Cool Tricks

If you ever wanted to know how to make a book with a secret compartment, this is your lucky day. The folks at the blog “How 2 Do Stuff” can show you how to do it in a matter of a few simple steps. Now you can hide those special gifts for your significant other…. or find a way to play a riveting game of ‘hide the car keys’ with your roomies. So go create your secret books and pretend you’re a secret agent with stuff to hide, I know I will.

Does America Really Want More Pro-Football?

Mark Cuban, current owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, has recently started talking about creating another pro-football league that will attempt to piggy back off of the NFL’s ratings dominance. He feels that if they were to play on Friday nights that they could very well become a success. After seeing countless failures spring up since the success of the AFL, I asked myself “Does America really want more pro-football?”

To me the answer should be an obvious NO. The NFL is successful for more than the love of the game. The NFL is successful for its leadership, marketing power, image, and money. No other professional sports league can compare to what the NFL front offices, and head office, can offer. None of the “Big 4″ leagues can compare to the NFL. Even NASCAR, a once one dimensional sporting event, draws in higher ratings than the NBA, NHL, and MLB. While the NFL may not be perfect, it is the best sports option out there in todays television market.

The NFL is also smart enough to know that trying to take away from other forms of football will only hurt itself. The league never plays on Friday nights for one reason only, to never take away from high school football. The NFL is bright enough to realize that trying to compete with High School and College football will only limit the number of viewers for their games. In Mark Cuban’s league, they plan to play on Friday nights only.

In my opinion, Mark Cuban should try to compete with other pro-leagues, instead of the NFL. If you look at the number of former pro-football leagues, you would be amazed. The NBA battles lower ratings due to image problems and a long season, same for MLB and the NHL. People are rather apathetic towards these 3 other leagues now. If somebody were to try and actually create a league with some solid leadership and marketing, they could easily take the disenfranchised fans and become the AFL version of that sport. Wasting your time on attempting to steal from the NFL will only end in failure, just ask Vince McMahon.

However, if the NFL is not careful, it too could suffer from an image problem. More pro-football players are experiencing legal problems that ever before it seems. The Pac-man Jones and Michael Vick issues are the top headlines of the month, more important than the NBA finals. If Cuban is depending on the NFL suffering from an image problem in order for his league to be successful, he needs to reassess his plan. For now, the NFL is still the king of the sports world.

Blog Roll Call & More

• The guys at Rollbamaroll.com have a lot to say today. Todd provides quotes from Nick Saban in Destin, while Nico talks about his road trip, with a run in or two with Bama fans and other fan bases.

• Capstone Report’s recent post about the SEC Spring Meetings and the Shula vs. Alabama issues is a good one, check it out.

• Everyone needs to check out Bama Nation. They provide opinions, forums, night chats, and more.

• Hack at Journalism is for Rockstars is feeling the discomfort of sinus issues. As a long time sinus sufferer, I feel his pain.

• I did notice Nick Saban taking the high road against Les Miles at the SEC Spring Meetings,

“I didn’t really have a previous relationship with Les. I respect what he has done,” Saban said. “I don’t have any bad feelings for him. I can’t speak for him, though.”

The man deserves a vacation from all of this ill-will.

• So far two Alabama games have TV slots: Alabama @ Vanderbilt (11:30 am CDT) LF Sports, and Arkansas @ Alabama (5:45 pm CDT) ESPN. I pray that this is the only 11:30 am game we have to play.

That is all for now. Click the links to the side to see some quality blogging and more!!

Houston, you Nutt

It seems that Arkansas Football Head Coach Houston Nutt is using Alabama as a recruiting tool. Yes, the University of Alabama. Our Spring Game is benefiting somebody else:

Pick chose Arkansas of the Southeastern Conference over Kansas and Iowa State of the Big 12, Colorado State of the Mountain West, and Southern Methodist and Rice of Conference USA.

“Arkansas is a big-time program,” Pick said. “The first question they asked me was ‘How would you like to line up against Alabama in front of 92,000 fans.’ I said ‘I’d love it.’ I think the Southeastern Conference is the toughest conference to win and there are some great teams.”

Nutt is also apparently letting his recruits hear what they want to hear:

“All three of us were just blown away after we got back to Dodge after the visit (to Arkansas),” Pick said. “We saw all of the championships they had and they went through the (SEC Western Division) undefeated. They made us feel comfortable.”

Went through the SEC West undefeated? Was Houston Nutt awake during the LSU-Arkansas game last season? Or was he too busy planning his next 2 dozen text messages about how to get rid of Gus Malzahn (or about when he should visit his sugar-momma). I guess when you’re under as much pressure as Nutt you will probably forget one or two ‘minor’ things, like a loss or the 3 game losing streak to finish out the season.

In the end, it is more of a complement than anything else. Talking about Alabama at the beginning of a recruiting conversation means that they view us as a big time program. We’re seen as a threat. So I guess I should be glad that we’re getting a lot of respect again. Oh well, Roll Tide and Woo Pig Sooie

Memorial Day Notes

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday with their family and friends. Try and thank at least one Veteran if you can.

Well Alabama was left out of the baseball bracket today. Hopefully we will have some better pitching in 2008 so this won’t happen again. Yet another let down for Alabama athletics this year. I pray that the 2007-2008 season is much much better, because I can’t take watching my school struggle for too long. But then again, I have done it over the last 10 years with Alabama football, so maybe I can handle it.

Keep Marquise Hill in your prayers. The former LSU player fell into Lake Pontchartrain during a very strong current while on a jet ski yesterday. He has yet to be found. He was a part of Coach Saban’s teams during the 2003 national championship season.

Don Shula is bashing Alabama and Saban AGAIN!! He discussed it with Ben Maller. Yes, we understand you’re miffed after what happened, it has already been discussed over and over again. Why don’t you go eat some more fat free lasagna and try teaching your son how to coach? Good grief, this got old 2 months ago.

I guess Terry Bowden is afraid of tigers, even though he coached them for 6 seasons. But Mike V had him on the runs:

Back in 1993, in my first game in Baton Rouge, La., as the head coach at Auburn, he scared the hell out of me with about the loudest roar I’ve ever heard seconds before we were to run out of the tunnel for the game. There is an old joke about wearing red coaching pants on the sidelines during a tough game because of how bloody it was going to be and not wanting to alarm the players. Well, let’s just say, I could have used some brown pants on the sideline that day. …

I’m trying my hardest not to make a joke about Terry and phone books…. but it is really tough. But for now I wish you and everyone out there a happy Memorial Day!! Thank you Veterans and current soldiers!

NCAA Baseball Regionals Announced

 The SEC has 4 regional sites selected, the most for any conference. Still not sure if Alabama is in or not. That will probably be later today or tomorrow.

OTHER REGIONAL SITE SELECTION INFORMATION
Southeastern 4 (Arkansas, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vanderbilt)
Atlantic Coast 3 (Florida St., North Carolina, Virginia)
Big 12 3 (Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M)
Big South 1 (Coastal Caro.)
Big West 1 (Long Beach St.)
Conference USA 1 (Rice)
Missouri Valley 1 (Wichita St.)
Pacific-10 1 (Arizona St.)
West Coast 1 (San Diego)

For the story click here

Alabama softball is done for the year as they were swept by Washington. Good job this year ladies. Hopefully Coach Murphy won’t leave for Nebraska or anything other location.

-EDIT-

I’m sorry for being stupid; I missed the statement about when the other teams will be announced

 

The remaining at-large teams, top-eight national seeds, first-round regional pairings and site assignments will be announced at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, Monday, May 28, during a live, half-hour program on ESPN.

Sports Oddities

First, we have the last words of a death row inmate: “Go Raiders”

At least we know they are dedicated fans.

Second, we have a basketball coach who apparently has nothing to do during the off-season: Love in a creepy kind of way

It is good to know that the worst we have are fans that name their children Tyde and Saban. Oh, and the guy that *cough* shot his son *cough*

Saban Violations vs. Auburn Grade Changing

What an eventful week it how turned out to be. If you are unaware of the accusations against Nick Saban click here

It seems that while on a recruiting trip to South Florida, Nick Saban got into some ‘trouble’. He was initially greeted like a rockstar by the people in the school. The purpose of the trip was more than likely to just make some standard assessment of the players mentioned. When he saw the players, Saban apparently had more than just a “Hi, how are you?” with the players.

While this really isn’t anything to be concerned about, it has made the usual rounds in the national media. ESPN has already mentioned the story more than once since lunchtime. I’m really not surprised to see this happen. The name Saban mixed with recruiting violations is going to set off a nuclear explosion. What really gets to me though are the people who attempt to make this more than what it is, a minor blip on the radar. If this is a big violation, then the Reggie Bush situation is WW III.

However, today something else has seemed to surface. Two Auburn recruits, who have already signed their LOIs to attend Auburn University, apparently had their grades raised on their high school transcripts. This probably would have been less of a story had Auburn AD Jay Jacobs not found it necessary to provide a statement about this situation.

In the end both situations won’t mean a thing. The transcripts appear to have been changed long before they committed to Auburn. With Saban’s situation it is really nothing at all. Every single coach has probably broken that rule. What is the big story is that these two situations appear to be tied together… at least in a crazy theory brought to you by moi.

Tuberville used to be an assistant coach at Miami, Fl. Patrick Nix, an Auburn alum, is a coordinator down there as well. One could easily make the argument that the Saban recruiting violations could be tied to Auburn. Just go with me on this; a phone call may occur to the Miami football offices that let the staff know that Saban is in South Florida on a recruiting trip. After that possible call, the Miami staff calls a reporter at the Miami Herald who is always willing to get a story about Saban and trouble (since they know it will sell down there). The reporter goes to the high school and asks a already excited high school kid about the meeting and what occurred. Any 18 year old can say almost anything since they are probably pretty excited.

After the story comes out, most people in the UA athletic department are probably pretty unhappy, since they’ve had violation problems in the past. So they decide to help a story leak out about grade changing for AU recruits, since Auburn has had grade issues in the past as well.

This theory was brought to my attention while listening to Paul Finebaum, so don’t think I came up with this by myself.

Funny Picture Time

Once I get a few more posts on here I’ll probably limit my posting to 1-2 times a day. Until then, enjoy this picture:

Please, Stop Talking Don Shula

Every time I hear that Don Shula has opened his mouth again about Nick Saban or Alabama, I lower my head in sadness. Not because he is complaining again, but for the death of the aura of a great coach. All he ever seems to do nowadays is criticize people (or try to sell us diet plans). It just really bugs me that he has yet to get past what occurred in January. I just can’t see him in the same light anymore.

I can understand his displeasure with the University of Alabama, any good parent would feel the exact same way. I wasn’t really that upset when I saw his first ESPN interview since they brought it up. But, as time went on, all Daddy Don did was continue to make himself look like an over-controlling parent that never knows when to keep his nose out of his child’s business.

On a lighter note, it appears that Don Shula may be having some other issues that aren’t being addressed:

“Here’s the ring,” Shula said, pointing to the 1972 Super Bowl ring on his hand.

He doesn’t wear the 1973 ring because it has two diamonds on it that look like eyes looking up at him.

Roll Tide

–EDIT–

BTW, Capstone Report has a great post about this. Check it out