Catching Up

Let's enter the speed round and hit some topics from the last couple of weeks...

SABAN TO BAMA
I honestly didn't think he'd do it. I couldn't understand what he saw in the job, with all the meddling power brokers (their crew is worse than Lowder in my humble opinion) and lack of talent on campus right now. I also didn't think he'd just quit on the Dolphins so easily. Spurrier I could understand. He didn't like the long hours it takes to succeed in the NFL. He wasn't a workaholic in college and you knew he wasn't going to magically turn into one in DC. Saban on the other hand, was a control freak at LSU. He is known for staying at the office all hours of the night, going over film dozens of times. That seemed suited for the NFL. So I was wrong. He wanted the job and he's got it...and all the crap that comes with it. It won't be long until he comes up against some of the shadowy powers and it'll be interesting to see what happens. It's also going to be interesting to see how his recruiting will go. There are already a couple of stories surfacing about him trying to strong arm some in state recruits...one in Mobile in particular who is committed to LSU. He made some comments to the player and dad (at the high school because they refused his request to come to campus for an official visit) about how Miles was only winning because he had Saban's recruits. I wonder if the player asked how come Miles could have back to back double digit win seasons with Saban's players and Saban couldn't do it with his own players? Anyway...Saban is a good football coach. He's going to make Alabama better than they were with Shula. He's not going to make them into a team that's going to Atlanta every year. LSU and Auburn are too far ahead of them right now. I give him four seasons at the Crapstone...five tops. I think he'll win one SEC title and no BCS championships. He'll leave Bama, either for the NFL or a better college job. And make no mistake, no matter what the Bammers tell you, there are better college jobs out there.

KEVCOCK AS A DAD
Saw the pics he sent out. Good stuff. I'm ready to join this club. Well, I'm enjoying my last few months of sleeping through the night and not getting puked on twice a day, but I'm pretty darn excited about meeting the little monkey that's messing with the wife's emotions right now.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Larry, I concur. We went and saw it a few months ago and we both liked it a lot. Steve Carrell is one funny dude. And he can act too. You can't see Michael Scott as a Proust scholar, but his character in the movie makes you believe it. Also, the 40 Year Old Virgin is the shiznit as well. I'll never be able to listen to Michael McDonald without breaking out in laughter.

NIGHTAT THE MUSEUM
Very appropriate. Great evidence for you Larry. I haven't seen the movie but I can only imagine how much it plays into your theory.

HENLEY AS A FOREST FIRE FIGHTER
Hands says only you can prevent forest fires! I hope he's able to get what he wants but I want him to stay safe as well.

TROJANS BUSTING OUT
I'm too slow...I was going to write that your boys would break though soon and sure enough, Coach D brought home a victory. Way to go Coach.

SABAN REDUX
Saban is a liar. But he didn't have much of a choice during the season. He made a mistake by saying "I'm not going to be the coach at Alabama". He should have just said, "I'm the coach of the Dolphins and that's all I care about now". After the season was over and he took the Bama job, he could have said something like, "the college game is really where I wanted to be. Yes, the Alabama job intrigued me when they approached me but I was focused completely on the job here with the Dolphins until the season was over". Instead he played the denial game when everyone knew it wasn't over. He played it wrong and came out looking like a tool. I agree with James that he won't be in Tuscalooser for the long haul. I disagree with James that Arky will be solid next year. I hate it for McFadden but they won't have any passing game. Everyone will absolutely stack the line and McFadden is going to have to work like a fiend just to get decent yardage. He won't tear it up like he did this year. Things in Fayettenam are falling apart fast. Hard to believe it was just over a month ago that they were in the top five and riding a ten game winning streak. Almost everyone picked them to beat Florida in the SEC Championship game. That looks pretty funny now.

BECKHAM
I think it was a great move for MLS. Beckham is still a big enough name in international soccer that this will garner attention for the league in the international press. He's a big enough pop culture name (even here in America) to get the casual observer interested. All Galaxy games will get their highlights on SportsCenter now. Their jerseys will be all over the place. There will be all kinds of free PR for the league. The real question is how will they follow this up? Can the New York team pull off a purchase like Renaldo? Can they convince younger players who aren't in their prime yet to come here? They still have to develop young talent. And I'm afraid it's going to have to come from overseas. We are still a few generations from having a large percentage of the top tier of athletes focusing their skills on soccer. Let's face it - there is just more money in football, basketball, and baseball. And I don't see that changing. Sorry.

JAMES' BURGER KING STORY
How true, how true. The high school I've been subbing at has a rather large Hispanic population. There's a lot of kids that can barely speak a word of English. Also, every time I give a quiz or test the kids ask me how to do the problems. I just kind of laugh and say, "I don't think I'm supposed to tell you how to do the questions. That's why it's a test. Didn't you study?" I've stopped being surprised when the honest answer is "no".

MADISON MARATHON
I think you will definitely be the man if you run that bad boy. I'd love to join you in the training, but I'm struggling to run three miles at a time right now. I sprained my ankle Thanksgiving day and it still doesn't feel right yet. It takes me three to five minutes of slight limp/running before I start running close to normal. I would go to the doctor but I really can't afford it right now and there's no way I could get around in a boot, driving the five speed in Atlanta traffic, sometimes 20-25 miles one way to a school. I know, excuses are like belly buttons and a-holes, but this one is kinda valid. Besides, I've been telling myself that if I run one it will be the Rocket City. Larry, when are you thinking about running that one?

AUBURN HOOPS
I really wish I'd seen the game Tuesday night. I also think it's been replayed on ESPNU a couple of times already. Coupled with the win over UT last week and dare I say a possible upset of number 1 Florida this weekend, the Tigers are definitely on the rise. I am really excited about the progress made on the new arena. I truly believe that if we get the arena done on time and get Lebo the resources he needs (and deserves) he could stick around and build an amazing legacy on the Plains. I'm just afraid that as soon as he gets us into the tourney two to three times in a row someone in the ACC will come and offer him two to three times what we pay him. Only time will tell. But I'm excited about what he's got going on right now.

I guess that's it for now. I'll try and be more of a regular contributor in the coming weeks.