My Thanksgiving Blog Post (a little bit late)

Yes, I know I didn't do a Thanksgiving Blog Post for Thanksgiving...thanks for noticing, but since when have I been one to follow rules? So - here goes!

First and foremost I'm thankful for Jesus Christ because of Who He is and what He has done for me:

Psalm 103

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-

3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

That right there is more than enough, isn't it? But there's more! I'm thankful for my husband, Ernie. He has been Jesus to me in human form more times than I can count. I don't know what else to say. He has put up with me and knows me and still loves me...he is my best friend and a fabulous daddy!

I'm thankful for my two precious sons and the joy that they bring. They are energy all the time and keep us on our toes, but I wouldn't trade it for a second! We're also praying about adding a 3rd through the miracle of adoption (don't know boy or girl yet obviously)!! Adoption is fundamental to our Christian faith...we were adopted into Christ's family and are joint heirs with Him and God is our Heavenly Father! I'm thankful for my Christian heritage and for growing up with parents that made sure I was in church and learned scripture! They weren't perfect, but what parents are? I pray that I'm teaching my children Christian principles as my parents did. I'm thankful that I had 30 years with my daddy who touched so many people's lives in his almost 75 years. I'm thankful that I still have my mom. I'm also thankful for my 2 older brothers even though we're not as close as I would like.

I'm thankful for friends...both the Christian friends that keep me accountable and encourage and pray for me and my non-Christian friends that I try to be salt and light to every day.

I'm thankful for our church family and that God has called us into full time ministry. I love being married to a pastor...of course it's not without its challenges, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I only pray that we walk worthy of the calling He has placed on our lives and aren't a stumbling block as we mess up because we're human.

There are so many other things...I've only scratched the surface! Those of you that know me (even some that don't) know that I'm also thankful for the Green Bay Packers and Alabama football (and that we're on our way to a 13th national championship!!!), but I digress. The most important is the first thing mentioned in this post...spend some time in that passage and I would love to talk to you more about it if you have questions. May God bless you and may we be thankful EVERY day and not just once a year!

Are you Ready for Some Football?



Of course I watched Monday Night Football and you knew I had to blog about Favre's first actual start with the Vikings (for the record, no, I don't count last week as a real start since he had been with them 3 days and played 1 series)! I still have a hard time seeing him in purple, but I'm so excited that he had a good game overall. I think that he did a great job and he also shut some people up that he can still play. Honestly, if you can make a good argument that he's not in the top 5 NFL QB conversation then I'll acquiesce, but I don't think you can. I realize that really isn't saying much right now with the status quo of NFL QB's, but you get my point.



He said that if he could still play at the NFL level then he felt like he should come back. He's doing it and he proved it Monday night. Now, a lot of people are asking me about his "chop block" and my thoughts on that. My first thought was how crazy is Childress for even putting his almost 40 year old QB that just had shoulder surgery in that type of position. The man is a QB and doesn't know how to block for heaven's sake either! Before all of you start telling me that he played D Line and SS in high school and should know how to block better please bear in mind that that was over 20 years ago. Anyway, I don't think that it was intentionally to hurt anyone...it could have hurt him too. I think it was a crazy call by the coaching staff, but I do agree with my buddy, Dunaway, who said that if anything, it did send a message that he's still got the toughness that some people have questioned since this injury and surgery.

After watching him play Monday night with all the pressure that he had to prove himself again, I have to say that I'm so glad he came back! He's always fun to watch and he looks like he's still enjoying himself...I just hope we intercept him every time on October 5th and November 1st! Those are circled on my calendar. Both teams are undefeated so far in preseason with the Pack facing the Titans Thursday night. My Pack looks REALLY good and I can't wait for that first test against our arch rival da Bears with their new QB. Watch out for the Pack this season...our D is nasty good!

It's game week for college football, people! I've never been more ready I don't think. NC State and SC as well as Troy playing the first games. Saturday night in the GA dome...it's almost too much to take and we haven't kicked off yet! I'm a little nervous about Bama this weekend with Va Tech since we've had so many distractions this week. I know that we will bring our A game though just like we did last year in the same place against Clemson.

The SEC teams will be tough this year for the most part and fun to watch. All I have to say is, "Are you ready for some football?" Have a great season!

It ain't braggin' if it's true!

Here are just a few pics from my fun filled day with the hubby to God's country (Tuscaloosa) for the Iron Bowl...ROLL TIDE!!!

My Poor Pack...

Last night I was so excited about Monday Night Football. It was the Packers vs. Saints...the Jets had won the day before against the undefeated Titans and Favre did really well at 78%! The table was set for a great night. The first half was pretty good and everything was back and forth. They seemed to answer each other score for score...until the second half happened. Rodgers looked horrible...he completed passes, but they were just to the other team. Drew Brees picked apart our secondary which had been doing so well so far this season. It was so painful to watch that I finally turned it off at 4th quarter when we were down 51 to 29.

I know that Ted Thompson will NEVER admit that he made a mistake by giving up Favre, but I somehow think it would make me feel a little better. We could be SuperBowl contenders this year. I realize that Rodgers is going to be a decent QB and our future, but couldn't we have just had Favre back one more time to make a run at the big dance? We'll never know now. I'm glad he's doing well with the Jets, but I want my Pack to do well more and it's just not happening.

Well, it's time to move on...it's Iron Bowl week and my sweetie and I will be heading to T-town to have a little Dreamland and root the Tide on to a victory to make us 12 and 0. The quad should be electric...I can't wait! Roll Tide Roll and Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Blackout in Athens, GA

My how quickly things can change...Thursday night the MIGHTY USC went down from #1. Yesterday, Alabama was #8 going into a game against the Georgia Dawgs at #3 and truly no one gave us a chance...not even myself, truth be told. I thought we had a shot, but it was going to be a long shot with the way GA is stacked. Well, call me crazy, but Corso called it and didn't jinx us for a change! I expected us to keep it close and that was about it for my expectations. I never imagined that we would dominate the line of scrimmage as we did on both sides of the ball.

I'm still not the crazy Alabama fan screaming National Championship yet, but now we're #2 and my confidence is a little better. Although, moving that fast up the polls makes me ever more nervous...does that sound ridiculous? It shouldn't if you've watched our team for the past decade. We still have some tough games to go and I'm worried that confidence has gone too far out the roof after yesterday and we all know that pride comes before the fall, right?!

I will continue to enjoy this win while we can. The SEC is fierce and I'm not naive enough to think that we'll get through the season unscathed...thankfully we're much better than we were last year. Is $4 million becoming a bargain yet?

Whatever happened to class?

I love Alabama football. I love this time of year. I love the crimson uniform and seeing Nick Saban on the sidelines with those uniforms as head coach. I love going to Tuscaloosa to see a game live and in person...MOST of the time.

I went to see Alabama play Tulane Saturday night. It was the first home game and we had just knocked off a top 10 team the week before and played solid smash-mouth football EVERY down. I was so excited to go to this game and as usual, the fan's expectations were overboard, but being realistic has never been a Bama fan's strongest point. We were even compliant with the stadium announcer who asked us to treat the Tulane team with respect when they came on the field because of the hurricane that week evacuating them from their city. We cheered for them when they came on the field. I was so proud of our fans...until we started playing mediocre and the fans booed. How classless!

I'm proud of all of our national chamionships - it's something to be proud of, but excuse me if I don't think that booing the team you support is acting like a champion. I believe that if you are a fan of a team then you support them through thick and thin. You're loyal to a fault and you take the good with the bad.

It certainly wasn't the prettiest win and we didn't play to the standards that we've become accustomed on every play, but these are kids out there lest we forget...someone's child. Their parents were probably sitting in the stadium somewhere - call it my mommy heart - I don't care. There should be no room to boo your own team or team's coaching staff. Form your opinion and tell your buddy...call talk radio and complain...blog on it for heaven's sake, but don't boo your team...period. Do you think you have to boo to let a veteran head coach that gets paid several million dollars a year know that his team doesn't look great? Give me a break! Act like a champion even if you're losing...which we weren't either time the fans booed. We won the game...we had some sacks...some injuries...allowed a few big plays...and missed some kicks, but we WON. Show some class, Bama fans...winning or losing...show that we're champions.

Playing catch up...tis the season!

Yes, blogger land, I'm still among the living. I'm sorry for my hiatus, but it's the most wonderful time of the year...and the busiest when you are a full time working mother of 2 children under the age of 6! We're back to regularly schedule programming now and I have a lot to cover since I've been busy playing Santa's little helper.

First of all, my favorite subject of my Pack. Of course I'm disappointed with losing to the Cowboys, but I'm more disappointed in the way we lost. We really could have and should have won that game. (I will take this opportunity to complain about the fact that there aren't any "official Packers sports bars" in the greater Birmingham area according to www.southendzone.com so I sat for 4 1/2 hours at a local establishment in my most obnoxious green and gold attire talking my normal smack to the cowboys in the room instead of sharing it with only Packer fans. There were other Cheeseheads there, but let's just say that they weren't as loud as the people in silver and blue...but not to disappoint you guys...I did represent trying to make up for the short fall.) As I was saying, we had plenty of opportunities to win that game - even with Favre hurt on the sidelines and Rodgers at the helm - but we still gave it away. That frustrates me more than anything, but it wasn't as devastating as some fans would like to make it out to be.

After the win yesterday at home against the Raiders we have clinched the North currently at 12 and 2. We're at St. Louis and Chicago and then end at home with Detroit. A rematch is desired and expected after that. It's an exciting year for the Green Bay Packers and it couldn't have happened at a better time. Favre is having a blast out there and that's when he is at his best. I've had so much fun watching him this season and feel like a proud mama (even though he's older than me).

Speaking of Favre - it was announced last week that he is Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. I couldn't think of a more deserving player this year. SI did a great job honoring not only Favre on the field, but off the field as well. I even learned some things about him that I didn't know from the article (and that's saying something there)! He's truly a unique person and I'm proud that WHENEVER he retires that no matter what he'll go out on top as a Packer!

Now, moving to college football with respect to the BCS Bowl selections (wow, that is some fancy typing to get 'respect' and 'BCS' in the same sentence...and all without laughing out loud while doing so). There are several things that seem crazy to me...one being that Alabama got into a bowl game (yes, I guess that I'm Alabama's only realistic fan). Just one year ago we fired our coach after going 6 and 6...now we're paying a 6 and 6 coach $4 million. I realize that Alabama travels well (compared to SC) and there is a really "neato" story line for the talking heads with Saban going back to Louisiana, but who is going to be excited about watching this game? The SEC had 9 teams selected to go bowling...I repeat 9! Is it just me? I will "tow the company line" and will root for all the SEC schools playing in the bowls because that is the conference my team is in, but what a joke. No one else in the country could care less about 9 SEC teams going to bowl games. Good luck LSU in the "championship" game and for retaining your coach for another year...you'll need it!

Finally, congratulations to Tim Tebow of Florida on winning the Heisman. We all knew that you were a great player, but now we are also impressed with how you conducted yourself this past weekend. You added class to the crazy hype of the show and you were a fantastic representative of your school, conference and family. I pray that my boys grow up as unashamed, outspoken and with as much integrity and class as you seem to have on and more importantly off the field. I hope that you will excel one day soon in the NFL despite the majority of your predecessors with this trophy. I hate that you ended up a Gator as an Alabama fan, but glad we didn't have to play you this year and don't next year either!

In closing, it's been an interesting season in both college and NFL. We've had fruit basket turnover in the BCS and watched some very memorable games, and we've got both an undefeated and a winless team in the pros. None was probably expected, but at the end of the day both of my teams are post-season...I just hope they don't cause me to go postal this season!!

Congratulations, LSU...and Bama is back!
Before you guys laugh me off my keyboard, hear me out on the last part. First of all, let me say that LSU is a great team and their defense (as I've said before) is nothing short of an NFL team. Now that I've said that, let me explain the last part of my headline - Bama played an incredible team...and it pretty much went down to the wire.

Let me rewind back to the off season where we as Alabama fans totally bought into the Saban hype, but some of us more "realistic" (if we really do exist) fans thought that this was going to be a rough year. We had a very young team, not a lot of depth, not a lot of talent or "big names", very undisciplined, practically non-existent strength and conditioning over the past 4 years, and an entirely new coaching staff. When you add all of those things up and face reality then it doesn't give you much hope going into the season, but we still packed out Bryant-Denney Stadium in April with roughly 100,000 of our closest friends and fanatics to watch a scrimmage and left with massive hope for a great season.

I believe after we won the Arkansas game and somewhat contained (if that's possible) an incredible McFadden (did anyone see that game Saturday against the Ol' Ball Coach?) and then pretty much dominated Tennessee that everyone forgot how poorly we played against FSU and believed once again.

Everyone that knows me knows that this time of year I'm an avid listener to sports talk radio. One of the shows had Gary Danielson of CBS last week to give his thoughts and predictions on the game. He said something that was very profound that I am coming to realize especially after Saturday's game. He said that on paper LSU is obviously more talented than Alabama, but that Saban was the equalizer to that. He said that there are plays that require better coaching and plays that require better players and if it comes down to coaching Bama would win. The better players won on Saturday, but we weren't out-coached by any stretch of the imagination.

Some of my observations from Saturday's game:
1. Matt Flynn is a good QB, but not great
2. Perilloux's absence made point #1 even more glaring
3. Glenn Dorsey at 75% is still better than most
4. Bama's O-line is much improved from past years
5. Bama's O-line still needs work
6. John Parker Wilson is inconsistent and doesn't always make great decisions, but some of the inconsistency blame can be put on point #5
7. Javier Arenas is an incredible athlete with great vision
8. D.J. Hall is still a great receiver and can make big plays
9. There are different interpretations of "irrefutable evidence" which means that even instant replay can let you down (but I'm not going to get into that so that I don't sound like a sore loser and it's a mute point now anyway)
10. Terry Grant could end up being a great running back...he's young and still ran well against a great defense
11. Saban is proving he's worth the hype - he's a great coach to have those kids ready to play that hard against an extremely talented and deep team with someone else's recruits

All that being said, I'm proud of my Crimson Tide even after that loss on Saturday. It was REALLY tough for me to take that loss, but I have to be honest and say that after the first quarter I thought we were going to be killed...so to have taken it down to the wire and only lose by a touchdown is nothing to hang our heads about! I now see discipline. I now see conditioning and stamina. I now see a desire to win and not give up - things that Alabama fans cut their teeth on, but haven't had in a while...all these are reasons why I believe that I can finally say that Bama is back!

Big Orange Crush...and even St. Nick has a heart...
Short blog today as I'm pressed for time, but what kind of blogger (or fan for that matter) would I be if I didn't at least mention the beautiful Saturday morning game that I was able to enjoy in T-town? Have I mentioned that I hate orange? I sat right next to some TN fans...nice people for the most part and good sports, and I was proud of myself too for not being too terribly obnoxious.

I can't believe the onside kick call at the beginning of the game. We were all in shock...elated state of shock, but shock nonetheless!

Our 4 million dollar man may not care about the media, but you can tell that he was really proud of the players...he even got choked up in the press conference after the game. People say that he has no heart, but I disagree...he is just selective with what he cares about. It's fine with me, by the way.

We have a week off to rest and then our truly toughest test of the season with LSU with whom we are tied for the west in the SEC. It bothers me that they have a week off as well after a tough one down to the wire against our in state rival, but I know it will be a good one. Could there be any more hype for this game? I say if Game Day comes a-callin' that we refuse...we can't win when they're in town to save our lives! Auburn turned down their offer to be on Lincoln Financial against Ole Miss this weekend for pay per view and I think it's for the same reasons...they lose in that 11:30 slot. It will be a long shot, but I truly believe that if we come out with the arsenal loaded like we did this past weekend that LSU is beatable (if that's a word). They are much more talented and deep than we are...they're truly like an NFL team this year, but as it has been stated before...at some point and time Les' luck will run out. It will eventually catch up to you and bite you and I'm hoping that happens on 11/3! I've been to 3 games live this year so far...Vandy, Arkansas and Tennessee and those turned out great so maybe I'm the lucky charm...have I mentioned that I will be at LSU?? I can't wait...I hope I don't eat those words!

Winners, Squeakers...and a bye bye bye...

I'm back among the living in blogger land...sorry for the hiatus.

Luckily I didn't have to add the "losers" up in the title, but squeaking by with 3 points seems to be the theme this weekend for both my college and pro teams so they get called "squeakers". I don't like just barely getting by - I like for my teams to dominate and that just didn't happen.

Let's start with my Tide. For heaven's sake, Ole Miss is the worst team in the SEC and you can't even understand their coach when he talks so why couldn't we put them away? I'll tell you why - our D-line! We need some serious help in that area, but hopefully that will improve over the next few years as Saban gets his own recruits in their to run his defensive scheme. I guess he's doing the best he can of trying to fit square pegs into round holes, but Alabama fans have never had realistic expectations from anyone so why would we start now? We expected to blow out the Rebs and just didn't do it. We've got the ol' pumpkin this weekend in T-town before a bye week and then LSU...I hate orange. 'Nuf said.

Well, it wasn't enough that I had to pull against Jason Campbell and Carlos Rogers in college and now I have to do it on Sundays. Campbell's stats actually were better than Favre's, but luckily his supporting cast likes to cough the ball up and our defense still played well for the most part and capitalized on those mistakes. My Pack's D-line needs some work as well for the most part, but they got the job done again and our offense fortunately scored more points than the opposing team's! Thankfully that's all that matters in the NFL. I'm not sure if I'm grateful for a bye week this week for the Pack or not. Normally I would say that's a good thing, but we've only lost one game and I don't want to lose momentum. After our bye this week we've got 2 road games in a row. In years past we haven't been a good road team, but this year seems to be different...we beat Minnesota on the dreaded turf already!

On paper it looks like Green Bay should do well with the remaining schedule, but we still don't know how good we are 6 games into the season...strange, isn't it? We're 5 and 1 and most people would agree. I don't like that most people say that we're not as good as our record dictates (I'm referring to talking heads here). At the end of the day, that doesn't really matter. What matters is that we're 5 and 1 regardless and in my experience it puts us in a good position to make the playoffs and Packer fans (as well as Favre) want another shot in the post season.

I'm looking forward to playing the Cowboys at the end of November since everyone is saying that Romo is the next Favre in the league. The jury is still out on him in my book. Yes, he's had an incredible year so far, but we know he doesn't do well under pressure and we'll have to wait and see how durable he is over his career. Favre has earned the Ironman nickname outright - he even had a pretty good season playing with a broken thumb!

I'm glad that this weekend I only have to worry about one nailbiter since the Pack is off, but I long for the day that both teams just seriously put someone away and I don't have to have the paramedics on standby! Roll Tide Roll!! Go Pack Go!!

Happy Birthday, #4, ten days early...
On October 10th, Brett Lorenzo Favre will turn 38 years old, but don't tell him that or he might start believing that he's old for his profession. Ok, you knew I was going to post on Brett Favre's incredible weekend once again...especially since my Tide lost AGAIN - I'll get to that later.

I must give props to an article I read from SI.com about Favre and how his stats this year compare to his MVP "prime" years. It's nothing short of amazing...truly amazing. I hate to put anyone on a pedestal because I'm sure that he'll make his mistakes this year as well, but as the article points out - he's practically doing it by himself offensively because we have absolutely no running game and this is the youngest team in the NFL.

Jimmy Johnson and Howie Long yesterday during the halftime report gave Favre props and put him in the top 3 QBs in the NFL today...that's some nice company - not to mention MUCH younger. Now Jerry "The Joke" Glanville is trying to get in on the action by saying over the weekend that he didn't have any control over trades in his contract. What? Are you kidding me? It is well documented that Glanville used to make fun of Favre and actually take bets against him in practice when Brett would claim he could rifle the pigskin into a certain section of the stadium. Glanville, take heed to Lincoln's quote stating that it's better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!

May I also take a minute to mention that Dan Marino is really a class act?! He has shown quality character through his comments and the way that he has handled himself. I was also impressed with the Vikings fans. As much as they hate the Pack I wasn't quite sure what to expect with Favre breaking the record there, but they handled themselves well and gave credit where credit was due.

I'm hesitantly optimistic being 4-0. I'm still concerned about the lack of a running game because four games into the season it hasn't improved even slightly. We also had a few injuries yesterday - one being Al Harris who is one of the best CBs in the league and we've got Chicago Sunday night. I know they have left a lot to be desired so far this season, but they always seem to bring their A game when they play us and no one hates them more than the Packers fans - they even have a song about them which gets stuck in your head if you've ever tailgated at Lambeau.

As far as my favorite team in the NCAA...well, we're finally finding out that we weren't as good as our 3-0 record dictated...exactly as I thought. It also further substantiates my theory that Shula wasn't as good of a recruiter as some people thought. Saban and his coaching staff have done their best at getting someone else's recruits prepared and we've come up short the past 2 weeks. Here's to homecoming week!

"Let's quit talking about it and go out there and do what we've gotta do to do it!"
...Coach Nick Saban

It's probably not as eloquent as it could be from a multi-million dollar man, but I love that quote and hear it quite often on my favorite sport radio talk show. This past Saturday the Alabama Crimson Tide did just that - they quit talking about it...or they did their talking on the field - however you want to phrase it they did what they had to do to win the game against Arkansas.

I was fortunate enough to join over 92,000 in T-town this past Saturday night along with my friend, Beth. I admit it - I was excited, but very nervous going into the stadium. I got that chill up my spine that I always get as I watched the jumbo-tron and heard Bear Bryant's voice and saw clips from Tide teams over the years making incredible plays.

By the time the first quarter was over and we were up by 21 and containing McFadden pretty well, I was feeling pretty good about things. My phone goes off and it was a text message from my husband that said, "it's not over". He knew what I was thinking but he remembered last year - I guess what he says is true about me having selective memory because that was a fleeting thought by this point.

The 2nd half was like watching a totally different game, but we were still up 31 to 17 at the end of the 3rd quarter. My phone went off again with another text message from my husband that said, "it's still not over". At this point I'm laughing and texting back "yeah right - come on - we've got a good lead"...then the 4th quarter came and the pigs scored 21 straight points and we went for a field goal...what was that? I couldn't believe it - neither could the rest of the crowd as a hush came over the stadium. What was Saban thinking? I started having flashbacks and it wasn't pretty. I immediately text messaged my husband asking where his crystal ball was and if I could borrow it to fund our retirement! jk

Well, we all know by now what happened in the last 2 minutes of the game to cause the Tide's sweet victory and I was gladly eating crow for my doubt of Tiffan's leg and Saban's coaching ability for that brief moment. It just goes to show you why he's getting paid the big bucks and we're paying to watch in the stands! I left the game screaming "Roll Tide" walking down the ramp with my hoarse voice in amazement. What a difference from last year! We didn't give up and take our ball home and also our coach made an informed decision based on the fact that he knew our team and talent well enough...shocker!

Now that the polls have come out I'm amazed again...16th? Give me a break! I love the Tide as much as the next person, but I thought that we'd finally break the top 25...16 is a bit much! Either the voters in the AP are just waiting to see Saban fall flat on his face or they've finally proven what we've all suspected - that they really don't know what they're doing!

I will go into this weekend with the same excitement and nervousness playing Georgia. They've got the hunger of upset written all over them to "prove" themselves and I have a great respect for Coach Richt the man and the coach.

In the end my husband was and is still right...it's still not over. The game wasn't - they still came back - we just were able to fight to get the win. The season isn't - we've got to continue to "quit talking about it and go out there and do what we've got to do to do it"!

ANOTHER FOOTBALL WEEKEND...

Good grief, I love this time of year!

I made the trip to Nashville this weekend to watch my Tide play Vandy. Everyone jumped on the bandwagon and called upset on this one, but it just didn't happen. That being said, we need a TON of work! I went in concerned about our defense and left more concerned with our offense. Wilson didn't set the world on fire. He seems to be ok if he has a lot of time, but if he gets rattled or has to run for his life (which happens way too much) then he's likely to make poor decisions. I also hate the draw plays because he just isn't a fast runner to say the least. Kicking game still concerns me because at best it's inconsistent and that needs to change because the red zone offense isn't better than last year's unfortunately.

I have to say that it is so much fun to watch Andre Smith play. As large as he is (even after losing 19 pounds in the offseason he still logs 340) he is fast. He truly might end up being the best Offensive Lineman to play at Alabama. I would certainly feel good about running behind him...which brings me to Terry Grant. If he can stay healthy (please, God, keep him healthy) then he just might be a Heisman candidate...great freshman talent!

Moving forward with my Pack on Sunday. We squeaked out a win, but apparently my college and pro teams are both going to have red zone offense issues. I'm going to have to get NFL ticket or something...I can't stand not seeing these games, btw. Anyway, I digress, hats off to the defense for containing Westbrook and McNabb, but if our offense doesn't get it together then we're going to have another season like last year if we're lucky. I don't know if I expected anything more than that anyway beginning this season, but I always hold out hope as a fan(atic).

This next Sunday we're going to the Giants and we'll be able to tell a lot more about the Packers with that game and see what they're made of and if they can man up...away from the Lambeau "magic".

The Tide welcome the Hogs to T-town and I'll be there to hopefully pull us through. As good as our defense was this past weekend, they're going to have to be even better to shut down McFadden. Vandy didn't come close to having that type of talent. It will be a line battle and for the love of all that is ESPN I hope that we can win it consistently enough to win this SEC battle in the western division.

As for our in state rivals...sports talk in Birmingham is eaten up with Auburn fans calling for Cox's head on a platter. My question is the same as some other people's that I've heard in response...who else is there? I think he's a head case more than anything...he has the talent. He's not as good as some recent past QBs that Auburn has had, but he has the experience and some talent...he's just a head case from the hits he has been taking. I may be wrong, but that's my opinion.

There are a lot of good weeks ahead in football so I would just caution anyone and everyone to not knee jerk...it's still early.

FIRST COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEKEND FOR 2007 IN THE BOOKS
...Let's not get too hasty!
Wow is the only word that I can think of to describe this past weekend in the wonderful sport of football! Mine started Thursday night when I went to Nashville to watch the last pre-season Packers game against the Titans. I was keeping up with the score of the first SEC game while I was there via Blackberry (love modern technology). I realized very quickly that it wasn't much of a game so I turned my total attention to the Pack.
I unfortunately missed the opening drive which was the only one that Favre played and he also scored a touchdown...if we had only left 30 minutes earlier! :-) I see some much needed improvement on the o-line and got to see our 3rd string QB which I didn't even know his name (it's Thompson, btw). Overall we looked good at times even though we lost - which I mostly equate that to the fact that most of our 1st string was out by the end of the 1st quarter and their 1st string was still in by the 3rd (Vince needs the reps)! Our defense has also improved thankfully, but we still need work in all of these areas.
Now, to turn to college discussion. ROLL TIDE ROLL, first of all - I had to get that out of my system once again. We hung 52 points on someone (finally), Tennessee got beat, Notre Dame got beat (loved seeing Charlie Weiss rattled on the sidelines)...I could go on and on. Auburn almost got...well, I won't be ugly - it's still early in the season...I'll save it for November (hopefully we'll still be in a status worthy of some smack talk).
I can't wait to see the Tide live and in person this weekend in Nashville (I just need to take up residency there or something I guess). I was speaking to a fellow "Bammer" this morning and we were talking about the difference on the field Saturday. You knew who was in charge and there was a level of respect that we haven't seen in a while and we never worried that our coaching staff didn't know what to do next...LOOOOOOONG overdue!
I don't want to get too hasty though either. I've said before that I'm a realist as well as a passionate fan. I try not to look too much through the green/gold glasses or the crimson glasses...which ever shoe fits. We were playing Western Carolina, for heaven's sake! We will have a much better opponent this weekend at Vanderbilt who scored 41 points this past weekend lest we forget! Vandy has been one of the SEC step-children for a long time, but they may surprise some people this year. That being said, Alabama will be prepared. We have a great coach that will study game film and will know how to call the game (again, have I mentioned that this is long overdue?).
Also, Bama fans, look out for the 22nd against Georgia. They are for real this year and it could be our first loss of the season. I've always been a fan of Coach Richt and respect him a great deal - I'm glad that they will have a good year, I just hate that they chose the year we have to play them to get it together, if you know what I mean!
I can't wait for another football filled weekend - my Packers play the Eagles on Sunday and my Crimson Tide against the Commodores of Vandy...look for me on that Lincoln Financial game as the hubby and I will be enjoying the southern hospitality in Nashville for that one!
On another note...
Thank goodness that I no longer feel alone! I'm meeting more and more females that are geeked up football fans like me this year. I don't know if they're just finally coming out or they're just catching on, but either way PLEASE know that the welcome mat is out and I'm thrilled to finally have some company. We can dispel all the myths that women can't hang in the conversation or know what we're talking about just because we're women...that has ALWAYS been my pet peeve!!! Ok - glad I got that off my chest.
It was a great beginning to the season and I look forward to the momentum continuing as the weeks go on...happy football season!