Apparently CBS and ESPN think the SEC has merit!
For all of you football fans out there that love the "dominant conference" debate...how about that CBS deal? Wowzers! Apparently we have to agree on the fact that the SEC must have some smarts! They were interested in hiring Chuck Gerber when no one else was according to Tony Barnhart. It sounds like that was the ace in the hole.
I've seen so many blogs and comments from people who are guilty of nothing but being passionate about the conference in which their preferred team is a part. I really try to not engage in such debates because I believe "the proof is in the pudding" as they say down here in the south, but truly this is quite a deal for the entire SEC and all schools represented. Imagine basically tripling your income overnight! Not to mention all the residual affects that the above mentioned article spells out for each of the teams.
Apparently Forbes Magazine got it wrong and Mike Slive should have been on the cover...or even Chuck Gerber instead of Coach Nick Saban. Listen, you may not like our "podunk" schools down here in the south or the way we live college football as a religion and will go to our grave thinking we're better than you, but you have to hand us this one...your conference just got schooled!
Showing posts with label Coach Nick Saban. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coach Nick Saban. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Monday, November 05, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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!
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!
Monday, October 15, 2007
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!!
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!!
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