Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Let's go for two birds this week...

The most wonderful wife in the world
    First and foremost my family wishes your family a Happy Thanksgiving.  I have been blessed with a wonderful wife, two lovely daughters, plus Henry and Annie, our boxer chilldren. I know it is corny to say but I honestly feel that we are blessed in being a part of a larger family - the  Alabama Nation. I'm now in my middle sixties and even though the sports part of being a family member is becoming less important, the relationships I have developed over the years with other Alabama fans  have been gratifying. In my family we simply do not understand why anyone could be a Auburn fan when the greatest football program in the history of the world is here for them. I remain baffled by this obvious poor thinking. I suspect genetics is involved. 


    I think that throwing toilet paper in a tree is an odd and rather unique tradition of celebrating football wins. But toilet paper? Bonfires, a pep rally, dressing in school colors, and having a great mantra to shout are great traditions.Cheering on the Charmin doesn't cut it in my book. Whether it is 'War Eagle' or 'Roll Tide' you have to admit those are pretty school cheers. Today, I went to  'Bama Fever' for a few new items to give to my West Coast friends this weekend. There were were 18 people in store, and 4 of them were over in the Auburn section. Auburn apparel wasn't exactly flying off the shelf. On the other side of the store, the Bama section, it was wall to wall. 


Henry in his game day wear
One man bought 20 tee shirts. I have no idea of what you would do with 20 Bama tee shirts, but this guy was happy to find them at $8.99 a piece. Just standing by the cash register, I heard people ask the shopkeeper where are the Bama monopoly games, what about bag tags for air flights. Where are the basketball tee shirts, do you think my wife who is a 32DD would look good in this tee shirt. I had to interject that I thought she'd look good in  anything,() or for for that matter without anything.) Then I noticed he was holding an Auburn tee shirt. Somehow thinking of this man's wife in an Auburn tee shirt seemed silly given her other obvious qualifications. The man was a 'Bama fan. We all expressed our sorrow and concern. "What's a man to do, if you know what I mean,?  Was how he justified his current situation. We all assured him we did understand. As he walked off with his tee shirt another  man said, "damn shame". Oh yeah, its game week. One father was trying to explain to his young daughter she needed an Auburn sweat shirt because everyone else in the family was Aubie. Her witty reply was "no way, not today, that's all I have to say - Roll Tide, Daddy".  Trying to convince to turn Aubie was child abuse in my opinion. It is also a fruitless gesture as any Alabama fan could have explained to the father if he had asked anyone. 


Annie has her game face on...
Another lady wanted to know if they had a hounds tooth jacket to match her husband's hat. Of course, they had a jacket, a muffler, and probably a discount on a hounds tooth paint job for your F-150 truck. Everyone was saying "Roll Tide" to one another as a greeting and a acknowledgment of their recognition that they were members of the same family. Car Magnet A's were bought, a couple of Iron Bowl Tickets were sold, and children were trying on winter Bama wear to see if it fit. It was a grand old time for every 'Bama fan in the store. I'm sure a similar scene was being played out somewhere in Auburn as well. The 'protect the trees vigilante squad' was dressing out in orange and blue camouflage, deer stands were on the trees already. Oh yeah its game week. That means turkey on Friday and Eagle on Saturday. It doesn't get any better than that does it?


I am thankful for so many things in my life, but mainly I am thankful to have all of you in the family. Roll Tide...


By the Way... Alabama 28 - Auburn 7  

Monday, November 21, 2011


        “Never Again”.  That is what the blue and orange flyers read. They are plastered all over the football facility.  The message is clear, never again will the Crimson Tide lose to Auburn like they did last season. Bama jumped out to a 24-0 lead. They saw a couple of fumbles and a dropped pass keep that number from being 45.  The story doesn’t have happy ending as all Alabama know. The Tiger comeback propelled them toward the national title. It all happened in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

      Here we are almost a year later. The Tigers are at home where they have been a great team. An Alabama win will propel the Crimson and White toward a chance to win a national championship. It is like Déjà vu all over again.  I bet there hasn’t been a single day since last year’s loss that the Alabama team hasn’t been reminded of what happened. Alabama is a 19-21 point favorite. There may have been a year when the point spread was this great – I don’t remember that occasion if it did. This season the visiting team will come into the game with increased incentive.
Not thinking about anything but Auburn

     ‘Bama will likely prepare this game as if it is the most important game of the year.  If you only have a couple of wins away from a national championship every game is the most important.  The Tide isn’t thinking about a national championship. They are thinking about going into Jordan-Hare and beating their arch-rival. Because of the upsets that rocked the BCS last weekend the game takes on an added importance.  A Tiger win will make the Auburn season very successful. A loss is of no consequence. No one thinks they can win the game. Only in Auburn and in Tuscaloosa is that a serious thought. Make no mistake that the Auburn game is first and foremost in the eyes of the Tide. Not one word will be  spoken about the chance to play in a national championship by the Alabama coaching staff. Coach Saban made it very clear that he isn’t eve allowing the Tide team from even watching the game on Friday. He couched that in terms of being a suggestion. I’d like to suggest to the players they follow that suggestion if they know what is good for them.
Trent says he is ready...


Back to the Bama Nation...

So this game will be between two hated rivals. The hatred will not be on the field but in the stands and in front of a couple of million Alabamians viewing it on television. I remember how much the Tiger fans gloated over Ingram’s lackluster performance and how the Tigers had stopped his Heisman Trophy hope. Seriously, many Auburn fans actually said that in public. I don’t think they were they were joking.

The last two seasons have seen the educational system in Alabama win two Heisman Trophies. The schools have had back to back national championships. Will there be a hat trick? I wouldn’t bet against it. So the Tide hits the road, and A.J. McCarron has played very well on the road. I have to admit I was nervous about the LSU game. Not this week. Tranquility reigns. I’ll be watching the game in San Luis Obispo. I can’think of a better way to spend a vacation. 

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Looks like the BCS National Champinion will come from SEC (again)

A perfect storm gives 'Bama a second chance?


Iowa State stuns Oklahoma State - miracle #  1
        All it would take to get Alabama back in the national championship game would have Iowa State beat Oklahoma State. Couldn't happen. The Cyclones played an inspired game and you can scratch the Cowboys. It would have been in even better if the 1 loss teams ranked just below the Tide lost as well. Couldn't happen. Southern Cal beat Oregon in a wild west shootout. Scratch the Ducks. No way Baylor would beat Oklahoma. Couldn't happen. On the last play of the game Baylor scored the winning touchdown. Scratch Oklahoma. If any of these things happened it would have helped 'Bama. That all of those things happened was seemingly impossible. If Indiana Jones played college football he's wear the Crimson and White. All of which brings us to the most important game. Alabama goes to Jordan-Hare to play Auburn.  


    Somewhere deep in the heart of this rivalry you just knew it might happen. Alabama might yet win the National Championship but to do so they must beat the Auburn Tigers. A couple of weeks ago when 'Bama handed LSU a win I said Alabama now had a one game season. That is the season of Auburn. That is a season where hatred fills the air more than the blowing leaves of the fall. This is a season where decency and common sense are suspended. This a season were marriages are tested and friendships are ended. It is the Auburn - Alabama week. 
Wide left and USC hangs on - miracle # 2


Reason goes out the window...


     The radio talk shows next week will be filled with talk of a possible national championship. Those same shows will make it clear that Auburn fans would rather give up their next pay checks than let 'Bama win at Auburn. There are a lot of great rivalries. Many are steeped in tradition and intense competition. None is dipped in hatred like the Iron Bowl. The Iron Bowl is like the hatred that brothers feel toward one another in a dysfunctional family. It's a rivalry that defies understanding and transcends rational thought. The hatred is visceral . What makes this game different from Notre Dame and Southern California is that it is very personal. Except among the actual participants, who have a much better prospective than most of us, this game is a deadly serious affair. 


     The victor doesn't win as much as not having to say you lost. If you are on the losing side it is like catching a cold that will last a year. When Tide and Tiger fans meet there are pregnant pauses in conversations. You can almost hear the grinding of teeth and the biting of tongues. If you are one of those rare fans who who try to strike a balance you are one of two  things - you are traitor to your team, or a liar to the other. The only thing known to be more dangerous than nuclear war are fans of both schools trying to watch the game on TV with one another. 


Not so much the winning as avoiding the losing...
Miracle 3 - Baylor beats Oklahoma
on the last play of the game. 


     This isn't a game where you can throw out the record books. The favored teams generally win. What is different is that the games are much more competitive than the records of the two teams would indicate. Alabama is 10-1 and Auburn is 7-4. Most people can't understand how Alabama could have lost even one game. More can't believe that the Tigers have acutually won 7 games at all. Come this Saturday records won't matter. Talking stops and tackling starts. Kickoff will not be an electric feel associated with most college games. It will be 90,000 people holding their breathe. That doesn't count the some three million people not in the stadium 


     Sixty minutes later one side of the fans will get to exhale. One side will be jubilant, the other will be sentenced to a bitter resignation. Either way, winner or loser, each side  gets a years worth to think about the game.  The loser has another year to find more hate. The winner gets to thump its chest in pride. And the winner does.   That's the catch - 22 of this game. Winning isn't exactly what happens. Losing most certainly does. It's a shame that this old rivalry has taken such a turn to the nasty, but in America what do you expect? We have become a nation of division. There is no greater division in sports than Auburn and Alabama. It is what it is. And its coming this Saturday once again.


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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

What is the proper perspective on Penn State?

Things not so Happy in Happy Valley...


 Ironic isn' it? Penn State is located in Happy Valley. I haven't visited PSU in a few years, but I bet Happy isn't a word you hear very often now. Like you, I have listened and watched this Jerry Sandusky scandal unfold. Sickening is a mild term for what Sandusky is accused of, and probably what he probably did. I have to say that the great uproar directed at Penn State is somewhat confusing to me. 


There is a lot of blame to spread around in this mess, and it has ruined the perception of Joe Paterno. If Joe Paterno didn't understand that not having this man arrested was the proper thing to do he is simply not a man.  Not only has Jerry Sandusky hurt a lot of young boys, not even grown men, directly. More than that the story has reopened the a lot of horrid memories.  So many people have re-lived their personal trauma once again. The number of people who have come forward to share their stories on the radio and television is astounding. It also is inspirational. When we talk about profiles in courage these Americans are at the top. 


Penn State is not responsible for what happened. Individuals who work for Penn State, District Attorneys, and others are culpable. They are also culpable in the eyes of God I'd bet. However; Penn State is more than a place. To suggest that Penn State is responsible for what happened is unfair to the 99.99999% of those associated with the school who did nothing wrong. The football team did nothing wrong. Most of the coaching staff did nothing wrong. 


What about all the graduates? Those people are also Penn State. Penn State is not only a school but a family. A few bad apples shouldn't spoil the barrel.  Hundreds of thousands of people who have walked on the campus and graduated to live good lives. They are more upset about this than we can ever be. Penn State is an idea, a memory, and is a dream for the future of many young Pennsylvanians. My hope is that all people who report on this sex pervert need to remember that most people at Penn State are blameless. I understand that Sandusky is looking at 400 years if convicted and he has to serve his time consecutively. The only way that Sandusky will ever leave prison is in a box. The chance of Sandusky living a year is unlikely if he is placed in the general population. You think we are mad about all this? Prisoners hate perverts more than we can ever understand. A high percentage of prisoners were victims of perversion themselves. 


The number of years that Sandusky will serve really doesn't matter. Someone will become a hero wherever Sandusky is placed, will sank him after he received what he did to others. When that happens no one will know or have seen anything surrounding the man. I have represented numerous child molesters. I got appointed to do so. The one thing all these people have in common is they will never admit they are guilty and will never stop their behavior. Perhaps we should lock all the sex offenders on an Island and let them sort out their own problems. Of course, we can't do that. We are not that type of nation. Sandusky will receive the fairest trial of any person in Pennsylvania history. There will be no grounds for a retrial. If you think that he could be found not guilty I have some beachfront property to show you in North Dakota.


I suspect that other people will  have some criminal liability in this matter as well. The victims will be compensated by Penn State, but they can't give these children back their innocence. We need to remember that Penn State is a lot more than a few coaches and administrators. Penn State graduates and students are good and decent people. Let's remember to separate one from another. Penn State is still a special place. It always has been special and always will. Good will prevail over evil. The students at Penn State will be better people after this is over. The Penn State football program won't fall apart. It may wobble as all this mess is sorted out. But in the end Penn State will be Penn State. As horrid as all this is it should make us all better people. 
It should make us think about our social contract we have with our brothers and sisters.


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Thursday, November 10, 2011

What Auburn fans just don't understand about Alabama fans...


Will AU fans ever get it?

     I have been listening to all the Auburn fans twisting the knife in the back of Alabama supporters. Some of the callers were doing so in jest. Others were insulting. My best golfing buddy, Don, is an Auburn fan, a Pentecostal, and a Republican. I’m none of those things. Over the years people have asked us how can you play golf together almost every week for 40 years. We discuss matters of faith. We argue about politics. We never talk about football. That makes our relationship different.

     It is always amusing to me that Auburn fans believe that Alabama fans hang on every word that comes out of Plains. Life can be reduced to three emotions – Love, hate, and indifference. Show me a person who is going through a divorce and are full of anger and hate and show you a person who is still emotionally attached. The same love. Indifference is a totally different animal altogether. If you are indifferent to something it means you just don’t care. That’s how I react to anything Auburn.  I just don’t care what the Tigers do or say. The success of Alabama’s program is not based on Auburns success of failures. I couldn’t tell you the names of five starters for the Tigers. I do know about Michael Dyer. I also know something about their starting quarterback because he graduated from a small AA classification high school.  That’s a good story and big jump for an AA kid. They have a wide-out named Blake. That’s it. Not a single other starter comes to mind.  I know the name of the head coach.  I also am familiar with Trooper Taylor who someone at AU needs to suggest decaf to him.

     When Auburn plays I don’t watch if I can play golf and Alabama is not on the Cable. I guess the most positive feeling about AU is that if they have a good season it makes us look better if we win.  When Alabama and Auburn play I can’ say there is some extra emotion involved. But that emotion is strictly selfish. Auburn loses and I don’t have to listen to my AU fans rub it in. When we win I don’t ever even mention the win to Auburn fans.

     That is what I believe that AU fans can’t grasp. We simply don’t care. Nope, not one little bit. All I know is something that the late John Wooden once said to me – You don’t win by preparing for another team. You win by having your team prepared. He said that to a lot of people, not just to me. So when Auburn and Georgia plays this weekend I don’t care who wins. Seriously, at this very moment I can’t tell you if the game is in Auburn or Georgia. It is a big rivalry for both teams. They care a lot about the outcome. I suspect that most Alabama fans don’t give a tinker’s damn one way or the other. One week of each year I do get fired up. That’s game week. Even though I have never said a single word to any AU fan about Bama wins I know they will not do the same.
I find most Auburn fans mildly amusing. Kind of like the Three Stooges. s

  

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Dirty play taints LSU win...


SHAME - LSU SHAMES THEMSELVES AND THE SEC



RESIDENT LSU SOCIOPATH
 I'm sure the majority of LSU players are good and decent people.  Jefferson and Mathieu are not in that number.  Mathieu committed an assault and battery before an entire nation and a referee standing 10 yards away and he wasn’t kicked out of the game. As tough a lick as that kid from Arkansas laid on the punt receiver last week I believe it was just a case of mistiming. What that little thug did was intentional and was intended to injure a player.  It worked.  Kilpatrick sustained a serious concussion. I am unsure if he was knocked unconscious.
     If playing criminals such as Jefferson and Mathieu are necessary to win football games LSU has become a depraved program. I said as much in an article on Bamabasketball.net a couple of weeks ago stand by that statement today.  Les Miles will do nothing to bench players who tried killing a United States Marine and breaking the neck of Dre Kilpatrick. I stand by those words as well. One day someone will Simper Fi all over Jefferson's punk ass. When that happens 25,000 of the few, the proud, and the brave will claim it was him or her that committed the act.
My poor boys are picked on unfairly
     So let’s set the record straight – LSU’s best defensive player is a drug thug who has now graduated close to getting his first teardrop. I bet the LSU Administration does nothing. Kilpatrick was hurt seriously enough that he lay prone on the field for five minutes. I’ve been a lawyer for over 30 years and what I witnessed was an assault. It wasn’t rough play. The official that let this puck punk kid get away with that needs to be suspended. I don’t even want to start about Michael Williams being on his back with the LSU player stripped him of the ball. Hey, that was merely a head’s up play. If you don’t try stuff like that you never know if you can get away with the theft. You might remember that the NHL was forced to see one of their defensive goons stand trial for assault before they cracked down on violence.

     I’d like to commend the vast majority of the LSU players for winning. It must be noted that in Mathieu’s apology” to Kilpatrick he said it was a technique taught by LSU coaches. I don’t believe that. Miles doesn’t have the guts to kick the kid off the team. What do you think  Nick Saban would have done? He wouldn’t have gone over and patted the kid on the head like he was the victim and not the perp.  I hope we get to play LSU again. It would be another classic game. A great game between two teams with heart and desire. One has class and the other is LSU. I stand by that statement. 

POST SCRIPT:  Where are we as a conference and a nation when we allow people of such low character to represent what used to be the best of America's future. You LSU fans can call this sour grapes if you like. Each of you should be ashamed of your Coach and University President each time Jefferson and that little psychopath walks on the field the honor known as college football.


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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Will Saturday ever get here?

      Okay, I'll admit it. I'm as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof. Whoever scheduled an open date before the LSU/'Bama game should be drawn and quartered. No avid football fan can live in this land of limbo for two weeks before loosing all sense and sensibility. This game has has been debated and argued about to the point of being ridiculous. One thing is certain from listening to all the television and radio personalities who have attempted to predict the score. No one has the foggiest idea of who will win. It has been my observation that the money men in Vegas have a better grasp on games than anyone. Right now the number has Alabama a 5 1/2 favorite. The number has gone up from 3 in the last 12 days. (update: Bama is now -4.5)


     I promised myself that today was the day I'd make my pick. Now I could do something really stupid like saying take LSU and the points but that doesn't really pick a winner. So what I'll say is take LSU and the points and Alabama will win the game. I like 'Bama to  win the game 14-10. There are two reasons: First, the game is being played in Tuscaloosa. Second, I think from top to bottom the Tide has better players. If character of individuals count that will 'Bama the edge. If being a character will help a team then any team that would allow Jordan Jefferson back on the field has the edge. Ironically, all the suspended LSU players have been re-instated for the big game. That will really teach 'em Les.


      Top to bottom LSU is solid. They have a good coach, a good offense, a good defense, great team doctors, and the best criminal defense attorney money can buy. Speaking of buying something it is great to know that the District Attorney's office in Baton Rouge is still doing business as usual. In Louisiana you have the 99% and the 1%. They you have the LSU athletic program.  In Baton Rouge the LSU staff has to guard the game plan and all those get out of jail free cards.  


     A further breakdown leads me to believe:


1. Fumbles lost will be big - neigher team turns the ball over often - call it even


2. The teams are close athletically - Only one team has Don'ta Hightower and Trent Richardson


3. Both teams will be ready with a good game plan. Each team will have broken down not only their oppositions films but there own as well. Look for both teams to run some gimmick plays 
off something that looks familiar to the defense.


4. I doubt that either teams will make a lot of mental errors, although the LSU penalty yards has to be a concern with Tiger coaches.


5. I think LSU has an edge in the quarterbacking due to experience, but not talent. I don't think that Jefferson's ability to run the option will matter much.


6. I'm sure the SEC will put the best officiating team on the field they have to offer.


7. Home field will matter, but great teams are effected less by being on the road. Truly great teams enjoy playing on the road. 


8. I'm not sure how to say that the problems that Tuscaloosa has endured this year has created a unique bond between the team and City,  and if it possible for a crowd to "will" a win it might happen. 


9. In my humble opinion that if Alabama can stop Rueben Randall  the Tide as a better chance will win. I just don't believe the Tigers can run on the Tide. 


10. The team that covers punts the best will likely win. That doesn't mean the team that kicks punts the longest will win. 


I've tried every way possible to believe that LSU will win this game. I can't come up with that scenario.  The Tigers can win. But they won't. Alabama is on a collision course for its next national championship. Bama 14-10, but a beat down by 'Bama late wouldn't stun me. 
     


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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Les Miles is one of a kind

Coach Les Miles
It seems to me the LSU game has gotten a lot more publicity than the national championship game with Texas. Maybe its the fact that almost everyone in the State of Alabama knows the LSU players by name. Les Miles is widely known in Alabama as a either an idiot or a mad genius. He is the luckiest head coach I've every known. Some of his coaching decisions are based on what? The pass that beat Auburn when a field goal would have done is an example. Tennessee having too many men on the field  to give LSU another win is a perfect example.

There is a lot to like about Les Miles. I'm one of those rare 'Bama fans who really enjoy him. A Les Miles press conference is lot like the funny man who lives down the street pontificating on life. Miles seems openly honest. He "aw sucks" attitude and his ability to joke about himself are really funny. Beneath all that though is a very good head football coach. He came from Oklahoma State after rebuilding that program to at least be competitive with arch rival Oklahoma. He is much like by Boone Pickens and everyone likes Pickens. It's a long way from the backwoods of Ohio and and Elyria High School. Miles was an All-State in football and then went to Michigan. He knows earns a  reported 3.75 million dollars annually (not counting potential incentives)  He may be the "Mad Hatter" but if you recall Alice in Wonderland the Mad Hatter wasn't all that mad.

Miles did something at LSU that many consider to be the most difficult job in college football - he took over a program that was riding high and has kept the Tigers at that level ever since. He's done so with a good sense of humor and dead solid perfect recruiting. If you want to understand why he's so successful you need not go further than Nick Saban. He took over Saban's drive for perfection, using basically the same game plan as his predecessor, and then added his personal stamp on the program. All that has added up to a lot of success. From his proclivity to trickery to eating grass its hard not to think about Les Miles. Good, bad, or indifferent depending on your personal perspective, you still have to give him credit for what he has done with the Tigers.
He has been the head coach of a national championship. Tide fans might not remember that Miles was the second choice to Coach the Tide when Mike Shula was hired. Most people in the know maintain that Shula was hired because Miles made it clear that the "good old boys" would have no impute in how he ran his program. The exact thing that Saban did a few years later.

Under Miles the Tigers have gone to bowl games every season, and the Bayou Bengals have become a program to be feared. Saban may have started the Tigers on the path, but Miles has widened the road by shutting down the boundaries to the fertile recruiting ground called Louisiana. It's a tough act to follow Nick Saban. That was the LSU equivalent of who came after the Bear. Miles has been vetted more than any coach in college football. He withstood the storm and fans have come to love him. His public statement of F_ _K Alabama endeared him with his fan base.

There are still goals to be attained for Leslie Miles. He has won a couple of SEC West division titles, but has never won an SEC Title outright. This might be the year. The Tide is a five point favorite going into the game this weekend. Most experts give a team five points for the home field advantage. That means on a neutral field the teams are even.

Whoever wins the game this weekend will not define how good either program is today. This isn't a game where we have good vs. evil, or a historic upset might occur. It is a game where one man chooses to eat grass, and the other chooses to beat down a path on the sideline grass meet once again. I don't know who will win. If I'm a Bama fan I'd hope a lucky bounce isn't involved. We know who is lucky. The age old questin might finally be answered. Would you rather be lucky than good? Don't joke yourself. Luck seems to follow good teams. Ask Paul Bryant.

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