Last night, I went and did all of the things I used to do as a child. We went to Putt Putt golf n games and we did the batting cages, driving range, and a round of putt putt. I was owning the slow pitch softball in the batting cages, then moved up to 60 mph baseball and got smoked. Out of 14 pitches, I only connected with 3 and only 1 was a fair ball. We then moved over to the 40 mph baseball, and I slugged away on those. It got a lot easier from 60 to 40. Haha. I haven't played baseball in probably 10 years, so it felt good to get some stress out.
Anyway, we hit some range balls, but then went to the #3 course - the "difficult" course. And I owned it. Played a round with my guitar player and bass player. Both of which finished the round at 24 over par. I finished at 3 over. Had 6 hole in ones. :-) It was stupendous. Then I came home and played NCAA '08 and got smoked by Georgia, 32-17. It was a good night, but the ending sucked. Haha.
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 39
The only somewhat intriguing non-conference matchup of the '08 season has now been cancelled. UTEP and Alabama have mutually decided to not play the game. I'm looking forward to playing East Louisiana A&M Central Tech now. Woo hoo.
Scout.com details the origin of the college football arms race. It can be dated back to when Doug Flutie threw the hail mary that beat "Da U" - applications went up 12% the following year, and thus the theory was born - good athletics equals more attention for the school equals more students wanting to attend equals a tougher admissions policy equals a higher quality student class. There's oh-so-much more though.
Brandon Deaderick is applying as a "youth offender." Since he's only 19, he may be able to get out of all of his troubles. The other two, since they were arrested by UA police, have to go through District Court.
West Virginia governor Joe Manchin tells us all about 'Brother' Nick Saban. Very interesting read - check it out here.
Reece Davis interviewed Les Miles yesterday on ESPN's debut episode of 'College Football Live.' If you didn't watch, it was absolutely hilarious. When asked how Saban's hiring at Alabama has affected his job at LSU, I swear you could see him get even more nervous. He wouldn't even refer to us as 'Alabama,' just "that team he coaches." He went on to make the same garb about how he's always hated teams that wear red (Redskins, Oklahoma, now Alabama).
Julio Jones was seen wearing a 'Bama shirt at a Foley youth camp last week. Good signs?
The new season schedule desktop wallpapers are soon to be released on RollTide.com. Get them here - 800 x600 and 1024 x 768.
For those of you looking for another Saban - Bear coincidence, look no further than the Iron Bowl. The last time Auburn won 5 straight in this series was before 1958, when Bear Bryant started at Alabama. Things changed VERY quickly after that.
THE MIKE SHULA ERA
#11: Auburn 22 Alabama 15Nov. 18th, 2006 in Tuscaloosa, AL
This game had all the drama in the world. From everyone wondering what was happening with Coach Shula, to the regular breakdowns by the offensive line (most noticeably Chris Capps), to the UA Athletic Administration leaving their press box before the game was over, to Prothro bringing the game ball to mid-field, etc etc.
Alabama was the upset favorite of the week. Everyone thought that Alabama would beat Auburn and save Coach Shula. Things did not look so great after losing the last two ball games to Mississippi State and LSU. The Tide was 6-5 and looking for anything to go right.
Jamie Christiansen started the scoring with a field goal midway through the first quarter to make it 3-0. Both defenses were pretty solid for this game - it was just a matter of who would mess up first.
And that, of course, proved to be us.
Early in the 2nd quarter, Groves blew right by Chris Capps on the right side of the line and sacked John Parker Wilson, who subsequently fumbled the football, allowing Auburn to recover deep in Alabama territory. The 'Barn then scored a quick touchdown to make it 7-3. Amazingly, rather than taking Capps out, they left him in the game in the next series and the EXACT same thing happened again. Groves around Capps, Wilson sacked and fumbled, Auburn gets it deep in Tide territory again. Another quick score.
Before anyone really knew what happened, it was 14-3 and any hopes we had were quickly vanquished.
Before the end of the half, Wilson found Nikita Stover for a 52 yard touchdown to make it 14-9. The 2 point conversin failed and that's how the half ended.
Midway through the 3rd quarter, Alabama finished off a drive with a 13 yard pass to TE Travis McCall. The 2 point conversion failed again, and we had a 15-14 lead.
Of course, Auburn wasn't near done. They drove the football as well, and Brandon Cox hit Rodriguez for a 22 yard touchdown towards the end of the 3rd quarter. They converted their 2 point conversion, so it was 22-15 at the end of the 3rd.
In the 4th quarter both teams slugged it out, with nobody really gaining any kind of advantage over the other one. Bama took the ball midway through the quarter at our own 11 yard line and managed to drive all the way down to the Auburn 13 yard line. It ended up 4th-and-15 with just under 5 minutes left. Initially the field goal unit came onto the field, and then Shula, showing his indecisiveness and inability to successfully manage a college football game, called a time out and sent the offense back on the field.
I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. We didn't get the first down, and we didn't score. We gave them the ball back, and then punted back to us with 1:50 left. So we get the ball at our own 41 with just under 2 minutes. Wilson completed a short pass to Stover.
And then David Irons, the kid that got a 4 on the wonderlic test, picked off his next pass with 1:17 remaining.
And so ended the Mike Shula Era at the Capstone.
¶ 8:58 AM
