Monday Morning Required Reading Knows Pimpin' Ain't Easy

It's now P-Day +4 and the hubub over Coach Saban's distinctive word choice in describing unscrupulous agents has hardly settled down at all. That said, the scuttlebutt floating about concerning Marcell Dareus' eligibility (you remember, the case that prompted Saban's outburst in the first place) has been rather positive.

But there's still a full week-and-a-half until fall practice starts so the dearth of content for the nation's sports press corps virtually ensures this issue will continue to be dissected for days to come. It sucks but it beats a flurry of Fulmer Cup entries so we'll take it.

But for the sake of MMRR's sanity, we're gonna move on to give a gander everything else that's out there worth noting from the weekend.

Motivation Won't Be An Issue

After a season on the sideline due to a knee injury Don'ta Hightower is hungry and ready to hit somebody. This profile of the weakside linebacker in The Cullman Times also includes some interesting comments from Coach Saban on how Dont'a's style varies from Rolando's. David Paschall of The Times Free Press has some of the same info in a story about the prospects for the Tide defense in 2010.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

While we're getting all hot and bothered about the prospect of the Crimson Tide's fall practice starting in just ten days, there have been football players on campus working out for several weeks now. The last of five summer football camps at Alabama wrapped up last Wednesday and Jeff Sentell of the Birmingham News has a very nice roundup.

Just Remember The Coach Who Held The Record First

Bobby Bowden, who grew up an Alabama fan in Birmingham and was once seriously considered as the Head Coach of the Crimson Tide, will be on hand Sept. 11 to see the team led by one man whose win total exceeds his own - Joe Paterno - play in Bryant-Denny Stadium. HT BamaReturns07

Keeping Track of the 3-4 Defenses

I Am The 12th Man, the SB Nation website for Texas A&M, will be tracking teams using the 3-4 defense throughout the season. By their reckoning, only 19 of the nation's 120 FBS teams use the alignment, which they refer to as "odd front defenses." We'll be keeping tabs on their efforts.

Thanks, Corndogs

Few things are as arcane as the NCAA rules and regulations and even our resident expert, Pete Holiday, has to throw his hands in the air in frustration after awhile. So the appearance of the Bylaw Blog, penned by an anonymous compliance official, was a godsend. Well, hope you enjoyed it, because it's gone due to an LSU site outing the author. Team Speed Kills has the info (fifth item).