The Crimson Tide football team finished up the final scrimmage today without suffering any major injuries but continue to be plagued by minor dings and bruises. Check out more practice notes and see which of the wide receivers are developing into the "wing man" for Julio Jones.
As suspected, Florida is number one in the preseason AP Poll with over-ethusiastic 58 (of a possible 60) first place votes. Alabama comes in at a steady fifth place, matching their placement on the preseason Coaches' Poll. Virginia Tech landed the seventh place , setting up a top ten match up on Sept 5, 2009. The Barners? Not even in the top 25.
For your lazy Saturday, watch some scenes from today's practice.
Enjoy and RTR
Watch the Tide practice and get ready for tomorrow's scrimmage (closed to the public). We will report tommorrow's scrimmage stats as soon as they become available. Have a great weekend and no domestic disputes past midnight!
Not so fast my friend,... I can't imagine that BAMA would let Flordia win the SEC Championship 2 years in a row. There would be too much pride at stake.
Ok. We're all watching the clock, waiting for five o'clock, and surfing the web for some Crimson Tide content. I'll sum up my exploration in one sentence: Terrence Cody at fullback. This is the Ole Miss game from last year, and Cody cleared out everyone on that right side. We have a few games before 10/10/09, but it is always fun to think ahead. Also, check out the hit by Hightower on the 2:35 mark; I can't wait to see how much he has progressed in the off-season.
RTR
NPR is doing a series on High School Football rituals and traditions. I know that my love for Crimson Tide Football stems from my great memories as a player on a High School Football team. They are asking for listeners and followers to contribute their unique experiences and rituals. Follow this link to the article and show them how important football is to the state of Alabama.
Read more...
In case you missed the press conference from yesterday, where Nick Saban comments on Courtney Upshaw, we have posted it below for your viewing pleasure. More importantly, check out the footage from yesterday's practice of both the offense and defense.
Happy Friday! As we slowly count the minutes down until we get off work, lets look at a video that I posted last night.
Now, I don't condone fighting especially during sporting events, but I think this is amazing on DeMeco's part. He's not the biggest linebacker, but he definitely does not stray away from contact. Mr. Ryans is a fine example of the great number of linebackers that have come through the Capstone and he is #59 (in the video) in case you were wondering....Enjoy!
Courtney Upshaw did indeed practice today even though he was arrested for third degree domestic violence last night. Attending practice today, should be the first step in putting all of this off the field fanfare behind him. **** Update from Saban News conference. Upshaw will not be suspended. Saban called him "as fine a young man as we have on this team". (According to Gentry Estes from Bama Beat).
Recently the SEC has released a revised policy in which they state that all ticketed fans cannot "produce or disseminate (or aid in producing or disseminating) any material or information about the Event, including, but not limited to, any account, description, picture, video, audio, reproduction or other information concerning the Event." We encourage you to follow this link and vote in a poll on the LA times website.
However, as soon as this was published it became old news. Like we published before, the SEC will allow us to facebook and twitter, but youtube is still off limits.
It seemed like we were having another great fall camp, very few injuries, lots of competition and plenty of excitement surrounding new recruits. Then I wake up this morning and discover that one of our rising stars at Jack linebacker, Courtney Upshaw has been booked on a domestic violence/ harassment charge early this morning. You can read the article here. All I can say is "Why?". C'mon Courtney you are so close to starting for what will probably be the #1 defense this year. It is also sad because Pensacola News Journal did a highlight article on him. You can read that here. ***Update. It may have been a misunderstanding. Read the girl's father's take on what happened here.
You guys have been commenting on this press conference by Nick Saban, in which he blasts reporters for speculating about the depth chart. It starts at the 2:25 mark and continues to the 4:13 mark, complete with Coach Saban calling out the reporter and telling him to take the day off. Enjoy
As we noted earlier, Chris Vines and 24 more walk-ons have entered the practice field to either earn playing time or more realistically give the first team "good looks" on scout teams. A noteworthy fact about today's practice: Dre Kirkpatrick was sporting a black no-contact jersey today. Hopefully we will get more information on his injury when Coach Saban holds his press conference on Thursday. Check out this article for more practice notes.
As we have noted earlier in our posts, Barrett Jones is become a stable addition to the first team offensive line. As September 5 gets closer and closer, it will be less likely that someone will dislodge his strangle-hold on the position
When viewing our history and our past, most Bama fans (myself included) tend to suffer from acute macropsies. However videos, such as the one posted below, will continue to exacerbate our condition. Check your vision by watching this video closely...RTR
Every gameday morning is like a little kid waking up on Christmas day. Once I wake up just a little, I am up no matter how little sleep I got the night before. Luckily, SEC games usually start around 11 am and I can catch another team playing. If I can't find anything on the tube, I will watch some of last week's tivo'd game. My game day traditions deal with food. Two foods in particular: smoked ribs and oven roasted peanuts. I don't buy either one from the store. I have to cook my own ribs and roast raw peanuts. What are some of your traditions? Please post your response through Facebook.
Links:
Throughout Fall Camp, Saban has expressed that he wants a physical team with the discipline to finish strong. But he also talks to reporters about setting up great team chemistry, both on and off the field. Check out some quotes here and what kind of influence he wants his players to have on other people.
Andre Smith makes a list of five SEC players from last year that will be missed this season. Check it out and see if you agree with them.
Another website has published some SEC predictions for 2009 and it sounds like they are drinking the Gator-ade. It's hard for me to take this serious because they predict we will lose to Auburn this year, but I guess people have their opinion whether it is based on sound reasoning or not.
RTR
Coach Nick Saban detests when reporters ask about the Crimson Tide depth chart and even snapped a reporter on Saturday when they asked about the starting offensive line. Even though Saban might think that the depth chart serves only an organizational function, Cory Reamer believes he knows the starting five linebackers. See who he picked at this link.
Sportsbook.com is giving Bama a 25-1 odds of winning the BCS 2010 National Championship. You can read the article here. Now, I don't spend much time on Sportsbook.com, but it appears that Florida has a 2-1 odds, Texas has 4-1 odds, Choklahoma has 6-1 odds, and Southern Cal has 7-1. The only other SEC team with better odds is Ole Miss with 15-1 odds. LSU also has 25-1 odds.
Chris Low has posted some of the most notorious villians of the SEC on Espn.com. It's worth a gander, but you won't find Nick Saban on that list.
Also check out Dr. Crimson's thoughts as he talks about the upcoming football season. He wants us to enjoy the preseason hype because it has been a long time since we have been considered a legitimate top ten contender. I agree. We all should relax and take in the excitement, because we know Saban and his team won't.
Ok, here is some news on the replacement search for the Darren Evans, the injured Hokies running back. None of his potential suitors have actually stepped forward to take the spot and seemed to be suffering from injuries also. Let's see if Beamer ball can make up for a weak back field.
RTR
Anyone, who knows anything about College football, knows that the Center position is the keystone to a great football team. In the off season, the Tide faced an uphill battle of finding a replacement for their All-American Center, Antoine Caldwell, but they soon found relief in the Spring as William Vlachos took control of the position. Al.com has an excellent article highlighting our future starter, complete with a pronunciation guide for his last name. Hint: It does not rhyme with "Nachos".
For those who like to read what the haters are saying, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer posted an analysis of the Alabama Crimson Tide. If you like to read an analysis from a writer that does not wear crimson shades then go ahead; if not, I'll save you some time by giving you this quote found in the article: " Sure, the Tide have enough talent to finish at or near the top of the SEC standings once again, but don't expect them to reach Atlanta for the title game. The competition is just too tough." We'll all find out on September 5.
Once again, I would like to point out an amusing article on the bleacher report about the Crimson Tide using a spy to help them against the Hokies. We have already posted it before on BFN, but I think it deserves a re-post. If you can handle the contributor's writing style( it's fairly choppy and he seems to ask too many questions) I think you'll get a nice chuckle out of it.
RTR
| Monday's Alabama post-practice player interviews |
Today is the final two-a-day for the fall camp, and it seems like the coaches are getting a good feel for the players on this year's squad. For some commentary on how the offensive line is settling down check out this site.
Also there is an interesting article on tidesports.com by Cecil Hurt that points out an alarming trend by the Crimson Tide. Since 1996, every time the Tide has completed a 10 win season they follow it up with a losing season. Follow the link to read how Cecil thinks Nick Saban will bust this slump. If you feel so inclined, you can read what Chris Lowe of espn.com thinks also.
Below is a video of the press conference that Coach Saban gave after this weekend's scrimmage. Enjoy and RTR.
Happy Monday Morning! Now that we are all back to the ol' grindstone, let's see what is happening in the news world.
The first scrimmage is in the books and what have we learned about the identity of the 2009 squad? Here are the stats from the scrimmage. I recommend looking at the reps rather than the actual numbers of yards. Also some of the players would have done better if they had been working with the 1st team offense/defense, which is something that Saban recognizes. McElroy, Ingram, and Julio Jones made their presence known and did well in the scrimmage.
There were several players that helped their chances of getting on the field this year by receiving praise from coach Saban including freshman WR Kevin Norwood and OL Barrett Jones.
As usual, lots of players moving around and changing positions in practices. Saban himself even said he still doesn't know who the starting 5 on the line will be yet. Look for players to establish themselves more this week and solidify a starting spot in the rotation. The first week was to gauge where certain players are at and see what they can do in different positions.
RollBamaRoll adds some interesting insight about how things are progressing through camp so far here.
Here al.com talks about how Barrett Jones is getting a shot a right guard. Alfred McCullough previously had this spot in the preseason.
It seems like most players are progressing nicely. Even with all the hype, the freshman are committed to learning and getting better. Saban has been giving praise to certain players and getting individual praise from him is something that doesn't happen often. They are trying to establish a new identity of finishing the 2009 year off unlike 2008. The players have Sunday off and practice will resume on Monday as usual.