It was an interesting week. I had fun interviewing a football legend around here, and I believe learning something in the process. There simply isn’t a football mind the peer of Homer Smith. I remember fondly the masterwork he did with Gary Hollingsworth and the 1989 Alabama football team. So when he talks, everything he says carries tremendous weight.

Not to mention, it was cool talking to a coach who studied at Princeton, Stanford and Harvard. That’s three pretty good schools.

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Bad week for Tuberville
One of the reasons this site has a strong contingent of Auburn readers is our commitment to delivering the real news about their program. The news they can’t read from the sycophants covering the Tigers for the state’s major media outlets. Why do they come here? Why do Democrats read Drudge? You’ll find the real headlines—not the dry stuff about who might contribute as a third string linebacker, but the juicy details like Tuberville’s flip-flop on the ‘Saban Rule’ and his vanity—apparently he likes to have his picture taken.

As long as the mainstream media isn’t fulfilling your needs, we’ll be here for you.

The draft and Alabama
Alabama football signee Dustin Hood was drafted in the second round of the MLB draft. Hood projects as an outfielder, but played SS in high school. Hood was drafted a bit lower than some thought, and it creates some questions about the salary he could receive. The Rap Sheet has the details on the salary goals of Hood’s family. Cecil Hurt provides some details about the type of signing bonus a second round pick could command. It sounds like good money to me.

Alex Avila Taken in 5th Round by Detroit Tigers
Alabama junior catcher Alex Avila was taken in the fifth round by the Detroit Tigers of the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Thursday at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista , Fla.   Avila was the only current Alabama player taken on the first day of the draft.

 
Crimson & White Roundtable
Time slipped away from me this week, and I didn’t have time to answer the roundtable questions. But, there were some fine answers around the Internet. Roll Bama Roll is the place to go. They’ll have a roundup from the Bamasphere. You can check out the questions for this week here.

The Gottfried problem
The Alabama Basketball Blog tackles the issue of the basketball program. The blog asks, “Where do we go from here?”

So where do we go from here? I honestly do not know. Past performance always is the best indicator of future performance. Nothing in his performance over the past few seasons suggests to me that Coach Gottfried is up to the task. But while a man has breath in his lungs he has the capacity to change and to improve.

Alabama is stuck with Gottfried for at least one more season—for good or ill. Gottfried looks to have a nucleus of a strong team. If he can perform, then much of the criticism will evaporate. But like the blog said, is there anything in past performance which would indicate Gottfried can turn it around?

8 thoughts on “Friday notebook”

  1. Speaking of vanity,who was it again that had a special on him on the cartoon network or fox or something like that?Why I believe it was Saban.Pretty desperate attempt to sell the nation on a middle of the road SEC team.The reviews are in and it was hated.Oh well,better luck next time.

  2. Is that really your opinion? Or are you eaten up with jealousy b/c your team has been better for a decade but would NEVER get that kind of coverage?

    I’d love to see those “reviews,” all of which I’m sure were written by Aubren fans. Lots of impartiality there.

    Face it. Your team will never be as important as Alabama. That is not a conceited statement. It is just a fact. How can I say that it is a fact instead of an opinion? How many other teams outside of Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, and USC would get this kind of coverage after a lackluster season and an even more lackluster decade?
    Alabama (suffering through its worst decade) is simply a bigger deal than your team (enjoying its greatest decade ever) ever will be.

  3. Just when I thought the crapstone report was going to go an entire day without mentioning Auburn, General shows up to pick up the iceman’s and Mr. Journalistic Integrity himself – hunter ford slack.

    It is a “Sad State of Affairs” when a site dedicated to a team as “important” as uat can literally not go a SINGLE day without bringing Auburn into the mix.

    It’ll be ok little brothers. Tommy will be back in November to crush your dreams again. Then you can all go back to the glory and tradition filled days of throwing bricks through your coach’s window and plane tracking.

  4. I love how it’s just a given that Alabama will never be good again and has absolutely no chance of ever beating Aubren. Do you think about the things you type before you type them? Do you not realize that football is cyclical and Alabama is coming out of a very down cycle, and Aubren is probably going to take at least a slight downturn in its abnormally high cycle? And, no, I don’t base this on an opinion; I look at the actual evidence readily available (quality of recruits committed to each school this past year, the quality of this year’s prospects looking at the two schools, and the overall coaching abilities of the two head coaches).
    Let’s see, Alabama, in its worst years, has only lost to Aubren, in its best years, by around 7 points per game. You really believe that Alabama, paired with a slight dropoff by Aubren, cannot make up these 7 points? Especially in a few years when these recruiting efforts truly start to bear their fruits?
    And they call us delusional.

  5. Sad State, so you base your opinion on what happened in ONE year of recruiting? Sorry, but I thought it took more than 25 players to make you an SEC powerhouse. You’re delusional. How many years are you going to use the probation as your crutch? It was over in 2005. This is 2008. Get over it because its a weak argument and an even weaker excuse. You got your ass kicked the last 6 years and that’s it. BTW, you can count on a beat down this year at Tommy Tubberville Field at Jordan-Hare West and it won’t be by just 7. FEAR THE OTHER HAND!

  6. The reviews I speak of is all around you,or do you get your news from the Crapstone report,who makes it a daily habit to report on AU athletics?Written by Bammers?Yes sir,lots of impartiality there.

  7. More impartiality here about UA and AU than you’ll get from the idiotic stuff by Phillip Marshall, et al.

  8. sad state it’s simply one of the barnie’s most common record procedures: swearing alabama will never taste the slightest bit of success ever again (see their past streaks and the records following the end of those streaks). three years from now, we’ll never hear from these backwoods, two-bit delusional morons ever again… or i should say until they find a way to beat us temporarily again.

    count this as my signature:

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