You've got to give Tony Pike a ton of credit -- he's practicing with his left arm in a cast. Tough as nails, that dude.
* It's never too early for NFL draft talk, is it? This "big board" has UC's Mardy Gilyard at No. 11.
* The SEC may be the most competitive conference in college football, but they may have worst officiating in the country. Another "my bad" from the conference -- this one gave Florida the win over Arkansas. Funny, it's the same crew that threw a flag on A.J. Green for excessive celebration in the UGA-LSU game, but lets Tim Tebow do every jackholery celebration known to man without as much as cross look. Hate to bring it up again, but what do A.J. Green and Malcolm Sheppard have in common that's different than St. Tebow?
* Oh, and Nick Saban is a jerk. Tennessee wanted to wear orange jerseys at Alabama, noting the history of both teams wearing their colored jerseys, but Saban denied their request. It's rare that I come to the defense of Tennessee and wearing orange, but this is just ridiculous.
* Sometimes something is only funny to a couple of people -- but to those people, it's really , really funny. That was the case Monday when I was watching the Angels and Yankees and noticed Pat Sajak.
* The 35th anniversary of perhaps the greatest innovation in baseball since... well, it's hard to think of much that has been bigger in the modern era than Tommy John surgery.
* A cool story on the business side of sports aggregators, focusing on MLB Trade Rumors.
* An interesting part of this for me is the effect of HD on sporting good manufacturers to get their wares noticed.
* Of course, if you're the son of Michael Jordan, what brand shoe you're wearing is going to garner attention -- especially if it doesn't have a picture of your dad on it.
* More stuff that may only interest those of us with a journalism background and interest -- the University of Montana football team is shutting out the student paper (with a nod to my friend Chris Jones of Esquire) and Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz complains about the Rams and wonders if the owners are hoping to return to L.A.
* A review of a new oral history of the Simpsons.
* A previously unpublished Kurt Vonnegut story.
* Paste has five great musical origin stories.
* Bad band names.
* I hate musicals -- I mean, why sing something when you can just say it? However, I might go see a Run-DMC musical. (But probably not)
* Restaurant critics are having trouble keeping anonymous.
* It's never too early for NFL draft talk, is it? This "big board" has UC's Mardy Gilyard at No. 11.
* The SEC may be the most competitive conference in college football, but they may have worst officiating in the country. Another "my bad" from the conference -- this one gave Florida the win over Arkansas. Funny, it's the same crew that threw a flag on A.J. Green for excessive celebration in the UGA-LSU game, but lets Tim Tebow do every jackholery celebration known to man without as much as cross look. Hate to bring it up again, but what do A.J. Green and Malcolm Sheppard have in common that's different than St. Tebow?
* Oh, and Nick Saban is a jerk. Tennessee wanted to wear orange jerseys at Alabama, noting the history of both teams wearing their colored jerseys, but Saban denied their request. It's rare that I come to the defense of Tennessee and wearing orange, but this is just ridiculous.
* Sometimes something is only funny to a couple of people -- but to those people, it's really , really funny. That was the case Monday when I was watching the Angels and Yankees and noticed Pat Sajak.
* The 35th anniversary of perhaps the greatest innovation in baseball since... well, it's hard to think of much that has been bigger in the modern era than Tommy John surgery.
* A cool story on the business side of sports aggregators, focusing on MLB Trade Rumors.
* An interesting part of this for me is the effect of HD on sporting good manufacturers to get their wares noticed.
* Of course, if you're the son of Michael Jordan, what brand shoe you're wearing is going to garner attention -- especially if it doesn't have a picture of your dad on it.
* More stuff that may only interest those of us with a journalism background and interest -- the University of Montana football team is shutting out the student paper (with a nod to my friend Chris Jones of Esquire) and Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz complains about the Rams and wonders if the owners are hoping to return to L.A.
* A review of a new oral history of the Simpsons.
* A previously unpublished Kurt Vonnegut story.
* Paste has five great musical origin stories.
* Bad band names.
* I hate musicals -- I mean, why sing something when you can just say it? However, I might go see a Run-DMC musical. (But probably not)
* Restaurant critics are having trouble keeping anonymous.
You know, Nick Saban is a jerk, always has been. I noticed this the other day while thinking of which coaches are th biggest douchebags, that I think 6 of the top 10 are in the SEC. I mean, there are some really good coaches there. But Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Lane Kiffin, Bobby Petrino, Les Miles, and Steve Spurrier would crack any top 10 list of douchebag coaches. A couple of them would crack the top 10 for best coaches too though but still.
It is ridiculous the Tebow can not only celebrate, but actually get in the face of opposing players and taunt, but never get a flag. He is the "Great White Hope" of the SEC.
Here is something interesting about Tony Pike from Dennis Janson at WCPO:
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Janson-Pikes-Cast-Smokescreen-For-Louisville/tS49kEPlMUasQzAw7WJ89g.cspx?rss=703
"UC's football office went to great lengths Monday to inform the media, and hence Louisville, that quarterback Tony Pike's, " left, (non-throwing) arm has been placed in a cast. He was at practice today and participated. He will continue to practice this week and be evaluated by both the coaching and medical staffs. His status remains day-to-day."
No mention of why the cast was applied, but it was a prudent considering Tony's arm is – as we first reported Saturday night – broken. The fracture, sources tell me, is adjacent to the plate inserted when he broke it last year in the Miami game, causing him to miss the next two games.
The Reading High School grad will require surgery, possibly as soon as Tuesday to repair the damage. The fact that he participated Monday, was, one has to presume, a smoke screen to keep Louisville off balance as long as possible in their preparations for Saturdays' game at Nippert.
In the immediate aftermath of the injury which happened just before halftime, the hope was that the obviously highly pain-tolerant Pike, would be healed in time for the Bearcats game with Connecticut November 7. That, my sources tell me, may be wishful thinking and that Tony may not return until the West Virginia game, November 13.
The good news is that Zach Collaros is obviously a capable backup to Pike. So much so that he's been named to the Big East honor roll for his efforts in relief of Pike last Thursday. He directed three touchdown drives, accounted for 2 TDs himself, while rushing for 132 yards. "
Maybe C. Trent can tell us a little more about how reliable Mr. Janson is, but I don't know how to take this...
denny certainly knows a ton of people -- and if i were to guess as to who these sources are, i'd guess they'd be exactly the people to know.
honestly, it makes sense, especially if you keep up with the idea that you don't know which qb would start -- collaros or anderson.
Tebow can get in opposing players' faces because he's not actually taunting them, but trying to share the word of God with them.
oh I get it so he's enlightening the savages
About Nick Saban - it was actually the athletic director Mal Moore who made the decision. That's in the link that you referenced, maybe you should read it some time. Also, try reading up on the history between AL and TN before you make ignorant comments.
http://bamasportsreport.com/2009-articles/october/a-quick-morning-story.html
it was mal moore who made the statement... i'll put money on who made the decision
and i know quite about the alabama-tennessee rivalry and all their related bs -- i was covering alabama when phil did his teleconference
i'm an sec guy, have covered alabama, lived in tuscaloosa and my parents live in huntsville. a good friend of mine covers alabama for the mobile paper
mal moore may have made the statement, i'm pretty sure i know who made the call
saban is a hell of a coach, but he is certainly a jerk
That's speculation on your part. You of all people (journalist) should know that you have your facts straight before printing something.
Also, since you like to speculate - if Michigan wanted to wear their home jerseys against Ohio State, do you really think Tressel would let them? And if he didn't, that would make him a jerk?
BTW, here's what Coach Saban has to say about Tennessee:
"These guys are extremely well coached. You know, somebody’s going to ask me something about all this other stuff, but really what it comes down to, this is a really well coached team. They’re very well coached on defense, they‘re very well coached on offense and Lane Kiffin does a really good job of that. They’re very disciplined, they don’t get a lot of penalties and they have made constant steady improvement throughout the season to play an outstanding game against Georgia. The quarterback’s better and played his best game of the year against Georgia in terms of what he was able to accomplish. Tennessee always has a lot of good skill players and they have good receivers with lots of speed and it’s going to be very challenging for us.
"Their defense is very, very good, one of the top-ranked defenses in the country. Eric Berry is maybe the best player in our conference, defensive player, in terms of his play-making ability and all the things that he does. Absolutely phenomenal football player and he is one of the best. They’ve got some good pass rushers, their linebackers run extremely well, they’ve got very good statistics for what they’ve been able to accomplish, giving up the fewest first downs.
"And a lot of those things lead to teams that play winning football. So it‘s going to be important for us to continue to be able to execute and make improvement and it’s going to be a very challenging game for us all the way around.”
Wow! What a jerk!
wow! a coach said his upcoming opponent is good! and that it'll be a tough game? wow. never heard that before...
please. as a journalist i've been around and can read between the lines.
please.
he's a hell of a coach, but doesn't change the fact that he's a jerk
K, so the Vols did something similar to Auburn a couple of weeks ago - Auburn wanted to do their "Tiger Walk" into the TN stadium but TN turned them down.
Does that make Lane Kiffin a jerk? Just want to see you be fair to both sides with the name calling.
C. Trent Rosecrans...you conveniently forgot to answer Bamafan's question:
"Also, since you like to speculate - if Michigan wanted to wear their home jerseys against Ohio State, do you really think Tressel would let them? And if he didn't, that would make him a jerk? "
I would love to hear your answer for that...
yeah, it'd be a jerkove by capt. sweatervest
and I'd think 'jerk' would be one of the nicest things kiffikins had been called
Previewing your Comment
David McElroy | October 20, 2009 2:51 PM | Reply
Why does it make Saban a jerk for not allowing Tennessee to wear orange uniforms? Personally, I don't think I'd like Saban much as a person, but to attack him on this particular issue seems like a stretch to make a point that you already believed for other reasons.
(I don't know for sure (or care) who actually made the decision. That's an irrelevant side issue to me.)
First, on a practical level, it seems like a reasonable possibility that a coach would think it's easier for a quarterback to quickly tell the difference between his receivers and the defensive backs if they're in contrasting colors. I dunno whether it would be an issue, but why take a chance?
Second, since Kiffin and Co. are known to blow up over irrelevant side issues, why not let Kiffin answer questions and think about jersey colors this week instead of having his mind on the game? It might make zero difference in the game, but every moment he's thinking about jerseys, it's a moment he's not sending on game prep.
Overall, your notion that Saban is a jerk for this particular issue is weak, to put it very mildly. You just don't like him, so you're attacking him for something that probably wouldn't get any mention if another coach did it.
trust me, it's not just this issue -- i've said it before
and i said last year that pete carroll was being a jerk when he did the same thing, so it's not just a saban thing
and on that practical level, wouldn't it be easier for a qb to differentiate between white and that gawd-awful shade of orange? i mean, they make hunters wear that color for a reason
but i feel like i made it that i was linked on one of the bama boards. hello and RTR to all the bamers
No worries here man - I'm glad you are engaging us bamers in this discussion. You can see we are passionate about our coach and our team.
I admit Saban can be a jerk at times, just not on the issue of the jerseys. He's not the most accessible coach as seen by his dealings with the media but that makes me like him that much more.
Saban may be a jerk sometimes but he is a great coach - he's had Bama in the national title hunt the last two years and this is just his third year.
I actually live just outside Huntsville. Glad to see we share some southern roots. RTR
no worries
if it makes you feel better, i think bama's the best team in the country. that, and i'm a heisman voter and mark ingram is at the top of my list right now
my alma mater's coach is as good a person as there is in coaching, but i wish he were as good as saban at coaching
For the record, didn't Pete Carroll request the home jerseys at UCLA last year? And it was granted. Or are you saying he was a jerk for making the request?
And who cares if Saban doesn't play nice with reporters? I suspect this is probably your real problem with him. It's not his job to make it easy on you guys.
Another point I saw on the same bama board that linked me to your blog:
from a poster that lives in Tn:
"There's been some bitching about this by the orange jersey-loving locals. What's interesting is when Auburn played here a couple of weeks ago they wanted to do their Tiger Walk. UT athletic officials turned them down. The popular sentiment was, "They're not the home team. We are."
Now, they don't like that logic."
Why should they expect any better treatment than they have given other teams?
I don't think anyone has ever accused Saban of being a nice guy and that dates back to his days at Michigan State. He is one hell of a coach and Trent I'm with you. I know you believe Richt to be one of the true good guys out there, and I believe Tressel is too, but I'd love to have him coach the game like Saban.
I think it's funny they came on here and automatically brought up Tressel to you though, they obviously haven't come to the site before if they thought you were a buckeye fan.
I applaud you for putting Ingram on the top of your Heisman ballot. I saw ESPN has Tebow at number 2 behind Ingram by 1 point. The reason is not because of his stats, but because Florida keeps winning? Under that logic then Shouldn't Todd Reesing and Stanzi be at the top of their list too?
and Ingram's team just keeps winning while he is putting up phenominal stats. You just can't escape Tebow-mania. It really is ridiculous because the guy is probably really nice, but I just keep finding myself cheering for him to fail because I'm tired of hearing about him for 4 years.
Trent-
You've created quite a stir in Alabama, as a Tide forum posted what you wrote in a thread. I'm a long time fan of yours (Reds fan and UA grad in Nashville), but you're wrong about this incident making Saban a jerk. UT spent all offseason talking smack, and although much of it was directed toward Florida, he got in a few barbs at Alabama as well. After that, why would UA do UT any special favors? If you don't think fans across the state would go nuts over granting UT special favors after they disrespected the team in the offseason, then you don't know the culture of Alabama football as well as you claim. Better to just avoid the issue altogether.
Also, you're wrong about one other thing: the home team wears its colors in football (unlike basketball), so if UT would wore orange it would be red and orange on the field, which might actually make it harder for a quarterback to tell the teams apart. (Crompton is going to throw 4 picks anyway, so maybe this was UT's attempt to level the playing field somewhat).
Looks like you have another person you can't give your opinion on. Rush and Nick Saban. I'm surprised no one came yelling when Meyer was talked about last week. I guess there's not Florida fans on here.