I have not written since the glorious victory over Florida in the conference championship game. I will write after Christmas. Enjoy the Christmas season and have a wonderful New Year!

Champions Once Again

Unless you are a part of it you most likely hate it. You hate the never-ending stories we have of Rose Bowls and Sugar Bowls. You probably don't hate the man - the 'Granddaddy of College Football' but you might hate our houndstooth caps and our tendency to worship him and the past. Your favorite color most likely isn't crimson and you might think it's funny that we are slow-talking and stuck on tradition and history.

We love houndstooth and who it represents and crimson and southern drawls. We love college bowl games but we actually just love college football in general. And just as we believe tradition should be cherished we also believe that no matter how good or bad we may be, there is something special about our school and her football program.

Our quarterback explains it simply.

"There's a lot of pride in playing football for the University of Alabama." The past, the present, the future. We, the ones who are a part of it, know this to be true.

Before this past Saturday, the last time the Crimson Tide won the Southeastern Conference title was 1999 when the coach was Mike Dubose. The ten years that have followed Alabama's victory over Florida, coached then by Steve Spurrier, holds a multitude of coaching changes. After Coach Dubose was fired, Coach Dennis Franchione came and left, disrespectfully, for Texas A&M and the Aggies. Coach Mike Price was hired and then fired before coaching a single game for the University of Alabama. Then, amidst NCAA violations and bowl game suspensions, Coach Mike Shula returned to coach his alma-mater. With both post-season and scholarship restrictions applied to Alabama, the former Tide quarterback coached the program to mediocracy. There was the epic 31-3 upset over a No. 5 ranked Florida team in Bryant-Denny Stadium during the 2005 season, but repeated losses to arch-rival Auburn was a factor in Coach Shula's fate at Alabama. See, we at Alabama do not settle for mediocracy. Being a mediocre program is not accepted. Shula was fired and then Defensive Coordinator Joe Kines coached Alabama in the Independence Bowl following the 2006 season which resulted in a loss to Oklahoma State.

Meanwhile, the Alabama Athletics Department searched for the next head coach of the Crimson Tide. Title-hungry and determined, the search dragged on. The Rich Rodriguez rumors and Steve Spurrier rumors hung over Tuscaloosa but were ultimately, and gladly, dismissed when Nick Saban was announced the Head Coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. A perfect guy for the job. A highly pressured job.

Saban's short coaching tenure in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphin's franchise was what followed his tenure as the head football coach at Louisiana State University. While there, he coached the Bengal Tigers to a BCS National Title. The news of Saban's arrival meant a new era of Alabama Football was more promising than ever.

Without any of his own recruits, Saban's first season looked nothing like the two that would follow. The 2007 season held a 7-6 record for the Crimson Tide. Of the six losses, four of them were to conference opponents (Georgia, Mississippi State, LSU, and Auburn). Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminole's met the Crimson Tide at a neutral site in Jacksonville, Florida and sent Saban and his boys back to Alabama with another loss on the season. The most embarrassing loss of the season, and maybe even in the program's history, was to Louisiana-Monroe on Alabama own home field.

And then, the tide turned. Since then, it hasn't stopped rolling.

The 2008 season brought the first undefeated twelve-game regular season in Crimson Tide history. It also brought the first trip back to Atlanta since 1999 to contend for the Southeastern Conference title. Underneath the lights of the Georgia Dome was a battle that featured the two top ranked football teams in the nation, the same two that played in 1999. The winner would receive a bid to the BCS National Title game in Miami, Florida. Defeating Alabama 31-20, the Gators went back to their home state and clinched the title against the Sooners of Oklahoma. Alabama went to New Orleans to play in the Sugar Bowl against the University of Utah. Although Alabama holds the record for the most Sugar Bowl appearances than any other team, the Tide played with no "home away from home" field advantage. The season ended with an upsetting loss, but it only fueled the fire for what was to come in 2009.

Quarterback John Parker Wilson was gone and all eyes turned to Greg McElroy, the junior out of Southlake, Texas. In the 2009 opening game in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome, McElroy proved that another successful season and maybe even conference and national titles were within reach as he led the Crimson Tide in a win over Virginia Tech, and thus gained respect from the title-hungry students and fans.

Fast forward. With another undefeated twelve-game regular season behind them, Alabama returned to Atlanta to contend in the SEC Title game for the second year in a row. McElroy and his offense made their opponent's defense and No. 1 ranking look like a perfect case of "over-rated."

Yet again, Alabama and Florida met for the crowning of the Southeastern Conference's "King" and to answer the most-asked question in college football this year: Which one of these teams will go to Pasadena?

All year long it was assumed that the SEC champion would be one of the contenders in the BCS National Championship game. The assumptions were on point and the question, as of Saturday night, has been answered.

ALABAMA.

Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, and McElroy were unstoppable against a defense who apparently was "the best."

When the scoreboard read Alabama: 32, Florida: 13 the promise was kept. The title was won. The new era of Alabama Football finally became a reality. That turbulent decade was over.

For those of us that are a part of Alabama, we no longer have to seek glory in the past. We have witnessed a return to glory.

A mental preparation exercise that Saban had the team participate in had the team state what they thought Sunday's headline should say about Saturday's game. He asked them this on Thursday.

Colin Peek goes first, according to what he told 'The Atlanta Journal Constitution'. His answer, simple and short, was poetically true.

"Tradition Restored".

Alabama held the record for the most SEC titles before Saturday's showdown. Yet, the ten years between the 1999 and 2009 conference championships made many people discredit that highly honored record. No more discrediting the Crimson Tide because the tradition has, indeed, been restored.

No larger than life man in a blazer and checkered cap stands on the sideline with a rolled-up playbook in his wrinkled hands. Just a man in a Nike polo with a cordless headset and a genius play-calling mind and a gift for assembling top-ranked recruiting classes that are changing the face of the Alabama football program.

A quarterback who plays a simple style of football and does things the old-fashioned way - similar to the quarterback legends who wore the same number "12" jersey like Joe Namath and Kenny Stabler. A standout sophomore receiver, a Heisman Trophy worthy running back, and a nose tackle whose size is as big as his game-winning plays.

The Alabama Crimson Tide has redeemed themselves. Although we have new coaches, new faces behind the masks of our crimson helmets , and new renovations and expansions to our stadium, we've restored our tradition. We've redeemed ourselves against the Florida Gators and we've relived our days of glory.

"Pride Restored"

"Class Remained"

"Glory Returned"

"History Relived"

"Excellence Regained"

Headlines or not, we're back. We reside among the best and we return to the level of the most elite. We show no sign of regression because of Coach Saban and "The Process."

One thing is for sure after Saturday's win over the University of Florida,

"Champions Remembered".

-BJJ

roll tide roll

Rematch Week

The week of rematches is finally here. In neither case has absence made the heart grow fonder.

Only when two lovers are separated does that deem true. And the saying, "out of sight, out of mind", does not apply to the rematches that this week holds.

Not when Tom Izzo and Roy Williams both shared the sideline at Ford Field in Detroit this past April in the national title game. That game, too, was a rematch of the Big 10/ACC Challenge earlier last season. This time they meet in Chapel Hill at the Dean Dome where Dickie V says North Carolina's sophomore point guard Larry Drew will "be the key factor in tonight's game." The eleventh ranked Tar Heels have not forgotten the ninth ranked Spartans just because they are out of conference foes and not part of the elite Atlantic Coast Conference. The loss to Syracuse proved that conferences like the Big 10 and Big East are not too far behind the ACC when it comes to powerful and highly ranked teams. Izzo and his boys in green and white haven't forgotten the loss to Williams' Tar Heels in neither last year's Big 10/ACC Challenge nor last year's national title game. The Challenge's games are already exciting but with a team hungry for vengeance and full of experience visiting the home court of a young but talent-packed reigning champion, we are certain this game will be one for the books.

The other rematch this week comes on Saturday as the two top ranked football teams meet for the crowning of the SEC Championship. The Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide will meet in a rematch of last year's conference championship game. The 364 days since their last battle has not been a time of fond hearts and bittersweet separation. The Alabama boys have wanted another shot at Tim Tebow and the boys from Florida since the second the game ended in the Georgia Dome last year. The two teams have been equally talented and successful in their regular seasons this year just as they were last year. Two of the best offenses in the nation, two of the best defenses in the nation, two of the best coaches in the nation, and two potential Heisman candidates. The rematch will be a story played out in true Southeastern Conference fashion that we will want Eli Gold, Alabama's famed radio broadcaster, to tell us for years to come. Out of sight, out of mind? No and no. Just because the two teams haven't seen one another on the grid iron this year doesn't meant that they haven't had their eyes on eachother all year long. It's been talked about and anxiously awaited for since Florida and Alabama have traded places amongst the rankings and held their opponents in defeat for twelve straight weeks. This rematch is almost too good to be true.

Enjoy the best of the best this week. College basketball and college football - the beginning of one season and the ending of another - but either way, revenge and redemption are looming.

As always, Go Heels and Roll Tide!

-BJJ

The Blind Side

The movie that is captivating the hearts of football fans everywhere, especially in the South, really is something extraordinary. Undoubtedly, the story of Michael Oher and his football career is moving in itself. Yet, Michael Oher and The Tuohy family's journey together is way bigger than football. It's more valuable than a national title game or a Monday Night Football game, and it's worth more than any Super Bowl ticket.

Unlike most sports movies that shed light on racial controversy and social classification, 'The Blind Side' doesn't take place in segregated 1960's America, it takes place in today's world. This remarkable story is about sport and society, racism and rarity, faith and family, and hope and hardwork. To put it simply, when the credits roll and pictures of the real Tuohy family and Michael Oher are shown, you feel one thing - inspired.

Athletic ability and being part of a sports program can lead to personal visits by all-time great coaches, a higher education, sometimes even professional league careers, but this movie reminds us that the most important of all things is self-discovery.

Whether we are white or black, rich or poor, an honor student or below average, we all must discover the person we are through our life experiences. The experience that is shared between the Tuohy family, a well-to-do white family, and Oher, a then young and homeless African-American student from a broken home, is about self-discovery and teaches many of the valuable lessons of life.

A lot can be learned from the exceptional life of Oher. Hard work on the practice field. Discipline in study. Persistence in life's turbulence. Appreciation for life's rewards. Protection for the ones we love. Admiration for the ones who love us back. Never give up, never quit, the sky's the limit. With God, all things are possible.

Because the plot is so special, the appearances of some of college football's best coaches, the Oscar-worthy acting of Sandra Bullock, and the Southern handsomeness of Tim McGraw, aren't the big deals in 'The Blind Side.' It's the inspiration and own self-discovery that you experience as you witness the coming together of Memphis' projects and high society and the story you'll want to tell your children or grandchildren one day.

After this moving story, though, you will hope that stories like the one of Michael Oher are far more common by then.


Roll Tide!
-BJJ

Live Mascots

Being as a real elephant is a very far stretch of the imagination for me and my student body, I still can't help but give a little gratitude to the schools that do carry this sort of tradition. No, maybe they don't have 12 National Title banners waving atop their stadium, but they do have a tradition of having loyalty that can only come from having one's own pet. Some are strange, some are mean, and some are nothing short of regal.

Even if it is nearly impossible to have an elephant stomping the sidelines at Bryant-Denny Stadium I must remind you of one thing.... we did once have a 'Bear'.

I've ranked my favorite animal mascots below:

1. Uga VII - The English Bulldog (University of Georgia): His predecessor once took the acclaimed "Oldest Rivalry in the South" to a new level when he bit an Auburn player. "Good boy!" God rest his soul. My appreciation for tradition, class, and Southern football at it's finest is why I rank Uga VII at the top of the list. (Uga VI was not only cool for biting an Auburn player, but was even cooler for being the all-time winningest mascot).

2. Bevo XIV - Texas Longhorn Steer (The University of Texas): His original name was "Sunrise Studly" and attended George W. Bush's second inauguration. Not only loyal to the students in Austin but also loyal to the former leader of the free world makes Bevo XIV a.k.a. Sunrise Studly a much admired mascot. "Hook 'em Horns!"

3. Mike VI - The Siberian-Bengal Tiger (Louisiana State University): An Indiana rescue facility donated Mike VI to LSU in 2007 after his predecessor died. Whether I go to a rival university or not, it is pretty damn cool that his first year on the job he was part of a BCS National Championship. Come to think of it, that might be a selling point on this whole real-life elephant idea in Tuscaloosa.

4. Mach 1 - Falcon (Air Force): The bird can fly up to a speed of 200 mph. If that's not appropriate for the Air Force then get back to me when cheetahs learn how to fly.

5. Rameses XVIII - Horned Dorset Sheep (The University of North Carolina): It's a Ram, they're the Tar Heels. It's like the whole elephant thing when we're the Crimson Tide. Listen, I don't love these two schools because of their mascots or the fact that they confuse most people - it is what it is. Rameses XVIII got the job in Chapel Hill after his father was killed by a vicious headbutt by his very own brother. They paint his horns Carolina blue, and on very special occassions, his testicles have been known to sport a spray-paint job of the same color.

6. Traveler VIII - Andalusian Horse (The University of Southern California): This regal, white horse got it's name 'Traveler' from General Robert E. Lee's famous horse in the Civil War. Despite the hatred for Southern Cal football you can find in the people in my neck of the woods, it is somewhat charming of the West Coasties to remember our beloved Confederate General and his Andalusian Horse.

7. Renegade - Appaloosa Horse (Florida State University): As a tribute to the famous Seminole Tribe of Florida, Renegade and his 'Chief Osceola' made their debut appearance against Oklahoma State in 1978. Although I have never witnessed a football game inside Doak Campbell Stadium I can only imagine the feeling that swoops over their student section as they hum and wave their fists in tomahawk spirit as a flaming spear is planted at midfield by a charging Renegade and Chief Osceola. Even cooler, the recent debates in the United States regarding Native American mascots being 'offensive' to the Native American culture are not applied to FSU - they have consent and total support from the Seminole Indian tribe.

8. Tusk II - Russian Boar (The University of Arkansas): Razorbacks love Tusk II just as much as they love to sing, "Woooo! Pig Sooie!" Tusk I, his predecessor, was shot and killed by an angry farmer when the boar escaped the animal exhibit and rampaged some very precious countryside. It's always been said, they're a little backwards up in Arkansas. (I kid, I kid!)

9. Ralphie IV and Ralphie V - Buffaloes (Colorado University): Both are female and split time on the sideline at the Buff's home football games. In Ralphie IV's first appearance she broke free from her harness and trampled one of her handlers. I am hoping no serious injury was caused because I find it a little humorous.

10. Smokey IX - Bluetick Coonhound (The University of Tennessee): This hound dog got the job in 2004 and is still part of the Volunteer's gameday tradition - even bringing Smokey to away games. In 1955, Smokey II was kidnapped by a group of students from the University of Kentucky. In 2006, Smokey IX was accused of biting Alabama receiver Mike McCoy after the player fell on the then 3-year old coonhound in pre-game warmups. Tennessee denied this being true. The dog is cool and all, but you know whose side I am on.

11. Tom II - Bengal Tiger (The University of Memphis): In remembrance - Tom II was recently put to sleep at the age of 17 after being diagnosed with cancer. His name, derived from the Tigers Of Memphis, is very beloved in the western Tennessee city.

12. Judge Joy and Sue - Black Bears (Baylor University): The first bear on campus was won by a local businessman in a poker game. I thought they played Texas Hold 'Em with money, especially in Texas. With the names 'Judge Joy' and 'Sue' I disregard the nature of the animal and assume that Paul W. Bryant was the more scary 'Bear' on a sideline.

13. War Eagle VII - Golden Eagle (Auburn University): The eagle was born in 1999 at the Montgomery Zoo and at six months of age was moved to Auburn to participate in pre-game festivities. No one really knows why the Auburn Tigers don't have a Tiger like LSU and Memphis, but no one really cares either. Although I have a deep dislike for all things Auburn, I must admit that the soaring eagle is a unique tradition for "those people".

14. Bill XXXIII - Goat (The United States Naval Academy): In 1893 the first 'Bill the Goat' appeared. The live goat is represented at football games by costumed midshipmen. Over the years 'Bill the Goat' has been kidnapped by many different schools. Some of which are: The Air Force Academy, The Army, and Maryland.

15. Raider, Ranger II, and General Scott - Mules (Army): The mules were adopted by Army to counter the infamous Navy goat. At football games the mules are ridden by Army Officers.

So, what do you think of this walking the sidelines of Bryant-Denny Stadium? I don't know, I think we'll just stick to the old, traditional ways that we're used to!

Roll Tide Roll!

-BJJ

Titles And Such

We won't know who will claim the Southeastern Conference's throne until night falls in Atlanta on December 5th. When the Georgia Dome is split into a Civil War between the nation's two top-ranked football teams and their fans and 60 minutes of football is played with the kind of tenacity only found in a game that holds so much at stake. When those tenacious 60 minutes are over, one team and it's fans will start planning for a trip to the Bayou to play in the Southeastern Conference's automatic bid to the Sugar Bowl, and the other team and it's fans will start planning for a trip to the City of Angels to play in the BCS National Championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. This, of course, being said with the assumption that the faulty BCS points system not make some very large mistake.

Alabama will play with vengeance, seeking to take back the SEC crown they let slip through their fingers in the final quarter of last year's title game. Florida will play to defend the title that was not-so-easily won in last year's game against the title-hungry Crimson Tide. Mark Ingram will run the ball with hopes of chasing down the first Heisman Trophy in history to be won by an Alabama player. Tim Tebow will play in another conference title game with hopes that his 'lifetime achievement' can somehow sway Heisman voters to award him the trophy that he apparently thinks was 'robbed' from him by Oklahoma's Sam Bradford last year. The Crimson Tide faithful will pour into Atlanta thirsty for the conference title and a hunger for revenge, redemption, and a plane ride to Pasadena. The distinguished sort of pride that Alabama fans are known for will pour out into the "Rammer Jammer" chants and "Yea, Alabama" songs. Every person traveling down I-20 from Tuscaloosa to Atlanta will bring with them the pride of having the more SEC conference titles and more National titles than any other school in the conference, along with the friendly hatred for the Gator Nation. This 'Nation' will travel up I-75 from Gainesville to Atlanta with the general pompous attitude that is tied to their fanhood just as the infamous jean shorts are. I, given my bias, seem to think that their overconfidence results from envy of the Alabama program and fear that Nick Saban is building a dynasty that just might be the doom of Urban Meyer.

Knowing that no Florida fan would ever admit it, I can at least assume that there is an anxious chill on the spines that hide underneath orange and blue t-shirts. If Tennessee had them biting their nails earlier this season I can only imagine the fear that Saban puts in them. If a win over Arkansas in 'The Swamp' came down to a desperate field goal I can only imagine what they think of Terrence Cody. If Steve Spurrier's running backs could break through the Florida defense I can only smile at the damage Heisman front-runner Mark Ingram can do. The lack of a blowout score against the Bulldogs of Mississippi State must be humiliating after the high-scoring show that Greg McElroy, Julio Jones, and Mark Ingram put on in Starkville this past weekend. If there were any reason for Florida to NOT fear the momentum that seems to only accelerate with each Alabama victory while propelling the Crimson Tide closer and closer to the program's first conference title since 1999 I would admit it, yet I find unable to find one. The turbulent decade for Alabama's football program was filled with trying times in regard to NCAA violations and a whirlwind of coaching changes. Yet, as Coach Saban was found to be the key to getting things back together the Alabama family is also finding that history does in fact repeat itself. Alabama met Florida in the Georgia Dome last year just as they will this year. Alabama won it's last SEC title in the Georgia Dome in 1999 - against Florida. Fancy that.

As disappointing as the loss to Florida was last December, most Alabama fans were just as much grateful because we were finally headed to a BCS bowl game in our other favorite dome in New Orleans. However, this year the excitement that is felt while celebrating momentous victories in the student section is more in celebration of what is yet to come rather than the 60 minutes that was just played out in front of us. Whispering plans for Rose Bowl pageantry in Pasadena without 'jinxing' the possibility accompanies the thrill of watching our in-state rival lose on any given Saturday. The fight song seems to get a little bit louder at a certain part - "Remember the Rose Bowl, you'll win then!" Hotel rooms in Atlanta and Buckhead for December 4th through the 6th were being confirmed only hours after the SEC West was won. Personal rivalry with friends in Gainesville heat up. The feelings that come with being a top-tiered team is a little bit sweeter because it can be assumed that Charlie Wiess and Pete Carroll wish they were in Nick Saban's shoes. Not to mention the fortune and luck that is felt to be a fifth-year senior who gets an extra year of highly glorified football. In a nut shell, there's no denying the fact that, no matter how cliche to our mascot it seems, the Tide certainly has turned.

So, on December 5th in Atlanta, Georgia the two best teams in the nation will face-off in an epic battle to contend for the national title. Whether traveling East on I-20 or North on I-75, the place they intersect will determine what road is next. As far as the road to the National Championship is concerned, it is up to the old-timers and the new kids on the block to determine which one is destined for Pasadena.

The Rose Bowl, with all it's pageantry and glamour, is where Alabama can finally find undoubted redemption or where Florida can find a repeat of last year's crown. Just as the then-ranked No. 2 Gators said last year before they beat the then-ranked No. 1 Crimson Tide, "the rankings don't mean anything," I know who I would put my money on in Atlanta next month. The now-ranked No. 2 Crimson Tide.

If you're the under-dog you have nothing to lose, right? According to the 'Gator Nation' who seems to manipulate every scenario into their favor, right.

Roll Tide Roll!

-BJJ

Rocky Stop!

The University of Alabama Crimson Tide defeat the University of Tennessee Volunteers 12-10 on Saturday October 24, 2009 in Tuscaloosa, Ala

There really are no words to describe the way one feels after something like that happens. My whole life I have dedicated such strong emotion for sports. Yet, last night made me realize that even if I wasn't such a sports enthusiast I would have still experienced the feeling of bliss as I sang the words of my school's ever-so-taunting song.

Hey Vols! Hey Vols! Hey Vols! We just beat the hell out of you, Rammer jammer yellow hammer give 'em hell, Alabama!

It always feels good to sing that song when Alabama, with it's spectacular special teams and indestructable defense, adds another opponent to the long list of wins in our record book. When you're singing it to the the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee, however, the words and the tune just sound so much sweeter.


The rivalry that compares to very few has entered a whole new era with Nick Saban and Lane Kiffen leading the boys in crimson and one well-hated shade of orange. Dating back to Robert Neyland and Paul Bryant, October's famous game is still sixty minutes that holds just as much emotion as it does tradition. When Tennessee comes to town, it is more than just a normal Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The tailgaters are in their normal spots sprawling across the quaint University of Alabama campus and the Million Dollar Band still leads the crowd in routine cheer throughout the game. By game's end, though, the song favored by the Alabama student body and the Crimson Tide die-hards is shouted with a little more glee as the boys in Crimson spend an extra few minutes of excitement with their fellow students in Bryant-Denny's South endzone. It's a historical rivalry that makes for a highly anticipated Saturday in Dixie.


The three times Tennessee has visited Tuscaloosa in my five-season tenure as a student at the Capstone, I've had the pleasure of singing 'Rammer Jammer' each time. The infamous 'Rocky Stop' game in 2005 that resulted in the Crimson Tide's 6-3 victory over Tennessee is what I had always figured would be my biggest nail-biter and near heart-attack type game. That was until the feelings of excitement in pride set in after the 12-10 victory over our most hated rival. As a student, last night was indescribable

As it is every year, this season of college football is full of surprises. We were all surprised with Southern California's loss to Washington. We were shocked when Tim Tebow suffered a concussion. We're all a little surprised that Bobby Bowden doesn't see that it is time to step down. And some of us are surprised at how one man is capable of turning around a program in only three seasons. Not me. As part of the 'Alabama faithful', I am not shocked that Alabama is regaining control of football's throne.

When Nick Saban announced he would be the coach of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in January 2007, the people in Baton Rouge knew the Tide was about to turn. The coaching staff in Gainesville hoped he 'pissed off' enough Miami Dolphins fans so that recruiting in Florida wouldn't become a problem. The people on the East side of Alabama were scared of what the future would hold for the annual "Iron Bowl" showdown. Phil Fulmer, the then-coach of Tennessee, went back to researching any other way he could make the NCAA hate Alabama, as he was known for. In Tuscaloosa, however, a new light was shed on the football crazed town. The rising of the Tide meant a turning of the page. For a program that is criticized for living in the past and for the people who are critisized for not believing the football program they adore so much was at a dead end, the hiring of Coach Saban was a salvation. The frustration of mediocricy and the hate in losing was finally relieved when Mal Moore, the Alabama athletics director, presented to the Crimson Tide faithful the man who would put their boys in pads back on the road to domination. His first year was an expected slow start. His second year was an undefeated regular season that, after winning the Western division, gave the Tide a chance to play in Atlanta for the SEC Title - the first time since 1999 - and a BCS bid to play in the Sugar Bowl. His third year, he's coaching another unbeaten team who plays a weekly game of musical chairs with Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators for the nation's "No. 1" poll rankings. Two years in a row, might I add, Saban has proved to be a recruiting genius with the commitments he has received from high school football's most elite members. In a personal, off-the-record conversation I had with a member of his coaching staff, whose name I will withold, Nick Saban's coaching power was described like this: "Hell, he'd have all 95 pounds of you convinced you could run through that brick wall. You'd believe him because he's that good at what he does. I know he seems a little harsh in the media and a lot of people call him a jackass, but his job is to coach those boys and I've never seen anyone do it better. You'll see."

We've seen, all right. It's undeniable that the Tide has risen. There is no doubt that Alabama is a good football team. You can't misconstrude what the experts say, no matter how badly you want to disagree. With Alabama's success each week, those who warrant any speculation or disapproval of what Saban is doing lacks what large amount of credibility is needed to argue the case of the Crimson Tide's road to the national championship. Kirk Herbstreit,the well-known ESPN college football analyst, put it this way in 2007, shortly after Nick Saban took the head coaching job in Tuscaloosa: "At Alabama all Saban has to do is shore up the special teams and the defensive line. If he does that, Alabama will be shocking a lot of people in the college football world."

Now, in the 2009 season, Alabama's special teams and their defensive line are both regarded as the best in the nation. A mediocre quarterback, Greg McElroy, is a first-year starter who has made the expected mistakes that come with inexperience, but at the same time he proves his ability to get his job done. When you have the amount of strength in your defense that Alabama has, a less-thrilling offense is rightly excusable. Except, Saban's play-calling (especially in the 'Wildcat Formation') is thrilling enough in it's self. When you add top Heisman candidate and running back Mark Ingram in to the picture, the thrills that come from McElroy, Ingram, and the rest of the Tide's offense, are felt just as often as they are when the defensive boys are on the field.

Thrills are everywhere in Tuscaloosa these days. They come on Friday afternoons when tents pop up under the oak trees on the quad. It's thrilling to hear the Million Dollar Band practicing on the field that is over looked by the tower that is seen in so many iconic images of the late Paul Bryant. The thrill of waking up on a Saturday in the fall and dressing in our best dress or suit and pouring out in to Tuscaloosa's streets in good cheer for our team while upholding respect for the visiting fans. Spectacularly thrilling is the sound of 'the Bear' through the stadium speakers as a video highlights the twelve years in college football owned by the University of Alabama. And as each week passes, the excitement and thrill grows deeper in the heart of the Crimson Tide fanbase. It warms the heart when the thought of a thirteenth title beings to look even more like a very near reality. A dream come true, if you will.

Only a couple of years ago did the dream of that thirteenth title seem like a distant fantasy because of the Crimson Tide's probation nightmare. The up-hill struggle with the NCAA was accompanied with a whirlwind of coaching changes while becoming inferior to Auburn - the hated, in-state, conference and Western-division rival. When Saban came to town, Herbstreit simply stated on ESPN, "All due respect to Auburn... but when Alabama gets this thing going, they control that state." Saban's first-year loss to Auburn was hardly a blow-out victory for then-head coach Tommy Tubberville and his Auburn Tigers. Saban's second-year was an "Iron Bowl" victory for Alabama. Not just any victory - a shut out, the ending of Auburn's seven-year winning streak, the completion of Alabama's undefeated regular season, and the 'unsaid' reason behind Auburn's firing of Tubberville. In this case, the expert was right. The nightmare seemed to be over and the dream was coming true. Alabamians could finally sleep at night.

Being one of the thousands in the 'Bama student section last night, I looked around at the masses behind me in an attempt to take it all in. The break I took from yelling at referees and screaming for my team gave me a chance to soak in all the thrills that are exclusive to the Alabama family. I'm talking the experience that is only known to the fellow students that sat around me. The student body is made up of 25,000 individuals that each have their own background, their own values and moral beliefs, and unique life journeys. However, we share a common bond that threads us to our neighbor and, on Saturday, we are 'one.' We have a shared love for our school and we support her just as she has supported us. She is our 'home away from home' and, in a sense, she is our family. We prefer her crimson glow and we all find a nemesis in all of the different shades of orange that threaten to stain her on Saturdays in the Fall. We sing our own version of Rocky Top. We haven't the slightest care that bourbon drinks are flying and splashing amongst us as we sing 'Rammer Jammer.' The celebration, like the one last night, is a sweet, sweet expression of joy for our family because our brothers in pads won. The extra sweet, like I said before, is because our brothers in pads won - against Tennessee!

Sure, I am aware that Terrence Cody had to desperately block two field goals to protect our team's perfect winning record. I was there when the Tennessee kicker was actually able to get it over the Tide's phenomenal blockers but still couldn't get the three points out of it. I was also there when Mark Ingram fumbled the ball. The sweetest of them all is, I was there when the student section went into hysteria after UT's last-second attempt was thrown back in their face, literally. I was there with the 92,011 others who were fortunate enough to see the game that left everyone anxiety-ridden, yet ever so appropriate in regard to the storied rivalry of our lady 'Bama and her much-hated 'Vols' from Knoxville, Tennessee .

The game was, undoubtedly, Southern football at it's finest and with Terrence Cody's heroic effort it was proof that our school's fight song tells no lies, "you're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide!"


Roll Tide!
-BJJ

A Cinderella Story x 27 = UNC Women's Soccer

Being born with a true Tar Heel spirit and playing highly competitive club soccer and school soccer my whole life, I was always aware of the fact that the University of North Carolina Women's Soccer program was the ultimate success story in NCAA Women's Athletics.

Each year my Dad would buy me a t-shirt from the well known store, 'Johnny T-Shirt', that occupies a spot on the sometimes-cozy-but-usually-wild-and-crazy strip of Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. My highly anticipated, annual tee shirt adorned a Tar Heel Women's Soccer logo in the perfect shade of blue on it's front and on the back was a list of every year Anson Dorrance and the Lady Tar Heels won the NCAA National Title ('81, '82, '83, '84, '86, '87, '88, '89, '90, '91, '92, '93, '94, '96, '97, '99, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008). In replacement of the 1985, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2007 seasons was a word that simply summed up the reason why UNC has not completely held down the nation for 27 years. The 8 years (out of 27) are described on the back of my favorite t-shirt just like this - "Oops!"

Ya, no big deal, huh? Just a shrug of the shoulder with sly grin and a cynical, sarcastic "Oops!" comment and maybe a little rolling of the eye and you've got it mastered - "Oops!"

Of course, if you are a girl who happened to be a soccer player at North Carolina during any of the 8 non-title winning years then I can assume the intense feelings disappointment and guilt are indescribable. However, one sarcastic word sums it up perfect and tells a true story. A little mistake. An imperfection. A defect in the system of elitism. That's it; that's all folks!

Maybe if you happen to be a Tar Heel women's soccer player during any of those 8 years you weren't really disappointed and instead inspired by an opportunity to arise to a challenge. Arising to that challenge with high and mighty confidence, however, because at the end of the day you're still a Tar Heel and they're not and you don't lose any sleep because you are part of the dynasty. An incredibly storied and historic dynasty. The ugly step-sister may have beat you 8 times in 27 years, but when you're the main character you're everyone's favorite. We'll all anxiously await the "happily ever after" because you're a Tar Heel soccer player -you're Cinderella - appropriately dressed in light blue beauty.

Anson Dorrance, the head coach of the Carolina Women's Soccer team, is not-mistakenly the John Wooden of the female athletic world. The fairy godfather in the essence of fairy tales and happily ever afters. He's a winner, his players are the elite, and his dynasty is far from being destroyed. Well known soccer players like Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Cindy Parlow, and Tisha Venturini wore the sacred Tar Heel jersey before they were Gold medal winning Olympians and World Cup Champions and Gatorade spokeswomen. Their fairy tale began as hard-working student athletes and spiraled into being champions, world travelers, heroes, and idols to little pony-tailed girls in Florida.

As a whole, I idolize the women from the past and present that have contributed and currently represent the success of the most powerful women's soccer program in the nation. The Princesses in this fairy tale of ultimate sport's hierarchy and their coach/fairy godfather/King/Prince Charming/Knight in Shining Armour (whatever defines his legacy best) changed the relationship between athletics and feminism. "Playing like a girl" isn't an insult anymore. Little girls grow up wanting to be the next Mia Hamm like our male counterparts grew up wanting to be like Mike and now our little boys won't go golfing with their Dad in anything other than a red Nike polo because of a guy named Tiger Woods. Some of us girls - maybe it is just me - are scarred for life because our parents made us go to the DUKE Women's Soccer Camp because we were too small to attend Anson Dorrance's soccer camp 7 miles down the lovely Tobacco Road in nearby Chapel Hill. While I was playing soccer (not learning anything from the Lady Blue Devils because they're AWFUL) and biting my tounge in Gotham City, my sister was living it up at UNC on Fetzer Field with NCAA legends. (Note: this was when I finally had solid evidence to support my argument that I was not the favorite daughter).

Wait, it gets better. Not only did I attend DUKE soccer camp, I also attended THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA soccer camp. Seriously, I'm not joking. The two schools in the entire nation that I have nothing but pure hatred for was my 'home away from home' for a week. Do you feel my bitterness? The only thing I learned at either camp was how to bite my tounge and I'm using those skills right now because I have other preferred choice-words to describe Duke and UF and those couple of weeks that negatively and permanently affected the rest of my life.

Baily, count to ten, go to your 'happy place', take deep breathes and exhale slowly......

Happy place. Ok, UNC-Chapel Hill.........

Furthermore, the near-perfection of these role models that the UNC Women's Soccer program provided to many people set the standard for winning and defined what it meant to be a winner.

The dynasty that is often forgotten amongst the rest of the sport's crazed has yet to slow down in proving that when you've won 19 out of the 27 possible NCAA titles you've contested for you don't have to boast or brag to convince others that you were a successful student-athlete or that your college years were a blast. We believe you; we're convinced, trust me. Not to mention that those 8 the Heels weren't the National Champion they were runner-up (1985, 1998, 2001), or you were in the quarter-finals or semi-finals (1995, 2002, 2005), or at the very worst - the Sweet 16 (2004 and 2007). Maybe that's what makes this legacy so special - the ones who appreciate and respect sports in its entirety have not forgotten this storied success. The true sport's crazed spirit knows what a dynasty is, what a legend is, what a legacy is. They're not boastful, they don't brag, they don't make giant spectacles of themselves, and they don't hand out nicknames like 'Superman' just because a couple of national titles were won. Dynasties, legends, legacies - these things speak for themselves and when something IS needed to be said it's a simple "Oops!" to admit a mistake was made.

The female athlete hasn't always been accepted in the way she is today. Twenty-seven years ago there was no North Carolina Women's Soccer program. However, the impact the Lady Tar Heel has made on the post-feminist sport's world is large. The power vested in the 27 year-old program was made by defeating opponents, criticism, and sexism on Fetzer Field while maintaining lady-like poise and world-class sportsmanship. They turned fairy tales in to realities for competitive youth soccer players and gave parents someone to point to and say to their own little Tar Heel girl "work hard, don't quit, she sure as hell didn't." That now little Alabama girl can forever be grateful to soccer, the female athlete, and having a league of their own. She can forever have utmost respect for the women who changed the course of history. She can forever be appreciative of a true dynasty. She can forever be full of spirit for her favorite team, her favorite idols, and her favorite legends. In essence of little girls not being sugar and spice and everything nice because the female athlete changed that idea, that little girl can forever love to hate hate hate her nemesis' of Duke and UF.

She can write sport's articles, she can argue with the boys, and she can leave her mark in the records book as well. The female-athlete - the beauty in being a badass, having the heart and soul of a champion, and being way more than just a pretty face.

So, happily ever after's may exist for some of us and may not exist for others but the opportunity to get in the game and to go out there and make it happen exists for us ALL.

Put me in coach!

As always, Go Heels and Roll Tide!!

-BJJ

I'm in Florida.

And no, they do not talk about anything else on the news hear other than Tim Tebow.

A League of Their Own: THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

After taking a short break from blogging, I have made an effort to set aside an hour or so each day to get some of the sport's talk off of my mind. As a student at the University of Alabama and the first month of college football behind me, it seems the weather is cooling off but opinions are just heating up.

Staying true to it's nature, college football is a far cry from boring. With each Saturday meaning life or death in the Bowl Championship Series the players who suit up in pads and helmets not only carry with them the pride of their inner-being, but the pride, glories, and traditions that come with the uniform. How much pressure, I wonder, do the boys in Crimson deal with each Saturday as they take their opponents while trying to keep the unspoken promise made to the Alabama student section that this is our return to glory? What type of pressure must Tim Tebow feel when his nickname is "Superman" yet he is on the injured list after a mild concussion? How do you measure the embarassment of each Trojan after losing to Washington? Do you have what it takes as a Penn State player to return to Happy Valley being just that - happy? Or are you disguested and share the same embarassment that the Pac-10 favorite does?

Rightly so, the big men on campus of the Southeastern Conference have brought power, eliteism, and sacredness back to the reputable "toughtest conference in college football." Like a band of brothers, the Tigers of Louisiana State University, the Crimson Tide of Alabama, the hotty-totty Rebels of Mississippi, the Bulldogs of Georgia, and the Gators of Florida, have made contending for a BCS bid as natural as calling home to Mama and using those deep-root Southern manners.

Maybe that's what makes the Southeastern Conference so magical. If you're good, then that means you're following the tradition that your predecessor left you. If you're not having such a great season, then that only means that you're on your way back up there, as long as you keep the faith. Because in the South, football is a religion and those who remain faithful will be blessed. Those of us that are lucky enough to go to an SEC school know this, plus we all learned it in Sunday school at one time or another growing up.

In the SEC you may be third in your conference, but whether the ESPN commentators or the SportsIllustrated columnists agree, you know you can beat almost anybody. You have to play the best in order to be the best and that's exactly what the Southeastern Conference does year after year. The coaches may ruffle one anothers feathers with jabs and cynical comments during press conferences, the players may talk dirty or have personal rivalries of their own, and the fans may get out of line and forget their Southern manners every now and then - but why? Because it's a love for your school. A tradition, a legacy, another year to be added to the sacred vault of the nation's most elite members of the football world.

On a Saturday in the Southeastern Conference it's a promise that is always kept - 'It's going to be a good game!'

I've often wondered what it would be like to go to a Northern school. It's never a pleasant day-dream. I allude to the assumption that Saturday gamedays are smaller than our high school football games under Friday night lights. I cringe at the frumpy cold-weathered clothing they must wear and then smile as I make a mental note of my dress closet and plan my gameday attire for a Southern Saturday. I wonder if in the North a football game is an all-day cocktail party as it is in the South. What must it be like to eat bratwurst and pizza in the stadium rather than a Bryant-Denny 'Stadium Dog', I often wonder. Do they call it a 'pom-pom' or a 'shaker', would they even know what I'm talking about? Do they give a damn at a heart-breaking loss or are they used to losing so much that it doesn't phase them? Would a last-second drive in overtime by Georgia leave them feeling numb and able to hear a pin drop in their student section or would they be excited just to have held Georgia that close for over 60 minutes of playing time?

Lexington, Knoxville, Nashville, Fayeteville, Starksville, Oxford, Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Athens, Gainesville, Columbia. Each city, each school bearing it's different colors, fanhood, and tradition but at the same time united in a respect and gratitude to it's neighbor for making Saturday's the Sabbath. For giving us all a religion that we can share and all belong to, for helping us love our roots even more as we shed our blood, sweeat and tears. It's something that Ann Arbor, Michigan and Los Angeles, California can never be. The hate, the love, the rivalry, the intensity, the honor, the glory, and the voices from the past. It doesn't cease when the season does - recruiting wars only propell expectations and hopes for the future.

The city I love, the school I go to, and the Crimson uniform that I pull for, sit along the banks of the Black Warrior River. The leaves are falling, but the Tide is rising. The Autumn breeze sends a chill down your spine on your walk to class as each corner of campus reminds you that not only are you standing on a beautiful campus, but you're standing on the same concrete sidewalks that Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler, and Jay Barker did. The smell of barbeque and beer makes it hard not to crack a smile because it's just another reminder that this is 'home away from home' and that, in the South, throwing some meat over charcoal beats the hell out of fancy white tablecloths anyday. It's tail-gating in a sea of people dressed in shades of red on your schools quad, and giving an understanding nod to Ole Miss' "Grove" for doing it in their own unique way. It's breweries in Athens that make you feel at home because of each person's Southern twang and respect for the sport you love. It's striking up a conversation about basketball with a Kentucky fan. It's loving to hate Tennessee but knowing you'd pull for them if they were playing a non-SEC opponent. It's Sugar Bowls in New Orleans and, despite being beat last year, the feeling of belongingness you had because it's the South - our territory, and a culture not understandable to a Utah fan.

My passion for football may be new and youthful, but it's tried and true. I may have been born with a Tar Heel soul and a name in honor of a basketball great, but my children will be born with an a Crimson Tide soul and an inherited appreciation for deep, Southern roots. Passion has no age. Passion is love, hate, envy, and confidence. It can be born but it never dies. Once you fall in love with something that is full of intimate respect, growing passion, and unwavering faith, it becomes a part of you.

Just as a family is a unit of oneness built around respect, passion, and faith is a relationship between sport and culture. The South builds it's reputation for football around those same things. It is indescribable what it is like to be a part of this football crazed culture. It is more than reading articles and keeping up to date on ACC Basketball news in order to remain a part of the basketball crazed culture because it happens right before my eyes each and every day. For four years I've witnessed heart-breaking losses that poured tears from my eyes as if someone turned a switch and I've witnessed unexpected victories that were won as if we all actually did expect it because in this neck of the woods unsinkable ships sink and rankings are thrown out the window.

As a little Tar Heel girl who grew up to be a young Crimson Tide woman, I must set aside time to reflect on the things that make me who I am. Like I've always said, I'm one part Carolina the other part Alabama. My whole being is as if I'm psychiatrically wired as a split personality. If you know me well enough then you know that there is the 'basketball me' and the 'football me' that it is as if the current sports season determines which Baily is functioning at the time. As Week 5 approaches us in this football season of uncertainty, the 'football me' is in full function and my heart is pumping my crimson blood. (note: Not to worry, a supply of blue blood is still running through my veins with love for Butch Davis and Carolina football as well).

As the Tide heads to Lexington, Kentucky for a game against the Wildcats I can only hope Greg McElroy doesn't spend the night in the UK Medical Center as did Florida's Tim Tebow last week. Prepared for anything, as anything is possible in the great and mighty conference, I feel confident that the Tide is high and rolling on. But, like I said, each team that wears the SEC logo on the chest of their uniform is a part of football's elite and deserving of the credit it deserves.

So to my fellow Southerners - as you sip your next bourbon drink or relax with a jar of sweet tea, give a little cheer to the Crimson Tide in hopes that their first SEC Road Game can keep them on the straight and narrow path to the BCS Championship.

As always, Go Heels and Roll Tide!

-BJJ

Favorite Sports Illustrated Covers

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite Sports Illustrated covers of all time.....




Just before the 2007 College Football season kicked off, Nick Saban graced SportsIllustrated with his presence, giving the SEC a fair warning that the Tide was turning. Complete with the straw practice hat and no smiles, Nick Saban was putting Alabama back in the media's spotlight.



Of the many SI covers that gleam with Carolina Blue and White, Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins showed that a No. 1 Ranking in the Basketball Preview was much to smile about.

One of Michael Jordan's infamous last-second shots gave no other options for an image to adorn this 1998 SportsIllustrated cover after clinching his 6th World Championship by defeating the Utah Jazz. 'The Man' - he was; 'The Shot' - he perfected.

The two of them, Florence Joyner and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, were my idols growing up. The Olympic greats, whether severely asthmatic or always sporting the longest fingernails in sports, were picture perfect in this SportsIllustrated cover. Flo-Jo and Jackie gave way for many more female covershots.

This 1981 classic headshot of Bear Bryant was one of his last. He set the record for all time wins and announced his retirement after the 1982 season. His death shortly after was a day that football lost one of it's greatest ever. Bear Bryant is one of the 'most covered' individuals in SportsIllustrated history.

The 2009 National Championship, won by the Tar Heels, was an end of an era for Tyler Hansbrough fans. The last game of the season. The last time he would wear a Tar Heel jersey before it was to be retired and hung with pride in The Dean Dome. The sub-title, "North Carolina Overpowers Michigan State" was a humble description. The Heels did not win a game by any less than 12 points during the entire, mad month of March, winning "The Big Dance" with perfect swagger.

The 2005 National Title-Winning Tar Heels, led by Sean May, celebrated #42's twenty-first birthday by clinching the title in St. Louis over the (wrongly) Top Ranked Fighting Illini. When critics said "individual talent can't beat the team chemistry of Illinois" the Tar Heels proved them wrong with a fourth national title - and a "Return to Glory" indeed, the fifth national title coming only four years later. And, if the upper-classmen and the phenomenal freshman were to have returned for another season before going to the NBA, I'm certain Sean May would have celebrated his 22nd in the same fashion as he did his 21st.

A 31-3 blowout over Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators on Oct. 1, 2005 was when the Tide turned and headed back up the ladder to a top-tier program. Led by Brody Croyle, the Tide rolled over Florida and nothing was more appropriate than a nation-wide announcement that "Bama Is Back".

Following his 1997 retirement, Dean E. Smith was named "Sportsman of the Year". A high honor for a respected coach and individual, the shades of grey and black were appropriate for mourning the end of an era and paying tribute to everything he taught the game of basketball, from "Four Corners" to letting the black kid have equal opportunity. If I had to pick, this 1997 issue is by far my favorite.