My good friend, Ben Price, and myself have recreated Winning Cures Everything. Check out the site here: WinningCuresEverything.com.
For an introduction to the site: http://winningcureseverything.com/2012/08/04/an-introduction-of-sorts/
Thanks to all the readers that have checked this site out over the years! You guys have been great. I can't possibly explain how much I appreciate you taking the time to read my bone-headed opinions. Haha.
¶ 12:50 PM33 comments
This latest article is from Pops Tider. Yeah, the site's considered "retired" but when we do some research and find out information like this, we can't help but post and make sure everybody else knows about it.
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In 1989, then SEC Commissioner Harvey Schiller birthed the grand scheme of working around NCAA rules governing scheduling. He set about a plan to create a twelve team league with two divisions and a highly profitable championship game. It was outside the box thinking in its original form. The recruiting of Arkansas and South Carolina were in place and the league could their twelve team, two division set up in 1992; and Shiller stepped down immediately following the 1989 season. Twenty odd years later others (BigX, PAC10) are just getting to the place where they can make it happen. Schiller did it in one move.
The guy who enjoyed the ride was Roy Kramer, ex- Vanderbilt AD and SEC Commissioner during the darkest days of Alabama football. Kramer became the SEC commissioner in 1990, moving straight from Vanderbilt to the conference office in Birmingham. Having been raised in Maryville, Tennessee and returning to Nashville later in life, Kramer’s history is deep in Tennessee and especially in East Tennessee. Kramer has never been one to shy away from the media. His recent bravado with the Tennessee media, the National media, and anyone who wanted to fawn over him for his role in the initial “Conference Expansion” talk from his home in Vonore, Tennessee, was about more that I could bear. Combining that with recently developing information about SEC scheduling has forced me into research mode.
The original scheduling of the 12 team SEC for football began in 1992 with a 5-2-1 format. That simply means that each team played the 5 teams in their own division, 2 regular rivals from the other division, and one rotating team from the other division each year; simple enough to schedule and it takes 6 years to play everyone twice. That format was adopted again in 1997 and the last round robin concluded in 2003. Kramer resigned in July, 2002 and had already changed the format of the schedule to a 5-1-2. This would take eight years to play through and would be Kramer’s last parting shot at Alabama. The change in format meant a shake up of some traditional weekends and gave the SEC office under the control of Kramer a chance to get in one last jab after the hose job by the same office during the Albert Means scandal and the recruiting whines of the fat one, Mr. Fulmer, who, by the way, lives in Maryville, Tennessee, also.
The scheduling format takes the conference schedule and overlays weekends for conference games and weekends reserved for out of conference games. The eight year plan has opportunities for teams to play 64 conference games. As eight of those are “opening weekend” games, the conference office does not figure into the scheduling of the preceding game except on very rare occasions when two teams will open the conference schedule a week early to accommodate television schedules. So to be fair, the conference only has preceding game influence on 7 games a year for a total of 56. Since the 2011 schedule, which is a part of this package, is not complete yet, we;; leave it off and discuss the first seven years.
For the 48 games the conference has scheduled for Alabama since 2004 (including 2010) over which they have had previous game influence, they have given opponents opportunity to schedule as they see fit 34 times. 70% of the time the conference has allowed the team on Alabama’s schedule to schedule an out of conference game or an open date prior to playing Alabama. The balance of that number is incredible -- of the other 14 games, on 10 different occasions from 2004 through 2009, opponents have had the conference office schedule Vanderbilt or Kentucky the week before they play Alabama. Not once in that time frame has an opponent played Florida, LSU, Auburn or Tennessee and only three time has an opponent played Georgia, all by Auburn in 2004, 2005, and 2006 when they used their open date prior to the Georgia game. The sad state of our program in the early years of the bracket gave opponents opportunity to pick and chose their built in wins from 2004 through 2007 by scheduling those the week before Alabama leaving the figures for those years somewhat diluted. But beginning in 2007 and the hiring of Nick Saban, another phenomenon began to appear. Because of the openings arranged by the conference office, rivals began scheduling their open dates the week prior to playing Alabama culminating in our having 6 of 8 conference opponents with the ability to schedule open dates prior to taking on the Tide. All of Alabama’s opponents combined have had only 15 conference games the week before playing Alabama ------ in SEVEN YEARS. By contrast, Tennessee is playing opponents coming off a conference game in almost 2/3 of their conference games in the same time frame. Over 60% of their conference schedule includes games against foes who have played a conference game the week before. I’ve not looked deeper-----I didn’t have to.
If you don’t despise Roy Kramer and Phil Fulmer, you must not pull for the Tide.
¶ 10:24 AM28 comments
In October of 2006, I started this blog to basically get off my chest that there was a change needed at the Capstone. I started by doing my best to back up and defend our coaching staff early in that season, but as the weeks wore on, I helped start a movement, along with other blogs and message boards, etc, to get Coach Shula out of the head seat in Tuscaloosa.
We had been losers long enough. We don't lose 6 games in a season at Alabama. That's not how we're supposed to operate. We especially don't go 24-23 over a 4 year span.
But anyway, the blog started as that, and then turned into the plane tracking headquarters for Alabama's coaching search after the 2006 season. It worked out well because there were about 4 BILLION rumors, and I found a way to post at least half of those, and find a viable explanation for all of them. There was a lot of smoke that offseason, and not very much fire.
The RichRod thing blew up (which we're all happy about), and the Saban thing absolutely set the internet on fire. Blogger's server that hosts Memphis Tider actually crashed the night before Saban was hired, due to the amount of people coming to the page. We had over 100,000 unique page views in one 6 hour span. Unreal, right? Especially considering we've only had a little over 1 million hits all-time.
Memphis Tider was my way to let out what needed to be fixed with the Alabama football and basketball programs. Coach Saban has righted the ship, and Coach Grant appears to be headed that direction as well. There is not a lot that is going wrong down in T-Town, and, to be honest, real life has stretched me past my limits on being able to properly keep up with the blog. There's nothing to bitch about (which is something I used to do really well), and my band and my job have taken up a lot of my free time. I still go to Tuscaloosa a lot, I still watch football at least 4 days a week (yeah, I have a LOT of games on VHS and DVD), I still play NCAA 2010 (and will be getting 2011 in July), and am still just as big a fan as I ever was. I just won't be doing a blog anymore.
From time to time, you'll be able to catch my making points on different things at RollBamaRoll.com, so it's not like I'm gone forever.
I can't thank enough all the people that helped out with this blog -- my dad, the guys at RBR, Pelican State Sports, 3rd Saturday in Blogtober, Chris Vernon, BamaNation.net, The Bama Report, and many many many others that contributed and helped spread the word about the site. This blog was a huge deal to me for a very long time, and it helped me meet and interact with some really amazing people, and I now have friends that I would have never had. All of you have been incredible, and I truly appreciate everything that you've done to help myself and the website become successful in the blogosphere.
So we're going to end this with one last lil hurrah. I want to thank my friend Kleph, from RollBamaRoll.com, for keeping on me to get the last goodbye out there. We're going to end it with my last time hosting the Crimson and White Roundtable.
1. After hearing as much as I have about BJ Scott, Dre Kirkpatrick, Rod Woodson, etc, is it possible that the secondary this year may actually be better than last year's squad?
I think it will, for sure, be more talented. However, I have a feeling that this group may be a little less disciplined than last year's. Last year's group, with Arenas, Jackson, Green, Barron, Johnson, and Woodall may have lacked overall skill, but their fundamentals were, for the most part, flawless. I have a feeling that some of the kids on this year's squad may get away from their fundamentals a touch. But, it comes with time. Just imagine what the secondary will be like in 2011. Now THAT'S fun to think about.
2. How will all of the awards and honors, especially from his hometown, affect Mark Ingram's performance this season?
I don't believe it will have any effect on this kid at all. At the end of the day, the best possible thing for any of these guys, no matter the awards, is competition. Mark Ingram has 2 or 3 guys behind him that, had they been in the starters role last year, they would have been in New York instead of him. He has people to keep him on his toes, and if you think for one second that some damn trophy means anything to Coach Saban, you've lost your mind. He's just like everyone else on the team, and if he starts slacking, you can bet your ass he'll be riding pine, watching Richardson, Lacy, Goode, and a host of others pick up yards behind that offensive line.
3. Could you see Greg McElroy as a legitimate early round selection in the NFL draft next year? Why or why not?
No, I don't, but I do see him getting drafted. Hell, even Jay Barker got drafted. The NFL has this thing about winners. For some reason, if you bring good team chemistry, and you understand how the game works, there's a spot for you somewhere in the league. McElroy is a great pro-style quarterback. He throws correctly, he's got great field vision, he distributes the ball well, and he knows how to read defenses. To us, and most coaches, that means he's a winner and that he should be able to play. However, GMs will notice that he's not particularly fast, he's not big, and his arm isn't exactly a cannon. All of those traits will drop him, but he'll end up somewhere, and he'll be successful at whatever he ends up doing.
4. James Willis was a master recruiter and one hell of a linebackers coach. We haven't talked much about what the loss of him means to our staff. Tell us what you think the effect will be with him gone to Texas Tech.
I would like to think that it won't matter who is doing the recruiting for us down in Mobile, because Nick Saban is still the coach, and we just won a National Championship. However, recruiting is all about relationships - not only with the kids, but with high school coaches, etc. We are now on our 3rd assistant in 3 years to be assigned to the Mobile area. I don't believe it will make a huge difference because Saban himself focuses on that area, but I wouldn't be surprised if some other schools make some in-roads there.
5. Have you ever seen a state whose political views can be switched by football rumors? The Tim James fiasco is absolutely incredible to me how much football can mean to a state.
The issue with the Finebaum show last week, and the way everything has gone down so far this week has just been ridiculous. It casts a black eye on the entire state, and while I look at it and think it's great that the game of football has such an impact on our political views, the rest of the country still views it as pathetic. I, personally, wish that none of this had come up because, honestly, it shouldn't matter what someone's football allegiance is when it comes to government.
So there we go! The final post for Memphis Tider (unless something insane happens, which I'm doubting. If you'd like to keep up with what I'm doing, check out the following sites. Until then, I'll catch all of you on the flip side! Take care and ROLL TIDE!
Well, like a dummy, I got busy and didn't even answer my own questions before A-Day. Yup, I am a member of the slacker community.
Regardless, I am going to go ahead and give a brief answer with what I was thinking before A-Day, and then I'll follow that up with the latest post A-Day questions for the Roundtable from our boys over at Roll Bama Roll.
Remember, as always, you can check out everything you need for the Crimson and White Roundtable by checking out the following site: http://cwroundtable.blogspot.com.
First off, here are my questions and answers from the previous week.
1. With Cody being gone to the NFL this season, will this change not only the way the Tide plays defense, but the way that opponents attack? Will this play into our favor or no?
I don't believe it will change our philosophy on defense, but I do believe that teams will no longer be as afraid to run up the middle against us. The Florida game last year was a perfect example of the kind of effect Cody had on opposing teams. They simply refused to run the ball up the middle with their smaller running backs. They ran dive play after dive play against all other opponents, but pulled it out maybe twice against us. Cody completely altered gameplans. Our defense will stay the same, but other teams will try to attack in more ways, I believe.
2. Although it's simply a glorified scrimmage, what are you looking for from Saturday's A-Day game?
Yeah, it's a scrimmage, but I wanted to see whether the offense and defense would be up to par from last season. Everyone talks about how great the offense will be, etc, but there were stretches last year where McElroy simply couldn't get the team to move the football. The defense looked baaad early on, but found a rhythm midway through the first half. Overall, I was fairly pleased with what we saw.
3. How big is the loss of Mike Johnson on the offensive line? Was he the reason the transition from 2008 to 2009 was so smooth?
I think he may have had a lot to do with it, but I don't think it was just him. Bringing back leaders at any position will help stabilize the unit. I think we'll be just fine this year with bringing back everyone else that played. I'm sure we will be set on the offensive line as long as Joe Pendry is there.
4. Is there another strength & conditioning coach in the country that is as important to a plan as Coach Cochran? What is it about him that you love so much (because we know that everyone here loves him. haha)?
Not a chance. The thing that makes Cochran so outstanding is how involved he is with the players. They're on the same level. Not to mention the guy is absolutely relentless. He never quits, and he doesn't let the players quit. By far my favorite coach other than Coach Saban.
5. NBA Playoff time -- who wins it, who pulls off the biggest upset, and why?
I think the biggest upset will be when the Mavericks finally knock off the Lakers. I don't think I like the Lakers that much this year. There's just something off about them, and Dallas is playing some magnificent basketball lately. I think I'm seeing a Cavs vs Mavs finals, so Nike, once again, will not get their Lebron vs Kobe that they've been hoping for. I see the Cavs in 6.
And now, we'll get on over the ones for this week, hosted by our boys over at Roll Bama Roll. If you'd like to see the original post, check it out here.
1. How did you watch the game, and why?
I was actually at the game. However, I did get back home sometime Sunday night and rewatch it. I attended because it's important to keep momentum going. There were going to be a lot of people there, but every single person matters in keeping a positive attitude around the program. The gathering of the masses definitely helped out, with us getting 3 HUGE commitments over the weekend. Stuff like this does matter and it plays a pivotal part in the continued success of the process.
2. Who stood out most on offense, be it for good or bad reasons?
Well, I can actually answer this two ways - Greg McElroy stood out the most to me at first because of how badly he ran the offense. Yeah, they were somewhat successful, but boy, did it look ugly. He made horrible throws, didn't move well in the pocket, and, overall, didn't look like a returning senior quarterback from a 14-0 championship football team. However, he was playing against the first string defense, so that may have had a lot to do with it.
Now, the things that looked really good were, of course, ALL of the running backs and, the show-stealer, AJ McCarron. Richardson and Ingram are both beasts, and both will be big time draft picks in the NFL eventually, but the group behind them would be starting almost anywhere in the country. Goode, Lacy, Griffin, etc. There's no let-down anywhere at all. This stable of running backs is absolutely unreal. And AJ -- well, there's not a lot to say other than he's got one hell of a touch and really knows how to lead a team. I think we're going to be set at the skill positions for a long, long time.
3. Same question for the defense.
Sadly, nobody really stood out to me on defense. It was good to see Hightower out there making plays. I liked the way BJ Scott was playing at corner. I guess the best looking player that I saw was Dre Kirkpatrick. He was a beast at corner. I expect great things from him this fall.
4. Did A-Day make you feel better or worse about our chances for a repeat in 2010?
Actually neither. It's just a scrimmage. Haha. But all in all, I think there's a lot of talent there, and that we will have a chance to win every game on our schedule this year. It's all about whether or not we execute the game plans laid out by the coaches. Fundaments and discipline will be big this year because we have a lot of wildcard talent that will have to see a lot of playing time. If they can stay in position and make plays, this team's going to be very very good again this year.
5. With the long dark of the offseason finally upon us, what's your favorite coping mechanism?
My favorite coping mechanism is different from a lot of people - I tour. haha. Over the summer we're out touring pretty much every weekend. My band stays fairly busy, so that helps me not worry about football or anything else for a while because my mind is focused on the task at hand. But, when I'm at home just lounging around -- I've got games from the last decade that I like to toss in and watch. Including DVDs from the last 3 or 4 years. I think I may watch as much film as some of the players. lol.
¶ 8:02 AM4 comments
1. With Cody being gone to the NFL this season, will this change not only the way the Tide plays defense, but the way that opponents attack? Will this play into our favor or no?
2. Although it's simply a glorified scrimmage, what are you looking for from Saturday's A-Day game?
3. How big is the loss of Mike Johnson on the offensive line? Was he the reason the transition from 2008 to 2009 was so smooth?
4. Is there another strength & conditioning coach in the country that is as important to a plan as Coach Cochran? What is it about him that you love so much (because we know that everyone here loves him. haha)?
5. NBA Playoff time -- who wins it, who pulls off the biggest upset, and why?
¶ 9:09 AM3 comments
In the meantime, I would like to announce that Alabama has won the 2014 National Championship with senior QB Phillip Sims at the helm. Thank God for NCAA 2010 from EA Sports. Diggit. Haha.
¶ 9:52 AM1 comments
Our good friend Kleph has started back the Crimson & White Roundtable. I will be hosting the questions next week and then posting links to all of the Bama Blogs that answer. It's great to get back in the fold, especially right before the A-Day game.
1. Is Alabama on the verge of a quarterback controversy? The backup quarterback is always a fan favorite, but A.J. McCarron posted good stats from the first spring scrimmage. What are the chances he some significant playing time in 2010? Would that be good or bad?
There absolutely will be no quarterback controversy. We have a quarterback that is 30-0 as a starter, who just led us to a National Title. While AJ has been awesome through the spring, McElroy was awesome through the spring of 08 as well. Experience and intangibles are things that Coach Saban looks at - I seriously doubt he'll let a freshman start over a national title winning undefeated senior.
2. Were there any other bits of good or bad news from the scrimmage that fans should consider?
Not really, other than the defense looks good and our backup quarterback situation is immensely better than it was last year. I haven't heard much about the special teams units, so that's something we'll have to watch for - probably at A-Day.
3. Homecoming is October 16 against Ole Miss. Thoughts? Is it ever good to play an SEC squad for homecoming?
I see no problem with scheduling an SEC team for Homecoming. While some people have gotten the notion that the homecoming game is always against a weaker or inferior team, a lot of teams prefer a big game for homecoming to draw out more of the alumni and fans. I believe Alabama has been the homecoming game for several teams in the SEC over the years. Homecoming isn't to schedule an easy win - it's for alumni coming home. The opponent really doesn't matter in that case.
4. What does the Menzie injury do to Alabama’s projected depth in the secondary?
It definitely shortens it, but I think we were planning to play with low-depth anyway. Injuries happen and I believe the coaching staff will find a way to get the best players on the field at all times. It doesn't worry me, but it does definitely shorten the depth. Don't forget that Menzie was going to be pretty new to things, and there was no guarantee he would have been a phenomenal asset this year anyway.
5. Happy that Duke won the tournament? Happy the basketball season is finally over?
Honestly, I really don't like Duke, so I'm glad they're done. However, I'm a huge college basketball fan, so I hate to see the season end. I grew up playing basketball and football, and basketball was always my favorite sport to play because it's a lot faster. I'll definitely be following the basketball recruiting to see what happens because I enjoy it when the Tide is successful. I think Anthony Grant is on to something here in T-Town.
Spring practice is upon us and, of course, there's a lot of new things going on to talk about. I'll be sure and give my opinion on what all's happening down at the Capstone as soon as I get a chance. In the meantime, hope everybody's brackets do well this year! Haha.
¶ 8:16 AM2 comments
With all the hoopla about the PAC10 & BIG10 looking to expand,and thus throwing the BIG12 into “maybe” expansion mode as well, don’t think for a minute the SEC is sitting around on their hands.
Remember what I’ve always said about TV markets being the driving force? Seems there is a great deal of pressure in the Texas legislature to keep Texas and Texas A&M in the same league. Not enough room for both in the BIG10. If those two went to the SEC, the SEC doubles their TV market overnight and becomes the first super-conference with 14 teams.
That leaves the BIG12 without Texas and Texas A&M and, most likely, a Colorado that moves to the PAC10. They are now three short of a boat.
Nebraska or Missouri to the BIG10 leaves them 4 short. They pick up TCU, BYU, and Utah, moving the entire conference decidedly north while adding New Mexico to the west.
