I went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie last night. I had heard it was awful, but I found it incredibly entertaining, like the first two. I fully expected to fall asleep in the middle of it, since we went to the 10:10 showing (and the movie is 3 hours long), but, to my surprise, it kept my interest the entire time. Go see it if you get a chance, but watch the first two first.
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 93
The Palm Beach Post tells about how the Sabans are more comfortable in the SEC. Oh yeah...haha...read Rich Brooks' quote at the end of the article.
The SEC coaches voted 9-3 against an early signing period. The only three coaches that voted for it were Bobby Johnson (Vandy), Rich Brooks (Kentucky), and Les Miles (LSU). Kinda seems funny that LSU's coach is up there on this with Kentucky and Vandy's coaches.
The opening TV schedule has been announced, and if you don't get tickets to the first game, you'll have to order Gameplan to see Bama vs Western Carolina, because it will not be picked up by regular television. The Vandy game just became a little less attractive for me to attend because it's an 11:30 game on Lincoln Financial, and I really don't like Nashville. The Arkansas game, on Sept. 15th, will be shown on ESPN at 5:45pm. After that, we'll have to wait and see. My guess is the Bama / Georgia game will be on CBS at 2:30. The Iron Bowl has the chance to be an 11:30 game this year, due to them moving it back a week. CBS will have a double header that day, with 11:30 and 2:30 kickoffs. CBS can choose between Florida/Florida St, Georgia/Ga Tech, Alabama/Auburn, Clemson/South Carolina, and Tennessee/Kentucky.
Here's the rest of the announced broadcasts: Aug. 30 (Thursday) LSU at Mississippi State 7 p.m., ESPN Sept. 1 Oklahoma State at Georgia 5:45 p.m., ESPN2 Sept. 1 Kansas State at Auburn 6:45 p.m., ESPN Sept. 1 Tennessee at California 7 p.m., ABC Sept. 8 South Carolina at Georgia 4:45 p.m., ESPN2 Sept. 8 South Florida at Auburn 8 p.m., ESPN2 Sept. 8 Virginia Tech at LSU 8:15 p.m., ESPN Sept. 15 Miss. State at Auburn 11:30 a.m., Lincoln Financial Sept. 15 Tennessee at Florida 2:30 p.m., CBS Oct. 4 (Thursday) Kentucky at South Carolina 6:30 p.m., ESPN Oct. 6 SEC doubleheader 3:30 p.m., 7 p.m., CBS. Nov. 23 (Friday) Ole Miss at Mississippi State 12:10 a.m., Lincoln Financial Nov. 23 (Friday) Arkansas at LSU 1:30 p.m., CBS Nov. 24 SEC doubleheader 12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., CBS. Dec. 1 SEC Championship game 3 p.m., CBS The Oct. 6 doubleheader will likely feature Florida at LSU and Georgia at Tennessee, while Alabama hosts Houston. Alabama at Auburn will almost certainly be part of the Nov. 24 doubleheader, despite Florida State at Florida, Georgia at Georgia Tech, and Clemson at South Carolina also scheduled for that day.
The first meeting between Les Miles and Coach Saban had zero fireworks. Both were cordial, but didn't really say much to each other. There was no menacing glare, so at least they're both being professional.
They'll be discussing the playoff system idea tomorrow, but the Mobile Register already lays it out for you.
More about Saban thinking the fact that allegations of recruiting violations coming from Miami was funny - here.
Away from football, we've got a shot to get Ronald Steele's little brother, Andrew Steele.
Paul Gattis gives us hope for the future while explaining what went wrong with the three major sports at UA.
Today we will start with the most memorable games from the Dennis Franchione Era. It should last about 3 weeks, considering I don't post on the weekends (at least not until football season).
THE DENNIS FRANCHIONE ERA
#15: Alabama 21 Hawaii 16Dec 1st, 2002 in Honolulu, HI
This game was abound with rumors circling about Texas A&M courting our coach. We won the game against a pretty good opponent (remember, Hawaii went 9-3 that year) on their home field, but we still looked like we had no gameplan.
We went up 14-0 in the 2nd quarter, thanks to our bruising running game, then went up 21-3 in the fourth quarter.
Timmy Chang, Hawaii's former school-leader in passing yards, threw a 70 yard strike for a touchdown with 10:21 left, then threw another touchdown with 1:55 left to make it 21-16, but we recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
We had been put on probation and couldn't go to a bowl that year, but the game in Hawaii was about as close as it got. It was nice to get that 10th win.
¶ 8:47 AM0 comments
Coach Saban, along with other coaches, seem to hate the summer because the kids that they've recruited and coached are set loose with nothing more to do than play video games and watch Sportscenter. Read more here.
Stephen Dawkins, from the Clanton Advertiser, has joined the debate on the college footbal playoff idea. He doesn't want one.
Saban finally talks about the "NCAA violations." He, like most of us, thinks they're funny. " "We respect the rules and certainly have always respected the rules and will continue to do that. And I think it's funny that it came from Miami."
When asked if the reports were inaccurate, Saban responded: "I said I think it's funny it came from Miami." Saban declined to comment further."
Coach Saban is all about showing "respect" for Les Miles. "I didn't really have a previous relationship with Les. I respect what he has done," Saban said. "I don't have any bad feelings for him. I can't speak for him, though."
¶ 9:21 AM0 comments
So, I started watching this whole UFC phenomenon over the past few days. We got the PPV of Liddell vs Jackson at UFC 71, and I really think I may be hooked. I'm a pretty big boxing fan, but the way fights have gone recently (see Mayweather vs De La Hoya, Taylor vs Spinks) I'm beginning to think I may get more into UFC fighting. I also watched Ortiz vs Liddell over the weekend, along with Ortiz vs Shamrock II and III. It's pretty much got me hooked. Haha. Should last me 'til football season anyway.
Andrew Bone, TideSports.com recruiting guru, is in the middle of the 3 part series about the top 150 recruits playing the waiting game to see where they want to go to school.
Don Shula decides to rip Coach Saban a little more every time he gets the chance. He's not exactly telling us stuff that rational / logical people didn't already know: of course his agent was talking to Alabama in the middle of the season. It'd be stupid not to. Alabama wouldn't have made the decision to fire Shula if they didn't already know they'd get a proven winner. Duh.
Coach Kines spoke to the Escambia County Alabama alumni group last Tuesday. He had A LOT of positive things to say about Coach Saban and his drive to win. He also said that the one play that really messed things up for Coach Shula was the loss of Tyrone Prothro in the Florida game in '05. It's actually kinda funny, because I think the fact that one player had so much to do with the offense was a mistake in itself. Gotta be prepared at all times, and it was proven that we weren't.
I posted this the other day, but it's still a great read. Miles vs Saban, part 1 this week in Destin.
Finebaum goes into detail about what happened in the Spurrier to Alabama ordeal. Very interesting read.
Today, the Mike DuBose era comes to an end. This is the most memorable game from his 4 year stay at the Capstone.
This was easily the most memorable game, due to the actions of our hero, Alexander the Great, and the drama at the end of the game.
Scoring went back and forth, which was a little disheartening because we kept the football for 40 minutes to their 20, which means they were striking very quickly. Our best defense was our good offense, which kept their offense off the field.
The rest of the game is a moot point, because overtime was probably one of the most dramatic games in the history of Alabama football. Doug Johnson hit Reche Caldwell on a 6 yard touchdown pass in the first possession of overtime, but Jeff Chandler missed the extra point, pushing it wide right with Tiffin-like accuracy.
Shaun Alexander found the endzone on the first play of Alabama's possession, tying the score at 39-39. Chris Kemp subsequently missed the extra point wide-right as well, but Florida was offsides, so he was able to attempt the kick again.
The 2nd one looked like it was going wide left, but it sneaked inside the upright, giving Alabama the improbable upset. It was Florida's first loss in "the Swamp" in years, ending their 30 game home winning streak.
This game also may have saved DuBose's job, at least for the rest of that season.
The Colombus Ledger-Enquirer has a story about college football coaches' salaries.
The Montgomery Advertiser has a story about how Les Miles and Coach Saban are set to meet for the first time this week at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, FL.
Cecil chimes in and warns that Coach Saban should really pay attention to the rules while he's at Alabama. Everything he does will be looked at with a microscope by EVERYBODY, including the NCAA.
Miami Herald article about Coach Saban and NCAA rules can be found here.
College Football News' way too early bowl predictions have Alabama at either the Liberty Bowl, Independence Bowl, or the Music City Bowl. Personally, I'm looking at the Peach or Cotton.
I always thought of recruiting rules as just something that you have to go through. They sucked, but those were the rules.
But I'll be damned if I don't find them more and more stupid every time I read them. A coach can't have contact with a player, more than a greeting, when he goes to evaluate them between April 15th and May 31st. Is this not just ridiculous? You're supposed to make an assessment on the player, but can't figure out what's going on in his head? And with gasoline prices being what they are, what the hell would be the point of even going to evaluate?
Oh well. I guess I'm just talking out my ass right now.
More news on Saban's "too in-depth" conversations with recruits. Check here, here, and Sports Illustrated's article here. Never before have I seen so much media coverage of secondary violations. I guess everybody that hates on us really wants to see something bad come out of this.
The NCAA crap isn't slowing down Coach Saban and his staff. They will be in Atlanta, on Georgia Tech's campus, to watch the "Southeast Elite prospects" perform one-on-one and seven-on-seven drills. But I guess he can't talk to any of them.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#2: Auburn 18 Alabama 17Nov. 22nd, 1997 at Auburn, AL
This will notoriously be DuBose's biggest loss because it was the "one that got away." This game not only gave Alabama it's worst record in forever, but it also gave Auburn a spot in the SEC championship game.
One play ended Bruce Arians' career at the Capstone. The screen pass to Ed Scissum with 45 seconds left on 3rd and 8. Everybody's heard Herm Edwards with the whole "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME" speech, but in this case, playing to win the game meant not taking a risk. Why throw any kind of pass in that situation? You're up 2 points with 45 seconds left on your own 36 yard line. Auburn only had one time out left. Run the ball, force them to use the time out, then punt it and make them earn it.
Bear Bryant said there's only three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad. I guess nobody down there used any logic at that time. DuBose said that he didn't know what the play was, which, to me, was a sure sign that things weren't going in the right direction.
Ed Scissum will have to live with that fumble forever, and it hurts my soul to have seen him left out on a string. I had never seen a football player cry like that.
¶ 9:04 AM0 comments
WOO HOO!!! ONLY 100 DAYS TIL THE FIRST GAME!!! WOO HOO!!!!
Ok, enough of that crap. Houndstooth Condominiums, who we bitched about yesterday, has taken a good portion of the offensive material down, but they've still got some of the lamer jokes up. I guess, if you're going to bitch about things making us look bad, you have to point out EVERYTHING. Jeez. I wish people could just take a hint. The Arkansas joke is funny and all that, but c'mon. Not in legit advertising.
Dandy Don, LSU blogger, believes that Les Miles will allow Ryan Perrilloux back on the team in time for fall practice, if he doesn't get into any more trouble this summer.
Finebaum said the other day that Alabama would be in the news soon, and this could be what about. CaneSports.com and the Miami Herald both reported that, while in South Florida, Coach Saban may have had some meetings with recruits that were more than just greetings, which is against NCAA rules. "Miami Krop High linebacker Etienne Sabino told the Herald that Saban talked with him about defensive schemes and about Alabama's needs. Miami Northwestern High's Marcus Fortson and Brandon Washington both described conversations to the newspaper that may have been more than a greeting, taking more than a few minutes."
If we are found guilty, it is nothing more than a secondary violation. To read more about it check here and here.
Wanna know more about some more recruits? Check out Sports Illustrated's latest article about the 2008 signing class, the ESPN chat with safety recruit Dee Finley, and one of the linebackers that said Coach Saban talked to him for a little while, Etienne Sabino.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#3 Alabama 34 Florida 7Dec 4th, 1999 at Georgia Dome
I misnumbered all the games, looking at my list, so this is actually #3 with only two more left. Then we'll get into the Francione Era.
Anyway, this game was probably our biggest bragging rights game in quite some time. No team had ever beaten Spurrier twice in one season and no team had ever beaten Spurrier that bad. The first quarter was somewhat even, but then Bama's defense held and Florida's didn't.
Freddie Milons lined up at quarterback a few times, and ran for 116 yards. Andrew Zow and Tyler Watts each played quite a bit. Alexander ran a lot. We held the ball for over 40 minutes of the game. Florida didn't get many chances with it because of Bama's stifling defense.
Best play of the day, of course, was Freddie's 77 yard back breaking run to blow the game open in the 4th quarter. Here's the video for it.
So I've started seeing this pop up everywhere - and with just cause. This is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
Houndstooth Condominiums is a new project being built less than half a mile from Bryant-Denny Stadium. It's close enough to be able to go park and stay for a weekend, and never have to drive your car anywhere on campus. You can walk to the stadium, to the convenience store, etc.
But the advertising that they're using is just ridiculous. As the M-Zone put it, "this is a black eye to Alabama fans everywhere."
And yes, I understand it's a joke. But it's classless, and that's the last thing we want as Alabama fans. If you want to joke about it with your buddies, that's fine. I do it all the time, but to use it in advertising makes us ALL look bad.
¶ 12:47 PM4 comments
Al Borges sounds a little weird to me. Even he can't decide how well Auburn is going to do this year.
More about Coach Saban going to South Florida to recruit. Turns out that George Smith, the head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, has let Alabama know that Coach Saban and all of his assistants are banned from recruiting any players at his school. This is the school that Mike Shula graduated from, and where his three nephews played ball, so it's not that hard to figure out. Read more here.
Yahoo Sports has a good story about DeMeco Ryans. Go check it out here.
LSU's backup quarterback, and supposedly next year's starter, Ryan Perrilloux, has been suspended indefinitely from the team after he was cited for illegally trying to enter the Hollywood Riverboat Casino in Baton Rouge. Tragic, yes.
You guys are so freakin lucky. Since we missed yesterday, today you get TWO Mike DuBose memories. Hehe.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#6 Alabama 28 Auburn 17Nov. 20, 1999 in Auburn, AL
This was Alabama's first win in Jordan Hare stadium, and it was pretty damn sweet, if you ask me. :-)
I honestly thought we were going to lose the game going into the 4th quarter. We were down 14-8 and had looked pretty lethargic for the first half. The 3rd quarter wasn't much better (including Shaun getting stuffed at the 2 on 4th and goal), so I didn't see much hope for improvement, especially in their place, but boy was I wrong.
Shaun Alexander had 3 touchdown runs in the 4th quarter, the first of which was setup by a safety at the end of the 3rd quarter that gave Alabama the ball back with a chance to take the lead. After taking the lead 15-14, it was all good from that point on. We just made play after play, and Shaun showed why he was a heisman candidate.
#7 Kentucky 40 Alabama 34 OTOct. 4th, 1997 in Lexington, KY
75 years.
That's how long it had been since Kentucky beat Alabama in football. Everybody knew Tim Couch was great. Alabama still shouldn't have gotten beat. By Kentucky. Jeez.
This game was almost like a ping pong match. The lead changed hands 6 times. There were big plays all over the field. 52 yard TD run by Curtis Alexander, 34 yard touchdown pass to Chad Goss, a blocked kick that Kentucky ran back 50+ yards for a touchdown, deep hail mary passes for touchdowns by Tim Couch - it had everything.
It was disgusting. Our defense was awful, and we gave them the football game.
I was only 14 at the time, so of course I went into depression after the game. I had to listen to it at my grandparents' house in Tupelo, MS. For the rest of the night I stayed in a dark room while everyone else was up doing whatever.
Of course, now I'm used to losing, so I don't exactly get into that mood anymore...lol.
¶ 8:53 AM0 comments
UCLA freshman wide receiver, Jeremy McGee, is considering transferring to Alabama, Ole Miss, or Louisiana Tech. He wants to be closer to home. He was mainly used in kickoff returns.
Brandon over at BamaNation.net has started a KEEP RAMMER JAMMER FOREVER petition. If you want to sign it, go here.
Vote for Emeel Salem here. It's for some baseball award. Haha.
Yeah...good times all around in Tuscaloosa. The softball team, after taking a loss on Friday night, bounced back Saturday to beat both Florida State and California, then beat Tennessee Tech twice on Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals of the NCAA Tournament. They'll face Washington this weekend.
The Alabama baseball team beat Mississippi State 2-out-of-3 this weekend to secure a spot in the SEC Tournament. The record is tied with Florida, but we'll be the 7th seed thanks to us losing the series to them earlier in the season. The team thinks a 4th straight series win over a ranked opponent is enough to get into the NCAA tournament.
Dennis Dodd from Sportsline.com has good things to say about Alabama. Kevin Steele is listed as a top 5 recruiter, and Nick Saban is described with this: "He's back, and he's about to outsmart the world. Again. At LSU, his defenses showed three, four or five different looks before the snap. He made the quarterback guess who was coming after him. This will be a great year to watch Saban at his best. Alabama won't win the conference but will make waves. Make sure to watch 'Bama's swing games against Florida State, Tennessee, LSU and Auburn."
Drew Cummings, tight end from Huntington, WV, is walking on at Alabama next season. He turned down a similar offer from West Virginia to come to Bama.
Rolando McClain has set some lofty goals for his freshman season - Freshmen All-SEC and Freshmen All-America. Shouldn't be too hard, I guess...haha. The Decatur Daily gets an interview about how his summer is going, etc.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#8: Alabama 22 LSU 16Nov. 7th, 1998 in Baton Rouge, LA
Talk about damn lucky. This game should have been over early. Alabama wasn't exactly a good football team, and played very poorly in this game. Shaun was held in check for most of the day, but made some key first down runs and held on to the football.
With about 4 minutes left in the game, Bama was down 16-7 when LSU gave them the football back. Zow threw a 21 yard strike to Shaun Alexander for a touchdown. After that, Bama recovered the onside kick and Zow threw a deep pass to the right corner of the endzone. Quincy Jackson caught the pass, which was tipped by an LSU defender for the 2nd time in the game, for the go ahead touchdown. LSU got the ball back with under a minute left and couldn't do anything with it.
So, Alabama survived in Death Valley for at least another two years. DuBose was luuuucky in this game. I guess it evens out for stuff like the La Tech hail mary and the missed PAT against Michigan, right?
¶ 8:52 AM0 comments
As you can tell, I'm a little bit excited about the weekend being here.
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 106 Days 'til Jermaine Taylor vs Corey Spinks: 1
The Taylor / Spinks press conference was yesterday. Very entertaining. Go read up on it at CommercialAppeal.com in the Sports section.
If you wanna know about Coach Saban on the golf course yesterday at a pro-am event with Steve Spurrier and Tommy Tubberville, read about it here, here, here, and here. The most memorable moment was, of course, Saban saying "You better hope I can coach better than I play golf" and fan in the crowd yelling "We're counting on it, Coach!"
Even Charles Barkley got in on it - Charles Barkley - who went from Auburn to the NBA to his current gig as TV analyst - greeted Saban with a hearty handshake.
"Welcome to Alabama," said Barkley. "I was really disappointed they fired the other coach. The other coach couldn't coach a lick."
Saban laughed. And he didn't even try a comeback for Barkley's line about former Crimson Tide coach Mike Shula, who got the ax after last year's losing season.
In other news - as far as grades, etc, are concerned - the Alabama football team was one of 34 teams honored for having a graduation rate of over 70% for the class of '01-'02. Only Bama, Florida, Mississippi State, and Vandy were successful from the SEC.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#9: Arkansas 42 Alabama 6Sept. 26, 1998 in Fayetteville, AR
The worst loss in 41 years.
We shouldve known right then that DuBose wasn't the man for the job, but, again, we didn't fire him. We just let him do his thing. Once it got to be 21-6 in the 3rd quarter, my dad grabbed me and the rest of the family and we went to the Mid-South Fair. They all rode rides, etc, and I watched Aaron Tippin. Now, I'm not a big country fan, but he made me forget about the football game, at least until the next morning when I read about it in the paper.
It was disgusting to say the least. They passed and ran and did whatever the hell else they wanted to all over us. This was the last game that John David Phillips really got playing time.
¶ 11:06 AM0 comments
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 107 Days 'til Jermaine Taylor vs Corey Spinks: 2
Trevor Stigers, 6'4" 225lb DE from Mississippi, has listed Alabama as one of his favorites.
Mobile is in the running for the 2010 Duke / Alabama football game, but, in my opinion, they've got no shot.
Glenn Guilbeau, an LSU sports blogger, seems to somewhat agree with Tom Dienhart of the Sporting News. He agrees that Saban is the best coach in the SEC, and even states that Alabama will win quickly with Coach Saban.
Rivals.com has Bama's receiving corps #1 in the SEC. :-)
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#10: UCLA 35 Alabama 24Sept 2nd, 2000 in Los Angeles, CA
This was just an anomaly of a game. It was the most anticipated game in nearly 8 years, since Alabama last won the national title back in '92, because this was the year that many believed we were back and in national title contention.
The scoring started off with a 71 yard Freddie Milons punt return for a touchdown only 1:15 into the ballgame. It looked like a rout was in the works, but UCLA stormed back and scored the next three touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead. We cut it to 21-17 before the break.
Early in the 3rd quarter, UCLA was driving and Reggie Myles picked off a pass and returned it 91 yards for a touchdown, giving us our first lead since 7-0. After that, our defense wilted and gave up everything to DeShaun Foster and Freddie Mitchell, both of whom have since played in Super Bowls.
This was supposed to be the big year, and this game was certainly a sign of things to come. DuBose's inability to actually coach a team were very evident as there were no leaders on this team, and the race issue began to play a big card again and again, with the always-talked-about rumblings between the black players, Tyler Watt, and Andrew Zow (who was a much better quarterback than Tyler Watts). There were even reports that Freddie Milons said he would refuse to catch a pass from Tyler Watts. DuBose never learned how to control it, and the season spiraled.
¶ 8:51 AM0 comments
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 108 Days 'til Jermaine Taylor vs Corey Spinks: 3
I went to see Tool last night. All around incredible show. They're just so damn good at what they do.
Anyway, on with the stuff.
Recent Tide commitment, Brad Smelley, is a candidate for the US Army All-American Bowl this coming January. It's the game that features the top 80 high school players in the country. That could be cool.
The Alabama - Duke game scheduled for 2010 could be moved to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Pretty interesting, if you ask me.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#11: Alabama 19 Miss St 7Nov 13, 1999 in Tuscaloosa, AL
I remember this game because I KNEW that Mississippi State was not a great team that year, even though they were ranked #7 and were undefeated at the time. This was still a team with Wayne Madkin at QB, so I knew they were beatable.
Our defense wasn't outstanding that year, but it held firm against State for most of the game. We went up 10-7 in the 2nd quarter after being down 7-3, and we never looked back. Of course, the game was still in doubt until Andrew Zow hit Shamari Buchanan on 37-yard touchdown midway through the 4th quarter.
This was a national spotlight game on ESPN, and I remember the atmosphere being pretty crazy, because the winner of this game was almost assured of a spot in the SEC Championship game.
¶ 9:15 AM1 comments
Since I'm not where I can access my DuBose list, we'll skip it today.
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 109 Days 'til Jermaine Taylor vs Corey Spinks: 4
Actually got some good football stories today. As a matter of fact, there's even more recruiting info, including the Tuscaloosa News' story about Coach Applewhite being a key recruiter in Texas.
Alabama and Auburn's non-conference games are considerably tougher this year than the last few years - so says the Dothan Eagle.
SportingNews.com goes into detail about the SEC teams. "Alabama is the ultimate wild card. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if the Tide wins the SEC. Really. The SEC coaches I have spoken with all concur -- with a hint of dread in their voices."
¶ 1:15 PM0 comments
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 110 Days 'til Jermain Taylor vs Corey Spinks: 5
Yes, I am a boxing fan. And yes, my favorite fighter is Jermaine "Bad Intentions" Taylor, so I'm going to countdown this week until the fight. De La Hoya vs Mayweather was stupid. Just a buildup for a rematch. Another $120 Million payday.
Anyway, no football news again today...
Baseball won 2 of 3 from Arkansas this weekend in a series that they NEEDED pretty badly. We're currently 7th in the standings, which puts us in the SEC tournament...ironically against Arkansas again.
If you wanna read up on what Coach Shula is up to, check out this article about his new spot with the Jaguars.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#12: Alabama 38 BYU 31Sept. 5th, 1998 in Tuscaloosa, AL
This was the first rededication of Bryant Denny Stadium with the opening of the new upper deck. It was a new experience, seeing that many more people. That expanded the attendance numbers to 83,123.
This was a breakout game for Shaun. He broke the school record by rushing for 5 touchdowns in a game - the previous record was 4, which was tied by several people. Shaun tied Gary Hollingsworth's 1989 record for most touchdowns, although Gary was a QB.
Anyway, we should've beaten this team worse than we did, but it was a good nonconference victory in a slew of bad ones. I guess it's better to barely beat a nonconference team than to lose (i.e. Central Florida, Northern Illinois, Southern Miss).
¶ 8:51 AM0 comments
Ticket-selling campaigns are now revolving around schools' new head coaches, but schools like NC State and Alabama have already been sold out for a while. This just adds to the waiting list.
CSTV.com had a Q&A with Rich Rodriguez. Not much about Alabama, but there's a little bit.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#13: Florida 16 Alabama 10Oct. 3rd, 1998 in Tuscaloosa, AL
I'll go ahead and tell you that I don't remember much about this game, other than Andrew Zow got his first real playing time of the season after coming in for John David Phillips.
The one thing I do remember is asking my dad "Why is everybody clapping?" after the game was over. We had just lost, but people were clapping because we "hung in there" with the number 8 team in the country.
It's still ridiculous to me when we lose and people applaud effort. I applaud victory. Period. Hopefully Coach Saban does as well.
¶ 4:23 PM1 comments
I looked and looked...and there is absolutely ZERO news today. Nothing about a new hire by Gottfried...nothing new on the recruiting trail...
Nothing.
So we'll continue on with our countdowns.
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 115
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#13: Michigan 35 Alabama 34 OT January 1st, 2000 in Miami, FL - Orange Bowl
This was a damn good game, but showed how far we needed to go. Shaun Alexander closed out his career with a big time showing: over 150 yards and 3 touchdowns. Of course, our defense gave that up to Michigan wide-out David Terrell also. We were up 28-14 in the fourth quarter and gave up two late scores, and then had to have Phillip Weeks block a 36-yard field goal at the end of regulation to send it to overtime.
Talk about letting a game slip away. Tom Brady finally found our weak spot: our secondary. They passed all over the field on us. It was pretty embarrassing, really.
The blocked kick was huge. It shifted momentum, but only for one play. Brady hit Shawn Thompson for a 25 yard touchdown on the first play in overtime. The most important play of the game didn't look that important at the time, but Epstein hit the point after.
Then Alabama came out. Shaun ran for four yards on the first play, then Zow hit Antonio Carter for a 21 yard touchdown.
Then Ryan Pflugner missed the extra point.
I mean, seriously. How many games in the DuBose era can we talk about missed extra points? You're telling me you can't find anybody in the city of Tuscaloosa that can kick a damn football?
Anyway, it was a classic, but, like most games in the DuBose era, we were on the wrong side of it.
¶ 10:03 AM0 comments
Yup. Went to music fest...we'll get to that after the countdown...
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 116
Anyway, I went to Tom Lee Park here in Memphis for all three days of music fest. It was my 8th straight year to go all three days. I'm used to standing in the rain for all three days, but this year it only rained for about an hour on Sunday.
Friday night I was privy to the North Mississippi Allstars, the Plain White T's, Sum 41, Chevelle, Gov't Mule, the Allman Bros, and most of Iggy Pop & the Stooges' set. Then on Saturday I caught a little bit of everybody: Saw One Less Reason, Keller Williams, Eddie Floyd, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jack's Mannequin, Taking Back Sunday, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Wolfmother, Godsmack (2 songs only), and Steely Dan. Then on Sunday I caught a little bit of Billy Lee Riley, then Egypt Central, Papa Roach, Edwin McCain, Barenaked Ladies, Daughtry, Hinder, one song by John Legend, and the last three songs by the Counting Crows.
And I was WORN OUT yesterday, so I called in to work and didn't do a damn thing but sit on the couch and recover. Haha.
Anyway, I'm sure you want 'Bama news, so here's what we got.
According to the standings at SECSports.com, if the baseball season ended today, Alabama would get into the SEC tournament by .003 winning percentage over Tennessee. We sit at 11-13 and Tennessee is 10-12. I think we should probably start winning to seal the deal. Just a guess. The Decatur Daily goes into more detail about it.
Alabama's new Strength & Conditioning coach is Scott Cochran, who was formerly with the New Orleans Hornets in the NBA. Of course, his last gig in football was as strength and conditioning coach on Saban's 2003 National Championship team. I think I like where this is headed. Read more about it here.
Could Kentucky have the best quarterback in the conference? Lindy's thinks so.
Chris Jordan, 4 star running back from Brentwood Academy, plans to camp at Bama this summer. “I pretty much like everything about Alabama," Jordan said. "It’s hard to find a flaw at a university like that. I want to get down there more to get a better feel for the campus. I plan to camp there this summer."
And, since I didn't post anything yesterday, I'll give you guys TWO stories from the Mike DuBose era.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#14: Alabama 42 Houston 17Saturday, Aug. 30, 1997 in Birmingham, AL
We should've known then that this wasn't going to be a very good era. After missing a PAT after the 2nd touchdown, Coach DuBose called for a 2-point conversion to try and chase the point after Fernando Bryant intercepted a pass and ran it back 66 yards for a touchdown. Apparently DuBose never learned from Coach Stallings to NEVER CHASE POINTS until you have to.
Either way, it was a great day to be a Tide fan. Whooped up on Houston for the eight consecutive time. DuBose won his first game, and then only won 3 more out of 10 the rest of the season. Curtis Alexander was a hoss, and our defense made some huge plays.
I remember this game more because it was the first time in forever that I hadn't seen the Alabama coach wearing a suit and tie. Made me a little bit mad.
#15: La Tech 29 Alabama 28Sept. 18, 1999 in Birmingham, AL
This was seriously one of the lower points in history. An Alabama defense giving up a hail mary at the end of the game to a 2nd string quarterback that played for Louisiana Tech - at home.
It was the 2nd straight loss to La Tech, which is ridiculous in itself. Both losses were at home. And this was just weeks after DuBose admitted he had an affair with his secretary, so a good number of people were calling for his head anyway. This only put fuel on that fire.
Of course, it still amazes me that a team that can lose at home to Louisiana Tech could come back and win the SEC Title that year and beat Florida TWICE in the same season. Very odd. Oh well.
¶ 9:14 AM1 comments
The Cottrell case continues on - Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, it is absolutely insane to think the judge could have “lost” the most important document in the trial, this supposed indemnity agreement.
Thomas Gallion, one of Cottrell’s attorneys, said he didn’t think the agreement shown to the Supreme Court Justices was the original.
“The most unbelievable thing in this whole case is the judge didn’t put it with the clerk under seal,” said Gallion. “(He) didn’t lock it in the court reporter’s safe. He didn’t know what happened with it, he just lost it.”
Athlon has the 'Barn tabbed at #21 in their preseason countdown. Check it out here. Still surprises me that Miami, a 6-6 team from last season that hired a first-time head coach that doesn't bring back a ton of talent, could be ranked ahead of Alabama, who was also 6-6 and in a lot more games with tougher competition, who just hired a coach that's won a national title. Make any sense here?
Didn't realize this, but after four years in College Station, Coach Fran and Texas A&M had zero NFL draft picks. I don't think you'll be winning many championships with NO NFL talent on your roster.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#16: Alabama 45 Ole Miss 7Saturday, Oct. 14, 2000 in Tuscaloosa, AL
This was the game that Alabama supposedly turned things around. After a lackluster first quarter that saw both Tyler Watts and Deuce McAllister go down with injuries, in the beginning of the 2nd quarter, we were down 7-6 after two Neal Thomas field goals and a touchdown pass from Romaro Miller to Joe Gunn. That's when we took over.
Andrew Zow was unstoppable and our rushing game was unbelievable as well. We racked up 454 yards of offense that day. We went into halftime with a 21-7 lead, and then kept piling it on in the 2nd half. We blocked a field goal and ran it back for a touchdown, and had a couple of rushing touchdowns in the 4th quarter - one by Brandon Miree, who ended up transferring to Pittsburgh after the season.
This was the 2nd consecutive game where we knocked off a top 25 opponent - we had beaten South Carolina 27-17 2 weeks prior, and had a bye week before Ole Miss.
Even though most of the fans couldn't ever find a donation booth or anybody to give money to at the A-Day game, Terri Saban and the United Way still somehow donated $40K to the city of Enterprise. I never could find anywhere to throw in even $5, and I went all the way around the stadium.
Rivals.com points out how awesome the talent is in the SEC. It also shows a list of how schools have fared after having 4 first rounders in the NFL draft.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#17: Tennessee 21 Alabama 7Saturday, Oct. 23, 1999 in Tuscaloosa, AL
Alabama scored the first touchdown and couldn't do jack crap after. It was a day of missed opportunities. It was also the first time we had played Tennessee in Bryant Denny since 1930.
Shaun Alexander scored in the first quarter and Alabama led going into the 2nd, but Tennessee scored one touchdown in each quarter afterwards. Shaun missed a WIDE OPEN touchdown pass that he just flat out dropped in the 3rd quarter that would have tied to the game and given us momentum. He had a mismatch on a much slower linebacker and was golden towards the endzone, but started running before the ball was actually in his hands.
Just to show how stout Tennessee's defense was that year - we recovered a Travis Henry fumble on Tennessee's 3 yard line with just under 4 minutes left in the game and couldn't score. From 3 yards out, we couldn't score.
Not to mention this is the game where Shaun got hurt, which killed his heisman chances.
¶ 9:16 AM1 comments
raining all day today...just in time for me to go to the Beale Street Music Festival this weekend. All sorts of fun acts to check out: Allman Bros, Gov't Mule, Chevelle, Iggy Pop, Sum 41, the Derek Trucks Band, Steely Dan, Wolfmother, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Counting Crows, Daughtry, Barenaked Ladies, Papa Roach, One Less Reason, Ryan Shaw, etc. I like an eclectic blend of music, so I'm sure that I'll enjoy the transition from seeing Gov't Mule and the Allman Bros on one stage, and then wandering over to see Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Iggy Pop on another. Haha. Catch some of Godsmack, then wander over to the mainstage to see all of Steely Dan's set.
Whew, this is gonna be one hell of a weekend.
Anyway, on with the countdown.
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 122
Andrew Bone, 'Bama recruiting guru for TideSports.com, has posted a list of where the assistant coaches have been assigned to recruit in the period of April 14th through May 31st. This list does not include Bo Davis, who was at Amory High School yesterday in Amory, MS looking at the QB down there (who looks to be a safety in college).
The Cottrell vs. Culpepper suit that began in December 2002 was heard again by eight Alabama Supreme Court judges yesterday. Hopefully Ronnie will have the $30M settlement reinstated - that jackass Culpepper deserves crap like this to happen to him.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#18: Southern Miss 21 Alabama 0Sat. Sept 16, 2000 in Birmingham, AL
Boy, oh boy. Where do I begin on this one? Like most of the others, I was at this game. It was a disgrace, to say the least. The most pitiful performance I may have witnessed EVER in a football game (other than the 42-6 blowout at Arkansas). The worst part is that this was at home.
Tyler Watts, who could be a worse passer than Tim Tebow, was picked off with 5:24 left in the first quarter. It was returned 54 yards for a touchdown. In the 2nd quarter, Southern Miss drove down the field 70 yards for a touchdown, and then, on the ensuing kickoff, Michael James fumbled and Henley ran 18 yards for another touchdown just 13 seconds after the other one.
I remember staying until about midway through the third quarter before my dad decided he had seen enough. We wandered back over to Birmingham Southern, where we parked for all B'ham games, and listened to the end of it on the radio. The best thing about that day was the burgers afterwards. Man that grill was awesome. haha.
¶ 9:17 AM2 comments
Well, after a long Sunday where 6 former Bama players did NOT hear their name called at the NFL draft - they were all picked up as free agents. Tim Castille signed with the Arizona Cardinals, Jeremy Clark with the Philadelphia Eagles, Jeffery Dukes with the St. Louis Rams, Chris Harris signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, Kyle Tatum with the Baltimore Ravens, and, of course, Juwan Simpson with Green Bay.
Ramzee Robinson is portrayed as a likable guy after winning the honor of "Mr. Irrelevant." Also, it turns out that he was formerly known as "Hood Doc" as part of the P$C (T.I.'s Pimp Squad Click). Who woulda thunk it?
Hahaha - The Denver Post decides to tell us the difference between Nick Saban and Les Miles. "...so in about three years, look for a big run on players from Alabama, where Saban is now coaching."
We pointed out this article a while ago, but Rocky Top News feels the need to bring it up again. Turns out that, according to a few sportswriters' opinions, Fulmer may be gone after this year if he doesn't win the SEC.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#19: Virginia Tech 38 Alabama 7 - Dec. 29th, 1998 - Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN
Alabama went into the half with momentum, only down 10-7. I remember watching the game on TV, and, once it got to the half, Lee Corso predicted that Alabama would come back and win the game.
Boy was he wrong.
Virginia Tech blocked two Bama punts, and Owen Winston muffed a punt that Va Tech recovered. Not only that, but Anthony Midget returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown.
It was the biggest disaster I have ever seen, and Coach DuBose continued to clap his hands on the sideline - with that same "deer in headlights" look that Shula had. Frank Beamer ate him for breakfast that day.
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