong. It is morally reprehensible. There is absolutely no justification for it. What Auburn did to celebrate their victories was done on their campus for and by their fans. It was good clean fun. No doubt it started out as a prank and just grew into lore.

To all of those Auburn fans and alums out there I truly hope I speak for all Alabama people everywhere when I say I�m saddened by what was done to those trees. It was wrong and that some misguided Alabama fan did it makes it even worse. The person who did it and the act throw a very bad light on us. Maybe, just maybe this stupid act can bring some civility back to the rivalry. Yeah, I know it�s more than a game, but there is a line and it has now been crossed.

Playoffs are a good thing?

So now we have this 68 team tournament and the team that won the SEC West is left out. All the folks up here in Kentucky say that the west is the weak sister when it comes to round ball. They�re probably right they do know basketball. Keep in mind that this is the first time a division champion has been left out, since the league broke into divisions.

I guess I could live with that. But here�s the thing, the Tide beat Georgia twice in one week and Georgia is seeded 10. It seems there are 16 seeds in a bracket so that means that they're not the worst team in the bracket. Apparently, another costly thing was that the Tide lost to UK by 14 points in the conference tournament. Well, Florida lost to UK by 16 points and they're a number 3 seed? Just by the way over the course of the season we beat Tennessee, Georgia and UK all of whom made the tournament. For the record I remain clueless.

Then there is this whole RPI thing. What the heck is that? So the computer rankings for teams in the BCS are voodoo but some how RPI is science or is measurable? Of course it is. It�s basketball and it's a playoff. This is the kind of thing they want to believe about the fairness of a playoff system in choosing a national champion, it's kind of like privatizing social security � oh that�ll work out � for the investment bankers, but I digress.

Just imagine if there was a football playoff and the SEC West champion did not make it? Imagine not taking head to head into account for seeding? Imagine a playoff where some committee that the NCAA put together picked the teams that would play for the football championship? Think Big 10 and Notre Dame. Think who has the sway in that organization. Just roll that around in your head bone for a minute or two. Do you still want one?

I didn�t think so. Now you have a whole new conspiracy theory to ponder. A conspiracy for something that hasn�t happened yet but could, ooh that�s the best kind.

RTR

Get Ready For It

Saban is going to do what he thinks is best for the team. He seems to be setting up a situation in which he might name Phillip Sims over A J McCarron. He has said time and time again that previous playing experience means very little. Remember how Star Jackson was the backup and lost his job over the course of a season.

I think at this point Saban is looking for the guy with the best set of intangibles. Last year the team depended upon good quarterback play because the dominant running game did not exist. If the offensive line can return to dominance this team can win and win big with an inexperienced starter.

If Saban feels that Sims gives the team the best chance of winning he will not hesitate to name him as the starter. Let�s face it the little of bit of playing time that McCarron got last year was not really enough to hand the reins of the offense over to him. However, if he proves to be the guy then I say great. I�m just saying, if Saban doesn�t name McCarron there will be a quarterback controversy and it might not be pretty.

Roll Tide

They Are Not Going Away

The kids in Lee County will be young next year, but they are not to be trifled with. The staff on the Plains has recruited very well and the run to the national championship last year will only help with their recruiting efforts. The best news is we are playing them at their place. We have much better luck there than in T-town.

Again, I am absolutely not writing off any chances that we might have to win the SEC West, the SEC or a national championship. I am merely stating that those, including yours truly who believed that AU would be chicken feed next year could be in for a disappointment. Think Chizik�s first team and that Iron Bowl.

I�m just sayin� this is SEC football � this is Alabama and Auburn I hope we kick them into Georgia. I just don�t think anything is going to be easy. We will be breaking in a new quarterback or two and will be basically breaking in a new team with all of the baggage that comes with that. Honestly, if the leadership of the 2011 team is as good as advertized, this could a team to reckon with, I reckon � Har!

Anyway, it seemed like a good point to make since there seems to be a lot of crazies hogging the message boards with delusional claims of future dominance. My brother once told me we�d never lose to Auburn as long as we have this coach. That coach being Nick Saban. How�s that working out? No I don�t think we�ll lose to them again this year I�m just saying that assessing the number of one�s fowl before they emerge from their eggs is never a smart thing to do.

Roll Tide

Blown Away

I was a bright eyed na�ve young man in the summer of 1973. I found dorm life to be challenging. I loved going to school and meeting new people who had a thirst for knowledge. I enjoyed exploring the campus and of course the highs and lows of football season.

The spring was the wet season. I remember wading through ankle deep water to go to classes in the biology building. There were, it seems endless tornado warnings, in the spring. I know people always talk about Kansas and Oklahoma as being tornado alley, but I always felt Tuscaloosa was in the heart of it.

One spring I remember standing in the attic of Byrd Hall with a bunch of guys listening to the sirens with the rain lashing the building looking for a tornado. We never saw one. We laughed and made jokes. I have always been a fatalist about such things. If a storm has your number, it has your number. Perhaps the strangest Tuscaloosa tornado story I can think of had to do with a pizza driver. I used to be a cook and day manager for a pizza place in town. One day it was pouring so the phone was ringing off the hook. We had this driver, who was just a little flakey. The sirens were going off and the rain was coming down in sheets. He came back in from a delivery and told me he was going home. He said he was going to drive home at right angles. He assured me that was the safest thing to do. He made it, so I guess he was right. I was lucky I never came face to face with a tornado in Tuscaloosa.

The remarkable thing about last week�s tornado was I watched on TV. I probably saw more of it than most people in T-town who weren�t directly in its path, after all I had power. It was surreal. It is surreal.

From a boy from Birmingham, who would be a totally different person without all those years in Tuscaloosa, let me say my heart is heavy and my thoughts are with you. Tuscaloosa is a magic place and I know that it will be back and it will be wonderful.

One Last Chance

I really don�t care if we win the SEC tournament, that would be nice, but it�s really not that important. What I really would love to see is for us to come out of the tournament and take care of business in the regional and super regional and get to Oklahoma City.

If we get to Oklahoma we have a chance at a national championship and if that happens there is a chance to end all of the heart aches. There are so many images of Kelsi head in her glove watching a homerun go over the fence. Is she snake bit? Does she choke? I don�t think so � sometimes bad things just happen to good people.

If the Tide can get to the World Series and win it, all of those images will be forgotten. For Kelsi�s sake and for the people in the Bama Nation rooting for her I hope they can bring back a championship. If not, at the very least, I hope we don�t lose on a homerun in the last inning with two outs and the bases loaded. Been there, done that. This one�s for you Kelsi, though no matter what happens for me you�ll always be a winner.

Roll Tide

51

When the game ended they did not look dejected � they looked determined. It also seemed in the last couple of innings they finally figured out Stanford�s pitcher. I look for Murphy to go with Traina in today�s first game. Then come back with Kelsi Dunne.

They�ve lost the undefeated at home thing so now its just lights out for the World Series. These girls have the grit to pull that off, they didn�t panic last night they just had an uncharacteristically bad game. It happens, it was a real bad time for it to happen and one more and they�re finished.

It has been a good season. The downs have been followed with bounce backs. This is the chance for this team to prove they are championship caliber. The seniors must step up provide the kind of leadership that will bring out the best in the rest of the team. If they eliminate the errors of last night�s game they are golden, if not they�ll be watching the World Series on TV.

I think the character of this team will show through and today they�ll punch their ticket to Oklahoma City.

Roll Tide

Well Woohoo!

I�m actually a fairly new fan to softball so I probably don�t know the nuances as well as I do football, which I have been watching as long as I can remember. I do know that the 2011 edition Crimson Tide softball team has grit, will and fortitude. They�ve had some rough patches and they�ve overcome them. Early in the season they were on fire offensively. That cooled somewhat as the SEC part of the schedule kicked in. However, they have found ways to win.

The last win against Stanford may have been the best win all year. It wasn�t a slug fest or a run rule runaway. It was a hard fought victory that Patrick Murphy called the best softball game ever played in Rhodes Stadium. When the chips were down, those girls found a way to win. Who in their wildest dreams thought Jackie Traina could score from first base?

The Tide opens the World Series against California. The Golden Bears needed three games to beat Kentucky. It should be a good game both teams have great pitchers and enough power to make it interesting. The key, again I am not the expert here, is to win the first game and try and stay out of the losers bracket. Expert or not that seems like a good strategy, I mean duh!

This year the series is not a PAC 10 heavy field. The SEC (Alabama and Florida) and the PAC 10 (Cal and Arizona State) both have two teams. It�s the Big 12 that's the best represented bringing four teams to the dance - Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor. Could this be the year that the SEC finally breaks through? Is this the year that Alabama finally brings home the trophy? I will not make any predictions.

The Tide has as good a shot as anyone. If they play their best every time out they can win it all.

Roll Tide

1-0

Taking the high road

The presidents in a rare show of backbone over ruled the coaches and clamped down on over signing. The phenomenon has been well documented and the SEC has been its poster child. Ole Miss signed more than 30 players, LSU had to deny a kid a scholarship, they also ditched the players transferring in for one season thing � it all looked bad, the conference and especially the presidents, had egg on their faces. The whole academic situation was simply a joke.

I�m not Pollyanna enough to believe that division I football players are going to school to get those microbiology degrees, but one has to at least wink at the reason the institutions of higher learning exist. I mean come on you really can get a degree in something besides sports management and kinesiology. Heck, some of the schools have had Rhodes Scholars and some, well Vanderbilt even have tough academic standards.

Admission standards are what they are let�s face it we are talking large state universities in a region where making funding education a priority is about as popular as a liberal Democrat. The charge of the state schools is to admit as many bright young in state students as possible and get one in ten or so a degree. Graduation rates may be up now but the basic issues are the same. Giving those kids in your state that wants an education the opportunity to get one � oh and well we play football too.

After the mess at Ohio State and especially given the Big Ten�s we aren�t like the SEC we do things the right way and we have good academics, the door was open for the SEC to make a positive statement and show that they cared about something besides winning. This will not change the fact that the Big Ten has higher academic standards than the SEC, but it still makes a statement. Sometimes you just have to make a statement and do the right thing.

In the end I seriously doubt that the SEC will miss more than a step. Coaches will adapt, the good ones will figure out how to make the system work for them. That�s the trick with systems, you can beat them, but you can work them. Nick Saban is a master at that stuff, so put the worry wagon back in the barn and look at those Big Ten colleagues� of yours and smile. At least we aren�t trying to explain the tattoo and car thing.

Roll Tide!

Shocked

What! LSU? Huh? I guess if you can�t beat �em join �em. I think LSU was the only SEC team that Bama had a losing record against. Weird, I guess maybe the teacher always had her pupil�s number. I never got that but you know, I guess some teams and people just have your number.

I don�t want to put this in the same category as Coach Fran, but man you gotta admit it�s shocking. Murphy was the face of Alabama softball. If softball was followed by the Bama Nation like football or even basketball I think there would be some serious ink spent on this thing. I mean LSU.

The number of people following softball is growing, but it hasn�t even reached the status of Tide baseball, so the indignation just will not be there like it could be. Yvette Girouard was Murphy�s mentor. He got his start with her at University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the early 1990s. They�re both from Iowa and shoot he got a $60,000 raise from $140,000 to $200,000.

What gives are we missing something here? The truth of the matter is LSU targeted Murphy and went after him and offered him a significant jump in salary. At his press conference he said LSU had set the bar for softball coaches for the next 15 years. He also said that something like this, the targeted search never happens in softball. This was like a football or a basketball search. LSU knew who they wanted and they went out and made him an offer he couldn�t refuse.

I want to be mad at him but I just can�t. He cares about the sport. At the press conference after the last game in Oklahoma City, he thanked the media for being there. He said that by being there they made the sport relevant. The $200,000 salary means the next coach at Alabama will get a similar pay check. It means that this move by LSU might have started an arms race. It shows that the SEC is serious about winning and finding the people to make it happen.

It was Mal Mooore and Nick Saban and it was softball. It will be interesting to see what Mal Moore does and how and who he brings in. I�ll miss Patrick Murphy. I met him one time at the UK softball complex about five years ago. He had sent out letters to the local alumni asking for support. I went to the game and after the game he came into the stands and thanked every Tide fan who was there, including me. It was cool.

Pat Murphy has class and I really wish him luck.

Roll Tide

The Doldrums

Not soon enough I can tell you that. You can seek out an indoor football game. You can watch the CFL. You can hope you might get some NFL preseason, wouldn�t count on that. You can always watch a rerun of the 2009 SEC Championship game. That is always rewarding.

I really don�t know what to tell you. I feel the same way. Next month will be media days and then the count down to fall camp. Right now if you have a subscription to one of several publications you can learn what 16 and 17 year old kids are doing at football camp. Other than that cook out enjoy your beverage of choice and have a great summer. Go fishing, go to the beach play putt-putt golf and watch some movies. I highly recommend Super 8 .

Summer is actually fun. Hey it�s the Civil War Sesquicentennial there are probably activities related battlefields or Civil War sites nearby. Now that could be both fun and educational. You can get fresh vegetables at the farmers market or from that garden you planted. Lots of stuff to keep you busy.

Oh and I guess I really should follow up on the whole Patrick Murphy thing. There�s this line from National Lampoon�s Christmas Vacation where Randy Quaid is explaining to Chevy Chase why is daughter�s eyes are no longer crossed. He said �She fell down a well her eyes go crossed. She gets kicked in the head by a mule they uncross, I don�t know.� I think that more or less sums it up. That and the fact he had just got back from the WCWS where after finally winning the first two games, they were totally embarrassed by Florida. It was so bad the commentators just didn�t know what to say. It was ugly he felt bad and then somebody calls offering him a big raise and a new job.

You�ve had those days, you know how he felt. But you didn�t have to have a press conference followed two days later by another one explaining that all of the sudden you realized you had totally mucked up your life. This didn�t help Alabama-LSU relations, but I reckon that�s OK. In the end he came back. It will be interesting to see if all of the fences can be fixed.

Stay cool yall!

Roll Tide!

We Could Do That Too!

Just think in 2012 we could have this whole hound�s-tooth thing going. We could have a black jersey with hound�s-tooth numbers. The players names would be in white and the pants white with a red hound�s-tooth patterned stripe. The helmet would be white with a hound�s-tooth hat on the side. We could break those out for big home games like the Iron Bowl or LSU.

Each year we could come up with something different. We could do throwbacks to the styles of the 1950s or 1930s � except with a modern Nike twist. Just think each year a couple of our stars could model them as a part of the pre-kick off festivities right before media days. It would probably make ESPN!

Or not! Sorry if I got you riled. I saw an article on the University of Kentucky�s new Nike home and away uniforms. I have just always wondered about teams that change their uniforms every year. Does it keep the fans interested? Does it help sell more stuff? Does it help detract from an otherwise mediocre team? You got me. We�ll keep what we have thank you very much and still sell tons of stuff and win some games too.

Roll Tide !

And so it begins

What can you expect from Media Days? My first thought was to say some real news for a change. That is highly unlikely, what we can expect are some new quotes. Even if they are the same old tried and true quotes, at least they will be this year�s model.

Steve Spurrier will likely be entertaining. He almost always is and now that he has a team that is good, by eastern division standards, he might even regain some of the old cockiness that he had in the old days. I know they beat us last year, but that still doesn�t make them good. Shoot it seems like everybody beat us last year.

I'm looking forward to the Hat explaining the whole LSU recruiting and probation thing. I'm just looking forward to the Hat period. The man is a quote machine. He will not be trotting out the Big Book of Coach�s Quotes for his portion of the proceedings. Bless his heart.

Derek Dooley might prove to be fun as well, the man has nothing to lose and UT is going to end up in Nashville in December so what the heck. For a supposed Nick Saban clone Dooley sure forgot that the press is the enemy. You go boy!

Who knows what the Vandy coach will say. Maybe he�ll continue along the using the academic standards as a recruiting tool theme and wow us with his knowledge on the economy.

Joker Phillips will let us know that there�s a new energy at UK. They are headed in the right direction and are ready to take the next step. This will be new news. Oh yeah, see you in Birmingham come bowl season!

Mississippi State is headed up � Ole Miss is not. I honestly don�t think that bringing in a failed quarterback from somewhere else is really a good long term plan. However, building a program through solid recruiting just might work.

Florida, well there is Florida. Will Muschamp seems to be doing swell not too many guys have been arrested this summer. Good luck with taking those guys recruited to run the spread and fit them into a pro set. Don�t get me wrong I think Muschamp can pull this off I just don�t think it will happen this year.

News Flash � Mark Richt is on the hot seat. Has the man ever been off the hot seat? It might help if he could hold onto some of the in state recruits. Richt is a disciple of the Big Book of Coach�s Quotes. So don�t expect much fun from the head bulldog.

Auburn � this could be the year we get some action out of Chizik. He�s another Big Book of Coach�s Quotes fan. It will be interesting to hear his side of the whole he said she said thing re: the NCAA lady. Do you think he might take a swipe at the SEC athletic directors for their slight of him and Cam Newton? Get out of here � there is no out of the book quote for that one. I�m looking for a great big no comment.

Nick Saban will give us a run down on how he thinks the quarterback situation will play out. I�m sure he�s already evaluated arm strength and leadership qualities and in his heart of hearts knows who will start. Expect a thoughtful evaluation of the process the staff uses to pick a starting quarterback. Yeah and you can pretty much expect Obama to carry Alabama too. Expect Nick to be annoyed at the press and POed for just having to be there. Right after he addresses the quarterback situation he�ll address the preseason ranking and expectations for the upcoming season.

OMG! I forgot the Hogs! How could I forget the Hogs! Heavens to Betsy! Bobby P is still in charge and they have a quarterback to replace, though they do have a rather nice one waiting in the wings. The Razorbacks coach just might let a few tidbits out and could actually say something funny.

Roll Tide Yall!

It�s Finally Here

For Southerners nothing save Christmas when you were young comes with the same anticipation as the college football season. This is just the way we Southerners are. It doesn�t matter if you�re a frat boy or if you live in a trailer park this season unites us all. College football is magic. Just sitting here writing this is giving me goose bumps. In a matter of weeks, four to be exact, Alabama will tee up the ball and kick off to Kent State. That the Tide will be a prohibitive favorite is irrelevant.

It�s the beginning of football season � Alabama football season. As long as I can remember � as long as I have been alive this is the time of year where the best part of the year starts. Back in the day we got one maybe two games a year on TV, now all of them will be on TV. You might have to pay for some but that doesn�t matter. I read the other day where a sports writer thought the glut of games on TV diluted college football. He�s nuts it just makes it better. You can watch it � you can channel surf and catch five or six games in one day � football nirvana!

Yes I live for this. This is why I get up in the morning. Yeah I know that makes me shallow and it might even make some people doubt my sanity. But you know what, I don�t care. There is absolutely nothing that can completely take me into another zone the way college football does. It�s a cultural, metal and physical experience like nothing else I know.

When an Alabama game is cued up on my TV I get excited and I get nervous. Yup, I get anxious and I worry and I get obsessive compulsive. Which shirt should I wear? Should I use this glass? Should I drink this beverage? These things cannot be taken lightly and any real Alabama fan will tell you the same. This woman I know once told me that she could tell if the Tide was going to win or not based upon Gene Stallings� cowlick. In 2009 and 2010 I would drink a Belgian beer once during the game. I found it especially helpful if we were not doing so well. That didn�t work so well last year. So I�ll have to reevaluate. I sort of have a lucky shirt and I will trot it out again this year and see how it goes. If it fails me I�ll be forced to get a new one.

The beginning of August is the beginning of the time of transformation. School will be starting soon, the real end of summer. Football season means that the weather will break and the summer that has gone on forever will finally end. This year most of the country can relate to that one. In the South hot, humid, God awful weather is just the norm. I have always hated it. I hate the heat, I hate the humidity and I long for the cool weather that is ushered in by football season. At home I am considered pretty strange because I love the cold weather. I can�t get enough of it and that is what football season promises.

The weather is just a pleasant side effect of football season. Football season is a tonic. Football season cures everything. If the year has been awful, if work has been awful, if your week has been awful � you have Saturday to look forward to. On Saturday the Tide will play. If they play they could win. If they win your joy is boundless, if they lose your funk is blue and both of these emotions are shared universally by Alabama fans everywhere � be they in Birmingham, Alabama or Birmingham, England. It�s real it�s who we are for better or worse and I am so pumped I can�t stand it.

Roll Tide!

The best of times . . . the worst of times

And as some dude from Florida once said the waiting is the hardest part. I got so pumped when practice started � but now, now I�m just ready for a freaking game. I don�t know about you but I�ve had a long hot summer. It has been stressful and most unpleasant. So I�m ready for the soothing relief of college football.

I feel the pain of the reporters who do their best to bring us news on the Alabama team. I swear nothing could be more frustrating than trying to get actual information out of Nick Saban. I reckon that coaches by their very nature are paranoid, but I swear Nick takes it to a whole new level. He takes it personally when a reporter asks a question he doesn�t like. I mean come on this is Alabama football, people out there and I count myself among them, are dying for some news, any news. I mean I have been posting videos of practice. Boys and girls I swear that stuff is like watching grass grow. That�s why it would be real nice if St. Nick might provide some analysis or lest the reports see something, but nooooooooooooo.

I actually understand that Nick wants to play his cards close to his vest. I do, I really do. I know he doesn�t want Kent State to get any information that might help them blow up the season before it gets started. I know that the season could be compromised if � if we knew who the starting right tackle was, lord help us. I think if he thought he could get away wiith it, he would use the phrase that's a national security issue. And by gawd I think for some Bama fans and you know who you are, it is.

Dang � I have ended more sentences with prepositions in this short piece than I ever did in four, well make that six years at the University. For those Mom�s and Pop�s out there worrying that my grammar will wreak their children�s future � first of all I say I wish there were actually that many people reading this and if there are I�d have to say chill out. At least I try to be civil.

So yall lets get ready for the football season. Let us think good things about our opponents, not that I hope that any of them will beat us. No I only hope that none of their players get hurt. I hope that if they play in Tuscaloosa they have a good experience and their fans have fun. One thing Nick says that I do agree with whole heatedly is that when teams come to Bryant-Denny that we treat them and their fans with the kind of respect and fellowship, with which we would like to be treated at their place.

So Roll Tide and bring on September 3!

Game Week!

I have been puzzling over this team all summer and I am still no closer to figuring it out. I�m not so concerned about the quarterback situation, though I admit that�s an issue, as I am the O-line. Last year we simply could not dominate teams and control the ball. That, as much as the young defense, is what did us in.

If the line is dominant this year, if the running game gets into high gear � then it�s 2009 all over again and there will be no need for the quarterback(s) to win games. Those are BIG ifs. I have no doubt that our defense will be good. I even think it could carry us pretty far. But sometimes you have to have an offense that can score points. Maybe one of these two kids will catch fire and get going. I figure by November whoever is starting ought to have his sea legs. But, how comfortable will Coach Nick be giving the kid the ball with instructions to wing it because we need six?

You see my dilemma? It�s your dilemma too, you just have those crimson glasses on and you have swilled the Kool-Aid. Trust me, I know because last year I was chuggin� the stuff. Fool me once . . . .

I�m not trying to be a naysayer here, because I believe we have the makings of a good football team. After all Gene Stallings took a team with a killer defense and a Oh yeah we have an offense around here somewhere and won the national championship. The difference is Gene wasn�t heading into the season with a rookie at the helm.

I�m gonna actually cheat and reserve judgment until after the Kent State game. I really want to see how those kids handle live bullets and how the line plays. I honestly think we�ll be alright, but I�ll wait a week. Maybe it�s heat � who knows.

Roll Tide Yall!

Ugly

The play of the quarterbacks left much to be desired and the offensive line simply did not impress. I�m not sure the 2011 edition of the Crimson Tide is not woefully overrated. It was a first game and the offense was very vanilla, but it just did not look too good.

Next week will be a different story. Penn State is much better than Kent State and if the Tide turns the ball over 5 times in Happy Valley it could be very bad news. Let hope that this team does make a dramatic improvement between now and next Saturday. Otherwise it could be a very long season.

A More Enlightened View

Like Saban I don�t spend much time watching the offensive line. Actually I tried but since I had not memorized the starter�s numbers it was a fruitless endeavor. In the cool shade on a Sunday morning reading the after action reports, it seems that it was a Chinese fire drill as far as the line went. The coaching staff was trying out the various pieces to see what they liked best. No continuity and thus not as much bang as I was hoping for.

The quarterbacks remain an issue though as Saban isn�t terribly concerned about it. I suspect it isn�t as bad as it looked. Let�s face it we all knew there would be growing pains and there will be some bumps along the road. The defense might have to bail them out more than once. So let�s let that one go for another couple of weeks. Penn State seems to have its own issues at the quarterback position so it will probably be an exciting game.

I want to sort of laugh at Auburn, but last year I did that early and they fooled me. They looked to be in serious trouble against Utah State, but they did what they do and scored enough points at the end to win. They seem to like playing on the edge. I still can�t help thinking if they do that next week they�ll be in trouble. Then again that�s what I thought all of last year. Either LSU is real good or Oregon is just not as good as advertised. Time will answer those questions. I liked the black bear better than the way Ole Miss played. Houston Nutt might have finally run out of time. Then again he is one of the best at circling the wagons. Oh and those uniforms Georgia had on were so ugly. I mean they deserved to lose for just showing up in those things. They are not seriously going to wear those all year are they?

Football season is upon us. Roll Tide!

Happy Valley

I like our chances at Penn State. I really don�t think our quarterbacks will be as bad as they were against Kent State. If they are we are in for a long season. I just think they�ll keep getting better and eventually we�ll have just one.

I really suspect Joe Pa and the boys want to put a hurtin� on the Tide but I just don�t think they have the horses to do it by themselves. The weather will have a role. We could even get one of those danged delays. The game could be close and our quarterbacks could make it interesting. However, I think our defense will disrupt Penn State�s offense enough to make a difference and we�ll work on our turnover ratio.

So yall, have a nice weekend. I hope we can all enjoy the game I really think we can, my pick Alabama 27 Penn State 10.

Roll Tide

I Digress

The author, Jay Schalin, makes some good and I think valid points regarding Division I college football. However, mostly he beats up the system and the universities for being totally corrupt. The system he suggests is unworkable and should be abolished. His answer is to dump college football as we know it and replace it with a minor league system similar to that used in baseball.

One flaw in his argument is assuming that all Division I football players are going to play professional football. Another is assuming every player who could play professional football cannot make the grades in college. The author suggests that would be professional football players need �. . . physical toughness and aggression � big muscles, not a degree in English or physics.� That may well be true. However, many D-I or as it is properly known as FBS (football bowl subdivision) football players never play professional football. There are after all 120 D-I teams that are allowed 105 players each and only 32 NFL teams with 50 players each, the math is not that hard. Many former players become insurance salesmen, teachers, coaches and other professions that do not require degrees in English or physics. Many of these kids are the first ones in their family to ever attend college. Many quickly realize that they will never make the NFL and make the best of their college experience.

He also states �. . . it�s obvious to any objective observer that many Division I football players are not at home in the classroom; at best they are faking it.� That�s a pretty strong statement and one that I take issue with. OK, so many of these kids couldn�t pass organic chemistry, neither could I. Many of the players do not use proper grammar � is that an academic or a cultural thing? Regardless, I don�t believe that the lack of classroom skill is obvious to the casual observer.

What exactly did Mr. Schalin mean by the statement above? Does he mean he can tell how these kids perform in the classroom by listening to them give interviews on TV? To make his point he observes that at the University of North Carolina �about half� of the players recruited in the last six years were admitted through a special committee process for students who fail to meet UNC academic requirements. First of all how many is �about half� is that 45% or 55% or what? It seems to me that the players were admitted through a system set up by the UNC for perspective students that it wants to admit and there is nothing wrong with that. The procedure is not illegal or immoral.

In most every state university there are courses designed to help students graduate. At the University in the 1970s there was a course called English for Engineers. One of the basic requirements at U of A was an English course or two. This course enabled engineers, who were more proficient with mathematics than with syntax to meet the graduation requirements. Biology for Non-majors helped other students with science requirements. Should colleges and universities exclude all students who cannot meet core curriculum requirements or just those who wish to play D-I football?

I have found that there are academics who simply hate sports. I have a professor friend who throws out the sports section before he even opens his newspaper. That�s OK lots of people don�t like sports. This is America and we are free to choose what we like and don�t like. The article in question really isn�t about sports � it�s about D-I football. After all one wonders how many basketball players at UNC or Duke for that matter were admitted under the same or a similar procedure. What about the whole one and done thing that is now so prevalent in D-I college basketball? Is that OK or is that a subject for another article?

To make his final point Mr. Schalin brings up college baseball. College baseball he states �. . . is thriving with good players who actually want an education.� This statement is really too much. It pretty suggests that D-I college football players care nothing about getting an education. The word snob pops to mind. Sorry I digress. The long term solution he is advocating is to �severely punish any school that admits players who have little chance of academic success. . . .� That would leave us with players who are real student athletes. Everybody wins � the good players go off to some minor league funded by the NFL and fans and alums have a team of real student athletes they can support.

How will doing this effect college athletics? Division I football and basketball fund all of the non-revenue sports. Without the money generated by football there would be no women�s softball, soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics or likely baseball. Women sports would survive somehow because Title IX mandates it, so some other non-revenue sport would be lost. Oh and what would become of those huge stadiums that occupy many a college campus? Will 114,000 people fill the �Big House� to watch a diluted Michigan team play?

I am not so na�ve that I actually believe that D-I football is without corruption. The cheating in the sport must be addressed. However, as far as I can tell money in college football has been a problem since the Roosevelt administration, that�s Teddy not Franklin, and with the amount of money in the sport today the temptation to win at all costs is simply too great. Does that mean we should throw out the baby with the bath water? Politics is pretty broken and corrupted as well, that doesn�t mean we should have a dictatorship.

College football is many things and I admit that I am prejudiced in favor of it. I love college football warts and all. Yeah, there are things about it that bother me. I don�t like where conference alignment is going. I don�t like the idea of a playoff and I hate the idea of paying college football players. They knew what they were getting into when they took the scholarship. The sport itself is pure bliss. It is all about competition, school and regional pride, it is so very American and God help me I love it!

The Mean Green

I know I shouldn�t say this and it will probably blow up in my face but this is a glorified scrimmage. The Mean Green averages 2.9 yard on the ground and 5.2 through the air. They have fumbled 4 times and lost three on the other hand they have only had one pass intercepted. I think they can out punt us but frankly that�s about it.

The Mean Green gave up 48 points to FIU and 41 to Houston and they have scored 16 and 23. Both of those teams are pretty good. FIU beat Louisville and Houston has only played the one game but they are highly thought of in C-USA, but neither are Alabama.

I look for this one to be all Alabama. The Tide defense is looking for a shutout and the Mean Green may just be the team that gives them what they want. You�ll see both QBs and lots of scoring. My pick � Alabama 49 NTU 0.

Roll Tide!

Hogs in T-Town

There�s a buzz about this game. It�s the big SEC game this week. It�s the first real challenge for both of these teams. It�s billed as Alabama�s defense vs Arkansas�s offense. The subplot is Alabama�s offense against the Hogs defense. That�s getting short shrift but it may way well be the key to the game. If we can run on the Hogs � game over. If they can stack the box and make us throw things could get very interesting and not in a good way.

On the other hand if our defense can rattle their quarterback, Katie bar the door. The other factor will be the crowd. If the crowd gets real loud it could throw the Arkansas quarterback off his game. Yeah, he played at Auburn last year. But he has not played in front of 100,000 Alabama fans that Nick Saban has whipped into a frenzy. It will be loud at Bryant-Denny you can count on that. Nick wants to make them go to a silent count every time they snap the ball, which ain�t bad thinking.

So what do I think? I think Arkansas will sell out to stop our run. I think that will work for a while. I also think that we will be able to get to their quarterback. We have been very vanilla on defense so far. This week the training wheels come off and I think we�ll see some blitzes that will shiver their timbers. They will complete some passes and they will probably score some points. But I think in the end the combination of our ground game and defense trumps their offense. I also think our passing game is going to be better than people think.

Look for this one to be close at halftime. The Tide will hit its stride early in the third quarter and pull away in fourth. My pick Alabama 34 Arkansas 17.

Roll Tide

4-0

Arkansas was a good first test for the Tide in the SEC. Bama's defense proved it mettle by handling the Hogs in T-town. Actually my hat is off to the Hogs we beat them but they were missing some key players. They'll win some games and will likely be a factor down the stretch.

Alabama on the other hand proved it is a national championship contender. The defense lived up to its billing and pushed the Hogs around all day. The pick six after the field goal may have turned the game. The Hogs scored two TD and got some yards and let's face it the boys from Fayetteville are no slouches. The Arkansas offense is fast and the wide outs are NFL caliber. However, they could not run on the Tide and Bama gashed them with the running game.

The Play of the game: Maze's 87 yard punt return for a TD. It was a good start to the long SEC campaign ahead.

Roll Tide!

Don�t Worry About It

The thing is right now it�s like who�s the flavor of the week? Last week it was LSU. They blasted West Virginia in Morgantown. That�s some doings or not but they did it and WVU was ranked so they get credit for taking down another big name on the road. It�s all good. The key to winning the national championship is to keep winning.

If we beat Florida on Saturday then we are 5-0 and are still very much alive in the SEC race. If we lose well we still have a shot, it would not be as easy, but we still have a shot. They key is to win games. Don�t fret about rankings.

This team is not fretting about rankings. This team has a totally different attitude than last years model. These guys are hungry, they don�t feel entitled and they are taking this one game at a time. The best thing is that LSU is ranked higher than us. Think about it, that�s really for the best. It makes us the underdog. LSU will get all the press and the Alabama guys will feel dissed. That cannot be good. These guys were annoyed last week because all of the talk was about Arkansas� offense. It�s the same this week.

These guys are going to be sky high going into the swamp. It is gonna to be a goodie.

Roll Tide!

Gator Bait

Before I go there I have a question for ya�ll why is the big game this week Nebraska and Wisconsin rather than Alabama and Florida? It is the first Big 10 (12) game for Nebraska. Nebraska and Wisconsin are both ranked in the top ten. Alabama is but Florida is not. If I was a betting man I would take Florida against either of those teams. I mean come on!

I guess, I really don�t have an answer except that all the jabbering on ESPN is because, well the Tide�Gator fest is on CBS and the Badger�Cornhusker thing is on ABC and who owns ESPN? Well, there you go. I guess it all comes down to media markets and the reach of the Big 10 (12). I reckon we all know what game we�ll be watching, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Back to the big game, I get the sneaking suspicion that the Alabama players just aren�t feeling the kind of love they feel they deserve. In the long term that is good for their game day preparation. This team really seems willing to do what is necessary. This is a team that has not been tested. Florida is poised to administer that test.

Here�s how I think this thing could fall out. Here�s the if�s � If Florida shuts down the Tide�s running game they have a real chance. That is if � AJ McCarron really is as inept a quarterback as he is being made out by many in the national press. On paper this is a very close game. The Gators are riled and ready to exact some revenge on the Tide for the spanking that was administered to them last year in T-town.

Florida will be seriously fired up. The Tide will have to withstand the first quarter settle down and play their game. Florida has a lot of good athletes and an all star coaching staff and we don�t? Well, no we don�t have the household names on our staff, not yet. This is either going to be a very close game or it will be a blowout. I am hoping for one and expecting the other. My pick Alabama 28 Florida 24.

Roll Tide

R-E-S-P-C-E-T

I thought this game would either be close or Alabama would throttle the Gators. After spotting Florida seven, the first quarter became a wash and then the Tide began to exert its will.

I�m not sure if these guys are the best team in the country but I think they have at least moved the conversation around somewhat. The game was dominated by the Alabama defense. The Bama offense took over in the second quarter, went to sleep in the third quarter and then sealed the deal in the fourth. This Alabama football team can seriously play some football. The coaches have a solid plan and the kids have bought what they're selling.

At this point it really should be a steady roll to the November 5 date with LSU. Saban showed some of his cards tonight. Richardson in the wildcat and McCarron�s ability to control the game and make throws gives the Bayou Bengals something too think about.

There are more games to play and anything can happen, but I don�t see the Tide losing a game in October.

Roll Tide

A Lesson in Southern

I read a column by a writer with a national publication. His thing was SEC defenses. He was trying to show that all this talk of SEC defenses is overrated. He used Auburn-Mississippi State game as a for instance. I think what those of you outside of the South need to understand is that football is very much like religion. It�s all set in stone, except when it isn�t.

When we say that the SEC has the best defenses in college football, what we mean is, the teams that have good defenses are real good. The others not so much. OK here�s my for instance. I knew this fellow in Mississippi he�s involved in Civil War battlefield preservation. One Sunday he was giving a tour to some folks from out of state and it was getting late in the afternoon and they wanted a beer. Well, it was Sunday. If you are from the South you know that for the most part that means you will not be buying any beer. I admit that is changing, but bear with me. OK so he tells the fellows the deacon at his church always has some beer in a refrigerator on his screen porch. The deacon was out of town but my friend knew he wouldn�t mind them stopping by and borrowing some beers. Well, the man was a deacon in a Southern Baptist church. Baptists don�t drink, except when they do. It�s the same with football.

When we say our conference is the best in college football from top to bottom. That means our crappy teams can beat your crappy teams and our good ones well Katie bar the door. So this brief Southern 101 should help you come to grips with what we mean when we say stuff. Because keep in mind Southerners say lots of stuff, you just pretty much have to know how to translate what was said. Oh we missed you in church.

Roll Tide Y�all

Homecoming

I remember homecoming in T-town we used to lay low in the dorm until all of the cowboy hat wearing Tide fans left town. You couldn�t eat in restaurants and the bars were packed. We mostly didn�t go to football games � the frat boys had all of the good seats and unless you got up early your chance of a decent seat just wasn�t happening. I and my friends just were not early risers. We�d listen to the game and then go to the concert that night. Don�t get me wrong I loved homecoming. And let's face it, the University just wouldn't be the University without those lovable frat boys and sorority girls. After all its tradition and we love our traditions.

I figure we�ll beat Vanderbilt. We should crush them, but I suspect they�ll play us tougher than they should. This will give Saban something to be totally wigged out about next week. Then it will not be pretty when we play Ole Miss next week.

I see it Alabama 28 Vandy 6. Have fun on the quad y�all and visit the Arts & Science tent for me.

Roll Tide

A Big Game

What in the Sam Hill was I thinking? It�s a conference game, it�s a division game and it�s the next game. If the Tide shows up in Oxford thinking that way we�ll end up like Tebow and the Gators did four years ago and nobody, except Ole Miss wants that.

If this is a championship team they have to go to Oxford and execute. They must come out early establish the run and simply dominate the Rebels. Ole Miss has had two weeks to prepare for the Tide so there will be a whole bunch of new stuff thrown at them and they�ll have to weather the storm.

Once they get through that and get the running game going everything should be fine. It seems unlikely that Ole Miss could spring an upset. Yet, anything is possible. Keep in mind they were 2-2 the year they beat an undefeated number 4 ranked Florida in Gainsville. They had lost to Vandy at home. It could happen.

This is a big game. To achieve all of their goals thay have to keep winning the games they are supposed to win.

Roll Tide

Number Seven

Say what Uncle Fox? I am building a porch and I have been framing it up so I can pour concrete, which would seems to be real easy, but there are always more variables than one might think. I�m awful at math and I am not a spatial thinker so needless to say it causes problems when these home repair and improvement projects rear their ugly head. OK so maybe that�s not the best way to segue into the Ole Miss game. Sorry, it�s Friday night.

The variables with the Ole Miss game are: 1) Houston Nutt has a bad habit of winning games he shouldn�t win; 2) The Tide has started slow the last couple of weeks and 3) We are heavily favored and we often play down to our competition. On paper this is a mismatch. Unfortunately, they do not play the games on paper.

Ole Miss has had two weeks to pull out every stop they can pull out. They will have looked at the film and will go against every tendency that they have had all season. They will have inserted some special plays just for Alabama and they will be fired up as will the crowd.

Alabama on the other hand is just coming off a lackluster, if dominate, performance against Vanderbilt. They discovered last week what can happen if they don�t show up. If Vandy doesn�t miss two field goals it is 7-6 and ESPN is going nuts. The good new is the team is saying all the right words and they really do seem to have a better attitude than last year�s squad.

What I think � Ole Miss will come out like a house on fire Saturday night. They�ll have a script that will seek to befuddle the Alabama defense. It will probably work for a few plays or a series or not. It depends on how well the Bama guys react on the fly. Either way I really don�t think it will matter. The Crimson Tide will weather the storm. This will be a game in which Saban will look to dominate on the ground. They�ll use the run to set up the pass and take the fight to Ole Miss. The Rebels simply do not have the firepower or the defensive armament to hang with the Tide. Alabama 36 Ole Miss 10.

Roll Tide

Biff! Bam! Bang! Blotto!

If ESPN had thrown up those BAM! screens during the Alabama-Ole Miss game I think it might have been appropriate. After the first dirty trick, the long pass completion, the Joker or the Riddler were always coming up with something clever that got Batman and Robin in the opening sequence, Bama handled Ole Miss, like the Dynamic Duo handled the Joker�s minions. Pow! Boff! Bang! After that it got ugly and it stayed that way.

The long pass was a result, Saban said, of a missed an easy coverage. Honestly, this seems like the script. The undermanned opponent scores, the crowd goes wild. Then the big bad Crimson Tide crushes undermanned team, end of story. Except it�s not, the Tide�s like a cat playing with a mouse. They come out, they get stuffed. Alabama gets the ball. Alabama scores and then they do that some more. The cat finally leaves the mouse alone when it stops moving or in the Tide�s case when the clock runs down.

The Ole Miss game was the kind of game you never would have seen from a Crimson Tide team eight years ago. Does anybody remember the year Mike Shula was coaching and we were playing Duke? Duke was awful. I think they were the worst team in the FBS. Yet, the game was not over until deep into the second half. Why? You got me. Back in the day � Bama played down to its competition. We would win but only when pushed and sometimes not. Remember UL Monroe?

After Ole Miss scored on Saturday night it just ended. The monster rose up stomped on the village and it was just over. There was never really a point in the game, after that first drive, where you really thought that Ole Miss was going win this thing. The Alabama defense just did whatever it wanted and the Ole Miss offense didn�t. It was a pretty sad but true tale.

I have to say it was the game I was looking for, but not the game I was expecting.

Roll Tide

It is alive!

Well, I wonder whose fault that could be? Have we all drunk the Kool-Aid? Are we blinded with our crimson goggles? You better believe it. I mean we are now obsessed over the kick off coverage, the offensive line, the quick touchdowns that teams have scored on us. Why can�t we play for 60 minutes? Nick even got cranky when some reported asked after the Ole Miss game �How good can this team be when it plays for 60 minutes?� Nick�s reply indicated that he thought, save the 30 seconds it took Ole Miss to score, the Tide played well. If Coach Nick thinks they played pretty good, it does make you think.

The Nicktator created this monster. It is alive! He wants his team to play to a standard. So now the fans won�t accept anything short of that standard. So while Auburn fans are going nuts because they beat Florida, Alabama fans watched the Tide cream Ole Miss and wonder why we can�t cover kicks.

So what are you going to do? Well, I reckon we�ll just hope those boys play to Nick�s standard. I don�t know what Nick�s standard is but I�ll bet it is perfection, which means it can�t actually be met, but as the old boy is fond of saying they can keep improving.

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Third, uh Fourth Saturday in October

That may well be true. On paper and in all the statistical categories it just looks like another Ole Miss game. Except this is the Alabama-Tennessee game. Those players know, the coaches know and the fans know, this is a rivalry game. I know this horse has been beaten so much that it�s now vulture bait, but in 2009 those boys came in here and frankly should have won the game. Can they repeat that magic? That�s the $64,000 question.

This game could be better than most people think. Saban is focused. He�s doing his level best to focus the team, when everybody else wants to talk about anything else � expansion, LSU suspensions and a Tide player getting busted for pot. In the interviews the players keep saying the right things � still these are 18-22 year old guys. They have to know the buzz. They have got to know that everybody figures they�ll just crush the Big Orange.

This is the Alabama-UT game this will be the 119th time we have played those guys. It is a streaky series. Remember when we couldn�t buy a win, I mean literally. Dooley will have his kids sky high when they kick off at Bryant-Denny. They will throw the ball, stack the box and try and frustrate Richardson. It might work, it could work and if whatever gambles Dooley pays off it could derail the Crimson national championship express.

I just don�t think the Vols will be able to beat us. But I do think they�ll scare the heck out of us. The way I see it � Alabama 17 Tennessee 0.

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By Week

It has been interesting to read all the stuff that has been coming out this week regarding the game. LSU is the media darlings. They are the number one team in the land and they have bested Oregon and West Virginia. Our resume simply doesn�t stack up to theirs. That�s just the way it is.

So how are things on the home front? Well, the boys and coaches are getting a little R&R. It's fall break and many of the guys are going to go home and visit their families. Hopefully, they�ll come back ready to get to work next week. One interesting thing about this game is the respect the players are showing for one another. The teams genuinely seem to respect each other and there has been little or no trash talk.

It seems that LSU just has all of the depth in the world. You can get rid of one player and just plug another one in. They are just remarkable. We have had some untimely injuries, while they are on the mend. They have more experienced quarterbacks than we do. Our running back is better and we have solid backups, though our primary backup is injured.

It should be a slobber knocker. Two good defenses, two solid offenses rested and ready, clashing in what should be the best game of 2011. I know many of you will roll your eyes when you read this, but it will be interesting to see if this game can top the drama of the Michigan State-Wisconsin game. Stay tuned.

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Overdrive!

Over the years until Nick Saban came to LSU the Tide owned the Bayou Bengals. Alabama could go into Tiger Stadium and beat them at will. It was simply known as the streak. Now Saban and Miles are 2-2. These teams are as much alike as their coaches are polar opposites.

I honestly cannot remember a game with this much hype in the regular season in the SEC in a long, long time. The only game in my mind that comes close was the 1971 Alabama-Auburn game after Pat Sullivan had won the Heisman Trophy. Bear�s Crimson Tide put a whuppin� on Shug�s Tigers and Pat Sullivan. That was then � this is so now. That was before ESPN and their ever-present hype machine. But this hype is bigger than ESPN.

This game is seriously about two evenly match teams, I am not going to get into statistics, if you want those they are everywhere, that have the same attacking style on defense and a hard nosed approach on offense. I think the team that can run consistently will win the game. Duh!

Is this a game for the ages? Only the game itself and the final score will determine that. Stay tuned.

Roll Tide

The time has come

The two heavy weights of the SEC will finally clash for supremacy of the SEC west. The winner will control its own destiny and pretty much have a straight shot to the SEC title game. I know much has been said about this being the national championship elimination game. That could well be, but there is a lot of football left to be played.

One of the most interesting things about this game is the way Nick Saban is handling it. He is as loose as a goose. The man is not stressed. He's not snapping at the press. He just seems to be comfortable with the whole situation. Does he know something we don�t? That�s entirely possible. This team has not only bought what Nick has been selling, but they are selling it too. You get the feeling they just want to get better. If they get awards, that�s great. If they play as well as they can play, they�ll win all of the games and then everything will fall into place. You really get the feeling that these guys believe that stuff.

I have not read everything that has been written about the game. I have read a lot of it. I have not seen all the TV stuff, but I have seen a lot of it. It has been said there�s something about this LSU team. They�re fast, aggressive, ball hawks. They�ve beaten every team that has gotten in their way. There is no denying that. There is also something about this Alabama team. They have a quiet confidence that�s right on the surface. When you watch them play, they�re sort of like a boxer. They feel out their opponent, take a few punches and then they attack. They don�t just jab, they punch. Body blows, head shots and upper cuts, serious heavy weight stuff.

This Alabama team is a team with leaders. It�s an experienced team filled with upperclassmen, guys that remember the gut wrenching misery of last year. They weren�t all that bad last year; they just didn�t seem to have any direction. This year they do.

That�s the difference between this team and last year�s team. They have focus. Last year�s team lost to LSU by a field goal because they couldn�t get them off the field and Les Miles tricked them when he needed a yard. He�ll probably trick them again this year � the man is bold � but he won�t beat them.

We�ll probably give up more yards and more points than we have all year. The way I see it � same as last year only different Alabama 24-LSU 21.

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Dang!

Lots of people said special teams would be the difference and that was the case. There�s not a whole lot left to play for now � we can�t win the SEC and we won�t win a national championship. We can still win the rest of the games and beat Auburn, but the luster is gone. They can go 11-1 and the best they can hope for is the Sugar Bowl.

You saw a beat up football team give it�s all. You saw them face the best team in the country. I believe that now and they came up short. The Tide is a couple of play makers short. Nick needs to use a scholarship on a good kicker. That was the difference.

Not much else to say. A better team beat us.

Roll Tide

Mississippi State

Bama-Mississippi State is one of those games that�s usually a knock down, drag out. They have been playing each other forever and the Alabama game always brings out the best in State.

If the Tide needs style points to keep ahead of Stanford, this is not the week to get them. State�s gonna be fired up. They will be figuring there is no way Alabama can play to the level they played last Saturday. No matter how much Saban has tried, he probably just can�t get his guys as pumped for this game as they should be.

I�m fairly sure Alabama will win this game, but don�t look for them to throw the knock out punch in the first half. These guys are beat up and wrung out. They lost the game of the century and they have had to live with that all week.

Mississippi State will come out on fire. They�ll score first. We will fight back tie it up and maybe we�ll be ahead at halftime. The way I see it � Alabama 30 � Mississippi State 10.

Roll Tide

Same old, same old

What did we learn? Mississippi is a rugged team without enough juice to beat the elite teams in the SEC west. It was the same old story. Mississippi State played smash mouth and made the Tide earn the 17 point win.

No style points, but a win is a win. Mississippi State always plays Alabama tough. Tonight�s game was no exception to the rule, as I say same old, same old. I�m pleased we came out with a win. That�s what we were hoping for and that�s what we needed.

Roll Tide

Bring it Home

Yes we were all hoping for a national championship or at worst an SEC championship. Those things might not happen, they probably won�t that�s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. We had our shot. This is a good team that borders on great. It is young around the edges, but nothing like it is going to be next year. That�s next year not now, we still have the opportunity to beat Auburn at Jordon-Hare and that would be nice. Well, actually that would be real nice. It wouldn�t make up for LSU but it would help.

Georgia Southern is coming to town this weekend. It should be a beautiful fall day in Tuscaloosa. Folks will be raking leaves and listening/watching the Tide. Saban is respecting the opponent, as well as he should. This is a very good Georgia Southern team and if we fool around and lose to them the whole season goes out the window. Don�t look for that to happen.

The guys are still smarting from the LSU game and the half-hearted effort in Starkville. This is senior day in T-town. Lots of people will get to play who haven�t played much all year. The way I see it: Alabama 35 Georgia Southern 0. The Tide gets shut out number three.

Hey I have been in Arkansas all week and I can�t be in the land of the Hogs without giving a shout out to my friend Dennis, the rib master, at the House of Ribs in Helena. They are the best ribs on planet earth!

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The Iron Bowl

You know what I�m talking about. Years ago when I first got married my wife and I went shopping in Birmingham during the Iron Bowl. Hey, I was being nice. Anyway every store we went into had the game on. It was cool I was able to keep up with the score and buy Christmas ornaments. We lost as I recall but I still remember that. I remember being in supermarkets and the game would be on the speakers inside the store.

Now if you are from Alabama you�re thinking yeah, so. I mean of course they it was. My point is that is just so danged cool. Yeah, we are obsessed but it�s such a bizarrely wonderful cultural thing that just does not exist anywhere else. It�s one of those things that just fills me with joy and pride. We are crazy but it�s what makes who and what we are.

I just couldn�t let this week go by without mentioning something about the how I feel about the game. One of the first things I have any memory of is an Alabama-Auburn football game. The Tide won and my parents and their friends were so happy. The lowest I can remember being was the day of the infamous Punt Bama Punt game. My brothers and my cousin were in my bedroom in our trailer listing to the game. You know the story after that second punt block my cousin yelled and we all just sort of went outside. How could that have happened? It was a bummer, a serious bummer, kind of like last year.

This year I know that we should beat those guys. We are better on paper. They don�t have Cam and they really aren�t that good. But hey, it�s the Iron Bowl and anything can happen. Don�t make those reservations to New Orleans just yet. More later.

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Thanksgiving

I am also very thankful that I am a University of Alabama alum and graduate. I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. The time I spent at the university was the most fruitful and rewarding of my life. I met people who are still near and dear to me.

The University is a fantastic place. It allowed me to grow as a person and challenged me as a student and as an individual. It changed me and made me the person I am today, for better or worse. I was lucky enough to attend the University when Coach Bryant was still coaching the football team. Those were good times. Yet, no matter how good or how bad the team has been I have and I always will follow them. I have lived through everything that followed Coach Bryant and I hope to live to see the post-Saban era, though he can stay as long as he�d like.

Recently, I read and posted an article written by a blogger who said �I hate Alabama people because of their myopia, lack of couth, arrogance, sense of entitlement, and, well, just the way they are.� To this young man I would like to say on Thanksgiving that blanket statements like this are demeaning and arrogant. But hey it�s Thanksgiving and I�m thankful that the Auburn fans and alums that I know aren�t like that.

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It�s Here!

It�s interesting that lots of people are pointing to the Auburn home field advantage. Until very recently, we had not scored on Auburn in Tuscaloosa. Until recently, we had not beaten Auburn in Tuscaloosa. However, we had been fairly successful in Auburn. Auburn has a 14 game home winning streak and Alabama is eyeing a rematch with LSU. Well, basically something has to give.

Auburn has the advantage in the kicking game and the Tigers and the crowd will be red hot at kickoff. The Tide will have to weather that first wave of emotion and the crowd noise. Auburn will likely score early. They might even lead going into halftime.

Then the Tide�s defense will settle down and try to make Auburn one dimensional. If they can shut down Auburn�s run and not get beat by a bunch of gimmick plays they should be able to take control. Auburn will stack the box and try and make Bama throw. That will work for a while.

In the end Alabama is the better team. The better team almost always wins this game. The way I see it Alabama 31 Auburn 14.

Roll Tide

Roll Tide

Now all we can do is wait. Will we get to play LSU again or will the voters go in another direction? Don�t worry about it. The Tide played an excellent game today. The only issue is the same old issue, special teams. Don�t worry be happy enjoy the next little while.

Roll Tide!

The Rematch

There seem to be three arguments. They go something like this: (1) The BCS is designed to pit the top two teams against each other in a one game championship. Alabama and LSU are the two best teams ergo they should meet again in the championship game. (2) Rematches are bad. Alabama and LSU were boring because there was no scoring so we don�t want to see that again. (3) We hate the SEC and want anybody else to be in the game so that somebody else can win the championship.

Let�s look at the choices carefully. LSU and Alabama are clearly 1 and 2 in the USA Today/Coaches poll, the Harris Poll and the BCS rankings. In the BCS rankings there is nearly a 800 point gap between Alabama and Stanford who are 150 points ahead of Oklahoma State. There could be some shifting based on the result of the games this weekend, but at this point it looks like Alabama-LSU to me.

I will admit that I was probably against an Ohio State-Michigan rematch in the BCS game which eventually led to Florida crushing OSU. Then again I might have been for it because I hate the Gators. First the facts: The BCS doesn�t prohibit rematches. The BCS doesn�t prohibit teams that have not won their conference from being in the title game. Oh and the whole boring thing. Well, I guess there�s a segment of the population that doesn�t appreciate good defensive football. OK so it�s a sizable segment of the population. I was beside myself watching the Alabama-LSU game because I knew if somebody scored a touchdown they were going to win. So if you go with the we want more scoring argument; I guess it could be better to watch LSU systematically destroy Oklahoma State. What you think OSU could beat LSU? Did you watch the LSU-Arkansas game? Did you watch the CBS coverage when they would show the Arkansas receivers and there was nobody open? Do you seriously think OSU is that much better than Arkansas? So if you like scoring the LSU-OSU game would be great. LSU would score a lot.

The last argument � we hate the SEC and want somebody else to win � well that ain�t happening this year. For arguments sake let�s look at the contenders. Let�s just look at the top four Houston � you�re kidding right? They have the number one passer of all time. LSU would beat Houston by 40. Standford might be one of the more interesting matchups, if and it's a big if, the Cardinal line could keep LSU off Andrew Luck. If not it would be a long game. Virginia Tech I honestly think Virginia Tech would give LSU a better game than anybody else I have listed. Would they win? No. Oklahoma State they have a great offense and no defense. LSU would make them one dimensional in a hurry. Game over at halftime.

In the end this brings us back to the rematch. Alabama is the only team that can beat LSU. They were tied at the end of regulation. It was poor Bama special team play that decided the game. They kicked three we missed four. Well, that and some pretty good defense on LSU�s part. I honestly think they�ll be more scoring in a rematch. Look both teams will have a month to prepare. I think they�ll be able to draw up so plays to get yards and points. Trust me the second game will not end 9-6.

So let�s all sit back and enjoy the talking heads. It�s gonna be fun. If we get left out we get left out. We had our shot if it comes to that. I don�t think we�ll get left out. But this has been one whacky football season and anything can happen.

Roll Tide

Happy Holidays and Merry Football!

I want to say up front I think the Tide will beat LSU and will win their 14th national championship. It will be a different game from the one played in November. There will be more scoring and when need be the Tide will make field goals.

I have also been giving some thought to the way the national championship is being decided in college football. I am coming around to a plus one, which is a fancy name for a four team playoff. Now that the Big Ten is on board, as long as they get to keep the Rose Bowl, this will probably happen. I think the two team SEC title match might have helped the Big Ten see the light.

The problem for me with the BCS as it is now is the irrelevance of the other BCS bowls. It�s sad that the Orange, Fiesta and Sugar bowls have been reduced to sideshows. The Rose is perhaps the exception since it is still played on New Years Day and they kept their name. It�s the Rose Bowl sponsored by insert name of corporate sponsor here. The other prostitute bowls have become the corporate money and then insert name of bowl here and those are the ones who have not completely sold out for cash. The really sad ones are the corporate named bowls and for some reason I find the dot com bowls particularly distasteful. The Rose Bowl still features the Big Ten and PAC 12 and even though it has only been that way since 1955, not forever, that�s a good thing. The others (Sugar, Fiesta and Orange) are played up in the media but given the mass hysteria that surrounds the BCS Championship game the others have lost their luster.

Bowl games have always been a reward for a good season. Once upon a time the bowl games didn't figured into the national title that was settled before hand. Now there are so many of them it�s hard not to get invited. Its not that I oppose all of those extra college games, no I like them, what I hate is that the big bowl games have lost the glitter. I mean one used to stay up late just to watch the Orange Bowl's gala halftime show. You might now but then again you might go to bed because you have to go to work the next day.

So now I'm thinking that maybe this plus one thing might not be too bad. I also thought that about riverboat gambling in Mississippi. Have you ever been to a casino in Mississippi? I wouldn�t count on getting too far on one of those �riverboats.� What will likely happen once the plus one goes into action is that pretty soon someone will decide that four teams are not enough. It won�t be fair. Somebody will be left out. Go figure, it happens all the time in basketball and they have 64 or 68 teams, well a bunch anyway. At some point the plus one will grow to become a playoff and college football will become NFL lite.

With the new playoff the bowls will become a thing of the past or they will become some hybrid monster in which teams meet in the allyoucaneatforlunch.com bowl for the first round of the football bowl championship subdivision or FBCS. We�ll all be proud. At any rate that�s the future. For the present Alabama will tangle with LSU for the BCS Championship on January 9, 2012. For all of you SEC haters what can I say we didn�t make the rules, we just rule the roost. That will change as what goes around comes around, but for now it is what it is.

Roll Tide!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

From down here where their isn't a pray for snow to all you lucky souls who have it in spades, let's hope that you and the people you love are happy and safe. I also want to extend my best wishes to everyone who visits the site and I hope everyone finds joy and happiness in the coming new year.

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Will a loss tank the Tide in the long run?

In today�s �what have you done for me lately� society there could indeed be some fallout on the recruiting trail for Alabama in the short-term. Recruits that were wavering between the Crimson Tide and the Bayou Bengals may well opt for Baton Rouge.

Then again recruits, especially on offense, may well see an opportunity to play early in Tuscaloosa. If there is a weakness on this team it�s a lack of explosive playmakers on offense and special teams. After Trent Richardson and Marquis Maze there is a lack of experience and explosiveness. That may be an illusion and may well be addressed by some of the younger players on the squad. I think that is true of the receiving corps.

On the defensive side of the ball opportunities will abound for young players to make an impact. Barron, Gentry, Harris, Hightower, Kirkpatrick and Upshaw will likely be gone next year. Talent remains on the roster and there will be some new comers who will likely help. Yes, there may be a dip next year, but I doubt if Alabama will be next year�s Auburn.

There will be tons of questions going into the off season. If LSU wins how will they handle success? Miles held them together this year but who knows what the future may hold. I think the demise of the Crimson Tide may be greatly exaggerated. First of all the Tide has not lost to LSU. The very real possibility exists that Alabama will beat the Tigers. The number of people betting on LSU, as one writer suggests, is not the way to gage who will win the game. I reckon we�ll see pretty darn soon.

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Game Week

The teams are in New Orleans and the storylines are being written. Does LSU feel dissed? Do the Bama players feel jilted by a lack of post-season accolades? Do the losers of the first game always win the rematch? Is LSU the best college football team of all time? These and many other questions will be answered or not come Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

You can feel the tension that has been absent since the Auburn game. You were in denial. It was too far away. The media and others have been beating up Alabama and the SEC. The game is less than a week away nerves are getting frayed arm pits sweaty and that�s just me.

Will Clash of the Titans II live up to the first game or will one team dominate the other? Will there be more offense? Can Alabama�s kickers come through in the clutch? Will the LSU special teams prove to be very special? Questions, questions and more questions we will get some answers soon.

Get ready for it; it�s coming at long last the game many people including a lot of LSU fans did not want. The rematch!

Roll Tide

Can We Just Get Over It?

I admit that the BCS is not the best system for determining a national champion for college football, but it is what there is and all of the automatic qualifying conferences signed on. The winner of the game Monday night will be the BCS and USA Today/Coaches poll champion, period, end of discussion.

Sports writers all over the map are just raising hell about this game. Yes, the SEC complained about a potential Ohio State-Michigan rematch, but the SEC alone did not have the power to stop it. The voters and the computers stopped it. Is the SEC hypocritical, well duh! Of course they are, let�s face it the Big East or the Big 12 or the Big 10 would all be falling over themselves to have a rematch, if it involved their teams.

In fairness the sports writers would be beating them up too. The real problem right now is simple � SEC fatigue. The public and the writers outside of the south are sick of us. We don�t make things any better by bragging and just basically being who we are and by that I mean in your face fans who love to rub in SEC domination.One day that will end. It won�t stop SEC fans from being SEC fans. Don�t expect a lot of love from your northern kin. They may love you but they might not love your school.

I guess, I have just gotten sick of SEC bashing. It�s not the SEC, it�s the system. One thing I learned a long time ago is that you can�t beat a system. In my particular case it was working within state government. The best thing to do is to figure out how to make the system work for you. This year that�s exactly what Alabama did; they worked the system. They are in a rematch that is allowed by the rules, the rules under which the BCS is set up. Lots of people might not like the way this championship game turned out, but remember there was no cheating, no favoritism, it was fair, by the system that is setup to create this game.

If you hate the BCS and are looking for a bright side consider this. The rematch will likely cause a change in the BCS formula. There were way too many ruffled feathers for the BCS to continue as it was this year. In the end there will probably be a plus one format. Ironically, this is the format the SEC tried to implement in 2008.

Roll Tide Ya�ll

21-0

Reflections on the Championship

It might have been a dull game if you weren�t a Tide fan. Frankly, I wasn�t ready to celebrate until Trent Richardson crossed the goal line. Then it was Roll Tide and party! I felt like the team beat itself in the first game. They made too many mistakes. The do over was all about perfection and defensively it was very close to that.

2011 is water over the dam. Now is the time to kind of peek at 2012 and wonder what we�ll see next year. There are holes to be filled on both sides of the ball, but there's a good core coming back and plenty of talent to plug some of those holes. I think next year you are going to see an offense that will be loaded for bear. This year Saban went with experience rather than youth and talent. In 2012 the young wide receivers will bring speed and talent. Look for DeAndrew White, Kenny Bell and Kevin Norwood to have breakout seasons. If Duron Carter can get it together the receivers could be some of the best in the country.

The BCS Championship game was a coming out party for AJ and he made the most of it. There were offensive issues sure, but let�s not forget LSU�s defense is good. Next year Dee Hart and Eddie Lacy will be a one-two punch like the Tide has not had in years � power and speed.

The defense won�t be too shabby either. C. J. Mosley, Nico Johnson, Trey DePreist and Xzavier Dickson will be ready to step up at linebacker. Jesse Williams and Ed Stinson will be back on the line. If there is a real question mark it is at defensive back.

I say don�t worry about it. I expect a drop off. We might lose two games. LSU is going to be in Bobby Bowden�s words �madder than a hornet.� We get the whole new SEC schedule with Texas A&M and Missouri. It will be fun. It will be new and it will be next year and it will be football. We'll get a preview in April so hold onto your hats and your new tee shirts.

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Signing day, basketball and such

On the basketball front, I�m just not sure what to think. I understand this team has talent, however they don�t seem to have a lot of cohesiveness and some of that comes down to coaching. If there is a lack of teamwork something should be done. The four losses in a row hurt, though the only real stinker was at South Carolina. Alabama seems to have a bad habit of stinking up the joint in Columbia.

I honestly don�t know how the whole round ball thing will settle out. They have the week off before playing on Saturday. Hopefully, they will get it together. In theory they should win the next three Ole Miss, Auburn and LSU but who the heck knows. They need six wins for twenty. Stay tuned, they have a real shot.

I wonder what�s up with the whole Landon Collins thing? Is his mother just a major LSU fan who can�t get past the whole Nick Saban thing or what? Did Saban do something shady and give Collins� girlfriend a job? If so is that an NCAA violation? If so are we headed down another slippery slope? I don�t even like bringing this crap up, but if I was you, I�d expect it to get a lot less pretty before it gets better, sort of like a sore muscle. Hopefully, Saban will address the situation after the signatures are in hand.

That�s� all for me today � be good y�all.

The Right Thing

I have made little secret of my lack of enthusiasm for basketball, however it is one of the important sports at the University and when bad things happen people take notice. Conversely, when good things happen, people also take notice. Grant�s actions have garnered a good deal of favorable press. It is refreshing to see a coach do the right thing.

The NCAA tournament committee will not take doing the right thing into consideration when bids go out. That�s OK too. It�s not outside of the realm of reality that this team could still win enough games to make the tourney. Though, given the youth on the squad even if they do, it isn�t likely that they�ll stay around for very long.

What Grant did was not a right now thing. It was a long-term thing and it was the right thing. The University supports Grant, his job is not in jeopardy. Fans might get all wound around the axle if the Tide fails to make the NCAA tournament, but I doubt it. Tide fans are still basking in the glow of dispatching Auburn and winning the national title in the other money sport.

Grant will get a pass, but what�s more important I think he earned a whole lot of respect from the people who watch him coach, the people he coaches and from people like me. I�ve always thought he was a good coach. Now I think he just might become a great one.

Roll Tide

Two and done

You have to give Coach Grant credit for holding this team together given all of the distractions that have plagued it this year. They could have folded the tents a month ago. They didn�t. They kept playing and did better than many expected. They just don�t have what takes to run with the big dogs, not yet.

All the soothsayers in the land of basketball seem to indicate that the Crimson Tide is headed somewhere to play another game or two before calling it a season. The good news is after today, football practice is over for another ten days. This break will give Tide fans the opportunity to watch all of the tournament games and then turn their eyes back to spring football.

Though I could be wrong, the Tide could get on a serious run and be the Cinderella team of 2012.

Roll Tide

Thud

It was a short run. It was an inglorious, short run that will be forgotten by most madness fans tomorrow. If you have a bracket you can stay with the thing. You can see how the SEC does. You can see if Kentucky can finally win the thing with its one and doners.

I would say it was fun while it lasted but the game and the season were equally frustrating. When the game was on the line the Tide could not do what was necessary. Mercifully basketball season is over for Alabama. Maybe next year will bring a brighter season and a better result.

Spring Fog

With spring comes a cornucopia of sports that Tide fans can follow. The most popular is spring football practice. It is too short and frankly too cryptic to really follow and Saban never really provides much in the way of news. I will say the boys are saying all the right things. They don�t seem to basking in the glow of the National Championship. Frankly, I think they simply brought order back to the universe, but I suspect there are those who would disagree with that and for them I have a saying about fish heads I could insert, but I won�t.

The rest of the spring sports generally come down to in alphabetical order: baseball, golf, gymnastics, softball and tennis. That�s Crimson Tide sports I don�t do NASCAR. If you live in Tuscaloosa I think you could follow tennis. There might be some television coverage of golf. So that pretty much leaves gymnastics, baseball and softball.

The gymnastics team made the regionals. That�s great they�ll go out to Seattle and do their bit. I honestly expect them to make the Super Six. They have done extremely well this season. Their old arch nemesis Florida knocked them off in the SEC Championships and they�ll likely see the Gators again. They�re off until April 17 so you can watch the A-Day game guilt free.

� The baseball team has a roster full of freshmen. They�re playing like a team full of freshmen. It is not time to push the panic button. Well, I don�t think there will be a need for that. They seem to be on a downward spiral and I really don�t see them making a lot of noise in the SEC much less nationally. They play Auburn this weekend. Auburn beat the Tide 8-3 on a neutral field. I fear the worst.

� There is softball and I figure you have heard me go down this road way too many times before. In the spring these girls are your best bet outside of spring ball. The series this weekend should be interesting. Last year for about two days Patrick Murphy was the coach at LSU. He woke up and came home and got a raise. The LSU kids might just remember that. LSU is the only team in the SEC with a winning record against Alabama. So this could be interesting. Long term regarding softball the Tide still does not have the kind of pitching it takes to take on the PAC 12 and win the college softball world series. They just don�t. It�s a good bet they�ll get there and depending upon who they draw early they might stay for a while, but I can�t realistically say I think they win the whole thing.

� In fast pitch softball a good pitcher can control a game like no other single player in any other sport. Last year in Oklahoma City that was in deed the case. The Tide pitching staff could not control the big hitters and gave up too many homeruns it got ugly and it was over quick. Now I should say they might fool me. I don�t know everything, though I think I do.

� So anyway here�s to spring sports and chillin�. Have fun this spring, because when summer comes it will be hot, very, very hot. Plus it always seems like it�s a very long time between June and September 1.

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I Admit It

Who knew? In the last month those guys could not buy a run when they needed one and this weekend they came out like a house on fire. Maybe it was Auburn, maybe the freshmen are growing up. It could be they have improved over the course of the season and have just not caught a break � whatever they looked impressive last weekend.

I don�t know what happened to my brain with the whole gymnastic schedule thing. At any rate a great big congratulations! The Tide makes it to the NCAA gymnastics championships for the 30th year in a row. That is impressive. Now on to the Super Six. I honestly think Sarah Patterson merits a bronze likeness somewhere on campus.

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A good spring

In Saban�s system Sims didn�t have a legitimate chance of much playing time. He�s a drop back passer and a competitor who is looking for more playing time. He�ll get that somewhere else. You really can�t blame him for trying to make a mark on another team. I want to echo Saban in saying I wish him well.

The team came out of the spring looking good and saying all the right things. The 2012 edition of the Crimson Tide will not be a repeat of the 2010 team. This team has fewer stars and more team players that seem to understand that they will not win simply by showing up. Repeating as national champions, well we�ll see, if they win in Baton Rouge all bets are off.

The recent NFL draft will only enhance Saban�s reputation and likely help in recruiting. Four first round draft picks, two years in a row. The only reason they didn�t have five is Baltimore traded their first round pick. Saban�s players are now known to be NFL ready. What kid who has aspirations of playing in the NFL will not at least look at Alabama?

Saban has changed the culture at Alabama. It is a different era and Saban understands that. Under his watch, for the first time in the history of the program, there are more players from out of state than from Alabama. Saban recruits the best players and he doesn�t care where they live. Five or six years ago I felt like that was where Alabama was missing the boat. If you looked at Michigan, Notre Dame, Southern Cal and some of the other big name national programs they recruited all over. The Tide still mostly recruited in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, though mostly the panhandle and Tennessee. It was changing under Shula but Saban took things to a different level and he will not look back.

I think Saban will continue to take the best kids out of Alabama. That�s important. However, he is going to go after the best players nationally and he�ll get some of them. Success breeds success. The premier athletes want to go with a proven winner. There are still going to be kids loyal to the in-state school, but so far Saban has been successful pulling kids out of Ohio, Texas, the Carolinas, Louisiana and Florida and you can bet It�s not going to stop.

Saban may not create a dynasty like Bryant or the Miami teams of the 1980s, it�s a different landscape in college football now. A playoff is going to happen and it�s probably Saban�s fault. The rematch was just too much for the rest of the country. He played by the rules and won, so the rules are going to be changed. Nick Saban has retooled Alabama football like nobody since Paul Bryant. There is no doubt of who is in charge at Alabama. As long as he prowls the sideline in Tuscaloosa the Tide will be a team to be reckoned with. Unless something unforeseen happens, some meltdown as the result of some scandal the success will continue at least until he walks away.

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Serious Post-Season Begins

The Tide will open on Friday at 6 p.m. local time. The winners will play Saturday at 1 p.m. the losers will play at 3:30 in this double elimination match up. None of the Tuscaloosa games on Friday will be televised. Live streaming video of the game will be available through CBSSports.com.

This is the eight year that Bama has hosted an NCAA regional. The 2012 Crimson Tide has the firepower to win the regional and the following Super Regional and move on to Oklahoma City, but they must finish strong. The Tide which enters the tournament as the number 2 overall seed has to stay focused and take this thing one game at a time. They have never faced Tennessee-Martin before and on paper the Tide should win going away. The games ain't played on paper. Keep in mind that Alabama has lost a couple of games they shouldn�t have, most recently a game in New York against Fordham.

It is very unlikely that Coach Patrick Murphy will allow the team to get overconfident or complacent against a very good Skyhawks team. The Bama team�s motto �Finish It� will definitely be in play this weekend. If they don�t finish this regional they�re done. Nothing short of a World Series championship will salve the wounds of last year. The way the season came apart in the last two games last year has to have this team hungry and ready to rumble.

Can they do it? The short answer is � yes � if the pitching holds up. Amada Locke pitching and winning the last game of the SEC tournament was huge. It was a huge confidence boost for her and proved the team could score when needed.

If you are lucky enough to live in Alabama make plans to be in Tuscaloosa this weekend. It should be a great weekend of women�s college softball.

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Three

A fun fact, that I was unaware of, is that until 2012 the Tide had never won a championship in any sport except football and gymnastics. Frankly, that makes Sarah Patterson�s statue all the more necessary. She�s got six of those things, which is five more than anybody in all of the rest of the sports combined.

The other interesting bit of news is that the Tide has a realistic chance to win two more. The men�s golf team has a good chance to claim the crown in the up coming tournament. The softball team also has a shot at the title in Oklahoma City. We shall see. Even if there are no additional titles this year it has been a good one for Tide sports.

The excellence of the programs, especially the non-revenue programs is due to the commitment of the athletic department to compete nationally. To do that the facilities and the coaches must be good. Recent coaching changes in soccer, volleyball and swimming demonstrate to push for new blood who can win. The facilities have been upgraded at the softball complex and the completely redone Foster Hall show that the athletic department is serious. Preservation of the historically significant building was a bonus.

All in all things are looking up. Mal Moore has seen a revival of athletics at the University that is unparalleled. The funding brought in by the football and basketball teams allows the other sports to flourish. Coach Moore has done a remarkable job in Tuscaloosa and I suspect the best is yet to come.

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Championship Game

To come back and play like they did tonight was simply amazing. They just would not go away. Hats off to Oklahoma and all of their California players who just would not quit. OU was stymied for five innings then in the seventh their bats came to life but Jackie came through in the end and won the game.

This game showed the grit and determination of the Alabama softball team. After last year when they just plain melted down in the two games leading up to the championship series this game was huge. They have a shot at bringing home the trophy to Alabama and for the SEC. It could be history. Frankly, it is history, they have never gotten this far. The question is can they go the next mile?

Stay tuned tomorrow same bat time same bat channel one more game for the whole ball of wax.

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They Finished It!

The crowning achievement for Alabama softball came late last night but the wait was worth it. The team that had scrapped all year pulled itself together for one final run and went where no SEC team had gone before. Shoot they went where no team east of the Mississippi save one had been before. They brought home a trophy from Oklahoma City and they did it without one player from California.

The win is a tribute to a solid senior class, a gutty pitcher and a never say die attitude. It is also a tribute to Patrick Murphy who has worked hard for 16 years to make this happen. Murphy works hard to get Bama fans in the stands, if you are an Alabama alum and the Tide plays an away in your town, you�ll get a letter inviting you to come and roll with the Tide. If you show up he is not too busy to shake your hand and chat for a few minutes. Class.

This one�s for all those little girls out there who dream of playing for the Crimson Tide. This one�s for all Alabama fans everywhere who pull for Alabama in any and every sport. This one is for those 20 girls who went to Oklahoma City and came back champions. We love you guys and we are proud!

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A Final Note

I read the other day the ESPN says that softball is its fastest growing sport. The sport has hooked me. Since we began mybama I have been following the Crimson Tide softball team. At first it was just to make sure we had content for the website.

As I posted stories I began to notice that hey, these girls are good. Then I began to stream radio of the games. I even found myself watching the game tracker, which truly is like watching paint dry. Then I started watching the games on ESPN and on Tide TV.

I thought a couple of teams had what it took to take the championship, each fell short. I will admit that I did not think this year�s team had the pitching to win a championship. I overlooked something, the heart of the 2012 Alabama softball team.

When I was young, I watched Coach Bryant�s football teams beat teams that we bigger and better on sheer will and desire. They just would not loose. Every time I watched Jackie Traina pitch I saw that same desire. Teams could hit homeruns and she didn�t flinch. In the seventh inning of game two she could have melted down, but she didn�t she retired the side and the Tide won the game.

I don�t think anybody would disagree that Oklahoma had the best team at the world series. They had the player of the year; they were the best homerun hitting team in college softball. Shoot, the Tide did not hit a homerun in the best of three series. Yet, when push came to shove they found a way to score points. They took two out of three and brought home the trophy.

The 2012 Alabama softball team was all about heart, determination and pride. It was a team that simply refused to loose. It was like watching Coach Bryant�s old 1960s football teams. They just did not believe that anyone could beat them and in the end it turned out they were right.

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My Top Five Plays

In 2011 Alabama was known for defense. The 2011 edition gave up a paltry 8.2 points per game. They held opponents to 3.39 yards per carry; they gave up less than 192 yards per game and only 12 touchdowns the entire season. So the number five play should be a defensive play.

My number 5 play of the year is Courtney Upshaw�s interception return for a touchdown against Florida. The game was tied at 10 and Florida was showing signs of life. Upshaw intercepted a pass and took it 47 yards for a touchdown. This play broke a close game open. This was also the game in which Upshaw sacked Florida quarterback John Brantley forcing him out with an injury. The Gators were never the same after that. Enjoy! Courtney Upshaw�s interception at Florida

Number 4 on my hit parade is a special team play. Marquis Maze took an Arkansas punt 82 yards for a touchdown. The play was early in the second half the Tide was up 17-7. At that point Arkansas was still in the game. The punt return broke the game open and the Tide cruised to a 38-14 victory. It was an electrifying moment and the punt return was a thing of beauty. The way he set up his blocks at the end is a joy to watch so have at it. Marquis Maze�s punt return vs Arkansas

Over the course of Trent Richardson�s career at Alabama you just came to expect that he would break at least one long run every game. It seems like throughout 2011, with one notable exception Richardson did break loose for a long TD run. I�m sure that isn�t true, but it does seem that way. The run of the year was the 76 yard run against Ole Miss. The Rebels/Black Bears were woefully over matched in this game, yet they scored first and held the lead for a few minutes. Alabama easily won the game 52-7 but Richardson�s run will be on the Alabama highlight reel forever. Ole Miss defensive back Senquez Golson will probably remember it for a long time as well. 76 yards Trent Richardson vs Ole Miss

Number two with a bullet is one of the prettiest plays of the year. The 41 yard flea flicker in the first quarter against Auburn. Alabama jumped in front on a play that just looked too easy. Auburn was playing run as they should have been, though it was first and ten and Saban loves to throw on first and ten. Oh well, I can watch that play over and over again and now so can you. The Flea flicker at Auburn

My number one favorite play may not be the best run of the year it�s not even the longest run of the year, but this is the play that sealed the 2011 National Championship. After pounding on LSU all game long Trent Richardson finally broke a big run and put the game away. It was very unlikely that LSU was coming back from 15 points down but they sure weren�t coming back from 21. It was a good run set up by perfect blocking and all Richardson had to do was get to the corner. He did and the rest is history. The run that won it all

Media Days is upon us and practice begins in about two weeks. It's hot and humid and summer is on us like nobody�s business, but football season is right around the corner.

Roll Tide!

Rock Star

Mulling the end of media days and the word on Saban from across the country or at least SEC country, which is now a pretty wide swath, is rock star. Shoot Nick had his posse guarding the door at the men's room at the Wynfrey, while Mark Richt had to go it alone as it were. What is this world coming to? Did Bear have guys guard the door? Would crazed fans have rushed Bear? I think the answer to the first is no and the second is yes.

Saban has become larger than life. He is an inch taller than me, at 5' 11", which does not place him in the world of the big guy. But much like my seven pound faux Siamese totally cowing my 20 pound yellow and white cat, sometimes size just doesn't matter. Saban is way bigger than his physical stature. He has become St. Nick because he delivered. That's all Tide fans wanted was to get back to that rarified air of the cat bird's seat looking down at everybody else. It's true I fear. Alabama fans are a tad, well, arrogant and yes they feel entitled. You can blame the Bear but I think Frank Thomas and Wallace Wade deserve some credit as well.

I never had the pleasure of listen to Wade or Thomas. Were they stoic? Were they folksy? Bear was way more personable than Nick Saban, shoot Gene Stallings was way more personable than Nick Saban. The point is it doesn't matter. Saban wins. If he never said a civil word to anybody again the Bama Nation would not care.

You can bet your house and your kids that Saban hates doing media days. It takes away from recruiting and getting prepared for the opening of summer camp. That's why you have to admire that he takes the time to sign autographs. He does it because the fans matter. Every time the team wins a big game he gives the fans credit. It's a team thing. Saban has always said the fans are part of the team. You gotta like that.

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Fall Camp and Whatnot

The dog days of Summer mean heat, humidity and the beginning of football. The weather is about as doggy as you can get � so here�s hoping for a break and a big woohoo for fall practice! There really are a bunch of things that fans can look forward to this fall. My personal favorite is that absolutely nobody is giving the Tide a snowball's chance in hell of beating LSU. Somebody besides me is bound to have noticed that. Not that I don�t think LSU will be good, but I think we have a chance of beating them, I mean come on.

Michigan is a pretty scary game. It�s the first game, it will be hyped big time and the Wolverines have absolutely nothing to lose. This is a game where nobody is giving them a chance either. We will have a reworked defense and they have a very fast, scrambling quarterback. That�s the kind of thing that can really cause trouble for young or inexperienced players who over pursue. I�m not saying we will lose I�m just saying.

After Michigan we have Arkansas sandwiched in between two gimmes � Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic. Arkansas had me worried until Bobby Petrino ran that motorcycle into a ditch. Now I just don�t know. Those kids might have something to prove or they just might be dazed and confused. Only time will tell. I think we pull out the Arkansas game.

Then there's the stretch of Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi State. We should win all of those but Tennessee and Mississippi State will be closer than they need to be. I think Missouri may just find out that the air is cleaner and the girls are prettier and the football is really different in the new league. I have a feeling the Tide won�t be the only team to pass that information along.

Unless, things do not goes as planned � LSU or the Tide gets upset Bama-LSU III will be yet another seriously hyped game. It�s already scheduled for the primetime time slot. People are expecting big things. Stuff happens, so you never know. But just for argument�s sake let�s say everybody is undefeated on November 3, 2012. At this point the new Tide defense will have either figured it out or they ain�t undefeated. I think the wildcard this year will be the Alabama offense. Last year it was pretty plain Jane. Basically, give the ball to Richardson until he breaks a big run and let the defense do its thing. The backs this year are very different from last year�s model. Power and speed is the name of the game and I think the passing game gets kicked up a notch. This game could be a shoot out, seriously. If we are going to lose a game this will be it. Of course, if the team ain�t buying what Saban�s selling we could lose more than one.

After LSU there�s a trap game. A&M is coming to T-town and no matter what happens the team might not be up to playing this one. Unless they lose, and then they could be looking to exact some revenge, though nobody would ever admit that. I don�t think A&M has the horses to play with Bama but . . . stuff happens. Western Carolina is toast. The Tide will sleepwalk through that one thinking the whole time about Auburn. The whole problem with the Auburn game is that it's at home. We stink playing them in Tuscaloosa. That has to change. We thumped them last year so they�ll be hot to trot. I don�t think it will matter.

I did want to mention one last thing Carl Stephens died on August 1. I know this is an Alabama site and I know some of you have an irrational hatred of Auburn, but when I was a kid we used to watch both the Bear Bryant Show and I think it was the Auburn Football Review. To me �You�re so right Carl� is right up there with �Bingo! That�s a goodie!� I know the Auburn nation felt his loss and it only seems right to mention the passing of an Alabama, as in state of, icon.

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It�s Finally Here!

There�s nothing like the beginning of football season, in my mind nothing compares. It�s like the start of the year. It brings with it new excitement and renewed hope. Will the Crimson Tide win another national championship? Will Joker Phillips keep his job? Will Auburn exceed expectation? Will the Penn State scandal ever go away or should it? Do you still get that warm fuzzy feeling when Notre Dame loses? How many more games are we going to be forced to listen Brent and Herb? Make them stop, please!

Oh yeah, it�s football season. It�s sticky out, it�ll probably rain but you don�t really care. You got some sorta pig product to put on the grill and a cold beverage of some sort in the fridge. It doesn�t matter how big your TV is or even if you listen to the game on the radio. It�s all the same it takes you away from all that stuff that has been pressing down on you all year long.

Now you can get all wrapped up in something, that let�s face it might upset you, but in the end doesn�t really matter in your life, except that it does. You won�t lose your job if the Tide loses to Michigan. Your kid won�t break his arm or run off with some tattooed carnival barker. No you�ll feel low, but then again when the Tide wins you just feel better, those onerous tasks feel lighter and your boss and co-workers seem like nicer people.

Roll Tide Ya�ll

Game One Rewind

Saban said, �We�re looking forward to working on the things that we need to improve on so that we can be a better team in the future,� which is so Saban. The best news is that this team has so bought into to the process and they will likely continue to improve and correct the glaring mistakes of the first game. There are going to be better passers in the future who can make those throws that Robinson simply could not.

The Alabama-Michigan game was what it was � a team that was probably ranked too high against a team that was just better. Alabama has more talent on both sides of the ball than the Wolverines and that was evident for everyone to see. Michigan isn�t a bad team and they�ll make some noise in the Big 10, but they are not in the same space time continuum as Alabama. Give Brady Hoke credit for turning around a program that had been driven into the ground by Rich Rod, but they still have a ways to go.

As for where Alabama has to go, in addition to the issues with pass coverage, there were some problems with pass protection. McCarron was sacked at least twice and hurried more than that. He missed open receivers on some long passes. That might be nit picky, but it�s something that could be an issue against the likes of LSU, Arkansas or Missouri.

It has been said that the biggest improvement comes between the first and second game, the royal �they� have always said that. I suspect that might be the case. I also expect the Tide to pretty much sleepwalk through the Western Kentucky game. People are people and WKU is so not Michigan or Arkansas. The Tide will crush the Hilltoppers, but expect the whole bench to play and look for a pretty darn vanilla game plan.

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I got them old cosmic blues again, Mama!

Yes, it seems that Nick, being the Nick that he is jumped all over the media for printing stuff like � oh Alabama�s a 40 point favorite and should wipe the floor with the mighty Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky. Nick�s all about respect of the opponent.

Nick�s actually, all about in the infamous words of Bill Curry � focus! Nick wants those impressionable teen and 20 something college football players/students to somehow block out all the stuff that comes onto their phones, computers, TV and if any of them actually pick up a newspaper, that too. If not they could show up and expect to win the game because � they are Alabama and Western Kentucky is not.

Several of those same media types also held Alabama fans culpable for condoning Saban�s behavior simply because he�s winning football games. Well Duh! I think he was hired and rather handsomely paid to do just that and by just that I mean win football games. If he wasn�t Alabama fans might find his behavior annoying, but many would still back him to the bitter end, even if he was mediocre because he was the coach. I�d say there would be like 50-50 to 40-60 backing just because. Think Mike Shula.

Saban is not Mike Shula, or Mike Dubose or Dennis Fanchonie or Bill Curry or Ray Perkins or Gene Stallings � he�s Nick Saban. I don�t think Saban really cares what people think about him or how he does things. I also don�t think that any amount of criticism, short of that from the NCAA or UofA will make him alter his style or methods.

Some of the stuff is quite humors, if you like sarcasm and I do. You might want to check out Don't Sleep on the Hilltoppers . There are many more which are simply rants. A blogger in Al.com called him �the Jedi Master of media manipulation.� Whatever Saban is he�s a master of it and he�s managed to turn all of the media attention away from the two teams playing and onto him so that the press is all about what a jerk Nick Saban is � will it work � stay tuned.

I honestly think the Tide will roll, but as I said earlier this week, they�ll sleep walk through it. We have three more of these games so prepare yourself.

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A look back

What did we learn from last week? Well, we learned that a flat, unmotivated Alabama team is better than a highly motivated Western Kentucky team. We may have already known that, but I guess we learned that the Tide could and did do enough to win the game.

We learned that the offensive line is not perfect. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the game for me was not the six sacks. That troubling, but not as much as the lack of production in the running game. Under Saban, pass protection has never been the forte of the Crimson Tide offensive lines. They were built to be physical, run the ball and wear down defenses in the fourth quarter. When they can do that the Tide will win. I reckon we learned from the WKU game that sometimes when they don�t do that they can still win.

With all due respect to WKU, they are not LSU. LSU shut down the Tide�s running pretty much in both games last year. At least they shut it down inside the red zone and forced field goals. The lack of production from the running game troubles me. There will come a time when the Tide needs to be able to run the ball, score from the red zone and kill the clock. Again that�s why I find the lack of production in the running game troubling.

The end result of last week�s game is that the Tide is now 2-0. They lost a good running back in Jalston Fowler who probably had a very big role to play in the running game, especially as a fullback in the I-formation. Fowler�s bruising running style will also be missed.

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Hawgs!

The Tide takes on Arkansas in Fayetteville - the kick off of the SEC season for both teams. This was billed as a hurdle the Tide had to get over before their shot at LSU. Maybe that was optimistic on the part of the prognosticators and those who televise football games.

The Hogs defense was suspect last year and the 2012 edition doesn�t seem to have taken a step forward. Bobby Petrino, the former Hog head man and John L. Smith, the interim dude are both offensive guys. Good for them bad for the Hogs. It�s very rare to beat an elite SEC team by simply out scoring them. By that I mean, in a shootout with no defense involved such as in the land of the WAC.

This game provides the opportunity for both Alabama and Arkansas to make amends. The Tide did not play well at all last week against a Sunbelt Conference opponent. The Hogs were worse losing to a Sunbelt Conference opponent. I look for both teams to improve.

Arkansas will play their best game of the year and they might be tied or ahead of the Tide at halftime. The Tide is just simply the better team and will pull away in the second half. Arkansas still has the chance for a decent season, but they�ll have to get it together.

I see it Alabama 35 Arkansas 21.

What�s Gonna Happen?

OK, here�s what I think. The Florida Atlantic Owls are fast, faster than greased lightning. They will be too fast for the Tide�s defense to handle or it�s offense (I wasn�t sure which side of the ball they were fast on) if it�s both then they are too fast to handle period. So after much chasing and failure on the Tide�s part the Owls win 17-16. In Bizzaro World!

What actually happens is that an efficient Tide team comes out and racks up yards and points. If they sleepwalk through this thing they don�t cover the spread and win by four touchdowns. On the other hand if there is some serious improvement going on then the Tide covers the spread, which I think is 50.5 points. My best guess is something like 45-3.

One of the ESPN talking heads mentioned that he thought the Tide was slightly over rated. He didn�t say what that meant except that there were still games to play. I happen to agree with that. Three games have been played. The schedule says they must play 12 and hopefully 13 or 14. So if you do some quick math it would appear that there are at least 9 and at the very least 10 games left. Stuff happens. I have heard way too many Alabama fans saying things like �show me somebody of our schedule that can beat us.� Well, anybody on our schedule could beat us, well theoretically, and they will beat us if the Tide cops the same attitude and the fans.

That�s why Nick Saban is coaching and the rest of us are sell cars or fixing them or running computers or making websites or teaching mechanical engineering or writing history or some such. So just don�t get too excited before the Tide plays somebody who has all their players. I�m not saying we won�t win it all I�m just saying.

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Sleepwalking

Alabama came in a looked great for a quarter and a half and then bogged down in the red zone and what should have been a laugher turned into a chuckle. The Nicktator will not be a happy camper and he shouldn�t be. It was sloppy and the home team just didn�t look as sharp as they could have. Again that�s OK a win is a win and next up is a 3-1 Ole Miss which should get everyone�s attention.

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Home (SEC) Opener

It should be an interesting game, at least for a while, or think Washington-Stanford, I mean stuff happens. Hugh Freeze�s fast paced attack has served Ole Miss well, this year. The only set back was a 30 point thrashing by the Texas Longhorns. I saw that game and the Rebels held their own for a while but turnovers and a pretty good Texas defense stymied their attack. Texas has a top 40 defense, Alabama�s is top 10.

The Tide is a 30 point favorite and should have its way with the visitors from Oxford. The Rebels will no doubt come out with guns blazing and may well score first. It will probably take Bama a series or two to get used to the Ole Miss no huddle attack. This will be a good test for the Crimson Tide. This is a different attack than the Tide has faced all year only Western Kentucky was similar, there will be other offenses like this one, think A&M and Missouri, waiting as the year progresses.

In the end the depth and the talent of the Crimson Tide will carry the day. I look for them to cover the spread. Alabama 42 Ole Miss 7.

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Aw Man!

The bad news is that�s the good news. In the second half Ole Miss�s defense made the Tide offense look sad. It was a very sad showing. It�s a real good thing that game was on so late. I guess the good news is that the rest of the SEC is also pretty darn awful too or at least not so good.

This could be the year that the SEC gives up the BCS title. I am not seeing a very worthy defense out there. Alabama�s will be real good � next year. A win is a win and the Tide has a week off to try and figure out if they really are ready for prime time.

I guess I expected too much. I reckon next time I think I�ll know better than to think they�ll cover the spread. Sad, very, very sad � I know they won, but if you just watched the side lines, you�d have thought Ole Miss was ahead.

Nearly halfway through

In Tuscaloosa it�s fall break so the students, football players included, have left for home. Those of us who don�t get fall break are still working and hanging out and will probably watch some football this weekend. Will Auburn beat Arkansas or will that train wreck continue? I�m guessing the Hogs will fall one more time.

However, there are some good games on tap, as I�m sure you know. Georgia and South Carolina should determine who will represent the east in the SEC championship game, but then again the season is not over yet. Can Muschamp�s Gators pull the upset over LSU. It would be sweet, but I just don�t see it happening. As woeful as LSU has looked at times, it just seems that they find a way to win these kind of games. But hope springs eternal.

How many points will A&M and Ole Miss score? That could be a UGA-UT kind of game. Mississippi State should beat Kentucky in front of probably the smallest crowd of the year. Keeneland, which is the fall horse races, started Friday and given the mood of UK football fans it will be a sparse crowd. As for Vanderbilt and Missouri, well the Tigers will get their first SEC win. Vandy has reverted to � well being Vandy. Have a nice weekend y�all!

Roll Tide

Week 6

Well, technically speaking every team on the schedule can beat Alabama, especially if the players come into the games with that same attitude. Mailing the games in because you know you are going to win is a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, Nick Saban is coaching the team and not a bunch of fans who watch too much TV.

Yes, Alabama should beat Missouri next week in Columbia. The Tigers are a team that�s taken on the chin, they lost to Vanderbilt and they will throw everything they have at Alabama. They will play the best game they have played all year. It might not be enough, but take it to the bank it will be their A game.

On another note, if you are going to Columbia for the game be sure and have a pizza at Shakespeare�s. The food is great and it�s a Columbia institution that should not be missed.

Roll Tide

I can�t explain

I can�t explain it but I just have a bad feeling about the Missouri game. Maybe it�s because everybody but the Missouri players have written off the Tigers. Maybe it�s because I had to put down a cat and I have just been feeling bad all week. I have no earthly idea but the whole thing just does not feel right.

It could be because I keep seeing all these statistics about how proficient Alabama�s offense is or how dominant Alabama�s defense is; or maybe it�s those sneaky statistics regarding Missouri�s defense, which is not all that shabby. As far as Mizzou goes it seems to be their offense that�s stuck in second gear. So what gives?

MU has a very active defense. They stunt causing offense lines lots of problems and they have gotten good penetration; thus causing sacks and tackles for loss. Conversely, the Tide�s offense has been in a mini funk since the Arkansas game and frankly it has not looked the same since the Michigan game.

You can write part of that off to injuries. The running game has been devastated. The Lacy-Fowler tandem was shaping up to be serious trouble for defenses everywhere. Throw in a heavy does of T.J. Yeldon and it was Katie bar the door. But Fowler went down and the run game has never regained the form it had in week one. It has been good, but it was stymied by Ole Miss and Western Kentucky and that ain�t right.

That�s the thing, I think in the back of my mind it might just be the lack of production from the run game. It�s not the lack of production as much as the run game just isn�t dominant like it was last year. Shoot, I don�t know but maybe it all comes down to personnel. Let�s face it Trent Richardson was the running game last year, in fact you could say he was the offense at least until the championship game.

Part of the problem with all the injuries is that the team has not had a chance to adapt and develop the chemistry that it had in the Michigan game. You can write off Western Kentucky to post Michigan blahs, but you can�t do that with Ole Miss. Maybe that�s the thing the whole chemistry thing and maybe the bye week gave the Tide the opportunity to create more chemistry, hopefully that�s the case.

The thing is I still just can�t shake this bad feeling I have. I said earlier that Mizzou will bring their A game and I�ll repeat that here, they will bring their A game, count on it. This game will be a struggle. The Tide is the better team and they will find a way to win. It might not be pretty but I think they will. My call Alabama 28 Missouri 24.

Roll Tide

Third Saturday in October

Readers I wanted to just let you know that I had not actually forsaken my duties I have been out and about on family obligations in the great white north. I am back and I hope both of you will enjoy the blog that follows.

I read some troubling and amusing stuff this morning in the various papers. From Eric Ainge�s flippant comment about stepping on McCarron�s knee to a Knoxville columnist�s suggestion that during the game the Jumbo Tron show highlights of Tennessee-Alabama games from the Fulmer era. Pretty zany and even more zany are the Tide fans reactions. Woohoo! I have been gone too long y�all it�s damn good to be back!

Anyway, boy was I wrong about the Missouri game. Maybe it was the injuries that had me worried I�m sure I don�t know. The rain and the rest were unsettling but Missouri never really threatened to take over the game and the Tide's defense only gave up three points.

The Vols passing game poses a threat to the Tide secondary. That�s the kind of stuff they were saying about the Oregon-Arizona State game. I quit watching that one when it was like 43-7 in the first half. I�m not saying something like that will happen in the Alabama-UT game, but you can�t rule it out either. This is a rivalry game so stuff happens � think 12-10.

Tennessee will come out all fired up with all kinds of emotion. This will be one of those weather the storm kind of affairs. Much has been written about how UT must play two halfs or is that halves, some how I don�t the proper usage is proper here, if that makes sense. They, UT have lead or have been tied with Alabama over the last two or three years only to melt down in the second half. It�s up to the Tide to make sure that doesn�t happen by getting off to a quick start and putting this thing away early.

I honestly think that�s what will happen. UT may well test Alabama�s secondary and they may find it better than they thought. The Tide will get turnovers and UT will not. Alabama will pick up its sixth win in a row � Alabama 35 Tennessee 13.

Roll Tide

Are the Tide faithful turning into the Borg?

After Tide games fans and even the press will pick apart a game to find flaws. What did they do wrong in that 44-13 beat down. Poor special teams, there was a fumble in the fourth quarter that lead to a field goal against the Bama third string defense. Gasp!

� We are all to blame the Borg king wouldn�t have it any other way. I�m not sure Saban would describe his process as the pursuit of perfection, though he does look at it as constantly seeking to improve, which I guess is different. I�m quite sure he was aware of the fumble in the fourth quarter that lead to the field goal and the less than stellar special teams play.

� As Saban preaches ongoing improvement, both the players and the fans have bought in. That�s not to say that Tide fans haven�t always nitpicked Tide games. When the team is good fans find flaws and talk about holes that could/should be addressed for the push for the brass ring at the end of the season. Forty years ago, has it been that long, when Bear Bryant was prowling the sidelines, fans did the same thing.

� Tide fans expected wins, big wins, when they got them they found errors and flaws to magnify, as did Bryant. When the Tide lost, fans were depressed and distraught. Does any of this sound familiar? Bryant�s style and Saban�s are not the same. Saban�s tenure at the University has been much shorter than Bryant�s, but he has raised the expectations back to a Star Trek level. In the post-Bryant years players said the national championship was the annual goal. They reached it, once, ten years and three coaches after Bryant had stepped down.

� Saban has now rekindled the flame and made the national championship goal more that just a hollow phrase. It once again has become an attainable program goal. The fans expect, at the very least, a run at it and frankly they expect to see another championship, sooner rather than later. As the 2012 season hits the stretch run fans focus on the finish line, as they should, hopefully the plays will focus on the process as they should and if they can maintain that focus the hopes and dreams of the fans could be fulfilled.

Resistance is Futile

Always Tough

Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen has said �You have to weather the storm of the crowd, weather the storm of all the momentum swings.� He�s right but it is not his team that will have to do that. Mississippi State will come into Tuscaloosa sky high with nothing to lose. Sure if they lose the game their national and SEC title hopes are shot, but their quest for a great season will be far from over. On the other hand an Alabama loss would be devastating to the Tide�s hope of repeating as national champions.

� Mississippi State has nothing to lose. They can and should just throw everything in their play book at the Tide. If they kick off, start with an onside kick. Run some trick plays and keep trying to out muscle the Tide. To win they need a flawless game from Tyler Russell. If they get that and their cornerbacks bring in a pick or two they have a solid shot.

� Unlike many games this year where Saban has had to try and build up an opponent that just didn�t have much going, Mississippi State does not require that. They are undefeated and ranked. Their fans are off the charts with their #we believe 8-0 campaign. The press is giving MSU its due. All the Alabama team has to do is come out and play its game and as Mullen said �. . . weather the storm.� In this case Alabama will have to weather the storm, though they will have the crowd.

� Mississippi State will bring their A game, but I honestly do not think it will be enough. The Tide has the best defense in the country, a solid running game and a quarterback that is just starting to get the recognition he deserves. Mississippi State will play a tough hard nosed football game the problem for the Bulldogs is so will Alabama. I think the Tide wins this one � Alabama 35 MSU 14

� Roll Tide

A quick review

I honestly expected Mississippi State to play the Tide like they have historically, that is tough, forcing them to make a comeback in the fourth quarter. What I got was a game that was over in the first quarter. Three possessions, three touchdowns, end of film. The two times State mounted any kind of a comeback it was snuffed out. The last one perhaps the most emphatically, it was very much like when Walter told the Dude in the Big Lebowski they drew a line in the sand across this line you don not pass, am I right? The Dude�s response is not printable, but the long and short of it was MSU got 97 yards and defense had had enough stuff, stuff, interception. Game over.

� I also think I have finally figured out the lapses in the last couple of games. At Missouri, they were up what 28-0 and the lightening came � then last week they were up 24-0 and there are what four three and outs? I think they just get bored. Then they get yelled at or they figure we might as well end this thing. So score some points and end this thing and they do.

� I don�t know if I am ready to anoint them as the greatest team on earth, but they are playing well, but there are issues. At times the special teams, the kick off team especially, has some serious issues. I think two kicks have been brought back on them for touchdowns. There have been precious few touchbacks on kickoffs since what Ole Miss? That�s nitpicky but in a close game the kicking game and field position are critical.

� Also the Tide has not been punched in the mouth this season. They have just plain out classed everyone they have played. This is a game in which they may well be hit hard. McCarron might be forced to win the game or at least move the team when they can�t run. That is, pass when they know he is going to pass and he has not had to do that yet. The running game has had some issues. Well, everybody has stacked the box to stop the run and all of them have been successful up to a point. So the Tide could face some unfamiliar situations on Saturday.

� The LSU game will be different in that it�s not your garden variety football game. I think it�s fair to say this one is for all the marbles part I. To get where they want to be they have to beat LSU. That should give them some serious motivation, lose this game and the season is shot. If that don�t motivate you, you cannot be motivated.

� If the Tide beats LSU they have a serious shot at two national championships in a row. After the LSU game is Texas A&M and win or lose that could be a trap game. But let�s burn one bridge at a time. So I�ll leave you with this thought, there is a good chance the Tide will win this game, but let�s not get ahead of ourselves, stay with the Process y�all.

The Rumble in the Bayou

Tide fans just do not want to hear that their team is vulnerable. Last year the stakes were higher and the stage was grander. Or so it seemed. If Alabama loses this game it will be 2010 all over again, but maybe worse. The noise and the clutter all this week is about this steamroller on the way to some enviable destiny. Sound familiar? Last year LSU was the team of destiny, they were on the cusp of doing what no other LSU team had ever done. They got tantalizingly close to being there and then it all blew up.

Anything can happen in Baton Rouge on a chilly Saturday night. By the 7 p.m. kickoff the home crowd will be well, and I do mean well, lubricated. They will be loud and ready to make a difference for the home team. They will too for a time. This game will all come down if the boys from Tuscaloosa are following Saban�s script or if they have been reading the stuff in the papers and on the internet. If they truly believe they are a cement truck rolling down hill it is Katy bar the door.

� If they are reading from St. Nick�s hymnal then all will be OK in T-Town come Sunday morning. If they come into Tiger Stadium and do what they are supposed to do and if they have shut out the noise it will be fine. I think they have and it will. � My call on this one is Alabama 17 LSU 13.

� Roll Tide

Push had come to shove

In the lore of the Crimson Tide nation what happened next will go down in history. The 72 yards that was covered in five plays was something to behold. One day you can tell those who weren�t lucky enough to witness it where you were when it happened.

� Honestly, I was trying to figure out if they�d still make a BCS bowl. Then it happened. Really, you can�t make this stuff up. The Alabama offense, which was just plain awful in the second half, came out like it did this stuff all the time, took control of the game marched down the field scored a touchdown. End of noise, end of story, end of game.

� Sometimes when things like that happen you fear that the other team will mount a comeback and break your heart all over again. Not this time the will of the LSU team was broken. It was over Alabama rushed three and got the final sack. It was an amazing thing to behold. That is why we love college football. 93,000 people going totally berserk, Baton Rouge at night, the crowd, the home team in white, the visitors in red and they were this close to exacting revenge. All of that makes that last drive so special and could make this season so historic.

� I saw from the beach. I, like Vern Lundquist, just said wow. I, like Nick Saban, have never been more proud. It, the season, ain�t over until it�s over. There are at least four more games, for sure, maybe five. Win them all and well. Let�s not go there yet. I think the world knows what this team is made of and now all we have to do is see if they can finish what they started.

� Mercy � Roll Tide

Back to Basics

The national pundits have now declared Alabama beatable. Well, duh! Any team is beatable ask the 1991 version of the Miami Hurricanes. I thought after the Ole Miss game that the Tide was beatable. The difference between beatable and beaten however is huge. The Tide prevailed in both the Ole Miss game and against LSU. Did LSU prove that Alabama couldn�t cover one on one or did Mettenberger have the game of his life and put passes where only his guy could get them? Hey, it happens.

� This afternoon in Tuscaloosa look for the Alabama defense to seek redemption. Everyone is talking about how LSU gassed the Tide defenses by running 85 plays and all A&M has to do is run their offense and they�ll toast the Tide and their championship hopes. A&M is good there�s no doubt about it. They played close games against LSU and Florida. The Aggies will look to play keep away from Alabama and try and do what LSU did � keep the ball.

� A&M is good, but they are not LSU. Johnny �Football� Manziel will make some plays he�s a good player and in the future will be even better. The thing is Alabama wants to make history and Manziel and A&M are in the way. Look for the Tide�s D to reestablish the line of scrimmage, take away A&M�s run and make them one dimensional. That will put the game on Manziel�s shoulders and he will be forced into errors. Alabama will capitalize on the Aggie�s mistakes and pull away in the second half.

� I see this one Alabama 35 Texas A&M 13.

� Roll Tide

Life and the season goes on

First of all the Tide plays Western Carolina it is, after all, the next game. Speaking of Western Carolina they really are not very good. Western Carolina is a team that ranks 120th out of 122 FCS schools in total defense. They give up 516.5 yards per game. The Catamounts allow their opponents 42.9 points a game and they have now lost nine games in a row. The two statistics mentioned above may have contributed to the nine game loosing streak. The good news is they average 25.7 points per game, which is less than 42.9.

� These guys are just plain bad. This should be one of those name your score games. Hopefully it will be a get your frustrations out early, score a bunch of points and get the starters out so they can rest. Saban won�t say any of that and I know they respect these guys, but they are also probably being fairly realistic. To date in the press conferences Saban has hardly mentioned them and for that matter he has been asked very few questions about them.

� Long and short � it�s a game the Tide should win going away. It is, hopefully, a game that they win without loosing any players to injury. After this game comes Auburn, win that one and it is off to the SEC championship game. The Tide failed to win the conference championship last year so that�s a goal that remains for this season that is obtainable. Taking home the SEC championship is nothing to sneeze at and it would add another trophy to the case in Tuscaloosa.

� First things first, they must take care of the Catamounts and then take care of Auburn. We�ll discuss where Auburn is after this game. I lied my guess Alabama 42 WCU 0

� Roll Tide

Back in the saddle

Not only can we go to the SEC championship game, but if say we win it we just might get the chance to play Notre Dame for the national championship. Does it really get any better than that? I think not. However, as I mentioned earlier that�s why they play the games, avoid counting those chickens just yet. BEAT AUBURN!

� Roll Tide

The Process 2012

In terms of the larger goals of the 2012 edition of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, it would be good if they have gotten all of that back sliding out of their systems and are ready to become the team that was the unanimous choice as the best team in college football. If not, well think punt Bama punt.

� If you are not old enough to remember punt Bama punt � let me just say it was not a fun experience and not something that you would wish to go through. Both punts were the right play, neither was executed properly and both resulted in touchdowns near the end of the game. Point, set, match, Auburn 17-Alabama 16. Cousin�s grin is just too big to deal with. It was not the best trailer park experience, in a long line a bad experiences.

� If the boys at the Bryant dorm have been paying attention to everything that has been written the last week, the Tide could be in for a world of hurt. As far as I can tell only one person outside of the Auburn locker room is giving the Tigers any kind of a chance. There is no doubt that the Tigers have truly stunk the joint up this year. The only way to salvage the season is to beat Alabama. No SEC championship, no BCS bowl and Bubba forget the national championship, that boat will have done sailed.

� If the players really have been buying what the coaching staff has been selling � everything will be swell. Surely the LSU and A&M games have gotten their attention. Hello, you can�t just show up. If they needed further proof see: Kansas State-Baylor and Oregon-Stanford. The cosmos has given them a do over and now is not the time to screw it up. Now is the time to get your act together and play like the best team in the SEC and perhaps the nation.

� I honestly think the Tide should win this one. Alabama 28 Auburn 17.

� Roll Tide

Ugly

Oh well, all's well that ends well. Next week UGA in Atlanta for the SEC championship and a shot at all the marbles.

Roll Tide

Championship Time

It strikes me that before the LSU game the Tide was playing the best football in the country and nobody disputed that. Two games later everybody was wondering are they paper elephants? Please remember that the football team is composed of impressionable young men. Keep in mind those young men can read and watch TV and log onto the internet. I remember in those heady days, one sports writer wrote that if Alabama beat LSU it would be like a cement truck rolling down hill. Well, they beat LSU.

� I�m just saying that maybe, just maybe, those boys started to believe what they saw, heard and read. It�s only human nature, when people keep telling you how good you are you just want it to be true. You want the reward without the effort. The Tide did not play well and still beat LSU. They played very poorly and lost to Texas A&M. They had a chance at the end, but they still lost. Those two games were no, doubt, teachable moments for the Nicktator. I suspect, in fact, I know he�d rather have had that moment without the loss, but as the Glimmer Twins so aptly put it - you can�t always get what you want. However, once again the Tide got lucky, the stars lined up and they get a do over.

� The point to all this senseless rambling is that I do not believe that those guys forgot how to play football. They dispatched their last two opponents. No muss, no fuss, scored a bunch of points, pulled the starters and moved on. Yeah, I know it was Western Carolina and Auburn and yeah, I know they were both awful. But, the long and short of it was they did not fool around both teams were smacked silly in short order.

� It seems to me that these guys are back on track. Yes, Georgia is good, but I think the Tide is better. If Alabama plays the way they did in the first eight games they will take care of Georgia and sports fans, if they want to play Notre Dame for all the marbles that is pretty much a requirement and they know it.

� So here�s what I think � Alabama 33 Georgia 21

� Roll Tide

S-E-C Champions

Roll Tide

Bowl Season and other stuff

It�s hard to believe but bowl season starts Friday with two stellar bowl match ups. First up the New Mexico Bowl. This game features Arizona of the PAC 12 and the Nevada from the WAC. It seems Rich Rod of Arizona may have found his happy place after the square peg thing at Michigan. Arizona comes in on a roll and Nevada just sorta comes in. I hear it�s really pretty in Albuquerque this time of year. Lots of fans lots of fun; seems to me that the Wildcats will keep rolling Arizona 45 Nevada 30.

� This might be my new favorite bowl name Famous Idaho Potatoes Bowl. What�s not to like a serious carb fest. Will they have potatoes cooked various ways for the fans and the players? Well they should or they�re missing out here. Well it�s the MAC vs. the WAC. Utah State is 10-2 and Toledo is 9-3 so at least you don�t have a couple of 6-6 teams hoping to avoid a losing season. Both of these teams have potential and this might actually be a pretty good game. I look for the Rockets from the rust belt to have just enough offense to nip the USU Aggies. Call it Rockets 31 USU 28.

� That�s all from the Natural State y�all roll some Tides when you can.

I was wrong about the comet!

The Tide is back on the practice field and the stories of Notre Dame�s prowess are growing daily. The mounting anger of their players over the snub by the odds makers. The fact that Lou Holtz and Brian Kelly have the same number of letters in their names, well only if you go with his given name Louis. Those that do the talk are primed to see Alabama get it comeuppance from those bully boys from South Bend, shoot they did it to Bear, you know they can do it to that rat Saban.

� I guess it comes down to who do you hate the most. It�s been a while since Notre Dame was on top of the heap so let�s pile on the SEC. SEC fatigue is in full bloom and you gotta pull for somebody, anybody else and Notre Dame is the nation�s favorite to knock off those inbred cousins from Alabama. I reckon we�ll see.

� Be all that as it may there are three bowl games this weekend for those of you who have shopping fatigue or just need a break from the joys of the holidays. The Beef O�Brady�s Bowl is up first on Friday. This ESPN owned game pits the University of Central Florida Golden Knights of Conference USA soon to be of the Big East. The conference whose motto is we are the conference that used to be Conference USA. UCF is 9-3 the three losses coming at Tulsa, Ohio State and Missouri. The Knights will face off against the Ball State Cardinals of the MAC. This school is best known for alums who went on to be famous in something other than sports. But, that does not mean one should overlook this MAC team who are also 9-3. Their losses were to Clemson, Kent State and Northern Illinois. So we have a couple good teams playing in Florida the Friday before Christmas. I think Ball State 24 UCF 12.

� Saturday provides two more opportunities for football viewing. That means you can skip out on the whole mall experience and that�s not a bad thing. In the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl we have Louisiana Lafayette of the Sunbelt Conference vs. East Carolina of Conference USA. Here again two pretty good teams. The Ragin� Cajuns lost to Oklahoma State, North Texas, Arkansas State and Florida and they took Florida to the wall. East Carolina lost to South Carolina, North Carolina, UCF and Navy. Both teams come in with 8-4 records, again not teams looking to avoid a losing record. The Ragin Cajuns have some serious offense. I think way too much for ECU. LA Lafayette 40 ECU 24.

� Finally in the Las Vegas Bowl Boise State of the Mountain West soon to be the Big East, well their east of California, vs. Washington of the PAC 12, no doubt soon to be the PAC 14. At any rate this isn�t your last years Boise State, they aren�t bustin� the BCS they are in Las Vegas, which come to think of it is where they were last year. So I guess never mind. As for Washington, just when you think you have them pegged, they lose to a not very good Washington State team. In fact they dropped five games this year, but they could lose this game and still finish above 500. The Broncos from the blue turf only dropped one game to a very so-so Michigan State team, thus Vegas. Look unless a good Washington Huskies team emerges for the extra practices look for Boise State to take out their frustrations on them. That�s exactly what I see happing Boise State 45 Washington 14.

� Roll Tide Y�all

Long ago in a universe, far, far away

I went to Irondale Junior High School, which is just outside of Birmingham, way back when. In my mind, and by that, I mean I�m pretty sure this happened in the spring of 1966, but it may have been a year earlier or later. I honestly can�t quite remember. At any rate that spring for reasons never explained we had a music teacher. She was this nice lady from up north who taught a class once a week. It was sort of an introduction to music appreciation, not a class where we learned to play instruments. I remember learning that woodwind instruments sound sad, silly and spooky. So something stuck.

� At any rate one day she decided that she would teach us college fight songs. She had records and mimeographed lyric sheets. We learned �Yea Alabama� and �War Eagle.� As I recall the class was Alabama heavy, but there were a good number of Auburn fans. So we were all excited. Who knew learning could be fun! Then after we all calmed down she said now we are going to learn the Notre Dame fight song. I swear the whole class pretty much shouted out. �We don�t want to learn that!� Needless to say she was taken aback, but to her credit she just moved on.

� For those of you who are challenged in Alabama lore, 1966 was the year that we were undefeated and Notre Dame and Michigan State played to a 10-10 tie in what some called �the game of the century.� To make matters worse Ara Parseghian, the Notre Dame coach, went for the tie rather than trying to win the game. I was maybe 11 years old and I remember that as clear as day. I actually remember saying they�re going for the tie!

� Tide fans were livid. On top of that Notre Dame did not go to bowls in those days � I don�t know they just didn�t � so there was no chance of the Tide playing them. It seems there was talk of trying to get a match up but no go. In the end Alabama ended up ranked third and Bear did not get his third consecutive national championship.

� The Alabama-Notre Dame match up this year is oh so very special. Saban has the chance to do something that Paul Bryant could never do � beat Notre Dame. If the Tide wins next week Saban�s legacy will be assured. It will be the stuff of legend and it will make him, without a doubt, the most significant Alabama coach of the post-Bryant era. He may be that already, but beating Notre Dame, that for a whole generation of Tide fans, would be special.

� Roll Tide

The Big Game

The cool thing that is going on at Alabama now is that Saban does not believe in repeating. It�s not the same team, which can only mean that all those teams that lost to Notre Dame all those times are those teams and not this team. What they did has no bearing what so ever on this game. Let�s make that our mantra; let�s buy what Saban is selling.

� I guess we will get to find out if the Tide players are buying it. I think they are plus none of them was alive when all of that was happening. Mal Moore was and he has seen life from both sides as it were � so he knows the score. But, Mal ain�t coaching. The cool thing is that Nick Saban is coaching. The guy is a pretty good big game coach. If you throw out the whole first year then the two biggest clunkers are South Carolina in 2010 and Utah in 2008. In 2010 Stephen Garcia played the game of his life and torched the Tide. In 2008, a dispirited Crimson Tide minus its best offensive lineman failed to show up in New Orleans. Clunk, clunk � ugly.

� That brings us to now, to today. Where are we and what will happen? Over the course of the season things have ebbed and flowed. For the first eight games the Tide was unstoppable running through opponents like a scythe through wheat. Then came LSU and A&M. It took a herculean effort to beat a very inspired LSU team. Here again a quarterback played the game of his life, but the Tide found a way. When A&M came to Tuscaloosa there was a tired, beat up Alabama team that for a half could not deal with Johnny Manziel. This loss was followed by a couple of miracles as well as Western Carolina and Auburn. Then Georgia and here we are.

� I will admit I have not watched all of Notre Dame�s games I watched parts of several. All I know is that they kept winning. That�s all that really matters. You can look at their schedule and pick it apart but the fact remains that they are 12-0 and that�s hard to do against air and they beat some pretty good teams.

� So how does it play out? It should be a classic. The two most storied programs in American meeting for the first time in the BCS National Championship Game. The TV ratings should be through the roof. For a quarter Notre Dame will slow down or stop the Tide�s running game, but they won�t fair any better against the Tide defense. Eventually, the Alabama line and running game will wear on the Notre Dame front forcing them to commit an extra man to stop the run. That will open up the passing game and the Tide will pull away late. Alabama 24 Notre Dame 14.

� Roll Tide

The Last One

Alabama just beat Notre Dame for the National freaking Championship are you feeling it! All there is to say is . . .

� Roll Tide!

It Was Just Swell!

Oh, did I mention it has been swell. Not since Cornelius Bennett sent Steve Beuerlein into another area code have I felt so good after a Tide-Fighting Irish tussle. Granted the 1986 game in no way had the ramifications of the game played on January 7, but until Monday night it was the only game between, arguably the two most storied programs in college football, from which the Tide emerged triumphant. It was a salve for the wound but it did not really stop the pain.

� Four of the six previous games were under Bryant and the biggest margin of victory was seven points, all won by Notre Dame. The last two one by Perkins and the other under Bill Curry were split Perkins won 28-10 and Curry was hammered 37-6. I am fairly sure Keith Jackson called the last one. I remember when the third string quarterback went in he said Alabama was playing for pride. It was ugly and it was painful.

� Ah, but Monday night, Mama that was a game. Truth be known it wasn�t a very good game, that is unless you are a long suffering Alabama fan. The various sports columnists have reported that many viewers had moved on to network TV by the second half. I can assure you that 99% of the Alabama faithful were tuned in until ESPN finally interviewed Lou Holtz.

� Remarkable, simply remarkable. Barrett Jones playing on a painful foot that will require surgery telling ESPN �They couldn�t have pulled me out of there with a tractor.� A scowling Nick Saban telling the sideline crew �I�m happy!� The entire Bama Nation was beside themselves. It had happened. At long, long, last the Tide had bested Notre Dame on the big stage.

� The first drive was a thing of beauty. Notre Dame stopped Lacy for a yard; quick pass 25 yards. A lacy run and perhaps a little too keyed up Notre Dame defense committed a silly penalty and before you know it the Tide is on the 20. Eddy Lacy takes the ball runs over the vaunted defense 7-0 Tide and it just got worse or so much better.

� Over the course of the year I watched Notre Dame play some. I kept thinking they are not that good. Sure they won all of their games. BUT and frankly this is a huge but, Pitt had lost four games before they played the Fighting Irish including their opener to Youngstown State. Pitt missed a field goal that would have won it and then the famed Irish luck held. In the end they won the game, giving up the most points they had given up all year to that point. This is the same Pitt team that was rocked 38-17 by Ole Miss in the BBVA Compass Bowl.

� Notre Dame had gaudy defensive statistics. They had the best defensive player in the country. Well, he won a bunch of awards � I�d take Jadeveon Clowney any day, but hey I don�t hand out the awards. This is one of the things that has always fried my baloney about Notre Dame, the press just plain loves them. They are the darlings of the East and the Midwest and that is just the way it is and just the way it will be. Manti Te�o won seven individual awards. Seven. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting and he was a nonfactor in the BCS National Championship game.

� So, if you like me have been luxuriating in the warm after glow of the third national title in four years, well I know how you feel. The other thing is no matter how many championships Nick Saban might win between now and when he heads off to the sunset, the lake or the NFL. None of them will ever feel as good as this one. Notre Dame got their hat handed to them. When Coach Kelly said maybe Alabama won�t come out in the second half, oh it was swell. When the athletic director at Notre Dame said �They are not just better than us, they�re better than everybody else.� Was that swell or what. We don�t have a 24 hour rule. We are fans and we just want this moment to last forever. It case you missed it 42-14 and there ain�t gonna be no asterisk.

� Roll Tide!

Looking back and wondering why?

It was a great run, I don�t know about you but I thought Alabama was a year away from another championship. It just goes to show that one should never underestimate the importance of the offensive line. That made the difference. The other thing one should never under estimate is the emotional drain of a game like last year at LSU on a team. Sure A&M and Johnny Football are good, but the placement of that game on the schedule was a major factor in the outcome.

� Looking back at Saban�s coaching career at Alabama last year was perhaps the best job, save perhaps the 2008 season. The 2012 edition of the Crimson Tide simply did not have the same caliber of athlete that the 2011 team did. Yet, this team worked better as a team. Perhaps the most significant detail was the bond between players and coaches. Those guys had totally bought into the whole Saban process thing. They were hoping to get better and playing them a game at a time.

� Because of the expectations that come along with being Alabama � Saban was overlooked for any major coaching awards. You can�t argue that Brian Kelly did a good job of getting Notre Dame in the position to play in the championship game. That being said, you can�t argue with the results of that game either. For whatever reason, one team was far superior to the other.

� Next year will be one of those years for Tide fans. If you think you were a bunch of nervous wrecks watching the Tide trying to repeat as national champions. Think about watching them try and go for three in a row. It has been said that Tide fans don�t enjoy the games as much as they endure them. The relief of winning is the more likely emotion than the sheer joy of it. That is until the last game. Then, well, you just can�t get enough of that Roll Tide stuff.

� Here�s to three in a row.

� Roll Tide!

The Tweet

I get kind of sick of that stuff. I mean is it just me or didn�t Hugh Freeze coach at Arkansas State before he went to Ole Miss? I think that�s in the south and for the love of God people he�s from Mississippi! Let�s face it two of the kids he got that pushed his class into the stratosphere were not really that much of a reach. Robert Nkemdiche�s brother plays at Ole Miss. Is it really that much of a reach to think � maybe little bro will want to play with big bro? Antonio Conner is from Batesville, Mississippi. I know most of the good players leave Mississippi for other schools but not always � again I don�t see this as any big deal. Some of the other players, well hey he�s got a gimmick offense and kids these days like that stuff.

� What I guess rankles Desmond Howard is that six of the ten top spots in the three major recruiting services were held be SEC teams. ESPN, Scout and 247Sports all had six SEC teams in their top ten and all three also had Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan and Florida State as the other four teams. The placement of the teams varied but it was essentially the same ten teams. One had Georgia ahead of Auburn, but the line up of non-SEC schools is the same.

� So are we to assume that everybody in the south cheats while Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame are all above board, innocent as the new fallen snow, as it were? I�m sure we can assume that FSU, which was the other non-SEC school in the top ten, is tarred with the same brush as the other southern schools. If we follow that logic what about Urban Meyer? � Yeah what about Urban Meyer? He coached at Florida and he got lots of good recruiting classes, so what�s up with that? I reckon if you go coach in the Big 10 or as we like to call them, the conference that can�t count, it�s like going to confession and all sins are resolved and you are good to go. Because NOBODY in the Big 10 cheats. Say that ten times and you�ll start to feel better.

� Now I must admit that I had a warm and fuzzy feeling for Desmond Howard after the National Championship game. I thought he was a snappy dresser and very professional as far as his commentary went. His analysis at halftime and post-game were spot on. Now this. Well, I reckon we should keep in mind that he went to school at Michigan � so you�ve got a homer there. I mean he�s no Lou Holtz, but there hasn�t been a homer like that in a national broadcast booth since the days of Don Meredith. Still, it seems that there remains this Big 10 good SEC bad. Oh that�s right the SEC is good I think it up to seven now.

� Roll Tide y�all

Bill Battle

My problem with Bill Battle is not his experience, but rather his age. The University has traded a 73 year old for a 71 year old. Today people are more active and do live and work longer and battle appears fit and ready to go. He was given a four year contract and will be 75 when the contract expires. All of that is well and good and those in the know seem more than convinced that he�ll do an outstanding job.

That said, it strikes me that there are other issues and factors that should and could have been taken into consideration when the new AD was hired. Mal Moore saw Alabama through perhaps the toughest time in the football program�s history since the 1950s. In the end he came through with flying colors. Moore picked his successor. Sometimes that works out and sometimes it doesn�t � think Ray Perkins.

There are many issues that an AD at Alabama must deal with. The facilities at all of the non-revenue sports, which are all of them except football and men�s basketball and let�s not kid ourselves the ship at Alabama is driven by football, which goes without saying. Regardless, those other sports have become an important part of the University culture. Gymnastics and softball have won national championships and garnered good publicity for Alabama and both are well supported. Baseball is on an upswing as are volleyball and soccer. The Olympic sports are holding there own. The only dismal failure is women�s basketball, which is just plain awful and frankly an embarrassment to the University. It�s a good thing few people pay attention to the sport.

In a world where the marquee sport is overwhelmingly populated by African Americans, it would have been nice if the University had at least looked at a minority candidate. Maybe it did and maybe the candidate they wanted wasn�t ready to come to Tuscaloosa. Honestly, it�s not so much Battle's race as his age, Battle will offer continuity and stability, but I don�t see him providing energy, innovation and the longevity that the University will need moving into the future.

Mal Moore 1939-2013

I didn�t always agree with the things that Moore did but he always did what he thought was best for the University. Over the years he did a good job and there�s no doubt that his legacy will live on after all of us are gone. A tour of the athletic facilities in Tuscaloosa are a testament to his leadership. Bryant-Denny Stadium is one of the finest football facilities in the nation. The baseball and softball complexes are first rate. Last year the Tide won four national championships, all of this is a glowing tribute to Coach Moore.

� I met Mal Moore one time. A college friend of mine�s father is a member of the A-Club. At his invitation he and his most gracious wife and another friend had lunch before a homecoming game, when Mike Shula was still coach. Our host introduced us to Coach Moore and he shook our hands made small talk. It was a very nice moment.

� Mal Moore was a gentleman, he was from that generation of southern people who were taught to say yes sir and no sir and yes ma�am and no ma�am. My mother�s generation and to some extent mine. Mal Moore was from a generation that grew up in a segregated Alabama, but he changed with the times and he and we are better for it. I know he was proud of what he accomplished at Alabama, even if he never would have bragged on it himself. Those of us who love the University will greatly miss him and I know his friends must be crushed.

� Thank you Mal Moore and rest in peace.

Post Spring Digest

It seems that fame leads to lots of opportunities. One only questions, what those opportunities can do for ones demeanor. The whole world has penciled Alabama in as number one or number two in the pre-season polls, which will not be released until August. The problem for the Tide could be the problem that many Super Bowl winning teams face � fame and complacency.

I doubt if any Alabama players will be writing books or staring in commercials, mostly because the NCAA rules will not allow such activities, but you could bet that if they could they would have those opportunities. That folks are the issues coming into the 2013 football season.

If these players return to camp in the fall with big heads and attitudes you will be looking at 2010 all over again. The players are after all very young people. The freshmen who played last year only know winning. The incoming freshmen expect the same. The older guys may understand, but it will be real easy to get caught up in the swell that will start to build in the fall.

The rip current that will come from the hype of an unprecedented �three-peat� could be catastrophic. If in the fall Saban spends a lot of time talking about players feeling entitled, you can expect a season that will be filled with highs and lows. The schedule is set up for Alabama to repeat. However, everybody will give them their best shot. Virginia Tech has already been embarrassed by the opening line. They will be coming flat out with nothing to lose.

None of this might happen. If they players go into the summer and come into camp with the proper attitude there will not be an issue. If they don�t well . . . don�t say I did tell you so.

Roll Tide

Your Source for the Crimson Tide

Ball teams disappoint

Pat Murphy may have seen this coming, the early season games were not against top flight competition, allowing the team to build a misleading nonconference record. When conference play began the real Tide showed up or in many cases failed to do so. This team is extremely talented, but it�s also very young. With the senior laden team gone, the hand full of veterans simply could not cover the freshmen mistakes.

Perhaps these girls were not as mature as some of the earlier recruiting classes or they just never gelled. Whatever the problem they took some lumps. The good news is the core of the team returns including Jackie Trania and Leslie Jury both pitchers played well, though Traina was off last year�s pace. The loss of Kayla Braud, Keima Davis and Courtney Conley will hurt but they are not insurmountable. The good news is the freshman now know what it takes to win in the big leagues.

The baseball team improved this season finishing with an overall winning record and just two games short of a winning record in the SEC. Last year the Tide lost 13 more games than they won and finished 9-21 in the SEC. By any measure this was improvement. Last year they had hitting and no pitching. This year they had a fairly good balance. They were not great but the improvement was there.

This year the Tide made some noise in the SEC tournament and won a game in the NCAA�s, an opportunity they did not get last year. Two freshmen garnered All American honors and the roster, if everyone returns, should allow the Tide to continue the improvement that got underway this season. At least this year they ended the season with a winning record against Auburn. That counts for something. It would be really nice if they could beat them, just once, in Montgomery. Losing that game is getting old.

Next year these ball clubs should show marked improvement. Don�t look for either to win an SEC or national title but look for them to make noise on both counts.

Roll Tide

Here comes 2013

I think Nick Saban wants to create a defense that can consistently stop the no huddle spread offense. Just to prove to himself and everybody else that it can be done. He gained a lot of notoriety by suggesting that the no huddle should be slowed down for safety reasons. If he and Kirby Smart can gather the players and the scheme to stop the no huddle, it will quiet the critics.

The offense in Tuscaloosa is capable of scoring points in bunches in 2013. Even with the loss of two first round draft choices from the offense line and an All SEC center, the offense should be just fine. It might take a few games for the line to gel, but they'll get the job done.

Beating Texas A&M. The players by now have all heard the �what does the moon and Texas A&M have in common� jokes. Last year they got caught in a trap game and did not adjust to the speed of A&M until the second quarter, by then they were three touchdowns down and in the end they still almost pulled it out. A&M flat out embarrassed them last year there will be motivation for that game.

Can the Tide go where no one has gone before except Minnesota? The last team to win three titles in a row was the Golden Gophers in the 1930s, that been a while. No one has done it in the modern era. I suspect Saban would like to do it just to prove his process will work. Again, if his players are not buying that line that Saban is selling nothing matters if they are it can happen.

Everybody on the Tide�s schedule will be gunning for them. It has been pointed out ad nauseam that Alabama�s schedule is light weight and tailor made for a title run. That�s the kind of thinking that leads to 10-3 finishes. If the players believe they�ll blow through their schedule, they will stumble and stumble badly. They will be up for Virginia Tech, because it�s the first game of the year and A&M because of last year, but after that they will have to find motivation in the end game.

Is chasing history enough? For Saban this year could be a lifetime defining moment. Winning three in a row would put him on the same plane as the Bear. It will redefine Alabama football. Seriously it would, it would change everything. If the nation has SEC fatigue now, think what that would do. Next would come chasing four in a row�seriously rarified air.

But let�s not get ahead of ourselves. That�s all in the future, wait until fall camp opens and gage Saban�s mood. If he is ranting and raving about entitlement it could be a long season or at least a lost season � nothing short of a complete meltdown will keep them from winning ten games, however we all know that winning only ten games would be a lost season. Yes, that�s what Nick Saban has done at Alabama the bar has been raised back to where Bear had it and that�s a good thing.

Roll Tide

Peace, Love and Football

Media Days means it�s the unofficial beginning of the college football season in the SEC. I won�t be in Birmingham for this star studded event. But in my heart of hearts, as overwhelmed as I am with my day to day existence and believe me that�s the case, Media Days offers the hope the knowledge that football, real football is not far away. That means I have something to look forward to that will be a welcome relief from the day to day drudgery.

The storylines at Media Days are numerous and there many much more talented writers who have and will enumerate those for you. For me the sheer joy that Media Days has arrived and that eclipses everything else. Summer�s far from over, it�ll still be hot and none of the political brewhaha that has been taking place in the SEC country is gonna change but football season kicks off in less than 60 days. And as someone once said �. . . and the world will be a better place for you and me just wait and seeeeee . . . .� Well it�s a salve anyway I know I�ll feel better.

Peace out and Roll Tide y�all

Saban vs. Bryant

Saban always likes to mention looking at some team�s body of work. He usually means his and he�s usually speaking toward the end of the season and if you are going to compare Paul Bryant and Nick Saban you should examine their body of work.

� There�s no doubt that what Nick Saban has done in short time in Tuscaloosa is remarkable. You do tend to forget that in his first year he lost to Louisiana Monroe. Leaving Les Miles to say something like Nick couldn�t beat any team in Louisiana. It happened; there were billboards in Louisiana.

� Saban�s been called the most powerful man in sports. That�s probably true. Much has been made about how Saban and Bryant coached in different eras and that Saban is working under scholarship limits and Bryant never had to deal with that or the nuclear arms race that the SEC has become.

� Bryant did not have to play the same game that Nick�s playing, but he did have to play in the time in which he lived and one of Bryant�s heydays, there were two, was in the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement. During that time frame Alabama played all of its big games in Birmingham, which at the time, was best known for Bull Conner and police dogs and fire hoses. It was not the best of times for the Deep South.

� If you lived in Alabama during that time frame and I did, you know that there was very little positive news about Alabama nationally. The only glimmer of positive news came from the exploits of the Crimson Tide. Bryant did not enter the fray of desegregation. He did not stand on a podium with George Wallace, which no doubt he could have.

� As the 1960s became the 1970s Bryant used his power for good. Make no mistake about it, Paul Bryant was one of the, if not the, most influential men in the state of Alabama, if not the South. There�s an apocryphal story of Coach Bryant bringing Sam Cunningham to the Alabama locker room after USC waxed the Tide in Birmingham and telling his team �That�s a football player� or some such. The next year the Crimson Tide integrated and that changed everything.

� There might be people in Alabama that don�t think that�s a good thing and there�s no point in beating that horse. It was a good thing. It was going to happen, but Bryant didn�t wait until the administration or the federal government insisted he do it he went ahead and did it; maybe later than he should have, but he did. As a result today there are many black men who played for Bryant who sing his praises.

� Nick Saban has Nick�s Kids and he and his wife do a great deal of charity work. He was a leader when the tornado hit Tuscaloosa. You can�t take anything away from him on that front. But that�s not social change. And what you may ask does that have to do with football? Everything and nothing is the short answer.

� Bryant casts a long shadow. His son is a major player in the world of Civil War battlefield preservation and one of his granddaughters works in the world of historic preservation. That is giving back. Bryant�s shadow might be loosing some of its reach. Players and fans today might not know who he is or might not know what he did, but if you grew up in Alabama in the 1960s and 70s you do. That�s why I�m not ready to shove Bear aside and place Nick Saban on the top of the pantheon of Alabama football coaches.

� As Nick would say you really have to look at the whole body of work.

The Rules

These are not new rules that have been recently established to ensnare poor little rich kids who need new rims for their fancy cars. You might remember that Ohio State didn�t make a bowl last year because of these very same rules.

They may be stupid rules, but they are the rules. If Johnny Manziel did what he is alleged to have done he knowingly broke NCAA guidelines. There�s no excuse for that. He knew better or he should have known better.

I�ve got no problem with the kid running wild all summer. He�s a kid, he got famous and he was cashing in. He may have just taken it a step too far and that�s bad on him. I mean underage drinking and what not is one thing, breaking stated NCAA rules while you are a D-I football player, which is what made you famous in the first place, is something else altogether.

As Walter Sobchak said in the Big Lebowski �Doesn�t anyone one give a f#$% about the rules?� You may not but I fear they are the rules.

�

Three in a row

Keep in mind that until last year no starting quarterback had won two consecutive BCS titles that was historic, as was winning three of the last four BCS titles. The thing about predicting college football is that there are simply too many variables. Weather, timing, injuries, and the players themselves; how are they going to react to the circumstances?

� It all just feels iffy and to some degree impossible. Did luck factor into the last couple of titles? To some extent yes, Alabama lost a game during the season, but managed to get back into the race after other teams also lost games. Was that luck � probably. Can that lucky streak continue � possibly, but the law of averages just seem to be against that.

� The new flashy pick to beat the Tide this season is LSU. Written off in the summer the Bayou Bengals have been resurrected as the team that can knock off Alabama in that vulnerable month of November. Could be, could be it�s an interesting call. The game�s in Tuscaloosa and that where they�ve lost the last bunch of big games � think Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M. So is it history or a trend and might it keep Nick Saban up? Or it just might be the way the schedule played out � you got me. I doubt if much keeps Nick Saban up especially worrying about November in August.

� Plus there�s this: Alabama made the cover of Sports Illustrated. I got an email from some guy at SI asking me to mention it in my blog. So I did. Do I get a coffee mug? You know getting the cover of Sports Illustrated is the kiss of death. It just all has a bad feeling about it. The stars lining up against the Tide, if one was superstitious there could be stuff to worry about. I�m touching my rabbit�s foot and knocking on wood. There lots to be negative about. Then there�s the �process� perhaps that�s what Alabama�s got that nobody else has. The cool thing is that soon, very soon we�ll get to find out what this team is made of and if they have what it takes to win three BCS championships in a row.

� Roll Tide!

Game Week

On Monday everything changed as coaches and players got on their game faces and began preparation for the season. Conditioning is over hopefully all of the hype from the off-season is over as game week is underway. It�s a new season and a new team and as we all know nobody is defending the national championship. This team hasn�t won anything � yet.

� That�s the script; expect Nick Saban and his charges to stick to it even if things go south. It seems unlikely that things will go south, but hey stuff happens. This team has been nurtured on winning. The players were recruited to come in and help keep the team winning. Though winning is not the goal. Playing to the best of their abilities is the goal and winning will follow that. Watching that play out is what the Alabama fan has waited for all summer and it is almost time to watch it unfold.

� Saban likes these marquis non-conference games to start off the season. On paper this one should be a laugher. That�s the good news. The bad news is that the Virginia Tech players have been hearing that stuff all summer and they are no doubt very sick of hearing how good Alabama is and how they will steamroll them on the way to their third national championship.

� This game will be more competitive than people think. The Alabama offensive line is a question mark. Until they see some game action and get their chemistry all settled down they will remain one. Without a solid running game, McCarron cannot throw those play action passes to the much ballyhooed wide outs. If Tech can force the Tide into passing situations and make them one dimensional it will force them to play left handed, which is not a good thing.

� The other side of the coin is that Tech must be able to move the ball on Alabama. Even if they can make the Tide one dimensional it seems very unlikely that they�ll be able to move the ball consistently against Alabama. Look for the Hokies to play up tempo and get the Tide defense out of its comfort zone. Look for the Tide defense to have adapted to the up tempo offense and make adjustments on the fly and take advantage of whatever the substitution rules allow. The up tempo thing was a bugaboo last year and everybody tried to make hay with it. Do you really think Team Saban didn�t make adjustments over the off season?

� Alabama is a 19.5 point favorite. They�ll win this game. They�ll try to win with a minimum of the playbook saving their best stuff for the game with A&M in two weeks. Look for the Tide to come out running and Tech may well stop them the first couple of series, then talent on field adjustments will kick in. I don�t know if they�ll cover the spread but they will come out of Atlanta with a win.

� Roll Tide

Forget 3-Peat Just No Repeat

The Tide looked like a team breaking in a bunch of new players. If you can�t run the ball the play action pass just won�t work. That was painfully obvious tonight. Christon Jones put on a show and it was a real good thing he was on the Tide�s team tonight or it would have been a whole different story.

� Amari Cooper must have dropped four passes tonight, very uncharacteristic for him, but then the whole game was very uncharacteristic. Maybe Virginia Tech just played lights out, maybe Alabama just didn�t come ready to play for whatever reason it was one of poorer offensive performances by Alabama team in the Nick Saban era. The whole team didn't break 100 yards rushing.

� They won the game handily, but they didn�t dominate the game. It was a statistical nightmare. The team looked very much like the 2008 or 2009 team, except they couldn�t run the ball. The main issue as far as I can tell was consistency, there simply was none offensively.

� The old adage is a team makes the most improvement between the first and second game. Let�s hope that�s true otherwise Texas A&M will run them out of College Station. The good news is A&M gave up 31 points to Rice. Alabama is probably, offensively, as good as Rice, so we�ll see how it goes.

� It was a win. It wasn�t pretty, but that is what it was. Let�s take the win. Take a week off and try again.

� Roll Tide

The Debris of Week Two

Looking back on last week what did we learn? We learned Florida was overrated. I know they�re and SEC team and all but I just never bought they were all that good and I guess Miami might have proved that. They have a pretty good defense but they still don�t have a quarterback and that I just don�t understand.

� Speaking overrated � did anybody see Texas vs. Brigham Young? Pitiful, Texas fired their defensive coordinator, well they had to do something the Longhorns looked awful. Keep in mind that BYU lost to Virginia who was mercilessly hammered by Oregon this weekend.

� Kentucky and Tennessee both won. I don�t think that�s necessarily an omen of things to come, especially from the Wildcats. The Vols might win a few more, but they still have a suspect defense and UK well, they�re suspect all the way around. But winning is good.

� If Notre Dame�s quarterback doesn�t learn to make better decisions with the ball it could be a long season for them as well. That would be awful. Michigan on the other hand might give Ohio State a run for its money.

� This is the next big week of the season for the Crimson Tide. It�s time to face Johnny Football once again. He�s the man who rained on the Tide�s parade last year. He and the Aggies came into Tuscaloosa and embarrassed Alabama. They were up three scores before anybody got that first beer down. That's just not right. After that he and A&M were held in check, but the damage had been done.

� The Aggies are about as fired up as any team and nation can be for this game. If they whip Alabama a second time they get to claim all sorts of stuff and create a brand new rivalry. That could happen. People tend to underestimate the importance of offensive line play and against Virginia Tech the Tide�s line did not play well.

� The good news is Texas A&M�s defense has been shaky. They game up 31 points to Rice and 28 to Sam Houston State, well only 21, the other was an interception return. The folks in College Station say that�ll get fixed this week when all of the suspended players will be back in the lineup. That�s good you want to play a team at full strength. That way there�s no asterisk.

� The Tide offense was supposed to be the strength of this year�s team. So far it has not been. For Alabama to play its game it has to be able to run the ball. Play action only works if there�s a legitimate threat of the run. Without that there�s lots of scrambling and sacks and none of that is good. All of which comes back to the offensive line. The good news is that teams are supposed to make their biggest improvements between the first and second game. Here�s conventional wisdom.

� Roll Tide

Game Two . . . at last!

It seems to me that anybody that watched the Virginia Tech game saw a team that was breaking in new players, was rusty and off its feed. Everybody saw that and many people wrote or spoke about it and shoot the players and the coaches even kinda, sorta noticed it.

� Now I must admit that I did not see either of the Texas A&M games. I saw Johnny's highlights, but I can�t say how they looked with any authority. Though, it does seem that they game up a lot or yards on the ground and a lot of points. They also gained a bunch of yards and scored a bunch of points.

� So what are we supposed to glean from the three games that the two teams that are squaring off in College Station have played? We should note that several starters from A&M�s offence and defense did not participate in one or both of the aforementioned games. It has been said that having those guys back will make a difference. The Tide was also missing one defensive player and another will be out this week with an injury. It�s unlikely that A&M showed their entire hand over the last couple of weeks. Their coach has said they have been very vanilla on defense. Alabama has to be better on offense than they were against Virginia Tech or it will be a very long season.

� Those people who seem to be in the know think the Tide will show up and win by just over a touchdown. I�m assuming that they, those smart people who know stuff, believe that Alabama will score more points than A&M and thus win the contest. That�s the key to winning after all. Alabama will not completely shut down A&M because the way Manziel plays it opens the door for breakdowns and opportunities on the Aggies part. That will most likely happen. They�ll score some points.

� The trick is keeping the ball, burning clock and scoring points. Last year, Alabama couldn�t buy a first down in the first quarter and A&M ran roughshod over the Tide defense. The last three quarters were a different story, but by then the damage had been done, though there were still opportunities to win the game. It was just a case of A&M being the perfect storm. These are different teams, though A&M has Manziel, and frankly without him this game is no big deal.

� It�s my belief that the Alabama offensive line was embarrassed by their performance in Atlanta. The players have talent and simply have to be able to get their communication down in order to complete their assignments and playing winning football. It will be very loud at Kyle Field, which won't help with communications. However, if Alabama opens with a good long sustained drive, it will quiet the crowd. The Tide will do just that they'll establish the run and then they'll unleash their passing game on an Aggie secondary that has been suspect. The Tide will score and the special teams will help with field position and points as needed.

� Johnny Manziel will make plays and they will score several times. However, Alabama will score more and it will play disciplined on defense and get some turnovers. My best guess: Alabama 35 Texas A&M 21

� Roll Tide

Hats Off

What a game. These sorts of games are great � when you win. The Tide came out on top of this one. It was closer than it needed to be, but stuff happens. Yeldon has now fumbled twice in critical situations against A&M. He will learn from this and Alabama can continue to move forward.

� Hold on it�s going to be a heck of a year!

� Roll Tide Y�all!

They were great . . . the Tide was better

Let�s talk defense for a moment. OK let�s say the secondary was exposed. It sounds like there were a bunch of missed assignments, which are fixable. It also sounds like there will be consequences for those actions in terms of playing time. One thing to keep in mind, if there had been a mere mortal playing quarterback at Kyle Field there would have been some differences.

� There would have been more sacks and pressures, which would have taken some of the load off the secondary. There are not a whole lot of quarterbacks who could have escaped the way Manziel did. Seriously, that�s a significant issue. One that will not be repeated this year.

� The run defense was adequate. A&M got some yards, but nearly 100 of those yards was Manziel, see above. Neither Ole Miss nor Auburn will get those kind of rushing numbers with their quarterback, it just will not happen.

� There is need for improvement. The secondary looked confused and slow, it should not. Losing Belue did not help matters and will not help matters. However, there is talent in the waiting and it might be time to see some of those guys. I suspect a great many younger players will get a chance this weekend.

� All is not lost the season is just under way and a very big hurdle has been cleared. The home opener is a good opportunity to challenge younger players and further test the offense.

� Roll Tide

Ram Tough?

Not to belittle the CSU program, but they are in over their heads. The good news for them is that Alabama just came off an emotionally draining game against Texas A&M. The bad news for them is that Alabama�s defense was lit up by the Aggies. Today it will be looking for redemption.

� Colorado State will hang tough for a while, but eventually Alabama�s depth, size and speed differential will take its toll. You can look for a shake up in the secondary � Saban will try different combinations today to try and find a combination with good chemistry.

� Long story short � the Tide cannot afford to overlook CSU and I don�t think they will. Though there will still be a hangover from the A&M game Alabama will come out and take care of business this evening in Tuscaloosa. My best guess Alabama 42 CSU 3.

� Roll Tide

Sleep Walking

Well, these things happen and Alabama came out 25 points ahead. It was the classic trap game. Colorado State played lights out on defense and Bama yawned throughout most of the night. Once again a team without an identity demonstrated how really uncool that can be.

� Next week brings Ole Miss and you�ll hear how Alabmaa can�t cover anybody. Expect a much better team to show up a week from now. Go to bed or grab a beer.

� Roll Tide

Sleepwalking

Well, these things happen and Alabama came out 25 points ahead. It was the classic trap game. Colorado State played lights out on defense and Bama yawned throughout most of the night. Once again a team without an identity demonstrated how really uncool that can be.

� Next week brings Ole Miss and you�ll hear how Alabmaa can�t cover anybody. Expect a much better team to show up a week from now. Go to bed or grab a beer.

� Roll Tide

Take a Deep Breath

They looked out of sync, they didn�t finish drives and the defense has looked better, but they won by 25 points. CSU never really threatened in the game. The Tide just never got it in gear. They scored in spurts and took the third quarter off. It happens. These are teenagers and 20 something years old boys. Trust me no matter what they say they read the paper, watch ESPN and peek at the internet. They knew the scoop. So just calm down.

� Could they loose a game this year � yes. Did they loose a lot of talent � yes. There�s a whole lot of talent, but its raw. As hard as it is to say this, they�ll be better next year and honestly, by the end of October they�ll be better. Will that be too late to win the national championship � who knows? Ole Miss will be a tough test, which is frankly what they need. This team needs to be pushed. Many Tide teams have played down to their competition, this might be one of them. Gene Stallings teams always did.

� What�s going on with the defense? The same thing that�s going on with the offense � new players trying to get the whole system and communication down. It complex stuff � it ain�t I�m the biggest, fastest guy like in high school. Saban�s system is hard to grasp � it might take a while. It might be too late before the light comes on � in terms of an undefeated season. Then again maybe not. We�ll know more Saturday night.

� Take a walk. Play with the kids. Think about the annual bird migration. Take up needle point. It�s going to be OK.

� Roll Tide

Rebels with a Cause

The Ole Miss Rebels have looked good and gained confidence in their three wins against and FCS school, a questionable Vanderbilt team and a reeling Texas team. Regardless, they continue to win and are convinced they can take on the best.

� The Tide has beat a Virginia Tech team with a very good defense by 25 points, won a shoot-out with a Texas A&M team with a great offense and a questionable defense and beat a bad Colorado State team by 25 points without breaking a sweat � unless you count Nick Saban�s.

� So what gives? Last week Alabama was plagued with youth and injuries. They have been beaten up by the press and their fans and it might be getting to them, rattling their confidence. It might also get them a little fired up. The veteran players are most likely highly agitated. That�s good. The Crimson Tide needs a game where they can prove they should be in the national championship hunt. This could be that game.

� Saban is looking for a corner to play opposite of Belue � he mixed and matched them against CSU. If over the last week in practice he found what he was looking for; that combination will be on display this afternoon. Expect a few glitches. Youth will do that.

� If that combination has been achieved or gets achieved this weekend the next few weeks will allow that player to refine his skills and Alabama�s defense to regain its form. The Tide has the players it just doesn�t have the experience.

� The offensive line has Anthony Steen back and that should help with the offensive cohesion. Look for the Tide to try and establish the run early and for Ole Miss to stack the box and try and make them throw. Honestly, I think they�ll be able to do both before the game is over. This is a redemption game for the Tide and they are looking to quiet the critics and regain stability.

� Ole Miss will score some points. They scored some last year on a very good Tide defense. Alabama 27 Ole Miss 17.

� Roll Tide

Bama delivers

Maybe the defense has got t in gear. In the second half the offensive line improved as did the Tide�s rushing numbers. It wasn�t a beautiful game, but it was the kind of hard nosed football that Tide fans have gotten used to. This is the kind of game that a team can grow from.

� Roll Tide

Why do they play these games?

It�s fairly senseless to produce a prediction for this game � Alabama will win. They�ll either win big or win really big. It just depends on if they show up or not and given the last four weeks and the brew ha ha this week; I pretty much expect them to show up.

� Good for them bad for GSU. These are the kind of games that just make you wonder. For instance why�s this game being televised and the AU-Ole Miss game is not? Honestly, which will be the better game? We�ll watch this game, sure but unless something really unbelievable happens it will not be much of a contest.

� The suspensions on the Alabama team are getting to be troubling. This last one, in a way is less troubling and at the same time more troubling. Don�t you really think an assistant coach should know better than that? Why is he still employed by the University? The kid knew better too so what gives? He needed new shoes and speakers? It is all beginning to have that 1990s aroma about it and that got bad.

� No doubt Saban runs a tight ship, but has the boat begun to leak? The DUI earlier you can chalk up to youth. We don�t know why DePriest was suspended but it seems to have been less egregious that Clinton-Dix. What we know is that the darned entitlement bug has wormed its way onto the Alabama roster and it shows no signs of abatement.

� Not playing to a standard, not getting better and not doing what we are supposed to has been Saban�s mantra this year. He�s been a broken record on that. There has to be a reason. The athletes he�s recruiting are the best of the best, which most likely means they were coddled and praised and given perks in high school. Come on we�ve all been there and seen that. Only now we have high school football games on TV and high school football players hold press conferences when they announce where they are going to college.

� It�s the culture in which we live. It�s not your father�s football. We are in an age where school colors mean nothing. Everybody wants to wear black and this year everybody is wearing gray. It might make things easier if everybody just changed their school colors to black or gray or let Nike or whoever just let the team know what their colors will be this year � but I digress.

� There should be some pretty good games this weekend � unfortunately Alabama is not playing in one of them. Alabama 35 GSU 6.

� Roll Tide!

So now football is rocket science?

Just mentioning including a � gasp � woman on the selection committee and many of the men around the country have pitched hissy fits. They have accused Ms. Rice, of knowing nothing about football except what someone has told her. Others have chimed in that you can�t know football unless your played it and you can�t evaluate it unless you�ve coached it. Oh my God!

� Well, I reckon that pretty much shortens the list of available pickers to ex-football players and ex-coaches. I beg a question here what about those football coaches who never played football. The hell you say! The hell I do say. Dennis Farnchione never played football � I�m not suggesting that he be included. I�m just asking if that would exclude him? Same for Mike Leach? I�m just asking.

� Does this exclude all of the journalists both print and on air who did not play the game? Did Paul Finebaum play football? Would it exclude him? I mean come on. The only way one can understand football is if you have played it. OK if so, played it at what level � does one have to have played peewee, high school, college, or pro? If college is there a cutoff � I mean does someone who played NAIA count?

� The pool of pickers will not include hardcore fans who have been watching and evaluating the sport for decades. Obviously, these people know nothing. Should those same people continue to watch the game since we have learned they know nothing about it. Maybe they should stop. That�s right just stop spending $75 bucks for seats or buying cable and satellite packages just so they can sit blissfully in their ignorance, drooling into their beer and baloney sandwiches scratching themselves.

� Don�t you just freaking love snobs! Well, here�s to good ole boy snobbery � that�s gonna take us far. I reckon we�ll have to call these guys up and make them explain cover two or better yet offensive pass interference. Lighten up guys it�s after all only a game and lots of people like it � even if we can never understand it.

� I guess that�s what the problem has been all of these years. These non-jocks picking the national champions. Yup, that was the problem. We are all so happy that ESPN pointed that out to us endlessly until they finally got the playoff they wanted and on their network, go figure. So it can all be decided on the field. Played by teams that are picked by guys who understand football. Yeah � and free speech equals having buckets of money.

� Meet the new boss � same as the old boss.

� Roll Tide - y�all

Rolling into the Bluegrass

Oh yeah, there�s a football game on too. Funny, thing the game is not sold out. However, the first basketball practice, which takes place after midnight at Rupp Arena for which tickets were free is sold out and tickets are going for $150. If you don�t have a ticket to the football game don�t worry there�ll be plenty.

� Well, the Tide looked great last week, but then again they should have given the competition. I am still waiting for a complete game. This game is one that could be interesting. Kentucky's starting quarterback, Jalon Whitlow, is from Prattville and Alabama was never interested in him. He�s not a bad quarterback for the UK system and he�ll have a chip on his shoulder. The Tide just cannot over look a game like this. Thing is there�s no buzz. The national media have pretty much written it off as a W and that can be bad.

� The thing is the Tide should win and they really shouldn�t have any problems, but that�s why they play the games. These guys scored 21 points on South Carolina in the fourth quarter to make a game out of it. Their win-loss record is nothing to write home about, but they�ve actually gotten better every week. Knocking off the Tide would legitimize the program and the new regime.

� All that said I just don�t see it. The Tide seems to be coming into its own. The defense is beginning to gel and the offense, especially the line, has begun to make some very good progress. This is a good opportunity for a break out game for some players who have been flying under the radar. This might be the game where Amari Cooper and T.J. Yeldon finally get it together and take over a game.

� Here�s what I think. The Wildcats come out and throw everything they have at the Crimson Tide in the first quarter. I'm talking trick plays, fake punts and an onsides kick. Alabama weathers the storm and wins number six. Alabama 35 UK 10.

� Roll Tide

Having Fun at the Game

Last weekend I wandered down to downtown Lexington to see if I could find a ticket and grab a ride to the stadium. Well, I ran into several groups of Alabama and UK fans who were out having fun. I met into this mixed group who were about to grab a cab when I told them about the shuttle bus to the stadium and back. I had a great time talking with a man from Greensboro who was up at the game with two friends who were UK fans.

� I bought a ticket on the street. Got a great seat, well, it was on the 25 yard line, not the 50 as I was promised, which I kinda sorta knew when I bought it. But I couldn�t have gotten a better seat. I was next to this family from Birmingham who had moved to Louisville and were all Alabama fans. Behind me were a bunch of college students from UK who were ribbing us and telling us that UK would win 24-20. At the half when Alabama was up 24-0 they said it would only change their prediction a little. Next to me was a Dad and two sons, I think they were probably in high school, nice kids � all UK fans.

� Well, we all got to know each other had a good time going back and forth and I think we gained mutual respect for each other and shook hands and said nice to have met you in the end. All in all it was a great experience. Honestly, I have been going to games at Commonwealth Stadium since 1990. I was at the renewal of the UK-Louisville series and I have never heard that stadium as loud as it was in the first quarter of the Alabama game.

� The game played out well for Alabama � the Tide still has a ways to go to get where they need to be but as the night went on they got better and imposed their will on UK. That�s what should have happened and that�s what did happen. The Wildcats never gave up they were simply beaten by a much better team. Better days are ahead for them, though it might be a year or two down the line.

� This week Alabama is playing another game that no one is talking about. One they are supposed to win and one they should win. Will they? I think so but more about that later.

� Roll Tide!

Hogs but no buzz

This is throw back football, two teams that can play a pro set � with run first mentality. The Hogs started off hot and have cooled down lately, last week they were spanked at homecoming by South Carolina. That should bring some annoyed Hogs to T-town.

� Alabama played a weird game at Kentucky. They uncharacteristically turned the ball over, fumbling twice in the red zone; they dropped passes, and were just plain discombobulated in the first quarter, though the drops continued throughout the game. After a while they got it together and pretty much took care of business in the proper fashion.

� The Hogs will arrive in Tuscaloosa with a chip on their shoulder and a lot to prove. The Razorbacks will do their best to establish the line of scrimmage and impose their will on the Crimson Tide defense. Look for a heavy dose of running from Arkansas with some play action passes thrown in to keep the Bama D honest.

� This should be a good test to see if Alabama remembers how to play their base defense. I have a sneaking suspicion that they have that down. It�s kind of like riding a bicycle � once you�ve done it you pretty much never forget. Arkansas will get some yards on the ground. Unfortunately, I really don�t think they�ll score a lot of points. I�m guessing Alabama 42 Arkansas 3

� Roll Tide

Hog Wash

The Tide spent most of the second half just trying to run out the clock and keep the Hogs off the board. Hand it to the Hogs they never quit. They fought to the end they just were out manned. For Alabama they ran their record to 7-0 and avoided the upset bug that was running around the SEC.

� Next week is another week. Tennessee will be red hot after knocking off South Carolina. Here hoping the Tide keeps on keeping on.

� Roll Tide

That Saturday in October

The Vols upset of South Carolina breathed some life back into what has been a one sided series the last few years. The Vols refused to even mention the Crimson Tide this week referring to them as �the red team.� Creating more buzz this week after three weeks of nothing.

� That�s a good thing the players need incentive to keep pushing for the ring at the end of the year. The improvements in the UT squad have been evident as they�ve played solid football after being routed in Oregon. Solid performances, especially the last two weeks, mean optimism is high in Knoxville. Can those guys come into Bryant-Denny and take back the series and totally turn the SEC upside down?

� In the humble opinion of this writer � no; they have played better but so has the Tide. Since giving up 42 points to Texas A&M only 16 points have been scored on Alabama�s defense. The Crimson Tide has taken care of business of late and that trend should continue this week.

� UT will bring it�s A game, which will likely be better than Kentucky�s or Arkansas�s. That simply will not be enough. The Volunteers will hang with Alabama for a half but the pressure of the Alabama running game and their defense will, in the end, prove too much for Tennessee.

� One other piece of business this morning, much has been written about Nick Saban�s rant on students leaving the stadium early. The problem isn�t necessarily students it�s the particular students that are in the stadium. In its infinite wisdom, the University and/or the SGA allow block seating. Which means that the greeks get blocks of seats. At Ole Miss that was abolished and I don�t think the mass exodus was nearly as noticeable. Many students don�t bother to get tickets to games because the good seats are taken. Saban might, just might, eliminate this travesty and return first come first served seating to U of A.

� Perhaps a better solution would be assigned seating in the student section. Pick up a ticket get a seat with no block for any organization. It would also open the games to the larger University population. My that would be a breath of fresh air. I reckon time will tell.

� As for the game my guess is Alabama 38 UT 10.

� Roll Tide

Seven in a row

Giving up the touchdown is a pride thing. Yeah, they got a touchdown but it was way after the thing was decided. The Tide does seem to be getting better. The LSU game will likely answer lots of questions. Like how good is an Alabama defense with one cornerback? With luck the Tide could be healed when the Bayou Bengals come to town and have two. LSU should be a good one.

� The Tide�s now 8-0 and can go to a good bowl game � though of course their sights are set on THE bowl game. So stay tuned sports fans to see how all of this comes out.

� Roll Tide

The Last Time

Nick Saban has only had one undefeated team � the 2009 champions. This team has the opportunity of becoming the second. If the 2013 Alabama team accomplishes that feat it will win Alabama�s third consecutive and 16th national championship, second straight SEC championship and become the first team in the poll era � since Minnesota in the 1930s to win three consecutive national championships.

� Not to get ahead of ourselves here � there are games left to play. LSU will be the biggest challenge since Texas A&M. LSU has more muscle and a much more diverse offense and a solid defense. This will not be a 45-3 blowout. Both teams will be coming off a bye and both want to win and both feel they have something to prove.

� All the Tide has to do to get to the SEC championship game and the BCS National Championship game is to keep winning � and the rest will take care of itself.

Roll Tide

The Game Tomorrow

Well, the Hatter and his purple gang are back in T-Town for a tilt against Nick�s pedigree pachyderms. There will be epic tailgating before the game � chow like you just simply won�t believe and maybe a few adult beverages. The crowd will do its part to get in the mood for an evening game on a beautiful fall night in Alabama.

� So you might ask, what will happen? Will this be a field goal kicking slugfest? Will the two handsome and talented quarterbacks fling it all over the lot? Who will take control and how will this game end? Oh please do tell.

� Well, I don�t think they�ll be a lot of slinging, except in a very controlled fashion. Unless, somebody gets behind and simply must score a bunch of points. Will there be tricks you ask? Well, Halloween is over and as the rabbit says �Tricks are for kids.� So yeah, there will likely be a couple of tricks. The odd play or another to try and befuddle one staff and/or team.

� I fear however, tricks alone will not win this game. This is a manly game, played by manly men all wearing their big boy pants. Look for the large people on each team to try and establish dominance. Look for the team in red or as it's known in Tuscaloosa crimson to make that work. The game will be close and it will be exciting and before it's over there will be R rated words said in front of TVs among the Alabama and LSU faithful.

� In the end however, the Alabama faithful will be happier than those nice folks from LSU. My guess Alabama 37 LSU 21.

� Roll Tide

Domination

It wasn�t supposed to go down like this. It wasn�t supposed to go down like this. It was supposed to be a game of titans and for a half it was. LSU opened the second half with a field goal, but that would finish their night as far as scoring went. Then a tie game turned ugly as Saban pulled off a fake punt and then the Tide drove in for a touchdown. Two long drives later the Tide extended their lead to 21. Game over.

� Those three long drives with power running and timely passing took the fight out of LSU. The Alabama pass rush beat up and then buried Zack Mettenberger as the Tigers were forced into a passing situations. This was perhaps the best game the Crimson Tide has played all season. It was against by far the most physical team they have played all year and though they gave up 17 points and a bunch of yards � when push came to shove they did what needed to be done and moved to 9-0.

� Roll Tide

AJ, CJ, TJ and fans gone wild!

Without AJ, CJ and TJ the Tide would not be where it is right now. An argument could be made that it could get by without TJ, but I don�t think so. When the game was on the line and Saban shifted into domination mode � the veteran sophomore got the ball. The guy he knew wouldn�t fumble the ball in a critical situation. Kenyan Drake may be faster, but he does have a tendency to cough the ball up. TJ has fumbled but at crunch they gave the ball to the guy they trusted. Nick�s big on trust.

� CJ is the guy that makes the defense work and someone Saban would trust with his house, his kids and carrying out a fake punt. You know sports casters are a funny lot. If you watch enough football you come to realize that these guys, and when I say guys I�m using that in the inclusive Midwestern way, have done many games yet often miss the little things they shouldn�t. When Alabama ran the fake punt the CBS crew was astounded. It was so out of character. It seems like they ran one last year against LSU or Georgia. Come on guys get with the program. Saban comes across as a stodgy, conservative guy that doesn�t take risks, but that�s not right. Anyway, I digress. Since CJ has been an every down player he has become a tackling machine and he has seriously made a difference on the Tide defense.

� Now what can one say about AJ. The guy just wins and he does it with so much fair. AJ, well AJ throws a pretty pass. He can audible to get out of trouble and he can run a little. He�s the kind of guy who is not going to lose a game for you. More importantly, he�s the guy when push comes to shove will win a game for you. See LSU last year. He gave Alabama a fighting chance against Texas A&M last year. He threw the interception at the end but the play was shot and it was going nowhere.

� Next year two of the three initial guys will be gone and it will put a big hole in the Alabama team. The heart and soul of the offense and defense will more on. Tide fans will have to adjust to an Alabama without a proven starting quarterback. The defense will adapt, but it might take the offense a while. So enjoy this while you can, seriously enjoy this, it may never come this way again.

� Fans gone wild! You have seriously got to love this. This isn�t fruitcakes killing trees or some other sociopathic endeavors. No we have alcohol related offenses in Alabama and Michigan, go figure, and there�s a connection of sorts. OK, in the early morning hours after the Alabama-LSU game an Alabama fan comes out of a gas station restroom. The guy no doubt had to see a man about a dog � did his business and he�s heading home to crash and burn. Then out of the blue some LSU fans in a black vehicle accost him and taunt him because he�s an Alabama fan. In Tuscaloosa � what are the chances!?! Hey, he could have been an Auburn fan, anything�s possible. But my personal favorite is the Michigan fan who was arrested for DUI. This is also a gas station related incident. The guy was more or less passed out in a gas station parking lot when the police found him. He admitted he had had way too much to drink � his defense Al Borges. He said Al Borges' play calling caused him to drink. Well, I saw the MSU-Michigan game I can believe it. The connection you might ask � Al Borges was at one time the offensive coordinator at Auburn. Hey it�s Thursday.

� Roll Tide!

It Could Happen

This was not a team led by Mike Shula or Mike Dubose no this was a Paul Bryant team that had won the national championship in 1978 and 1979. Alabama lost four fumbles the last as it was driving for what could have won or at least tied the game. Don Jacobs, the Alabama quarterback, was booed the next weekend bringing the ire of Coach Bryant upon the Tide faithful.

� The win by the Emory Bellard�s Bulldogs ended a 28 game winning streak and a streak of 22 straight wins over Mississippi State. The loss dropped the Tide to number six and they would not be ranked number one again for 28 years. Alabama and Mississippi State have a long history and Mississippi State has always played Alabama tough. This is not Paul Bryant�s team seeking history. This is Nick Saban�s Alabama team seeking a historic milestone. Keep in mind that sometimes bad things happen to good people. State could win � it seem unlikely but it could happen.

� This is one of those games where if Alabama goes to sleep and just shows up the Bulldogs could pull off a win of historic, dare I say in the minds of some Tide fans biblical proportions. That said � I don�t think it will happen. Saban has warned them and reminded them of the A&M game of last year. The Tide�s a 25 point favorite and I look for them to cover the spread. My guess Alabama 42 � Mississippi State 10

� Roll Tide

They did play Alabama tough

The Tide did not playing it�s A game, probably its C game, but in the end did enough to pull out a victory. It wasn�t pretty but a win was a win and the Tide will live to play another day with national championship hopes alive. This sets up an Iron Bowl that will decide who plays in the SEC championship.

� Even thought they swore it wouldn�t happen, the LSU hangover struck again. The team, like most fans figured it was a W before they even kicked off. Mississippi State did all they could to take the Tide out of the championship picture, yet despite four turnovers Alabama prevailed due for the most part to their defense. It�s all right the Tide pulled it out and can go back to Tuscaloosa and get ready for Chattanooga.

� Roll Tide

There�s no need to panic

Honestly, I was surprised at all the panic and gnashing of teeth going on out there. Even Kirk McNair of Bama Magazine wrote �An optimist would say it was a good wake-up call game for the Tide and that kinks can be ironed out.� For him that�s pretty telling � the implication being for a pessimist there�s some serious problems. Maybe, I still think it was just a bad game and they were due one.

� Chattanooga comes into Bryant-Denny for the final tune up before the Iron Bowl. What needs to happen to sooth everyone is for the Tide to get a big lead and pull the starters after the first drive of the third quarter. The Mocs are a pretty good FCS opponent and when they don�t have an open date Alabama tends to schedule games like this before Auburn. It�s a game they are supposed to win and given what happened last week there won�t be any silly questions about resting the starters.

� The Mississippi State game was not pretty � except for a couple of drives Alabama never looked dominant, but they never seemed in jeopardy either. It was a clunker, it could have been worse it could have come at A&M or LSU. It did not. As long as the rust is off by November 30 just let it slide. They won they�re 10-0. Seriously It could be worse, much worse.

� If they come out Saturday and fool around with Chattanooga, then it might be time to ask what the heck�s going on here, but that simply does not seem like what will happen. The boys were embarrassed in Starkville and the Moc�s get to face them next. I don�t envy them that task. Alabama will score a bunch of points, take care of business and get out of Dodge.

� Roll Tide

Senior Day

It�s not the end of these guys careers, but it is the end of something and for that there will be emotion and pride. Parents, friends and family will be on hand to give them a proper send off. Next week is next week and that bridge will be burned when we get there. Until then revel in the joy that is the final home game for these guys who have made this team special. In fact give a great big cheer for all the seniors.

� The Tide will win the game and they will do it looking sharp and crisp, at least until the first and most likely the second string comes out. Last weekend was not a good showing. This weekend will be � time to get back to business for the stretch run.

� My guess here Alabama 48 UTC 3

� Roll Tide

Auburn

So where are we and what�s out there. The good news is the game is in Auburn. Since the game switched to home and home the Tide has done better on the Plains than at home, though that�s changing and this particular Alabama team does really well on the road. The only games they�ve lost the last two years have been at home.

� There�s that � when this game comes around I get weird. I think �I don�t want to jinx them.� The Nictator would tell that�s silly and that what has happened in the past is over and nothing I can do will affect the game. Which is all well and good for Nick Saban to say or think, first of all I�m sure he believes it but that doesn�t really help me and lots of you out there who have rituals that simply must be followed when we roll into the Auburn game.

� My head is full of clutter. I am not focused and the whole what if and what could happen and how would I feel are simply part of my wiring and I reckon I�ll just have to live with it. So, be thankful you are an Alabama fan. If you are an alumni be extra thankful � for you�ve been there and well spent some quality time in Tuscaloosa. That�s something special. Be thankful that Nick Saban came to Alabama even though he said he wouldn�t. Oh and those last three National Championships be thankful for those too.

� Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Iron Bowl

This game is why college football, as it currently exists, is so dang great. Next year this game probably won't matter the loser still makes the playoffs. This year though there's no silly playoff just college football the way it was meant to be played, where each game counts. Oh well, I don't run the world and nobody cares about any of that.

  You look back at Auburn's season and you just shake your head. They got lucky with Wazoo and Mississippi State for reasons that I can't fathom quit running the ball giving the Tigers the time they needed to score the winning touchdown. They have pretty much thumped the teams they should have - but that's just it. At the beginning of the season they were not expected to do anything. That's the thing.

  What many people forget is despite the 3-9 season of 2012 is that Auburn recruited well under Chizik. They had good players. In 2012, they went from a spread offense to a pro set with players that were simply ill suited to that offense. After a while they just gave it up. This year new coach, old scheme and they started winning and gain confidence. Once again here we are.

Keep in mind, that one of Chizik's recruiting classes was ranked higher than Alabama's that year. That was a good year and those guys are still hanging around. So what does all that mean, well there's the very real possibility that Auburn could upset Alabama in Jordon-Hare Stadium.

  In 2009 when Malzahn coordinated Chizik's offense the Tigers came within a whisper of beating the Tide at Jordan-Hare. It was the same offense, well mostly, they threw out all the stops and went for broke. Look for that tomorrow. They will run every trick play in the playbook. There will be so much misdirection you'll think you're at a Vegas magic show. The Alabama defensive brain trust know this, I know this, you know this - look for it, it will happen.

  Auburn is more physical than other spread teams. They were built to play in the SEC. However, their defense, which isn't bad, has allowed lots of points and yards this year. Alabama can score points. If this thing comes to a shootout the Tide can hang with Auburn.

  What will happen? Auburn will get an early lead and the crowd will go nuts. You won't be able to hear yourself think in there. That's OK Bama has been there before. Think Texas A&M - that was the most hyped football game this year, before this one. A&M jumped out 14 points and the Tide kept their poise and kept at it. It was way too close for comfort, but it was a win. The Tide can play defense and can stop the run. That'll be the game plan. Make Auburn throw the ball. Alabama can run and throw and they'll do that. Maybe not at first, but they will. My guess on this thing, Alabama 28 Auburn 17.

Roll Tide

The End

One wonders if their hearts will be in whatever bowl game they end up in. Well it�s over now it doesn�t matter. Congratulations to Auburn. The whole country loves you. You did what nobody else has been able to do � stop Alabama and stop the SEC from winning eight straight national titles. I know I�ll be pulling for that Ohio State-FSU game.

� Oh well, the sun will come up tomorrow.

� Roll Tide

Phase III

There are only a handful of Alabama games that have inflicted that much grief on the Tide faithful as that one. For me I think the Punt Bama Punt game against Auburn; the 1973 Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame when they completed a long pass on third down an ran out the clock and this one. The finality of the endings were, so quick and so, well final. There was time left in the "Punt" game and the Sugar Bowl, but it didn�t matter it was over and you knew it. This one was just over.

� Well it�s over but what it cannot erase are the past six seasons. Since 2008 the Alabama Crimson Tide has won three national championships, 72 games and two SEC championships. Numerous players have been drafted into the National Football League and the team has seriously become relevant again. That�s majorly fantastic after wandering in the wilderness of the post-Stallings era.

� The fact that the college football world rejoiced when Alabama was taken down and the scope of the joy in Auburn after the game is more proof of the relevancy of the Alabama football program. As fans and alumni of the University we all have a great deal to be thankful for. There�s nothing anyone can do about the game on November 30. Grin and bear it. They have bragging rights and as Kirk McNair so eloquently put it �They will exercise them.� We had all gotten too fat and sassy. The team had gotten too stressed and tight, trying to meet expectations that were through the roof. Those guys, while they are fantastic football players, are kids. Try to keep that in mind.

� The Tide will play one more game, which provides an opportunity for one of the most successful classes in Alabama football history to go out with a win. Here�s to those guys! Here�s to those seniors! Whatever bowl you go to we�ll be pulling for you.

� Roll Tide

Basketball

UA has never been a basketball power and for the most part that�s OK. Most of the Tide faithful are football fans first and foremost. They are generally happy when the other teams win, but don�t lose a lot of sleep when they don�t. However, basketball is somewhat of a front door sport. It�s on TV and that usually means ESPN and thus it is out there for everyone to see and critique.

� This year there�s the whole glass half-full and glass half-empty scenario. Coach Anthony Grant scheduled some good competition to go along with the easy wins in December. That sort of thing impresses the NCAA selection committee come March. That�s the good news. The bad news is that the Tide didn�t beat any of those teams. It hung with them and never got blown out. In fact, it should have won several of them, but just couldn�t finish the deal.

� So what now? Frankly, I�m clueless, it would seem like the talent to push through and play with the big boys is there, the team just for whatever reason can�t make it happen. Is that coaching? Maybe, somehow the players just don�t perform well in the clutch. They can get a lead they just can�t hold one. It�s early in the season, but if the SEC season goes south, it might be time to take a good long look at the basketball program and see where the problem is and what can be done to fix it.

� Roll Tide

Bowl Game Number 61

Hopefully, the players have gotten over the stunning final at Auburn. It�s simply time to move on. Those are words of wisdom to Alabama players, fans and alumni. It�s over, we lost nothing will change that. Years ago in the 1960s some fellow did an impression of Coach Bryant and recorded at least one album. One of his skits included a game that Alabama lost. In the skit the Coach Bryant talks about watching the game over and over and each time Alabama loses. That�s where we are no amount of replaying will change the outcome and frankly, I don�t get a warm and fuzzy feeling from knowing that if Alabama played Auburn again or played FSU they�d be favored. So, that fantasy, that�s not reality. Life isn�t a cell phone. I�m done let�s move on.

� This will be Alabama�s fourteenth Sugar Bowl. The Tide is playing a quality opponent and a win would make us all feel much better. It won�t make those Auburn folks stop talking but it will be something that we can talk about that�s positive. Alabama opened a 16 point favorite and they have the horses to win the game. It will come down if the Tide shows up ready to play; ready to get the taste of victory back in their mouths.

� Only right guard Anthony Steen will be out from the starting lineup in this game. The first part of the bowl practices were devoted to training and finding a replacement. Don�t fret the O-line should be OK. Oklahoma has had a decent season and is a good team. The Sooners now run a 3-4 defense they learned from the Tide coaching staff. I�m sure it�s somewhat different, but the Alabama offense should be familiar with it.

� Oklahoma ended their season on a high note besting their arch-rival Oklahoma State in the annual Bedlam Game. That will bring the Sooners into the Big Easy on a high note. Oklahoma has the opportunity to take a swipe at that SEC propaganda that Bob Stoops hates. If the Sooners can knock off the Tide it will add to the Sooners mystic while further tarnishing the Tide�s already dampened season.

� To quote Lee Corso, �Not so fast my friend!� Oklahoma has a great program steeped in football lore. It is one of the few that can come close to matching Alabama�s football history and legend. Yes, the 2013 Crimson Tide is disappointed that they are playing in New Orleans instead of Pasadena, but stuff happens. The seniors on this team deserve better than a meek effort from their teammates in the last game of the year. This is a frustrated team. That�s good for them and bad for Oklahoma. I look for the Tide to take the Sooners best punch and then play their game. They�ll run the ball sprinkle in some play action and add to the propaganda of the SEC prowess. As I see it Alabama 35 Oklahoma 17.

� Roll Tide!

Oh Well

The Sooners came in with a great bid chip on their shoulders and Alabama just could match their intensity. Again what are you going to do? No one is going to cry over Alabama getting thumped. No, I�d say there�s joy all over America.

� The last two games exposed the weaknesses of this football team. It�s not like they won eleven games with smoke and mirrors, but they did beat a bunch of teams that honestly, they were just better than. No doubt the issues will be addressed but it might be a couple of years before it all works itself out.

� The Tide�s secondary has been an issue all year. Texas A&M demonstrated that and Oklahoma added a exclamation point. The defense this year was just not as good as it has been in the last few years. The offense has had issues as well. The line while good has not been dominant, when they couldn�t make a yard against Auburn you knew they just weren�t the same line.

� The penalties, all year there have been motion and holding penalties and those have killed drives at inopportune times. Even though they won eleven games it has been a subpar season, in terms of play and team cohesion. How do these things happen? Complacency, too much winning, feelings of entitlement, it could be all of that.

� Next year will be a new year in a lot of ways. AJ McCarron will be gone; CJ Mosley will be gone. Alabama will be breaking in a new quarterback and most likely a new defense. The one they have now was built to stop LSU, to play �big boy� football. They can do that they just can�t stop the up tempo teams and as much as I hate it that�s where college football is right now. Saban�s charge now is to build a defense that can do that. Find some defensive backs and get some smaller faster linebackers and figure out a way to stop the new offenses that they will be facing from now on.

� Again, it wasn�t really a bad season just a bad couple of games. The Tide is not done. They�ll have a descent team next year, but don�t look for a national championship, they just won�t be ready, but then again I�ve been wrong a whole bunch this year.

� Roll Tide

A New Beginning

Hey change is good. The offense was getting a little too predictable. You almost always knew when they were going to throw that play action pass. This is not to make light of the work done by Doug Neussmier it just seems like a change was needed. The time has come to freshen things up and make some changes on both sides of the ball.

When Saban signed his new contract he said it was time for a new beginning and so it is. The last few games of the season the team just didn�t have the desire, the drive, the fire that was needed to grab that third national championship. Perhaps it�s also time for some attitude adjustment. It seems the entitlement bug oozed into the Tide team and some guys just didn�t do what was necessary.

We don�t know who they were, but now there are plenty of coaching and �I told you so� points that can and no doubt will be drive home like 16 penny nail with a four pound hammer. Get with the program if you want to win. They now have to go through the whole of the off season feeling nothing but the taste of bitter defeat. The cloud of the gut wrenching loss to Auburn and the uninspired loss to Oklahoma will be fresh in their minds. It should be one hungry team come August.

The SEC will be flipped on its ear next year. Auburn will be picked high, as will the Tide. Where will LSU fall out, what will happen to Vanderbilt and Georgia? Oh and then there�s that whole new offensive coordinator thing, my goodness this will be fun. I don�t look for a �no huddle� guy, but I do look for someone to come in and make some changes. Alabama will run the football next year. They will be breaking in a new quarterback. When they handed AJ the keys they didn�t let him drive by himself until the National Championship game, I can�t see anything else happening this time.

I don�t know about you, but I am seriously pumped. The whole off season will be fun. The waiting will suck, but hey it�s all part of that great big cycle of life. Sit back and enjoy, it should be a wacky ride.

Roll Tide

The Big Fish that got away

There are a couple of things going on here and Alabama fans just shouldn�t get their knickers in a knot over this. For his final official visit Elam was treated to a UK home basketball game where the crowd chanted �We want Elam!� That had to be very cool for a kid from Kentucky. The kicker was he got his picture made with UK basketball coach John Calipari. I know he was not being recruited to play basketball, but every kid in Kentucky grows up wanting to play basketball for the Cats. That whole Rupp and Calipari thing was a big deal for him. Nick Saban and Alabama are cool, but for Kentucky kids UK basketball is something else.

� The new staff at Kentucky has done a good job of keeping the good players in state. Charlie Strong leaving for Texas helped and bad-boy Bobby did hurt either. The point here is, it really seemed unlikely that the kid was coming to Alabama. I�m sure he thought about it and he might have even tilted the Tide�s way once, but the whole instate thing and the allure of the new staff, helping build the program, yadda, yadda, yadda was what caused the Tide to lose out on him.

� Don�t fret y�all and for heaven�s sake don�t beat up some seventeen year old kid for wanting to play for the home team that�s just silly. Keep in mind you were seventeen once and you did silly things too. Remember that hair cut? You know you do. Think about that when you want to beat up a seventeen year old.

� Roll Tide!

Should he stay or should he go now?

C.M. Newton thinks he should get more time. I will have to admit that C.M. knows way more about basketball than I do. I reckon there are questions that have to be asked and the program should be assessed before they back the moving van outside Grant�s house.

� How did we get here? Trevor Lacy left. What was up with that? Did he and Grant simply not get along? Was his ego bruised? Did Grant feel he was a distraction? I don�t know. Those questions have not been answered. Though again C.M. Newton says everybody pretty much dropped the ball on that action.

� Has the team improved? A month ago I would have said no. But right now I think I would say yes. There are now viable options other than Trevor Releford. Levi Randolph has stepped up his game, which means that Releford has some much needed help. We have not seen a lot of trouble, of the arrest report variety, which is frankly a good thing. No this team will not make the NCAA tournament, but then a whole lot of SEC teams will not make the tournament.

� I think I�ll have to put myself in C.M. Newton�s camp and say give the guy another year. This will be his first losing season. No he has not taken the team consistently to the NCAA tournament then again the same can be said for a whole bunch of SEC teams. The problem is league wide. Another problem at Alabama is perception. This has been a down year for the Tide � Saban�s team came up short and then got slapped in the Sugar Bowl. Grant�s teams played well early in close losses to good teams � then there was a stretch where they got blown out. The loss to Auburn was bad as was the one to South Carolina. Then again Kentucky lost to South Carolina.

� Let Grant have another year. Let�s see where he is then. I am not saying he needs to win the SEC. It would be nice to get into the NCAA tournament, but that in and of itself should not be the yardstick. If at the end of the next year � the basketball program is where it is right now. Headed nowhere perhaps it�s time to think about a new direction. Until then let�s cut the guy some slack.

� Roll Tide!

Spring Sports Rock

Last year the Tide baseball team could not hold a lead. The pitching was an adventure. This year they are on top of the SEC west leading Ole Miss by a full game and they just took a series at Texas A&M. Mitch Gaspard�s charges can win anything if they can score three runs. This year, for the most part, the pitching has held up.

� This year after losing six straight, Alabama finally beat Auburn in Montgomery. Last year the Tide finished the season 35-28 and was 14-15 in the SEC, which put them fifth in the west. They made the post season, but made a quick exit. This is a new year and a new team. Alabama is now 22-9 and 8-4 in the SEC. That�s a far cry from this time last year last year. With 25 games left in the regular season this could be a big year for the Tide. They have SEC east leader Florida and Mississippi State at home but they must travel to South Carolina and Tennessee. The Tide is 16-3 at home 4-6 away and won both games at neutral sites.

� Softball is much the same as baseball, last year the Tide won their regional and advanced to the super regional in Knoxville where they were quickly eliminated. This season is different. They have pulled games out in the last inning and they have pitching that can hold up under the pressure of the SEC. Last year they were 45-15 and finished third in the SEC west. Though they did finished ranked in the top ten.

� Now, the Tide is ranked fourth and riding a nine game winning streak. They lead the SEC with a 14-1 mark. They are 20-2 at home 8-3 away and 7-0 at neutral sites. The softball team is back in championship form. The difference this year is the pitching of senior Jackie Traina. The offence is paced by sophomore Haylie McCleney. She is leading the SEC with a batting average of .495 and a slugging percentage of .798. This team is poised to make a return to Oklahoma City.

� The gymnastics team has already won the SEC and punched its ticket to the NCAA championships by winning the Seattle Regional. The championships are in Birmingham where the Tide is almost unbeatable. This team improved over the course of the season and is now poised to bring another championship back to Tuscaloosa.

� Coach Sarah Patterson, the dean of SEC coaches, and is one of the, if not the best, nationally. With her team�s win in Seattle the Tide picked up its NCAA leading 29th regional title. For Coach Patterson it was her 1,000 win. In her 36th year we all just need to appreciate what the phenomenal woman has accomplished in her long and storied career at Alabama. We should appreciate it all the more because someday she won�t be here anymore and we will miss her. I�m quite sure she�s not ready to go just yet. So sit back and enjoy the next meet.

� Oh and yeah � spring football is also in bloom. So it�s a pretty good time to be a Tide fan.

� Roll Tide

Play Ball!

At the Women�s College World Series, Jackie Trania has regained the form she exhibited in 2012 when the Tide took home its first NCAA championship. The upcoming three game series could easily be a pitcher�s duel and it�s not a stretch to think that the winning pitcher either Trania or Florida�s Hannah Rogers will be the tournament MVP. Both have been spectacular in their three games in Oklahoma City.

This Bama softball team came to Oklahoma and has won games with pitching, some serious defense and a bunch of homeruns. Freshmen have played key roles, but the seniors have helped steady the ship. The offense has come through when it needed to with four different players hitting homeruns, everyone has contributed. It has truly been a team effort.

I have to admit that I was pretty convinced that the Alabama baseball team would go to Tallahassee and make a quick exit. After they lost the first game to Kennesaw State I figured same old, same old. But these guys proved to have reliance. They took out FSU, who had also fallen into the loser�s bracket and now have fought their way back to a do or die game tonight. If they win they advance to the super regionals. I didn�t think it possible but now I am cautiously optimistic.

This has been a good year for the spring sports and it could get even better. Regardless of whether the baseball team wins or loses it has improved from last year and they are to be congratulated. They are now in a position to have a very good season. Let�s hope it plays out for them.

For Jackie Trania and her teammates they have a chance to bring home a second national championship in three years. Win or lose this is a historic series the first ever all SEC championship. What was once the PAC 12 tourney might become the SEC tourney.

Roll Tide!

West Virginia Mountaineers

Summer�s here and it�s time for a look ahead at Alabama�s 2014 opponents.

Conference: Big XII

2013 Record: 4-9

Common Opponent: Oklahoma

Result: WVU 7 Oklahoma 16

While statistically, the Mountaineer offense wasn�t bad they ranked fourth in the Big XII in total offense, a closer look at the numbers tells a different story. They could throw the ball ranking third in conference, running was a an issue where they finished eighth out of ten teams. Most likely a lot of those yards came between the twenties and at garbage time when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Interestingly, they ranked fourth in first downs but eighth in third down conversions. This statistic indicates that they could go up and down the field but when they really needed a first down they simply could not convert.

If their offense was not up to snuff, their defense was worse the Mountaineers ranked near the bottom in every defensive category. They gave up a whopping 100 yards more than their offense generated. The Mountaineers were dead last in the conference in total defense, allowing third down conversions and their opponents converted the most first downs. There�s simply no way to sugar coat it; their defense, even by Big XII standards was just awful.

One problem the Mountaineers had last year was the lack of a reliable quarterback. This year it will be a three man race that won�t be settled until the fall. Florida State transfer Clint Trickett played well last year before injuring his shoulder against Oklahoma State. He did not participate in spring practice. Junior college transfer Skyler Howard arrived in Morgantown with a good pedigree. Last year he completed over 67% of his passes hitting 219 of 325 passes for 3,151 yards. He threw 33 touchdown passes and only six interceptions. The third man freshman four-star duel-threat William Crest will arrive on campus this fall. All three will compete for the starting job and one will open under center against Alabama on August 31.

So what will West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen do until his quarterback settles in? The only thing he can do rely on his running game. Both of last year�s leading rushers have moved on leaving sophomore Wendell Smallwood and Pitt transfer Rushel Shell to pick up the slack. Smallwood played in twelve games last year. He carried the ball 39 times and gained 221yards. He caught the ball well out of the backfield snagging eleven balls for 132 yards. The experience of last year should make him a very viable option. The other is Shell, who in 2012 ran 157 yards on 23 carries to lead the University of Pittsburgh past Virginia Tech. He sat out last year and together they should improve the Mountaineer running attack.

Holgorsen also hopes to get his defense in better shape this year. The defense ruled the spring game and that�s a good sign. The head coach is raving about the athleticism of his secondary. A new defensive coordinator, Tony Gibson, is implementing a �3-4� defense this year and hopes to use the better, faster defensive backs to help slow opponents. He has athletic linebacker Brandon Golson who can play all over the field and a six man rotation on the line, which should help the cause. They should be better than last year.

Will they be prepared to take down Alabama in Atlanta? That�s the $64,000 question. While the Mountaineers should be much improved over last year�s edition, beating Alabama will be a tall order.

Roll Tide

Florida International University � Golden Panthers

To say FIU is coming off a disappointing season is an understatement. The Golden Panthers were one of the worse teams in the FBS last year. They finished 1-11 with their only win coming against a very bad Southern Mississippi squad. First year Coach Ron Turner has not panicked after the abysmal season and is trying to build the team the right way. He didn�t stock up on junior college transfers but continued to recruit from the high school ranks.

That�s the good news � the bad news is that it is unlikely that his efforts are going to make much difference in the win column this year. The infusion of freshman talent is mostly of the two-star variety and it will take time to pull the program out of the tailspin that it has gone into.

Turner shook up his coaching staff. He promoted Steve Shankweiler, his old offensive line coach to offensive coordinator. Turner hired a new running backs, defensive line, linebackers and special team coaches. The shake up can�t hurt and it could make a difference. Sometimes it�s just good to get a fresh start.

Last year�s starting quarterback transferred, so E.J. Hilliard will most likely get the start. Hilliard played fairly well last year showing pretty good mobility picking up over five yards a carry when he tucked the ball. The bad news is he was sacked every fifth time he dropped back. When he had time to throw he averaged ten yards per completion. There are some pretty good running backs and wide outs that got some experience last year who, if they improve, could give the Golden Panthers a spark.

On the other side of the ball the defense, while it will not remind anyone of the 1985 Chicago Bears, was not all that bad. No player on the team had more than two sacks and they never were able to force teams into long passing situations with any kind of regularity. However, when they did they managed to defend the pass pretty well. All of that adds up to a work in progress.

This is one of those games that you gotta wonder why it was scheduled in the first place. But you know that A) Bama is filling out its schedule; B) the Tide will be breaking in a new quarterback and this should get him some repetitions; and C) the SEC Network needs to show something. If FIU managed to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa it would rank right up there with Appalachian State beating Michigan. Frankly, that seems highly unlikely.

Roll Tide

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles

The Golden Eagle offense was just plain awful last year. So guess what � they�re going to switch to a hurry up no huddle offense which is the cure all for football as we know it. USM will win Conference USA, beat Alabama and any team they play because this explosive kind of offense just can�t be stopped � or perhaps they might get better. Last year throwing all the time, USM quarterbacks threw 26 interceptions, which averages to just over two per game. That sort of thing can really harm your momentum and no doubt your psyche.

In 2013 Southern Miss averaged 4.6 yards per play and generally failed to have much success against some very weak defenses. Their running game, which was not too good last year could improve this year and perhaps become a strength. In his final two games of 2013 freshman quarterback Nick Mullens completed 51 of 86 passes for 659 yards, eight touchdowns and only three interceptions. This included the game they won at UAB. He could get the start next year but he will be pushed some incoming players.

Southern Mississippi could stop the run, however they couldn�t stop the pass and in the end it didn�t really matter because their offense was so bad. If the defense got the ball back they couldn�t do anything with it. The rushing defense will be the strength of that side of the ball again this year. Two of the three top defensive linemen return. Dylan Bradley will move from tackle to end, which should help the pass rush, a serious need from last year.

On paper and I fear on the field this is a serious mismatch. Even if Southern Mississippi�s strength is their rushing defense it seems unlikely that they will hold Yeldon, Henry and company long. Whoever the Tide quarterback is should have a field day against the very suspect USM defensive backfield.

� In the old days USM was good. They knocked off some big schools � Florida State and Alabama come to mind. Recently they have fallen on hard times and no matter how much they improve, unless the Tide is just in the doldrums of playing out the early streak of cupcakes in the early part of the schedule and simply don�t show up � this one will get ugly quick.

� Roll Tide

University of Florida�Gators

Honestly, this game is where the rubber meets the road for the Crimson Tide 2014 campaign. With all due respect to our first three opponents Florida is the best of the bunch and they too will have feasted on Idaho, Eastern Michigan and Kentucky when they roll into T-Town.

� Why UF does not have a quarterback is beyond me. They are in Florida, a state that usually produce its fair share of football talent and yet the Gators were simply without an effective quarterback last year. They have pretty much been without one since Tebow went to the NFL.

� The critical thing for the Gators will be for Jeff Driskell to convert Kurt Roper's up tempo system into some more wins. Can he do that? Muschamp thinks so � he seems to be betting the farm on that. So I reckon we�ll see. When all else fails go up tempo!

� While the offense was anemic the Gator defense was on fire. They held their own in the SEC ranking third in scoring defense; first in passing defense; second in rushing defense and second total defense. It�s not that they couldn�t stop teams they simply could move the ball on offense and when they did they couldn't hold on to it. They ranked a dismal twelfth in turnover margin.

� In order to get back to where they were, that is in the pecking order of the SEC, Florida has to generate some offense. Muschamp must find a way to make quarterback Jeff Driskell effective, while keeping last year�s potent defense on top of its game.

� The defense should remain sharp. The offense might take a while to gel, though as noted earlier by the time they get to Tuscaloosa they will have notched three games. The Gators will make this one interesting but they still will not have enough offense to topple the Tide.

� Roll Tide

University of Mississippi � Rebels

Since Hugh Freeze arrived in Oxford there has been excitement there that we have not seen since Eli Manning was running the Ole Miss offense. Freeze brought in a hurry-up no huddle attack and they can move the ball. Last year, the Rebels ranked third in the conference in passing, seventh in rushing and fifth in total offense. Ole Miss is a team on the rise as these numbers are up from the year before. Hugh Freeze continues bringing in quality players. This year�s class ranked 15th in the nation. That�s down from last year�s number six class, but I�m sure no one in Oxford is complaining.

� On defense Ole Miss is pretty much in the middle of the SEC pack. They ranked no higher than seventh in any defensive category, which is where they ranked in total defense. They finished ninth in rushing defense, which should warm the cockles of the heart of any Tide fan. Ole Miss does have star linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche who will cause trouble for many teams. Last year the Rebels did not have much of a pass rush and they hope to improve in that this season.

� All in all the 2014 edition of the Rebels should continue the upswing in year three of the Freeze regime. Depending on how they do in their opener they could win nine games. Though, in the SEC west that�s probably no better than fourth. The good news for the Rebels � this game is in Oxford. The bad news � if they can�t stop the run any better than last year, they will not defeat Alabama.

� Their best chance in this game is to hope HUNH offenses are still Alabama�s kryptonite. If that�s the case then the Rebels have a chance. If that�s the case, Alabama could have a roller coaster season. I don�t think that will be the case and I don�t think Ole Miss will beat Alabama in Oxford this year.

Good-bye Sarah

That is due to the dynamo of a woman who coached it for 36 years. Patterson is as synonymous with Alabama gymnastics as Paul �Bear� Bryant is with Alabama football. When Paul Bryant hired her in 1978, I was still finishing up my BA. I may have read something in the Crimson White, but I really didn�t get to know about her and her amazing run until I got this opportunity. It has been wonderful keeping up with her and the ladies she coached.

� She won as many national championships as Paul Bryant and like Paul Bryant she did it with class, style and grace. Frankly, the University and the state are better places because of her. I never met her, but I get the feeling that she was a force to be reckoned with; one of those people that you would call a force of nature.

� She was also very human. She and her husband and partner in this whole gymnastics thing survived cancer, David�s cancer. The last few years she�s been a fixture at Alabama softball games cheering her youngest daughter Jordon. She has been honored by the University with the Patterson Champions Plaza. She knows the score, football rules the roost, but the people of Alabama know about her team and they support it. They�ll continue to support it. It won�t be the same, but I�m sure she would agree that Alabama gymnastics is bigger than one person.

� Be that as it may. That one person will be missed. Thanks Sarah!

� Roll Tide

Arkansas Razorbacks

The woes of the Hogs are new ground for Razorback coach Bret Bielema. At Wisconsin his teams played for and won conference championships. At Arkansas his teams are fighting to stay out of the SEC cellar. Things simply have not gone well for Bielema and finishing 3-9 did not make anybody in Arkansas happy, except maybe Arkansas State fans.

� At one point last season the Hogs defense gave up 111 unanswered points. To say they have issues on defense is an understatement and something not worth beating into the ground. The Hogs need help and they need it now. Bielema has stated that his charges need to be more physical and they do. They also need a good old fashion dose of confidence.

� The schedule will not be the Hogs friend in that respect. They start out at Auburn. The history between these two programs is pretty well noted. Bielema views regarding hurry up no huddle offense and injures are well known. There is also a history between Gus Malzahn and Arkansas and humiliating the Hogs will most likely always be on his to do list forever.

� In a prefect world the Hogs win five games this year. The more likely scenario is three wins. It�s not that they don�t have talent, they just don�t have enough. There are some good running backs on this team and a decent offensive line, but it wasn�t enough to get it done last year and it won�t be enough this year either.

� This is not a make or break year for the Bielema regime, but if he has zero wins in the SEC and the team is consistently drilled by the SEC west it could be ugly for him next year. If this was a good team one could say they have a favorable schedule. Arkansas will not beat the best teams in the SEC west: Alabama, Auburn and LSU or Georgia and Missouri for that matter. Their only hope is Texas A&M, and the Mississippi schools and unless they can find some defense there isn�t much there either.

� Roll Tide

Texas A&M � Aggies

Well you actually only need to know a couple of things about A&M this year. First of all they return six starters from last year�s offense. The other thing you need to know is that one of those starters was Johnny Manziel. That�s about it. Oh yeah, Mike Evans, Johnny�s faithful side kick/wide receiver is also gone, though that info is not nearly as critical.

� By himself, well with help from receivers, Manziel generated 4,873 yards of total offense. He threw for 4,114 yards which included 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. If that�s not enough he was also the team�s leading rusher with 759 yards. The A&M offense scored more than 40 points in every game but two. Everybody that thinks they could have done that without Johnny Football raise your hand. That�s what I thought.

� Texas A&M�s defense was f�ing abysmal last year. If it had just been mediocre they might have won the SEC, but they were gawd awful. The good news is that many of the players who were bad now have a year under their belts. I�m not sure if that will turn them into the 1986 Bears or even the 1992 Crimson Tide, but at least they might be the 2012 Vanderbilt Commodores. The long and short of it is, they should be better on that side of the ball.

� The glass, I fear, is still only half full. They are going to come crashing back down to reality on offense. There�s magic and then there was Johnny Football. I watched him do things to the Tide the last couple of years that just plain blew my poor little mind. I sat there and I watched it. I knew it was real because I was watching it but I was like WTF. Well, he�s in Cleveland. I don�t care who they put under center, they never drew up half the stuff Johnny did and the poor unfortunate who lands the job, for better or for worse, will be judged against Johnny Manziel and he simply won�t measure up.

� They play the Tide in Tuscaloosa. Alabama was embarrassed the last two years. End of story.

� Roll Tide

UT Volunteers

Second year Tennessee head coach Butch Jones has been rebuilding the program the right way. He has recruited talent and laid a foundation that should begin to payoff this season. Jones has not relied on juco transfers he has brought in high caliber high school players.

� Tennessee is a young team and it will remain so this season. Jones predicted that he will line up some freshmen this year on both sides of the ball. They�ll make mistakes, but they�ll learn from those and the team will steadily improve.

� UT should have improved quarterback play and should improve on last year�s 6.08 yards per play average. They have a good set of wide receivers and a freshman running back, Jalen Hurd, who should upgrade the running attack.

Many of the starters on last year�s defensive line, which gave up 207 rushing yards per game, are gone. The Vols will have to rely on defensive ends DeWayne Hendrix, Jordan Williams and Corey Vereen to supply a pass rush. While Danny O�Brien and Owen Williams along with a bevy of young and inexperienced players behind then will fill in the middle. The maturation of the young players will determine the success of the defense.

For the Vols the good news is they have Alabama at home. The bad news is they still are at a level where beating Alabama would be a major upset. With the right breaks the Vols could have four wins when the Tide rolls into Knoxville. They should win enough games this year to make a bowl. Unless, something miraculous happens in Neyland Stadium, Alabama will not be add to the Vols win column.

Roll Tide

Blake Sims will start

Nick Saban is both conservative and loyal. He will reward Sims with the starting nod because he has been a selfless player during his time at Alabama and has done whatever has been asked of him. He also has a better command of the Alabama offense, at this point in the season.

� I�ve seen at least one writer note that this is Sims one shot. By that he meant that if he plays poorly, throws interceptions or makes poor decisions Saban will turn to Jacob Coker. Frankly, I think he�s right.

� This is Sims�s job to lose. He played very poorly in the A-Day game, though by all reports he had an outstanding spring. The reports indicate he has had an outstanding fall camp. He doesn�t have the physical tools that Coker has. He's shorter and reportedly Coker has a better arm.

� What Coker lacks is experience. That�s the actual issue here. Saban is rightly nervous about turning over the team to a guy with four months in the system. A system that is right complicated and a process that the head coach swears by. It really isn�t that much of a conundrum.

� Over the years this writer has marveled at those teams that start true freshmen quarterbacks and they light up the world and make Sports Center every week. That never seems to happen at Alabama. I have often wondered why? The SEC, the built in conservatism of the University, I have never figured it out.

� Both guys will play in the West Virginia game and in fact I think the audition will continue until the Florida game . . . unless someone seizes the starting role. This is like 2011 but with no clear cut favorite, well there�s a fan favorite, but ultimately Saban not the fans or the media will makes the call.

� Roll Tide

It�s finally here!

West Virginia will pose a challenge for Alabama. They run a hurry up no huddle offense and a quirky 3-3-5 defense. Alabama has played the up tempo offenses better than it is perceived that they have played them. The fact that they have lost games to those types of teams seems to indicate that up tempo is a weakness. The fact that most teams run this sort of offense is not factored in to that equation.

� Regardless, on ESPN perception is reality, so up tempo offenses are Alabama�s and by extension Nick Saban�s kryptonite. OK fine. I�ve said this a number of times Alabama�s defense was built to stop LSU. That worked. It has now been retooled to stop up tempo teams. West Virginia will be the first test to see how well the tweaking has paid off.

� This is the first game of the season. If you have watched the last couple of nights you have seen what that means. Jitters and inconsistency � did you watch the Ole Miss-Boise State game? It was a tale of two halves. That�s what we should expect in Atlanta.

� On paper Alabama is a better team than West Virginia. But, they don�t play the games on paper. In case you missed it Alabama is breaking in a new quarterback or two. That will be the key, that and pass defense.

� West Virginia is going to stack the line, shoot gaps and dare the new quarterbacks to beat them passing. Alabama is going to run X number of scripted plays. My guess is a series of plays for each quarterback. It will be conservative designed to get them comfortable and to pound the undersized West Virginia line.

� The Mountaineers on the other hand are going to try and go fast and strike quick and get a big lead. Think Texas A&M last year. They might score first. It all depends on how quickly the defense gets used to their speed and make no mistake they are a team blessed with speed.

� Alabama will win the game, but it will not answer all the questions. Those answers will come in the next two weeks.

The way I see it Alabama 27 WVU 14.

� Roll Tide

Game One

Honestly, there�s no reason to panic, though I must admit I was thinking at times that maybe next year would be a better year. In the end the Tide did what it needed to do to secure the win. Next week we will likely see both quarterbacks in action and a defense with all of its players.

� Alabama held West Virginia under 400 yards, just barely, but nonetheless. I expect some of the younger cornerbacks will get some playing time in the next couple of weeks. Surely the defensive backs can�t be as bad as they looked at times against the West Virginia wide outs. If they are the Texas A&M game could be a very, very long game.

� The good news is Saban doesn�t have to try and repair the damage after a loss. The two game losing streak is over. Alabama is 1-0 against a team that put up a fight. That�s a good thing. These early season tests are important and will help the team grow.

� Alabama 2014 is a work in progress. It will be interesting to watch it grow. Fixing little things like kickoff coverage should be fairly easy. The kicking game seemed solid and quarterback play did as well. Bama should have little problem with Florida Atlantic, though that�s what was said about West Virginia. The pieces are all there it�s just a matter of getting them all in the right place.

� Roll Tide

Florida Atlantic University Owls

It would be fairly senseless to do any comparison between the two teams. Well, maybe not senseless and if you want to see one see Andrew Gribble's of Al.com below. Last week Alabama beat West Virginia 33-23. FAU lost to Nebraska 55-7. Even though their quarterback says they would win a rematch. I don�t think they will win in Tuscaloosa tomorrow.

� After a sub-par defensive performance against the Mountaineers, the Tide comes into this game with a chip on its collective shoulder. That�s good for them and bad for FAU. Trey DePriest will be back in the lineup, which will settle down the defense and I expect to see a slight shuffling of the Alabama secondary.

� If Alabama doesn�t score at least 45 points and hold FAU under 14, there will be some kind of shift in the cosmos. If this one�s close the Tide will tumble out of the top ten. My guess Alabama 48 FAU 3.

� Roll Tide

A Tale of Two Quarterbacks

The internet is a wonderful thing and you can learn a lot of interesting information from it. I read this morning that some voter in one of the poles dropped Alabama because they didn�t beat Florida Atlantic as badly as Nebraska did and because Alabama has not settled on a quarterback.

� That�s pretty interesting. I reckon that guy�s got a check list. He compares scores and checks out the starting lineup or lack thereof. I reckon that�s as good a system as any. I also saw where one writer has determined that Blake Sims is the guy. He had it all lined out with really good reasoning and everything.

� It seems to me that Nick Saban will decide, when he�s ready, exactly who is the guy. He could play both quarterbacks throughout the season. He did that at LSU. In the end, make no mistake about it, Saban will determine who is the guy � or guy 1 and 1a.

� For what it�s worth my take on it is this. Sims has a much better grasp of the offense than Coker. That was abundantly clear last Saturday. He has more playing experience than Coker and he�s been in Saban�s process for four years. He�s a team guy and the players to like him. Plus he has become a much better player than the guy we saw in the A-Day game.

� Jake Coker on the other had seems a better fit for Saban�s model. He has a strong arm, he, no doubt, can make all the throws, but he's missing the experience and he has not reached a good comfort level with the offense. Taking a sack and blowing a field goal caused Saban and Kiffin to throw hissy fits, as well it should have. Shoot, Coker should have known better than that in high school. In his defense, he was probably trying to make a play.

� All summer the experts said this is Coker�s team. He�s the guy he�ll come down to Tuscaloosa and take the reins. Much of the rush to hand him the keys was based on the A-Day game in which Sims looked awful. Again Saban said after that game that it was no indication of how Sims had progressed during the spring.

� If all things were equal the ball would probably be handed to Coker and Sims would take his place as the backup. All things are not, at least right now. Sims is simply way ahead of Coker in terms of knowing what to do. That�s important. Yes, Coker has a better upside than Sims, which is why they both may play over the course of the year. But right now, today, Sims gives the Tide the best opportunity to win. That may change after the Southern Mississippi game. We�ll see. Until then just wait and see how it plays out.

� Roll Tide

Southern Mississippi

There was a time when USM was a team that nobody wanted to play. They were the kind of team that on any given Saturday could knock off a big name opponent. They were the team that broke Alabama�s home winning streak. They beat FSU and others. For a awhile Ole Miss and Mississippi State would not play them. In short, it was a very good program. Jeff Bower coached those USM teams after 17 years he was forced to resign in 2007 and the program has gone backwards since then.

� As I say that�s a sad thing. One wonders why ESPN has chosen to put this game on ESPN2. Not that I�m complaining, it�s just that well if it�s like last week it will be like watching a scrimmage; so that�s probably the way to look at this. It�s an opportunity to see the Tide execute some of its offense and to see the two quarterbacks get some reps and learn some new numbers.

� It�s one of those sort of lose-lose games. If Alabama doesn�t trounce these guys they�ll plummet in the poles and the nay-sayers will have a field day. Somebody could get hurt or worst case USM shows up and the Tide players don�t because they have been reading on the internet that they are going to whip these guys and USM wins the game.

� My guess Alabama 45 USM 3.

� Roll Tide

Phase II

For all of you who are panicking over the lack of prowess on defense stand down. It�s hard to get your A game going when you are shuffling players in and out and trying to find the best combination. The starting unit hasn�t played a whole game and except for the West Virginia game it hasn�t really been tested. Yes, Southern Mississippi scored 12 points, so? Other than style points, who cares USM never threatened to take control of anything.

� The speed on the defensive line is vastly improved. To date we�ve not seen any fancy blitzes and why should we? Why show off your schemes when there�s no reason to do it. There�s still some concern in the secondary, but that�ll get better as the season progresses and honestly, this team can score on anybody.

� On offense this has been as vanilla as watching the A-Day game. FAU was the all screen pass game. USM was the let�s establish our running game affair. There have been a couple of shots down the field, but nothing I�ve seen, with the exception of some of the formations is any different than what we saw last year. Do we honestly think that�s all there is to Kiffin�s offense? I mean they haven�t even gotten the tight end involved. At this point the offense has been throw it to Cooper and let Yeldon and Henry pound on them. Not bad but nothing new.

� Florida comes in and the Tide opens SEC play at home against a team that was lucky to beat Kentucky. That doesn�t lessen the impact of the Florida game. This will give the Tide�s offense and defense the opportunity to operate against players that will test them.

� The Tide needs to be tested. I think the best will come from this team when it is pressed. West Virginia did that and in the second half the defense came alive and shut down the passing game by pressuring the quarterback. Florida should test the Tide in all phases of the game and that�s a good thing. The team needs a good punch in the mouth. I think it is perfectly capable of punching back.

� Roll Tide

UF Gators

Can the Gators take advantage of an Alabama secondary that has had its issues? That�s the $64,000 question. Bama�s cornerbacks have looked vulnerable. West Virginia lit them up. Can Florida do that? If they can and do it consistently they have a chance to pull a upset that will go a long way toward extending the Muschamp coaching regime.

� What the Tide has going for it that it didn�t have last year � is a solid pass rush. Since 2011 Alabama has not been able to consistently disrupt an opposing passer. This year that�s not the case. Alabama has been able to exert pressure on and sack quarterbacks. That slows down the passing game and helps take pressure off the defensive backs.

� Florida had issues of its own last week as Kentucky lit them up and came within an eyelash of taking out the Gators in the Swamp. Can Alabama expose the Gator secondary? What Alabama will likely do is try to literally run the Gators out of the stadium. If the Tide can run on Florida, they might not need to test the defensive backs with an assertive passing game.

� Look for Alabama to do just that. Take three backs: Yedon, Henry and Drake and run until Florida makes them throw. Florida will get some yards early but the Tide will adjust. As I see it Alabama 31 Florida 17.

� Roll Tide

Testing � one, two, three, four

Now, now we have the first REAL test of the Crimson Tide. It�s an SEC game against a ranked opponent on the road. You can�t get any realer than that, I guess. When does the testing phase end and the slugfest begin? Four of the next five games are on the road and all but one are against SEC west teams.

� If the Tide wins the game in Oxford they have a good chance of getting through the schedule unblemished. That might be far-fetched but that is what people who are smarter than me are saying. Who knows.

� To date Ole Miss has dispatched Boise State (3-2), Vanderbilt (1-3), Louisiana-Lafayette (1-3) and Memphis (2-2). They have a much improved defense and it seems to be a given that the Tide simply cannot compete with their wide outs. That boat�s done sailed. Forget it, that one is over. Plus their quarterback is a three year starter and they are coming into the game ready to make some history.

� The Tide in the meantime has also won four games. A not so great showing against West Virginia; Southern Mississippi and Florida Atlantic were the tune-ups they were expected to be and Florida with a lot of help from Alabama made a game of it for three quarters. The Tide is scoring lots of points but its defense isn�t up to the standards of the Alabama teams of the past. By that one means the 2009-2012 championship run.

� I�d say the defense is as good as it was last year and I think the offense is better. Remember last year how the Tide�s secondary could stop anybody? Has that really changed? Honestly, except for the experience at quarterback I think this Alabama is better than last year. It hasn�t put it all together yet but that�s coming.

� Roll Tide

Ole Miss Rebels

Sims is a fifth-year senior not a freshman. He may not have started but he has been at those games and he has been in Saban�s system his entire career. The key to the game will be if Ole Miss can run the ball on Alabama and if their offensive line can handle the Tide pass rush.

� Last year the Tide had a questionable secondary and not much pass rush. This year the pass rush is much better and I think the secondary is also much improved. Alabama will have to weather the storm of the first quarter. Ole Miss will be on a high and the crowd will be in a frenzy. They might even score first.

� If the Tide can keep its focus through that they should be alright. The Ole Miss defense will be jacked and most likely stuff Bama�s runners the first few tries. If Sims can loosen them up with the pass and if the Tide�s defense can hold its own everything should be fine.

� I look for a tight first half and for the Tide to pull away in the second half. My guess Alabama 35 Ole Miss 21.

� Roll Tide

Incomplete

This is an Alabama team at a crossroads. Various commentators and people I�ve listened to today are pretty much ready to bury them with three or four losses. Others feel like they just had a quality loss. There is a third group that believes that this team has only itself to blame and I am strongly in that group.

� After the Florida game Saban said there would come a time when this team couldn�t overcome turnovers and penalties. He was right and it was visible for the whole world to see on CBS Saturday afternoon. Again, taking nothing away from Ole Miss, but Bama shot itself in the foot on numerous occasions. What�s up with the penalties?

� I have a theory about the whole thing. For the most part this is a young team. It is not the senior laden teams of Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Alabama is a very talented young team with some remarkable players. Cooper is in a class in which it would not take long to call the roll. Landon Collins and Trey de Priest are very good. Except for Collins and Cyrus Jones the rest of the defensive backfield is young and/or inexperienced. The same can be said for Blake Sims. He�s not young, but that was his first road test and to put it mildly it did not go as planned.

� This team will now finally find itself or it will continue to drift aimlessly. If it does the season will not end well. Not by Alabama under Nick Saban standards and we could approach Mike Shula standards if this thing comes apart. I honestly, don�t think that�s going to happen. Then I thought we�d win by two touchdowns so what do I know.

� I think this is a transitional season for Nick Saban. This is like the last season before the Bear took up the wishbone. I think there is a revolution underway with the Alabama offense. I think Saban has decided that he has to have firepower and that his teams have to be very dangerous on offense, scary dangerous. I think the team is still going to be designed to pound the ball but it is also going to be designed to go tempo and to throw the ball well and often.

� We�ll see but I think I�m right on this. I have just one last question/comment. I want to know why, if the Tide has a whole corral of five star defensive backs � why can�t they cover anybody? I watched Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Auburn do it all day long. I think I answered this question earlier, but still . . . .

On the Road Again

What is this Alabama team made of ? Can they stare adversity in the face and come back and play like a contender? If they can, they will continue to challenge for an SEC title and a playoff berth. If not they�ll make a nice bowl somewhere.

� As animated as Nick Saban has been this week I doubt that hanging out with him on the practice field has been a whole lot of fun. I suspect he hasn�t suffered mistakes gracefully. I doubt if he has suffered excuses at all and I doubt he�s a happy camper. I don�t think he is going to be happy until he sees a mistake free game.

� This is a beat up humiliated team. With all due respect to Ole Miss and what they did, this Alabama team must feel that they have been gut punched. When push came to shove they were shoved. Hopefully, they will respond by shoving the next team back � hard.

� The next team is Arkansas. That team has had two weeks to rest and prepare for Alabama. They are built to grind out games on the ground. Alabama has the stuff to deal with that and I think they will. My guess Alabama 28 Arkansas 24

� Roll Tide

Happy

A couple of things happened in Fayetteville and one of them was good. Blake Sims demonstrated that he was starting his sixth game and the second one on the road. He got a little rattled and it was quite apparent that Arkansas had game planned for him. It worked pretty well. The Tide only scored 14 points. Fortunately, that�s one more point than Arkansas scored. No matter what, no matter how many yards you have, how many penalties or how good your band is the team with the most points wins.

� The other thing that happened is that some light came on for the Alabama defense. They played a pretty darn good game at Ole Miss. Yeah, they allowed them to come back, but most of that was on a freshman corner. The defense won the game in Fayetteville by not letting it get out of hand. I mean honestly, it could have been 14 zip early in the first quarter.

� No, they didn�t look like Baylor and no, they didn�t look like Auburn and yes at times they looked sloppy and dysfunctional. But in the end they won the game. That counts in the most important stat sheet. At the risk of sounding like the Nicktator, the rest is just noise. I will admit that I was cursing them and after Arkansas went up 13-7 I thought it was over.

� However, in the bright light of day with a clear mind, it was crystal clear that they won the game. They still have all sorts of chances to get where they want to be. There are only two undefeated teams in the SEC and it seems highly unlikely that there will be any playing for the championship in Atlanta.

� As Spencer Hall of SB Nation put it so eloquently on Sunday. �Alabama, which will probably still ruin everything, because that is what Nick Saban does to everything fun in this world.� I�m not sure what that last part means but I kinda like it especially if that has to do with Alabama forcing its will on the college football world.

� Hey, come get happy or if you prefer the Rolling Stones to the Partridge Family Baby, baby keep me happy! It ain�t over until it�s over.

� Roll Tide

At Home Again

Late October does seem early to be making those sorts of statements but this year it�s a fact. Alabama cannot absorb another loss and make it to the big dance. Saban has been on a tear for two weeks now and it�s time for his team to put up or shut up. The eternal optimist that I am feels that the team that never quite found its identity will pull it together this week against A&M. It simply has to do that.

� The glass half empty kind of guy figures well these boys are in a tail spin and the airplane is headed for the mountain. The offense has been inept. Special teams have been a train wreck and the defense has been, well honestly, not too bad, save a stinky quarter in Oxford. So what gives?

� The offense hasn�t really been that far off. Teams have figured out that little bubble screen and Blake Sims hasn�t quite figured out that he has a bunch of players who can catch the ball and run. I suspect we�ll see it spread around today. The offensive line has missed blocks or not held blocks and the running game has spluttered. To be honest both Ole Miss and Arkansas have good run defenses.

� It seems that the Tide has been close. The problem is that the play of the quarterback has not been the same that we have seen in the last three years. Sims simply doesn�t have the experience of AJ McCarron. At this point he has six games under his belt. He�s playing in the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny. It�s time to get it together.

� Will he? I�m going to say he will. I think he will, I hope he will. For the sake of the season this team needs to get it together. I think the Tide will shake of its lethargy and save the season for another week. My best guess Alabama 45 Texas A&M 31.

� Roll Tide

Are you kidding me!

Wow. I actually got bored and did you check out the second team D preserving the shutout! I'm proud.<P>
�
Roll Tide!<P>

Fourth Saturday in October

To say the Tide has not done well on the road is being kind. They lost a game in Oxford to a red hot Ole Miss team and nearly blew one to a dismal Arkansas squad. Tennessee has nothing to lose and a reputation to be made � if � they can pull off an upset Saturday night. While their offense is dismal, their defense is pretty solid. If Alabama plays on the road the way they did the last two times the season could come crashing down.

� On the other hand if the two road games were simply a mid-season slump, which was corrected last weekend, the Tide should be fine. There is no vibe for this game and that�s troubling. The loose play and excited players that swarmed the sidelines in Tuscaloosa � are those players the new Crimson Tide? Let�s hope so because those players upped their game and made a statement.

� It�s interesting what a difference one game makes. A week ago the funeral procession for Alabama�s 2014 season was being planned. Then 59 points later the Tide became the favorite to win the national championship. Heady stuff, so what gives?

� The Tide can take the Vols on paper and I believe on the field. Tennessee will put up a fight. They need this game; they want this game. Winning it would change the perception of the team and remake their season. Alabama cannot lose this game and make all their dreams come true. That�s bad news for Tennessee. May guess Alabama 35 Tennessee 10.

� Roll Tide

On the Road

The Tide gets a bye at just the right time. They are beat up and tired. Next game LSU. That will be a biggie. This was a good win. Honestly, it was good to see some life in UT. After what Kentucky did today you almost had to expect this.

� When they needed it Alabama put together a long drive and scored. If not for a fumble they would have done at the end. It was a game that Alabama had to win and they did. They looked pretty good on the road. The change of quarterback for Tennessee made all of the difference. That kid is going to be good.

� The good news, the best news is Alabama survived. Don�t get hung up on statistics. This won�t look good in the box score. However, it looks just fine in the only stat that matters. 34-20.

� Roll Tide

Halloween

This weekend is a good example of how things will change. Auburn is at Ole Miss and as a result one of those teams will have two losses. It�s one of those games where I don�t know who to pull for. I seriously want Auburn to lose but Ole Miss needs to lose another game. I mean it�s actually a win-win no matter who loses.

� That game will help sort some things out. Either Ole Miss will fall out of the top four or they will enhance their position. If they fall out, Auburn will probably take their place and the Tide will move up a notch or not. The Tide basically controls its own destiny. You know this, if Alabama wins out it�s likely they�ll go to Atlanta, unless Ole Miss wins out as well. In which case, they�ll go to Atlanta and Alabama will most likely be the second highest ranked one loss team. Will that put them into the ESPN College Football Playoff�? Who knows.

� The notion of having these top twenty-fives by the ESPN College Football Playoff� committee is just plain silly. The basketball people don�t do that and I thought that the glory that is March Madness was what this whole exercise was based upon. I mean it�s not based on the NFL model which is conference winners and wildcards, no that would take all of the subjectivity out of it. So instead you have thirteen people, except right now you have twelve who will pick the most deserving teams.

� Meanwhile, a bunch old white guys are going to continue to say that Condi Rice isn�t qualified to choose teams, except she�s on the committee. Maybe that�s sour grapes or maybe it�s something else. Hey, this is way better than the BCS or the old poll system. It�s football by committee.

� Now I know something about stuff being done by committee. I was a minor league bureaucrat for a while and let me tell you anything done by committee is just a convoluted mess. Everybody has their own agenda or they have their own pet projects � in this case teams or conferences. I know they are not supposed to but I think the committee is composed of humans, and let�s face it they got stuff going on, all humans do.

� But that�s not the point I mean Who�s in?It�s like an endless political ad. NOBODY�S IN and NOBODY gonna be in until December. Everybody�s got their top four � so I could have one as well and it would be as useful as everybody else�s. Oh well, I�ve digressed enough. Forgive me. The ESPN College Football Playoff� is a wonderful thing and like Windows� and cell phones it will make my life soooooo much better and the best thing is the college football champion will be decided on the field. No more computers or polls or any of that silly whatnot. Right?

� Roll Tide

The First Game of November

Since 2007 Alabama vs. LSU has become an annual big game. Before the arrival of Nick Saban, November was a bad month for the Tide. I remember Alabama went several years when they didn�t win an SEC game in November. Before the bad times Alabama had a multiple game winning streak in Baton Rouge. The streak as it was known was ended by Nick Saban. There�s lots of shared history in this game.

� For the Tide to get to where they want to be they must win in Baton Rouge tonight. It�s a strength vs strength game. LSU has abandoned the passing game and have become a run heavy team that uses the run to set up safe play action passes. Alabama is the best team in the SEC against the run. They are especially good against running backs � mobile quarterbacks give them problems. LSU has a stable of running backs that will test the Tide�s front seven.

� The game�s at night. The home crowd will be lubricated and loud. Blake Sims and the Tide offense had issues in Oxford with crowd noise. Those issues continued in Fayetteville, though they seem to have been solved in Knoxville. The question remains how will the Tide play in what will be a very hostile environment.

� If they are to run the table it must start tonight. Look for a hard fought low scoring game. Lots of defense and the game will turn on a big play or two. Blake Sims and the Alabama defensive line will be the key. Sims presents a problem that Alabama has heretofore not brought into Death Valley. Alabama will pull away late. My guess Alabama 24 LSU 17.

� Roll Tide

Holy Moly

The last 47 seconds of the four quarter changed my mind. At least it had me going oh my God. Then they took care of business when they got the ball in overtime. Strange plays and weird formations, but in the end a simple fade pass won the game. LSU�s inexplicable play calling in their overtime passion helped. Honestly, they didn�t need a touchdown all they needed was a first down. But hey, I didn�t call the plays and the Tide�s defensive backs played lights out on the last three passes.

� Alabama is now 8-1 and they get the rest of the games at home where they play way better than on the road. These guys have heart. I was a doubter tonight. They made a believer out of me. Man oh man, what a game and what a huge win!

� Roll Tide

One Big Winner

All of Alabama�s remaining games are in Tuscaloosa. This team has played remarkably well at home. That�s advantage Alabama. After allowing the LSU quarterback to make big gains on third down runs the Tide defense finally adjusted and took away that aspect of the Tiger�s game. Right now, Alabama�s defense is playing better than they've played all season.

� Mississippi State is the number one team in the country in all of the poles including the playoff poll. They are vulnerable on defense. They have a good running game and a great play action passing game. They can and likely will score points on the Tide. The question is will they score enough points to win and can they stop Alabama.

� LSU scored 29 points on State sure many of those were after the game was out of reach. Auburn scored 23 points both of those games were in Starkville. Texas A&M and Kentucky both put 31 points on the Bulldog defense. A&M was at home and UK was in Lexington. State�s defense has issues especially in the passing game and they say they are not going to double cover Amari Cooper � that could be advantage Alabama.

� State is coming in with a chip on its shoulder. They feel that they are number one and nobody respects them. Alabama was leaped by TCU in the playoff poll after the big win at LSU. Since loosing to Ole Miss Alabama has been dismissed as not as good as the other Alabama championship teams. Both teams feel they have something to prove.

� The game will come down to defense. Can Alabama stop Mississippi State�s running game � especially the running of quarterback Dak Prescott? Will State be able to stop Alabama�s passing game? Most importantly, if State get a lead can they hold it? They barely did that against Kentucky and Arkansas and Alabama is not Arkansas and Kentucky.

� I could be wrong but I don�t think State will be able to stop Alabama�s passing game. I also think Alabama will make some yards on the ground against the Bulldogs. State will also get some yards on the ground, LSU did. No doubt Prescott will make a big play or two. He is a great player and those kinds of individuals play their best in big games. Though the same can be said of Alabama�s playmakers.

� If Alabama loses this game their season is essentially over. They can still beat Auburn and make a decent bowl game but any sort of championship is simply out the window. This Alabama team has been an enigma all season. There was the whole quarterback controversy that turned out to not be. The pass defense that has simply gotten better as the season has progressed. In fact, that�s the whole thing about this team. It's, for the most part, a young team that has grown as the season has progressed. It's a better team in November than it was in September. This is a team that could be special, a real feel good story, at least for Alabama fans.

� I think Alabama will win this game. I don�t know when the last time both Mississippi schools beat Alabama in the same season. I don�t know if that�s ever happened, it could have. I just don�t think it�s going to happen this year. My guess Alabama 48 Mississippi 31.

Roll Tide

Homecoming 2014

Homecoming means parades, bonfires, pep rallies and football. In Tuscaloosa Terry Saban helps with the TV broadcast of the homecoming parade. The coach supposes she does a good job � he, needless to say, hasn�t seen it. He has other duties.

� Saban seems happy going into this game. He�s not ranting about respecting the opponent and he�s not on a tear generally. He has said that this has been a great team to coach. It�s an odd team. It hasn�t been dominant, but it has won most its games. There have been offensive lulls in games � but when push comes to shove they seem to get the job done.

� The lulls have come under scrutiny � it�s the time of year when team are being bisected, dissected and generally over analyzed. Everybody�s looking for flaws and everybody�s finding them. This is a flawed team. It�s made up of a bunch of seniors who might not be the best player to ever play for Saban in the star rating category.

� Those guys are the ones who are getting the job done. Blake Sims, DeAndrew White, Brian Vogeler have all contributed to this season. If he wasn�t playing for Alabama Sims would be the feel good story of the year. Because he is he�s just part of the Saban machine.

� He�s the guy who was written off as dead after the A-Day game. He was not good in that game. He missed receivers, threw interceptions and left everybody with the impression that Jake Cocker would ride into T-town and save the day. It didn�t happen. That�s a testament to Blake Sims as a person and as a player.

� There is a lot of football to be played. No matter what happens today or next week there will be a bowl game. There could be two playoff games. That�s in the future. Today Blake Sims and the rest of the seniors have an opportunity to make the alumni and all of the other people who ventured into Bryant-Denny Stadium to see this game very happy. Play well guys!

� Roll Tide

Giving Thanks

On this cold Thanksgiving Day I want to offer thanks for some things in my life. I am thankful that for last fifteen years I have been able to make a living without a job. That I have been married to the most wonderful person � who for reasons I cannot fathom puts up with me and generally lets me run amuck and has stood by me for the last 32 years. That�s some special stuff.

� If you are an Alabama fan you have lots for which to be thankful for today. You can be thankful that Paul Bryant once prowled the sidelines for our team. He is a legend and a person with all of his flaws that we can cherish. You can be thankful that Nick Saban decided that Tuscaloosa was a better place to coach than Miami.

� If you are an Alabama alum you can be thankful that you got to spend some quality time in Tuscaloosa. You got the rich experience of attending classes at the University. I, myself was, and I guess, always will be a member of the Mallet Assembly, a Malleteer as we like to say. That along with my general experience on campus enriched me more than I could ever repay. I am truly thankful for that.

� Today is a wonderful day in the United States, another place with lots of flaws, but all in all a pretty darn good place. I am thankful that I am an American and can live in this swell country of ours, which allows us to watch football on multiple channels and other stuff that pretty much nobody else on the planet can do. So if you happened onto the site today. Thank you � and thanks to Floyd and Joni for giving me this opportunity lo those many years ago.

2014 Alabama v. Auburn

If you hate that play I�d stay away from the TV until they finally kick off. ESPN will probably show it 100 times today � CBS will show during the Egg Bowl. It will be everywhere. My favorite Iron Bowl Alabama 49 Auburn 0. Seven drives seven touchdowns. I liked that.

� I like it when the Tide wins big. I�m funny that way. I listened to the Punt Bama Punt game on the radio with my Auburn fan cousin. After the first one somehow you knew they were going to do it again and they did. It was one of those thing where you got a really sick feeling in the pit of your stomach and it didn�t go away for a while. Didn�t like it.

� I don�t even live in Alabama anymore and this game still moves me. I mean I have a pulse after all. My earliest memory of this game is about my parents talking about Alabama winning 55-0. That game happened in 1948 so I couldn�t remember it. I think they were all excited about the game that had just happened and were talking about that game. I drew a picture with the scoreboard reading 55-0.

� I don�t think Alabama will win 55-0 today. That would be nice but I don�t think that�s going to happen. I think what the Tide will have to do to day is weather the storm. It�s the Iron Bowl and Auburn will be fired up. They have a 7-2 record in Tuscaloosa and Saban�s record against them isn�t stellar 4-3 I think. He just can�t seem to get clamp on them.

� This edition of the Auburn Tigers is not last years. They are still a very dangerous team. They can run the ball and they have all of their playmakers in the passing game available. They can and probably will score some points. Their defense has been not so good. Last year their defense was also not so good, but it found a way. This year the Tide finds a way to prevail. Usually the better team wins this game. For all of its flaws Alabama is a better team this year than Auburn. My guess Alabama 35 Auburn 24.

� Roll Tide

Headed to Atlanta

All of that said and the statistics will look awful but some love needs to be given to the Alabama defense. When they absolutely had to they stopped Auburn. It became necessary after Sims threw his third interception. Auburn scored and went up 33-21. The Tide defense stopped Auburn and Sims hit Cooper for 39 yards and the Tide was back in business.

� Auburn got another field goal and a late touchdown after Alabama scored four straight touchdowns. It wasn�t a pretty game but in the end Alabama defeated Auburn and will advance to the SEC championship with a chance to move on to the college football playoff.

� Wow � this team is so frustrating and so wonderful. If you stay with them long enough and you are a Tide fan they tend to bring you great joy. Tonight was one of those nights. Thanks guys � thanks especially to the seniors.

� Roll Tide!

Can the Tide bring home a win from Atlanta?

Then what? Well, catastrophe for the SEC. Chaos for the first college football playoff and some excitement at the end of the season. If the Tide loses there will not be an SEC representative in the pool of four. There just won�t be Missouri will not more up nor will Mississippi State. That scenario would make a whole bunch of people quite happy, giddy, I�d say.

� It could happen. For the second week in a row Alabama is playing a team with nothing to lose. Missouri can throw everything in their play book at Alabama tomorrow. If they watched the Auburn game, and you know they did, that�s exactly what they�ll do. The Tide defense will see formations that the Tigers have not shown all season, anything to get an edge. Missouri�s got a good defense and their pass rush is one of the best in the conference. Something will have to give.

� This writer wrote this in September: For what it�s worth my take on it is this. Sims has a much better grasp of the offense than Coker. That was abundantly clear last Saturday. He has more playing experience than Coker and he�s been in Saban�s process for four years. He�s a team guy and the players to like him. Plus he has become a much better player than the guy we saw in the A-Day game.

� I honestly expected that Coker would probably unseat Sims early on. After the Florida game it was simply over. Sims had seized the day � carpe diem as it were � and very much like the proverbial snapping turtle I don�t think he�s going to let go until it thunders. He had a bad quarter against Auburn and the clouds gathered and you thought you heard some rumbles, but in the end the coaches kept the faith and Blake Sims did what he did and Alabama won the game.

� Nobody is going to say this is a typical Nick Saban Alabama team. It just isn�t except it is. This team isn�t going to take the ball and run it and run it until you cry uncle. It�s not going to strangle you with a smothering defense. What it does in the words of Commander Peter Quincy Taggart from the film Galaxy Quest is �Never give up! Never surrender!� Down three points to LSU with less than a minute left � no problem � drive down and kick a field goal. Down eleven points to Auburn early in the third quarter � no problem, you simply go on a 34-3 run and ice the game.

� I want to give a huge shout out to Blake Sims. This has been a season to remember. No matter what happens tomorrow. The Tide beat Auburn and won eleven games with Sims under center. In all but one game that team, with him at the helm, found a way to win. Last summer � everybody wanted to hand the keys to Jake Coker. He may yet get the keys � but right now this is Blake Sims� team. He has done all of us Alabama fans and alums proud.

� Tomorrow with everything on the line � again, Alabama will face a very motivated Missouri Tigers squad. Expect the unexpected. I don�t think this will evolve into a shootout. I just don�t think Alabama�s defense will have two games like that in a row. Though, I could be wrong. I think Alabama will take a while getting used to Mizzou�s defense. It could be a very close first half. In the end I expect Alabama to pull away and win Saban�s third SEC championship at Alabama. My guess Alabama 35 � Missouri 17.

� Roll Tide

Moving Right Along

The Tide took their number one ranking into the SEC championship game and after a struggle polished off Missouri. Now bigger game is on the horizon as the Tide enters the first round of the playoff, which begins New Years Day. All in all it�s pretty heady stuff for a team that was written off after the Ole Miss game.

� After that loss in Oxford the team wasn�t just written off the whole notion of Alabama as a football power was written off. The king is dead. Long live the king. This could have been 2010 � instead it was kind of 1992, but it was really 2014. This is a remarkable Alabama team that does not resemble any team that Nick Saban has coached at Alabama and I don�t remember a Paul Bryant team like this.

� This team is unique in that it seems to be very adaptable. I believe the new offensive coordinator has had a lot to do with that. Lane Kiffin wasn�t exactly a household word in the SEC. Many people chuckled when he was fired in the parking lot in LA. The little punk got what he deserved. There was a lot of bluster when Saban hired him. I for one figured Saban knew what he was doing. Turns out he did.

� I thought Kiffin deserved the Broyles Trophy. Then again Tom Herman has pretty much worked miracles in Columbus. Down to his third sting quarterback his team pummeled Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. Not bad.

� As far as awards go I honestly thought Blake Sims should have been in the first string quarterback on the all-SEC team. Yeah, I know Dak Prescott is a more physically gifted athlete, but that really doesn�t matter in this case. Blake Sims is the main reason Alabama is where it is right now. Without him this simply would not have happened. I honestly thought Sims should have been the SEC Player of the year.

� I think Saban should have won some sort of coach of the year award. That�s not going to happen unless they win everything and maybe not then. There�s this perception that Saban just shows up with all his 5-star players and wins games. Coaching we don�t need no stinking coaching. Say what you will this team has been molded.

� Saban found a way to motivate these guys. They are now playing with a chip on their collective shoulder. The still have issues a cornerback. The line is still not the best one in college football. They have a mutt at quarterback � OK yeah they have a wide receiver that will play in the NFL for a long time. They have a couple of good running backs and the best coach in the country. All of that said they could have imploded after the Ole Miss game.

� Instead they found a way in Fayetteville, destroyed Texas A&M and just kept winning � that all counts for something. How far can they go. Well, if they beat Ohio State they have a shot at a national championship. So let�s just wait and see.

� Roll Tide

The Playoff

If you�ve paid attention, I will admit I have not paid much attention to the Rose Bowl. I honestly think the magic that has gotten Florida State this far will continue for one more night. I don�t know how and I won�t even try to predict it, I just think it will happen. It shouldn�t, I think Oregon is the batter team, but that hasn�t mattered all season. Either Florida State is so good they just don�t have to give a hoot until the end of the game or they are luckier than the 2013 Auburn team, a team they beat.

� The Sugar Bowl is the game that I have been paying more attention to. In the print media there were any number of stories. It seems that Urban Myer has created an SEC team at The Ohio State University. They have a fast front seven and speed everywhere that they are going to need/want speed. I guess their Achilles heel is a lack of depth.

� They seem to be quite confident. Joey Bosa OSU�s All-American defensive end said: �I definitely don�t think they�ve seen a defensive line like us. We�ve watched them (on tape). Ole Miss did a good job, so we�ve been watching that game a lot. Consistently throughout the season, they haven�t seen a D-line like this, and I mean, we haven�t really seen a line like them yet this year. It will be a good battle.� I guess he�s saying they are better than any SEC line, which is quite a statement, though he did temper that by giving the Tide O-line a little love.

� ESPN has made note that the OSU guys are laid back and not uptight about the upcoming contest. Though, to be honest neither team seemed tight. In the interviews I saw they both seemed to be having fun, like they had been there and done that. ESPN seemed to make a lot of that. Who the heck knows.

� They must be better than most Big 10 teams. They beat every one of them that they played. They lost one game. We lost one game. Everything else is pretty much the same � except they went through the Big 10 and we went through the SEC.

� Now I say that with a little trepidation. There was some wacky mojo going on in the SEC this year. I think it has to do with senior classes more than anything else but I think that�s fair. LSU has been the most inconsistent team in the conference. Yet, ESPN continues to go on and on about them. They looked out of sync and again showed an inability to throw the ball against Notre Dame. Yet, they took Alabama to overtime. The game was in Baton Rouge and that made a big difference and plus they might have played their best game that night.

� Then we had the Mississippi teams basically come out of nowhere and threaten to turn the world upside down. Both had a bunch of seniors and both played way better than they did last year. Both Mississippi State and Ole Miss had good line play as I recall. LSU did as well, but they just looked lost against Notre Dame. All of that said unless Ohio State can force Alabama into passing situations � third and long I just don�t see them doing what Oklahoma did last year. Also I think the Tide is up for this game, which they were not last year.

� I think this game will be close for a while. I would not be surprised if OSU scored first. They are going to sky high and Alabama will have to weather whatever they throw at them in the opening. I think Alabama can disrupt their passing game. The current OSU quarterback is not nearly as mobile as others the Tide has faced. If Alabama can shut down OSU�s run game and force them into passing situations everything should be fine. If not it will be a pretty stressful evening for Alabama fans. My best guess here is Alabama 27 OSU 17.

� Roll Tide

No Second Round

The Tide made too many mistakes and was inconsistent throughout the first half. Alabama�s defense failed them in the first half allowing OSU to get back into the game. The score went from 21-6 to 21-20 and Alabama never recovered. Each time Alabama made a run OSU answered and in the end OSU did what the Big 10 has been trying to do for a decade get the SEC monkey off their back.

� It�s not the end of the world or the end of Saban�s and Alabama�s football prowess. The Tide beat Auburn and that will help make the summer better. Given the glaring weakness of the Alabama secondary beating Oregon would have been a challenge.

� It was a gallant effort and Sims last pass came tantalizing close to being caught. Unfortunately like most things on January 1 in New Orleans for Alabama it was just not meant to be.

� Roll Tide

That Empty Feeling

It was a great season. It certainly didn�t end as well as we had hoped, but hey stuff happens. The way this season ended was way better than the way last season ended. The two games Alabama lost this year were games they were in until the last play. Both ended in interceptions. Both were heart breaking, but neither was like the end of last year. You didn�t get that soul crushing loss and that trending downward feeling. Plus one loss does not a losing streak make.

� This team was fun to watch. It was not the machines that we have seen in the past that crushed everything that got in their way. It was an anomaly of a Nick Saban Alabama football team. This team either blew the other team out of the water from the get go � or it kept you on the edge of your seat for 60 minutes. You always thought they�d pull it out in the end, and somehow most of the time, they did.

� Over the years my favorite Alabama football player was always Joe Namath. The dude was, and is, just so darn cool. Now I�ll have to add Blake Sims as my number 2 guy. Blake is so cool because he was the everyman of Alabama football. He didn�t have the tools. He was the consummate team guy. He never took credit when they won and always took the blame when they lost and you just know he�s a nice guy.

� When you watch OSU play Oregon tonight, think about Blake Sims. I�m sure he�s a little sad tonight because he�s not there, just like we are, but think of the joy that he gave us all year. Think of everything he overcame to get there � to be the starting quarterback at the University of Alabama. He made us all proud, because he did his best every single time, and you just can�t ask for more than that.

� Roll Tide

We�re Number 1 � Again

According to those who know this stuff this is the fifth number one ranked class Alabama has reeled off in a row. Which if nothing else proves that having a number one recruiting class does not translate into actual championships. Since 2010 Alabama has won two national championships and two SEC championships though not in the same years.

� Given all of the talent that was signed to come and play football in Tuscaloosa one wonders how the football team could have such glaring deficiencies. In 2013 and in 2014 the Tide�s secondary was noticeably absent. I mean surely there were some four or five star defensive backs that could have helped that situation and perhaps won another actual national championship.

� In general the Tide�s defense has gone south the last couple of years. It was weak last year and practically sieve-like this year. Lord how many yards did they give up to Auburn, Missouri, Ole Miss and Ohio State through the air? What is perhaps even more distressing is the number of yards on the ground this team gave up in critical games in crucial situations. I realize that over half of the rushing yards Ohio State picked up were on two plays and yes there are some excuses for the one long run � but that simply should not happen with this supposed treasure trove of talent that is supposedly on the roster.

� The other question is how on earth could a team be as lacking at the quarterback position as Alabama found itself last year? As some writer pointed out last week Lane Kiffin managed to create a quarterback on the fly last year. It�s beginning to look like he may have to pull another rabbit out of his hat this year. So I ask how, how could this recruiting juggernaut fail to have an elite quarterback on the roster?

� The long and short answer is that often 18 year old boys who set the world on fire at More Science High School might not make the grade, for whatever reason, at the University of Alabama. Often that happens with all college students they just can�t cut what it takes to be in college.

� The point of all of this is that while good recruiting is a good predictor of how a football team will perform. It is not a one for one equation. So, what I�m saying is � it�s OK to be happy that once again Saban and company brought home the bacon. Just don�t melt down if they don�t win the playoff next year.

� Roll Tide

The End is Near

Kristy Curry has also failed to do much with her charges. The situation at Alabama is very similar to the situation in Kentucky only in reverse. Does anybody really care about Alabama basketball? It hasn�t gotten absolutely embarrassing but it�s getting close. This has to be Grant�s last season. The question is will Alabama go after a known coach from an established program or will they pluck somebody out of a strong mid-major program and hope for the best. I�m betting on the latter.

� Who in their right mind would want to leave an established program and come to Alabama? True the money and the facilities would be good � but no matter what, you are always going to be playing second fiddle. In Tuscaloosa, as Paul Bryant one said, basketball is the thing that comes between football and spring football. For many of the Tide faithful that�s just what it is and unless something changes that�s what it will remain.

� Alabama has had some decent teams over the years and many have advanced in the NCAA tournament. Though, it has been a while since that�s happened. As long as the football team keeps up its winning ways most fans will ignore basketball until the football season is over. That is just the way it is.

� What can Bill Battle do? This is going to be a big hire for him. If a coach could come in to Tuscaloosa and get the best players from the state they could make some noise. Those players tend to go to Kentucky and elsewhere. The second tier guys end up staying. Any coach that can reverse that trend could create enough magic in T-town to make basketball relevant. Sadly, that�s something I�ll believe when I see it.

� Roll Tide

Time to get serious

Alabama can afford to spend big bucks on a top tier coach. There are two questions. Will they do that and will a big name coach come to Alabama where basketball takes a back seat to football? Unless there is some sort of cosmic shift in the time-space continuum football will always be more important and popular at Alabama and for that matter in Alabama.

� I don�t look for a time-space shift. Then again I never thought I�d see gay marriage in Alabama or a Republican governor calling for a $700 million dollar tax hike � but neither of those things is college football. Stuff happens and I digress. Honestly, I think it would be nice to have a basketball team that�s competitive. The Tide�s teams in the past have been. They never challenged Kentucky for conference supremacy, but hey they beat the Big Blue every now and then and made the Big Dance regularly. Is that too much to ask? I think not.

� Bill Battle is not in Tuscaloosa for the long haul. He�s more or less a care taker until the powers that be decide on a replacement. However, he has an opportunity to create a legacy with this hire. There�s also the issue of Auburn. Their hire of Bruce Pearl cannot be overlooked. Bringing him in means Alabama has to do something to upgrade the program or they�ll be faced with the real possibility of Auburn pulling ahead and beating them regularly. Perhaps worse Tide fans will have to listen to Charles Barkley go on and on about it, which might be worse.

� I urge Bill Battle to conduct a serious search. Look for the best available coach and bring him to Tuscaloosa. This is something that needs to be done. The other sports are making progress and this is an opportunity to make in-roads in the other money sport. Find the right person and bring him in and change the culture of the program. That�s a tall order but it can be done.

� Roll Tide

Alabama = Murray State?

I�m not sure what�s to blame for the failure of the Anthony Grant regime, but I know it was not a lack of support from the Alabama Athletic Department. The lack of fan support for Alabama basketball is a direct result of wins and losses. Alabama fans like winners � period. When the football team was losing the stands we not full.

� The facilities of all of the nonrevenue sports have been upgraded and are among the best in the nation. The softball program has a state of the art facility; the baseball program will have next year. The University redid Foster Auditorium to house women�s basketball and volleyball. There is a new soccer facility and the track and field facility has been up graded. Alabama�s gymnastics team is among the nation�s leaders in attendance every year as is the softball team. All of this, at a football school.

� Yes Alabama is a football school. Once upon a time football was the only sport anybody cared about at all. Make no mistake it still drives the boat. But, and this is a big boat, it is no longer the only game in town. The Patterson�s turned the gymnastics program into one of the premiere programs in the nation. Patrick Murphy and company have done the same with the softball program. It was the first SEC team to win a national championship in that sport. Those two programs like the football program are highly ranked each year. The golf programs are as well.

� That�s what makes this statement by ESPN�s Stephen A. Smith so galling. �Considering what he's accomplished, if you're going from the NBA to college, you�d think he�d get an offer from a better program than Alabama.� I think when the numbers come out it will be quite apparent that Alabama is serious about having a first class basketball program. Will it make it to the final four? Who knows? Can the Alabama program ever get to the final four � yes, of course it can. It may not happen right away but it can happen.

� Here�s giving Bill Battle thumbs up on getting a coach that is getting national kudos; and a great big raspberry to ESPN for not doing any homework. Keep up the good work guys.

� Roll Tide

2015 Football - quarterbacks

Since his arrival on campus or at least since it was determined he would transfer he has been billed as the heir apparent. The problem is Coker has never lived up to his expectations. The quarterback situation could well be a red herring. No one and I mean no one expected Blake Sims to be the starting quarterback last year. He was just plain awful in the spring game. None of the quarterbacks in the spring game grabbed the lead in the quarterback derby � so where does that leave the Tide?

� The short answer is pretty much the same place as last year. The difference is that perhaps this year the Tide will have a much improved secondary and an awesome front seven. With a defense that can shut down opponents. It might allow the quarterback competition to continue � if necessary through the first four games.

� That might also give the running game a chance to get unleashed. Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake are proven commodities in the backfield and IF Bo Scarbrough heals in time for the season the running game could seriously cause problems for anybody.

� The Tide opens with Wisconsin in Dallas, followed by Middle Tennessee, Ole Miss and LA Monroe in Tuscaloosa before a trip to Athens, Georgia. With a solid defense and running game all that is really necessary from the passing game is the threat. Throw in a few successful play action passes and defenses will have to respect the pass.

� Lane Kiffin worked wonders last year and honestly given what he had to work with he deserved much more credit than he got. As bad as the Tide�s secondary was last year � and let�s face by the end of the year it was awful � Kiffin had to know that the Tide would have to score some points to win games. With all due respect to Blake Sims he was not the best quarterback in the SEC and though he owns lots of records at Alabama � in the end his limitations did him in.

� This year Kiffin has better material to work with. Blake Barnet is probably the most talented quarterback on the roster and the freshman has a legitimate shot a taking the starting job. Saban has never shied away from starting freshmen. A freshman quarterback � with a stout defense and serious running game to lean on might not be a bad option.

� Roll Tide

A Stouter Defense

Mel Tucker was brought in from the NFL to coach the defensive backs. Tucker played for and coached under Saban at Michigan State and LSU. Saban said of Tucker: �He is an outstanding coach all the way around and really does an excellent job in terms of teaching the players. When you look at his college and NFL experience, his resume is very impressive.� It will be Tucker�s charge to bring redshirt freshman Marlon Humphrey and sophomore Tony Brown into the starting rotation and mold them into the kind of players that the Tide desperately needs.

� It�s likely that Cyrus Jones will hold down one of the cornerback spots. Jones who struggled in 2013 after transitioning from receiver to cornerback came on strong last year. He was one of the few bright spots in the Bama defensive backfield. In addition to Brown and Humphrey several talented players will be vying for a spot led by sophomore Anthony Averett and junior Maurice Smith. In coming freshmen Kendall Sheffield and Minkah Fitzpatrick could also be in the mix.

� Both starting safeties graduated. Replacing All American and first round draft choice Landon Collins will be tough, however there are some experienced players ready to step up. Geno Smith has three years of playing time under his belt and will likely fill one of the starting positions. Eddie Jackson, who struggled at cornerback, last year moved to safety in the spring has the chance to grab the other safety position. There are four other players who could get playing time. Senior Jabriel Washington has experience but sophomore Hootie Jones has the edge in talent. True freshman Ronnie Harrison, who participated in spring practice, looked good and there is also incoming freshman Shawn Burgess-Becker a four star player from Florida.

� The secondary should be much improved this season. A good defensive backfield coupled with an awesome front seven anchored by A�Shawn Robinson and linebacker Reggie Ragland both likely first round draft choices could once again make the Alabama defense something to be feared.

� Roll Tide

Memories of Kenny Stabler

I can�t remember exactly, but I�m almost positive that game was not on TV. I suspect I was somewhere in the trailer park in which I lived listening to John Forney, the voice of the Crimson Tide, call the game. It was the first time the game was at night and it poured in Birmingham as it can in the late fall.

� Alabama offense was just plain awful that day managing but one first down in that half. The Alabama defense saved the Tide�s bacon. Auburn had three chances inside the Alabama ten yard line and each time they came up empty, missing a field goal and turning over on downs twice.

� Alabama opened the second half with a three and out. The Tide's punt covered 16 yards setting Auburn up on the Bama 40. Auburn drove deep into Alabama territory and kicked a field goal. The rest of the third quarter belonged to the Alabama defense. The Tide fumbled deep in their own territory and after bogging down, Auburn Coach Shug Jordon elected to try a field goal. Auburn�s holder dropped the ball and the Tide again took over on downs. On the last play of the third quarters, after Alabama made their second first down of the game Stabler threw an interception giving the Tigers back the ball. Auburn drove to the Alabama 27 and then completed a pass to the Alabama 15. Auburn was off sides so the ball came back. On fourth down, Auburn sent in the punting unit but a bad snap gave Alabama the ball on their own 46. That set up Kenny Stabler�s �Run in the Mud,.�

� Alabama which had tried passing all day ran the ball. Two plays got them to the Auburn 47. At this point everybody at my house was just hoping Alabama could get the ball into field goal position to try and tie the game. On third and three, Stabler went under center. An option had been called and Stabler had Tommy Wade behind him. Stabler went left looked for Wade and pulled down the ball and just kept running 47 yards to the end zone. John Forney went crazy yelling �He scores! Kenny Stabler takes it in!� We all went crazy. There was no way Auburn was coming back from that. They had Alabama beat they knew it and then this.

� If Kenny Stabler never played another football game in his life his status as an Alabama legend was cemented that day. That play will always be remembered by Alabama fans―well as the freaking miracle that it was, proving that either Bear could walk on water or that somehow there was divine intervention. Honestly, looking back from all the years it was a great play and the Tide was really lucky. Which brings up the old football adage �Sometimes it�s better to be lucky than good.� I remember all my Auburn friends saying there was holding during the run. Maybe, probably, but it wasn�t called so it didn�t happen.

� I watched Stabler play pro football. His days with the Raiders were fabulous. The Raiders played memorable games against the Pittsburg Steelers, the only team I hated more than the Dallas Cowboys. Too many times the Steelers came out on top but Stabler�s Raiders beat them once and they won the Super Bowl. Stabler was an Alabama legend and he embodied the Raider spirit in the 1970s. He was always fun to watch and he never gave up until the final whistle. No one could ask more than that. Rest in peace Snake.

Too Fat and Sassy?

Many of the Tide faithful myself included have used the excuse that Alabama didn�t care about that game in recent the Sugar Bowl losses. The first example was the thumping the Tide took at the hands of Utah after Tebo and company dispatched them in the SEC championship game. The same excuse was trotted out for the loss to Oklahoma in 2013 after the horrors of the �kick Six� affair in Auburn. While there may be some element of truth to these reasons � it still a fairly lame excuse.

� Last year the SEC was riding as high as it ever has � at one point multiple teams were in the top ten and the SEC West was deemed the most powerful division in college football. Then in January the bottom fell out. Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and LSU all lost bowl games. Except for the whipping TCU administered to Ole Miss these games weren�t blowouts, but they were all losses. Overall the SEC finished 7-5 in bowl games, those five losses were all by SEC West teams.

� It strikes me that what�s happening here is that the kids that are playing for those SEC West schools believed what they heard in the media and figured they would just beat anybody outside of the SEC. Sadly, it just doesn�t work that way and if the teams in the western half of the conference don�t get their heads in the game similar results could be headed their way again.

� Last year Lane Kiffin did a masterful job of exploiting opponent�s weaknesses. However, as the season wore on many of the Tide�s opponents exploited the glaring weakness of the Alabama team � the secondary. Auburn, Missouri and finally Ohio State lit the Tide�s secondary up like a Christmas tree. For all of the records that the offense set the defense set their own. Never has a Saban coached defense surrendered so many yards or points. It wasn�t any secret anybody watching Auburn throw the ball deep at will kind, sorta figured it out. Against Ohio State, it got sad as the Tide, desperately trying to protect their secondary, finally couldn�t stop the run either.

� No doubt, Lane Kiffin will find a way to give whoever plays quarterback this year more opportunities to exploit opponents weaknesses. Also the vibe that came out of Tuscaloosa following the A-Day game was hopeful. The defensive players want to get their swagger back. They haven�t actually beaten teams down since 2012. That used to be the norm, lately it was the exception.

� For Alabama and the SEC to get their mojo back is going to take more than a press release by the league. The teams are going to have to start making statements on the field.

Nick Saban�s to do list

1. Wake up

2. Eat a Little Debbie

3. Finish coffee

4. Check out recruits on IPad

5. Call Lane and ask about quarterbacks

6. Pick a starting quarterback

7. Install game plan for Wisconsin

� The Alabama head coach�s next two weeks may or may not go as outlined above. He may have already figured it out and he�s doing a better job of concealing it ("it" being the whole quarterback thing) from the media than in years past. Also he hasn�t come unglued in a while. I�m not sure if that�s a good or a bad sign.

� Just to start out with full disclosure last year I believe I said that I thought Saban had a defense in place that could deal with the hurry up no huddle offenses. I was wrong. The defense in place was perhaps the worst of any Saban coached team not named Toledo.

� The 2014 defense bucked up in the red zone and other than that it was literally open for most offenses. This year there seems to be hope that the defense will return to championship form. Perhaps the whole team may revert to championship form. The best teams that have played in Tuscaloosa under Saban were boring old school throwbacks that ran the ball at will, passed when they could, and beat the other team into submission with a combination brutal running game and relentless defense.

� Most everybody, except Alabama fans, hated those teams. They were snooze alarms that simply won and put you (the non-Alabama fan) to sleep while doing it. Somehow one gets the distinct impression that this season is headed in that direction.

Saban is uncharacteristically happy. He likes this team. That�s good news for the Alabama faithful and bad news for everybody else. � He doesn�t seem unduly excited about not having a quarterback in place. This is probably because all that quarterback will have to do is hand the ball to Derrick Henry and throw to mismatched wide open receivers. With all due respect to Blake Sims he looked like a five star quarterback in the offense that was designed to highlight his abilities and hide his weaknesses. Does anyone think an offense can�t be designed to run the ball first and then use play action to create mismatches that a reasonably competent quarterback could hit?

� Well I think so. It seems to me that the offense will use no huddle when it can, but it will also use Derrick Henry when it can as well. The running game should be more dominant this year as it appears the offensive line will be better than in the last couple of years.

� Every indication is that the 2015 edition of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team is headed back to the future. The old impose their will on the opponent trick. If they can do that everything else will take care of itself.

� Roll Tide

Game one, Game on!

How do you correctly answer who will be the quarterback? or will the secondary be able to stop anybody? I guess if you named a starting quarterback and then could say yes or no to the secondary question you�d have correct answers. However, I don�t think that�s what the pundits had in mind when they asked the questions. I think basically they meant that Alabama must find a quarterback that can play winning football. That Alabama�s secondary must improve to the point where offenses can�t just lob the ball long and gain 40 yards at a pop. Also Alabama must find a go to receiver.

� I totally agree with the secondary question. If the Tide�s secondary is as porous as it was last year, the chance of ending up in the college football playoff is not good. Teams will just wing the ball eat up chunks of yardage and eventually out score Alabama.

� The whole quarterback and receiver thing is blown out of proportion. Last night some ESPN guy made the most uninformed statement that I have ever heard. He said that there was a real difference between what is going on now (2015) and the quarterback situation last year. Huh? I have to admit that I was one of those people who did not believe that Blake Sims had a snowball�s chance in hell of being the starting quarterback. He was dreadful in the A-Day game. I thought Saban would give him a few snaps and then turn everything over to Coker. It didn�t happen. This year there seem to be three or now two quarterbacks vying for the job and right now they seem to be Cooper Bateman and Alec Morris. Once again Coker just didn�t have what it takes. Of course all of this is simply guessing. None of these guys have been in the program five years like Sims but does that really matter?

� Again it doesn�t really matter who�s under center. They just have to not lose games. They will get to hand off to really good running backs, throw screens and high percentage passes and lob the ball down field now and again. That�s all it will take, if and this is the huge if, the secondary doesn�t suck. If the secondary sucks, all bets are off.

� As far as receivers go � there are a bunch of good players who are ready to catch passes. Whoever the quarterback is will find a receiver he is comfortable with and throw him the ball when he�s pressed. Remember AJ McCarron and Kevin Norwood? Chris Black will be steady, like Norwood and there are some young players who could be just plain dangerous. Don�t worry about the receivers.

� With all of that said and after watching two games on Thursday night I don�t see this game getting out of hand. Alabama will not win 49-0. I think they will win but I think the score will be much closer. Look for Alabama to leave Texas with a win.

� My guess Alabama 27 Wisconsin 17.

� Roll Tide

One Down

Wisconsin got a late garbage touchdown against backups to make the game look a lot more respectable than it was. The Tide took it to the Badgers in the second half pretty much having their way until Saban pulled the starters.

� That�s the good news. There are some serious issues with the kicking game. J.K Scott had an awful game as did Adam Griffith. Scott shanked several punts and Griffith missed his only two field goal tries. Hopefully those issues will be addressed because at some point a timely kick will be needed.

� All in all in was a good win against a quality opponent. It�s always good to get a win.

� Roll Tide

First Home Game

Last week the Tide beat Wisconsin 35-17 and MTSU clobbered Jackson State 70-14. The Blue Raiders run a hurry-up no huddle offense and would seem to be purring right along. They have a good quarterback Brent Stockstill, the son of coach Rick Stockstill, and a veteran safety redshirt senior Kevin Byard, who could give an inexperienced quarterback fits. Meanwhile the Tide sports a front seven that could give MTSU trouble as could the offensive line and tailback tandem of Henry and Drake.

� MTSU has been talking all week about coming into Tuscaloosa and making a statement. That could happen, but it seems unlikely. The old clich� is that a football team makes its biggest improvement between the first and second games. If that�s so Alabama could be seriously dangerous Saturday afternoon. The same could be said for MTSU � but they simply do not have the players to hang with the Tide.

� This game should give an idea of just how far the renovation of the Alabama defense has come. If this group can move fast, tackle in space and stop this high octane offense it might be a window on things to come. If on the other hand MTSU gives the Alabama D fits it will not bode well for the rest of the season.

� Here�s an odd fact � Alabama has not covered the point spread on the last five or so Sun Belt Conference teams that it has played. There are probably a couple of reasons for that. They lost to LA Monroe back in 2007 and Saban tends to pull the starters early in games that he feels are well in hand. That said I think that trend will continue this weekend. I think Alabama will put points up on MTSU and the second team defense will play better than it did against Wisconsin.

� My guess Alabama 42 MTSU 13.

� Roll Tide

Ole Miss Part I

Both quarterbacks showed streaks, but neither looked comfortable. The last drive of the first half Coker got into a nice rhythm. Bateman looked good on the drive where he threw that awful interception in the end zone. The long and short of all of this is last year the Tide could hang with anybody because they could throw the ball and make big plays. That begs the question can they do that this year?

� Honestly, I think the Ole Miss game is going to define Alabama�s season. I know it�s early but this team will be a good barometer of where the Tide stands. Ole Miss has scored a bunch of points on a couple of hapless opponents. I don�t expect them to roll up 70 points on Alabama, but the Tide defense will need to play better than they played early on against Middle Tennessee or it could get ugly quick.

� Ole Miss plans to go deep on teams this year. The good news is the Tide secondary appears to be much better at defending the deep ball than they were last year. Of course, they haven�t really been challenged yet. That may change Saturday night as Ole Miss tests the secondary.

� The Rebels stated game plan is to come in go fast and wear out the Alabama defense. If they can do that they have a good chance of winning the game. For that to happen Alabama must help the Rebels by going three and out as often as they did against Middle Tennessee. The question that must be asked at this point is: has Lane Kiffin opened up the playbook yet or have we just seen what he wanted us to see? Against Middle Tennessee the passing game consisted of bubble screens, pop passes and crossing routes. Mostly bubble screens, which were largely ineffective. Surely there�s more to the offense than we�ve seen.

� Two things stood out for me as I watched the Tide play Middle Tennessee. One was the offensive line seemed to adapt as the game went on. They got stronger and did get some push at the end of the first half and early in the third quarter. They didn�t give up a sack though running backs were forced to go laterally and thrown for losses. The other thing was just how vanilla everything looked. It was almost like watching the A-Day game. Let�s hope they have just been working to get their timing down and to decide on who was going to be the starter at quarterback. So far it would appear that the job belongs to is Jake Coker.

� Roll Tide

Ole Miss � Part II

There are lots of questions to be answered this year. There�s a rush to bury the SEC. Last week a record ten teams were ranked in the top 25. Tennessee the sexy pick to win the SEC east laid a big giant orange egg in Knoxville. Arkansas looked worse in Little Rock and Auburn won but . . . . Now one thing that no one ever asks is who ranked those teams, I mean people outside of the SEC footprint vote. Let�s get real, somebody had to lose the LSU-Mississippi State game. They pretty much don�t allow ties anymore. That�s explainable and frankly UT and Oklahoma is too, the better team won. Auburn and Arkansas defy explanation.

� All of that allows me to put off dealing with Alabama-Ole Miss. I�m simply unsure. While Alabama was never threatened by either team it played. Look at Ole Miss they ran up video game-like scores against UT Martin and Fresno State. UT Martin is one thing but has Fresno State really fallen that far or is Ole Miss that good?

� The Tide quarterback play really bothers me. The Alabama quarterbacks just never got untracked. That does not bode well. While the Tide easily handled Wisconsin and Middle Tennessee State they didn�t dominate either team. Both of those teams moved the ball and the vaunted Alabama front seven didn�t really manhandle them.

� Call me a nervous Nelly, but I see this as a game the Tide could easily lose. If Alabama is going to make a second run at the playoff it has to start now. They have to prove that the fast teams are no longer their Kryptonite. Frankly, it�s that simple. Sadly at this point I�m simply not convinced that�s the case.

� My guess Alabama 21 Ole Miss 20.

� Roll Tide

Ole Miss III

When is world going let up on the whole Saban defense thing. Face it the vaunted Saban defense of 2009-2012 no longer exists. In the world of trick football Saban�s teams simply cannot compete as they did in the world of conventional football.

� That said the defense really wasn�t the issue here. The defense actually played fairly well. Five turnovers killed Alabama. Jake Coker took over the game and looked good at times but he threw two critical interceptions. One led to Ole Miss points and the other crushed the Tide�s chances for a comeback.

� Sadly, this team will not win anymore games unless it gets better play from the quarterback. Fewer turnovers would also help. It�s a long season. Stuff happens but right now Alabama is not a playoff caliber team.

Let�s Move On

Honestly, what has happened, in my humble opinion, is that offenses in football have changed so quickly that it has simply been hard for Saban to adapt. He cut his teeth in the NFL where there are basically three offenses and they�re all pretty much alike. Now he�s trying to create a defense that can counter these crazy offenses. Part of the problem is that the offenses tend to cheat. They often have linemen five yards beyond the line of scrimmage and players making their reads are reading run. So they come up and stuff happens like Ole Miss�s last long touchdown. That should have been flagged for ineligible down field. But that almost never happens. The NCAA talked about a rule change but tabled it. (Now they are allowed to be three yards from the line of scrimmage�the new rule would make it one.) The thing is people like offense and find defensive games dull and boring so chances are there will be no rule change and life will go on and the Tide simply has to adapt.

Saban is adapting. It�s not like they�ve died since the Notre Dame game. They played in the Sugar Bowl and went to the playoff last year. They just lost those games. The issue is the defensive backs. Saban�s defensive schemes are so complicated�they depend on players making reads based on what the offense is doing. By the end of the year when the freshmen defensive backs �get it� everything will fall into place. The good news is once again they can play offense with anybody. They can score points. It�s not as bad as it seems.

I almost picked Ole Miss to win. I really knew they were going to give the Tide fits and I was concerned, rightly as it turns out, about the quarterback play. This is another experience thing. Coker has the tools just not the experience. We�ll see but I think the Tide be OK down the line.

� As far as UL Monroe goes for the Tide to get back on track they need to take this game seriously and not sleepwalk through three quarters. The defense needs to come to play and the offense needs to play mistake-free football. In the old days the Tide would take out their frustrations on the War Hawks. Here�s to the old days!

� My guess Alabama 45 ULM 10.

� Roll Tide

Between the dang hedges

Well, I could spend a bunch of ones and zeros going off on the quarterbacks, but hey that�s not me I�m one of the 80%. The quarterback play hasn�t been stellar but you could say the same about other positions. The thing is with all the stuff that�s been written you�d think the Tide was 1-3 instead of 3-1. You�d think Ole Miss throttled them by six touchdowns instead of six points.

� Will the game with Georgia determine Alabama�s season. Maybe, if the Tide wins they even their conference record. If not they are in a hole that they are unlikely to dig out of and make the playoff this year. The youth and inexperience on this team actually should point to better days ahead. As the young people gain experience the overall play of the team should improve. As the older inexperienced players gain more experience and confidence they should show improvement as well. At least that�s the Polly Anna way of looking at the situation.

� This matchup is actually exactly what the doctor ordered. Georgia plays smash mouth football. Alabama has one of the best anti-smash mouth defenses around. So they should fare well in this game. It will be a matter of weathering the early storm. If the Alabama offense can get untracked early or at least move the ball and here�s the biggie, hang on to it, they should be alright.

� This is an opportunity for both of these teams to move up in the big picture football discussion. That�s only going to happen for one of them. The other will have to lick their wounds and figure out what to do next.

� For my part I think Alabama will prevail in this contest. The odds makers are giving Alabama points so take them. The Georgia quarterback has looked all world in the last few games. Will that continue and will Nick Chubb get 100 yards? Will Jake Coker inexplicably throw the ball to the wrong team? These questions will get answered on Saturday.

� My guess is that two of the three things will happen. Alabama 30 UGA 24.

� Roll Tide

We�re Back!

Jake Coker played his best game of the year and the Alabama defense did as well. Chubb is a great player he is going to get some yards. I know there are lots of Tide fans are upset about that, but hey get over it, The only difference it made was statistically. This was the best game Alabama has played since last year�s Texas A&M game. Let�s hope it is a harbinger of things to come.

Roll Tide

The Halfway Point

To date the Tide is out scoring it opponents by an average of 36 to 16. Rushing Alabama is averaging 5.0 yards per attempt and holding opposing teams to 2.7. The passing statistics are also favorable. Alabama has gained 244 yards per game while holding the opposition to 189. All in all that�s not bad. Alabama has only converted 32% of their third down opportunities while holding its opponents to 26%.

� One thing that keeps nagging at me is if you look at the Ole Miss game, which set off the Bama�s toast fest from every corner of the globe and even had some �Tide fans� calling for Nick Saban to step down. Ole Miss gained 433 yards, only 92 on the ground; while Alabama managed 502, 288 of that through the air. The big disparity in the game was turnovers. When Saban brought that up at his post-game press conference he was accused of making excuses. Well, five turnovers, from which Ole Miss manufactured 24 points is a pretty big deal.

� Now consider this: last Saturday night while Florida was instructing the University of Mississippi on the finer points of football, one of the ESPN commentators went off on how this was not the Ole Miss defense we were used to seeing. My question is where has he been looking? Ole Miss has been giving 355 yards per game. This includes UT Martin, Fresno State and Vandy as well as Alabama and Florida. That�s not bad but that certainly isn�t the 1986 Bears.

� Then there�s the giant leap that Ole Miss got for �destroying Alabama at home.�* Ole Miss was out gained on the ground and in the air, plus they got a fluke play and five gifts from the Tide. OK they won at Bryant-Denny and in the state of Alabama for the first time ever and they stopped Alabama�s home winning streak I get that. I get moving Ole Miss up but moving Alabama down to 12 from number 2? I don�t get that nor moving Alabama down after to 13 after they shutout Middle Tennessee State.

� Then the Georgia game and the universe quit wobbling, at least for a week. The Arkansas Razorbacks come to Bryant-Denny and Alabama has an opportunity to begin a new winning streak at home. They have to win out if they have any hopes of making the SEC championship game much less the payoff.

� On paper this is the kind of game Alabama should handle. Two smash mouth teams going at it. This should not be a thing of beauty unless you like defense and running backs, with the occasional play action pass thrown in, because that�s what you are going to get. I don�t think Saban is going to set Lane Kiffin free to throw a bunch of passes and catch Arkansas unawares. Nope, I believe that the Tide will do what they did to Georgia. Try and stop Arkansas�s run game and force them to try and beat them throwing. Thing is Arkansas�s gonna try and do the same thing. It should be fun.

� I look for the Tide to prevail in T-Town. I don�t look for Alabama to be as sloppy as they were last year in Fayetteville or as they were against MTSU after the Ole Miss loss. If this team is going to make a move it has to show up on Saturday and exert its will against a pretty good team. Otherwise we�re back to wondering what kind of team this is.

� My guess Alabama 35 Arkansas 13.

� Roll Tide

� * For the record Ole Miss won by six points.

5-1

To say it was ugly is an under statement. It was what everybody thought it would be - a slobber knocker. Then one long pass opened the flood gates. Give the Hogs credit their defense is good and they never threw in the towel as their last TD pass demonstrated.

� Regardless, Alabama took home their second conference win and continues moving ahead. The quarterback play is still mystifying, but when the chips were down, what needed to be done got done. You have to love the Tide defense. They played lights out. Again they gave up a cheap touchdown, and again it didn't matter except in the stat sheet.

� Moving on to Texas A&M next week.

� Roll Tide

Aggies and the Tide

What will this game will determine? It will determine if Alabama remains in contention for a playoff berth or just a nice season. It will determine if the Tide�s defense has turned the corner against fast teams. Keep in mind that a bunch of young players have been starting. Oh and keep in mind that Reggie Ragland shouldn�t be wearing a number, but rather the letter �S�, on his jersey. Lord, he was on fire against the Hogs. This game will help shape the SEC west race.

� Can the Tide�s offense stop being its own worst enemy this week? In some ways Jake Coker reminds one of Freddie Kitchens. When the good Freddie was playing they were outstanding. When the bad Freddie showed up it could get ugly. I think Coker has more of an upside than Freddie did and when he�s on he�s really pretty good. Also, let�s cut the guy some slack. He�s started all of five games in his entire college career. On Saturday he�s going to get the chance to prove how good he can be. He will not have to win the game this weekend; all he�ll have to do is manage it.

� The Tide�s biggest advantage in this game is their rushing defense. The Tide is holding opponents to just over 77 yards per game while the Aggies are giving up over 180. In fact on both sides of the ball defensively the Tide holds the advantage. For a more in-depth look at the statistical breakdown see Kirk McNair�s piece in Bama Magazine. As he points out the Tide is better on defense and the Aggies on offense.

� Texas A&M has a couple of good pass rushers and that could be an issue, if the Tide is forced to throw the ball a lot. Arkansas put pressure on Jake Coker last week and forced a couple of bad throws. If A&M can shut down the Tide�s running game it could be a long day for the Crimson Tide. That seems unlikely, but stuff happens.

� Aggie defensive coordinator John Chavis has improved that side of the A&M game, but it is still not putting up great numbers, but it�s not a defense to be overlooked. It seems to me that if Alabama can get its running game going and stop Texas A&M�s run game it�s advantage Alabama. If not the game becomes a shootout, which is advantage A&M.

� I don�t see A&M running on Alabama and I really think the Tide�s pass defense is better than it has been. A&M will get some yards, but not Manzel-like yards. These are both different teams. Alabama will not lay a 59-0 whipping on the Aggies but they will beat them.

� My guess Alabama 35 A&M 21

� Roll Tide

The Fourth Saturday in October

I�ll leave the hot weather alone most everybody else thinks that�s fine and that�s a good thing cause cosmically you�re going be stuck with it for a while. OK, if the Tide is going to finish up this season where it wants to be this is a game they cannot afford to lose; same as last week and same as the week after next.

� The A&M game was a pretty good barometer of where this team is at right now. The offense did what it needed to do it. The defense held A&M to one touchdown and three field goals. The special teams imploded, except the field goal kicker was good on both attempts. Let�s see a fumble on a punt return; a blocked punt and a punt returned for a touchdown. All in all that does not get you an A+. Good news: it didn�t cost the Tide the game. Bad News: it could in the future.

� This week could be a trap game. Everybody says so, except nobody is giving Tennessee a chance. Somehow that bothers me. But, then again that could just be the realistic nature of the sports writers and commentators looking at the game. This is one of those weeks when the only ranked teams facing each other are Ole Miss at 24th and Texas A&M at 15th not the game of the century sort of stuff.

� Couple of thoughts here, first of all Tennessee is pretty good. They have a mobile quarterback, some say the best the Tide has faced to date, and they have a good running back and wide receivers. Early on Tennessee had a bad habit of blowing leads, as it turns out against pretty good teams. They seem to have improved on both sides of the ball and don�t think they couldn�t pull an upset. Alabama has inexplicably played their worst at home.

� All of that said, this Alabama team reminds one of some of Saban�s best Alabama teams. It runs the ball first and plays solid defense. Has it hit its stride? Is it getting better each week? Honestly, that�s what this game will decide. If the Tide comes out and does what it�s supposed to on Saturday, it will take another step toward the playoff. All the Crimson Tide can do is to keep winning. That�s all they can control.

� This is the kind of weekend when really strange stuff happens. Though, I just don�t think a bunch of it is going to happen in T-Town. Tennessee�s not gonna lay down, but Alabama is the better team.

� My guess Alabama 35 UT 21

� Roll Tide

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alabama got out of Dodge and goes into the by-week 7-1. Tennessee can only think of what might have been. In the coulda, shoulda, woulda world of college football Alabama made plays when they had to against a fired up Tennessee team. I know I said but it needs to be said. Many people are going to run the Tide down for this victory. However, in the end when push came to shove the Tide did what it needed to do and won the game and live to fight another day.

� The character of this team came through today as Alabama played a subpar game and found a way to win. This is very reminiscent of the 2009 team, with a tough win against a tough Vol team. Let�s hope that the season ends the same way in January.

� Roll Tide

Living with Fantastic Plays

If you have been following college football this year you have seen two plays that will live on in the lore of college football as fantastic plays. On the one hand Michigan State and Georgia Tech will relish every replay of those plays for at least the next twelve months, if not forever. Then again Michigan and Florida State fans would just as soon they disappear from the face of the earth. Good luck with that.

� The first, which I believe has been christened �Gift Six� was a fairly amazing play that ended the Michigan vs Michigan State game. In case you missed it, and as I mentioned earlier if you have been following college football this year I think that�s unlikely, but here it is Gift Six. Michigan was up 23-21 State had no timeouts left and with ten seconds left in the game. All Michigan had to do was run off those seconds. They elected to punt, that didn�t work out for them. The kid who returned the ball for the touchdown was injured. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan�s head coach, looked like he bitten into a lemon and some of the Michigan fans looked befuddled, while State fans were going wild.

� You know watching it live was one of those, oh my God moments. You watched it, and you saw it, and if you were a State fan it was unbelievable, because face it, up until that moment you knew you had just lost the game. If on the other hand, you were a Michigan fan you could not believe it, because you had the game won, it was over, all they had to do was punt.

� The second of these little ditties was at the end of the Florida State vs Georgia Tech game. The game was tied at 16 there and there were six seconds left. Florida State lined up to kick a 56 yard field goal. That seems daunting until you realize they have the best kicker in the country and he had NEVER missed a fourth quarter kick. Again in case you missed it here is the �Miracle on Techwood.� Well, needless to say the kick was blocked, a Tech player picked it up and apparently with many of his teammates yelling for him to get down he took off running.

� In an interview he says he looked up at the jumbotron and saw that there were only two players in front of him. The holder got blocked and he juked the kicker and he scored. Yup, if you are an FSU fan that one really sucked. They had won 28 straight ACC games and were in play for a playoff spot � well that�s most likely gone. To make every Georgia Tech fan�s day the Tech athletic department put together a video montage with Brandon Gaudin, �The Voice of the Jackets� calling the play and they repeated the play from every available angle. For Tech fans it�s pure bliss, for FSU fans it�s something else.

� I reckon there is no real moral to this story except that misery loves company. One of those plays will win an ESPY and FSU and Michigan fans will have to relive them for the next year. If its any consolation it gets easier to watch as time passes, but not much. You can be sure that when the Alabama vs Auburn game is aired this year the first highlight will be the �Kick Six� play, which for obvious reasons, I will not include.

� Enjoy the bye week y�all.

Time for a complete game

This is a made for TV rivalry that grew out of the hatred that LSU fans felt for Nick Saban. The Tide owned the Tigers in Baton Rouge between 1971 and 1998, Saban ended that streak and LSU simply owned Alabama for a while. Saban turned LSU into a contender and then left them for the NFL and then came back to college football at Alabama. I had an LSU fan tell me that Saban would leave Alabama and break Tide fan�s hearts. To date he has not done that. I, for one, think he has found a home in T-Town.

� This game, this particular match up, defines what Les Miles calls �big boy football.� It is a couple of teams that respect, but do not necessarily like each other. This isn�t Auburn or Tennessee sort of hate � it�s more of a slow simmer, the two teams just get under each other�s skin.

� Saturday shouldn�t be any different. It could get away from one team or the other. It has happened in the past. If Alabama turns the ball over one time too many LSU, can and will make them pay. If, on the other hand, Alabama stops LSU�s run and makes Brandon Harris beat them that could get ugly as well. The Tide�s defense is better than it has been since 2012.

� The Tide will not completely shut down Leonard Fournette, he is simply too good. They should, however limit the damage that he will do. It should be a game that is every bit as good as advertised. Jake Coker will probably have to make a play in the end to win the game.

� My guess Alabama 24 LSU 21.

� Roll Tide

Week Eleven

I have it on good authority that the Tide will not go into the game with a �big head.� I hope my source is correct. Mississippi State has traditionally played Alabama tough. They�re one of those teams that just will not go away. This is a good Bulldog team, though not as good as the team they had last year, last year�s State team was more balanced. This one rides Dak Prescott for all he�s worth.

� Prescott is an excellent player and is in the process and breaking most Mississippi State offensive records and is closing in on a bunch of SEC records as well. Prescott has become the face of Mississippi State football. He led the team that was ranked number one for five weeks last year. He is the Peyton Manning of Mississippi State, the player that State fans hold in very high regard.

� If the Bulldogs are going to upset Alabama Prescott will have to lead the team to victory. There is not much of a supporting cast, except, for former Alabama Mr. Basketball De'Runnya Wilson. If Prescott could get the passing game going and run enough to keep the Alabama defense honest, there�s a chance they could pull the upset.

� This could be a trap game for Alabama. Prescott has beaten every team in the SEC, except Alabama, he�d like to accomplish that in his senior year. That would make the Bulldog�s season and wreck Alabama�s. State�s players are not intimidated by the Tide. They know what to expect and how to deal with it. The question is can they do it?

� I just don�t think so. Alabama will most likely start slowly, the LSU hangover will cause issues. However, this Tide team is on a mission. It�s determined to make up for the loss at Ole Miss and for the loss against Ohio State. Mississippi State is the next game in the quest.

� My guess Alabama 35 Mississippi State 20.

� Roll Tide

Charleston Southern

Over the course of this season, and there are still two more weeks in the regular season, Alabama has progressed from a highly ranked team, with Derrick Henry as a Heisman contender. To a team beaten by Ole Miss and written off for dead. It is now a one loss team, with Derrick Henry as a Heisman trophy contender marching toward its playoff destiny. The Ole Miss loss, which Saban explained was the result of five turnovers, made many people very, very happy. It was then I discovered, that many people out there in the world of college football don�t like the Crimson Tide. OK so I'm naive.

� Seriously, I know Tide fans can be a little arrogant. I guess the collective group does sorta believe that the universe is in its proper rotation when Alabama is winning football games and somehow when the Tide fails to do that the world is just out of sync. It could be blamed on Bear or Saban, but I think it goes back further than that, probably to the 1920s. I guess that�s the whole thing, Tide, fans and alumni simply expect to win and when they don�t they mope and when they do, well, they can be a little too happy.

� Spencer Hall of SB Nation wrote this: �Alabama does not need water or sleep or hope like weak human flesh, nor even require a functioning quarterback. Don't watch the Tide unless you like watching the football equivalent of famine, or are an Alabama fan, and these are the same things. They play Charleston Southern and Auburn to end the season, and then Florida in the SEC Championship. They are already basically in the Playoff. Give up hope forever. Give it up now.� I don�t know but I don�t think he�s real happy that Alabama is winning. I�m not sure who he�d be happy to see win, but I know it ain�t the Tide. I�m not sure what �the football equivalent of famine� is � but whatever it is there�s a bunch of us out there who like it.

� The Tide does play Charleston Southern this weekend. They�ll most likely win that game. Interestingly, The Buccaneers are ranked ninth in the FCS. They have already won the Big South Conference title and they run a triple option that will probably give the Tide defense a little trouble. Why, you might ask? Well, because they never see it. The last time they faced a team like this, Georgia Southern, they gave up 302 yards to them and that was a defense giving up less than 78 yards rushing per game. That doesn�t mean Charleston Southern will win though.

� My guess Alabama 42 Charleston Southern 7

� Roll Tide

Happy Thanksgiving

While we�re on the subject of the Iron Bowl I have to ask this question. Am I the only person who ever noticed that Gus Malzahn sounds like Elvis? Here�s Gus and here�s Elvis. OK maybe they don�t sound exactly alike but I swear during those in game interviews Malzohn sounds remarkably like the King of Rock-and-Roll. I just had to throw that out.

� � This is a wonderful day in America, people celebrating a truly American holiday. A day filled with family, eating and football. That�s about as American as you can get. I want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving!

� Family and football are what I remember most about Thanksgiving as a child. Yeah, we would watch it on TV, but at some point each year we went outside. All of the kids and a few adults would divide into teams and play football. That was always great. Those were indeed the days.

� In Alabama the Iron Bowl is about family as well. Often families are divided over allegiance. My family is the same. It�s cousins not immediate family, but it�s all the same. The state goes dark during that game. Go shopping and you�ll hear the game on the radio or see clerks huddled around a TV. The Iron Bowl is one of those games in which the better team almost always wins. That said it�s not always the case. This year, perhaps for very good reasons Auburn has been completely written off. That sends a chill down my Tide lovin� spine. A loss this year would be another of those soul crushing defeats like Punt Bama Punt or Kick Six.

� Let�s hope that if Saban could get his charges up for Charleston Southern, he can get them up for Auburn. The good news, well there�s lots of good news for Alabama fans, is that if anything the Tide has played better on the road than at home. Here�s hoping that streak will continue. More on that later.

� Happy Thanksgiving and Roll Tide

Iron Bowl 80

Coach Paul �Bear� Bryant once referred to Auburn as that cow college on the other side of the state. Bryant did not like losing to Auburn and reeled off nine straight 1973-81. Auburn ruled the roost winning six straight 2000-07. The series has become amazingly competitive of late.

� Alabama won last year in a shootout 55-44 the highest scoring game ever played between the two. It was a game in which Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn said Auburn should have scored 60, as his team bogged down in the red-zone settling for five field goals. Last year Alabama was often forced to outscore opponents because their defensive secondary was so suspect. That�s the nicest way to put it.

� Over the last several years, five or so as the fast-tempo, hurry up, no huddle offenses have come into vogue, it has been surmised that these are Alabama Coach Nick Saban�s kryptonite. Gus Malzahn is one of the architects of that style of offense and has been a thorn in Saban�s and Alabama�s side since 2010.

� This year Alabama has figured out how to substitute players quickly, which these offenses were designed to prevent. The Tide defensive secondary has grown over the course of the year and the young players have taken some licks but have emerged as a force to be reckoned with.

� That brings us to Iron Bowl 2015. Alabama is returning to the scene of the infamous �Kick Six.� The 2013 team left Auburn having lost under the most unlikely of circumstances and then fell to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. Not a really good way to end the season. This year, Auburn was supposed to be the team to beat in the SEC. Interestingly, the media picked Alabama to win the SEC west and Auburn to win the SEC. Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson was touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

� Things did not go as scripted for Auburn. They come into the game 6-5, last in the SEC west and in the mood to play spoiler. If Auburn beats Alabama tomorrow it will be the biggest upset in the series. For Tide fans, no matter how it happens, it will wreck the holidays and just leave a very bad feeling in west Alabama and the whole of the Bama Nation. The question that must be asked is can Auburn defeat Alabama?

� The answer is yes, anything is possible. Auburn will come out tomorrow fired up. They�ll have the eagle, Cam Newton and a huge crowd behind them. Alabama will have to weather the storm and figure out a way to run on a defense that will be stacked to stop the run. Auburn on the other hand will have to find a way to move the ball on the Alabama defense, which has been stout this season.

� I don�t think Auburn can pull the upset. Though the game will probably be closer that people expect, but Alabama will win. My guess Alabama 35 Auburn 20.

� Roll Tide

Can the Tide Repeat?

So far everyone has handed the Tide the SEC Championship and are just waiting to see where they�ll be seeded in the playoff. As the guy on ESPN says �Not so fast my friend.� I know the Tide is a big favorite in this game and on paper they should win without too much difficulty, but stuff happens. There�s a slew of distractions this week.

� Last week the Tide dispatched Auburn in a workman-like performance. It wasn�t an inspired performance, that was what you saw from the Auburn team, but still the Tide won. Today at 4PM Eastern you�ll see a very spirited performance from the Florida Gators. There will be no �dead fish� out there. Saban�s charges had better have their heads in the game or the Gators could make this game way too interesting.

� There will be two keys to Alabama breaking this game open. The first will be getting some kind of passing game going against a good Florida secondary. The second will be getting Henry going against a very stout Florida run defense. If Alabama can check those off its to do list the rest should take care of itself.

� The game will be close for a while. Florida will sell out to stop the run and will throw some wrinkles at the Tide defense it has not seen all year. Alabama will wear down the Florida defense and pull away in the fourth quarter.

� My Guess Alabama 24 Florida 7

� Roll Tide

The More Things Change

Endless questions were answered Saturday evening as the Tide showed their strength, concentration, and depth. In the first half Alabama put fear in the Gator's punting team. The Tide's defense won the game with Alabama's powerful offense sealing the deal. Jake Coker's hustle and skills continue to impress.

Happy Holidays

As December draws to a close I can reflect on visits to family in Alabama and Michigan. It has been fun visiting with my folks in Alabama, who are, of course, sure that the Tide will prevail in the Cotton Bowl against an underappreciated Michigan State team. While on the other hand those good folks in Michigan believe that their Spartans have a good chance of derailing the Tide�s title hopes. Let�s just say I hope Momma is right.

� In a week we�ll find out for sure. I have to put myself in the category that thinks that perhaps Michigan State is a bit underappreciated. They are a good team that thrives on being the underdog. That�s good because this Alabama team strives to be the best.

� This is an interesting matchup and it is an interesting pairing. The committee must have decided that they wanted one �fast� team and one �slow� team in the final game. By slow, I mean more traditional offense, but I reckon you knew that. Regardless of who wins the Cotton Bowl there will be a clash of styles in the championship game.

� Roll Tide!

Playoff Part II

Tomorrow sometime around 8 p.m. eastern standard time (probably more like 8:30 or 8:45) Alabama and Michigan State will kick off the second game of the first round of playoff games. For reasons that no one can quite understand they have chosen New Year�s Eve for these games.

� This game, the Cotton Bowl, features Big Ten champion Michigan State against SEC champion Alabama. MSU will be the snubbed and disrespected underdog and will try to ride that psychological boost to victory. Alabama is an angry team that has failed to win a post-season game in the last two years. They too will try and gain some sort of momentum from that circumstance.

� Neither of those things will matter after about fifteen minutes. Michigan State is going to do what it does � line up and try and run the ball and throw play action passes, which is very much what Alabama is going to try and do as well. This is a match up that would seem to favor the Crimson Tide, which is pretty good and lining up and running the ball and stopping other teams from doing the same.

� I�ve heard various takes on all of the above. Michigan State has a pretty good defense. They aren�t as deep as Alabama but their starters are good. They have a better quarterback than Alabama and that is supposed to be the thing that could put them over the top.

� Jake Coker can use the disrespect card here as nobody thinks he can win this game if he has to do it. That�s never a good thing to say about a player, especially one who has the talent to do it. Coker has had a good season. He nearly found a way to win the Ole Miss game. He threw a bunch of interceptions early in the season but has settled down and had a strong second half.

� I think Coker might be the key here. He might have to make plays because Michigan State is going to sell out to stop Derrick Henry. They probably will for a while. In the end the combination of Derrick Henry and timely passing by Jake Coker will make all the difference.

� My guess: Alabama 24 MSU 17.

� Roll Tide

One to go

On January 11 Alabama has the chance to win one more game to become the national champion. DO not count them out. � Roll Tide!

New Year � New Game

As the prep for the game advances the storyline now appears to be Clemson�s Deshaun Watson vs Alabama�s defense with the sub-storyline that Clemson�s defense is better than people think; which all means that Alabama may have trouble moving the ball on Clemson.

� The media has built the game up to be Watson vs Alabama and the whole storyline is boiling down to � can Alabama stop a duel threat quarterback. The �evidence� that they cannot do such a thing is well documented beginning with Cam Newton, Johnny Manziel , Nick Marshall and the recent troubles with Ole Miss. Well, that evidence is in. Is Alabama the same team that lost to Ole Miss? They are certainly not the same team that lost to Newton and Manziel. The defense has been completely reconstructed.

� Another question that can be asked is can Clemson stop Alabama�s running game? Their defense against the run is in the lower half of the top twenty, but again evidence suggests they have gotten better as the season progressed. Have they played a team as physical as Alabama? Some suggest that they are every bit as physical as Alabama.

� Both teams have progressed over the course of the season. Alabama has a loss and Clemson is ranked number one and is undefeated, though they�ve had close calls against Louisville and Notre Dame. Alabama proved they could win with Jake Coker and they really didn�t even try to get Henry going. Chances are if Clemson stacks the box the Tide will employ a similar strategy. Many believe that the Clemson secondary can handle Alabama�s wide outs. If that�s the case, and that�s up for debate, will Saban and Kiffin deploy Henry as their primary weapon?

� Stay tuned.

The Big Game

I think I�ll take my que from Bama Magazine�s editor Kirk McNair. Clemson has some very good players and a good coach. Alabama has more good players and a better coach. Nick Saban�s teams have been beaten by teams that were not as good as his. But, to date that has not happened in a championship game.

� There is too much at stake in this game for this Alabama team to get complacent. This team has been on a mission since September. They knew they had to win every game to reach their goals. This game is no different. Clemson stands between a very focused Alabama team and their goals.

� The thing is Saban loves this team. You get the impression that it�s his favorite team. I think because these guys have bought in completely into what the man is selling. I mean the team, THE TEAM, voted to send a player home who they felt was a distraction. That�s pretty serious stuff.

� I don�t think that Alabama will shut Clemson out, but I do think they�ll win. My guess Alabama 35 Clemson 20.

� Roll Tide

History!

This was a great game that had my emotions swinging from one extreme to the other. At one point you had to wonder if the Tide could pull it off. But they did and in magnificent style. A successful on sides kick and a kickoff return for a touchdown and Clemson still wouldn�t quit. But when the chips were down Alabama made the plays. That�s the sign of character and the sign of a champion. This group of Alabama players are champions.

� Congratulations � Alabama Crimson Tide!

� Roll Tide!

Sweet 16

Now that the game is over and all of the storylines have been written the inevitable comparisons between Saban and Paul �Bear� Bryant have begun anew. In the movie the Big Lebowski the narrator trying to describe Jeff Lebowski said: �But sometimes, there's a man. And I�m talkin� about the Dude here. Sometimes, there�s a man, well, he�s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there.� I think that pretty much sums up the debate about Paul Bryant and Nick Saban.

� My point is that both coaches are products of their time. Comparing what they�ve accomplished and trying to determine, which is the best all time Alabama football coach simply isn�t as easy as comparing wins and championships. Bryant played for Alabama in the 1930s and he coached the Tide from 1958 until 1982. Brother those were very different times. Bryant smoked and he coached during an era of segregation and no scholarship limits. He also integrated the Alabama football team, which helped make desegregation work across the board. Did he do that, desegregate, to win football games, well yes? But some coaches of his generation might have quit rather than change with the times. In the late 1960s when his teams hit low ebb he retooled his offense. In 1966 his team was undefeated by 1969 he had gone 6-5. That 1969 team finished eighth in the SEC. At that point, people were saying he was washed up.

� In 1970, he switched to the wishbone. By 1971 he won the SEC championship. The 1970 team was pummeled in Birmingham by USC and it was an African American running back, Sam Cunningham, who did the damage. Bryant had integrated in 1970, but after that he went all in. From 1971 to 1979 he won eight SEC championships and two national championships. Today many of the most beloved Alabama players are African Americans and that trend will not change.

� Saban, like Bryant, arrived at Alabama when the team was in a downward spiral. Gene Stallings won a national championship in 1992 and it was steady decline from there. From 1993 until 2008 Alabama would not win another SEC championship, though there were four western division crowns. There were also four losing seasons within that span, plus devastating NCAA probation which included a two year bowl ban and scholarship reductions. Between 1997 and 2006 Alabama had four head coaches; one who never coached a game and one who jumped ship for Texas A&M. When Saban took over in 2007 the Tide was on a four game losing streak. Saban went 7-6 his first year losing to Auburn, but winning the bowl game. Things changed in 2008, since then he has won at least ten games every year and except for 2010 has been in the mix for the national championship each year.

� Another thing that should be mentioned is that both Saban and Bryant ran clean programs that is, neither ran afoul of the NCAA. Saban did have the textbook thing, but that was early on and the University�s compliance staff has been diligent in policing players. To my knowledge a Bryant team was never on probation.

� Saban still has to win another national championship to tie Bryant and a second to surpass him. It took Bryant 18 years to get his six and Saban has gotten four in seven years. Counting the one at LSU and subtracting the NFL thing he has gotten five in ten years or if you want to be picky five in twelve years.

� After the 2012 championship game ESPN�s Kirk Herbstreit said that he felt we were just in the middle of this run, meaning �Saban�s Alabama dynasty.� The evidence indicates that�s true. It took Saban three years, but he won a fourth championship at Alabama. I don�t know about you but I wouldn�t bet against Saban winning two more titles.

� Which coach is the best? I for one will wait until Saban hangs it up to reflect on that. Maybe when he retires Saban himself might have some words on the subject. Between now and then the subject will be taboo, as far as he�s concerned, it�s just more clutter.

� The University of Alabama has been blessed with several golden ages of football. I grew up during the Bryant Era, which was certainly one of those fabled ages. There is no doubt that we are experiencing another now.

� Roll Tide

Road to the championship: Part I out

The Tide began the 2015 season ranked number 3. It was a team with lots of question marks. Conventional wisdom said this team that would win with defense and the offense should grow as the season progressed.

In game one, Alabama beat a good Wisconsin team 35-17. The Tide ran smoothly but there were a couple of things to nitpick, all in all a very good first game. After Wisconsin it pretty much looked like Jake Coker had the starting quarterback job wrapped up.

� In that game, the Tide�s kicking game did not look as polished as it was the year before Adam Griffith missed a field goal and JK Scott shanked a couple of punts. Still, no real reason to worry at that point. Though, down the road you knew they were gonna need clutch punt and a game winning field goal. All of that was yet to come in early September things were more or less OK.

� The Middle Tennessee State game was a step backwards. Alabama turned the ball over twice on interceptions in a lack luster performance, which included a sub 100 yard game from Derrick Henry. It�s not like the game was ever in doubt, but there were just too many errors. Neither quarterback looked sharp and both Coker and Cooper Bateman threw a pick, Adam Griffith missed two field goals and Tide turned the ball over on downs twice.

� The following week the plane crashed into the mountain or so it seemed. There had been some niggly issues in the first couple of games including a spotty kicking game and the fact that neither quarterback could hit the deep ball consistently, which was the bread and butter of the 2014 team.

Then Ole Miss rolled into Tuscaloosa looking to win its first game in Alabama since 1988 and the first back to back victories over the Tide ever. When the game was over mission accomplished Ole Miss�with a ton of help from the Tide.

� The coaches,looking for one of the quarterbacks to step up and �grab the bull by the horns,� started Cooper Bateman. Alabama set the tone for the evening by fumbling the opening kickoff. Which led to an Ole Miss field goal. Bateman threw the first interception, which led to a touchdown and put Alabama at minus two in the turnover category. After the touchdown Alabama�s Kenyan Drake fumbled the ball. Putting Ole Miss in business at the Tide 18. Again, Ole Miss scored. If you�re keeping score at home that�s 17 points off three turnovers. The Tide would get ten points before the end of the half to make the score 17-10 Ole Miss.

� Except for the dang turnovers the first half wasn�t really that bad, the Tide was down seven but hey it could have been worse. Well, then it got worse. Before Alabama scored again on Jake Coker�s three yard run Ole Miss was up 30-10. It got down right embarrassing. Tide fans were leaving in droves. The ESPN guys had never seen anything like that and frankly I couldn�t remember seeing anything like that either.

� Ole Miss scored a touchdown on its opening drive of the second half, followed by two field goals before Alabama did anything. The Tide scored a touchdown, with 1:33 left in the third quarter making the score 30-17. Alabama forced a three and out then quickly scored again drawing within six points at 30-24. Then Ole Miss scored on one of those crazy plays The Tide front seven nearly sacked Chad Kelley, but he got the ball off it bounced off one player, a second Ole Miss player caught it, and 73 yards later Ole Miss 36 Alabama 24. Things were looking up, but Coker threw his second pick. Ole Miss scored again going up 43-24. The Tide would score two more touchdowns but the final Coker interception, the fifth turnover of the night, pretty much sealed the deal. Bama still had a shot with 25 seconds left, but it was not to be.

� However, the game proved a couple of things. This team would not give up and they found their quarterback. Coker would start the rest of the season. Except, ha, except, for the five turnovers Alabama out played Ole Miss�more yards, more first downs and better time of position. However, the scoreboard read 43-37 and well that�s what counts. It was a feeding frenzy the next week. The grave diggers and the pall bearers lined up. It was over in T-town they said, get used to it. Saban was washed up and the dynasty was so over.

� When the polls came out after the Ole Miss game Alabama had fallen to number 12 and there was joy everywhere, well almost everywhere. Below is a flight from the craft brewery of the sports writing world:

� �One loss doesn�t knock Alabama out of the playoff race, as Saban proved again for the hundredth time last year, but there was a distinct �end of an era� feel to this loss.� Joe Giglio of The News & Observer

� �This is not the Alabama team that dominates and suffocates and eviscerates. This program, since late last season, stumbles and eventually crumbles in big games.� Matt Hayes, Sporting News

� �Alabama built its dynasty on defense and the simple fact is Saban�s defense is downright ordinary now�. In two weeks, when the Tide roll into Georgia and lose, it will be a perfect capstone to the rise and fall of the Tide dynasty.� Clay Travis, Fox Sports

� �Never mind that we're talking about a kick returner dropping a couple balls, thus helping Ole Miss to 10 easy points in a game it won by six. These turnovers tell us Alabama is not going to win many championships this year.� Jason Kirk, SB Nation.

� After this you�re thinking it couldn�t get any worse. It didn�t actually, but the pollsters decided, with good reason to drop the Tide a notch after a snooze worthy 34-0 beating of UL Monroe. It should be noted here that ULM finished the season 1-11 and number four in the Bottom 25, which, well, is not good. September ended with the Tide ranked number 13. Though we did not know it at the time, Alabama had hit rock bottom. To make matters worse the Tide had to travel to Georgia, where for the first time since 2008 they were underdogs.

The Replacements

Nick Saban is always looking forward wanting to making the team better. Take a look at the key players who left the Tide and who they need to replace them.

Who We Lost: Reggie Ragland: First team All American. He was the backbone of Alabama�s defense with more than 97 tackles as an inside linebacker in his senior year. He will be sorely missed.

Road to the National Championship: October

(This is the second of a four part series.) � Alabama played Georgia in the afternoon and it rained and the Tide crushed the number eight Bulldogs in front of a packed house. The game was essentially over at halftime�the Tide led 24 to 3 and never looked back. Derrick Henry scored, Calvin Ridley scored and the Bama special teams blocked a punt and Minkah Fitzpatrick scooped and scored. Adam Griffith also hit a short field goal. It rained and rained and rained some more and Georgia just couldn�t get untracked.

� In the second half the Tide secondary picked off three Georgia passes returning one for a touchdown. Georgia used two quarterbacks neither Brice Ramsey nor Greyson Lambert had much luck. Nick Chubb broke Herschel Walker�s record for consecutive 100 yard games with an 83 yard run at the end of the third quarter. That run was the bright spot for the Georgia offense and no doubt a teaching moment for Nick Saban. On that play Reggie Ragland was out of position as a result Chubb found a crease and scored Georgia�s only touchdown. It was a total team victory for Alabama, a road win that they desperately needed.

� Against Georgia, Jake Coker played a solid game, he didn�t throw an interception. That day the running game was working, though Georgia out rushed the Tide. The next Saturday the Tide returned to Bryant-Denny to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. The book on Alabama at this point was they played better on the road than at home. The Tide had climbed to 8/10 in the polls and Ole Miss lost to Memphis. While that made them look bad it didn�t help Alabama chances of getting to Atlanta. That would be a job for Arkansas, but that�s another story.

� Arkansas did what Arkansas does when they play Alabama. They made Alabama work for every yard and every point. Coker threw two interceptions fortunately, all in the first half. His second interception and a personal foul penalty set Arkansas up on the Alabama 12 yard line. Three plays later the Hogs scored and when the half ended Arkansas led 7-3.

� With less than two minutes left in the third quarter after three consecutive Bama punts Coker hit Calvin Ridley and 81 yards later Alabama�s one play drive gave the Tide the lead for good. A failed Arkansas fake punt gave Alabama the ball on the Hogs 43. Eight plays later Coker connected with Richard Mullaney on a short pass and the Tide was up 17-7. Alabama converted the Hogs lone turnover into a field goal. The teams traded punts. Then the Tide got the ball back with 4:25 left in the game four Derrick Henry runs pushed the Tide lead to 27-7. Arkansas scored late. Alabama recovered the onside kick and Alabama had won three in a row since the loss to Ole Miss.

� The third game of October was against Texas A&M in College Station. The Aggies have, in the past been a thorn in Alabama�s side. The last two years not so much. This was not the 59-0 spanking of 2014, but it was close. The teams traded punts and then Minkah Fitzpatrick picked Kyle Allen and scored. The Tide was up 7-0. Four plays later A&M punted again. A short Henry run a nine yard pass to Mullaney was followed by a 55 yard Derrick Henry touchdown run. Bama was off to the races.

� A&M managed a field goal after which Henry scored his second touchdown on the first play of the second quarter Alabama was up 21-3. The Aggies got a second field goal and forced Bama to punt. A&M drove to the Alabama 30 and then Allen threw his second interception which Eddie Jackson returned 93 yards for a touchdown. After an Aggie punt Bama punted and A&M returned it 68 yards for a touchdown. The half ended Alabama up 28-13.

� The second half did not begin well for Alabama. After forcing an Aggie punt Cyrus Jones fumbled the ball on the Bama 47, which led to an A&M touchdown. Three field goals (two by Bama and one by A&M) Bama led 34-23. A few plays later, Minkah Fitzpatrick�s second pick six of the game made the final score 41-23. On the game A&M managed 32 rushing yards while Henry alone racked up 236. It was a second very solid road win.

� The Tide now ranked number eight awaited a hot Tennessee team that had beaten Georgia and was in contention for the SEC east title. A very tired Alabama team faced the Vols in Bryant-Denny. This was the Tide�s eighth straight game.

� Tennessee missed a field goal after a Rueben Foster sack pushed them out of the red zone. The teams traded touchdowns and the first half ended tied 7-7. After the two touchdowns the teams traded punts. Jake Coker threw an interception, though the Bama defense forced a punt and Tennessee returned the favor. Neither team could generate much offense in the first half.

� In the second half a 73 yard drive ended at the Tennessee two and the Tide settled for a field goal. Again the teams traded punts UT missed a field goal and Bama made one, which put the Tide up 13-7 with a little over seven minutes to play. UT then took the lead. A four play 75 yard drive gave Tennessee its first lead in the second half against Alabama since 2006.

� With less than six minutes on the clock Alabama once again faced a critical moment in a championship season against Tennessee. The drive did not start well Coker was sacked. However, he made amends the next play hitting ArDarius Stewart for 29 yards to the UT 44. Two Henry runs netted four yards then Coker hit Calvin Ridley for 15 yards giving the Tide a first down at the Vol 25. Three plays later Henry took it in and Bama was up 19-14 after the failed two point conversion.

� Tennessee got the ball back with 2:24 on the clock. The Vols moved to their 35. After a five yard penalty the Tide�s defense took over. Jonathan Allen sacked Joshua Dobbs on first and fifteen. Second and 19 Ryan Anderson sacked Dobbs again, this time knocking the ball loose Bama recovered and ran out the clock. The beauty of those two sacks is that both Allen and Anderson imposed their will on Tennessee. They ran past a Tennessee offensive line that had pretty much held them in check all day, but when the chips were down they made plays. Bama would enjoy a much need bye week before heading to Baton Rouge.

Roll Tide

Road to the National Championship - November

[This is part three of a four part series.]Somehow it�s hard to comprehend, but one of the most important plays in Alabama�s season was the Arkansas Razorback's conversion a fourth and 25 play against Ole Miss. As that play and the rest of the game unfolded I was stuck, literally in a bus in Columbia County, Arkansas, the tour bus driver eased a little too far off the gravel road into some mud where it remained for two or three hours. As we sat there the radio signal faded in and out. When Arkansas made the two point conversion in the first overtime to win the game the bus filled with historians/Hogs fans exploded. I cheered with them knowing that if Bama beat LSU, the Tide was in tall cotton.

� The first half of the LSU game was a defensive battle. Alabama took a 10-0 lead and then allowed LSU to tie the game late in the half. On the ensuing kickoff the ball went out of bounds setting up the Tide at the LSU 35. Bama gained 30 yards on three plays as Jake Coker hit Calvin Ridley for 19 yards and Derrick Henry picked eleven yards on the next two plays. Then Ole Miss sacked Coker for a nine yard loss, which he followed up with a seven yard pass to Richard Mullaney. Bama faced fourth down at the LSU 37. Saban sent out the punt team and then called timeout.

� During the timeout Adam Griffith talked Saban into trying a field goal. With the sophomore kicker experiencing a rocky year it was a bold call. Griffith nailed the kick. His teammates swarmed him and Bama took a 13-10 lead until the locker room.

� This one of my favorite games of the year, not just because the Tide took care of LSU, but because of a series of comments made by the CBS commentators. At some point in the game an LSU player ran out of his shoe and Gary Danielson, either trying to plug Chick fil A or trying to keep the whole cow theme going, made a comment about the player throwing a shoe like a cow. Then he said cows wear shoes right? And Verne Lundquist no doubt rolling his eyes said no that would be horses―priceless.

� The Tigers got the ball to open the second half and promptly gave it back to Alabama as Dillon Lee intercepted Brandon Harris�s first pass. The Tide started the four-play scoring drive on the LSU 28. A 25 yard pass to Kenyan Drake set up three Derrick Henry runs the last of which ended in a touchdown. Alabama upped its lead to 20-10. Afterwards the teams traded punts and then the Alabama defense forced an LSU three and out.

� After the LSU punt Bama had the ball on the Tide 27 yard line and began an eleven play drive, which started out badly. Henry lost two yards and fumbled the ball on the first play. He recovered and Coker followed up with a nice pass to Ridley to the Alabama 40. Two plays later Coker hit Ridley again, this time for 14 yards to the LSU 44. After a short Henry run Kenyan Drake broke loose for 24 yards. Three Derrick Henry runs later the Tide was up 27-10.

� Bama�s final score came after forcing another LSU three and out. A short LSU punt gave the Tide the ball on the Tigers 39 yard line. The seven play drive netted three points as Alabama bogged down in the red zone. With 12:45 left in the game Alabama was up 30-10. The next LSU drive started with a nice pass plus a Bama person foul penalty, but the next three plays went nowhere and LSU punted again.

� On the second play after the LSU punt Derrick Henry fumbled and LSU recovered the ball. This set them up on the Bama 22. Leonard Fournette, who had been a nonfactor, had his best run of the night, an 18 yard scamper that gave LSU a first and goal at the Bama three. Two plays later Fournette scored. Bama blocked the PAT, LSU trialed 30-16.

� Alabama put the game away when they got the ball back eating up over nine minutes with a thirteen play drive that except for two short passes, was all Derrick Henry. The clock killing drive ended any hoped of an LSU victory. When Coker took a knee to end the game the Heisman talk shifted from Leonard Fournette to Derrick Henry. Fournette, who the month before was the prohibitive Heisman favorite gained 31 yards on 19 carries while Henry carried the ball 38 times for 210 yards.

� The next week Alabama traveled to Starkville to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs. This was not the same team that came into Tuscaloosa ranked number one a year earlier, this team was pretty much all Dak Prescott. The game started slowly. There were five punts and both teams turned the ball over in the first quarter. Jake Coker threw a really bad interception that State could not convert into points and State fumbled which Bama also failed to capitalize on.

� MSU missed a field goal early in the second quarter. Bama followed that up with a quick three and out. State then drove fifteen yards in five plays and punted. Cyrus Jones took Logan Cooke�s 34 yard punt back 69 yards for a touchdown. Arguably, the referees missed a block in the back on the play, but such is life. Bama led 7-0.

� State went three and out after the punt return and Bama went 65 yards in three plays―all passes. The longest of which was a 60 yarder to Calvin Ridley for a touchdown. Bama was up 14-0. On their next drive State finally got on the board. The Bulldogs drove 71 yards in 10 plays the longest play was a 41 yard completion from Dak Prescott to Fred Ross for a first down on the Bama 14. Three incompletions later the Bulldogs settled for a short field goal cutting Bama�s lead to 14-3. The Tide scored on the following drive as Henry ripped off 74 yards putting the Tide up 21-3. State wasted a 13 play drive that netted nothing and Alabama took the 21-3 lead into halftime.

� In the second half Alabama scored ten points and Mississippi State scored three. The game ended Alabama 31 � Mississippi State 6. It was not a pretty game, Alabama didn�t look real sharp, but the game was never really in doubt. State had more time of possession and more yards but way fewer points and that�s still what matters. The Tide had now won seven straight games since losing to Ole Miss. The Rebels on the other hand had lost to Florida, Memphis and Arkansas. Bama was in control of the SEC west.

� The next week Alabama dispatched Charleston Southern. In that game Alabama played three quarterbacks and rolled up 403 yards to Buccaneers� 134. Charleston Southern gained 74 of their total yards on the last drive of the game against Bama reserves. It was basically a name your score game that allowed Saban to rest many of his starters in the second half. For the record Alabama won 56-6.

� The last time Alabama played in Auburn it ended badly, to say the least. Needless to say CBS felt compelled to run the immortal �kick-six� as many times as they could before and during the game. Auburn had a good defensive game plan that day. Because of the defenses, the first half was a field goal fest―Bama kicked four and Auburn two. Bama struck first when Adam Griffith hit from 26 yards. Auburn took the ensuing kickoff and marched 68 yards in nine plays and Daniel Carlson kicked a 24 yard field goal as the Tide�s defense stopped Auburn at the Alabama seven yard line. After Auburn scored the Tide went three and out and the punt gave the Tigers the ball on the 50 yard line.

� Auburn�s drive wasn�t great but it didn�t need to be. They drove 22 yards in seven plays the longest play was a 20-yard Jeremy Johnson to Jovon Robinson pass. This set Auburn up with a first down on the Bama 25. Three plays netted two yards and Carlson again kicked a short field goal giving Auburn the lead 6-3. It would be Auburn�s last lead of the game.

� The first quarter ended with Auburn ahead and Alabama driving. This drive bogged down but Griffith kicked field goal number two and tied the game at six apiece. The drive covered 67 yards in fourteen plays. Alabama forced an Auburn three and out and then drove 55 yards in eight plays. This was a very disappointing drive as Bama had the ball first and goal inside the five and could not punch it in. Regardless they took a 9-6 lead, which they would not relinquish.

� After the Griffith field goal Auburn went on a long drive that stalled at the Alabama 31. On fourth and two Carlson missed his first field goal of the year. Bama got the ball back and drove 35 yards in six plays and Griffith hit his fourth field goal making the halftime score Alabama 12 Auburn 6.

� The second half was a heavy duty dose of Derrick Henry and one silly touchdown that kept Auburn in the game. The teams trading punts on the opening sequence. Then Alabama put together an eight play 83 yard drive that was punctuated with a 34 yard Jake Coker to ArDarius Stewart touchdown pass. Then that Auburn magic reared its ugly head. Alabama was plagued by silly touchdowns in 2015. Ole Miss got two and Auburn got one. This pass which covered 77 yards bounced around and into Jason Smith�s hands and he ran unimpeded into the end zone. Bama 19 Auburn 13, Good lord.

� Then things got even stranger. Three Derrick Henry runs got a first down. Then on a pass play Coker took off gained a yard and a fifteen yard person foul penalty. This gave the Tide the ball and a first down on the Auburn 49. Then there was a commercial and during that time Will Muschamp apparently said something really bad to one of the officials which gave the Tide another fifteen yards. In essence Coker�s one yard run netted 31 yards. After all that Bama managed another three yards and Adam Griffith kicked his fifth field goal and Alabama took a 22-13 lead.

� After an Auburn three and out both teams turned the ball over on downs and then the Tide put the game away. With 2:13 left Alabama had the ball at the Auburn 34 four Henry runs later it was 29-13. In the game Henry gained 271 yards on 45 carries. It was a very solid Alabama win, which put the Tide in the SEC Championship game. The Tide earned the opportunity to be the first team since Tennessee did it in 1998 to win back to back SEC championships.

Roll Tide

Road to the National Championship � Post Season

The SEC championship game was a study in domination. The final score made the game look close�it was not. Alabama held the ball 43 minutes to Florida�s 16. Alabama ran the ball for 233 yards to Florida�s 15. The Tide even held a slight edge in passing 204 to 165. Florida�s defense kept the Gators in the game and kept it from being a blowout.[This is the fourth part of a four part series.]

� The Tide defense simply out classed Jim McElwain�s offense. The Gator�s made two plays in the game. Alabama punter JK Scott outkicked his coverage and Florida�s Antonio Calloway returned the punt 85 yards for a touchdown. At that point Florida led 7-2. After that Florida�s offense couldn�t do anything and the Tide added a field goal and a Derrick Henry touchdown, which put Bama up 12-7 at the half.

� Alabama simply owned the second and third quarters of the game. In those quarters the Gator�s managed three yards of total offense. In the third the Tide scored ten points. Jake Coker drove the Tide 65 yards in twelve plays. The Gator�s held and Adam Griffith put Alabama up 15-7. After a Gator punt the Tide drove 81 yards using ten plays. The final 32 yards was a beautiful Coker to ArDarius Stewart pass for a touchdown. Alabama lead 22-7.

� Third quarter ended with Alabama first and goal on the Florida three yard line. The Florida defense held and Griffith missed a 24 yard field goal. Florida went three and out and after the Gator punt, the Tide began their next drive at the Alabama 43 yard line. Nine plays later Coker hit Richard Mullaney for a touchdown putting Bama up 29-7.

� After the Tide touchdown the teams exchanged punts and then Florida�s offense demonstrated that it had a pulse. In three pass plays, the last a 46 yard pass from Treon Harris to C.J. Worton for a touchdown. Harris successfully ran for the two-point conversion and suddenly it looked we might have a game on our hands.

� As is so often the case looks can be deceiving, the onside kick failed. Then Bama went three and out and punted. Florida ran four plays on fourth and eleven from their own 31 Tim Williams sacked Treon Harris and the Tide took over on downs. Alabama ran out the clock and took home an SEC championship. Alabama was the first team to win back to back SEC championship since Tennessee did it in 1998. In the process Derrick Henry broke Herschel Walker�s 34 year old rushing record gaining 1,986 yards. He also tied Walker�s touchdown mark of 23. Henry and the Tide were assured of playing at least one more game. That would give Henry the chance to try and break the 2,000 yard mark, a feat no SEC running back had ever accomplished.

� Alabama emerged as the number two seed in the College Football Playoff . This meant that the Tide was matched with Big Ten Champion Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. Alabama dominated Florida and it manhandled MSU. Michigan State played the odds stop Derrick Henry and force Jake Coker to beat you. Unfortunately, for the Spartans that�s exactly what happened. Henry was held to 75 yards, but Coker threw for a career high 286 yards and two touchdowns in the 38-0 whipping of the Big Ten champ.

� The first quarter and a half of the game was a punt fest. In four possessions Michigan Stated gained 87 yards. Their deepest penetration ended with a punt at the Alabama 47. Alabama fared even worse on three tries the Tide managed 34 yards reaching the Spartans 41 before punting. After an MSU punt Bama began their fourth drive on its own 20 yard line. This time Coker took to the air, he hit Mullaney for 15 yards. Henry lost a yard and two Stewart receptions gave Alabama a first down on the 49. The next play Coker hit Calvin Ridley for 50 yards. Two plays later Henry punched it in and the Tide took the lead for good.

� After the Spartans went three and out Alabama drove 43 yards in seven plays. The drive stalled at the MSU 30 and on fourth down Griffith hit a 47 yard field goal Alabama was up 10-0 with 1:25 left in the half. After a touchback, State went on perhaps their best drive of the game. The drive was all passes. With six second left in the half the Spartans had a first down on the Bama twelve yard line and one timeout. Conner Cook dropped back looking to throw a fade to Aaron Burbridge, instead Cyrus Jones picked off the pass. That ended the only real threat MSU mounted during the game. Bama took the 10-0 lead into the locker room.

� It got no better in the second half, with the Tide determined to make amends for last year�s loss to Ohio State. Alabama was up 31 zip, before MSU got a first down. The Tide scored on their first possession aided by two MSU person foul penalties. The teams traded a couple of punts before Cyrus Jones returned the second Spartan punt 57 yards for a touchdown. State then promptly went three and out and punted the ball back to Alabama. Coker hit Ridley for 50 yards and the Tide led 31-0 with 2:20 left in the third quarter. The game was over.

� Someone kept saying there�s plenty of time in this game. For that to matter Michigan State had to move the ball, which they failed to do. In the second half they had one good drive. That drive covered 47 yards and died on the Bama 28 as Cook�s fourth down pass fell incomplete. The Tide added another Henry touchdown which made the final score 38-0. Alabama had made up for the loss to the Buckeyes and was headed to Arizona for the national championship game against Clemson.

� The national championship game has been well chronicled. The Tide held off Clemson 45-40 in one of the best NCAA championship games ever played. Gutsy coaching and big plays brought the Tide its sixteenth national championship. Alabama had a memorable year. This championship, their fourth in seven years was historic. Alabama was the the first team to win four in seven years since Notre Dame did it in the 1940s. Nick Saban is now one national championship away from tying Coach Paul �Bear� Bryant�s six. That�s a pretty big deal.

� In addition to winning the Dr. Pepper College Football Playoff Trophy, which looks amazingly like a calla lily, the trophy case also includes: Amway Coaches Trophy, that�s the one with the Waterford crystal football; the AP National Championship Trophy; and the National Football Foundation, McArthur Bowl Trophy, which looks like a silver stadium. The last is named for Gen. Douglas McArthur of World War II fame.

� As they say in those TV ads: �But wait there�s more!� Derrick Henry, while in the process of gaining over 2,000 yards, a first in SEC history, also brought home some additional hardware for the Crimson Tide trophy case. Henry won the Heisman for outstanding player, the Maxwell also for outstanding player, the Doak Walker for best running back and the Walter Camp, player of the year trophy. These four trophies are the most ever earned by a single Bama player. Oh and he was also the SEC offensive player of the year.

� Ryan Kelly added another Rimington, the nation�s best center trophy to the haul. He was also named the SEC scholar athlete of the year. Kelly, received the SEC's Jacobs blocking trophy, which he shared with Arkansas' Sebastian Tretola.

� The SEC bestowed more accolades on the Tide. Reggie Ragland was named the SEC defensive player of the year, which was the first time ever that one school won both offensive and defensive player awards. The All SEC Team included seven Bama players: Derrick Henry, Ryan Kelly, Cam Robinson, Jonathan Allen, A'Shawn Robinson and Reggie Ragland. These player made both the AP and Coaches first teams.

� Derrick Henry, A'Shawn Robinson and Reggie Ragland all were named first team AP All Americans. Ryan Kelly made the second team and Eddie Jackson the third team. The AFCA Coaches All American team included: Henry, Ryan Kelly, A'Shawn Robinson and Reggie Ragland. A monumental year, which will extend into 2016 as the Tide is likely to have at least three first round NFL draft choices.

� What the future holds no one can predict. Nick Saban�s coaching staff has been under construction since January. The missing pieces have been filled and spring practice is just around the corner plus Saban once again brought in the nation�s best recruiting class. Is there any doubt why the for the Tide faithful, the next season can�t get here quick enough.

� Roll Tide

A Visit to Rhodes

The Rhodes House is a beautiful softball stadium with everything a fan could want. There are ample places to buy chow and souvenirs. Plenty of restroom facilities and the scoreboard has a large video screen which shows replays and other interesting images. For fans who sit in the brickyard, the outfield, there are three large TVs so that you can still watch the pitcher and batter duel up close.

� I saw Bama play on a Wednesday, that night they faced Alcorn State. While the Tide was clearly the better team Alcorn�s pitcher kept the game interesting for three innings. In the end, timely hitting and some good coaching enabled Alabama to run rule the Braves. It was interesting to watch Pat Murphy coach his charges from third base. He put on a clinic.

� In the fifth inning he was positioning his players to end the game early. He substituted, got some young people into the game, and got them into a position to score. The eighth run of the night, which invoked the mercy rule, was scored via a hit by a pinch hitter. While this wasn�t a college world series or even an SEC game, it was a game Murphy was determined to win. Yet, he also used it to get many of the younger players some experience. He succeed on both counts.

� I enjoyed the game and it was special to be able to see them at home. If there was an issue it's with the program success. Even though the seats were not nearly full the only tickets available were in the brickyard. I am assuming that most of the seats are held by season ticket holders. That speaks volumes.

� This is the Tide softball�s 20th season, so far so good. They have had some issues over the course of the year, but as the season has progressed they have gotten better and better. Hopefully, they�ll peak at just the right time.

� Roll Tide

What We Learned From Media Days

What we know is that on paper and in the minds of the media assembled in Hoover, Alabama is the team to beat. The vote wasn�t close; no Alabama wins the west and Auburn wins the SEC type thing. Does that mean the Tide will be in a confetti shower in Atlanta in December, well of course not? However, I wouldn�t bet against it.

� Some of the more interesting things that happened included: Saban going a full blown profanity filled rant. Well, of course he did. Everybody who follows SEC football knew somebody was going to ask him to explain the Cam Robinson and Hootie Jones thing. First of all, you have to give Paul Finebaum credit for having the cohones to ask that question and then to continue probing. That�s what we used to call journalism. Saban didn�t like it. He told Finebaum as much. In the end, Saban had his players back. The men in question showed poor judgement at best and at worst broke some laws, but, and it�s a huge but, no charges were filed. It doesn�t look good for Saban or the Alabama program, but both will get over it.

� The Mississippi mess � there�s some stuff going on in world of Mississippi football that doesn�t look good. Mississippi State signed a five star player who was caught on video beating up a woman. Jeffrey Simmons, a highly touted player, will suit up for the Bulldogs this season, though he will sit out the first game against South Alabama, wow! State�s coach Dan Mullen says the university investigated the situation thoroughly. OK then, got that. They looked it over, they talked to people and he�ll sit against South Alabama. Moving right along.

� Then there�s that stuff at Ole Miss. We all heard about it when Laremy Tunsil said that while a student athlete he received money from Ole Miss coaches. That probably wasn�t a good thing. Then Hugh Freeze tweets that he wants people to report NCAA violations. Ole Miss has already done a bunch of stuff that they hope will mitigate the situation. They�ve reduced their football scholarships by ten over the next three years and fined themselves over $150,000. How the NCAA will handle all of this is, of course, unknown. It could get ugly. This will dog the team all year long. It could either bring them together or the whole thing could go south. Only time will tell.

� Hot seat coaches were another big topic in Hoover. The big three seem to be in alphabetical order: Auburn�s Gus Malzahn; Texas A&M�s Kevin Sumlin and Kentucky�s Mark Stoops. Word on the street is that Malzahn has to win eight games to keep his job. The whole concept is mind numbingly insane. Auburn just extended Malzahn�s contract, which would mean if they fired him they would be paying him over two million dollars a year through 2020. That hasn�t stopped them in the past, but still . . . . The question is can Auburn reach the eight game plateau? It�s possible it all depends upon how good Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and Georgia are this year. Beating one or two of those teams will be the key, unless Alabama goes south, in which case, the urgency to get a new coach would not be so profound.

� For several years Kevin Sumlin was the sexy choice as the coach who could take the reins of the SEC west away from Nick Saban Then Johnny Manziel went into the NFL and his ability to coach came into question as things unraveled in Texas. Given that Sumlin will have a better than average defense and a graduate transfer quarterback in Trevor Knight, who has experience beating Alabama, things might not be too dire in College Station. The Auburn game on September 17 should be a good barometer for both teams.

� Mark Stoops came to Lexington with much fanfare. The locals were very excited to get a �name� coach. Unfortunately, the best Stoops, is Bob and he�s still at Oklahoma. To Mark Stoops� credit he has recruited better than any coach at Kentucky in a long time. That�s the good news the bad news is the bar was pretty low. The other thing is the Wildcats have not been to a bowl since 2010. This year there�s all sorts of talk about how the culture has changed in Lexington and how they have all of the pieces in place to take the next step, which at this point in time, the next step would be winning six games! Recently, Mitch Barnhart, UK�s athletic director, has been touting that there are still a few more tweaks that will be made at Commonwealth Stadium to make the fan experience better. I mean, I�m not an athletic director or a football coach, but it seems to me that the best way of making the fan experience better is to win more football games. But then what do I know.

� Well we�ve gotten past the beginning of the serious talking part of the football season. Fall camp starts in August and then much ink both real and virtual will be spilt to cover every aspect of every practice until kickoff on September 3. Woohoo, at least once you get to this part you�re within spitting distance of the real thing.

� Roll Tide!

First Game Angst

This is the third opening game, in as many years, that Saban�s Alabama team does not have an established quarterback. So, at this point it should be old hat. The difference this year is this team also does not have an established running back. Which, of course, could make a big difference or not.

� USC is probably the best opening opponent that Alabama has faced under Saban and one that poses the potential to cause the Tide a great deal of misery. I doubt if anybody in Tuscaloosa is taking the Trojans lightly. If they are they�re fools and I don�t think there are too many of those on the coaching staff. The players could be excused to a point as they are young people, who have no doubt been looking at the internet all summer. That could be a bad thing, see Tennessee vs. Appalachian State.

� If the offense goes nowhere, the defense will have to carry the team. It�s equipped to do that. Still, with the Tide�s offensive line and stable of running backs that shouldn�t be necessary. Chances are USC just might think it would be a real good idea to stack the box and make the Bama quarterback throw the ball. Sadly, that could work.

� The long and short of all of this is: yes the Tide is a ten point favorite. And I think lots of the Bama faithful are expecting an Alabama blowout. I for one would be real happy with that, but it�s not going to happen. USC, even though they have gone through head coaches recently the way most teams go through water, is still a very proud and viable program. Alabama has more players and a much more experienced and coherent coaching staff, but USC has been working on this game all summer. Winning this game puts them in �the conversation.�

� It will be a hard fought game, one that leaves the typical Bama fan twisting their hands and sometimes, throwing things and yelling at the TV. But, in the end the Crimson Tide will prevail, because they are simply the better team.

� My guess: Alabama 35 USC 24.

� Roll Tide!

Week Three � Ole Miss

Hey it wasn�t that bad the Tide won by four touchdowns and it wasn�t that close! Many people myself included, were really disappointed when Western Kentucky scored that touchdown on the Bama backups, but hey―stuff happens. There were issues in the game that have to get ironed out if the Tide is going to meet its lofty aspirations. That said Ole Miss didn�t exactly set the world on fire last week either. The Tide beat WKU 38-10 while Ole Miss upended the Wofford Terriers 38-13. So what do those two scores tell us? A couple of SEC teams sleepwalked through early games they should have and did win.

� The Rebels now expect to beat Alabama every year. I read that somewhere. They are good. They are planning to challenge for the SEC West crown and by extension the SEC Championship. That�s good, one needs goals. The fact is Ole Miss has beaten Alabama two years in a row and they could do it a third time. Well, they could. They have everything going for them. They have the best quarterback in the SEC. I read that on the internet so it must be true. The game is in Oxford and stuff like that.

� Meanwhile, Alabama is starting a freshman quarterback. The running game went nowhere last week. Well they gained 124 yards on 39 carries which is just over three yards a pop. Alabama is seventh in the SEC in rushing and coincidentally Damien Harris is the seventh leading rusher in the SEC while Jalen Hurts is seventh in the league in passing. There�s a theme here. All those sevens could be lucky. Alabama does have the SEC�s leading receiver in ArDarius Stewart. I mean all that�s pretty good right? Then again Ole Miss�s leading rusher, Akeem Judd is fifteenth in the conference having rushed for 108 yards. Interestingly, Alabama�s Hurts has a higher quarterback rating than Clad Kelly. Also Alabama is fourth in total offenses while Ole Miss is eight. I�m just saying.

� There�s this fear amongst the Alabama faithful that Ole Miss will beat the Crimson Tide three years running. That would not look good. In fact, that would be bad. But, I just don�t think it�s going happen. Ole Miss is a good team. Tide fans are just jumpy, there�s the whole freshman quarterback thing, which could be an issue. There�s also the running game hasn�t picked up where it left off last year thing, which is true. The Alabama offense has been taking what the defense has given them and they are racking up some serious passing yards. Don�t panic yet.

� Ole Miss may score first or may get ahead on an interception or a fumble. Though, it would be nice to cut down on the turnovers when playing Ole Miss. I just honestly think that when the Tide gets rolling, pun intended, they will knock out Ole Miss. Alabama�s defense is simply too good. My guess Alabama 28 Ole Miss 13.

� Roll Tide

The Meat of the Schedule

Beating USC and Ole Miss demonstrated that the Tide can take on good teams and win. Beating Western, Kentucky, Kent State and Kentucky showed that Alabama can take care of business when necessary. The next three games: Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas A&M will determine whether Alabama deserves a slot in the playoff. All three of these teams are ranked and they should provide solid tests for the Crimson Tide.

� These next three games will either help solidify the Tide�s number one ranking or spoil the season. There are some legitimate questions regarding Alabama�s offense and the use of playmakers. Can Jalen Hurts become a more polished passer? Can he consistently hit receivers other than Calvin Ridley? For that matter can other receivers create separation and allow Hurts to consistently complete passes to them? Will Damien Harris be healthy enough to play fulltime this week?

� The 2016 edition of the Alabama Crimson Tide is a pretty good team. It�s a very young team that has been steadily improving. With all the freshmen in the lineup there are going to be some hiccups. Thus far these have been mitigated and the record remains spotless, though I think Tide fans expect more; they always expect more. Those out there, who are not fans of the Tide, want to see them stumble. After all Alabama has not gone through a season undefeated since 2009, will this year be different? Don�t expect a lot of help from the outside if Bama falters. The world is really tired of the Tide.

� The last time Alabama went to Fayetteville it rained and the Tide came out on the high end of a 14-13 contest that was ugly. Frankly, even though Alabama is a 14-point favorite I�d be happy with a similar win. Though this year I don�t think there will be the same let down that was experienced in 2014. Instead of a post Ole Miss hangover the Crimson Tide comes off a solid performance against a good, but over matched Kentucky team.

� The last time in Fayetteville, Bama was beat up for its poor showing, while Saban extoled the virtues of overcoming adversity. This year Arkansas is a first rate, ranked opponent that will provide a good road test for the Tide. Arkansas can throw the ball as well as run and has a good defense. The game against Texas A&M got away from them and they are simply not a team built to play from behind.

� If Alabama can go into Fayetteville and take care of a good Arkansas team it will go a long way in the continued development of the confidence of this young team led by a true freshman. Jalen Hurts has faced adversity and has not been rattled. Arkansas will provide another tough road game with a quality opponent. Look for a physical game with the winner prevailing in the trenches.

� My guess Alabama 28 Arkansas 14.

Nexxxxt!

Well, as I have mentioned to a number of friends I was sort of shocked, but also happy that Jalen Hurts got the nod as the starting QB. I also must admit that I figured he�d do something deer in the headlights freshman-like at some point in a game. That could still happen, but it�s beginning to look less likely.

� That said John Chavis, Texas A&M�s defensive coordinator may well be able to throw some stuff at Hurts he has not seen and could rattle or at least confuse him during the game on Saturday. Chavis is a first rate D-coordinator and has up graded the A&M defense, which has made them a force to be reckoned with. So we shall see.

� Also unless you missed it the A&M players are feeling dissed that those who decide these things have made Bama a 17 point favorite. They will be playing with �a chip on their shoulder.� That�s good. I think a number of Tide players will also be playing with said chip as well. In case you missed it Trevor Knight, A&M�s quarterback, when he was at Oklahoma, lit the Tide up like a Christmas tree back in 2014 in the Sugar Bowl. If you did miss it watch ESPN a little this week. They�ll refresh your memory.

� A&M has a couple of really good rushing defensive ends: Miles Garrett who during the year has accumulated six tackles for a loss, four sacks and six quarterback hurries. His close friend and associate Daeshon Hall has accounted for nine tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks. These numbers place them at number 13 nationally. This combination could put Tide quarterback Jalen Hunts in a world of trouble if Alabama gets behind and has to rely on the passing game.

� The Tide can hold its own in the pass rushing department and in fact may be a tad better than A&M. However, if you think A&M can�t affect the Alabama offense think again. This football season has turned out a little like the current political season; forget what you thought at the beginning of the year. That doesn�t matter anymore. Everybody thought A&M was basically toast, bad like Auburn. As I say rethink that stuff.

� The thing is Alabama is good. The offense is good. They can run really well and they can throw well enough to keep teams honest. That will get better watch and see. The special teams are good too. Yeah, a couple of field goals have been missed, but at this point those haven�t been needed. They�ll come when they�re needed. The punter is on track, in fact, he�s now a weapon. Oh and the Tide has guys that can tote the rock to the house on punt returns. Plus these guys can score of defense.

� If Saban can make the kids understand that the season is not over yet. There are games that must be played, like the one Saturday, they should be OK. That�s the trick. People are now starting to say stuff like it�s over Bama�s the team to beat and such. Hurt�s for Heisman and such. Forget that stuff. Let beat A&M. That�s the next game up.

� For the record I think the Tide will do it. I think this game will be closer than people expect. A&M is going to come in trying to make a point. They have come into Tuscaloosa before and derailed things. They�d love to do it again. It will take some effort, but the Tide will prevail.

� My guess Alabama 35 Texas A&M 24.

Can he do it again?

Mississippi State proved that it could beat a good team when it defeated Texas A&M in Starkville last week. The Aggies came into Starkville ranked number four in the first round of playoff rankings and laid a mighty egg in Mississippi.

� The Bulldogs have improved steadily over the course of the season and could create some serious buzz if they could come into Tuscaloosa and knock off the number one ranked Crimson Tide. Back in 1980, Mississippi State knocked off then undefeated number one ranked Alabama, which had won 28 straight games. A game that any State fan who was alive at the time remembers fondly.

� That was then and this is now. Over the history of this series Mississippi State has had a habit of playing Alabama tough. It would not be far-fetched for the Tide to have a let-down after the game in Baton Rouge last weekend. In fact, many pundits are saying just that. Alabama will likely come out flat against the Bulldogs, as they look ahead to Auburn.

� That is a possibility. Though, State does present an opportunity for the Alabama passing game to improve. The Bulldog�s passing defense in not very good. The Alabama passing offense is seen by many as the Tide�s Achilles� heel. LSU employed a strategy last week of crowding the edges and making Jalen Hurts stay in the pocket and beat them passing. It almost worked.

� That said Mississippi State is not LSU. They simply do not have the defense to do what LSU did to Alabama. They, no doubt will try, as will everybody else from here on out. Hurts passing game is not great. It�s OK, it needs to improve and it probably will and the Bulldogs with their porous secondary provide an opportunity for Hurts to gain some confidence.

� The other factor in this game is State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. Much has been written about him. He�s a big kid; he can run and pass and he is being compared to Tim Tebow, who Bulldog coach Dan Mullen coached at Florida. Perhaps someday Fitzgerald will be Tim Tebow, but not Saturday. Texas A&M has a good defense. Alabama has a really good defense, perhaps the best in college football. If Fitzgerald can get the kind of yardage nearly 400 yards rushing and passing he racked up against A&M in Tuscaloosa State could come home victorious.

� I honestly believe that someone has pointed out Fitzgerald to the Alabama defense. I do not expect them to take a week off. Look for Alabama to shut down State�s running game and get after Fitzgerald. He will be under constant pressure all day. Alabama�s offense may start slow but it will pick up and put the Bulldogs away.

� My guess Alabama 42 Mississippi State 14

� Roll Tide

Iron Bowl

This kind of stuff just bothers me. Everybody has moved on to the playoff and has written off the rest of the regular season as a done deal. I�m sure Saban has reminded the team how bad they looked last week and they looked baaaaaaad. It was not that they we ever in danger of losing the game it�s just that they sleepwalked through the whole thing. Part of that was due to Chattanooga � their game plan seems to have been slow the game down and keep the ball away from Alabama�s offense which worked fairly well. It kept the score from getting out of hand early and gave Chattanooga hope.

� The players have been saying that they didn�t show up, which is true, and that they want to finish the season on a high note by washing the taste of that bad showing out of their mouths. That�s good because this Auburn team watches TV and reads stuff on the internet, which as I noted above has basically written them off. That always gets a team excited.

� Auburn is no pushover. They are the highest ranked team in the SEC not named Alabama. They have a good defensive front and an overall good defense. Auburn is third in the SEC is rushing defense giving up 117.7 yards a game and ninth in pass defense giving up 216.8 yards a game. They watched LSU play Alabama and hold them to ten points. They will try and do what the Bayou Bengals did pinch Jalen Hurts inside, pressure him and make him throw under pressure. For that to work they will have to stop Alabama�s run game. Which they will do, for a while.

� Thing is � Alabama knows that Auburn watched the LSU film. So perhaps the offense tries some different stuff. They have been working on the passing game, which they are going to need moving forward. Hurts has improved as a passer, but he will still need to run as will the Bama�s other backs. My thought on this game is that if Auburn can�t run on the Tide they cannot win, sort of like LSU. The thing with Auburn is that they seem to be the luckiest team on planet earth. If they can fall into some weird fluky play and score by jingo they will.

� Sadly, I just feel that this game is going to be way closer than most people think. Hell, its Auburn, they have absolutely nothing to lose. Gus Malzahn will no doubt dial up some plays that he�s been saving for a rainy day. All manner of shifts, motion, RPOs and other whatnots that could very well confuse the Tide�s defense. Auburn will get some yards on the ground, the question remains how many?

� Will the Tide win? I think so. Will the game be close? I think so. My guess Alabama 21 Auburn 17.

� Roll Tide

A Successful Season?

This cannot last forever, nothing does. The only thing to do is enjoy the ride. The success of the football program under Saban is something to behold. As a person who lived through the Bryant era, I am pretty much amazed by what is happing in Tuscaloosa. In the 1970s Bryant preached team work, toughness and installed the idea that Alabama�s goal was to win the national championship every year. He won six in his twenty-four years in Tuscaloosa. Saban has already won four in ten years.

� Alabama is the only team to have appeared in first three playoffs and they hold a 1-1 record. There�s a certain amount of envy, hate and many people are just sick of Alabama. Honestly, I can understand it, a relative told me that they were tired of Alabama, but he bet I wasn�t. He�s right and I�m sure that most, if not all Alabama fans would agree we love this!

� This is a golden age of Alabama football, one we will probably never see the like of again. Don�t worry about it ending just enjoy the ride. Life is too short for fretting about stuff like that. Forget about all of the other noise out there this is fun. As Kirk Herbstriet said during the Alabama-Notre Dame game in 2012 we were just in the middle of this thing. Let�s hope it goes on for ten more years!

� Back to the whole season being a failure if they lose to Washington, that�s true and it�s not. A 13-1 season would be a failure by Alabama standards but it would still be three SEC championships in a row. It would start the whole end of the dynasty thing again. It would make the team hungry and fired up for next season.

� However, I have to say I don�t think that is going to happen. Washington is better than Tide fans think. They have an elite quarterback and a good defense. If their quarterback gets hot it could give the Tide fits. Also if the defense finds a way to slow down the offense for a while and, if during that span, Washington can score that could lead to trouble.

� Alabama is a fifteen point favorite for a reason, just like they are 13-0 for a reason. They have been pushed this year and they have been challenged by opposing defenses. Florida did a good job of shutting them down for a while. That and what Ole Miss and Arkansas did to the Tide with their passing game is what Washington will try to emulate. They will also try and steal some points with trick plays.

� The game will be close at halftime; Washington may even grab the lead. However, in the second half the Bama defense with figure them out and the offense will get untracked. My guess: Alabama 35 Washington 21.

Roll Tide

The Last Game

If Saban didn�t think changing offensive coordinators would help the team, he would not have done it. Sure it could be an issue, but it seems unlikely that there will be a wholesale offensive change in a week. Probably what you will see is more of a ground and pound with all of the jet sweeps and other �innovations� sprinkled in.

� The line on the game is stop the run and make Jalen Hunts beat you passing. Nobody thinks he can do that. He�s never had to but who knows. On the other hand Deshaun Watson is perhaps the best quarterback in college football today. The teams that have beaten Alabama have all had an elite quarterbacks. Watson burned the Tide last year racking up nearly 500 yards in offense and it still wasn�t enough.

� There�s all sorts of clutter out there regarding the game and why Clemson might/should win. Another anemic offensive performance from Alabama, like we saw last week would not help matters. That�s what prompted the change at offensive coordinator and thus caused more clutter. Lane Kiffin to his credit changed the Alabama offense for the better. Under his direction the vanilla ground and pound unit became multidimensional and thus much harder to defend. He tutored three different starting quarterbacks and made the playoffs each year. He�s gone but the blueprint he created remains.

� Saban�s old school. He believes that defense wins championships. As a result he wants to play conservative, make Clemson stop what has become an excellent running attack. Then try and defeat Deshaun Watson and company with the fast, stifling defense that has been so successful this season. Last year�s game turned into a shootout and that�s really not Alabama�s style. That�s the formula that could get this team beat.

� This team has chemistry unlike any team that has been in Tuscaloosa during the Saban era. It is perhaps the most Saban of all ten of those teams. These players have bought into what coach is selling and they now have a chance to be a part of history. If Alabama wins this game it will do something that no other team, no other school has ever done. They will be on a shelf all by themselves. That�s a lot of pressure for a bunch of kids. But, that�s the thing about this team, which is led by a true freshman quarterback and an upper class laden defense. They know what they have to do to be successful. The only question is can they do it. Vince Lombardi used to say his teams never lost they just ran out of time. If this team fails to win the national championship it will be because they failed to execute properly.

� That said I have been all over the place on this game. Alabama has played a tough SEC schedule this year and won 13 games. They beat the PAC 12 champion in the Peach Bowl and have now won 14 games. When they beat Clemson they will have won 15 games. My guess Alabama 28 Clemson 17.

� Roll Tide

Rude!

I would like to think that Alabama fans have more class than that but all one has to do is look at the comments on any newspaper story to crush that illusion. The long and short of it is that Tide fans SHOULD have more class than that.

� One wonders what Deshaun Watson was doing in Tuscaloosa in the first place and why he thought it would be a good idea to wander into a sports bar in town. Oh, I know maybe he thought he could get a beer, get something to eat with his friend. I mean he was a college student and he�s probably used to going to bars in a college town and having a beer and a burger. But, nooooooo, in Tuscaloosa they chase you out.

� Like I said I�m sure this is just the times in which we live. I�m old and I have this idiotic sense that people should be civil to one another, what�s up with that! It�s OK y�all just put your nose back in your phone and ignore that person sitting at the table with you. Don�t worry about it. Do that while you�re driving too―if you hit somebody it�ll be their fault for not paying more attention.

� I�m done. Like I said I�m old. I didn�t enjoy the end of the Bama-Clemson game, but folks don�t blame Deshaun Watson for the Tide�s inability to pick up first downs. In the end that was what cost Alabama the game.

� Roll Tide

Post A-Day

The number one and number two quarterbacks looked good. I figure the coaching staff hasn�t named a starter, but Jalen Hurts did nothing that would demote him and in fact looked very good throwing the ball. Tua Tagovailoa looked great at times and other times he looked like a kid just out of high school. His upside is through the roof, but chances are he�ll sit behind Hurts for a couple of years. He seemed OK with that coming in, he knows the score.

� Lord have mercy, the Tide has running backs. Three of the best didn�t play (Bo Scarbrough, Damien Harris and B.J. Emmons) and the ones that did play Najee Harris, Josh Jacobs, and Brian Robinson all performed well. Harris in particular gained 107 yards 70 rushing and another 37 through the air. The hard part will be keeping everybody happy so don�t be surprised if some transfer.

� Another amazing thing that should be noted is that of the 25 guys in the 2017 recruiting class 16 of them went through spring practice. Dang! This class will help in the fall and it will come on both sides of the ball. Freshman and early enrollee Jerry Jeudy is going to be a special part of a receiving corps that could really challenge defenses this fall. If the �new� offense goes back to a run first and throw it over the top with some play action to the tight end the offense could spell trouble, if the line can hold blocks. If not look for Hurts to do what he did last year and tuck the ball and run. No matter what they do they should not hamstring Hurts running the ball. All that said the emergence of a dependable passing game will be crucial to the long-term success of the 2017 team.

� While the defense lost a bunch of people to the NFL draft, which they seem to do every year, don�t expect much of a drop off. It might take a few games for everything to gel but by October the defense should be in good form and ready to make a serious run at their fourth SEC title in as many years. The Tide has depth at linebacker and should be able to develop a nice rotation on the line where Da�Ron Payne, Da�Shawn Hand, Josh Frazier and junior college transfer Isaiah Buggs should be regular contributors.

� The secondary should be in good hands with the emergence of Anthony Averett, the successful transition of Trevon Diggs and Tony Brown. Diggs was burned several times during the A-Day game, but those guys are going to burn a lot of people. Tony Brown will need to keep his emotions under control and if he can do that all should be well. Depth could be an issue if Bama is plagued with injuries or targeting penalties. The safety position is in good hands with Minkah Fitzpatrick, a serious ball hawk, the hard hitting Ronnie Harrison, and Hootie Jones at dime back. Again depth could prove problematic.

� What remains to be seen is how this team responds to the adversity they faced at the end of the season. Yes, they got to the title game and most teams would be happy with that and figure they did OK. This is Nick Saban�s Alabama and these guys are not or at least should not be happy finishing second. That Jalen Hurts has a picture of Clemson lifting the national championship trophy on his phones speaks volumes. The Tide should be hungry next year, which is good news for them and bad news for the SEC. Florida State may well be a pivotal game. Both teams could lose that game and still make the playoff. If they beat FSU it should be clear sailing until the September 30 Ole Miss game.

� Have a nice summer and Roll Tide

Kickoff is coming! Are you ready?

� � Early enrollment of freshman has greatly accelerated the pace at which new recruits mesh with the team. Sixteen members of the most recent recruiting class were enrolled and available for spring practice giving them a head start in adjusting to college life and adapting to Coach Saban's tough expectations. Enrolling early is a recruit's choice, but this may give the edge needed for potentially becoming the next freshman phenom. Who will be the standout first year players in 2017? Stay tuned, because the Crimson Tide hits the practice field August 3rd. Keep an eye out for new stars! Go 'Bama!

The Time Is Now!

Saban has raised his team to focus on _The_Game_ week by week. It's the only game that matters. They must play perfectly and with heart beyond their highest expectations of their abilities. How is this possible? Don't all coaches ask their players for 110%? Maybe, but most coaches do not have "The Process©". The University of Alabama would not be the college football juggernaut it is without Nick Saban's innovative but powerful method of breaking down a difficult situation into achievable steps. Don't worry about the touchdown. Worry about the catch. Don't worry about the score. Tackle the man with the ball. Saban's team has risen to this challenge by accepting that putting in the work, mentally preparing, and absolute maximum conditioning will give the highest rewards.

� Someone loses every game, but if you're playing Alabama, be prepared for a difficult test against the toughest challenger. Grab your shakers and tailgating fare... it's time!! � Go 'Bama!

Round Two!

If Bear was here, he would po' mouth about how beat up his boys are and how Fresno State is a secret powerhouse. We all know how it would have turned out then. Believe that it will turn out the same this Saturday. It's tough for young players to focus on one game at a time, especially after a GOAT opener. But Alabama should never underestimate a team that has just beaten Incarnate Word, a wee, tiny FCS school, 66-0. Incarnate Word? How will Fresno State hold up against College Football Incarnate? Leave it to Saban and his team. Bring it on!

� Go 'Bama!

Proud Words Outta Nashville

Now, don't misunderstand. Vanderbilt has beaten Alabama. In humilating fashion. For Homecoming. In 1984. And even baby rattlesnakes can kill you, so lets urge the Tide to not enter into the fray with a predetermined win on their minds. No, no. Coach wouldn't like that. However, it is time to straighten up and fly right on defense. Offense, keep up the good work but step it up a wee bit. Coach will like that. � Last Saturday Vanderbilt scored a surprise win over Kansas State after which Vanderbilt students were chanting, �WE WANT BAMA. WE WANT BAMA.� Hmm, they must mean one of the fine BAMA brand food products (Best.Grape.Jelly.Ever.) Got a gut feeling they won't want Bama so much after the game Saturday.

� Go 'Bama!

Roll On!

All these impressive statistics throws an NFL shadow over Hurts, but that's OK. Tua Tagovailoa averaged over 9 yards on his 4 rushes plus averaged over 10 yards on 5 passing attempts. It was sweet to see him score his first of many touchdowns. So, where does all this settle down to with the Aggies? Considering the last two games are Saban's strongest yet, keep calm and carry on.

Go 'Bama!

With Five Games Left

Seven weeks into the season Alabama sits at number one in both polls with all the first place votes and a comfortable lead on number two Penn State. The discussion over what team is really number one is over for another week. Now that I�ve laid out the rat poison let�s get real. Tennessee is coming to Tuscaloosa this weekend for what everyone believes will be a dismantling of the Volunteers in front of a national audience on CBS ( 3:30 p.m. eastern).

� That is the issue here � most likely Alabama will blow up the Vols and help send Coach Butch Jones out the door. However, stuff happens. Never forget that college football is peopled by 18-22 year old men who have all of the issues that come along with that age bracket. They lap up the rat poison and figure they�ve got this won before kickoff; their girl friend told them to take a hike the night before the game or some such. Did anybody seriously think Clemson would lose to Syracuse??? Liar, liar pants on fire, you did not!

� All that said Alabama�s offense is not bad. The Tide currently have two of the SEC's five leading rushers: Damien Harris is number three and Jalen Hurts in number four. Calvin Ridley is the league�s number three pass catcher. Hurts is the tenth ranked passer with the number four quarterback rating. Bama leads the league in first downs and total yards. All in all not bad.

� On defense the Tide ranks ninth nationally in third down conversions. Alabama is fourth in total defense allowing 4.09 yards per play; 254.3 yards per game and they have given up only eight touchdowns. The Tide is currently second in scoring defense allowing 10.1 points per game. In case you�re wondering Penn State�s number one allowing only nine points per game.

� All of that is fact or if you will more rat poison. The long and short of it is that Alabama is good. They�re playing as well, if not better, than any team in the country right now. But, there are five games left in the regular season and everything could blow up.

� After Tennessee the Tide gets a bye week before a newly rejuvenated LSU comes to town. The Bayou Bengals, who were once written off for dead, are back and will prove a challenge. LSU is followed by a trip to Starkville, a visit by Mercer and the season finale at Auburn. No matter what you think, Auburn will be a tough out on the plains. Alabama has four SEC games left and only a fool would insert W�s before the games are played. I know that�s what�s being done by many people, but the SEC is still a pretty tough league. Mississippi State beat LSU, Tennessee�s a rivalry game, LSU will be tough and Auburn will run every trick play they have. And never forget how lucky AU can get � bounces sometimes just go their way.

� There�s still work to do, but if Bama can stay the course and take care of what�s next and not get ahead of themselves, everything should be OK.

� Roll Tide!

Wading through LSU

This game, like Texas A&M, can only benefit Alabama down the road. While LSU is not an elite team their not a bad one either. They were ranked and probably will stay ranked albeit lower than they were. The main issue from the game was injuries. No one knows at this point how many players are done for the year. That as the coach would say is something they cannot control and it will simply be next man up.

� The things that came easy against lesser competition showed up against LSU. Those freshmen receivers who were feasting on weak defensive backs looked like freshmen last night. Hurts, for the most part, was on target against LSU, his receivers dropped too many passes they should have caught. It really was that simple. If the passing game had been clicking, as it should have been, the running game would have opened up. It was not and it did not.

� The sky isn�t falling. Maybe Georgia is still number one, who cares. Georgia had its own issues with South Carolina, which they beat by the same score as Bama beat LSU. Alabama probably could have scored another touchdown against LSU, if they had pressed they did not and so that�s that.

� So what does it all mean? Well, it�s November and the meat of Alabama�s schedule has kicked in. Auburn is suddenly the flavor of the week and everything runs through Lee County. Georgia comes to their place next week and the Crimson Tide will visit in three weeks. Keep in mind that A&M scored 27 points on Auburn. Also keep in mind that Alabama�s defense is a tad better than A&M�s. But that�s all rat poison.� Mississippi State is a road game in the SEC, it does not matter how pedestrian they looked against UMass. They won�t play Bama like they played UMass.

� If Alabama wins out they are in the playoff. Getting challenged by LSU was a good thing. Losing defensive players was not. Look it�s not like they�ve been doing this with smoke and mirrors all season. This is a good team with everything in front of them.

� Roll Tide

2018 Wishes

Coming up quickly is 2018 and the Sugar Bowl battle with Clemson. New Orleans is practically a home field for the Crimson Tide, so guys...you know what you have to do. Get out your four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, and cross your fingers to pull the team to a win and the College Football Playoff National Championship in Atlanta - another "home" field. This is the time! Git 'r' dun!
�
Go 'Bama!

The Boys Are Back

What lies ahead is the season long anticipated meeting of UGA & Alabama. Of course, we thought that it would be in the SEC Championship but no matter. Atlanta, ATL... It should be a good old fashion SEC brawl with Coach Saban seeing if Kirby Smart has expanded his skills since leaving Tuscaloosa. I predict that Smart will be great, but Saban is still The Master. Buckle up and prepare for a hard fought WIN.

� Go 'Bama!

OMG! OMG! OMG!

26 - 23! Now What?

Fans are excited for the team and the upcoming football season. Happily, the National Championship can't hurt in attracting top tier players on National Signing Day - February 7. Five juniors have declared for the NFL draft so far, and they will need to be replaced (reloaded). Saban & staff are still adjusting to the new recruiting schedule after the early signing period in December.

Post Game musings:

• The cockiness of UCF in buying a billlboard in Tuscaloosa requesting a Home & Home series
• OC Brian Daboll passed his final with a perfect score
• Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa show great sportsmanship and TEAM support
• Saban smiled!

~* Season's Greetings! *~

Nothing new but Alabama has a QB dilemma. You know Saban wants all the talent and ability that Jalen and Tua can conjure between them. Honestly, I hope everyone comes out a winner with sportswriters scratching their heads contemplating which one _IS_ the best. So hard to know!

The unsurprising good news is that the Crimson Tide team is deep and wide in depth and skills. Their schedule is not the worst. When LSU (probably not) and Auburn (hopefully not) are your toughest games, we can afford to be optimistic. But trust that Saban is not. He'll fight every opponent as needed to win it all again.

� Go 'Bama!

Buckle Up!

The SEC does not play. It's filled with sorry teams that will challenge Alabama's superior strength. There are challenging teams that are dreaming right now of beating the Tide and shutting up the fans. But Saban The Focused is here to guide the team through this daunting task. Again. Thank God.

Ole Miss is up first in Oxford. Back in Tuscaloosa it's Texas A&M followed by the Ragin' Cajuns. All three of these teams have and can give Alabama fits. But keep the faith, and believe the Tide will cruise into October unscathed. This should be some ride!

� Go 'Bama!

A Season Like No Ohter

Comments like, "Alabama beat them so bad, they should have had negative points!", show that we are in the heady stratosphere of football heaven. There are worries like why did Tua get injured (shakes fist skyward), what kind of nut do you have to be to imagine the SEC officials favor 'Bama, and the always popular how will Alabama's defense recover from losing a slew of guys (they just do, don't worry.) But the season is not yet over.

As we approach the Iron Bowl, the SEC Championship and beyond, let us give thanks for an exciting season with a stellar team and coach. Alabama fans have already had their best season ever, but we're eager for the thrilling conclusion. Bring it on!

Go 'Bama!

Thank you, Crimson Tide

Losing is no fun, but what an incredible season! The Jalen Hurts story is enough for two movies, a book tour, and a lifetime of motivational speeches. Tua's incredible talent isn't going anywhere. Saban will rebuild the defense likes he always does. Signing date is fast approaching in February bringing new talent. Imagine what next season will bring!

This season brought SO many things to make fans proud. Going into the future remember that showing that Crimson Pride is what we do.

Go 'Bama!

Greatest Show on Earth

Taulia was shining bright in his debut to the enthusiastic support of his brother. Tua has taken steps in the off season to strengthen his game and appears able to go the distance (knock on wood.) Jerry Jeudy and Jaylen Waddle continue to make big plays. The defense was tough and ready.

The Jalen Hurts story continues elsewhere, but this talented Alabama alumni still continues to show the world how it is done. We can be proud of his success. Anyone fantasizing about a championship match between UA and OU? It's really the only option to end this amazing story of two rare talents.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, it is time to take care of business in a manner that will make coach, alumni, fans, and the players proud. Crimson Pride is what we do!

Go 'Bama!

Uncertain Times

Go 'Bama!

What Can Fans Do?

Go 'Bama!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Join us on ESPN on 9/26, stay safe and Go 'Bama!

One Down...

Stay safe and Go 'Bama!

Crimson COVID

So, stay safe and Go 'Bama!

Alabama defeats Ohio State

Take a bow...

Rat Poison & Swamp People

Florida is ready to chant "WE WANT BAMA!" but you know, they really don't. When you are king, everyone wants to dethrone you. Are the Gators those conquerors? Anything is possible, but more likely we'll see another stellar, focused performance by the Tide for the win.

And how about Bryce Young? Cool, collected, and capable like his predecessors.

And have you seen our guys in the NFL? Wow, last Sunday was like college game day! When will someone figure out a 100% Crimson Tide team would be unbeatable. Oh well, they're getting there one draft pick at a time.

Anywho, let's get this done!

Go 'Bama!

Swamp People

Florida is ready to chant "WE WANT BAMA!" but you know, they really don't. When you are king, everyone wants to dethrone you. Are the Gators those conquerors? Anything is possible, but more likely we'll see another stellar, focused performance by the Tide for the win.

And how about Bryce Young? Cool, collected and capable like his predecessors.

And have you seen our guys in the NFL? Wow, last Sunday was like college game day! When will someone figure out a 100% Crimson Tide team would be unbeatable. Oh well, they're getting there one draft pick at a time.

Anywho, let's get this done!

Go 'Bama!

Eschew Rat Poison

Florida is ready to chant "WE WANT BAMA!" but you know, they really don't. When you are king, everyone wants to dethrone you. Are the Gators those conquerors? Anything is possible, but more likely we'll see another stellar, focused performance by the Tide for the win.

And how about Bryce Young? Cool, collected, and capable like his predecessors.

And have you seen our guys in the NFL? Wow, last Sunday was like college game day! When will someone figure out a 100% Crimson Tide team would be unbeatable. Oh well, they're getting there one draft pick at a time.

Anywho, let's get this done!

Go 'Bama!

Rat Poison & Swamp People

Florida is ready to chant "WE WANT BAMA!" but you know, they really don't. When you are king, everyone wants to dethrone you. Are the Gators those conquerors? Anything is possible, but more likely we'll see another stellar, focused performance by the Tide for the win.

And how about Bryce Young? Cool, collected, and capable like his predecessors.

And have you seen our guys in the NFL? Wow, last Sunday was like college game day! When will someone figure out a 100% Crimson Tide team would be unbeatable. Oh well, they're getting there one draft pick at a time.

Anywho, let's get this done!

Go 'Bama!

Well, Hecko

National Champions cannot play this way. Trust that Saban will get the problems ironed out before next week's Southern Miss game. And that one should go a little smoother.

Go 'Bama!

Let's Do This

Meanwhile, Coach Saban showed off the bruise he got in the post-game crush when the Texas A&M fans rushed the field. Seriously? If a school cannot insure the safety of visiting teams, then they should return to empty stadiums. Period.

In the NFL Crimson Tide alumni continue to show their value. Even in losses, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones showed brilliance. Najee! Waddle! DeVonta! The term "Bama on Bama crime" is trending; it describes when our ex-players meet each other on opposite sides of the ball. Good times.

Go Bama!

2021 SEC CHAMPS

Here

~ESPN

Well, Hecko

*sigh*

Let's go!

Players are glad to be in Tuscaloosa working hard; recruits want to be in T-town making their name. It's the place to be, if you want to eventually join the 77 former Alabama players who are active in the NFL. Wow. The process pays off for those who are willing to devote themselves. Talent surrounded by talent times unrelenting effort is a winning formula.

Players can transfer easily these days and 'Bama is scoring there as well. Watch for these newbies to contribute on a high level.

So, buckle up! There will be action, excitement, and a Natty in the near future!

Go, 'Bama!

Satisfaction

I'm waiting...

9999

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