Missed a Follow-Up

Well, following the games last week, issues with either my browser or my Blogger service prevented me from giving my take on the ALABAMA-GEORGIA game. It was a fairly even match-up, as I predicted, only The Dawgs came out on top in overtime.
Quite honestly, there's not a hair's bit of difference between ALABAMA, Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, and whoever else in The SEC other than LSU and Florida.
And auburn might just surprise the Gators. (Please ask Ed O for details....!)
Bama will surely rise back to the top--eventually. We're not quite ready to assume the top of the heap just yet, but give Coach Saban a couple of years hoarding the studs and star recruits. Once we get his players assimilated into the system -along with the skeletal talent already in place- we will be dangerous. Dominant, even.
Watch out, Meyer. Move over, Spurrier. Quit crying, Miles. Everyone prepare to resume your positions. Behind Bama. It won't be this year. Maybe not even next year. But just wait.
There's a new Dark Lord in town. His Force will be strong.
And Crimson.
ROLL TIDE.

Up & Down: Alabama vs. Florida State

Two decades ago. Wow. What were the possibilities...?


Well, today THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE travels to Florida to take on the Florida State Seminoles in what should be an interesting matchup. I will not repeat all of the endless blather that has been written, spoken, printed or otherwise spewed this week about Bobby Bowden and past history.
Here is a pretty good read about his take on what might have been: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/feature/featureVideo?page=bowden/bama
(Copy and paste this link to your browser. I am apparently so technologically retarded that I can't set up a link on this blog. Please pray for me.)
Sure, Bobby Bowden would have been a fine selection to replace Ray Perkins, and the past 20 years might have been different. More championships? More probations? A Heisman winner? I don't know.

The only thing I can tell you is that Coach Bowden is gonna get another nationally-televised whipping. I think the Georgia game served as a wake-up call to The Tide, and I think our players are hungry for a big-time, nationally-viewed contest. Coach Saban undoubtedly made them feel guilty for losing at home, and they will want to put to rest any perceptions of weakness or vulnerability. I hope we can do so.
The game will be at 4 cst in Jacksonville televised over on

Don't know how many more barbecue joints Todd Blackledge can find to critique, but if this keeps up he'll be as fat as I am....! I mean, I like watching the games on CBS, although sometimes their camera-work leaves a bit to be desired. But just like over on ESPN, I just mute the television and listen to ELI GOLD and KENNY "Snake" STABLER call the game on the radio. (Editor's Note: It can be a bit disconcerting after a few beers to try and match up the action with the commentary, as it will usually be out-of-sync.)

Yeah, after The Tide gets through spanking the Seminoles, we'll understand why the facial expression of the Native American depicted on their logo looks like he's takin' it up the ol' poop-chute:

...Because he probably will have........! John Parker Wilson and the offense should get on track, hopefully keeping our defense off the field and rested. Darren Mustin and Brian Motley will be available, so I think we can keep up.
Prediction: ALABAMA 31, FSU 17



FLORIDA 45, auburn 21
South Carolina 21, Mississippi State 20
Georgia 21, Ole Miss 17
LSU 55, Tulane 3
Kentucky 38, Florida Atlantic 10
Vanderbilt 17, Eastern Michigan 13
Arkansas 35, North Texas 14

OTHER PICKS:
USC 34, Washington 21
Oklahoma 31, Colorado 10
Cal 29, oregon 27
Texas 41, Kansas State 28
Ohio State 42, Minnesota 14
Michigan State 17, Winsconsin 16
Rutgers 24, Maryland 17
Boston College 31, Massechussetts 7
Clemson 24, Georgia Tech 21
Virginia Tech 41, North Carolina 17
Hawaii 35, Idaho 20
Penn State 27, Illinois 9
Arizona St. 28, Stanford 16
San Diego St. 28, Cincinnati 24
Nebraska 35, Iowa St. 21

ROLL TIDE!

CRAP! Corso Picks BAMA

Well, hopefully it's not the usual 'kiss of death'. Normally anytime that hack from ESPN, Lee Corso, picks us when we host ESPN Gameday, we roll over. And lose. On national tv. With the college football world watching. (My favorite Corso moment is when he questioned Gene Stallings about his strategy, and Coach Stallings replied "Well, I guess that's why I'm coaching a championship team and you're announcing or analyzing or talking about it.....")
Except this time it's different. I think The Tide is better prepared and hungry for another victory at home over a ranked opponent on national television. It's about time. I believe we are about evenly matched with the Georgia Bulldogs, but I think we can actually claim (legitimately) home-field advantage for a change.
I think the oddsmakers' 31/2 points us about right.
Prediction: ALABAMA 28, Georgia 24

My OTHER Picks:
WHY in the world would anyone outside of Gainesville actually want to see this? Fortunately, due to technical difficulties, no one will have to, as it is mercifully pre-empted. Apologies to Glover and the Rebel nation......
FLORIDA 1,000,000 Ole Miss 3

Spurrier's pretty sneaky, but I think the Bayou Bengals are just too strong....
LSU 31, South Carolina 28

The Razorbacks nearly pulled another one out over the Tide last week. Do they have enough in the tank to stop The Wildcats? History says probably not.
Kentucky 31, Arkansas 28

Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions are just a little too strong for the enigmatic Wolverines.
PENN STATE 24, Michigan 10

Irish will finally score......to no avail
MICHIGAN STATE 28, Notre Dame 3

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while......
auburn 5, New Mexico 3

ROLL, TIDE, ROLL!

Pass the defibrillator.


41-38.
Or, more accurately, ALABAMA 41, Arkansas 38.
Familiar hard-fought nail-biter. With a twist. Bama jumps out to a big lead, Razorbacks make comeback. Tide extends lead, Razorbacks make comeback. I was starting to get nervous, as I had seen this all-too common scenario before.
But the $4 million a year paid off as ALABAMA CAME FROM BEHIND IN THE FOURTH QUARTER TO WIN, OVER A TOP-20 TEAM to boot!
I was wrong in some of my picks, but it doesn't matter. ALABAMA won, AT home, AT night, on National television, to a divisional SEC opponent.
And Florida pounded tennessee.

And auburn lost. To Mississippi State. And, as evidenced below, the plainsmen-war eagle-tigers or whatever have been up-ended. Again.
....And when they turn up-right, this is what they look like:
Go, Bulldogs!
I shall sleep well tonight.

Arkansas Week

Well, here we are again. EVERYBODY knows we had the Razorbacks beaten last year (in spite of McFadden & Co. & poor Bama coaching decisions which shall remain nameless here) but inexplicably let the game get away. This is also bizarrely historical, harkening back to the 90's. Twice in three years (home & home rotation), Arkansas beat us at home on late or last-play touchdowns which left the Bryant-Denny crowd speechless. I honestly don't think that will happen this year. I believe that with an actual strategy in place, we match up with the Hawgs pretty well.
Coach Saban hasn't unleashed Major Applewhite's offense, so we haven't shown nearly all we can do offensively. The defense, loaded with true freshmen, has been surprisingly effective, for the most part. Other than a few big scares (which were fortunately nullified by legitimate Vandy penalties-- watch the tape), we've been consistent. We'll have to step it up a notch to stop the Arkansas running backs and the newly-installed trick plays.
Speaking of trick plays, how about our special-teams return guys...? And I like to think that Terry Grant will soon be in the same category as McFadden and Jones.
I think Bama was so close last year that leadership makes the difference.
Prediction: ALABAMA 28 Arkansas 14

Florida and tennesee meet in their annual hate match this week, as well. Vols looked vulnerable against the Golden Bears and got whacked. The Gators aren't Cal.
FLORIDA 45 tennessee 16

The tigers try to rebound from last week's snafu with a welcome opponent in Mississippi State. USF was surprisingly ready and snuck up on the plainsmen. Earlier in the week, the Bulldogs' defense matched up well with LSU, stopping those tigers the entire first half. Henig and their offense killed any real chances they had with the crippling turnovers. NOBODY's defense should be on the field that long, and the game was a lot closer than the lopsided score.
Still, the cow college is a little better than MSU. This one goes to the plainsmen. Or the war eagles. Or the tigers. Whatever.
alabama polytechnic:28 Mississippi State:14

Kentucky hosts Louisville this evening in a bluegrass shootout. Looks to be a high-scoring and interesting contest. TOSS-UP
Everyone else in the SEC has weak non-conference opponents, but I will be keeping my eye on the Georgia-West Carolina game after ours is done. We get the 'Dawgs next week.
ROLL TIDE!

TIDE Wins SEC Opener Over Commodores

Well, The Alabama Crimson Tide beat Vanderbilt yesterday in a typical SEC struggle. We didn't look too strong, and they made more mistakes than we did, or it could have been a lot closer than the 24-10 margin.
Flashes of brilliance, near-misses, and timely Vandy penalties kept this from being a squeaker. Terry Grant looked good, Javier Arenas was flashy, and John Parker Wilson was oh-so-close a couple of times. The defense was steady, and lucky that Vandy was sloppy and penalty-prone. Still, it's a "W", we're 1-0 in SEC play.
We'll have to kick it up a notch against Arkansas (idle this week), and up again the following week against Georgia.
Ole Miss went belly-up. South Carolina beat #11 Georgia. (I kinda saw this one coming, as I felt the Dawgs MAY have been a bit overrated.) I was hoping they'd be undefeated when we played them. Florida won. Freakin' Mississippi State even pulled one out. LSU destroyed Virginia Tech. Those Tigers look STRONG. Tennessee unfortunately overpowered Southern Miss.
And The University of South Florida beat auburn.
All in all, a good SEC football weekend.
Nationally, Penn State beat Notre Dame(0-2), and Oregon pounded Michigan(0-2).

FUN Freebies!

Now known as my second-favorite team, I've posted some nifty University of South Florida logo icons for you to print, e-mail, or otherwise share with your friends!



The USF Bulls eeked one out over the auburn tigers last night over on ESPN2. Their running back, Mike Ford, was a previous BAMA signee, but didn't qualify--twice! He still inadvertently contributed to Bama by helping stop the 'cow college', and we wish him the best! Go Bulls!

Aaahhh......... FOOTBALL.....!

Whatever Happened to 'Stefanie Laine'...?

Whatever DID happen to Stefanie Laine?
This is a question many in the hillbilly country music community are still asking, years after the dynamic young and talented singer burst onto the scene with the promise of a long and illustrious career. The beautiful and mysterious Ms. Laine was an early sensation in Nashville, and some experts predicted she would be around for a very long time.


Was it simply bad timing? Was she not 'country enough'...?
Whatever the reason, many fans are still wondering about this mysterious blonde bombshell with the strong voice who captivated their hearts with her faithful renditions of Patsy Cline classics. Her outgoing stage presence and personality had soon caught the attention of producers, and she was cast as a regular on one of country music's longest-running and most successful television shows:

Rumors of a fling involving The Hager Twins were never actually verified, and many surviving cast members declined to comment. A regular for the last few years of the show, this still below is one of the few surviving images featuring Ms. Laine:

If you look directly over Roy Clark's shoulder, you can see Stefanie peeking out during a classic cast sing-along. She is sitting next to the legendary Ernest Borgnine.
If anyone has any information on this enigmatic entertainer, please let someone know.

On a related note, here is a tidbit I thought you'd enjoy:

WHy don't we THAT on television more...?

NOW onto more important things: ALABAMA 52, West Carolina 6. Though nothing was actually established in the way of what can be expected of The Tide this season, the players got a chance to run some plays and hit someone different than each other. It's a "W", Saban wins his first game, and we look forward to the next tune-up with Vandy.
More on this later. Roll Tide.