About Me

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My name is Eric. My love of and loyalty to the University of Alabama football team is unparalleled and completely inappropriate. I hate all other teams, and wish them peril. Also, you can hear my music at www.reverbnation.com/EricBlackerby or www.youtube.com/EricBlackerbyMusic

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Never To Yield Foundation (My Response)

This is an open letter to the writer of the article that appeared on the Never To Yield Foundation's website yesterday afternoon. The article was titled, "The Cult Of Updyke: When The So-Called Exceptions Become The Rule"

I was on my way to work when I was notified by phone of the article. An Auburn buddy of mine told me of the story and that I was mentioned in it. So I pulled to the side of the road and read it. My first thought was that you obviously had put alot of time into it. Then I got a little mad at some of the insults thrown at Bama fans. But as a fair minded individual, I tried to see things from your perspective.

I must admit that you are right about a few things

Several months ago, I would've bristled at the assertion that the Alabama fanbase, as a whole, can be painted with such a broad brush. But as I thought about it, maybe you have some points

It is true that many Tide fans have embraced Harvey Updyke. Hell, I'm Facebook friends with him myself, and he and I talk from time to time. I find him to be an interesting, humorous, fairly decent dude. That made a mistake. Allegedly. But nevermind his guilt or innocence. That is not the point.

The point is that most of us are so quick to shout at the top of our lungs that we are NOT LIKE HARVEY! And then, five minutes later we laugh with our friends about what he supposedly did, or as I have done myself, have a chat with the guy.

So we find it pretty damn funny that a dude could be so "full of Bama" or passionate about this stuff, that he would want to poison some trees. As ridiculous as the actual act is, I admit that I find it to be hilarious

That's not to say I would ever have done such a thing myself. There really is a difference between being able to empathize with someone or finding what they did to be funny, and actually being the type of person to do it yourself

Obviously, from your basement it's hard for you to differentiate between such things.

I would like to ask this, though. How am I still on your mind? It has been 6 freaking months since SEC Media Days. Alot has happened since then. Alabama lost a regular season game and still got to play the team they lost to again. And they won. Remember that? Yes, I know you do. And it KILLS YOU, doesn't it?

It must.

I know it would kill me if I were to have to witness my rival win a National Championship one year. Then answer right back with a National Championship of my own. AND MY FIRST IN OVER 50 YEARS!!!! And then have to watch them say, "Oh yeah, well we'll just do it again!!!"

Sandwiching your rival's one title on either side of two of your own is a very big brother thing to do, wouldn't you say? Well, you probably wouldn't SAY that, even as much as I'm sure you know it, because your pride and misplaced arrogance would never allow you to admit to Bama's greatness. But nothing you can say or do, no amount of retarded lies and propaganda that you can post on your cute little website, none of that can take away the facts and what you have to live with every day

You label me as someone who doesn't know how to keep a rivalry in perspective, and well, you're actually right on that one. But you say we are much more obsessed with hating Auburn than we are with just loving Alabama. You assume that we will just believe that you are not the same way.

Despite the fact that the very writing that you put out there clearly shows the opposite. How obsessed are you? You long-winded, deflecting Barner. How do you even see with that plank in your own eye. How did you even navigate your way to your laptop with all the bullshit piling up around you?

But back to me for a second. Man, I really got in your head, didn't I? And all I had to do was wear a T-Shirt. To a hotel. In Birmingham. I didn't even have to show up in Auburn and spit on anyone. Didn't have to slap any old ladies or cuss at any women. I wish I had known years ago that this was all it took for me to live in your little mind for almost 7 months.

How am I not old news? What have I said or done ANYWHERE in the last several months that would've warranted being included in this article? Nothing at all

What did I even do in the FIRST place to be lumped in with accused criminals? Nothing at all

All I did was wear a shirt that conveyed my feelings for the team that is the chief rival of the team I love

So I know that you must have me bookmarked on your browser there. That's obvious, because nothing has been recent enough for you to have involved me in this. You have obviously been stewing since July over the fact that some forklift operator, who never even darkened the doorstep of a college classroom, would have the GALL to disrespect such a fine institution as Auburn.

Since you are so awesome at making assumptions about people, and an entire fanbase, I know you must have plenty of assumptions about me. I've seen more than my fair share of asinine things said about me in the past few months. So let me take a crack at a few facts that might surprise you

First off, I don't live in a trailer. My apartment, that I share with my wife and two roommates is actually quite nice

I don't drive an old car, or a truck of any kind. My 2011 model automobile wasn't even manufactured in the US

Since you probably think I'm such a redneck, I know it would surprise you to also learn the CD that is currently being played in the CD player of my car this week: Biggie Smalls: Ready To Die

And I'm quite certain you would never take me for an Obama supporter, but come November I plan on casting my vote for his re-election. You really should try something else. You're not very good at judging people and making broad assumptions

Oh, and

ROLL DAMN TIDE

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Dre Kirkpatrick Arrested

By now, most of you know that Dre Kirkpatrick was arrested yesterday and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Also charged was Chris Rogers, another former Bama player.

The initial reaction was a mixed bag of ignorance. On one hand, of course, you had the Auburn fans who wanted to laugh about it. That is expected. And they can sleep well tonight knowing that none of our players have been arrested recently on charges of HOME INVASION or anything like that. Just simple possession of pot

On the other hand, you have Alabama fans who are acting like Dre shot someone, or committed some other crime against humanity. The dude simply was in possession of a drug. For personal use.

I will use one person's facebook post as one example. This is an Alabama fan, who last night, posted the following:

"Dre Kirkpatrick....this is so sad....I thought you were a great person....But apparently, you had us all fooled...what a waste of great talent"

Ok, seriously????

Dre is in a position right now to make millions of dollars in the NFL Draft in a few months. He is projected to be a very high pick, even as high as the top 10 of the first round. He is a father. To say that it showed really poor judgment for him to put himself in this situation in the first place, with all that is on the line, is an understatement. It is really dumb for him to allow such a thing to happen, with all that it could cost him.

But he's a bad guy now? A waste of talent?

Give me a break

At the end of the day, I don't expect this to affect Dre too harshly. Sure, it might raise a few questions, and it could cause a team or two to pass on him

But someone I know, who knows Dre's sister, told me that Dre tested negative in the drug test upon being arrested. That his blood and urine were clean. So maybe it was a case of wrong place, wrong time. Maybe he wasn't even actually using the stuff, just was in possession of it. He was rolling with someone who had something he shouldn't. You never know the true details of these things

He simply made a mistake. He showed poor judgment. And technically speaking, because it is against the law for now, it was a crime. It's also against the law to drive above the speed limit. I drove 75 miles an hour on the interstate yesterday afternoon. That is 5 miles ABOVE THE LAW. I know this makes me a bad person too

I'm sorry. I'm just not too upset about someone smoking weed. I'm much more concerned with things that, you know, actually hurt other people

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Six Alabama Seniors To Play In Senior Bowl (Also, Links)

Six Of Alabama's departing seniors are headed to Mobile to play in the Senior Bowl. The game will be played one Jan. 28 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium

Courtney Upshaw leaves Alabama as one of my all time favorite players. He was the Defensive Player Of The Game in the Game That Counted.  A rap song has even been written in reference to his famous "Touch that thang" quote after the game last Monday night. You can see that awesomeness here: TOUCH THAT THANG FOLK. Parental Advisory for language and all that

William Vlachos was an underrated prospect coming out of Mountain Brook in 2007. When Antoine Caldwell left Alabama after the 2008 season, he said that we should look forward to Vlachos, cause he was going to be a beast. Good call, Antoine. Vlachos started the last 40 games at Center

DeQuan Menzie was supposed to come to Alabama and be an immediate stud in 2010. He was slowed a bit last year by an Achilles injury, but this year there were many who thought he was our best cover corner, even better than soon to be first round pick Dre Kirkpatrick

I hate so bad to see Marquis Maze leave!!! One of my favorite memories of Maze was off the field, at the spring game in 2010, when they pulled up to the light next to us, and Maze was dancing and jumping up and down, running around in the bus like a fool. I bet that dude would be hilarious to hang out with. Such passion as a player on the field. It was terrible to see him have to miss most of his last game at Bama, but he is Tarrant, AL's only claim to fame and I will miss the hell out of him

Mark Barron could have been gone after last season, and if not for a shoulder injury toward the end of the 2010 season, he might have. But he was the unquestioned leader of the best secondary in the country. Yes, I said BEST SECONDARY IN THE COUNTRY. Cause I don't give a SHIT about the Honey Badger and his buddies

Josh Chapman was the second highest rated defensive lineman coming out of his own high school in 2007. His Hoover High School teammate Kerry Murphy was a 5 star player, but never panned out for whatever reason. Josh filled in nicely during the 2008 and 2009 seasons whenever Terrance Cody needed a breather and in the last couple seasons he was our best lineman in the middle.

All these guys are gonna be missed a great deal. Roll Tide to them all, and let's all be thankful to them for being the foundation to the best 3 year stretch of Alabama football since the 70's

Tide's Defense Defines Legacy

A New Golden Age Of Alabama Football?

National Championship Celebration

No Alabama Player Has Left A Mark Like Trent Richardson

Alabama Also Tops In Recruiting

Under The Radar Recruits

2012 Will Be The Year Of The Quarterback In The SEC

New Assistant Coaches

In my last post, I talked about Sal Sunseri leaving Alabama for Tennessee, and I used former Alabama assistant Lance Thompson as an expample of why we would be fine without Sunseri. 


When Thompson left for Tennessee in 2008, we went on to be perfectly fine of course. And I joked about Thompson not being such a big loss in hindsight


Well, guess who's back?


Lance Thompson has told his friends and others that he will be leaving Tennessee and going BACK to Alabama now, to take over the position that Sunseri will now be vacating. A sort of assistant trade, effectively


Either way, I expect not much to change. Sunseri and Thompson are both fine recruiters and coaches, but obviously it's the big guy calling all the shots that I will give all the credit to


Also, it appears that we now know who will be replacing Jim McElwain as OC. University of Washington offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier will be leaving Washington to take the same position at Bama. Nussmeier coached Jake Locker at Washington. He also took over at Fresno St when Jim McElwain originally left there to come to Bama. Before that, he had spent some time as the QB Coach for the St. Louis Rams. He is said to be good at developing QB's and he has a great one to work with for at least the next two seasons, so we shall see

Friday, January 13, 2012

Sal Sunseri Leaving Alabama

Sal Sunseri has been Alabama's Linebackers Coach for the last few years. He's been one of our best recruiters and one of my favorite coaches on the team. His son Vinnie was a freshman safety at Bama this year and is a future star. 


Sal is leaving Alabama to be the Defensive Coordinator at Tennessee. I understand that he wants to move up, as every coach does. It's totally normal for a guy to want to move to a higher position


This reminds me of when Lance Thompson left Alabama in 2008, for Tennessee, and then had to watch Alabama win 2 National Titles.


I always laugh every time I think about Lance. He was seen as our top recruiter at the time, and got recognition as one of the top recruiters in the country.


Yeah, that was a big loss. Our recruiting has stayed the same, just as I expect it to without Sal


Nick Saban is the reason for every amount of success at Alabama these days, and will continue to be so.


No matter who the assistants are


"I love my Dad. I'll root for him every day of the year, except for the third Saturday in October" - Bama Safety Vinnie Sunseri, one of my favorite young guys on the team

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Alabama Interviews Offensive Coordinator Candidates

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Jacksonville Jaguars OC Dirk Koetter interviewed on Wednesday to replace Jim McElwain, who is now the head coach at Colorado State.
Koetter may be looking for another opportunity since the Jags have changed head coaches
Former New York Jets OC Brian Schottenheimer, son of longtime NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, reportedly met with Saban in New Orleans about the position.
Marty Schottenheimer has interviewed for the Tampa Bay Bucs job, however, possibly setting the stage for a father-son situation in the NFL. Brian, 38, has been an NFL assistant with St. Louis, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego, as well as college jobs at Syracuse and Southern California.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (Tide Players Declare today)

Trent Richardson, Dont'a Hightower, Dre Kirkpatrick, Robert Lester, Barrett Jones, Chance Warmack, DJ Fluker

These guys are all draft eligible at the conclusion of this past season. Every one of them could decide to leave Alabama and declare for the NFL Draft, if they chose to do so

Alabama will hold a press conference at 1pm Central Time today for all these guys to announce their decisions

At this point, Lester, Jones, Warmack, and Fluker have all stated that they will be returning for another season. Fluker is technically a Sophomore, though this is his 3rd year since he redshirted as a Freshman. So DJ could potentially play two more seasons for the Tide if he wanted

It is widely assumed that Hightower is gone. This was actually his 4th season at Alabama. He became a starter as a true freshman in 2008, before tearing his ACL in the Arkansas game in 2009. The NCAA granted him a Medical Redshirt, so 2009 didn't count toward his eligibility. So he could come back next year, but considering that he already has suffered a major injury, he should announce today that he is leaving

Kirkpatrick hasn't indicated anything one way or the other, and nobody really knows what he is going to do. My personal guess is that he will leave, but that is just my opinion.

Trent should definitely leave early and go ahead and play in the NFL in 2012. He is going to be a high first round pick, probably one of the top 10 players drafted. Which means millions of dollars. Trent also turns 22 in June and if he comes back to Alabama next year, he will be 23 when he does finally get to the NFL. Everyone knows that running backs have the least amount of years they can last in the NFL. Trent also has two daughters who he could provide for if he left. Nick Saban always advises players that if they are going to be a high 1st round pick, they should go. With all that said, I am expecting Trent to go

It also wouldn't surprise me if he came back. He has made it clear several times how difficult it would be for him to leave Alabama and how much he wants to stay another year. He stated last night that he still hasn't made his decision and I believe him. Trent loves Alabama and wants to play for the Tide another year. But will be choose to do so, or will he choose to go ahead and move to the next chapter in his life? Like I said, I think he will move on, and best of luck to him in the future. He has 2 rings, and he should've won the Heisman Trophy. Not much more he could've done for Bama

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!

In 2008, when Nick Saban was first recruiting AJ McCarron to be his future QB, AJ told Saban that if he came to Alabama, he would win a National Championship for Nick.


Just wanted to point that out, cause it's AWESOME!!!!


AJ is the only sophomore QB to ever win a BCS National Championship game. And we have him for two more years! I'm really excited about his future.


This was so 1992 of Alabama. The way it all went down. LSU players even played their part by being loudmouth dumbasses in the days leading up to the game. And it was in the same stadium


Will Blackwell, a starting offensive lineman for the Tigers, was one of the worst. He stated on ESPN that he didn't feel that Alabama deserved the right to play them again. Then after the game, he said that it was the worst officiated game he had ever seen, blaming the refs. When asked why they weren't as prepared, he basically stated that it was because they didn't consider Alabama to be a challenge so they weren't able to get excited about playing them again, since they had already beaten them


I'm really glad they felt that way. Way to man down, Will.


It's truly incredible to consider some of the things that happened on Monday night. Alabama is not only the first team to win a national championship game in a shutout, but they are the first team to win a BCS bowl in a shutout. 


They held LSU to only 92 yards in the game. TOTAL. Trent Richardson had 96 yards rushing by himself, including the final dagger, a 34 yard TD run in the 4th quarter, the only TD scored between these two teams in 8 quarters of play and overtime


LSU's Jordan Jefferson only threw the ball for 53 yards. That's hilarious


AJ McCarron threw for 234 yards. Which is more than previous Bama QB's Greg McElroy, Jay Barker, and Steadman Shealey had thrown for in the past 3 Bama National Championship games COMBINED.


"So I want everybody to think here for a second, how much does this game mean to you? Cause if it means something to you, you can't stand still. You understand? You play fast! You play strong! You go out there and dominate the man you're playing against and you MAKE HIS ASS QUIT! That's our trademark! That's our M.O....as a team! That's what people know us as!"


That was Nick Saban's pregame speech to the team before the 2008 Alabama-LSU game. It may have taken a few years, but this team made good on that speech in a way that no Alabama team had in the last 3 seasons. 


They made LSU quit. Somewhere in the 3rd quarter, it was clear to everyone that LSU wanted no more of Alabama. They were done, and they knew it. Les Miles could've put in Jarrett Lee to try to get something going, since it was obvious that Jefferson didn't have a prayer. But it wouldn't have mattered. And he knew it


This Alabama defense was prepared for everything LSU could possibly do. They were prepared in a way that I have never seen a defense be prepared. 


In the 44 days between the Iron Bowl and this game, Alabama's players and coaches watched 5 years of film on LSU. They watched every offensive play LSU had used since 2006. They were prepared for absolutely ANYTHING that could happen. And nothing LSU could do was going to work. And it didn't


The thing that I hope people take from this, and I've already seen enough to know better, is that I hope they give credit where it's due. Most people's initial reaction was to wonder why in the world LSU looked so poor on offense. 


Why was a team that had averaged 38 points a game all year unable to get across the 50 yard line more than ONCE?


Why did Les Miles not turn to Lee, when it was apparent that Jefferson wasn't going to get anything done?


The answer to that first question, if you are honest with yourself, has nothing to do with the ability of any of LSU's offensive players or the execution of any play they attempted. 


It is simply because Alabama, in 2011, had one of the best defenses the sport has ever seen. And in this game, they had the greatest defense of all time. This was a performance like none that has ever been seen on defense, and there isn't a team in the country that was going to score against Josh Chapman, Damion Square, Jesse Williams, Nico Johnson, Dont'a Hightower, CJ Mosley, Jerrell Harris, Dre Kirkpatrick, Dequan Menzie, Demarcus Milliner, Robert Lester, and Mark Barron on Monday night, January 9, 2012


It wasn't going to happen


And it didn't


The answer to the second question is simple. NICK SABAN MADE HIS ASS QUIT!!!! He knew he wasn't going to be able to beat Bama at that point, and he gave up! He quit trying!!! Because Alabama's stifling defense was too much 


On the other side of the ball, why did college football's Defensive Player Of The Year get completely and totally abused and embarrased the entire night?


Because he couldn't cover MY fat ass, that's why! Tyrann Mathieu is not a good cover corner. He's not even the best defensive back on his own team. That would be Thorpe Award winner Morris Claiborne. No, the "Honey Badger" got his fame from making big plays cause on almost every snap, all he was focused on doing was trying to strip the ball out or force a fumble, instead of playing sound football, or doing anything at all that would resemble covering or tackling


As someone else put it so well, Tyrann Mathieu is more overrated than stuffed crust pizza AND Dan Mullen


Oklahoma St head coach Mike Gundy, stated that he feels like his team would've played much better and would've at least scored some touchdowns, because they would have thrown the ball 50 times, as he put it


Sure, Mike. And we would've had 5 or 6 interceptions instead of 1 and we would've scored 40 or 50 points on your ignorant ass, instead of 21. Get over it, 44 year old man. Everyone else knows better


And all you're doing, is being like most people around the country


You're just hating. 


Haters gonna hate


Hate on


Alabama has now had National Championships in '25, '26, '30, '34, '41,'61,'65,'66, '73,'78,'79, '92,'09, and '11. The win-loss record for these 14 teams combined is 157-7


I don't know when the next National Championship is going to happen, but who doubts it will be in the next 2 or 3 years?


"What I wish I could do with my final AP ballot: Have a three-way tie for second between Bama, LSU and Oklahoma St. All too flawed for No. 1," - Seth Emerson, AP voter, Hater, dumbass


"Credit where it's due. Starting with Nick Saban. That was an absolute masterpiece. Go ahead and put that one in a time capsule, and blast it into orbit. No turnovers. No points. And absolutely no mercy. And they did it right in LSU's backyard. They bumrushed them in their own crib, they drank all their beer, they partied with their ladies, and they left with the trophy. There are a handful of great college coaches, but with 3 BCS titles, and a virtual guarantee that he will add to that number, it is now the Nicktator and everybody else. This cat is in a class all by himself" - Jim Rome, speaking the truth


Roll Tide

Monday, January 9, 2012

The Day Is Finally Here (A Message For The Haters)

You would've thought this day would never arrive. It was 40 something days ago when Alabama completely dominated Auburn on their own field. It was 30 something days ago when LSU dominated Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. The hype is at an all time high. People are acting like this is the biggest game in the history of football

And for the States of Alabama and Louisiana, it's definitely one of the biggest

I'll be glad when we can watch what is actually going to transpire on the field, instead of looking ahead to what all the talking heads think will happen. Everyone is looking forward to this game

Although if you were to take them at face value, you would think the Auburn fans/Haters in the Media won't even be watching

Don't let those bastards lie to you. They will be watching every second of it. Just like everyone else

Looking at how they are talking about this game, one has to wonder why they even bothered to watch the SEC Championship Game last year. After all, it was a rematch. Auburn and South Carolina had played during the regular season already. The first game ended in a narrow Auburn victory. So they had already seen that game right?

"Question: Should I re-watch a game I've already seen tomorrow night, or get some sleep?" - Auburn blogger, and friend of mine, Ross Collings, in a tweet yesterday. You can read his blog, A Brit Of Orange And Blue if you'd like. You can also contact him , via His Twitter Account

My response to him was that since, TOMORROW'S game won't be played until TOMORROW, I'd love to know how he'd already seen it. Of course I know what he means

But it's one of the dumbest arguments I've ever heard anyone try to claim as a legitimate argument: That just because Alabama and LSU already played during the season, that this game is pointless and will just be the same thing right over again

LSU's season in 2011 was one of the greatest in the history of college football. They defeated teams that would go on to win the Rose Bowl, The Orange Bowl, The Cotton Bowl, and they beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa and Georgia in the Georgia Dome for the SEC Championship. No doubt that they have had quite an amazing season. But the assertion that they would deserve any part of the national championship, even if they lose to Alabama the second time around, is absolutely laughable

This the BCS National Championship Game. This game is played for a damn reason. TO DECIDE THE NATIONAL CHAMPION!!!

Of course, we could just go back to the way it was before the BCS and let the AP vote on who the champ is. It would probably be LSU. But that is irrelevant, because that is not how things are done anymore. We have a National Championship GAME now. TO DECIDE THE NATIONAL CHAMPION

I really don't even know why there is a debate

In 2007, the New England Patriots had the greatest season in NFL history. They went 16-0, the first team to ever do so. They won their two playoff games, to extend their record to 18-0 on the year. In the Super Bowl, their opponent was the New York Giants. The same Giants they had faced at the end of the regular season. The same Giants that they had narrowly defeated the first time they played. So, since the Patriots hadn't even lost a single game that year at the time, much less to the Giants who they had already defeated, this second game should've been a waste of everyone's time, right? I mean, everyone knew what to expect. We had already seen it. We had seen the Giants give it their best shot, and come up short. We had seen the Patriots beat the Giants one time already that year. Why see it again? Wouldn't the same thing happen again?

NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND

The Giants defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl, thus becoming the NFL Champions for the 2007 season, 2008 Super Bowl

I wonder if they see it as a tainted victory since everyone considers them "Co-Champs" with the Patriots. Oh wait, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. Because The Giants won the Super Bowl! They won the Championship Game

Tonight's game in New Orleans is for the BCS National Championship. If Alabama loses again, then they will deserve no part of any championship, and the entire season will go to LSU, who would completely deserve it

But if Alabama wins. If Alabama beats LSU this time around, there should be no debate. Why should there be? After all, they would have won the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. And therefore would be the National Champions.

Get over yourselves, haters. And you Auburn fans really need to get off your high horse and stop pretending that you are doing anything other than just hating on Bama. 

I'll go first: I will freely admit, that if the fortunes were reversed, and it were AU getting this second chance instead of Bama.....I would probably be acting as childish and ignorant as you are

Friday, January 6, 2012

Under Armour All America Game (Bama Gets Two Huge Commitments)

The Under Armour All America High School Football game was played tonight and Landon Collins, the top rated Safety in the land,  was set to make his decision public as to where he would spend his college football career. Even though he is from the state of Louisiana, and despite the fact that his mama made it known that she didn't approve, Landon said he had two words for everyone: Roll Tide.

Damn right, Landon

This is a truly huge get for Alabama. This guy is a stud, an almost can't miss instant star. People are comparing him to Eric Berry, as far as the immediate impact he could make and the ability he has. In the game tonight, he had a huge INT and played very well all around

And to take him right out of LSU's back yard is always awesome. They are the number one team in the country, have already beaten us this year, and we have taken two of the top recruits from their state, including Denzel Devall.

Before Landon committed though, we already had cause for excitement as one of the top 5 WR's in the country, or one of the top 5 CB's (Whichever position he ends up playing), Cyrus Jones, announced that he would be coming to Tuscaloosa.

These are two of our biggest commitments of the year, both on the same night

Another guy who stood out in the game was WR Amari Cooper from Miami, who will also be a future Bama player. He had a 92 yard kick return for a TD, plus a few great catches also

The future is bright, and it just keeps getting brighter

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Recruiting Update

My last post about recruiting was in August when Geno Smith committed. Alot has happened since then. We got our hopes up about the top QB in the country, Jameis Winston. Winston is from Hueytown, AL, just up the interstate from Tuscaloosa and we all thought we would get him

Alas, he committed to FSU. But since then, he has visited Alabama and there is a little buzz that he could still end up playing for the Tide. We shall wait and see on that one.

As for the players who are going to be rolling with us for sure, there are many promising prospects that include a few big names in recruiting circles.

Since August we have had 8 commitments, starting with Darius Philon. Darius is a 3 star defensive end from the Mobile area, and it was especially sweet to get him since he had previously been committed to Auburn.

Amari Cooper is a 4 star WR from Miami. He turned down FSU, Miami, and Ohio State to play for Alabama.

Brandon Hill is a 3 star offensive guard from the state of Georgia, who had offers from Georgia, Tennessee, Nebraska, and others

Kurt Freitag is a 3 star TE from Georgia who turned down Georgia and Auburn to play for Bama. He's said to be an old school TE, who is a great blocker and a hard worker. Another Preston Dial, I suppose

Denzel Devall is a 4 star DE from Louisiana, who camped at LSU before ultimately picking Alabama. Since Saban has come to Bama, we have gotten a couple great recruits from that state each year and I always love it

T.J. Yeldon is one of the top 3 running backs in the country and was one of my favorite recruits throughout this process. He originally committed to AU, before switching to Bama. But the timing of it makes me like him even more. He switched his commitment at the last minute, the night before the dead period where AU coaches couldn't contact him until the second week of January. Since he is enrolling early at Bama, this next week in fact, it will be too late for AU to try to steer him back to the cow pasture. He is another in a continuing line of great backs that Saban is bringing to the Capstone. 

Travell Dixon is the top JUCO corner in the country. And of course he wants to play for the best developer of defensive backs in the country. Travell also endeared himself to me on the night he committed when he did a UStream chat that went on for about 2 hours, where he took questions from fans and just chatted and had a good time with us. He answered several of my questions and I will really be rooting for him to be a star

Alphonse Taylor is a 6'6" 340 pound giant of a lineman that was originally committed to FSU, before switching to Bama. 


With only a few weeks left until signing day, we are in it for several more top prospects. Right now, we are ranked as the 2nd best recruiting class in the country behind Texas. But if things end the way I think they will, we should be number 1

The top rated safety in the country, Landon Collins, is set to announce today whether he will play for Alabama or LSU, and it looks like it's gonna be Alabama.

I already talked about Jameis Winston. His switch to Alabama would be huge

Jordan Jenkins is one of the top five DE's in the country who we could end up getting. Channing Ward is another top 5 guy at the same position. 

Suffice it to say this: There are 7 or 8 guys who are yet to announce where they will play college football. ALL of those guys are 5 star guys, rated top 5 in the country at their positions, and we are expected to get at least a few of them

And the train keeps a rollin'

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Rematch Of The Century Of The World (I'm back!)

God, the season went by so fast didn't it? Seems like last Thursday night when I was at work, talking with my friends about how we thought the season would go. Of course we...the Bama fans, I mean....predicted 14-0. As we do every year. But this was the first year I had entered the season fully believing and expecting that we could pull it off

In 2009, I started the season expecting us to get back to Atlanta, and have another shot at Florida. We HAD to have that much success at least. And I really thought we could get them back for the heartbreaking defeat the year before. A few of Timmy's tears later, we were in Pasadena.

Great season that was

Entering the 2011 season, I felt like we had as much talent as anyone in the country and that we were good enough to beat every team we played on our schedule. And that proved to be true. We WERE good enough to beat every team on our schedule. Even LSU, who upon first meeting up with us had been running through their schedule as uncontested as we had

Now I will try not to spend too much time harping on the first game, but since I haven't written here in awhile, I guess I shall vent a bit. Clearly, we should have won that game. Clearly, we were the better team. We only punted 2 times. They had to punt 6 times. We ran up 295 yards of total offense. They only had 235 yards of offense. Our defense shut down most everything they did, and the should-have-been-Heisman-Winner Trent Richardson had as good a game against the Bengal Tigers as anyone else did all year, running for almost 100 yards and having a couple of really fine receptions, on the way to 160 something total yards

But then came the field goals. Or the failure thereof on our part.

I have said many times since then, like most Bama fans, that we should have very easily won that game. And I know that we are right in this thought. We had 5 or 6 opportunities more to score than LSU had. We kicked SIX field goals. Which means we got into their redzone, or damn close to it, SIX TIMES!!! LSU barely sniffed such scoring opportunities against our defense. They only had the opportunity to kick 3 field goals. Of course they made every damn one of them and we only made 2 of the 6 we kicked.

And that was the difference in the game. The only difference

And I've had about all I can STAND from Auburn fans, LSU fans, media members, and other assorted haters everywhere who continue with this assumption that LSU is just such an indestructible juggernaut who is just so much better than us. Clearly there is no way we can beat them, y'all. Obviously not. They'll probably beat us by 30. You know, like they did the first time around

People seem to put aside the facts of the first game, and just look at the fact that LSU won, and assume it will just happen again.

Well I have a few more facts for you

In the BCS era there have been 9 bowl games that involved teams who had already played each other in the regular season. In those 9 rematches, the team who won the first game went 3-6. Because it's extremely hard to beat a good team twice. A rematch always favors the loser of the first game. As pissed off and ridiculous as I was acting on Nov 5, once I collected my thoughts, one of the first things that I told my wife and friends was that...if we do get to play them again...that it might actually have been a good thing that we lost the first game.

Now it's never a good thing to lose, and I never feel that way at the time. It's always unacceptable and unforgivable. But if we win this rematch, how much will that first game have really meant? LSU can go home and celebrate the fact that they were the SEC Champions still, but it will be empty at the end of the day. We would have still risen up in the end and taken the real prize from them

And this is what I expect to happen.

I expect Alabama to win the rematch. And I expect them to win it in a really authoritative fashion

I'm gonna go with 24-13 Bama, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's a bigger margin than that. Yes, I am being completely serious. Go back to that first game. On the first drive of the game, we went right down the field without a problem. Then we shit our pants, made a few mistakes, and missed a field goal. And then that was the story of the game.

I can what-if all day, but seriously. Say we had made that first field goal. And then say Marquis Maze's pass to Michael Williams in the 4th quarter had been correctly called a reception. We would've gone in to score a TD there. You could very easily see how we had the opportunity to score 17-24 points in that game. LSU ended regulation with 6 points, just like us. But that was all they could get. They made good on the only opportunities they had. We pissed away almost every opportunity we had to put that game away. We really could've kicked their ass

That game could've easily been a 17-6 victory by Bama or even better.

Now assume that we correct mistakes, and find ways to actually score when we get the chance. And factor in revenge, and all the motivation that goes along with that. I could easily see a Bama beatdown

And I hope I'm right

Roll Tide, friends

"It's not about revenge, it's about restoring order" - Barrett Jones