Applewhite Staying

Alabama Offensive Coordinator Major Applewhite appears to be staying in Tuscaloosa for at least one more year. From Ian Rapoport of the Birmingham News:

Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite told a key recruit that he’s not leaving for another job.

Star Jackson, a coveted quarterback from Palm Beach, Fla., told The Birmingham News that Applewhite informed him Thursday night that “he’s not leaving. He’s going to stick there. The only way he’s leaving is if he gets fired.”

Jackson’s in-home visit from Applewhite on Thursday night lasted past midnight.

So, it seems that we’ll at least have Major around for another year. Who knows where Houston will be going next for their vacancy.

By the way, I would like to thank the folks at The Big Lead for linking to my site earlier today.

How Crazy Is It Right Now?

Well, take this beauty of an example:

Losers With Socks has provided us with the now standard jet tracking picture of a plane going from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

If you have yet to hear Paul Finebaum or read any message boards, there has been talk of Saban and LSU if Miles goes to Ann Arbor. This picture will only increase the talk. But, one fan has taken it upon himself to do more than enough fact checking to come to the conclusion that this has more to do with hospice than Nick Saban. You (and I) may find it strange, but I suppose it actually proved useful…. somehow:

The plane that was in Tuscaloosa last night for 3 hours is owned and operated by a company named Amedisys. They supply home healthcare products and services and here is their website:
http://www.amedisys.com/latest_news.cfm

As you can see, they have a new Tuscaloosa office to go with their other 300+ locations!

Now, I just got the phone number to the Tuscaloosa office and I called them. Why reporters can’t do this i don’t know - Maybe they don’t want to.

I spoke with “Janice” who had no idea that these crazy rumors were going around - She laughed about it. She said they had their “Hospice open House” last night and someone flew there to be a part of it. She said that was the only reason for the flight and it had absolutely nothing to do with Coach Saban.

End of story.

Apparently, this Hospice Services company is based in or near Baton Rouge. If you look at the picture, you see the name Amedisys Air, LLC. Sure enough, Amedisys is opening up a facility in Tuscaloosa:

Amedisys Hospice Services Opens Agency in Tuscaloosa

[Tuscaloosa, AL] - Sept. 7, 2007 - Amedisys Hospice Services announced the opening of its newest location in Tuscaloosa, AL. The Tuscaloosa hospice location is a branch of the Birmingham hospice agency and will serve Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, and Pickens counties.

The Tuscaloosa agency, located at 1300 McFarland Blvd., NE, Suite 320, operates under the leadership of Director of Operations Johnnie Taylor.
The agency promotes quality of life for patients facing a life-limiting illness and provides comfort and support for family members and loved ones.

Amedisys, Inc. is a leading provider of home health and hospice services. The company operates more than 300 sites across the country.
In 1994, the Company became public and currently trades on The Nasdaq Global Select Market (NASDAQ) Market under the symbol “AMED.” For more information about Amedisys, visit www.amedisys.com.

Roll Venezuela!!

SAU suffered from a case of total pwnage:

My One Tuberville Post

-UPDATE-

An extension offer should be made by Auburn today or tomorrow. LINK

I’ve never planned on talking about Tommy Tuberville and coaching rumors for days on end, because other than the Iron Bowl…. I really don’t feel that I need to follow and comment on everything about Auburn athletics. But, I would like to at least go on record once as believing that if this story is really true, I believe it could just be Tommy positioning himself for the best possible results he could hope for. It is a mixture of leverage and payback. It is leverage since he can use the “I may be going to Arkansas” line to get a heck of a deal at Auburn. If not, he can become the Head Hawg in Fayetteville by Saturday. It is pretty much an ultimatum.

It may be payback since we all remember the board members and school President got onto that Jet and went to Louisville, Kentucky. This is Tommy’s turn to turn the screws on the Auburn board members who try to stab Tuberville in the back.

Of course, my theory could be total garbage if this is just a rumor gone wild (Which it very well could be). If Tuberville addresses it tomorrow, that probably means that he is staying at Auburn. He’s scheduled to recruit for Auburn tomorrow night, so I imagine that will be a big sign of what he plans on doing. Still, I’m leaning towards him staying put in Auburn at this point.

Ray Keller Wins Case Against NCAA

Former Alabama football booster Ray Keller has beaten the NCAA in court. He orginally wanted over $35 million dollars, but was awarded $5 million dollars instead. Still, winning the case is probably the most important part for him. From the Tuscaloosa News:

The jury awarded Ray Keller $3 million in punitive damages, $1 million for mental anguish, $500,000 for economic loss and $500,000 for damage to reputation.

Keller, a timber dealer and fan whom the university severed ties with because of the probe, argued that the NCAA slandered and libeled him during the announcement of penalties by referring to him and others as “rogue boosters,” ”parasites” and “pariahs.”

The jury of nine women and three men deliberated an hour Wednesday and about five more Thursday before ruling against the NCAA.

Good news for Keller indeed. Sadly, it was revealed that Cecil Hurt had Keller co-sign a $4,000 medical loan for him in 2000, before all of this NCAA stuff happened. Still, Hurt made the mistake of never telling his managers of this relationship, which leads to ethical issues he must face. Are there any legal concerns for Hurt? No, but this is a big shot to his image in the industry.

Alabama Coaches In The Carousel

It’s the time of year where jobs are opening up. What current, and former, Alabama coaches are deemed to be on the market? Let’s take a look.

 Major Applewhite is obviously the one people are talking about in regards to Alabama football. The Tide Offensive Coordinator has seen his name mentioned for such programs as SMU and Southern Miss (briefly), but with Baylor grabbing up the Houston coach Art Briles, the Cougars have asked for permission to talk with Coach Applewhite regarding their head coaching position.

Applewhite has seen his stock soar up the charts in the last few years, but his lack of experience does bring up the question on if Major is ready for such a big leap. Personally, I think he will be a head coach someday, but still needs to work on his play calling abilities as a Coordinator first. Rushing things could lead to disaster for him, something that many people don’t want to see. Besides, Texas will eventually come calling for him. The Longhorn fans have been talking about keeping him on the short list for replacing Mack Brown someday, so he shouldn’t try rushing things too much. If he were to wait say….. 2 to 3 more years, he would benefit greatly from it in the long run.

Next, we have former Alabama head coach Mike Shula….. yes, Shula. Finishing with a 26-23 record in Tuscaloosa, Shula has landed on his feet in Jacksonville as the QB coach. Recently, his named has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Ted Roof at Duke. Should Shula take the jump and go for the first position in sight?

Personally, I would tell Coach Shula to wait a little bit longer. Moving the family so much in such a short period of time is pretty stressful. Besides, we’re talking about Duke here. Yes, Spurrier did ok, but he certainly wasn’t going to take them to the next level as he did with Florida. If Shula wants another college coaching job, he should probably wait to see what other programs with better football resources want to do.

I’ve heard rumors of Jack Del Rio and LSU if Miles leaves for Michigan, which would be kind of funny considering that he might take Shula along with him. Imagine having Mike as the opposing Offensive Coordinator for LSU. I doubt Del Rio would go there, but it is interesting to think about it.

Recruiting Drama At Hand?

Currently, Coach Saban is hot on the recruiting trail, where he really needs to be right now. His latest stop was in Northwest Louisiana, where he went to visit a few recruits:

Saban hit Ouachita with recruiting interest in senior tight end Tyler Edwards. Saban spent about an hour visiting with Edwards and also had a home visit planned with him later Tuesday. Edwards will make his visit to Alabama this week.

Edwards, whose brother Eric Edwards played for Saban at LSU, is considering the Crimson Tide and Tigers, along with Florida.

Yes, he has been talking to Les Miles as well. No big football recruit in the state of Louisiana is going to be ignored by LSU. But, something Miles said to this recruit caught my eye:

Edwards said he’s talked to Miles recently too.

“I brought it up and asked him if he was really going to Michigan,” Edwards said. “He said, ‘Tyler, to tell you the truth, I plan to stay here for many years. I love it here. I love the town; I love the coaches. If you came here, I’d be your only coach.’”

So wait, Coach Miles will be “talking” to Michigan this Sunday or Monday, but he plans to stay at LSU for the next 4 years? If he does leave, Miles has officially gone on record with a lie. Think it’ll get serious play? Well, in the recruiting circles it will, but the ESPN boys and Dan LeBatard won’t think twice about ignoring this example. Plus, Miles got upset with Saban for him taking credit for the current position the program was in, as well as the allegations that Saban may have bent the truth recruiting last season. Could Miles, the KING of ethics, be lieing to a recruit?

Look, I realize that Saban isn’t a choir boy, but he isn’t the world’s dirtiest recruiter. If Miles wants to make a big ordeal about “F-ing Alabama” and our recruitment of Louisiana players, then he might want to just look in the mirror for a long, long while before he decides whether or not to wear the maize and blue socks. Lies will mess up LSU’s recruiting class if Miles jumps ship. Think the Tiger faithful will be happy having to deal with recruits wondering why Coach Les Miles lied to them? No, because coaches like Saban, Nutt, and Tuberville will soon swoop in to try and take them away. It may not sound fair, but all is fair in love and college athletics my friends. Well, except for dropping 6 figures for a Memphis player.

Ray Keller’s Suit Against the NCAA

After weeks of on and off courtroom drama, it appears that the lawsuit against the NCAA by former Alabama booster Ray Keller is almost over. The original judge suffered a heart attack, causing the trail to be delayed for a long period of time. But, closing arguments have been made, and it is up to the jury to decided if Keller deserves the $35.5 million in damages he is seeking.

Part of this trail comes down to timing, what NCAA rules the investigators actually followed, and what the NCAA said about Keller. LINK

The NCAA charged Keller with participating in a scheme with two other boosters to woo blue-chip football prospect Kenny Smith to Alabama; buying the Smith family meals; paying former Crimson Tide linebacker Travis Carroll $400; and having improper contact with prospect Eric Locke at an A-Day Game.

Lamb told the jury that former NCAA Committee on Infractions chairman David Swank claimed the organization violated its own bylaws in pursuing charges against Keller. According to Swank:

The NCAA should have investigated Smith’s recruitment in 1996, after getting a memo detailing potential violations from Auburn. Instead, the memo lingered for five years.

The NCAA ignored its own four-year statute of limitations when it added the allegation, which then included Keller, in the 2002 case against Alabama.

But, there are a few issues regarding what Keller claims he lost because of the NCAA calling him a “pariah”, “rouge”, and “parasite” in their report. LINK

Keller testified he lost a chance to participate in a large store development project with a longtime associate because of news coverage of the NCAA’s report.

“I’m sure if that infractions report had not come out we would have moved forward,” Keller testified. “A contract was our word.”

But NCAA expert Barry Kennedy, an accountant, testified that Keller would actually have lost money had he invested in the shopping center project in Scottsboro.

While Keller claimed he never signed any documents on the project, which was supposed to be worth millions, Kennedy said he never had heard of such a large development proceeding without any paperwork.

Who knows what’ll happen with this trail. I do have a feeling that this will probably be the last we have to face anything involving the 2002 sanctions for a while. Finebaum seems to think Keller has a solid case. But, he also felt that Cottrell and Williams would get the NCAA as well, only to watch them wiggle out of it as the judge, a former student to the then head of NCAA infractions committee, tossed a majority of the case out.

AAFL is Almost Here

I know, please hold your applause. I have to admit, they do seem to be pandering to Alabama fans with Jay Barker, the commercials, and the colors they’ve been using. But, we do have four players already signed!!! 3 from Bama, 1 from AU.

Cannot…..contain…..shear…..joy!!

I think Jackie Sherrill was going to be the coach, but something happened and he backed out. I guess castrating a bull can only get you so far. That’s too bad, because he would probably be the best coach since the list includes Shane Matthews, John Jenkins, and Ron Calcagni. Oh well, I hope Rudy Griffin and others do well. Funny bit of information; Joe Cribbs is the Alabama team Club President. No, not this Joe Cribbs…. THIS Joe Cribbs.

Watching What You Say

I posted a picture I felt uncomfortable with, and decided to just take it down. Whatever you say or do nowadays can lead to headaches and constant chatter, so I’m just gonna avoid a situation and give you more posting later. What makes me feel this way? Well, John Feinstein is a good example, as is this video: