Tide Fans –
What a beautiful site on Saturday night! At last, and Alabama player hoisting the Heisman Trophy!! As I watched with a large group of co-workers at our company Christmas party, you would have thought Alabama had just kicked a 60 yard field goal to win a National Championship. Complete silence followed by a huge cheer when they called Mark Ingram’s name…it was awesome! I could not help but get a little emotional when Ingram was giving his speech. He is truly a special kid, with tremendous talent. I have never seen a running back play with as much heart as he does. Ingram is the epidomy of a team player…he does whatever he is asked to do, and is so grateful for his teammates. I am so happy for him, and the entire Crimson Tide Family. I don’t care what anyone says about the other candidates…Mark Ingram was the clear choice for Heisman.
Congratulations Mark, we are so proud of you! Only one more award left for this season…and this one comes in crystal. Roll Tide!
I hope to see some of you in Pasadena…if you have tickets I expect to see you there! If you have extra tickets…I expect you to let me know…I need 2!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
SEC Championship
Tide Fans –
There are no words to describe how I feel today. I am sore, I have no voice, I am tired and slightly hung over, but I am grinning ear to ear! No lack of sleep, dehydration, or complete exhaustion is going to ruin this day for me, because The Tide is number 1, we are SEC Champs, and we are heading to Pasadena for the National Championship!!! Yes, my friends everything is just fine! Oh, and did I mention that we just crushed Tebow and his Gaytors to get where we are? It could not have been scripted any better. I have waited for this day since I walked out of the Georgia Dome last December. Alabama (and I) made a vow to return and extract revenge from Florida, and how sweet it was!
What an absolute dominating performance we put on last night – truly incredible! The Tide could do no wrong, as we crushed Florida all 4 quarters. We ran, we threw, we blocked, we tackled…we whipped that Florida ass up and down the field! We showed the entire country what Alabama Football is all about.
For the past few weeks all I have wanted Alabama to do was just get through the regular season undefeated. I knew if we could get to the SEC Championship game that we were going to win. I have never felt more confident going into a game than I did yesterday. I don’t know what it was, but I just knew we were not going to let Florida beat us again. We had unfinished business, and we were pissed about how our season ended last year. This year we would not be denied our SEC Championship from Tebow again. I have never anticipated a game more than this one. All week long I could not concentrate on anything besides this game. This was the game of the decade – #1 verses #2…playing for all the marbles. The atmosphere inside and outside the Georgia Dome was just awesome! We had a blast tailgating with friends and random Tide fans, and most of all throwing darts at my friend Bill’s "Tebow" dart board – it was very entertaining and here is a picture so you know why.
I never wanted this game to end. Watching us just man handle the high powered Florida offense, and score points with ease on their #1 ranked defense was outstanding. If they don’t give the Heisman Trophy to Mark Ingram, than it is truly rigged. He just ran for 113 yards against Florida, and had 76 receiving yards…end of discussion…hand over the Heisman! Incredible performance by Mark…just incredible.
There were so many great things to take away from this game, that I could sit here and write all night, but I won’t, because I am tired and need to go to bed. McElroy was awesome – he played his best game yet. The offensive line was just outstanding – they gave McElroy the time he needed, and blew open holes for our running backs. Great job by a group of players who never get enough credit!! Our defense was ridiculous good, as usual. They never really even gave Florida or Tebow a chance to do anything…the game plan was perfect! Florida had about 4 decent plays the entire game – that’s it. My hats off the Coach Saban and his staff for putting together this game plan…it was one for the ages!
We are in the national championship game…can you believe it? I have watched the replay of the game last night, and the BCS bowl shows today, and I still cannot believe we are headed to play for our 13th national title! It has been a long 17 years since we last had this opportunity. All day long it has slowly soaked in…we are actually playing for the title – I am fired up beyond belief. Huge shout out to my wife for dealing with me last night on the phone in a loud Georgia Dome blabbing out directions to book flights for Pasadena. I know she could barely hear me, and had kids running around screaming back at home, but she got it done! Thank you Jenn…thank you for allowing me to be the huge Tide fan that I am!!!
Again, there are so many things I could talk about, like Tebow crying, comments about cheesy Gator fans, etc…but I am just plain wore out! I know you are all on cloud nine like me, so let’s all enjoy the moment. The Tide is high…we are SEC Champs, and headed to play Texas in the National Championship…it’s all good!
Until next post…Roll Tide my friends…Roll Tide!!!!
There are no words to describe how I feel today. I am sore, I have no voice, I am tired and slightly hung over, but I am grinning ear to ear! No lack of sleep, dehydration, or complete exhaustion is going to ruin this day for me, because The Tide is number 1, we are SEC Champs, and we are heading to Pasadena for the National Championship!!! Yes, my friends everything is just fine! Oh, and did I mention that we just crushed Tebow and his Gaytors to get where we are? It could not have been scripted any better. I have waited for this day since I walked out of the Georgia Dome last December. Alabama (and I) made a vow to return and extract revenge from Florida, and how sweet it was!
What an absolute dominating performance we put on last night – truly incredible! The Tide could do no wrong, as we crushed Florida all 4 quarters. We ran, we threw, we blocked, we tackled…we whipped that Florida ass up and down the field! We showed the entire country what Alabama Football is all about.
For the past few weeks all I have wanted Alabama to do was just get through the regular season undefeated. I knew if we could get to the SEC Championship game that we were going to win. I have never felt more confident going into a game than I did yesterday. I don’t know what it was, but I just knew we were not going to let Florida beat us again. We had unfinished business, and we were pissed about how our season ended last year. This year we would not be denied our SEC Championship from Tebow again. I have never anticipated a game more than this one. All week long I could not concentrate on anything besides this game. This was the game of the decade – #1 verses #2…playing for all the marbles. The atmosphere inside and outside the Georgia Dome was just awesome! We had a blast tailgating with friends and random Tide fans, and most of all throwing darts at my friend Bill’s "Tebow" dart board – it was very entertaining and here is a picture so you know why.
I never wanted this game to end. Watching us just man handle the high powered Florida offense, and score points with ease on their #1 ranked defense was outstanding. If they don’t give the Heisman Trophy to Mark Ingram, than it is truly rigged. He just ran for 113 yards against Florida, and had 76 receiving yards…end of discussion…hand over the Heisman! Incredible performance by Mark…just incredible.
There were so many great things to take away from this game, that I could sit here and write all night, but I won’t, because I am tired and need to go to bed. McElroy was awesome – he played his best game yet. The offensive line was just outstanding – they gave McElroy the time he needed, and blew open holes for our running backs. Great job by a group of players who never get enough credit!! Our defense was ridiculous good, as usual. They never really even gave Florida or Tebow a chance to do anything…the game plan was perfect! Florida had about 4 decent plays the entire game – that’s it. My hats off the Coach Saban and his staff for putting together this game plan…it was one for the ages!
We are in the national championship game…can you believe it? I have watched the replay of the game last night, and the BCS bowl shows today, and I still cannot believe we are headed to play for our 13th national title! It has been a long 17 years since we last had this opportunity. All day long it has slowly soaked in…we are actually playing for the title – I am fired up beyond belief. Huge shout out to my wife for dealing with me last night on the phone in a loud Georgia Dome blabbing out directions to book flights for Pasadena. I know she could barely hear me, and had kids running around screaming back at home, but she got it done! Thank you Jenn…thank you for allowing me to be the huge Tide fan that I am!!!
Again, there are so many things I could talk about, like Tebow crying, comments about cheesy Gator fans, etc…but I am just plain wore out! I know you are all on cloud nine like me, so let’s all enjoy the moment. The Tide is high…we are SEC Champs, and headed to play Texas in the National Championship…it’s all good!
Until next post…Roll Tide my friends…Roll Tide!!!!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Week 12 - Auburn
Tide Fans –
Sweet Victory!! The Tide stays undefeated in a thrilling win over arch rival Auburn! What a classic Iron Bowl… a slug fest back and forth with The Tide coming out on top. What started out to look disastrous, turned into a big time gut check for Alabama. Down 14 points to your hated rival on their field, and coming back to pull off the win on the final drive…that was classic old school Alabama 4th quarter football. This team never gave up...they kept pushing and pushing, and when we had to have points in the end, we produced what will be known as “The Drive” to seal victory. How sweet it was to crush Auburn’s hopes of a huge upset with one final drive, and one incredible play for a touchdown. McElroy to Upchurch…just beautiful! We are 12 - 0 my friends, and headed for a much anticipated rematch with Florida!
This game told me a lot about this team…I believe this is exactly what we needed to prove to ourselves that we can stay calm and execute under pressure to get the job done. You cannot ever count this team out. Many fans were mad about how we barely beat Auburn, etc…but how can you be questioning this team after this 4th quarter performance? This was the Iron Bowl, and it is never an easy game! As coach Saban said, we knew we would be entering a “sh*t storm” as he called it, and sure enough we did. Auburn laid it all on the line and did whatever they could to try and pull off the upset. We fell victim to the smoke and mirrors trickery in the first quarter, but we ended up on top at the end and that is all that matters. I don’t care if we beat Auburn by 1 point – It is a rivalry game and anything can happen. Yes, I was extremely stressed out to the point where I literally thought I was going to die, but how sweet is it to win a huge game like that? It is a great way to win and a terrible way to lose…just ask Auburn! I am very proud of our team and what we pulled off Saturday, and I cannot wait to play Florida for the SEC Championship – Roll Tide!
I have only been to Auburn twice before this game, and we lost both times. The first was 1989 when we were ranked 2nd in the nation and Auburn pulled off the win. The 2nd time was in 1995 when we got screwed – Curtis “Touchdown” Brown clearly caught the ball in bounds for the TD, but it was ruled out and Auburn won. I am somewhat superstitious when it comes to Tide Football. I have little traditions I keep up before each game, like what outfit I wear, doing a Jaeger Bomb shot, etc… and I started to get nervous before this game because in 1989 I went to the game with my dad. I went with my dad this year also, and both times we went into this game, Alabama was ranked 2nd. When we were down quickly by 14 points I was thinking…Oh no – I knew I shouldn’t have come to this game, as was my dad. At half I felt a little better, but then Auburn scored again in the 3rd. At one point late in the 3rd quarter I decided we were going to win the game. We were down by 7 points, and not doing much offensively, but I just knew we would pull it out. I began to will us to win – I was not going to accept defeat. I didn’t care how we got it done, we just needed to go out there and win it…and that is exactly what we did.
There are few better things than a last minute drive to victory over your hated arch rival. Visions of the 1996 Iron Bowl filled my head when we lined up for our final drive. As you may recall in ‘96, we drove 90 yards for the game winning TD. We had about 80 to go this time, and it felt very déjà vu to me. Calm and cool, our guys took the field and methodically marched their way to the end zone. Incredible passes to Julio and gutsy runs by Ingram and Richardson got us to the 4 yard line. Tiffin was warming up on the sideline for a game winning field goal…but we had other plans. Enter Roy Upchurch on 3rd and 4. Many of you who read this blog, know Roy Upchurch is one of my favorite players on the team. He does not play much, but when he does he gets results. On 3rd down when it looked like we were just lining up to position for the field goal I see Upchurch come into the game. As soon as I saw number 5 come in, I knew we were going to win. It’s like he has this magical super power on 3rd downs. What came next was one of the most beautifully executed plays ever…the play action pass! At first I thought Richardson had the ball and got stuffed at the line, but no no…McElroy played a beautiful fake and tossed the ball perfectly to Roy Upchurch in the end zone…Touchdown Alabama…pandemonium in the stands…and the State of Alabama is Crimson!
I hate going to Auburn. I usually start to feel nauseous around Alex City. The past two times I had been for a football game, their fans were obnoxious and loved to shake their shakers at very high speed in your face. This time was different – we actually had a very pleasant experience in Auburn. Most of their fans were nice, and we even tailgated with a big Auburn group before the game. I would like to give a big shout out to an old friend of ours Anthony, who hosted us at their tailgate and provided us with a delicious deer stew! Great hospitality and great food! I have now beaten my personal Jordan-Hare jinx and can enjoy my time in Auburn. (but not too much – I will always be a little queasy)
Huge week ahead Bama fans…the SEC Championship awaits! Do not worry about how Florida played yesterday…Florida State is terrible. Florida is beatable this year, and we have almost seen this happen twice. Yes, they are a very good team – but so are we, and we can beat them. We have unfinished business. We had them beat last year and we did not finish in the 4th quarter. Our team knows that even if they do fall behind that we can come back and win – we will not quit. Our coaches will have a game plan to attack Florida offensively, and keep them at bay defensively. This will be a battle, and we will come out on top. Florida is ready to be beat, Florida will be beat, and the Crimson Tide is headed to victory for an SEC Championship!
Keep the faith Tide Fans…this is a huge week and we need big time support! Let’s all get fired up and ready to play the Gators. It is time to teach those cocky jean short, tank top wearing, Tebow loving fans what a real football team looks like. Until next week…Roll Tide Roll!
Sweet Victory!! The Tide stays undefeated in a thrilling win over arch rival Auburn! What a classic Iron Bowl… a slug fest back and forth with The Tide coming out on top. What started out to look disastrous, turned into a big time gut check for Alabama. Down 14 points to your hated rival on their field, and coming back to pull off the win on the final drive…that was classic old school Alabama 4th quarter football. This team never gave up...they kept pushing and pushing, and when we had to have points in the end, we produced what will be known as “The Drive” to seal victory. How sweet it was to crush Auburn’s hopes of a huge upset with one final drive, and one incredible play for a touchdown. McElroy to Upchurch…just beautiful! We are 12 - 0 my friends, and headed for a much anticipated rematch with Florida!
This game told me a lot about this team…I believe this is exactly what we needed to prove to ourselves that we can stay calm and execute under pressure to get the job done. You cannot ever count this team out. Many fans were mad about how we barely beat Auburn, etc…but how can you be questioning this team after this 4th quarter performance? This was the Iron Bowl, and it is never an easy game! As coach Saban said, we knew we would be entering a “sh*t storm” as he called it, and sure enough we did. Auburn laid it all on the line and did whatever they could to try and pull off the upset. We fell victim to the smoke and mirrors trickery in the first quarter, but we ended up on top at the end and that is all that matters. I don’t care if we beat Auburn by 1 point – It is a rivalry game and anything can happen. Yes, I was extremely stressed out to the point where I literally thought I was going to die, but how sweet is it to win a huge game like that? It is a great way to win and a terrible way to lose…just ask Auburn! I am very proud of our team and what we pulled off Saturday, and I cannot wait to play Florida for the SEC Championship – Roll Tide!
I have only been to Auburn twice before this game, and we lost both times. The first was 1989 when we were ranked 2nd in the nation and Auburn pulled off the win. The 2nd time was in 1995 when we got screwed – Curtis “Touchdown” Brown clearly caught the ball in bounds for the TD, but it was ruled out and Auburn won. I am somewhat superstitious when it comes to Tide Football. I have little traditions I keep up before each game, like what outfit I wear, doing a Jaeger Bomb shot, etc… and I started to get nervous before this game because in 1989 I went to the game with my dad. I went with my dad this year also, and both times we went into this game, Alabama was ranked 2nd. When we were down quickly by 14 points I was thinking…Oh no – I knew I shouldn’t have come to this game, as was my dad. At half I felt a little better, but then Auburn scored again in the 3rd. At one point late in the 3rd quarter I decided we were going to win the game. We were down by 7 points, and not doing much offensively, but I just knew we would pull it out. I began to will us to win – I was not going to accept defeat. I didn’t care how we got it done, we just needed to go out there and win it…and that is exactly what we did.
There are few better things than a last minute drive to victory over your hated arch rival. Visions of the 1996 Iron Bowl filled my head when we lined up for our final drive. As you may recall in ‘96, we drove 90 yards for the game winning TD. We had about 80 to go this time, and it felt very déjà vu to me. Calm and cool, our guys took the field and methodically marched their way to the end zone. Incredible passes to Julio and gutsy runs by Ingram and Richardson got us to the 4 yard line. Tiffin was warming up on the sideline for a game winning field goal…but we had other plans. Enter Roy Upchurch on 3rd and 4. Many of you who read this blog, know Roy Upchurch is one of my favorite players on the team. He does not play much, but when he does he gets results. On 3rd down when it looked like we were just lining up to position for the field goal I see Upchurch come into the game. As soon as I saw number 5 come in, I knew we were going to win. It’s like he has this magical super power on 3rd downs. What came next was one of the most beautifully executed plays ever…the play action pass! At first I thought Richardson had the ball and got stuffed at the line, but no no…McElroy played a beautiful fake and tossed the ball perfectly to Roy Upchurch in the end zone…Touchdown Alabama…pandemonium in the stands…and the State of Alabama is Crimson!
I hate going to Auburn. I usually start to feel nauseous around Alex City. The past two times I had been for a football game, their fans were obnoxious and loved to shake their shakers at very high speed in your face. This time was different – we actually had a very pleasant experience in Auburn. Most of their fans were nice, and we even tailgated with a big Auburn group before the game. I would like to give a big shout out to an old friend of ours Anthony, who hosted us at their tailgate and provided us with a delicious deer stew! Great hospitality and great food! I have now beaten my personal Jordan-Hare jinx and can enjoy my time in Auburn. (but not too much – I will always be a little queasy)
Huge week ahead Bama fans…the SEC Championship awaits! Do not worry about how Florida played yesterday…Florida State is terrible. Florida is beatable this year, and we have almost seen this happen twice. Yes, they are a very good team – but so are we, and we can beat them. We have unfinished business. We had them beat last year and we did not finish in the 4th quarter. Our team knows that even if they do fall behind that we can come back and win – we will not quit. Our coaches will have a game plan to attack Florida offensively, and keep them at bay defensively. This will be a battle, and we will come out on top. Florida is ready to be beat, Florida will be beat, and the Crimson Tide is headed to victory for an SEC Championship!
Keep the faith Tide Fans…this is a huge week and we need big time support! Let’s all get fired up and ready to play the Gators. It is time to teach those cocky jean short, tank top wearing, Tebow loving fans what a real football team looks like. Until next week…Roll Tide Roll!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Week 11 - UT-Chattanooga
Tide Fans –
Roll Tide! That is exactly how you are supposed to beat a team like UT Chattanooga – dominate them early, and get your 2nd and 3rd strings in by second half. This was a great game to get some fine tuning done before we head over to the plains for the Iron Bowl!
11 down and 3 to go…you are next Auburn.
The only thing I really like about playing lesser opponents is that I can actually take my kids to the game. Even if I have to get up 15 times for dippin’ dots, pretzels, hot dogs, or whatever the request may be, I don’t feel like I have missed something vitally important. A bad thing about these games is you never know who is going to be sitting next to you. Many people decide to sit these games out, leaving their tickets for other people to use, which is fine. This week I had the pleasure of sitting next to an older gentlemen with a houndstooth hat and some nice side burns. He was very nice, it’s just that for some reason he felt it necessary to repeat to me what had just happened after every play. For example: Terrance Cody comes into the game and I feel a nudge and hear “Hey, ‘ol Cody just came into the game...he’s number 62 – do you see him?” I just smiled and went along with it for a while, but seriously – every play he did this, and it got to be really old! When we made a good play, he would explain to me what had just happened (as if I hadn’t just seen it), and then do this little creepy old school Southern back woods country giggle. I really wish I had an audio clip of his laugh, because it was classic! “Hey looky there…’ol Julio caught it…he heee heee heeeeee hee heeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” I will never forget that laugh!
On to the game…we really only got to see our first string offense and defense in the first half, but everything looked good. Ingram had some Heisman Trophy like runs, and Julio made some nice catches. How awesome in Javier Arenas? I mean the dude just keeps getting better! It was great to see him break the SEC record for punts returned for TD’s on Senior Day, and I hope it was not his last! I am very glad to see us get out of this game without any injuries – I was worried about that. Our 2nd string guys did pretty good – especially on defense. I was not overly impressed with the play of Star Jackson at QB, I think there is a scary drop-off between McElroy and Jackson – let’s all hope we don’t have to rely on him this year. I think Star needs a little more time to mature and learn the offense. I’m not sure he will ever start as QB at Alabama – that job will belong to AJ McCarron after McElroy – just my opinion. It was great to see all the seniors get some playing time – much of it well deserved. Many of these guys practice hard all four years and never get to see the field. I tip my hat to all the seniors who have helped make our team what it is now!
It’s Iron Bowl week Tide Fans -Time to get pumped and get ready to beat Auburn! I believe our team had Auburn on their minds as soon as the clock ran to zero on Saturday. I know they say you can throw the record books out for this game, but I don’t believe that. This team is on a mission, and it does not end in Auburn. We have an awesome team, with a ridiculously good defense. Any time I get nervous about an upcoming game I think about the defense. If you get nervous this week, think about the defense and how punishing they are. Chris Todd will throw at least 2 picks if we pressure him, and I’m pretty sure he will get some pressure! Visions of Marcel Dareus swallowing the quarterback, and Javier on a corner blitz are running through my mind…ahhhhhh! The only thing I am a little concerned about if kickoff coverage. We do not need to let them get big chunks of yardage on kickoff, or God help us return one for a touchdown. The barn may hang around with us for a little while at the start of the game due to crowd noise and adrenaline, but we will begin to out play them by no later than the 3rd quarter. I see this game going kind of like the Miss. State game did, and that turned out just fine for us. They will use all kinds of smoke and mirrors, and probably a few gay trick plays, but they will not be able to hang for 4 quarters. The Tide is high my friends, and last I heard there was a High Tide warning in Auburn!
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and let’s all remember the many things we should be thankful for. Say a prayer for our soldiers who will not be home for the holidays, and continue to fight for our freedom. Enjoy your time with friends and family and everyone please be safe if you are traveling!
Until next week…Roll Tide!
P.S. – I still need SEC Championship tickets!!!!!! Please – somebody help a brother out!
Jason
Roll Tide! That is exactly how you are supposed to beat a team like UT Chattanooga – dominate them early, and get your 2nd and 3rd strings in by second half. This was a great game to get some fine tuning done before we head over to the plains for the Iron Bowl!
11 down and 3 to go…you are next Auburn.
The only thing I really like about playing lesser opponents is that I can actually take my kids to the game. Even if I have to get up 15 times for dippin’ dots, pretzels, hot dogs, or whatever the request may be, I don’t feel like I have missed something vitally important. A bad thing about these games is you never know who is going to be sitting next to you. Many people decide to sit these games out, leaving their tickets for other people to use, which is fine. This week I had the pleasure of sitting next to an older gentlemen with a houndstooth hat and some nice side burns. He was very nice, it’s just that for some reason he felt it necessary to repeat to me what had just happened after every play. For example: Terrance Cody comes into the game and I feel a nudge and hear “Hey, ‘ol Cody just came into the game...he’s number 62 – do you see him?” I just smiled and went along with it for a while, but seriously – every play he did this, and it got to be really old! When we made a good play, he would explain to me what had just happened (as if I hadn’t just seen it), and then do this little creepy old school Southern back woods country giggle. I really wish I had an audio clip of his laugh, because it was classic! “Hey looky there…’ol Julio caught it…he heee heee heeeeee hee heeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” I will never forget that laugh!
On to the game…we really only got to see our first string offense and defense in the first half, but everything looked good. Ingram had some Heisman Trophy like runs, and Julio made some nice catches. How awesome in Javier Arenas? I mean the dude just keeps getting better! It was great to see him break the SEC record for punts returned for TD’s on Senior Day, and I hope it was not his last! I am very glad to see us get out of this game without any injuries – I was worried about that. Our 2nd string guys did pretty good – especially on defense. I was not overly impressed with the play of Star Jackson at QB, I think there is a scary drop-off between McElroy and Jackson – let’s all hope we don’t have to rely on him this year. I think Star needs a little more time to mature and learn the offense. I’m not sure he will ever start as QB at Alabama – that job will belong to AJ McCarron after McElroy – just my opinion. It was great to see all the seniors get some playing time – much of it well deserved. Many of these guys practice hard all four years and never get to see the field. I tip my hat to all the seniors who have helped make our team what it is now!
It’s Iron Bowl week Tide Fans -Time to get pumped and get ready to beat Auburn! I believe our team had Auburn on their minds as soon as the clock ran to zero on Saturday. I know they say you can throw the record books out for this game, but I don’t believe that. This team is on a mission, and it does not end in Auburn. We have an awesome team, with a ridiculously good defense. Any time I get nervous about an upcoming game I think about the defense. If you get nervous this week, think about the defense and how punishing they are. Chris Todd will throw at least 2 picks if we pressure him, and I’m pretty sure he will get some pressure! Visions of Marcel Dareus swallowing the quarterback, and Javier on a corner blitz are running through my mind…ahhhhhh! The only thing I am a little concerned about if kickoff coverage. We do not need to let them get big chunks of yardage on kickoff, or God help us return one for a touchdown. The barn may hang around with us for a little while at the start of the game due to crowd noise and adrenaline, but we will begin to out play them by no later than the 3rd quarter. I see this game going kind of like the Miss. State game did, and that turned out just fine for us. They will use all kinds of smoke and mirrors, and probably a few gay trick plays, but they will not be able to hang for 4 quarters. The Tide is high my friends, and last I heard there was a High Tide warning in Auburn!
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and let’s all remember the many things we should be thankful for. Say a prayer for our soldiers who will not be home for the holidays, and continue to fight for our freedom. Enjoy your time with friends and family and everyone please be safe if you are traveling!
Until next week…Roll Tide!
P.S. – I still need SEC Championship tickets!!!!!! Please – somebody help a brother out!
Jason
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Week 10 - Miss. State
Tide Fans –
Powerful…just powerful. The Tide rolls on to another victory, and stays undefeated! Many people thought this was a “trap game” for The Tide, and that we may slip up, but no no…instead we crush another opponent dressed in black. I guess Dan Mullen didn’t get the memo from Mark Richt about black jerseys and Alabama…it don’t work!!!!! A somewhat fired up cow bell ringing crowd was silenced by a quick and powerful defense, while our offense brought the pain with some big runs and throws. Yes, it was a beautiful site in Starkville to watch the Crimson Tide dismantle their opponent, and get one step closer to the SEC Championship Game. I cannot wait to play Florida…I cannot wait!
Two years ago when I went to the game in Starkville, parking was an issue. I know this seems funny, as there seemed to be many available fields and grassy areas to park, but for some reason you can’t park in any of these. Every parking lot is reserved for the “Bulldog Club”. Remembering this from last time I prepared this year, got a campus map, and found out ahead of time where the “public parking” spots were for game day. When my wife and I arrived this year we found the public parking – not too close to the stadium, but not that bad. We actually were very close to the main road to get off campus so we thought we had a great spot (More on this later) We tailgated for a while before the game, and had the car radio on. About 45 minutes into our tailgate, the radio cut off randomly. Yes – my battery had died. Great…stuck in Starkville and my windows are all down, and my car won’t start! Thinking quickly, I checked the trunk and thank God I had a pair of jumper cables. (always have jumper cables – you never know!) I was worried about time, and missing kickoff so I flagged down the first car I saw. I must give a huge shout out to the friendly Mississippi State student who helped me jump my car off – I don’t remember your name, but thank you, and I’m sorry we whipped your team’s ass!! With the car started we rolled up the windows let the car run for a while to charge the battery, did our undefeated Jaeger Bomb shots, and headed to Scott Field.
I must say, the campus at Mississippi State has come a long way. What used to be pretty much nothing, now has a much better atmosphere, and a nicer look. I am pretty sure the new Jumbotron in the stadium uses more power than the entire town of Starkville – man that thing was huge! The stadium is still pretty small, but it does the job. We made are way up the myriad of ramps to our seats in the Bama section in the upper deck. Surprisingly we sat next to the same dude we sat next to at the Kentucky game – how weird is that! The new scoreboard was nice, but the speaker system was ridiculously loud. They had that thing cranked so damn loud that it was just annoying. What was even more irritating was the piped in crowd noise they play through the sound system to make it seem louder – just ridiculous! It didn’t help…The Tide came out and took care of business and it was awesome!
I knew when Miss. State came out in those black jerseys that the game was over. No little gimmicky things like cow bells, jersey manipulation, or simulated crowd noise are going to intimidate The Tide. In fact, I’m pretty sure it just irritated us, making our team want to crush them even more. Minus one or two plays, our defense just dominated. Mark “The Red Barron” was all over the place – catching balls, and hitting people so hard their fillings rattled. What and outstanding individual performance he had. Huge shout out to Marquis Johnson also – he has come a long way this season. The defense just keeps getting better, and I believe will continue to do so. So many talented players, so much speed, so much power…I am grinning ear to ear as I type this. Keep it up defense…keep it up!
Huge plays from our offense this week! We had several game changing plays that were fun to watch! I don’t try to get caught up in the Heisman hype, but I swear if they don’t give that trophy to Mark Ingram this year I will forever protest. There is not another game changing, explosive, reliable, team player than Mark – he is the man! He just continues to get the job done. McElroy had a good game, and got the ball to our receivers creating some huge plays. The pass to Hanks was awesome, as well as the Julio play. I swear when he first threw that ball to a wide open Julio it looked like he had overthrown him. Thankfully he didn’t, and Julio makes the grab for another TD. Shout outs also go to Hanks, Trent, and Maze – great games as well!
Returning to the car after the big win, I first just prayed that it would start…it did!!! All right let’s get on out of here…oh wait…why are all these cars jumbled up and not moving?? There were only 58,000 people at the game…traffic can’t be that bad! Oh yes people…remember that public parking lot we parked in? Apparently what seemed to be a great spot close to the road to leave turned out to be the last parking lot of cars to get out. Over two hours we sat there without moving a foot! There has got to be a better traffic directing effort than that Miss. State…come on! Two hours and no movement!!!!! It almost ruined the win for me. Here is a tip – if you ever go to Starkville, just park on the side of the Hwy and walk!
This was a big statement for Alabama to come off the big LSU win and pound an opponent that was apparently very fired up and ready to beat us. We could have come in with a big victory hang over, but we didn’t. We were focused, and played with good intensity, and came away from another tough SEC road win looking really good. I know we have two more very important games before the SEC Championship, but I want to play Florida sooooo bad right now. I’m glad the coaches don’t think like me and take each opponent at a time. All I can think about is Florida. I know our team is already focused on the Mocs of UTC now, which is what they need to be doing, but all I can think about is watching our defense crush Tebow! One game at a time Jason…one game at a time…I need to settle down.
Enjoy this win, and have a great week Tide Fans!
Jason
Powerful…just powerful. The Tide rolls on to another victory, and stays undefeated! Many people thought this was a “trap game” for The Tide, and that we may slip up, but no no…instead we crush another opponent dressed in black. I guess Dan Mullen didn’t get the memo from Mark Richt about black jerseys and Alabama…it don’t work!!!!! A somewhat fired up cow bell ringing crowd was silenced by a quick and powerful defense, while our offense brought the pain with some big runs and throws. Yes, it was a beautiful site in Starkville to watch the Crimson Tide dismantle their opponent, and get one step closer to the SEC Championship Game. I cannot wait to play Florida…I cannot wait!
Two years ago when I went to the game in Starkville, parking was an issue. I know this seems funny, as there seemed to be many available fields and grassy areas to park, but for some reason you can’t park in any of these. Every parking lot is reserved for the “Bulldog Club”. Remembering this from last time I prepared this year, got a campus map, and found out ahead of time where the “public parking” spots were for game day. When my wife and I arrived this year we found the public parking – not too close to the stadium, but not that bad. We actually were very close to the main road to get off campus so we thought we had a great spot (More on this later) We tailgated for a while before the game, and had the car radio on. About 45 minutes into our tailgate, the radio cut off randomly. Yes – my battery had died. Great…stuck in Starkville and my windows are all down, and my car won’t start! Thinking quickly, I checked the trunk and thank God I had a pair of jumper cables. (always have jumper cables – you never know!) I was worried about time, and missing kickoff so I flagged down the first car I saw. I must give a huge shout out to the friendly Mississippi State student who helped me jump my car off – I don’t remember your name, but thank you, and I’m sorry we whipped your team’s ass!! With the car started we rolled up the windows let the car run for a while to charge the battery, did our undefeated Jaeger Bomb shots, and headed to Scott Field.
I must say, the campus at Mississippi State has come a long way. What used to be pretty much nothing, now has a much better atmosphere, and a nicer look. I am pretty sure the new Jumbotron in the stadium uses more power than the entire town of Starkville – man that thing was huge! The stadium is still pretty small, but it does the job. We made are way up the myriad of ramps to our seats in the Bama section in the upper deck. Surprisingly we sat next to the same dude we sat next to at the Kentucky game – how weird is that! The new scoreboard was nice, but the speaker system was ridiculously loud. They had that thing cranked so damn loud that it was just annoying. What was even more irritating was the piped in crowd noise they play through the sound system to make it seem louder – just ridiculous! It didn’t help…The Tide came out and took care of business and it was awesome!
I knew when Miss. State came out in those black jerseys that the game was over. No little gimmicky things like cow bells, jersey manipulation, or simulated crowd noise are going to intimidate The Tide. In fact, I’m pretty sure it just irritated us, making our team want to crush them even more. Minus one or two plays, our defense just dominated. Mark “The Red Barron” was all over the place – catching balls, and hitting people so hard their fillings rattled. What and outstanding individual performance he had. Huge shout out to Marquis Johnson also – he has come a long way this season. The defense just keeps getting better, and I believe will continue to do so. So many talented players, so much speed, so much power…I am grinning ear to ear as I type this. Keep it up defense…keep it up!
Huge plays from our offense this week! We had several game changing plays that were fun to watch! I don’t try to get caught up in the Heisman hype, but I swear if they don’t give that trophy to Mark Ingram this year I will forever protest. There is not another game changing, explosive, reliable, team player than Mark – he is the man! He just continues to get the job done. McElroy had a good game, and got the ball to our receivers creating some huge plays. The pass to Hanks was awesome, as well as the Julio play. I swear when he first threw that ball to a wide open Julio it looked like he had overthrown him. Thankfully he didn’t, and Julio makes the grab for another TD. Shout outs also go to Hanks, Trent, and Maze – great games as well!
Returning to the car after the big win, I first just prayed that it would start…it did!!! All right let’s get on out of here…oh wait…why are all these cars jumbled up and not moving?? There were only 58,000 people at the game…traffic can’t be that bad! Oh yes people…remember that public parking lot we parked in? Apparently what seemed to be a great spot close to the road to leave turned out to be the last parking lot of cars to get out. Over two hours we sat there without moving a foot! There has got to be a better traffic directing effort than that Miss. State…come on! Two hours and no movement!!!!! It almost ruined the win for me. Here is a tip – if you ever go to Starkville, just park on the side of the Hwy and walk!
This was a big statement for Alabama to come off the big LSU win and pound an opponent that was apparently very fired up and ready to beat us. We could have come in with a big victory hang over, but we didn’t. We were focused, and played with good intensity, and came away from another tough SEC road win looking really good. I know we have two more very important games before the SEC Championship, but I want to play Florida sooooo bad right now. I’m glad the coaches don’t think like me and take each opponent at a time. All I can think about is Florida. I know our team is already focused on the Mocs of UTC now, which is what they need to be doing, but all I can think about is watching our defense crush Tebow! One game at a time Jason…one game at a time…I need to settle down.
Enjoy this win, and have a great week Tide Fans!
Jason
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Week 9 - LSU
Tide Fans –
Sweet victory!! Hallelujah and Praise the Lord…Alabama is still undefeated and heading to the SEC Championship for the 2nd year in a row! What an incredible day in Tuscaloosa – great weather, great fans, and a great performance from our men in Crimson! The atmosphere was outstanding – you could just feel the energy building before kickoff for a big Tide victory. This was such a huge game for both schools, and it lived up to the hype! Bama gets the win and clinches the West for a much anticipated re-match with the Florida Gaytors. (yes I meant to put the y in there). We are heading to Atlanta my friends, and I cannot wait to play Tebow and company. We are coming for you Florida…and we are bringing the pain!
How fun is it to have an awesome team? I just love the fact that we are consistently powerful again. It is so nice to have swagger and confidence back. Football is fun again, and it just makes me smile when I hear people stressing over how they are going to get SEC tickets. No, the process of finding SEC tickets is not fun, but it just gets me fired up that we have to stress over that! And yes, I do need tickets!!!
Well, we finally found ourselves a little offensive production on Saturday! We actually had a good mix of running and passing the ball. It is amazing how different you see and feel things when you are at the game versus watching it on TV. For some reason I felt as if McElroy was having a terrible game watching it in the stands, but after watching the replay it actually was not that bad. Yes, he did miss two wide open touchdown throws, and made a few other bad judgment throws, but overall he got the job done. Is there room for improvement – absolutely! I think the good things he did Saturday outweighed the bad, and again he did what needed to be done, and we got the W.
One thing I did notice watching the replay was that CBS’s Vern Lundquist and Gary Daniels still suck. They make me want to vomit. Seriously CBS…that is all you have??? If I have to hear Vern say “Wow” one more time of Gary say “Oh my” again…just ridiculous. At one point Gary actually made a comment about how we were tackling too hard. What??? It’s football Gary – you are supposed to hit your opponent as hard as you can. Thank God I had the game on TiVo, so I just fast forwarded most of their terrible banter. A network that big, carrying SEC football should be able to come up with some better commentators – just my opinion.
I know Julio had the incredible catch and run for the big score in the 4th quarter, but I have to give the game ball to Mr. Mark Ingram. Ingram’s play in the second half is what won us the football game. He single handily took the team on his shoulders again and powered his way to crucial yardage. The man continues to blow my mind. He runs and runs, and then runs some more. He never quits, and plays with so much heart. Thank you Mark Ingram…thank you!
I have to give props to Marquis Maze also – big game for him. Maze had a ton of catches, and I love the quick slant play, and the yardage he gets after the catch…he had a great game! Julio obviously had a great game – not just the big play, but he made several other clutch catches – it is good to see him get the ball! Shout out to Hanks also – big catch for a TD! Almost all our receivers contributed, and it was good to see the ball thrown around.
Our defense delivered once again as they have all season. We did not get as many sacks as I thought we would, but still – they were solid! We held a very good opponent to only 15 points (really 13 since they got 2 from a safety). I love our defense…I love being able to rely on them when we need to, and know they are going to get the job done. They have stepped it up all season, and deserve even more credit than they get. Defense truly does win championships…and ours is playing at a championship level!
LSU is a good football team…in fact I will say they are very good. This win is not only huge because we stay undefeated and lock up the West, but because we beat a very good team. They are an extremely fast team and have loads of talented players…probably more than we do. Talented players help make a good team, and LSU probably had more talent than us…but on Saturday we had more heart.
Speaking of heart, I must give a huge shout out to my beautiful wife!! There was a point in this game that I actually began to doubt our ability to win, and she kept me thinking positively. Whenever I started to doubt what we were doing she kept me on track. Why do I ever doubt The Tide?? Why???? I should punch myself in the face for ever letting a little doubt enter my mind during the game. She told me to keep the faith, and it worked, so thank you Jenn!! Thank you for putting up with all my rants, and keeping me focused on The Tide and our ability to win these type games!
We have won the West, but we still have a lot of football to play my friends. The next game on our schedule makes me a little nervous. It is a trap game after a big win - the type that can sometimes be overlooked. Yes, we are a better team than Miss. State, but they are getting better under their new coach. This team played Florida very close and almost beat LSU as well. We cannot go over there with a hangover from this big victory. I believe we will win, I just don’t want to have to squeak one out in Starkville. I know our coaches will preach focus this week and they will have us prepared. Having our offense perform better against LSU does make me feel a little better for next weekend. I know the defense will be fierce as always, we just need to play our game and not make stupid mistakes. McElroy will be key in this game – he must manage the ball well. My game plan for next week would be run run run! You know what...nevermind - I am not nervous about this game anymore. I have full confidence in our team and we are going to go over there and play solid football. Roll Tide!!!!
Big win for us on Saturday Tide fans – we are still undefeated and once again have a shot at the SEC title! Let’s stay behind this team and continue to cheer them on to victory. If you can find tickets – please go to Starkville next weekend – we need a good presence to help drown out the cow bells! The Tide is 9-0, let’s stay fired up and keep this train rolling! This is a special season, and I think there are great things ahead, so until next week…Roll Tide my friends...Roll Tide!!!!
Jason
Thursday, November 5, 2009
LSU Pre-Game
Tide Fans -
I am writing a special note during the week, because I felt I needed to send out a message to all Tide Fans. This is a HUGE game this weekend - we win and we secure a spot in the SEC Championship Game. I am ridiculously pumped, and will be ready to explode by Saturday!! I hope everyone is getting fired up…we have GOT to be extremely loud! The last few games have been weak as far as crowd noise (except for when we blocked the kick). We are undefeated and may have a chance the play for another National Title - that should get everyone fired up! Do not sit on your hands if you are going to the game - you must cheer loudly. I want your insides to hurt the next day, and for you to have very little, if any voice left. We are playing LSU for the Western Division title, and we are going to beat the snot out of them!!! Come on Tide Fans - get fired up, because Bama is going to whip that bayou butt!!
All week I have heard people say they are nervous about this game. Being nervous is not going to help at all - why waste your energy on being nervous when you should have lots of swagger and confidence in our team. Be proud of our undefeated record, and have some dang confidence in our team!! The Tide has had a week off to rest which they badly needed. The coaches will have us prepared for this game, and the offense will have success - I can just feel it!
I want Bryant-Denny to be so loud when LSU has the ball it makes your ears hurt! Remember Florida 2005?? That is what we need on Saturday! It was so loud during that game, the place was shaking - it was incredible!!
We are going to will our team to victory, and we all need to do our part as fans by cheering like there is no tomorrow! Just think about our lightning fast, bone crunching defense and how awesome they are…think about Mark Ingram running all over the place…think about Julio and how he played last year against LSU - he was unstoppable! Are you pumped yet? Do I need to mention Marquis Maze, Trent Richardson, Javier Arenas, and Roy Upchurch??? Now are you pumped?? Come on TIDE!!!!!!!
If I can't get you fired up, perhaps this video will - I have watched this 100 times and it makes you want to run through a brick wall. These are highlights of last year's LSU game. Listen to Coach Saban's speech - if you are not fired up after watching this, then you should go get checked out at your nearest hospital because you may be dead. Time to get LOUD Bama Fans…time to Roll on to victory!!!! Let's Go!!!!!!!!!!
I am writing a special note during the week, because I felt I needed to send out a message to all Tide Fans. This is a HUGE game this weekend - we win and we secure a spot in the SEC Championship Game. I am ridiculously pumped, and will be ready to explode by Saturday!! I hope everyone is getting fired up…we have GOT to be extremely loud! The last few games have been weak as far as crowd noise (except for when we blocked the kick). We are undefeated and may have a chance the play for another National Title - that should get everyone fired up! Do not sit on your hands if you are going to the game - you must cheer loudly. I want your insides to hurt the next day, and for you to have very little, if any voice left. We are playing LSU for the Western Division title, and we are going to beat the snot out of them!!! Come on Tide Fans - get fired up, because Bama is going to whip that bayou butt!!
All week I have heard people say they are nervous about this game. Being nervous is not going to help at all - why waste your energy on being nervous when you should have lots of swagger and confidence in our team. Be proud of our undefeated record, and have some dang confidence in our team!! The Tide has had a week off to rest which they badly needed. The coaches will have us prepared for this game, and the offense will have success - I can just feel it!
I want Bryant-Denny to be so loud when LSU has the ball it makes your ears hurt! Remember Florida 2005?? That is what we need on Saturday! It was so loud during that game, the place was shaking - it was incredible!!
We are going to will our team to victory, and we all need to do our part as fans by cheering like there is no tomorrow! Just think about our lightning fast, bone crunching defense and how awesome they are…think about Mark Ingram running all over the place…think about Julio and how he played last year against LSU - he was unstoppable! Are you pumped yet? Do I need to mention Marquis Maze, Trent Richardson, Javier Arenas, and Roy Upchurch??? Now are you pumped?? Come on TIDE!!!!!!!
If I can't get you fired up, perhaps this video will - I have watched this 100 times and it makes you want to run through a brick wall. These are highlights of last year's LSU game. Listen to Coach Saban's speech - if you are not fired up after watching this, then you should go get checked out at your nearest hospital because you may be dead. Time to get LOUD Bama Fans…time to Roll on to victory!!!! Let's Go!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Week 8 - Tennessee
Tide Fans –
Can you hear it? I can still hear it. I heard it all last night, and in my sleep. The sweet sound of the “thud” heard round the world. That “thud” being Terrance Cody’s hand blocking a last minute game winning field goal for Tennessee. From absolute agony to pure elation, every Tide fan in the stadium, and all around the country let out a roar when victory was secured by the slap of a paw from Mount Cody! How sweet it was Bama fans…how sweet it is! The Alabama Crimson Tide is still undefeated, and the drive for 13 is still in full force!
Standing at my seat pacing wildly back and forth, I could not believe what I was watching. We had all but secured the victory until something that never happens happened…Mark Ingram fumbled the ball. When the replay confirmed the fumble I knew we were in trouble. I knew UT would score and attempt the onside kick. I didn’t think they would get the onside kick, but of course they did. I don’t know why I thought we would actually recover the onside kick and run the clock out…that would be too easy on us Tide fans. We like to make it as painful as possible to win games. If I had had a piece of coal with me, it would have ended up as a diamond before this one was over. I have witnessed many nail biting close games for Alabama, but this one had so much riding on it. With one snap, place, and kick our dreams for a chance at another championship could have been crushed. I have to hand it to Tennessee…they played a hell of a game. I would like to give a shout out to Jerry, my “polar opposite” – a Vol fan who is Tennessee’s version of me. I know that had to suck…but you know what they say – nothing “sucks” like a big orange! Sorry Jerry… had to get that in!
Anyone who thought this game would be a blowout, has obviously never watched many Alabama-Tennessee games. Yes, there are a few that get out of control, but seldom do you not see a very hard fought close game. This is a huge rivalry, and even when one team is not having a great season – it is always brutal. These teams always play hard, and Saturday was a classic! The kicking game has been the decision maker countless times, and once again it proved to be the difference on Saturday night. Huge shout out to Leigh Tiffin – what a game! Tiffin doesn’t hit that last 50 yard field goal and we lose. I must say, Tiffin has not received a lot of love from me this season, but he has played very solid. I have a feeling he hasn’t won the last game for us this year.
The Alabama offense once again struggled. We did get the ball into Julio’s hands a few times this week, so hooray for that! We only had about 1 or 2 drives where it looked like we actually knew the plays and how they were supposed to be executed. I knew we would have trouble against UT’s defense, but I didn’t think they would keep us from scoring a touchdown. Once again we had our chances, but some “interesting” play calling inside the 10 yard line kept us out of the end zone. I’m sure there was a reason we didn’t run the ball on 2nd and goal and 3rd and goal…but I was really dumbfounded as to why we didn’t. The Wildcat seemed to be working – why didn’t we Wildcat that bitch all the way to pay dirt? Again…I am not a coach, I am just a 35 year old dude who played two years of football in 9th & 10th grade at 130 pounds soaking wet… but I’m just sayin’ – the Wildcat was looking good. It’s going to get better Bama fans – the offense will figure it out, and we will find our balance again. We better find it in about two weeks!
Minus about one play toward the end of the game, the defense delivered as usual. It was great to have Javier back in the lineup, as he made the most solo tackles in the game! I absolutely love when we blitz Javier…he is so fast and always brings the guy down fast. Mark Barron had another great game as well, and had our only interception (as I predicted last week)! All in all the defense did their job, and they deserve this week off more than anyone. They have saved us in several games this year, and are the reason we remain undefeated! Terrance Cody was playing at an entirely different level. Blocking two field goals – that is unbelievable! I love Cody’s quote about lining up against UT’s Cory Sullins before the 2nd blocked field goal – “He’s probably thinking ‘Oh snap! Here we go again…dang that’s a big guy’ Cody said. “He was probably thinking a lot of things…I’d be scared of me too!” I love it! Mount Cody may get his Daniel Moore print after all…I know I would buy it!
Thank God we have a week off! I know the coaches and the team really need it, but all of us need it as well. I am looking forward to a weekend of not having to worry about how we are going to win, and handing over ridiculous amounts of cash to a babysitter who has watched our kids all day. It will be nice to relax and watch other teams play while not having to nervously think about things like…did we leave early enough to avoid traffic backing up on 459, did I bring enough beer, do we have any food, did I forget the tickets, did we bring the Red Bull and Jagermeister? I am going to really enjoy our well deserved time off! What’s good for The Tide is good for their fans also! By the way – we did not leave early enough to avoid traffic on 459 – thank God for the Old Tuscaloosa Highway in McCalla!
Huge game in two weeks folks! LSU comes to town in what will basically be the “Battle for the West”. For some reason I feel really good about this game. I think our defense will man handle LSU’s offense, and the “Mad Hatter” won’t be able to score many points on us. This may be a low scoring game, because if our offense doesn’t get it together their defense will shut us down. How our offense plays will be the key to this game being close. I’m not worried about our D stopping them, but at some point we have to score some points to win. I should be a lot more worried about this game, but I just feel really good. I think the week off comes at a perfect time, and LSU has not shown me much this year. I can’t wait to see their fans come to town with their pimp outfits and crazy Cajun talk – it cracks me up! I just hope we don’t hear a bunch of “Tiger Bait” (pronounced Tiiiiiiiiiiiiigaaaah Bait) cheers after the game. Bring your corn dog smelling, jambalaya cooking asses on up here and let’s have a good time! (Insert strange Cajun yell)
This was a huge win for us Saturday Tide Fans…I know we just squeaked it out, but it was a big rivalry game. We could have lost, our season could have been ruined…but it wasn’t. What a great way to beat a rival – on the last play! As I said before, champions find a way to win and yes – the Alabama Crimson Tide is still undefeated! Sooooo smooth!
See you in a few weeks – Roll Tide!
Jason
Enjoy this video - this is why my ears are still ringing!
Can you hear it? I can still hear it. I heard it all last night, and in my sleep. The sweet sound of the “thud” heard round the world. That “thud” being Terrance Cody’s hand blocking a last minute game winning field goal for Tennessee. From absolute agony to pure elation, every Tide fan in the stadium, and all around the country let out a roar when victory was secured by the slap of a paw from Mount Cody! How sweet it was Bama fans…how sweet it is! The Alabama Crimson Tide is still undefeated, and the drive for 13 is still in full force!
Standing at my seat pacing wildly back and forth, I could not believe what I was watching. We had all but secured the victory until something that never happens happened…Mark Ingram fumbled the ball. When the replay confirmed the fumble I knew we were in trouble. I knew UT would score and attempt the onside kick. I didn’t think they would get the onside kick, but of course they did. I don’t know why I thought we would actually recover the onside kick and run the clock out…that would be too easy on us Tide fans. We like to make it as painful as possible to win games. If I had had a piece of coal with me, it would have ended up as a diamond before this one was over. I have witnessed many nail biting close games for Alabama, but this one had so much riding on it. With one snap, place, and kick our dreams for a chance at another championship could have been crushed. I have to hand it to Tennessee…they played a hell of a game. I would like to give a shout out to Jerry, my “polar opposite” – a Vol fan who is Tennessee’s version of me. I know that had to suck…but you know what they say – nothing “sucks” like a big orange! Sorry Jerry… had to get that in!
Anyone who thought this game would be a blowout, has obviously never watched many Alabama-Tennessee games. Yes, there are a few that get out of control, but seldom do you not see a very hard fought close game. This is a huge rivalry, and even when one team is not having a great season – it is always brutal. These teams always play hard, and Saturday was a classic! The kicking game has been the decision maker countless times, and once again it proved to be the difference on Saturday night. Huge shout out to Leigh Tiffin – what a game! Tiffin doesn’t hit that last 50 yard field goal and we lose. I must say, Tiffin has not received a lot of love from me this season, but he has played very solid. I have a feeling he hasn’t won the last game for us this year.
The Alabama offense once again struggled. We did get the ball into Julio’s hands a few times this week, so hooray for that! We only had about 1 or 2 drives where it looked like we actually knew the plays and how they were supposed to be executed. I knew we would have trouble against UT’s defense, but I didn’t think they would keep us from scoring a touchdown. Once again we had our chances, but some “interesting” play calling inside the 10 yard line kept us out of the end zone. I’m sure there was a reason we didn’t run the ball on 2nd and goal and 3rd and goal…but I was really dumbfounded as to why we didn’t. The Wildcat seemed to be working – why didn’t we Wildcat that bitch all the way to pay dirt? Again…I am not a coach, I am just a 35 year old dude who played two years of football in 9th & 10th grade at 130 pounds soaking wet… but I’m just sayin’ – the Wildcat was looking good. It’s going to get better Bama fans – the offense will figure it out, and we will find our balance again. We better find it in about two weeks!
Minus about one play toward the end of the game, the defense delivered as usual. It was great to have Javier back in the lineup, as he made the most solo tackles in the game! I absolutely love when we blitz Javier…he is so fast and always brings the guy down fast. Mark Barron had another great game as well, and had our only interception (as I predicted last week)! All in all the defense did their job, and they deserve this week off more than anyone. They have saved us in several games this year, and are the reason we remain undefeated! Terrance Cody was playing at an entirely different level. Blocking two field goals – that is unbelievable! I love Cody’s quote about lining up against UT’s Cory Sullins before the 2nd blocked field goal – “He’s probably thinking ‘Oh snap! Here we go again…dang that’s a big guy’ Cody said. “He was probably thinking a lot of things…I’d be scared of me too!” I love it! Mount Cody may get his Daniel Moore print after all…I know I would buy it!
Thank God we have a week off! I know the coaches and the team really need it, but all of us need it as well. I am looking forward to a weekend of not having to worry about how we are going to win, and handing over ridiculous amounts of cash to a babysitter who has watched our kids all day. It will be nice to relax and watch other teams play while not having to nervously think about things like…did we leave early enough to avoid traffic backing up on 459, did I bring enough beer, do we have any food, did I forget the tickets, did we bring the Red Bull and Jagermeister? I am going to really enjoy our well deserved time off! What’s good for The Tide is good for their fans also! By the way – we did not leave early enough to avoid traffic on 459 – thank God for the Old Tuscaloosa Highway in McCalla!
Huge game in two weeks folks! LSU comes to town in what will basically be the “Battle for the West”. For some reason I feel really good about this game. I think our defense will man handle LSU’s offense, and the “Mad Hatter” won’t be able to score many points on us. This may be a low scoring game, because if our offense doesn’t get it together their defense will shut us down. How our offense plays will be the key to this game being close. I’m not worried about our D stopping them, but at some point we have to score some points to win. I should be a lot more worried about this game, but I just feel really good. I think the week off comes at a perfect time, and LSU has not shown me much this year. I can’t wait to see their fans come to town with their pimp outfits and crazy Cajun talk – it cracks me up! I just hope we don’t hear a bunch of “Tiger Bait” (pronounced Tiiiiiiiiiiiiigaaaah Bait) cheers after the game. Bring your corn dog smelling, jambalaya cooking asses on up here and let’s have a good time! (Insert strange Cajun yell)
This was a huge win for us Saturday Tide Fans…I know we just squeaked it out, but it was a big rivalry game. We could have lost, our season could have been ruined…but it wasn’t. What a great way to beat a rival – on the last play! As I said before, champions find a way to win and yes – the Alabama Crimson Tide is still undefeated! Sooooo smooth!
See you in a few weeks – Roll Tide!
Jason
Enjoy this video - this is why my ears are still ringing!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Week 7 - South Carolina
Tide Fans –
It was a cold night in Bryant-Denny, but we all left with a warm feeling in our heart. Alabama didn’t play anywhere near their best game, but we made it happen and The Tide is still undefeated! Many people are concerned about our offense…but I am not. When one part of our team doesn’t play well, someone else steps up and takes the load – that is what great teams do, and this is truly a great team. We may be ranked 2nd in the BCS, but everyone knows who has the best team in the country right now, and it ain’t Florida.
Sitting in the stadium on chilly night, I never really got nervous during this game. Even when the score was close for some reason I was never really concerned. In the back of my mind I knew we would pull it out. I will admit I got a little nervous (and angry) when we had about 6 flags thrown on us in about a 3 minute time period, but I still felt ok. My wife would probably tell you differently as she watched me explode in boos directed to the refs, but I really was ok. This team knows how to win, and I knew we would figure something out. I know I say this all the time, but our defense is just insane. We were playing without our best cornerback (Javier) and we still punished the Gamecocks! I knew if the defense kept them at bay, then our offense would find a way to put points on the board, and they did it in record breaking style. I am referring to the play of Mark Ingram – absolutely incredible display of running. He single handily took over this game and just ran like a man possessed. 246 yards in one game for one player…breaking a Bryant-Denny record, Mark Ingram just took the ball and ran wherever he wanted to with it. A good majority of these great runs came from the Wildcat formation which I thought was a brilliant way to go after we realized McElroy just wasn’t getting it done. This is no ding on McElroy, but we had to get something going and this worked like a charm. Again, great teams figure out how to win, and our fantastic coaching staff realized we needed to get the ball into the hands of our stud running back. I am officially changing my “Man Crush” to Mark Ingram.
I would be remiss to not mention our first score coming from the defense. What a return off an interception! I said earlier this year that Mark Barron was going to be a force on defense, but he is developing much quicker than I thought. He is becoming one of my favorite defensive players, and I even mentioned his name in the same sentence as Rashad Johnson – and you all know how much I loved Rashad Johnson!!! We have so much talent on the defense…I just smile when I think about them. Anytime I get a little nervous about our next opponent and start to have doubts, I just start thinking about the defense and all my worries go away. Just saying the names, McClain, Dareus, Washington, Barron, Anders, Reamer, Javier, Cody, etc…puts me at ease. I have so much swagger now, and I have our defense to thank for that. Thank you suffocating, bone-crunching, in-your-face defense…thank you!
I have had a request to put back in a few things I used to write in the analysis, so I will now go over my Players of the Game:
Mark Ingram – 246 yards…enough said!
Mark Barron – 77 yard “Pick 6”…nice!
Marquis Johnson – Surprised on this pick? He stepped up and played for an injured Javier and did a very nice job! 3 TD pass break up on one drive alone…nice job Marquis!
As I mentioned earlier – many people were concerned about our lack of offense in this game. Every great team has a few “not so great” games. This was one of those games against a good opponent where you just have to gut it out and get the win however you can. I know our offense will get things worked out, and I still have full confidence in Greg McElroy. He did not have a good game, and he knows it – he is dedicated to this team and he will work even harder to correct the issues we are having. Have faith Tide fans – this is a very good, very talented team that I (and many others) believe really is the best team in the country. One game at a time…and don’t forget – defense wins championships!
It’s Tennessee week folks!! This is always a great game, and we will need to bring it next week. Not only the team, but the crowd also – we got to get LOUD! People are worried about what UT did to Georgia last week – I am not. I think Georgia is terrible and has zero defense. If you let Jonathan “I eat Possum” Crompton put up NFL numbers on you – you have a terrible defense. He will not know what to do when 3 or 4 Crimson jersey’s come barreling down on him play after play after play, and we should get at least one interception from him. Most of you know I can’t stand Tennessee and love nothing more than crushing them. I believe we put a full game together this week and take UT behind the wood shed. Look for G Mac to improve, and our defense to once again rise up and smother the opponent.
It’s great to be an Alabama Crimson Tide fan! Until next week my friends…Roll Tide!
P.S - Huge shout out I missed last week to my friend Bill who somehow found me in “the grove” and delivered to me our traditional road game Jaeger Bomb. This was important, because we are undefeated with these!
Jason
It was a cold night in Bryant-Denny, but we all left with a warm feeling in our heart. Alabama didn’t play anywhere near their best game, but we made it happen and The Tide is still undefeated! Many people are concerned about our offense…but I am not. When one part of our team doesn’t play well, someone else steps up and takes the load – that is what great teams do, and this is truly a great team. We may be ranked 2nd in the BCS, but everyone knows who has the best team in the country right now, and it ain’t Florida.
Sitting in the stadium on chilly night, I never really got nervous during this game. Even when the score was close for some reason I was never really concerned. In the back of my mind I knew we would pull it out. I will admit I got a little nervous (and angry) when we had about 6 flags thrown on us in about a 3 minute time period, but I still felt ok. My wife would probably tell you differently as she watched me explode in boos directed to the refs, but I really was ok. This team knows how to win, and I knew we would figure something out. I know I say this all the time, but our defense is just insane. We were playing without our best cornerback (Javier) and we still punished the Gamecocks! I knew if the defense kept them at bay, then our offense would find a way to put points on the board, and they did it in record breaking style. I am referring to the play of Mark Ingram – absolutely incredible display of running. He single handily took over this game and just ran like a man possessed. 246 yards in one game for one player…breaking a Bryant-Denny record, Mark Ingram just took the ball and ran wherever he wanted to with it. A good majority of these great runs came from the Wildcat formation which I thought was a brilliant way to go after we realized McElroy just wasn’t getting it done. This is no ding on McElroy, but we had to get something going and this worked like a charm. Again, great teams figure out how to win, and our fantastic coaching staff realized we needed to get the ball into the hands of our stud running back. I am officially changing my “Man Crush” to Mark Ingram.
I would be remiss to not mention our first score coming from the defense. What a return off an interception! I said earlier this year that Mark Barron was going to be a force on defense, but he is developing much quicker than I thought. He is becoming one of my favorite defensive players, and I even mentioned his name in the same sentence as Rashad Johnson – and you all know how much I loved Rashad Johnson!!! We have so much talent on the defense…I just smile when I think about them. Anytime I get a little nervous about our next opponent and start to have doubts, I just start thinking about the defense and all my worries go away. Just saying the names, McClain, Dareus, Washington, Barron, Anders, Reamer, Javier, Cody, etc…puts me at ease. I have so much swagger now, and I have our defense to thank for that. Thank you suffocating, bone-crunching, in-your-face defense…thank you!
I have had a request to put back in a few things I used to write in the analysis, so I will now go over my Players of the Game:
Mark Ingram – 246 yards…enough said!
Mark Barron – 77 yard “Pick 6”…nice!
Marquis Johnson – Surprised on this pick? He stepped up and played for an injured Javier and did a very nice job! 3 TD pass break up on one drive alone…nice job Marquis!
As I mentioned earlier – many people were concerned about our lack of offense in this game. Every great team has a few “not so great” games. This was one of those games against a good opponent where you just have to gut it out and get the win however you can. I know our offense will get things worked out, and I still have full confidence in Greg McElroy. He did not have a good game, and he knows it – he is dedicated to this team and he will work even harder to correct the issues we are having. Have faith Tide fans – this is a very good, very talented team that I (and many others) believe really is the best team in the country. One game at a time…and don’t forget – defense wins championships!
It’s Tennessee week folks!! This is always a great game, and we will need to bring it next week. Not only the team, but the crowd also – we got to get LOUD! People are worried about what UT did to Georgia last week – I am not. I think Georgia is terrible and has zero defense. If you let Jonathan “I eat Possum” Crompton put up NFL numbers on you – you have a terrible defense. He will not know what to do when 3 or 4 Crimson jersey’s come barreling down on him play after play after play, and we should get at least one interception from him. Most of you know I can’t stand Tennessee and love nothing more than crushing them. I believe we put a full game together this week and take UT behind the wood shed. Look for G Mac to improve, and our defense to once again rise up and smother the opponent.
It’s great to be an Alabama Crimson Tide fan! Until next week my friends…Roll Tide!
P.S - Huge shout out I missed last week to my friend Bill who somehow found me in “the grove” and delivered to me our traditional road game Jaeger Bomb. This was important, because we are undefeated with these!
Jason
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Week 6 - Ole Miss
Tide Fans –
Hotty Toddy gosh almighty…The Tide is undefeated! Yes, my friends it felt so good to come out of Oxford with a convincing victory over the Ole Miss Rebels. This was their self proclaimed super bowl, and they got it handed to them by a powerful crushing Alabama defense!! The score doesn’t do us justice, as The Crimson Tide absolutely man handled the Rebels all four quarters. This was not even close. I was sitting in my seats located in the lovely high school bleacher end zone section of Vaught- Hemingway stadium, just laughing at the fact that Jevan Snead was actually once considered a Heisman Trophy candidate. Seriously?? That is about as big of a joke as the pre-season hype about Ole Miss was. Jevan Snead could be the worst quarterback in the SEC – right behind Jonathan Crompton of Tennessee (who surprisingly had a good game this week). Heisman trophy candidate…please! That makes the Heisman trophy look about as legitimate as the Noble Peace Prize. This was a great win for Alabama on the road, which is always a tough task. This is the game everyone thought we would slip up and lose, but no sir – we came, we saw, and we whipped that ass!
Every time I go to Oxford it is always an interesting experience for me. Since there are about 2 hotels in the Oxford area, my wife and I decided to drive over early the morning of the game. Big shout out to our babysitter Jesika who go to our house at 6:30AM – she is awesome! I have been to Oxford at least 10 times, and about 8 of them it has rained. I don’t know what it is, but it always seems to rain when we play over there. This in turn usually causes a problem with the tailgating experience in Oxford. I’m sure many of you have heard about the Grove, and what a great tailgating experience it is. For those of you who don’t know what “The Grove” is here is a quick description. It is basically like the tree lined section of the quad where people tailgate in Tuscaloosa – a large grassy wooded area. Any way – it is a fun experience…unless it is raining or has rained within a few days of the game. I know there are probably some Ole Miss fans who read this so please don’t take this the wrong way, but could they PLEASE put a few sidewalks in the grove so it does not become what looks like an enormous mud wrestling competition. Walking through the grove to attempt to meet up with friends for tailgating was like walking through a slippery, muddy, disaster area. All which could have been avoided had there been a few sidewalks for people walk on. The mud was so thick in places it literally pulled my shoe off, and mixed with the hay they throw down to cover some of the mud – smells like a barnyard. Again – not making fun of the grove folks – just wondering why they let this happen – it just destroys the ground. I asked a few alum why they don’t put a sidewalk or path in and they say it is to preserve the area as natural…well it’s natural all right – a natural disaster. It really is fun tailgating, but I just can’t get past the mud – it was everywhere!
Finally out of the mud, we headed to the stadium only to be greeted by a friendly police officer who took our shakers from us and cut the plastic sticks in half! I was like..."What the hell are you doing??" He said it could be used as a weapon. Yes officer, I was planning on stabbing many people with the nicely blunt rounded off tip of this plastic shaker. Not only was that the dumbest thing I had ever heard...what once was a dull smooth tip to my shaker handle was now a razor sharp piece of plastic thanks to him cutting it in half. That has got to be the most idiotic safety precaution I have ever seen! Taking my shaker which I quote "may be used as a weapon" and actually turning into something that could have been used as a weapon. I am still irritated about this - it makes absolutely NO sense...neither does not having sidewalks in the grove!
On to the game. Even though Ole Miss had lost to South Carolina a few weeks back – I felt like this would be a very close game, with The Tide overpowering in the second half. This was a big game for Ole Miss – they wanted to beat us bad, and were pretty confident that they could do it. Well, they didn’t, and didn’t even come close, as our defense just toyed with Jevan Snead and Dexter McCluster. They had a total of 19 yards and 1 first down in the first half…yes that’s correct, I said 19 yards. Our defense is just ridiculous good! Rolondo McClain gets better every week (if that is possible), and so many of our guys just play lights out each game. The Bama defense continues to amaze me – a defense without Donta Hightower! Our guys have stepped it up and just taken over games.
Offensively not our best game, but we put enough points on the board to take home a convincing win. Yes, we had way too many red zone issues coming away with only 3 points instead of touchdowns, but these are easily fixed. We have the manpower to score in the red zone – I think we were running the wrong attack inside the 20. There were too many passes to Julio in triple coverage down here, when Mark Ingram should have been getting the ball. By the way, can I switch my “Man Crush” to Mark Ingram? The score could have easily been 55 to 3 – and I am not kidding. Don’t let anyone try to say that Ole Miss could have beaten us, because go back and watch the replay – they are lucky we didn’t score 100 points! They never had a chance thanks to our defense.
I love this team, and have a really good feeling about the rest of this season! Yes, we have some tough games ahead, but as I have said before – we have the talent, we have the coaches, and we have the fan support. Our fans are awesome – I love them! Can’t say the same for the group of Ole Miss fans that were sitting next to us. Again – this is not a shot at Ole Miss fans as a whole – just this one group. The girl sitting next to us has to be the worst Ole Miss fan ever. She would watch Bama fans coming up the aisle and make fun of them all game. Comments like “Nice outfit, where did you get that Wal-Mart?” I can take annoying fans to a certain extent – but this girl was ridiculous! Constantly saying stuff about our fans, team, etc…all while her team was getting it handed to them on the field. She would pop off at me if I stood up and cheered when we scored (on numerous occasions). When they were really getting crushed her husband/boyfriend walked over to me on his way out and actually said “Florida is going to kill ya’ll” I was like…nice – that’s all you got? She ended it all by dropping a few choice F bombs on her way out (with 10 minutes still on the clock). I know we can have annoying fans also, but this girl was ridiculous. My wife actually had to switch seats with me so I did not explode. So with that said I would like to post her picture on this blog as “The worst ole Miss fan Ever”
I love going to Oxford...really - especially the drive over! Tip - make sure you have a full tank of gas, and have eaten recently because there is nothing between Birmingham and Oxford. On our way home - I thought I was either dead or in the twilight zone - because you just keep driving and there is nothing...it is kind of freaky! All dark and just nothingness.
Homecoming week in Tuscaloosa! I am pretty sure this is the first time that our Homecoming game will be played at night! How weird is that going to be? Parade in the morning…game 12 hours after. Anyway – this has now turned out to be another big game as well. South Carolina has been looking pretty good, but I still don’t see them hanging with us too long – we are just too powerful. Spurrier will have them ready to play, but a few pass rushes on Garcia, and we get at least one pick 6! Defense will once again get it done, and our offense will return with a nice balanced attack – no more kicking field goals all day!
We have moved up to number 2 in the polls, but we all know who the best team in the country is…The Alabama Crimson Tide! Trust me, I am not the only one who thinks this – Florida has not shown me much this year. We have a great team, and I think we are headed for great things!!
Until next week…Roll Tide!
Jason
Hotty Toddy gosh almighty…The Tide is undefeated! Yes, my friends it felt so good to come out of Oxford with a convincing victory over the Ole Miss Rebels. This was their self proclaimed super bowl, and they got it handed to them by a powerful crushing Alabama defense!! The score doesn’t do us justice, as The Crimson Tide absolutely man handled the Rebels all four quarters. This was not even close. I was sitting in my seats located in the lovely high school bleacher end zone section of Vaught- Hemingway stadium, just laughing at the fact that Jevan Snead was actually once considered a Heisman Trophy candidate. Seriously?? That is about as big of a joke as the pre-season hype about Ole Miss was. Jevan Snead could be the worst quarterback in the SEC – right behind Jonathan Crompton of Tennessee (who surprisingly had a good game this week). Heisman trophy candidate…please! That makes the Heisman trophy look about as legitimate as the Noble Peace Prize. This was a great win for Alabama on the road, which is always a tough task. This is the game everyone thought we would slip up and lose, but no sir – we came, we saw, and we whipped that ass!
Every time I go to Oxford it is always an interesting experience for me. Since there are about 2 hotels in the Oxford area, my wife and I decided to drive over early the morning of the game. Big shout out to our babysitter Jesika who go to our house at 6:30AM – she is awesome! I have been to Oxford at least 10 times, and about 8 of them it has rained. I don’t know what it is, but it always seems to rain when we play over there. This in turn usually causes a problem with the tailgating experience in Oxford. I’m sure many of you have heard about the Grove, and what a great tailgating experience it is. For those of you who don’t know what “The Grove” is here is a quick description. It is basically like the tree lined section of the quad where people tailgate in Tuscaloosa – a large grassy wooded area. Any way – it is a fun experience…unless it is raining or has rained within a few days of the game. I know there are probably some Ole Miss fans who read this so please don’t take this the wrong way, but could they PLEASE put a few sidewalks in the grove so it does not become what looks like an enormous mud wrestling competition. Walking through the grove to attempt to meet up with friends for tailgating was like walking through a slippery, muddy, disaster area. All which could have been avoided had there been a few sidewalks for people walk on. The mud was so thick in places it literally pulled my shoe off, and mixed with the hay they throw down to cover some of the mud – smells like a barnyard. Again – not making fun of the grove folks – just wondering why they let this happen – it just destroys the ground. I asked a few alum why they don’t put a sidewalk or path in and they say it is to preserve the area as natural…well it’s natural all right – a natural disaster. It really is fun tailgating, but I just can’t get past the mud – it was everywhere!
Finally out of the mud, we headed to the stadium only to be greeted by a friendly police officer who took our shakers from us and cut the plastic sticks in half! I was like..."What the hell are you doing??" He said it could be used as a weapon. Yes officer, I was planning on stabbing many people with the nicely blunt rounded off tip of this plastic shaker. Not only was that the dumbest thing I had ever heard...what once was a dull smooth tip to my shaker handle was now a razor sharp piece of plastic thanks to him cutting it in half. That has got to be the most idiotic safety precaution I have ever seen! Taking my shaker which I quote "may be used as a weapon" and actually turning into something that could have been used as a weapon. I am still irritated about this - it makes absolutely NO sense...neither does not having sidewalks in the grove!
On to the game. Even though Ole Miss had lost to South Carolina a few weeks back – I felt like this would be a very close game, with The Tide overpowering in the second half. This was a big game for Ole Miss – they wanted to beat us bad, and were pretty confident that they could do it. Well, they didn’t, and didn’t even come close, as our defense just toyed with Jevan Snead and Dexter McCluster. They had a total of 19 yards and 1 first down in the first half…yes that’s correct, I said 19 yards. Our defense is just ridiculous good! Rolondo McClain gets better every week (if that is possible), and so many of our guys just play lights out each game. The Bama defense continues to amaze me – a defense without Donta Hightower! Our guys have stepped it up and just taken over games.
Offensively not our best game, but we put enough points on the board to take home a convincing win. Yes, we had way too many red zone issues coming away with only 3 points instead of touchdowns, but these are easily fixed. We have the manpower to score in the red zone – I think we were running the wrong attack inside the 20. There were too many passes to Julio in triple coverage down here, when Mark Ingram should have been getting the ball. By the way, can I switch my “Man Crush” to Mark Ingram? The score could have easily been 55 to 3 – and I am not kidding. Don’t let anyone try to say that Ole Miss could have beaten us, because go back and watch the replay – they are lucky we didn’t score 100 points! They never had a chance thanks to our defense.
I love this team, and have a really good feeling about the rest of this season! Yes, we have some tough games ahead, but as I have said before – we have the talent, we have the coaches, and we have the fan support. Our fans are awesome – I love them! Can’t say the same for the group of Ole Miss fans that were sitting next to us. Again – this is not a shot at Ole Miss fans as a whole – just this one group. The girl sitting next to us has to be the worst Ole Miss fan ever. She would watch Bama fans coming up the aisle and make fun of them all game. Comments like “Nice outfit, where did you get that Wal-Mart?” I can take annoying fans to a certain extent – but this girl was ridiculous! Constantly saying stuff about our fans, team, etc…all while her team was getting it handed to them on the field. She would pop off at me if I stood up and cheered when we scored (on numerous occasions). When they were really getting crushed her husband/boyfriend walked over to me on his way out and actually said “Florida is going to kill ya’ll” I was like…nice – that’s all you got? She ended it all by dropping a few choice F bombs on her way out (with 10 minutes still on the clock). I know we can have annoying fans also, but this girl was ridiculous. My wife actually had to switch seats with me so I did not explode. So with that said I would like to post her picture on this blog as “The worst ole Miss fan Ever”
I love going to Oxford...really - especially the drive over! Tip - make sure you have a full tank of gas, and have eaten recently because there is nothing between Birmingham and Oxford. On our way home - I thought I was either dead or in the twilight zone - because you just keep driving and there is nothing...it is kind of freaky! All dark and just nothingness.
Homecoming week in Tuscaloosa! I am pretty sure this is the first time that our Homecoming game will be played at night! How weird is that going to be? Parade in the morning…game 12 hours after. Anyway – this has now turned out to be another big game as well. South Carolina has been looking pretty good, but I still don’t see them hanging with us too long – we are just too powerful. Spurrier will have them ready to play, but a few pass rushes on Garcia, and we get at least one pick 6! Defense will once again get it done, and our offense will return with a nice balanced attack – no more kicking field goals all day!
We have moved up to number 2 in the polls, but we all know who the best team in the country is…The Alabama Crimson Tide! Trust me, I am not the only one who thinks this – Florida has not shown me much this year. We have a great team, and I think we are headed for great things!!
Until next week…Roll Tide!
Jason
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Week 5 - Kentucky
Tide Fans –
Our first SEC road game of the year and we come out with a win! It wasn’t the best game we have played, in fact it was kind of weird, but the important thing is that we got out of Commonwealth Stadium undefeated. These are the type games that can really ruin a season if you look past them, but we got it done in the bluegrass state and you have to be happy about that!
I enjoyed our time in Kentucky as the fans were friendly, and the atmosphere was great for college football. Lexington is a pretty cool town - if you have never been, I would recommend making this trip next time we play up there. A heads up for anyone who ever stays at the Doubletree hotel – on Friday nights they like to play a little smooth jazz very late into the evening in the courtyard lobby of the hotel. I have no problem with the smooth jazz, it’s just that when I get back from a night out and need some sleep for the early game – I would rather not have to try and fall asleep to the sounds of department store shopping music. I know I am getting old, but don’t you think midnight is a little late to have Kenny G blasting throughout the hotel? The dude may as well have been standing in our room with his saxophone – it was ridiculous!
Another heads up – the Doubletree also provides your room with a free little tube of sunscreen. This would have been great had we noticed it before the game and not after. Needles to say it was a beautiful day – very sunny, and very windy. The combination of sun and wind left my wife and I looking like John Candy in Summer Rental – very sunburned. We weren’t the only ones – there were a lot of bright red faces out Saturday night with the oh so cool raccoon eyes. We are hurting today…and I will probably look like a leper in a few days when I start to peel. It was all worth it, as we once again got to witness a Tide victory!
I knew this game would be interesting. SEC road games always are – especially when they are the early game. This had disaster written all over it, but The Tide fought through the first quarter and a half before we unleashed the pain! It was nice to see us put together another 99 yard drive for a touchdown – that shows guts. With 40 seconds left in the first half we had just scored so I figure what a great time to bolt for the bathroom before the line gets too long. You guessed it…I missed the fumble recovery for the touchdown. I heard the crowd roar and thought…crap Kentucky freaking scored. I bolted out of the restroom much to my surprise to find out what had happened. This always seems to happen to me – missing a big play. I was at the 1996 Summer Olympics and decided to go get something to eat right before Carl Lewis took his final long jump for the gold medal…yes once again I hear the crowd roar and wonder what could have happened. Same thing happened when Mark McGwire was about to beat the home run record – a commercial came on so I went outside to check on my dog real quick, and he hits the record breaking home run while I am outside. I am starting to find it comical.
On to some actual analysis. Offense looked ok in this game – not great, but not terrible. I was a little disappointed in how Kentucky stopped our running attack, minus a few plays. We could not run up the middle. Passing looked pretty good – McElroy was solid here. He just throws great passes! Watching the replay, I was amazed at how spot on his throws are! I know I say this every week, but he is just damn good. Julio had a few grabs, but nothing real big. Colin Peek made some great plays, as did Darius Hanks. Ingram and Richardson were contained more than they usually are, and I am a little worried about this. We are going to need the run next week in Oxford – so hopefully our power run will be back.
Defense looked pretty good, and came up with some great turnovers! I was concerned about how Kentucky was moving the ball by running it. I think we really missed having Hightower in the middle here. This is an area that Ole Miss will try to exploit next week with their Wildcat, so we better pin this up! Some big plays by Rolondo McClain, including an interception and a tip ball to lead to another interception. He is an awesome player and it is amazing to see how he is always near the ball. I hope he plays his senior year so we can once again have McClain and Hightower in the middle!
Big game next week! Ole Miss has lost, so they were finally exposed. I still think they have a very dangerous team, and now the pressure of being highly ranked is off of them. They will be ready to play next week, so we will need our “A” game all day. If we can contain their flashy wildcat running plays, and get their QB Snead rattled with a good pass rush, we should come out just fine. I think our offense will do well against Ole Miss. We need to find a way to get the ball to Julio more, and I think our running game will be back where it has been next week. It will be a close game, but I think the men in Crimson put together a solid effort and come out on top!
Once again I will be heading to Oxford, so let me know if you will be there! I’m sure we will have a great showing of fans – we always do! Let’s get loud and show those Rebel fans how to play football when you are highly ranked! Hopefully we will have great weather for the game, and yes – I have already packed my sunscreen.
I hope everyone has a great week, and Roll Tide!
Jason
Our first SEC road game of the year and we come out with a win! It wasn’t the best game we have played, in fact it was kind of weird, but the important thing is that we got out of Commonwealth Stadium undefeated. These are the type games that can really ruin a season if you look past them, but we got it done in the bluegrass state and you have to be happy about that!
I enjoyed our time in Kentucky as the fans were friendly, and the atmosphere was great for college football. Lexington is a pretty cool town - if you have never been, I would recommend making this trip next time we play up there. A heads up for anyone who ever stays at the Doubletree hotel – on Friday nights they like to play a little smooth jazz very late into the evening in the courtyard lobby of the hotel. I have no problem with the smooth jazz, it’s just that when I get back from a night out and need some sleep for the early game – I would rather not have to try and fall asleep to the sounds of department store shopping music. I know I am getting old, but don’t you think midnight is a little late to have Kenny G blasting throughout the hotel? The dude may as well have been standing in our room with his saxophone – it was ridiculous!
Another heads up – the Doubletree also provides your room with a free little tube of sunscreen. This would have been great had we noticed it before the game and not after. Needles to say it was a beautiful day – very sunny, and very windy. The combination of sun and wind left my wife and I looking like John Candy in Summer Rental – very sunburned. We weren’t the only ones – there were a lot of bright red faces out Saturday night with the oh so cool raccoon eyes. We are hurting today…and I will probably look like a leper in a few days when I start to peel. It was all worth it, as we once again got to witness a Tide victory!
I knew this game would be interesting. SEC road games always are – especially when they are the early game. This had disaster written all over it, but The Tide fought through the first quarter and a half before we unleashed the pain! It was nice to see us put together another 99 yard drive for a touchdown – that shows guts. With 40 seconds left in the first half we had just scored so I figure what a great time to bolt for the bathroom before the line gets too long. You guessed it…I missed the fumble recovery for the touchdown. I heard the crowd roar and thought…crap Kentucky freaking scored. I bolted out of the restroom much to my surprise to find out what had happened. This always seems to happen to me – missing a big play. I was at the 1996 Summer Olympics and decided to go get something to eat right before Carl Lewis took his final long jump for the gold medal…yes once again I hear the crowd roar and wonder what could have happened. Same thing happened when Mark McGwire was about to beat the home run record – a commercial came on so I went outside to check on my dog real quick, and he hits the record breaking home run while I am outside. I am starting to find it comical.
On to some actual analysis. Offense looked ok in this game – not great, but not terrible. I was a little disappointed in how Kentucky stopped our running attack, minus a few plays. We could not run up the middle. Passing looked pretty good – McElroy was solid here. He just throws great passes! Watching the replay, I was amazed at how spot on his throws are! I know I say this every week, but he is just damn good. Julio had a few grabs, but nothing real big. Colin Peek made some great plays, as did Darius Hanks. Ingram and Richardson were contained more than they usually are, and I am a little worried about this. We are going to need the run next week in Oxford – so hopefully our power run will be back.
Defense looked pretty good, and came up with some great turnovers! I was concerned about how Kentucky was moving the ball by running it. I think we really missed having Hightower in the middle here. This is an area that Ole Miss will try to exploit next week with their Wildcat, so we better pin this up! Some big plays by Rolondo McClain, including an interception and a tip ball to lead to another interception. He is an awesome player and it is amazing to see how he is always near the ball. I hope he plays his senior year so we can once again have McClain and Hightower in the middle!
Big game next week! Ole Miss has lost, so they were finally exposed. I still think they have a very dangerous team, and now the pressure of being highly ranked is off of them. They will be ready to play next week, so we will need our “A” game all day. If we can contain their flashy wildcat running plays, and get their QB Snead rattled with a good pass rush, we should come out just fine. I think our offense will do well against Ole Miss. We need to find a way to get the ball to Julio more, and I think our running game will be back where it has been next week. It will be a close game, but I think the men in Crimson put together a solid effort and come out on top!
Once again I will be heading to Oxford, so let me know if you will be there! I’m sure we will have a great showing of fans – we always do! Let’s get loud and show those Rebel fans how to play football when you are highly ranked! Hopefully we will have great weather for the game, and yes – I have already packed my sunscreen.
I hope everyone has a great week, and Roll Tide!
Jason
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Week 4 - Arkansas
Tide Fans –
Ryan Mallet? Ryan Mallet??? Where the hell was this Ryan Mallet kid from Arkansas who was supposed to shred our defense with his passing fury? He must not have shown up, because last time I checked Arkansas only scored 7 points on The Tide!!!! What an awesome way to make a statement - keeping the “highly touted” offense of the Arkansas pigs to 7 points, and making their quarterback look like a junior high bench warmer! All week long we heard about what a gun he had, and how he was going to throw all over us. Mark May of ESPN even went as far as to say that Mallet was “the best quarterback in the SEC – possibly the best overall”. Excuse me Mr. May, but I will take Greg McElroy over anyone! I love this team we have, I love our coach, I love the way we play, and I truly believe that The Alabama Crimson Tide is the best team in the nation.
Sitting in Bryant-Denny stadium among 92,000 of my closest friends, I thoroughly enjoyed our performance Saturday afternoon. It took a little while for us to get started, but with the defense playing like they were I knew it was only a matter of time before we made something happen on offense. And the first thing to happen has allowed me to declare my official “Man Crush” for the 2009 season…Trent Richardson!!! What an awe inspiring 52 yard run for a touchdown. What looked like it would be a run for no gain, turned into our first 7 points. Absolutely amazing watching him just shrug off would be tacklers, as he trounced toward the end zone – the dude in not human! Trent Richardson may only be 18…but make no mistake…he is a man. Trent is going to break records at Alabama, in the NFL, and he may turn out to be our first Heisman!
Many of you probably watched the game on TV, so did any of you notice how dirty Arkansas was playing? I don’t normally complain about this kind of thing, especially when we whip the opponent, but there were several cheap shots taken by Arkansas. A few they were actually flagged for, but there were many that were missed. A chop block here, block in the back there. Watching the replay of the game, I was surprised at how much they got away with. The one that hurt the most was the play that injured Donta Hightower. I could be wrong, but it looked to me like one of their lineman dove straight at Hightower’s knees to take him out of the play. I have a bad feeling that they have taken him out for the season, and that makes me mad. Hightower and McClain are the heart and soul of our defense, and he will surely be missed if the injury is that severe. Being taken off the field by a cart is never a good sign. Say a prayer for Hightower – he is a great player, and our defense will not be the same without him.
The loss of Hightower will give some other guys a chance to step up, and a few showed they can play on Saturday. A big shout out to Eryk Anders who came in and played linebacker. He stepped it up and had a great game! We have some talented guys that can play, and I know they will work hard to fill in for Hightower. Courtney Upshaw, Cory Reamer, and Eryk Anders will get the job done. I’m not sure what the deal is with Jerrel Harris, but now would be a great time for the NCAA to let us know if he will be eligible! Thank God we have some depth here, and at most positions now when injuries occur – we just move the next guy in. I love how the coaches have prepared these guys to play several positions also. That fact that Saban and company have cross-trained our linebackers to play at every linebacker spot is brilliant. A few years ago, we lose a player like Hightower and we are screwed - now we just re-load! Shout outs to Rolondo, Mark Barron, Javier, and the entire secondary – great game guys! I love the corner blitz – Javier comes at the QB like a heat seeking missile – locks on, and down he goes. Mark Barron was huge on run support as well – he looked as though he was almost lining up as a linebacker. A great overall display of defense against Arkansas. Keeping a Bobby Petrino coached team to 7 points is outstanding!
Once again, McElroy has a solid performance. The dude just goes out there and gets it done. Not cocky, not flashy, just puts the ball right where it needs to be, runs the offense smoothly, and leads his team to victory. He is the type of quarterback that you need to win a championship. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Mark May! Our offense came to life after the Trent Richardson run, and we had some fun watching. The Wildcat reverse play was awesome! Julio was so wide open I was afraid they would overthrow him, but of course G-Mac put the ball right on the money and we high step it in for 6 more points! I would be remiss if I did not give a huge shout out to Upchurch. He owns 3rd and long! Whenever it is 3rd and long and I see number 5 come in – I know we will get the first down. He is so valuable on that little half back screen play - when we need 8 or more yards – he delivers!
I am so excited about this team, and the potential we have. Yes, we have a long season with some very tough opponents ahead, but I just feel really comfortable with how we play. We are becoming so diverse and unpredictable on offense, and our defense just continues to amaze me! We may have some closer games, but I feel as if we can beat anyone right now. I have a lot of swagger, and I think our players have confidence, and our coaches know how to get them prepared. We are just coming together all around as a very good football team. As soon as the game was over on Saturday I immediately started looking forward to next weekend’s game against Kentucky. I’m sure they will be fired up to play us, but once everything settles down do you really think Kentucky can stop Ingram, Trent, Julio, and McElroy? Do you think the Kentucky offense will run or pass all over our defense? No, the answer is No.
First true road game of the season Tide Fans – time to ramp it up! I will be heading up to the Bluegrass state to watch The Tide Roll! I have never been to Commonwealth Stadium and am looking forward to it – especially when I see Bama come out on to the field! Until next week…Roll Tide Roll!
Jason
Ryan Mallet? Ryan Mallet??? Where the hell was this Ryan Mallet kid from Arkansas who was supposed to shred our defense with his passing fury? He must not have shown up, because last time I checked Arkansas only scored 7 points on The Tide!!!! What an awesome way to make a statement - keeping the “highly touted” offense of the Arkansas pigs to 7 points, and making their quarterback look like a junior high bench warmer! All week long we heard about what a gun he had, and how he was going to throw all over us. Mark May of ESPN even went as far as to say that Mallet was “the best quarterback in the SEC – possibly the best overall”. Excuse me Mr. May, but I will take Greg McElroy over anyone! I love this team we have, I love our coach, I love the way we play, and I truly believe that The Alabama Crimson Tide is the best team in the nation.
Sitting in Bryant-Denny stadium among 92,000 of my closest friends, I thoroughly enjoyed our performance Saturday afternoon. It took a little while for us to get started, but with the defense playing like they were I knew it was only a matter of time before we made something happen on offense. And the first thing to happen has allowed me to declare my official “Man Crush” for the 2009 season…Trent Richardson!!! What an awe inspiring 52 yard run for a touchdown. What looked like it would be a run for no gain, turned into our first 7 points. Absolutely amazing watching him just shrug off would be tacklers, as he trounced toward the end zone – the dude in not human! Trent Richardson may only be 18…but make no mistake…he is a man. Trent is going to break records at Alabama, in the NFL, and he may turn out to be our first Heisman!
Many of you probably watched the game on TV, so did any of you notice how dirty Arkansas was playing? I don’t normally complain about this kind of thing, especially when we whip the opponent, but there were several cheap shots taken by Arkansas. A few they were actually flagged for, but there were many that were missed. A chop block here, block in the back there. Watching the replay of the game, I was surprised at how much they got away with. The one that hurt the most was the play that injured Donta Hightower. I could be wrong, but it looked to me like one of their lineman dove straight at Hightower’s knees to take him out of the play. I have a bad feeling that they have taken him out for the season, and that makes me mad. Hightower and McClain are the heart and soul of our defense, and he will surely be missed if the injury is that severe. Being taken off the field by a cart is never a good sign. Say a prayer for Hightower – he is a great player, and our defense will not be the same without him.
The loss of Hightower will give some other guys a chance to step up, and a few showed they can play on Saturday. A big shout out to Eryk Anders who came in and played linebacker. He stepped it up and had a great game! We have some talented guys that can play, and I know they will work hard to fill in for Hightower. Courtney Upshaw, Cory Reamer, and Eryk Anders will get the job done. I’m not sure what the deal is with Jerrel Harris, but now would be a great time for the NCAA to let us know if he will be eligible! Thank God we have some depth here, and at most positions now when injuries occur – we just move the next guy in. I love how the coaches have prepared these guys to play several positions also. That fact that Saban and company have cross-trained our linebackers to play at every linebacker spot is brilliant. A few years ago, we lose a player like Hightower and we are screwed - now we just re-load! Shout outs to Rolondo, Mark Barron, Javier, and the entire secondary – great game guys! I love the corner blitz – Javier comes at the QB like a heat seeking missile – locks on, and down he goes. Mark Barron was huge on run support as well – he looked as though he was almost lining up as a linebacker. A great overall display of defense against Arkansas. Keeping a Bobby Petrino coached team to 7 points is outstanding!
Once again, McElroy has a solid performance. The dude just goes out there and gets it done. Not cocky, not flashy, just puts the ball right where it needs to be, runs the offense smoothly, and leads his team to victory. He is the type of quarterback that you need to win a championship. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Mark May! Our offense came to life after the Trent Richardson run, and we had some fun watching. The Wildcat reverse play was awesome! Julio was so wide open I was afraid they would overthrow him, but of course G-Mac put the ball right on the money and we high step it in for 6 more points! I would be remiss if I did not give a huge shout out to Upchurch. He owns 3rd and long! Whenever it is 3rd and long and I see number 5 come in – I know we will get the first down. He is so valuable on that little half back screen play - when we need 8 or more yards – he delivers!
I am so excited about this team, and the potential we have. Yes, we have a long season with some very tough opponents ahead, but I just feel really comfortable with how we play. We are becoming so diverse and unpredictable on offense, and our defense just continues to amaze me! We may have some closer games, but I feel as if we can beat anyone right now. I have a lot of swagger, and I think our players have confidence, and our coaches know how to get them prepared. We are just coming together all around as a very good football team. As soon as the game was over on Saturday I immediately started looking forward to next weekend’s game against Kentucky. I’m sure they will be fired up to play us, but once everything settles down do you really think Kentucky can stop Ingram, Trent, Julio, and McElroy? Do you think the Kentucky offense will run or pass all over our defense? No, the answer is No.
First true road game of the season Tide Fans – time to ramp it up! I will be heading up to the Bluegrass state to watch The Tide Roll! I have never been to Commonwealth Stadium and am looking forward to it – especially when I see Bama come out on to the field! Until next week…Roll Tide Roll!
Jason
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Week 3 - North Texas
Tide Fans –
Now that is more like it! Saturday’s game was exactly what we needed – an old fashioned butt whipping, while getting our backups plenty of playing time. There was no unnecessary stress on the fans - it was fun, relaxing, and entertaining. I never was nervous, never stared at the field in disbelief, and I am pretty sure not one cuss word came out of my mouth the entire game. The Tide rolls on to an easy victory in preparation for the start of our SEC schedule! Bama came out strong, and played hard until the very end. It was exciting to see many of our talented 2nd and 3rd string play for much of this game. Our depth is looking real good, and now that they have a little game action under their belts it will build confidence if ever called upon. I think Star Jackson did a pretty good job – he needed the live reps, so I was glad to see him play. These are the games you schedule to get your backups some playing time, and we did just that!
We saw more of our awesome quarterback Greg McElroy – this kid is phenomenal! He just seems so cool and confident out there throwing beautiful accurate passes and managing the offense to a tee. I just can’t wait to see more of him – I know I brag about McElroy a lot, but damn he is really good! I have not had confidence in a quarterback like this in a long time. He broke an Alabama record this week for proficiency in his 3rd game how awesome is that? I expect good things out of Mr. McElroy against Arkansas - he should find many open receivers!
Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram continue to blow my mind! These two are just so powerful when they run the ball – it’s like they enjoy running into and over linebackers. I love our rotation of backs to keep the legs fresh – what a luxury to have 4 running backs that are all very good, and all have different styles. Another great performance out of our receivers as well. Maze and McCoy each had good games, as well as a few others. Must give a shout out to Javier – incredible punt returns!
The Defense is just awesome. We didn’t sack the quarterback this week, but I think that was on purpose. I believe we did not blitz much so they can rest up and crush Ryan Mallet, the QB at Arkansas. Mark Barron had an awesome week, and he gets the game ball. He seemed like he was everywhere, and made several big plays. When he hits someone you can hear it up in the stands. We will continue to see more of him, and I think he gets better as the season goes on. Solid play from our secondary all around, which is good because they will be tested big time against Arkansas. I don’t know if any of you watched the Arkansas – Georgia game, but they threw the ball all over the place. They have a big QB (Mallet) and he likes to throw, which makes me a little concerned about Marquis Johnson and Kareem Jackson. Johnson better be ready, because they are going to throw to his side of the field all day! Our safeties are going to need to help out a lot this week. I am not worried about Javier – he will stick to his man like glue!
The Tide is ranked 3rd in the country, but after watching all the top five teams play, I believe we have the best team. Florida looked like crap, and USC is pathetic. I really think if we play our game and our defense continues to be punishing, that we can go all the way this year – possibly meeting up with Texas in the end! We have some huge games to play, but if we don’t beat ourselves I just don’t see any team out there right now that is better than us. I love our offense – so balanced, so awesome! I get a buzz just thinking about the defense!! We have to just take each game one at a time, stay focused, execute, and we will win. It is going to be fun!!
Arkansas comes to town next week, and we better be ready! No more lackluster attendance, no more quiet crowd, it is time to get loud and pumped Bama fans – Bryant-Denny needs to be rocking! I would like to point out that someone who works the stadium sound system must have read my blog last week, because they did play more music during the breaks – it was nice! I still think they could turn the sound up just a tad – I’m sure they will get all the kinks out soon. Arkansas lost to Georgia in a shootout, but they will be good a pissed off this week, so we better be on our toes. I think our defense will be too much for them, and our offense should move the ball because I think the Arkansas secondary is terrible. G-Mac should have some fun this week with Julio back in the mix. It’s SEC time baby – the warm up is over…time to get down and dirty and play some hardnosed football! I am really looking forward to next weekend…I hope you all are too…Roll Tide!
Jason
Now that is more like it! Saturday’s game was exactly what we needed – an old fashioned butt whipping, while getting our backups plenty of playing time. There was no unnecessary stress on the fans - it was fun, relaxing, and entertaining. I never was nervous, never stared at the field in disbelief, and I am pretty sure not one cuss word came out of my mouth the entire game. The Tide rolls on to an easy victory in preparation for the start of our SEC schedule! Bama came out strong, and played hard until the very end. It was exciting to see many of our talented 2nd and 3rd string play for much of this game. Our depth is looking real good, and now that they have a little game action under their belts it will build confidence if ever called upon. I think Star Jackson did a pretty good job – he needed the live reps, so I was glad to see him play. These are the games you schedule to get your backups some playing time, and we did just that!
We saw more of our awesome quarterback Greg McElroy – this kid is phenomenal! He just seems so cool and confident out there throwing beautiful accurate passes and managing the offense to a tee. I just can’t wait to see more of him – I know I brag about McElroy a lot, but damn he is really good! I have not had confidence in a quarterback like this in a long time. He broke an Alabama record this week for proficiency in his 3rd game how awesome is that? I expect good things out of Mr. McElroy against Arkansas - he should find many open receivers!
Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram continue to blow my mind! These two are just so powerful when they run the ball – it’s like they enjoy running into and over linebackers. I love our rotation of backs to keep the legs fresh – what a luxury to have 4 running backs that are all very good, and all have different styles. Another great performance out of our receivers as well. Maze and McCoy each had good games, as well as a few others. Must give a shout out to Javier – incredible punt returns!
The Defense is just awesome. We didn’t sack the quarterback this week, but I think that was on purpose. I believe we did not blitz much so they can rest up and crush Ryan Mallet, the QB at Arkansas. Mark Barron had an awesome week, and he gets the game ball. He seemed like he was everywhere, and made several big plays. When he hits someone you can hear it up in the stands. We will continue to see more of him, and I think he gets better as the season goes on. Solid play from our secondary all around, which is good because they will be tested big time against Arkansas. I don’t know if any of you watched the Arkansas – Georgia game, but they threw the ball all over the place. They have a big QB (Mallet) and he likes to throw, which makes me a little concerned about Marquis Johnson and Kareem Jackson. Johnson better be ready, because they are going to throw to his side of the field all day! Our safeties are going to need to help out a lot this week. I am not worried about Javier – he will stick to his man like glue!
The Tide is ranked 3rd in the country, but after watching all the top five teams play, I believe we have the best team. Florida looked like crap, and USC is pathetic. I really think if we play our game and our defense continues to be punishing, that we can go all the way this year – possibly meeting up with Texas in the end! We have some huge games to play, but if we don’t beat ourselves I just don’t see any team out there right now that is better than us. I love our offense – so balanced, so awesome! I get a buzz just thinking about the defense!! We have to just take each game one at a time, stay focused, execute, and we will win. It is going to be fun!!
Arkansas comes to town next week, and we better be ready! No more lackluster attendance, no more quiet crowd, it is time to get loud and pumped Bama fans – Bryant-Denny needs to be rocking! I would like to point out that someone who works the stadium sound system must have read my blog last week, because they did play more music during the breaks – it was nice! I still think they could turn the sound up just a tad – I’m sure they will get all the kinks out soon. Arkansas lost to Georgia in a shootout, but they will be good a pissed off this week, so we better be on our toes. I think our defense will be too much for them, and our offense should move the ball because I think the Arkansas secondary is terrible. G-Mac should have some fun this week with Julio back in the mix. It’s SEC time baby – the warm up is over…time to get down and dirty and play some hardnosed football! I am really looking forward to next weekend…I hope you all are too…Roll Tide!
Jason
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Week 2 - FIU
Tide Fans –
Saturday was a classic example of why I hate playing little Sun Belt teams after a huge victory the previous week. It wouldn’t matter if we had the absolute best player in the country at every position on our team – we love to play down to our opponent, and screw with our fans. Yes, we won the game, and yes deep down I knew we would win, but why do we have to start these games like this? It is so painful, stressful, gut wrenching, etc… to sit there and struggle with a much inferior opponent until the 4th quarter. Do we just like to play with our food before we eat it? I for one would rather we just devour the opponent instead of letting them stay within 6 points before crushing them in the 4th quarter. My nerves can’t take these type of starts! Another reason I really do not like these games is the crowd. Our crowd was quiet and reserved for 75% of this game. This was due more than likely to the way the team was playing, but it just makes everything that more stressful.
I despise a “quiet” Bryant-Denny Stadium – it is eerie when 92,000 fans are sitting in there and you can have a conversation with someone 2 sections over. I know it is hard to get loud when you are stressing out like I was, but we have got to do a better job in these situations – me included. I tend to block everything out and just stare in disbelief at the field thinking about what the headlines may say in the paper the next morning. We all need to let the swagger out, get loud, and cheer on our team in these type situations…not sit on our hands. I actually summoned the strength on a few occasions to cheer for the team when we were not playing well. I would do it more often, but the sad thing is people around me look like I have lost my mind. What is that??? Why do people sit there and stare at you if you get up and try to cheer on the team when we are not playing so well? A couple of times when I stood up to cheer, you would have thought I just got up and screamed “I’m not wearing any pants!!” I wish everyone would show a little more support in times of need. Is it just me or does this happen to any of you? I seriously want to know. I guess the only thing that really matters, is that The Tide finally began to turn, and we came out on top with a nicely padded victory - Roll Tide to that!! Looking back at the replay of the game, we really didn’t play that bad in the first half. The offense moved the ball with ease, except for the red zone – we stalled here a few times and this cost us points. FIU got their 14 points on a lucky return, and then a gift of field position after a botched kickoff making it easy for them to score the second time.
Some positives about Saturday - we were able to see how deep we are at several key positions. A few examples if I may. Julio goes out with a bruised knee, and Mike McCoy finally steps it up and gets 1oo yards in receptions – nice! Mark Ingram and Upchurch both hampered by injury or illness, keep them out of much of the game, and true freshman Trent “You can’t stop me” Richardson takes over! WOW – this kid is 18, and has a ridiculous amount of potential. We all heard about how good he was going to be, but Saturday we got a taste – and it tasted good! Trent is a super fast, hard running machine, who may end up breaking several of our rushing records before he leaves. The game ball this week goes to Trent! And how about the play of Terry “Remember Me” Grant!! He has really stepped it up this year, and I am so happy for him! Just 2 years ago Terry Grant was my official “Man Crush” and he is playing on his game again which I am thrilled about.
I said it in pre-season, and I said it again last week – Greg McElroy is going to be fantastic. I mean the dude was 18 of 24 in passing, and Julio just plain dropped one of those, and someone completely blew a route on another play. He is so accurate and efficient and threw for 241 yards! He was throwing lasers to our receivers – all of them. I would like to give a shout out to all the Aubs who kept saying pre-season that McElroy was not going to do well – I know he has only played in 2 games, but already you can tell this kid is special! He is not flashy, not cocky, just gets the job done!
Our special teams play must improve. Giving up another kickoff return for a touchdown is just simply unacceptable. That type of slip up could easily cost us a game later this year, and we must improve. I know Coach Saban will make changes in personnel on kickoffs if he needs to – it will get corrected.
Defense took a little time to get their rhythm – especially on pass coverage, but we finally figured out if you get to the quarterback quickly – he cannot throw it. Marcel Dareus, Rolondo McLain, and Donta Hightower played well, and made many tackles. I love sacking the QB for a loss, and we did this 6 or 7 times. I love our defense, and actually enjoy the game more when they are on the field. This reminds me of an early to mid nineties Tide!! Of course our offense is a lot less boring than our early to mid 90’s offense – a lot less! I do miss the old toss sweep left toss sweep right every once in a while, but I will take this offense over that one any day.
Not a pretty game until the end, but we got it done. Next week we face a very similar opponent, but I just have a feeling we are not going to come out as flat this time. Hopefully breakfast at Bryant-Denny will be another chance for us to see some of our depth in action, especially at quarterback. I think our backups need the work as there is a huge differential in talent after McElroy. I would love to see more of Trent Richardson as well – I know I am not the only one.
It is an early kickoff, but I hope many of you make the trip to Tuscaloosa to cheer on The Tide. There is a new sound system in the stadium and it sounds good – speakers everywhere so you don’t lose the sound when the wind changes direction like the old system. I do wish they would play more music during breaks – there seemed to be a lot of gaps which made the lack of crowd noise that more obvious. Crank up that new system and let the fans jam out – keep the energy level up! I only ask that you do not play any Green Day – the Million Dollar Band still has that covered. I hope to see you all in T-Town - I know I will be there polishing off a tasty Bloody Mary right before kickoff. Sounds good doesn’t it?
Until next week…Roll Tide Roll!
Jason
Saturday was a classic example of why I hate playing little Sun Belt teams after a huge victory the previous week. It wouldn’t matter if we had the absolute best player in the country at every position on our team – we love to play down to our opponent, and screw with our fans. Yes, we won the game, and yes deep down I knew we would win, but why do we have to start these games like this? It is so painful, stressful, gut wrenching, etc… to sit there and struggle with a much inferior opponent until the 4th quarter. Do we just like to play with our food before we eat it? I for one would rather we just devour the opponent instead of letting them stay within 6 points before crushing them in the 4th quarter. My nerves can’t take these type of starts! Another reason I really do not like these games is the crowd. Our crowd was quiet and reserved for 75% of this game. This was due more than likely to the way the team was playing, but it just makes everything that more stressful.
I despise a “quiet” Bryant-Denny Stadium – it is eerie when 92,000 fans are sitting in there and you can have a conversation with someone 2 sections over. I know it is hard to get loud when you are stressing out like I was, but we have got to do a better job in these situations – me included. I tend to block everything out and just stare in disbelief at the field thinking about what the headlines may say in the paper the next morning. We all need to let the swagger out, get loud, and cheer on our team in these type situations…not sit on our hands. I actually summoned the strength on a few occasions to cheer for the team when we were not playing well. I would do it more often, but the sad thing is people around me look like I have lost my mind. What is that??? Why do people sit there and stare at you if you get up and try to cheer on the team when we are not playing so well? A couple of times when I stood up to cheer, you would have thought I just got up and screamed “I’m not wearing any pants!!” I wish everyone would show a little more support in times of need. Is it just me or does this happen to any of you? I seriously want to know. I guess the only thing that really matters, is that The Tide finally began to turn, and we came out on top with a nicely padded victory - Roll Tide to that!! Looking back at the replay of the game, we really didn’t play that bad in the first half. The offense moved the ball with ease, except for the red zone – we stalled here a few times and this cost us points. FIU got their 14 points on a lucky return, and then a gift of field position after a botched kickoff making it easy for them to score the second time.
Some positives about Saturday - we were able to see how deep we are at several key positions. A few examples if I may. Julio goes out with a bruised knee, and Mike McCoy finally steps it up and gets 1oo yards in receptions – nice! Mark Ingram and Upchurch both hampered by injury or illness, keep them out of much of the game, and true freshman Trent “You can’t stop me” Richardson takes over! WOW – this kid is 18, and has a ridiculous amount of potential. We all heard about how good he was going to be, but Saturday we got a taste – and it tasted good! Trent is a super fast, hard running machine, who may end up breaking several of our rushing records before he leaves. The game ball this week goes to Trent! And how about the play of Terry “Remember Me” Grant!! He has really stepped it up this year, and I am so happy for him! Just 2 years ago Terry Grant was my official “Man Crush” and he is playing on his game again which I am thrilled about.
I said it in pre-season, and I said it again last week – Greg McElroy is going to be fantastic. I mean the dude was 18 of 24 in passing, and Julio just plain dropped one of those, and someone completely blew a route on another play. He is so accurate and efficient and threw for 241 yards! He was throwing lasers to our receivers – all of them. I would like to give a shout out to all the Aubs who kept saying pre-season that McElroy was not going to do well – I know he has only played in 2 games, but already you can tell this kid is special! He is not flashy, not cocky, just gets the job done!
Our special teams play must improve. Giving up another kickoff return for a touchdown is just simply unacceptable. That type of slip up could easily cost us a game later this year, and we must improve. I know Coach Saban will make changes in personnel on kickoffs if he needs to – it will get corrected.
Defense took a little time to get their rhythm – especially on pass coverage, but we finally figured out if you get to the quarterback quickly – he cannot throw it. Marcel Dareus, Rolondo McLain, and Donta Hightower played well, and made many tackles. I love sacking the QB for a loss, and we did this 6 or 7 times. I love our defense, and actually enjoy the game more when they are on the field. This reminds me of an early to mid nineties Tide!! Of course our offense is a lot less boring than our early to mid 90’s offense – a lot less! I do miss the old toss sweep left toss sweep right every once in a while, but I will take this offense over that one any day.
Not a pretty game until the end, but we got it done. Next week we face a very similar opponent, but I just have a feeling we are not going to come out as flat this time. Hopefully breakfast at Bryant-Denny will be another chance for us to see some of our depth in action, especially at quarterback. I think our backups need the work as there is a huge differential in talent after McElroy. I would love to see more of Trent Richardson as well – I know I am not the only one.
It is an early kickoff, but I hope many of you make the trip to Tuscaloosa to cheer on The Tide. There is a new sound system in the stadium and it sounds good – speakers everywhere so you don’t lose the sound when the wind changes direction like the old system. I do wish they would play more music during breaks – there seemed to be a lot of gaps which made the lack of crowd noise that more obvious. Crank up that new system and let the fans jam out – keep the energy level up! I only ask that you do not play any Green Day – the Million Dollar Band still has that covered. I hope to see you all in T-Town - I know I will be there polishing off a tasty Bloody Mary right before kickoff. Sounds good doesn’t it?
Until next week…Roll Tide Roll!
Jason
Monday, September 7, 2009
Week 1 - Virginia Tech
Tide Fans –
Another Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic….another big win for The Tide! What a great way to start the season!! You know it is a good game when the next morning you have no voice, your insides hurt, and your calves are sore from jumping up and down. For some reason I always feel as if I have played in the game. It is probably because I am getting older, or it could be from the hours of screaming, yelling, cheering, jumping, stressing, and arguing with opposing fans - but I swear I almost felt like I needed to head to the training room on Sunday. Roll Tide to that!
There were many unknowns for us heading into the game Saturday night. How was our QB going to play? How was our offensive line going to be? Who has the flu? Did anyone else get shot? I for one am just glad the season finally started. I thought I was going to have a stroke a few days before the game due to all the distractions. Players getting shot, the flu, and NCAA rulings on eligibility. I wanted to call Coach Saban Monday night and ask if they could just put the entire team in a hermetically sealed padded room until kickoff – I could not believe all the crap they have had to deal with this week! Thankfully, it all worked out.
The atmosphere in the Georgia Dome was once again electric! Just about an even split of Alabama faithful and Virginia Tech fans. It was loud, and rowdy before the game – outside and inside the dome. Virginia Tech felt very confident they were going to beat us. I of course felt the exact opposite, and gladly shared that thought with thousands of other people. I knew in the back of my mind that if our offense could not get the job done, our defense would…and they did!
Even though the score was only 10 points different at the end…Alabama whipped the Virginia Tech Hokies! I believe they really only earned one of their touchdowns…the rest were gifts from our mental mistakes. Their offense could do nothing against our ridiculously quick pass rush. Tyrod Taylor ran for his life for most of the game. Yes, they were beating us at half, but we were still winning the war – I knew we were going to rise up in the second half, eliminate stupid mistakes, and take control of the game. It took a little longer than I wanted, but when the fourth quarter came around, the Tide turned drastically. Pounding defense, and some powerful runs, throws, and catches brought home a big win for Alabama.
Although I thought Greg McElroy did a good job in his debut in a huge game, I have to give the game ball to Mark Ingram. He took control of the game, and ran like he was possessed. Running over would be tacklers, and finding the end zone when we needed it…truly amazing. He is a stud, and he has a strong first place hold on my official “Man Crush” of the season. I have to give props to Roy Upchurch as well – I just freaking love when he gets the ball. Upchurch was a heat seeking missile that sought out linebackers and then ran them over! Please watch the highlights of his runs – he literally knocks out one of Va. Tech’s linebackers after lowering his shoulder and running over him…it is awesome!! Roy Upchurch has no idea how much I love his style of running.
Back to McElroy – I believe he was very solid. For a first time start in a huge atmosphere against a top 10 team…he delivered. After watching the replay twice, I noticed how many smart decisions he made in the game that many people don’t notice. A couple of time he was sacked, and took the sack for good reason – there was nowhere to throw the ball. He also ran very wisely when he had to, and did a pretty good job! He made the throws when we needed them – some of them very gutsy! I thought his overall game management was very good. McElroy is very smart, and very talented and is going to be a very good quarterback for us!
Other players I want to mention. Darius Hanks had a couple of huge clutch catches – he stepped it up big time! Julio was basically triple covered on every play, so someone else needed to step it up and Hanks did just that. On defense - there are so many good players, but I just want to mention a few. Huge shout out to Brandon Deaderick who on Monday night was shot, and played on Saturday…that is awe inspiring! A name I knew would be big this year, Marcel Dareus. We are going to see him sacking the QB a lot this season. Javier also played great defense and had some big quick hits when he was called to blitz…he is lightning fast on the corner blitz!! Our defense just swarms to the ball – I love it!
Last shout out goes to Brian Selman and PJ Fitzgerald. Yes – I gave a shout out to the long snapper and punter. Selman downed one punt on the 5 yard line, and then recovered a fumble on another. PJ was very consistent with his punts – great job!
As I mentioned earlier – Virginia Tech was lucky to even be in this game. We gave them so many gifts. This is a point I argued over with a couple of cocky Hokie fans after the game. Many of you reading this blog were witness to this argument which I of course felt like I won and was correct on every point! (almost all of them) I ended the argument by letting the two Hokie fans know how I felt about the ACC and that I predicted Ga. Tech would beat them. They did not like that prediction. ACC fans seriously think they have an awesome conference and I just had to laugh about that. Really…I mean really???? Don’t ever argue with me about SEC vs. ACC you are not going to win. I bet that guy felt pretty stupid with his “Beat Bama” shirt on after the game.
Tide Fans it is going to be another fun season, so get ready! The Tide is going to do lots of damage this year, and I for one believe we will be heading back to Atlanta in December! With our offense only going to get better, and our defense just ridiculous already…I feel very good about what lies ahead. We have a couple of warm up games the next few weeks, so hopefully this will give our team more time to gel, and be ready to take on the SEC. Let’s keep our players healthy, eligible, and gunshot wound free!
Until next week…Roll Tide!
Another Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic….another big win for The Tide! What a great way to start the season!! You know it is a good game when the next morning you have no voice, your insides hurt, and your calves are sore from jumping up and down. For some reason I always feel as if I have played in the game. It is probably because I am getting older, or it could be from the hours of screaming, yelling, cheering, jumping, stressing, and arguing with opposing fans - but I swear I almost felt like I needed to head to the training room on Sunday. Roll Tide to that!
There were many unknowns for us heading into the game Saturday night. How was our QB going to play? How was our offensive line going to be? Who has the flu? Did anyone else get shot? I for one am just glad the season finally started. I thought I was going to have a stroke a few days before the game due to all the distractions. Players getting shot, the flu, and NCAA rulings on eligibility. I wanted to call Coach Saban Monday night and ask if they could just put the entire team in a hermetically sealed padded room until kickoff – I could not believe all the crap they have had to deal with this week! Thankfully, it all worked out.
The atmosphere in the Georgia Dome was once again electric! Just about an even split of Alabama faithful and Virginia Tech fans. It was loud, and rowdy before the game – outside and inside the dome. Virginia Tech felt very confident they were going to beat us. I of course felt the exact opposite, and gladly shared that thought with thousands of other people. I knew in the back of my mind that if our offense could not get the job done, our defense would…and they did!
Even though the score was only 10 points different at the end…Alabama whipped the Virginia Tech Hokies! I believe they really only earned one of their touchdowns…the rest were gifts from our mental mistakes. Their offense could do nothing against our ridiculously quick pass rush. Tyrod Taylor ran for his life for most of the game. Yes, they were beating us at half, but we were still winning the war – I knew we were going to rise up in the second half, eliminate stupid mistakes, and take control of the game. It took a little longer than I wanted, but when the fourth quarter came around, the Tide turned drastically. Pounding defense, and some powerful runs, throws, and catches brought home a big win for Alabama.
Although I thought Greg McElroy did a good job in his debut in a huge game, I have to give the game ball to Mark Ingram. He took control of the game, and ran like he was possessed. Running over would be tacklers, and finding the end zone when we needed it…truly amazing. He is a stud, and he has a strong first place hold on my official “Man Crush” of the season. I have to give props to Roy Upchurch as well – I just freaking love when he gets the ball. Upchurch was a heat seeking missile that sought out linebackers and then ran them over! Please watch the highlights of his runs – he literally knocks out one of Va. Tech’s linebackers after lowering his shoulder and running over him…it is awesome!! Roy Upchurch has no idea how much I love his style of running.
Back to McElroy – I believe he was very solid. For a first time start in a huge atmosphere against a top 10 team…he delivered. After watching the replay twice, I noticed how many smart decisions he made in the game that many people don’t notice. A couple of time he was sacked, and took the sack for good reason – there was nowhere to throw the ball. He also ran very wisely when he had to, and did a pretty good job! He made the throws when we needed them – some of them very gutsy! I thought his overall game management was very good. McElroy is very smart, and very talented and is going to be a very good quarterback for us!
Other players I want to mention. Darius Hanks had a couple of huge clutch catches – he stepped it up big time! Julio was basically triple covered on every play, so someone else needed to step it up and Hanks did just that. On defense - there are so many good players, but I just want to mention a few. Huge shout out to Brandon Deaderick who on Monday night was shot, and played on Saturday…that is awe inspiring! A name I knew would be big this year, Marcel Dareus. We are going to see him sacking the QB a lot this season. Javier also played great defense and had some big quick hits when he was called to blitz…he is lightning fast on the corner blitz!! Our defense just swarms to the ball – I love it!
Last shout out goes to Brian Selman and PJ Fitzgerald. Yes – I gave a shout out to the long snapper and punter. Selman downed one punt on the 5 yard line, and then recovered a fumble on another. PJ was very consistent with his punts – great job!
As I mentioned earlier – Virginia Tech was lucky to even be in this game. We gave them so many gifts. This is a point I argued over with a couple of cocky Hokie fans after the game. Many of you reading this blog were witness to this argument which I of course felt like I won and was correct on every point! (almost all of them) I ended the argument by letting the two Hokie fans know how I felt about the ACC and that I predicted Ga. Tech would beat them. They did not like that prediction. ACC fans seriously think they have an awesome conference and I just had to laugh about that. Really…I mean really???? Don’t ever argue with me about SEC vs. ACC you are not going to win. I bet that guy felt pretty stupid with his “Beat Bama” shirt on after the game.
Tide Fans it is going to be another fun season, so get ready! The Tide is going to do lots of damage this year, and I for one believe we will be heading back to Atlanta in December! With our offense only going to get better, and our defense just ridiculous already…I feel very good about what lies ahead. We have a couple of warm up games the next few weeks, so hopefully this will give our team more time to gel, and be ready to take on the SEC. Let’s keep our players healthy, eligible, and gunshot wound free!
Until next week…Roll Tide!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Pre-Season Analysis 2009
Tide Fans –
The summer days are winding down, the kids are back in school, and it is almost time for the greatest sport ever…College Football! Can you say 15 days until kickoff?? The other day I got home from work, and when I got out of the car I could hear the local high school band practicing…the sound of the drums in the distance got me all fired up! I actually pumped my fist and shouted ”Come on Tide!” What a great time of year…what a great time to be an Alabama Crimson Tide fan! Alabama is back among the national championship contenders, and back to where we are supposed to be. The future looks bright, and I cannot wait to see what The Tide has in store for us this season! I would like to share a quote I read somewhere – I have no idea who said this, but I love it! “Football at Alabama is not a matter of life or death…it’s a hell of a lot more important than either one of them!”
We have come such a long way since Nick Saban first stepped off the plane at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart! It is so nice to have a coach like Saban that makes all the other teams want a coach like him. They are so jealous - all they can do is try and find ways to tear him down…but they really can’t. They know he is good…they know that our team is much better now…and they can’t stand it. I love Saban’s no nonsense Jedi approach to everything he does, weather it be practice, talking to the media, or recruiting…it is truly amazing. Some people say “He’s not very friendly to the media”, well who really cares – he was not hired to be friendly to the media – that doesn’t win you football games!!! I think his press conferences are hilarious – you ask a stupid question, and you are going to get blasted from Saban – as you should be. I dare any reporter to ask him about the depth chart one more time!
With only a few weeks until kickoff, I am just giddy with excitement! Last year was absolutely incredible, even though it ended on a bad note. Our team played way above their heads and we went undefeated in regular season play – amazing! Of course seeing as we did so well last year the expectations are off the charts now from the Bama faithful and the media. I am expecting a great season, but I do not think we will go undefeated. Don’t get me wrong – I hope to God we do, I just think we may lose 1 or 2 – still a great season. We have so much talent now, the majority of it still very young…but dang we have some talent! I get so fired up reading about how well the freshman are doing in camp, and that some may even start. It makes me wonder what we will be like in 2010, with an experienced QB and much more experienced depth…WOW! Anyway, back to this upcoming season…like last year our very first game will tell us a lot about this team. If we go in there and push Virginia Tech around I see us winning almost all of our games. If we come out of the Georgia Dome with a loss, then we will know that we still have some work to do, but we will still put together a great season. I beg of all Tide fans to not get too disgruntled if for some reason we lose the first game – Virginia Tech is good. I for one, believe we will win this game – I have visions of us pressuring their QB so much that he either gets sacked numerous times, or throws a few picks. Even if for some reason our offense struggles, I see a low scoring game with our defense bringing us the victory! Our defense is going to be off the charts good!!!! Can someone say 1992? It is well documented that I LOVE an early to mid 90’s Tide defense. Visions of Teague, Langham, Lemanski Hall, Curry, Copeland, the list goes on….wow they were powerful, and it looks as though the big D is back at Bama!
Looking at the rest of the season – there will be plenty of competition. We have no idea what to expect out of Arkansas, the first SEC game is always big! Ole Miss….I am sooo tired of hearing about how good they are going to be. Really….I mean really??? Yes they have a good returning QB, and a few other good skill players, but I think overall it is a bunch of smoke and mirrors. I cannot wait to go over there and crush them in Oxford! I hope they are undefeated when we play them so it makes our victory even better. Ole Miss fans hate losing to Alabama…they hate it!! South Carolina will give us some fits early on, but then our D will settle in and begin to make their QB throw picks. Tennessee is always a good game – they will have a better team than people think, but we still hand them their 3rd loss in a row to us. LSU – not really sure what they will have this season, but they will be tough. That will be a barn burner in Tuscaloosa with The Tide coming out on top! Our trip to StarkVegas to play Miss. State should end better than our last visit, and then we head to Auburn to play on a Friday. I will go ahead and tell you – this games scares me a little. It always does, but it being on a Friday this year just feels weird, and you just never know what will happen in that game. I think we win, but not nearly as easy as last year – they will put up a fight down on the plains.
I think the SEC West comes down to LSU or Alabama. I do not see Ole Miss in the picture – they are overrated, and I think LSU is a little underrated. I would love a chance to play Tebow again…I really want to see him flat on his back after getting crushed by Rolando McClain! This is assuming Florida makes it to the SEC game. I am so sick of Tim Tebow. Tebow this and Tebow that…give me a freaking break – the media just falls all over themselves for this guy. I predict that Urban Meyer leaves him in too long in the Tennessee game and he gets injured from a cheap shot. I don’t wish this…I just predict it.
Many things to talk about…sorry if this post is a little long! I cannot wait to see what we do this year, and I really cannot wait to see G Mac lead the team (Greg McElroy to all of you who don’t know his nickname yet!) I think McElroy is going to be a very smart, very consistent quarterback. He knows the offense really well, and will have some incredible targets to throw and hand the ball to. Our running back situation is ridiculous!! Our 4th string RB could probably start in the NFL. I believe Ingram and Upchurch will get the most reps early on, but we will see Trent Richardson early in the season, so be on the lookout for # 3 in the backfield. (Not Kareem Jackson - Trent Richardson…he will be wearing # 3 also). To steal a word from Eli Gold, we have a “bevy” of talented running backs! Julio will have plenty of support as well – we will see Marquis Maze step up, and some new freshman talent as well. Plenty of targets for G-Mac to throw to! Every time I think about Julio, I am immediately drawn to the catch he had in overtime against LSU – it was amazing! I also love the fact that it takes 5 men to bring him down – just incredible. I have a sh*t eating grin on my face right now just thinking about what Julio will do this season!
The defense will be powerful – this is what gets me so fired up! We have so much depth here now, that we can just rotate in and out after every few downs. We will see a swarming D getting to the QB very quickly which will help out our backfield who has experience, but may be the weakest part of the defense (and they are not weak). Javier and Kareem Jackson will be solid at DB, with possibly some help from a very talented freshman Dre Kirkpatrick! I think the safety position is also going to work out – sounds like we have good competition there between Robby Green, Justin Woodall, and Mark Barron - which means we have a few guys that will make it work. They have big shoes to fill from Rashad Johnson…..damn I love Rashad Johnson!! I wish he had made one of the Daniel Moore paintings – I would have wall papered my office with it! Anyway…the Defense will be stout, and may be the reason behind several of our victories this season!
We may not win every game, but I do know that Saban will have us ready to play every game. I do not think you will ever see a Sugar Bowl debacle again. If we lose, it will be hard fought down to the last play. This team is going to be physical, quick, alert, and punishing! It will be a fun season, and I for one am making this the “Perfect Season” by attending every single game! Yes, believe it or not in my 35 years of life I have never had a perfect season – I have come very close, but never made every single game. That all changes this year!! I know this will enhance my weekly analysis as I always have something interesting happen to me which I will be happy to share! Several good road trips in store for the season! I look forward to posting every week, and I thank all of you for the kind words you have sent me about the Tide Weekly Analysis. I truly enjoy sharing my love for The Tide, and sometimes giving you a peek into my world as a Tide Fan, and family man! What started off as a way for me to share my joy or vent my frustrations through an e-mail to about 35 people, has now become a blog read by people across the world. Yes, apparently I have created Tide fans out of people who don’t even know where Alabama is – and that makes me happy!
Another season is upon us, so get ready Tide Fans – fill up that flask, clean out your coolers, line up your babysitters if necessary, it is football season in Alabama, and The Tide is about to Roll! See you in a few weeks…RTR!
Jason
The summer days are winding down, the kids are back in school, and it is almost time for the greatest sport ever…College Football! Can you say 15 days until kickoff?? The other day I got home from work, and when I got out of the car I could hear the local high school band practicing…the sound of the drums in the distance got me all fired up! I actually pumped my fist and shouted ”Come on Tide!” What a great time of year…what a great time to be an Alabama Crimson Tide fan! Alabama is back among the national championship contenders, and back to where we are supposed to be. The future looks bright, and I cannot wait to see what The Tide has in store for us this season! I would like to share a quote I read somewhere – I have no idea who said this, but I love it! “Football at Alabama is not a matter of life or death…it’s a hell of a lot more important than either one of them!”
We have come such a long way since Nick Saban first stepped off the plane at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart! It is so nice to have a coach like Saban that makes all the other teams want a coach like him. They are so jealous - all they can do is try and find ways to tear him down…but they really can’t. They know he is good…they know that our team is much better now…and they can’t stand it. I love Saban’s no nonsense Jedi approach to everything he does, weather it be practice, talking to the media, or recruiting…it is truly amazing. Some people say “He’s not very friendly to the media”, well who really cares – he was not hired to be friendly to the media – that doesn’t win you football games!!! I think his press conferences are hilarious – you ask a stupid question, and you are going to get blasted from Saban – as you should be. I dare any reporter to ask him about the depth chart one more time!
With only a few weeks until kickoff, I am just giddy with excitement! Last year was absolutely incredible, even though it ended on a bad note. Our team played way above their heads and we went undefeated in regular season play – amazing! Of course seeing as we did so well last year the expectations are off the charts now from the Bama faithful and the media. I am expecting a great season, but I do not think we will go undefeated. Don’t get me wrong – I hope to God we do, I just think we may lose 1 or 2 – still a great season. We have so much talent now, the majority of it still very young…but dang we have some talent! I get so fired up reading about how well the freshman are doing in camp, and that some may even start. It makes me wonder what we will be like in 2010, with an experienced QB and much more experienced depth…WOW! Anyway, back to this upcoming season…like last year our very first game will tell us a lot about this team. If we go in there and push Virginia Tech around I see us winning almost all of our games. If we come out of the Georgia Dome with a loss, then we will know that we still have some work to do, but we will still put together a great season. I beg of all Tide fans to not get too disgruntled if for some reason we lose the first game – Virginia Tech is good. I for one, believe we will win this game – I have visions of us pressuring their QB so much that he either gets sacked numerous times, or throws a few picks. Even if for some reason our offense struggles, I see a low scoring game with our defense bringing us the victory! Our defense is going to be off the charts good!!!! Can someone say 1992? It is well documented that I LOVE an early to mid 90’s Tide defense. Visions of Teague, Langham, Lemanski Hall, Curry, Copeland, the list goes on….wow they were powerful, and it looks as though the big D is back at Bama!
Looking at the rest of the season – there will be plenty of competition. We have no idea what to expect out of Arkansas, the first SEC game is always big! Ole Miss….I am sooo tired of hearing about how good they are going to be. Really….I mean really??? Yes they have a good returning QB, and a few other good skill players, but I think overall it is a bunch of smoke and mirrors. I cannot wait to go over there and crush them in Oxford! I hope they are undefeated when we play them so it makes our victory even better. Ole Miss fans hate losing to Alabama…they hate it!! South Carolina will give us some fits early on, but then our D will settle in and begin to make their QB throw picks. Tennessee is always a good game – they will have a better team than people think, but we still hand them their 3rd loss in a row to us. LSU – not really sure what they will have this season, but they will be tough. That will be a barn burner in Tuscaloosa with The Tide coming out on top! Our trip to StarkVegas to play Miss. State should end better than our last visit, and then we head to Auburn to play on a Friday. I will go ahead and tell you – this games scares me a little. It always does, but it being on a Friday this year just feels weird, and you just never know what will happen in that game. I think we win, but not nearly as easy as last year – they will put up a fight down on the plains.
I think the SEC West comes down to LSU or Alabama. I do not see Ole Miss in the picture – they are overrated, and I think LSU is a little underrated. I would love a chance to play Tebow again…I really want to see him flat on his back after getting crushed by Rolando McClain! This is assuming Florida makes it to the SEC game. I am so sick of Tim Tebow. Tebow this and Tebow that…give me a freaking break – the media just falls all over themselves for this guy. I predict that Urban Meyer leaves him in too long in the Tennessee game and he gets injured from a cheap shot. I don’t wish this…I just predict it.
Many things to talk about…sorry if this post is a little long! I cannot wait to see what we do this year, and I really cannot wait to see G Mac lead the team (Greg McElroy to all of you who don’t know his nickname yet!) I think McElroy is going to be a very smart, very consistent quarterback. He knows the offense really well, and will have some incredible targets to throw and hand the ball to. Our running back situation is ridiculous!! Our 4th string RB could probably start in the NFL. I believe Ingram and Upchurch will get the most reps early on, but we will see Trent Richardson early in the season, so be on the lookout for # 3 in the backfield. (Not Kareem Jackson - Trent Richardson…he will be wearing # 3 also). To steal a word from Eli Gold, we have a “bevy” of talented running backs! Julio will have plenty of support as well – we will see Marquis Maze step up, and some new freshman talent as well. Plenty of targets for G-Mac to throw to! Every time I think about Julio, I am immediately drawn to the catch he had in overtime against LSU – it was amazing! I also love the fact that it takes 5 men to bring him down – just incredible. I have a sh*t eating grin on my face right now just thinking about what Julio will do this season!
The defense will be powerful – this is what gets me so fired up! We have so much depth here now, that we can just rotate in and out after every few downs. We will see a swarming D getting to the QB very quickly which will help out our backfield who has experience, but may be the weakest part of the defense (and they are not weak). Javier and Kareem Jackson will be solid at DB, with possibly some help from a very talented freshman Dre Kirkpatrick! I think the safety position is also going to work out – sounds like we have good competition there between Robby Green, Justin Woodall, and Mark Barron - which means we have a few guys that will make it work. They have big shoes to fill from Rashad Johnson…..damn I love Rashad Johnson!! I wish he had made one of the Daniel Moore paintings – I would have wall papered my office with it! Anyway…the Defense will be stout, and may be the reason behind several of our victories this season!
We may not win every game, but I do know that Saban will have us ready to play every game. I do not think you will ever see a Sugar Bowl debacle again. If we lose, it will be hard fought down to the last play. This team is going to be physical, quick, alert, and punishing! It will be a fun season, and I for one am making this the “Perfect Season” by attending every single game! Yes, believe it or not in my 35 years of life I have never had a perfect season – I have come very close, but never made every single game. That all changes this year!! I know this will enhance my weekly analysis as I always have something interesting happen to me which I will be happy to share! Several good road trips in store for the season! I look forward to posting every week, and I thank all of you for the kind words you have sent me about the Tide Weekly Analysis. I truly enjoy sharing my love for The Tide, and sometimes giving you a peek into my world as a Tide Fan, and family man! What started off as a way for me to share my joy or vent my frustrations through an e-mail to about 35 people, has now become a blog read by people across the world. Yes, apparently I have created Tide fans out of people who don’t even know where Alabama is – and that makes me happy!
Another season is upon us, so get ready Tide Fans – fill up that flask, clean out your coolers, line up your babysitters if necessary, it is football season in Alabama, and The Tide is about to Roll! See you in a few weeks…RTR!
Jason
Saturday, June 13, 2009
NCAA Ruling
Tide Fans -
First of all I would like to say Roll Tide! It has been a while since I have written anything and it feels good to be writing an update!! Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard all about our NCAA ruling. Weeks of worrying and speculating what their decision would be have finally come to an end. First of all I must say that I am extremely happy they did not take away any scholarships. This does not mean that I am happy with what we received - I am a little concerned about the 3 years probation. The main reason is that 3 years is a long time, and there are so many NCAA rules now that it is nearly impossible to not have some kind of infraction (even if it is very minor), I mean, now an athlete sneezes and you have to report it. Now that we are on double secret probation we will be under the microscope even more. Many people are not happy with what they are referring to as "vacated" wins. I personally could care less about this - what a stupid type of punishment. Like we are all going just forget that we actually won the games they are making us vacate. They did the same thing to us back in 1993 and no one even remembers that - all it does is put an asterisk in the media guide. I for one can live with that! The probation is what we should all be concerned about.
The thing that irritates me most about the NCAA is that they don't treat the same exact violations equally between schools. If one school does something and another does the exact same thing - they should get the same punishment. Sounds fair right? Well, it doesn't work that way with the NCAA. Several other schools have had extremely similar "textbook" situations, and received no more than a warning from Indianapolis. I don't have any problem receiving a punishment for something we did - I just want them to hand out consistent punishments across the board. Where is the USC punishment for the Reggie Bush chronicles, and where was the punishment for Tennessee when Tee Martin admitted to receiving at least $10,000 from boosters????? The last thing we got slammed for (Albert Means) was never even proven, but we got crushed for it. If you are going to hand out rulings to us for things we did, then you better keep them consistent with what you have done with other programs, and so far that has not been the case. One last thing about the NCAA that really chaps my ass is even when we follow the procedures they put forth, they still crush us. We self discovered the textbook situation and self reported it. We suspended the players involved until the NCAA cleared them to return. We brought this entire situation to their attention and did everything we were supposed to do. My point here is why do we even bother doing this if it in turn it does not help you out with any rulings??? Had we not reported this, the NCAA would never have even known about it - we did the right thing and reported it, and what do we get…3 years probation and "vacated wins". So I say in the future forget about self reporting - what good has it done us in the past???
Probably the best thing about the ruling the other was listening to all the Aubs reactions - they were soo irritated they couldn't stand it! The majority of them wanted us the get the death penalty over a textbook scandal (if you can call it that). I mean come on!!!! Auburn needs to worry about their own damn team and stop worrying about ours - perhaps then you might build a competitive program. The only way you have been competitive lately is due to us being crushed by the NCAA. You enjoyed success for several years while we re-built our program - well guess what - we re-built, and whipped your ass! So, now all you can do is revel in the fact that we are in trouble with the NCAA and you continuously try to spread ridiculous rumors about illegal recruiting in various cities across the state. As I said earlier - you need to worry about building your own program and stop trying to bring ours down with convoluted rumors about this and that - you are wasting your time! Auburn fans that obsess over this stuff are pathetic.
Even though I am not happy with how the NCAA treats Alabama, I am glad that this is over and we can now focus on the upcoming season. I am already fired up as we are only 84 days until kickoff!! I cannot wait to see what our beloved Crimson Tide unveils this year. There are many unknowns with key positions to fill, but I feel confident Coach Saban has it under control. I feel confident about everything Coach Saban does - he knows what he is doing. There are some days I wish Coach Saban would just call me and tell me what I am supposed to do that day! Our defense should be punishing and I can't wait to watch us rotate fresh players in and out, blitzing like crazy!! Aaaaah good things to come - I love a powerful Defense!!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and looking forward to the fall. I will check back in with my pre-season analysis in August - until then…Roll Tide!!
First of all I would like to say Roll Tide! It has been a while since I have written anything and it feels good to be writing an update!! Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard all about our NCAA ruling. Weeks of worrying and speculating what their decision would be have finally come to an end. First of all I must say that I am extremely happy they did not take away any scholarships. This does not mean that I am happy with what we received - I am a little concerned about the 3 years probation. The main reason is that 3 years is a long time, and there are so many NCAA rules now that it is nearly impossible to not have some kind of infraction (even if it is very minor), I mean, now an athlete sneezes and you have to report it. Now that we are on double secret probation we will be under the microscope even more. Many people are not happy with what they are referring to as "vacated" wins. I personally could care less about this - what a stupid type of punishment. Like we are all going just forget that we actually won the games they are making us vacate. They did the same thing to us back in 1993 and no one even remembers that - all it does is put an asterisk in the media guide. I for one can live with that! The probation is what we should all be concerned about.
The thing that irritates me most about the NCAA is that they don't treat the same exact violations equally between schools. If one school does something and another does the exact same thing - they should get the same punishment. Sounds fair right? Well, it doesn't work that way with the NCAA. Several other schools have had extremely similar "textbook" situations, and received no more than a warning from Indianapolis. I don't have any problem receiving a punishment for something we did - I just want them to hand out consistent punishments across the board. Where is the USC punishment for the Reggie Bush chronicles, and where was the punishment for Tennessee when Tee Martin admitted to receiving at least $10,000 from boosters????? The last thing we got slammed for (Albert Means) was never even proven, but we got crushed for it. If you are going to hand out rulings to us for things we did, then you better keep them consistent with what you have done with other programs, and so far that has not been the case. One last thing about the NCAA that really chaps my ass is even when we follow the procedures they put forth, they still crush us. We self discovered the textbook situation and self reported it. We suspended the players involved until the NCAA cleared them to return. We brought this entire situation to their attention and did everything we were supposed to do. My point here is why do we even bother doing this if it in turn it does not help you out with any rulings??? Had we not reported this, the NCAA would never have even known about it - we did the right thing and reported it, and what do we get…3 years probation and "vacated wins". So I say in the future forget about self reporting - what good has it done us in the past???
Probably the best thing about the ruling the other was listening to all the Aubs reactions - they were soo irritated they couldn't stand it! The majority of them wanted us the get the death penalty over a textbook scandal (if you can call it that). I mean come on!!!! Auburn needs to worry about their own damn team and stop worrying about ours - perhaps then you might build a competitive program. The only way you have been competitive lately is due to us being crushed by the NCAA. You enjoyed success for several years while we re-built our program - well guess what - we re-built, and whipped your ass! So, now all you can do is revel in the fact that we are in trouble with the NCAA and you continuously try to spread ridiculous rumors about illegal recruiting in various cities across the state. As I said earlier - you need to worry about building your own program and stop trying to bring ours down with convoluted rumors about this and that - you are wasting your time! Auburn fans that obsess over this stuff are pathetic.
Even though I am not happy with how the NCAA treats Alabama, I am glad that this is over and we can now focus on the upcoming season. I am already fired up as we are only 84 days until kickoff!! I cannot wait to see what our beloved Crimson Tide unveils this year. There are many unknowns with key positions to fill, but I feel confident Coach Saban has it under control. I feel confident about everything Coach Saban does - he knows what he is doing. There are some days I wish Coach Saban would just call me and tell me what I am supposed to do that day! Our defense should be punishing and I can't wait to watch us rotate fresh players in and out, blitzing like crazy!! Aaaaah good things to come - I love a powerful Defense!!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and looking forward to the fall. I will check back in with my pre-season analysis in August - until then…Roll Tide!!
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