How does Alabama approach Western Carolina...

     I love sitting in my recliner on game day and knowing the Tide is going to win today. Sorry, Coach Saban I know that's not what you want us all to do. When you reach my age you become very independent. Call me a Crimson Rebel this morning. I feel certain we are going to win the Western Carolina game. Next week is going to be the same. We've even turned down tickets to the game so we can host a few friends over to watch Alabama eviscerate the Auburn Tigers. Now, having friends over to watch the Iron Bowl is supreme confidence. I mean, you can't act like a damn fool if things go bad. There can be no gnashing of teeth, tearing our garments, and spreading ashes in the living room.

     What makes this day even better is that our basketball team just won a Tournament in NYC. The kids went to a Madison Square Garden Party and fly home winners. Ahh... take another sip of coffee and suck in the wonderful air of being a Tide fan. We have no concern in the back of minds about who's the top dog in Alabama. We are also the big dog in the SEC. We got bitten by TAM and kudos to them. That still doesn't mean we are not the el perro grande in the league.  My feeling is that after we beat WC and Aubie we will go over to Atlanta and slaughter Georgia. Once again we will be SEC champs and we will reconfirm that Georgia can't win the big game. Then we might even go on to win the national championship. I think we just might. Last season it took an impossible set of circumstances to reach the championship game. This season, the cirucumstances are just improbable. Alabama can beat improbable even it takes us going deep into the fourth quarter to do so.

      That's part of greatness of being a Tide fan. To recite an old World War II saying - the difficult is done immediately. The impossible takes a little longer. You want to know why I love the University of Alabama?  It is because nothing is impossible for Alabama. We come from a region that thrives on being the underdog. How many times has Alabama been declared a dead dog only to rise up and start growling? How many times has Auburn believed they had caught up with the Tide, only to see the reality of who we are come back to haunt them. Yeah, I'm gonna just sit here for a little while and take it all in before the game.

      So how does Alabama approach the Western Carolina game? They'll do exactly what their coach demands of them. Follow the process. Secure the victory. Celebrate the allowed 24 hours, and then get ready to beat the ever living daylights out of hated Auburn. Then we can consider the bigger stuff. Roll Tide Roll.

METTENBURGER SHOWED A LACK OF CLASS AND MATURITY

This is classy ...

Restaurant Tab and Fuck you Tip

     Normally I would never say anything about such classless actions. Something about this photograph really ticked me off. Perhaps it's because one of my daughters was a food server for many years. She said 20% is the minimum. Apparently, Zach Mettenburger, didn't get the memo. I guess we have no way of actually knowing whether this is real or not. According to ESPN the handwriting is very "similiar" to Mettenburger's. One thing we do know is that many of LSU players are just thugs. Whether they are stomping a United States Marine in a fight, or selling MJ, it just shows a lack of proper screening by LSU's coaching staff.

 

     If anyone knows of any additional information let us know. It was the only article (ESPN) I read about the alledged language. This photograph lets all of us know that it is much more difficult to hide such behavior in our society.

IF YOU THINK THINGS ARE DOWN AT BAMA...

LOOK DOWN THE ROAD TO AUBIE...

    Some Bama fans seem to the Crimson world has come to an end with the loss to TAM. I kinda think that Bama is going to sneak in the backdoor of the BCS National Championship game myself. Losing one game a year is not a collapse.  Can you imagine what it is like to be an Auburn Tiger fansright now. Okay, beyond the jokes of "no I can't imagine how anyone can even be a Tiger fan", they must be devasted. We worry about losing one game. Auburn worries about being the winner on America's Funniest Videos. Now that Auburn has won that all important second game they can really focus on Alabama A&M. That means that the Tigers can win 3 games this year. I don't see them beating Alabama in the Iron Bowl. Someone could throw a hand granade in the seating sections of Jordan Hare Stadium and injury nary a soul. A friend told me that he didn't think that more than 10,000 fans stuck around for the finish.

     Auburn has lost their season and their pride already. Now they may lose their head coach, and their top three recruits are seriously looking around. They say a coaching change will change everything in their minds. So in some regards that scenario it also means the Tigers may have lost their immediate future. If Chizik leaves it means all his assitant coaches leave with him. No more Trooper Taylor. If you are  a Tide fan that is reason alone to hope Chizik gets fired. That little ball of sunshine really makes me mad. He is also subject to a lot of speculation about his recruiting this season. Personally, I hope the Tigers keep Chizik forever. Things are not going downhill at Auburn - the hill has landed on top of them. Two seasons back the Tigers were national champions. Now they are national jokes. How many players are on the Auburn football team? It depends on how many the coaches can find on game day.It's been a year of despair and it isn't going to get better anytime soon.

     All this tells me that the system of Saban and his ability to pipeline players into the NFL at the end of three seasons is paying dividends. I can't help thinking how good we might be with Trent in the backfield. Saban said take the money and walk to the NFL. No need to run from Alabama. We'll help you get in the NFL. Someone told me the number of future NFL players  in Bama's could be determined by the number of fresham who play. Those playing are leaving in three years, and Bama wants them to play all they can. Playing as a freshman means recruits want to come play the first year at Alabama. Playing as a freshman is a big deal anywhere. Playing as a freshman at Alabma means you have been annoited to play in the League.

Three and Free at Alabama

     Trying to compare Gene Chizik to Nick Saban is like comparing a camping tent to living in a Hollywood neighborhood where Brad Pitt lives next door. There is no comparison. I know that Coach Chizak seems to be a stand up type guy. I also think Saban is as well. The difference is that Saban will in 13 or 14 games this season and Auburn will win 3  games. Auburn's football program is separated by the distance between the earth and the moon. The Tide might beat the Tigers by 40. Things have fallen that far in two years at the lovliest villiage on the plains. When you look at the success, tradition, and coaches at Alabama you can't imagine the Tide program reaching the depths that Auburn finds themselves today. I think Bama wins another National Championship before Auburn as a 10 win season. I feel sorry for my Auburn buddies. They are good guys. They hurt when their team loses and this season has been so bad they might get addicted to pain meds. They better get to live with it. Things are likely to remain the same before any real progress is made down there. Sad but true.

    

First and goal at the six yard line and...

Series of odd calls...

High water mark for the Tide this season?

     I'll leave it up to the football experts on the forum board to answer this question - If you believe you have the best offensive line in America and Eddie Lacy is your running back, why not run him three or four times to score the winning touchdown?  I may be wrong about my personal feelings but when it was fourth and 2 for the winning touchdown and you have Lacy why throw ball?  Or even beyond that, why throw that type of pass? It was a long throw into a small box with a lot of people all standing around where the ball was headed? Welcome to the SEC Doug Nussmeier. You have landed in a town and state where a lot of fans honestly know enough to second guess your coaching decisions. A lot of times they could be right. I think this past Saturday was one of those times.

Loss of identity...

     In basketball the best thing that can happen on the offensive end of the floor is when someone catches fire.  You know, when shot after shot falls through to hoop. The other four players on the floor just find him and give him the ball.  It seems like to me that the same applies to football. Why throw the ball when you can just turn around and hand it to the running back when he is averaging 8 yards a pop?  Somewhere in the LSU game I think the Tide went from being steamroller and turned into a con artist. Trickery, by passing became a kind of unexpected move that became all to expectable. If we really believe we have the best offensive line in college football why not use them to run the ball. I understand that being a good lineman includes pass blocking. The heart and soul of an offensive lineman is to get down and mean in the trenches. That's what Bama did best. I suspect that the new offensive cooridinator got an earful after the TAM game. He's getting an earful on talk radio right now. It wouldn't surprise me if Alabama didn't throw a pass this weekend.

Barrett Jones lost some money ...

     I think Barrett Jones may be of the most beloved players is Jones. The whole family bleeds Crimson. He is a great lineman. On Saturday, he proved to the NFL that he can't play center. Time and time again TAM quickness got the better of Jones. If the center is having a hard time blocking then all the lineman struggle. A football coach told me that once. It makes sense. If your leader is getting beat it has to have some effect on the team. This might be the first time it was this obvious. He may still the best lineman in America but he wasn't this past weekend.

       Bama runs the ball between the tackles. Our version of a sweep is when Lacy or Yeldon runs off tackle and then cuts outside. Why doesn't the Tide run some wide plays to keep the defensive linebackers a little wary? I'm not saying I'm correct. I just wonder why we don't ever do that. We occasionally run a reverse. What good does that do when you never try to get the ball on the corner to set a reverse later?

      I still believe Alabama will lose no additional games this season. That means four more wins. Where else in America would 13-1 be a bad season. Auburn might win that many games for three years. Back to Forum

'Bama falls to # 4

'Bama can still play in national championship...

      Alabama didn't just lose on Saturday, they had their still beating hearts jerked from their chest. 2 yards isn't very far. The failure to make those 2 yards might come back to haunt Alabama for the remainder of the year. Then again, perhaps not. Maybe this will cause the team to understand that just walking on the field doesn't mean automatic victory. Who can blame them for feeling that way? Certainly not me. They have proven time and time to each of us it is more likely than not they can do just that. That was then and this is now... but some things need to happen again. It is deja vu all over again as they say.

Tide needs some help...

     Granted Alabama is going to need some help along the way. There are three undefeated teams before # 4 ranked 'Bama. Here is each teams remaining schedule:

• Oregon Ducks... The Ducks are a great football team on offense. The real question is what happens when they play a good defensive team? They have a home game with Stanford, and the Cardinal is not a pushover. Still, you have to I think like Oregon on this one. The Ducks then  then they travel to Corvallis to play arch-rival Oregon State. The Beavers are enjoying a good season. It would be a mild upset, but I think Oregon will win.

• Kansas State... You have to admire the watt Bill Synder coaches. He is quiet and unassuming. The Wildcats play at Baylor on the road, (no easy win) and then host Texas at home. Texas has really improved. They are now better than decent, verging on good. Baylor is always tough at home. I think the Wildcats, a program not used the national championship heat  might very well lose one of those games.

• Notre Dame... I'm not quite sure why Alabama fans hate the Irish so much. If you do I think you might be rewarded with a slip up by the Irish before season's end. They have beaten Oklahoma on the road. You know Oklahoma don't you - the team of "next year" but never this year. That is all they have done. That and beat a bunch of pretty sorry teams. They got a gift from the refs in the Stanford game, and almost got beat by Pitt.   After destroying Wake Forest the Irish then travel to Los Angeles to play Southern Cal. Mark this one down - USC will beat Notre Dame. The game will be season saver for the Trojans. And If we have to pull for Lane Kiffin I am willing to set aside my lack of respect for him for one game.

         Three games to keep in mind for all Tide fans. Notre Dame at Southern California, Texas at Kansas State, and Oregon at Oregon State. I wouldn't rule out Kansas State at Baylor. Those are the key games for Bama fans to look forward to pulling for an upset. Logic dictate that all the favorites will win. That doesn't always happen. Two of those occur and Alabama will play for the Crystal once again. If not, we know who we will play for a very short list. I hope we play Notre Dame for the national championship. We might play them somewhere else however. Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

        The PAC  has a conference championship. It looks  like that might help, Alabama. We didn't  have to play in a conference championship game last season. Notre Dame doesn't have a league. They hardly have a real schedule in my opinion. Kansas State doesn't have to play in a conference championship game. Can a one loss team jump over an undefeated team. Under the current format the answer is yes. In reality, the rest of the nation will not let another one loss SEC team in the National Championship unless other possible teams have one loss anyway. There is an anti-SEC sentiment this year which has bordered on stupidity.

      The team I'd least like to play if we make it to the Championship game? Oregon. I'm tired of watching spread offenses. Also, those awful uniforms that gives new meaning to ugly are unbearable.  Give me Notre Dame as the team I'd like most off all. KSU is really pumped to play. I would be excited to play KSU if it was for the national championship, but otherwise I think the Tide would annihalate the Wildcats. One great thing about Nick Saban is that he has a way of getting his teams attention. Ask Michigan State. Or better yet, ask Auburn at the end of the Iron Bowl. Bottom line is this that Alabama still has a chance to play in the national title game. I'm not overly optimistic that it will happen two years in a row. But then...

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TIDE NEEDS SOME HELP

Bama has lost a game...

     It was a game that started in stunned disbelief. It ended in utter disbelief. For the second consecutive week the proud Alabama defense was left torn and tattered. The coach wearing the Superman S on this chest was named Sumlin and not Saban. For all Alabama fans it was a world turned upside down.

         This time the offense failed to deliver the win. It was not through lack of effort. Alabama's offense got down to the TAM 2 yard line and was ready to score the winnng touchdown. Exactly why it didn't happen really doesn't matter. A hundred things had occured prior to McCarron's final pass of the night. Any number of those things could have spelled winning and not losing. It really would serve no purpose today to even talk about those things. All that matters is the Crimson Tide lost a game. If it makes any difference it did take the best player in the SEC to make it happen. Johnny Manziel is the most exciting, dynamic, and skilled player in the SEC. What he did to Alabama's defense in the first quarter was like knowing  Jack the Ripper had come back to life. Before the Tide could blink they were behind 20-0. It proved to be a lead that Alabama could not overcome.

         You must give the Alabama defense some credit in the last three quarters for finding themselves and  setting down. Slowly, the defense started to show some dominance. Anything A&M got after halftime was earned. The defense  only gave up 9 points in the 2nd half. The defense gave the offense a chance to win.

       And as bad as Alabama started they were down only 20-14 at halftime.It looked for all the world that the Crimson and White would come out in the second half and win. Only it didn't happen. Alabama fans might take some solace in the fact that there was once again no quit in this team. Despite how deep the ditch that Alabama dug for themselves in the first half they fought back Only this week was back was to the 2 yard line  and not the endzone. Just like last season the team must now hope for an improbable sequence of events that might somehow get them into the national championship. It isn't impossible. Southern California could almost single handedly make that happen. That means Alabama fans must pull for Lane Kiffin. Ironic.

         The sad truth is that voters in the polls do not want an SEC team, Alabama in particular, to win another national championship. I think Alabama would knock the paint off the helmets of both Notre Dame and Kansas State in head to head matches. It's possible that the Tide might play one of those teams the last game of their respective seasons. Whether it is for all the marbles is just not likely. Lightning can strike twice in the same place after all. The Crimson Tide fans all believe in lightning. After all, they had seen lightning in the form of Johnny Manziel rip and roar through Alabama with amazing ease. Anything is possible.


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Tide better be ready or they can lose...

Texas A&M is on a roll...

     Behind all the hype and swooning over Johnny Football it is important to remember TAM has a great football team. Ask Auburn and Mississippi State just how good the Aggies are this year. Not all of this success is due to a kid that was recruited by most schools as a safety. Alabama will be prepared for Johnny Manziel. Being prepared and being successful are two different things. I'm not sure how you prepare for a firefly with turboboosters. This young man is the most exciting player in the SEC. He may not be the best player in the SEC but man is he fun to watch.  I think Kirby Smart will play Manziel with containment in mind and force #2 to beat his players through the air. TAM is going to have some success against Alabama. This isn't going to be a 21-0 beatdown like the Tide put on LSU last season. Never sell Saban and Smart short. They'll have something for the freshman to look and wonder what the heck are they doing.

 

How tired is Alabama?

 

      Once again the Tide is forced to play a team with a week off. Does everyone take a vacation the week before Alabama? It seems like it. The SEC needs to address this real problem. It may be a designed effort to level the playing field. If so, it hasn't worked. A lot has been made of the how hard the defense had to play against LSU. More has been made of the number of plays the Tide was forced to play last week. Both observations are true, but Alabama has so much depth on defense  they were able to rotate a lot of players on and off the field. The best defense that Alabama has this weekend will be their offense in my opinion. Expect the Tide to pound the Aggies time and time again. Look for AJ McCarron to throw the wide out screen to spread out Aggie defense. All things considered this is going to be a game where the runnng backs for Alabama are going to get a lot more carries than usual. Manziel can't beat you sitting by the fan on the sideline. Bama needs to control the line of scrimmage and control the clock. That's my opinion. It could be wrong but it seems logical. One thing is certain - the Alabama offense didn't exactly wear itself down against LSU. So the Tide offense may end up being the best defense of the game. Long and sustained drives are key. Keep that clock running. I believe that TAM's defense isn't up to the task of stopping the Tide offense, particularly the run game.

 

Bama should win this game...

 

      Last weekend Alabama fans were confident of a Tide win. Bama won but it wasn't easy and it took a brilliant drive at the end of the game to do so. This weekend it appears that Tide fans are a little less confident. No one expected TAM to be this good. Of course, no one knew Johnny Football then. This kid is the most instinctive quarterback I've ever seen. He doesn't seem to plan anything. He just does everything needed to do. Alabama is not likely to rush pass the TAM signal caller. They will push, build a defensive wall, and make him throw. It is going to be similiar game plan Bama used against LSU last season when Jefferson was playing. The only difference is that Jefferson isn't in the same league as Manziel. Texas A & M has a great offensive line with at least two players who will play in NFL. We need to be realistic however. TAM is likely to move the and score some points. Scoring some points is okay. Scoring points in bunches isn't okay, but I don't think that is likely.

     If Bama wins this weekend there is no one left on the regular season who can beat them. You look at the SEC East and I don't see anyone who can beat them. This weekend might be a preview about how the Tide will fare against a team like the Oregon Ducks.

Bama by 17.

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