I like having yet another day off work. It's incredibly helpful to ease off a long ass weekend. I should do this every week. Haha.
Also, incase you didn't know, this was the first 500+ yard game we've had since Franphony was here.
For all you Tiders heading to Nashville for the game, our buddy FTBLFAN from the TideSports.com forums has some advice for you to try out:
Getting there (Avoid the crowd): From I65 North: Take the Harding Pl exit. turn left at the red light atop the off ramp. turn right at the first light (Franklin Rd). when the downtown buildings come into view (1 mile or so) look for Woodmont Blvd and turn left (you will go under it and loop back up to it off of Franklin Rd). stay west on Woodmont Blvd for about a 1 1/3 mile and turn right onto Hillsboro Rd. *here's where it gets tricky, but it will save you a major pain in the arse* Stay north on Hillsboro until you see Sharondale (just past a big church on the left) and turn left. Turn right at the first 4-way stp on Sharondale. You will go over the interstate and come to another stop sign at Natchez Trace. All of the neighborhoods off of Natchez Trace are safe places to park (IMHO) and should be an easy enough walk for anyone of averae health. The farther you drive up Natchez Trace, the closer you will be. I recommend parking south of Blakemore. The stadium is on Natchez Trace...just keep walking north.
Parking: Vandy doesn't have enough for next weekend. My suggestion is that you use the on-street parking in the neighborhoods in the described area: Eastern border - between 21st Ave S (aka: Hillsboro Rd) Northern border - Blakemore Ave Southern border - Blair Bv Western border - West End Ave This is a nice neighborhood and is as safe as can be found in a major city.
Eats: If you will park more on the eastern side of the aforementioned boundaries, you will be within easy walking distance of some really good restaurants and bars...not to mention Vandy hangouts (chicks, man). This is the Hillsboro Village district - not too unlike the 5-points district in Bham. I recommend Jacksons for anyone who might wear a beret. I recommend Sam's for anyone who likes to thump knuckles. I recommend Cabana for those of you who might wear a fitted shirt. And I recommend the Belmont college district (just to the southeast) for those of you who hate male-oriented sporting events. and I recommend Bosco's if you like imported and/or micro-brew beer.
So, go ahead and start getting fired up. Vandy has this marked as a sure win on their schedule...so it's not gonna be easy to go whip up on the 'Dores this go round. Take a look at their production and some stats from the last game against Richmond.
We already know that, as early as Saturday night, Coach Saban was already preparing for Vanderbilt. He has a "24-hour rule" where you don't enjoy or grieve after a ballgame more than 24 hours. John Zenor has more about it here.
The Montgomery Advertiser knows that this was the type of season opener Alabama needed. After four losses and the firing of the coach at the end of last season, we needed a BIG confidence boost. And that's what we got.
It didn't take Coach very long to let everyone know that we didn't play very well, even in a 52-6 victory. The kind of mistakes that were made could cost us dearly in other ballgames down the road. He brought up the fact that we're going to improve from week to week as soon as he met with the team following the game. It was also brought up about 10 seconds in the post-game press conference.
TideSports.com has a new feature called "1st-and-10" which breaks down quite a bit of information about the previous game. It's a good read, so go check it out.
That cow college only netted 62 rushing yards in their win against Kansas State. Looks like things aren't exactly all that peachy on the plains. They could be in some SERIOUS trouble against South Florida.
