Everyone remember, the big show is tomorrow! If you're in or around Memphis and can make it, please come up, say hi, and let me know that you visit the site! Also, thank you to everyone that's already chipped in with some donations!
Also, I'll be on the Chris Vernon show on 730 ESPN in Memphis (730am) tomorrow around 5:40pm, so be sure and listen to that. I'm sure I'll talk a bit about the Tide, and my guitar player and I will play an acoustic song and tell a bit about the show tomorrow night. If you're out of the listening area, you can listen live on 730espn.com.
Days 'til Season Kickoff: 51
The Dothan Eagle has pointed out the top five controversies for Alabama football over the past few years. Not surprisingly, two of the five involved Mike DuBose. And the program has been in shambles since.
Coach Saban has definitely started the talk about building up the non-conference schedule. He told reporters after a speaking engagement yesterday that he'd like to play Notre Dame, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Penn State, and Oklahoma. He wants one high-interest intersectional game every year. He started a trend at Michigan State by playing all of the in-state competition, which would be a little different from what Alabama is used to. At LSU he setup games with Arizona State and tried to setup with Texas. Read more about it here and here.
During the short interview he also mentioned, about freshman Jamar Taylor, that they are "trying to work through (his issues) and help him decide whether it's better to go a little closer to home to school. In some cases, it might be, and if it is in his case, we're certainly going to help him do that."
And if you want to see Coach Saban mad, just ask him about the recruiting violations. "I get criticized all the time, saying that I go talk to players at a high school. But I go talk to the coaches. I go to practices because I think it's important for all of these kids to know that football, the game they invest their time in, is special. I want to be there, so they know it's the greatest game in the world. Then everybody says, `Coach Saban' is there, he's got to be cheating talking to players. But my response is, it's important in developing the game for me to be there."
Saban reminded the media that he has served on the ethics committee and the football rules committee in the past.
"We have so many rules at the NCAA that sometimes it's inadvertent that you do things that are violations," he said. "When we do it, we report ourselves and want to get it corrected."
photo from al.com
The top ranked strong-side linebacker in the country has narrowed his list of schools, and Alabama made the list. Jon Major is a 6'4" 225lb prospect from Parker-Panderosa, CO.
If you wanna read up on all the stuff that Terry Bowden has been into lately, check this out. He happens to have his own opinions about the Saban and Alabama relationship, saying simply "Alabama didn't pay $4 million to come in 2nd."
This is just a touch off topic, but I'm highly irritated that my Memphis Grizzlies have decided to sign Darko Milicic from the Orlando Magic. Disgusting, but I guess, in a high tempo offense, it could be a good thing. We'll see.
THE MIKE SHULA ERA
#19: Alabama 17 Mississippi St 0Nov. 5th, 2005 in Starkville, MS
Y'know, there were definitely some highlight plays in this game, but nothing stood out more than losing JB Closner to a broken leg. After we lost him, we lost our next two games, and our shot at the SEC Western Division Championship.
There was no scoring in the first quarter. Both teams absolutely stunk offensively, to say the least. It was awful. Maybe one of the worst football games I've ever had to watch. We finally managed a field goal about midway through the 2nd quarter to take a 3-0 lead into the half.
Then, we struck gold with two absolutely huge plays early in the 2nd quarter. State fumbled the opening kickoff and Matt Miller picked it up and ran 15 yards into the endzone to give us a 10-0 lead. Then, not even 2 minutes later, Rudy Griffin picked off a Michael Henig pass and ran it 17 yards into the endzone. Lightning struck twice.
All the hope that State had from that point on was gone. What had been a 3-0 lead had suddenly turned into 17-0, and the rest was history. Alabama didn't score a single offensive touchdown, but I don't really think that mattered, at least not at the time.
¶ 8:55 AM
Also, I'll be on 
