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