SEC Rules

Some one pointed out to me that, after Saturday's games, shouldn't Georgia (defeated Georgia Tech) and South Carolina (defeated Clemson) play in the ACC Championship Game. I liked that one, a lot.

My Number One Game Obsession

18) I have been playing EASports College Football since Sega was the latest game system.

25 things

1) I’ve spent nearly every fall since 1973 playing football & flag football or coaching & radio announcing high school football.

No complaints

My leg was too sore to run more than a couple of blocks this morning & my team lost the conference championship this evening. But the truth is I'm not really unhappy or particularly disappointed. I've been working out regularly since April and I'm in such better shape and feel better than I have in years. It was fun being out at the track team fundraiser/run with the Austin people and my friends. As for football, Alabama vastly overachieved, is way ahead of our rivals and doing things the way they should be done. Considering the alternatives - things are still going pretty well. No complaints.

Coach Saban on the State game.

"You wanna know how I feel about it?
That's how I feel about it!"

Everybody take a breath.

- The insanity of my beloved Alabama being #2 in the country and people across the spectrum picking us to win the SEC and play for the national championship is making me crazy. I'm not all concerned that we are winning close, which is how a young thin team wins. I'm concerned that people, not just Alabama people, have lost their minds:
- We go to Knoxville to play Tennessee. They are playing for their lives. It could salvage everything (and everybody's job) to beat us. We are 1-5 in Knoxville in the last 6 there. Why is this a gimme?
- Okay, we'll crush Arkansas St. (who is QB'd by a Decatur High grad). This will give us 8 wins, the high end of our expectations.
- We play LSU, the defending National Champions, at Baton Rouge. They want to beat Saban worse than anything imaginable. With the jealous hatred of the jilted that cannot be expressed in words. This may actually be bigger to Miles needs this more than he needed the National Championship. We are 1-7 in our last 8 against LSU. 1-7. How are we the favorite?
- We host Mississippi St. They have beaten us the last two years. Has everyone forgotten this? Coach Croom really wanted the Bama job. Now he really wants to make us pay for not hiring him. And he has. Until we beat them, I assume nothing.
- We host Auburn. We all know guys. We've lost 6 in a row & 7 of the last 8. 1-7. How can anyone assume we are going to win? It's in Tuscaloosa, and it will save their season if they beat us.
- That anyone can assume that we are going to cruise through this is simply insane. They all hate us and it will make their each of their seasons if they beat us. A coin has only a 6.25% chance of landing on heads four times in a row. Should we really expect any more chance than that? Have you seen our quarterback?
- Even if we did win all five games. Then we get to play Florida or Georgia in the Championship. Did anyone see the Florida-LSU game? Oh my the gators are fast. And don't you think Georgia wants so badly to make up for the embarrassment we gave them when they were so beloved, just a month ago?
- We have a real coach and will have a real team as long as he stays, and a chance to hire a quality successor. We're in the discussion, which is all I want.
- But come on guys, everybody take a breath.

Potential for Alabama Football

As you all know by now, Alabama pounded Clemson in the opener. Clemson was clearly overrated, but the way we played - hard-nosed, old-style football, was comforting to me. More comforting are quotes from the Coach after the game, and the knowledge that he means it:

"I'm happy for our team. But we got to learn how to play with consistency."

"I would say our team played well for an opening game," Saban said.

"Nobody can be satisfied with a one-game performance," Saban said. "This will be a challenge for our team and it'll be interesting to see how they respond."

“This is just one game,” Saban said. “We’ve still got to find an identity. We’ve just made a ‘B’ on a midterm. Do we slack off and make a ‘D’ on the next one and have a ‘C’ average? Or do we try to make an ‘A’?”

Between the focus on 'process', the way the freshman phenom flipped the ball to the ref after scoring instead of acting a fool, that celebrations during the game were muted, and the Coach immediately reminding the team that this butt-kicking of the number 9 team is a step in the process, not an end, I am encouraged. It feels the way I want it to feel. (Cecil Hurt Column)

Web Stuff I'm working on:

coachray.info for posting info for my classes
blackbearfootball.com
- for my school's football team in support of our football broadcast
Speculative Fiction - a blog for my sci-fi stuff