Les Paul: Savior of ‘Flash Punks’ everywhere By Hunter Ford The brilliant guitarist and inventor Les Paul died this week and his passing reminded me of another lifetime of mine. I’ve loved music since I can remember. I love it all, country, blues, rock and roll, classical, folk… whatever. But it’s blues and classic rock [...]
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Va.Tech Leading Rusher Out For Season
I don’t care who it is, you hate to hear this. Virginia Tech announced today that Darren Evans, 2008 leading rusher and Orange Bowl MVP suffered a left torn ACL in practice today and will miss the upcoming 2009 season. You can read the full report on espn.com here. An injury like this goes way [...]
Shane: High hopes or pipe dreams?
By Shane from Centerpoint I’m beginning to get a sense of déjà vu. I’m having memories of the early Nineties, a period in SEC football history when the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators met annually in the championship game. Both programs dominated their respective divisions, and the only question at the beginning of [...]
Shane: An opposing point of view
By Shane from Centerpoint Every year around the first of August I crack open my copy of Lindy’s SEC Preview magazine. This year’s version is loaded with details, and informative to say the least – especially the segment that highlights what opposing coaches (who chose to remain anonymous) think about other SEC teams and their [...]
Shane: Tidbits from SEC media days
By Shane from Centerpoint Once a year, during the “dog days†of summer, the media converges on the Winfrey Hotel near Hoover, Alabama to join the SEC coaches – along with a few players from each team – in a season kick-off event. The event is designed to allow the media to gather important details [...]
Good News, Auburn Fans
by intheknow72 Auburn fans, great news! The 2009 college football season is only 42 days away, but don’t worry. You still have plenty of season tickets to choose from, and even more mini-season ticket packages to snatch up. This includes an entire endzone, an entire upper deck, and select seats on the opposite upper deck [...]
Shane: The pro-style advantage
By Shane from Centerpoint There are roughly seventeen–hundred roster positions available in the National Football League every year when the season kicks-off. Competition for those coveted slots is increasingly becoming more demanding on young athletes, and NFL scrutiny can be humbling. Since playing in the NFL seems to be the end-dream of every young college [...]
Americans need to shoot for the moon again
Note: Hunter sent this column in about the moon. I’ve attached some links below to other items about America’s historic moon mission. By Hunter Ford President Barack Obama needs to take a break from running his mouth about the economy or Russian relations, and shoot it off towards the moon. To be sure, this is [...]
More News & Notes
by intheknow72 Scarbinsky Landmine Cappy took the words out of my mouth on Scarbinsky’s article today. I’ve never seen such an obvious planted chip in the ever growing publicity war of recruiting. There’s a silly gesture I make to my older kids when I’m leading my younger ones on. It’s the old faithful “over-emphasized wink.” [...]
Shane: Race for the National Crown
By Shane from Centerpoint If the recent trend in college football continues into the 2009 campaign, there is no doubt in my mind that the Southeastern Conference has three teams who have an excellent shot at winning the crown. With the Florida Gators being the national pick as the pre-season leader, Urban Meyer has a [...]
Shane: Enough is enough
By Shane from Centerpoint That does it! I’m not going to sit here and let this one get by me. New head football coach Lane Kiffin has done some childish things since his arrival at the University of Tennessee, but his recent attempt to secure the commitment of an eight-grader leaves no doubt in my [...]
Commentary: Alabama’s love affair with gambling
(Editor’s note: Hunter Ford resurfaces after a hiatus to send in this essay.) By Hunter Ford “Never kept a dollar past sunset. Always burned a hole in my pants. Never pleased a school mamma. Never lost a second chance on love.” – Keith Richards Alabama’s love affair with gambling leaves it cheating on its own [...]
Commentary: Thank You Ole Miss
by intheknow72 I’m not a gambling man; you gotta have a lot of money for it not to bother you when you lose it. But dog racing has always intrigued me. Particularly, the electronic hare that circles the track, leading the pack of dogs into a frenzy to chase after it. Not one of those [...]
Shane: Tubby’s Revenge?
By Shane from Centerpoint With the kick-off of the 2009 college football season less than 70 days out, most of the questions that remain for the state’s “powerhouse†universities – Alabama and Auburn (sorry Troy and UAB) – are about to be answered on the field of play. I would suspect Crimson Tide fans are [...]
Penn State offers a good blueprint
by intheknow72 This week I have been suffering at one of the hot spot destinations where couples go to remember why they fell in love. My wife could read by the pool for 12 hours a day. I get bored in about 12 minutes. But we’ve had a great time. I love coming to tourist [...]
Scott is wrong about Alabama fans
Chadd Scott proves all people from Atlanta are arrogant douchebags by intheknow72 People of Alabama, lend me your ear, regardless of your team or university affiliation. I have something to tell you that should clear up a lifetime of perplexity for you. Words that will strike at your very soul, giving you the “Aha!†moment [...]
Shane: Everything but the kitchen sink
By Shane from Centerpoint It’s June 21st, Father’s Day. In spite of the fact that I’m sitting on my deck protected by a roof and ceiling fan, it seems like one of the hottest days (to officially begin the summer) in Birmingham Alabama that I can remember. It’s so hot I can see the creosote [...]
Shane: (repost) Chizik column
Shane was a little under the weather this week and is republishing this column. Chizik hire is a sham By Shane from Centerpoint The former Auburn coach sat there with a huge smile plastered across his face. Pat Dye appeared secure and comfortable for the first time in years. Jay Gogue, the current Auburn University [...]
10 facts surrounding this ridiculous NCAA case
By intheknow72 The textbook case involving Alabama is ridiculous on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to begin. Please allow me to articulate this multifaceted issue using ten simple facts: Fact #1 Less than five years after receiving the stiffest penalties since SMU got a one-year death sentence in 1987 (and then the [...]
Shane: Spotlight on Auburn football
By Shane from Centerpoint I know there are literally dozens of major sports–related topics I could cover in my column this week, but none of them seem very important when compared to the “earth–shaking†events taking place down on the Plains of Auburn. I strive to talk about the “hot†topics, and right now it’s [...]
College Football Is A 119 Party System
By intheknow72 We’re now 93 days out from Alabama’s return to the Georgia Dome for our skirmish with the Hokies. This means we have about 63 more days of internet banter about secondary violations, coaches oversigning, forthcoming NCAA decisions, long cars (remember my ban on the name of that kind of vehicle) and whatever else [...]
Shane: SEC football-Lifestyles of the rich & famous
By Shane from Centerpoint Southeastern Conference officials, including coaches, athletic directors, and presidents just completed their annual spring meetings. These meetings were held down in some elite hotel resort located near Destin, Florida. Yes, one of those places down on the “Emerald Coast†– a place that is home to the most beautiful white beaches [...]
Is Bama Baseball Keeping Up?
By Intheknow72 For a myriad of reasons, I have not been able to make it to Tuscaloosa to an Alabama baseball game in a couple of years. However, if you haven’t ever had the pleasure, it’s a great experience on a warm spring afternoon. When I was in school it was a great reason to [...]
Shane: SEC Football Spring Preview
By Shane from Centerpoint It’s Sunday, May 24th 2009, somewhere around 100 days prior to the actual beginning of the college football season. This is the time of the year when I would normally be waxing poetic in the middle of some story about my summer vacation down on the Emerald Coast. However, a far [...]
Shane: Spurrier or Meyer?
Who’s the best coach – Spurrier or Meyer? By Shane from Centerpoint Legendary football coach Steve Spurrier has always been one of the best at using the media to influence the public’s perception of an opposing coach. During a recent live radio interview with renowned sports talk-show host Paul Finebaum, Spurrier opened up a nasty [...]
News & Notes from intheknow72
UT Eleven players gone since Lane Kiffin arrives? Some say “This is a sign of a good leader; he’s weeding them out.” Others say, “This is the sign of a bad leader; he can’t keep his flock together.” I say, does Kiffin has a dependable track record of being a good leader…anywhere? And with a [...]
Shane’s new gig and new column
Note: Shane sent his weekly column in this morning and informed me that it will be published in the Call News in Citronelle. New Direction – Same Shane By Shane from Centerpoint Those who’ve read my stuff on the Capstone Report will have to forgive me for the first paragraph or two in this week’s [...]
Breaking: Shane ousted at Western Star
Shane from Centerpoint’s column will no longer be published in the Western Star. It was also learned Tuesday afternoon that he would no longer serve as the paper’s sports editor. Shane’s column began on the Paul Finebaum website, and beginning in 2007 was published online here and in the Western Star newspaper. Shane had been [...]
Shane: The Limo aftermath
By Shane from Centerpoint Webster’s dictionary defines the word “gimmick†as a clever gadget, trick or idea. When University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban or Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer enters a “Five Star†athlete’s home to secure his promise to sign on the bottom line, gimmicks, gadgets and smack-talk aren’t part of [...]
The Bottom Line on Auburn Gimmicks
By intheknow72 There is a fine line between a fool and a leader. Both are willing to do things that others may consider ridiculous, but only one knows why he’s doing them. Much has been said…and debated…about the limo fiasco. It did create a buzz. But let me go on record as saying, I think [...]
Bob Stoops leads entire state of Oklahoma “Up In Smoke”
It’s been a week since Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops made his idiotic statements to The Tulsa World about the [...]