"In the long run," the economist John Maynard Keynes once noted. "We are all dead." The quote is commonly recited for its wry pragmatism and seeming cynical irreverence. That interpretation widely misses the broader point Keynes was trying to make. The entire quote from A Tract on Monetary Reform published in 1923 is this:

The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is past the ocean is flat again.

To use the common cliché, Keynes was pointing out that sometimes the view of the forest can impair the health of your trees. Every Day Should Be Saturday’s Spencer Hall evokes this point in a post today about the long-term prospects of the Alabama Crimson Tide football program. His SB Nation article The End Of Sabanball: Details, Barbarians, And Precision suggests that the overwhelming success of the Crimson Tide under Nick Saban is likely living on borrowed time. How much is the open question.

The secret of Sabanball, as Hall puts it, is not simply the highest quality recruits, opulent facilities and an almost religious devotion on the part of the Crimson Tide faithful. It is, in fact, how Saban manages to integrate them all to a single purpose that makes Alabama so formidable to face on the football field.

That replication and repetition across a long series of efforts is hard to find in college football period, but if someone wants to counter Sabanball. If you take all other things as equal, that answer is going to have to have everything Alabama has including that rarest thing of all: talent taught to perform with unvarying precision in a short period of time.

So what, he asks, is the anti virus to the Saban Syndrome? He offers a few examples of potent offenses that have seen some success against the Crimson Tide and offers Dana Holgerson’s attack as a likely candidate but, eventually, the answer is just being patient.

Otherwise, failing the hiring or development of someone to counter the threat, you wait for time and tide to erode your opponent while taking your beatings with dignity. Assistants get hired away. Age dulls the ambition. Presidents meddle in otherwise functional athletic departments. Other programs hire great talent to beat the good, and transformative athletes look elsewhere for their Shaolin football training.

Sure things might seem rough right now for the hoi polloi but don’t worry, there are even greater group of unwashed set to show up at the gates soon enough. That's the long run response and, as Keynes notes, it offers little short term relief to the problem.

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The Crimson Tide basketball team will return home tonight to host the 12th-ranked Florida Gators in what will be a major opportunity for this team as it tries to inch its way into the NCAA Tournament field. The game will tip off at 6:00 pm CST and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Bama will be without its two leading scorers for this one. Senior forward JaMychal Green, a 1st-team All-SEC player as a junior a year ago, will not be playing tonight, part of a suspension for breaking team rules that also made sophomore point guard Trevor Releford and junior guard Andrew Steele unavailable for the Tide's last game at LSU. Green is the Tide's leading scorer, leading rebounder, and biggest offensive weapon in the halfcourt.

Junior wing player Tony Mitchell, a 2nd-team All-SEC player as a sophomore a year ago, will also not be playing tonight. He is indefinitely suspended from the team due to "an accumulation of things" considered "conduct detrimental to the team". Mitchell is Alabama's 2nd-leading scorer, 2nd-leading rebounder, and the team's most dynamic, athletic player.

When Mitchell was missing from the Auburn game, other players like Charles Hankerson and Rodney Cooper stepped up in his absence, and the team managed to actually play pretty well without him. However, when both Mitchell and Green were missing from the LSU game, the Tide really had no one left of any size to compete with LSU in the paint on the defensive end or on the boards. An unreal scoring night from Cooper masked what was otherwise a physical mismatch--and that was against an LSU team in the bottom half of the SEC.

This Florida team is nowhere near the bottom of the SEC. They are the clear #2 in the league and are expected to receive a very high seed in the NCAA Tournament. They are truly an elite offensive team and have a chance to make a very deep NCAA Tournament run. This will be one of Bama's toughest tests of the entire season, regardless of suspended players. Clearly, having to face a team this good without its two most talented players will be an extremely tall task. One bit of good news is that the Gators will be missing their top two bench players due to injury: junior guard Mike Rosario and sophomore forward Will Yeguette. Obviously missing your top two bench players is nowhere near the same as missing your top two players overall, but nevertheless it can't hurt Bama's chances.

This will be Bama's third opportunity to get a win at home against a projected top-six-seed NCAA Tournament team. The first two chances were wasted, as Georgetown hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in December to steal a win and the Tide laid a massive egg against Vanderbilt in January. Bama is still in position for an NCAA Tournament bid, but the current position could easily alter for the good or the bad. If the Tide ends the season on a bad note, it's very possible Bama could miss the Dance entirely, but on the other hand, if the Tide can finish strong and get some very good wins against teams such as Florida, it is also possible for Bama to move up and claim a higher seed that would much better position the team for a postseason run.

Suspensions and turmoil aside, this is Bama's biggest, best opportunity remaining on the regular season schedule. If Bama can somehow, some way, dig deep and win this one, it would do wonders for the Tide's postseason position.

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Below are embedded clips from HBO's wonderful documentary, Namath. If you have a subscription to HBO, you may be able to watch the entire documentary online here.

Here's what Ray Didinger of comcast.com had to say about this production:

If you haven’t seen it already, make sure you catch the HBO documentary “Namath.” It is a terrific show that traces the path of the Hall of Fame quarterback from his boyhood in Beaver Falls, Pa., to his Super Bowl victory with the New York Jets, to his later struggles with life after football, notably his battle with alcohol.

The story is beautifully told through excellent interviews with Namath, his ex-teammates and rivals and, in particular, his daughter who seems to understand her father better than anyone else.

If you are too young to have seen Namath, you really should watch this show to see the film of Broadway Joe before his knees gave out. His footwork getting away from center, his ability to set up and release the ball and, most of all, his arm are a wonder to behold.

Congratulations to HBO and NFL Films for another splendid slice of football history.

Enjoy and Roll Tide!

Namath Tease

Promo

Namath: Coach Bryant’s Tower

Namath: Growing up Joe

Namath: Super Bowl Strategy

Namath: The Bachelor Pad

Namath: The Throwing Style

Division I Universities Plan Massive New Sports League

This article speaks of a "secret" meeting of the presidents and chancellors in Dallas last Sunday. Among the programs involved are Southern Miss and our Todd's beloved UAB. Curiously, there's no mention of Troy State.

Didn't I read something back in early December about a possible "superconference" consisting of a lot of these mid-majors? What would have to happen for such a league to be affiliated with the BCS?

Off-season conference shuffling FT...WTF.

TideSports.com - Releford, Steele return; Tide set to face Gators

UA coach Anthony Grant said at his Monday press conference that junior Andrew Steele and sophomore Trevor Releford would "most likely" be available for tonight's nationally televised game after serving a one-game suspension that caused them to miss last Saturday's loss at LSU. But senior JaMychal Green remains suspended for a second game, and junior Tony Mitchell's indefinite suspension has now stretched to a third contest. Grant said the situation was "different" for Green than for Releford and Steele, without elaborating. "When you look at Andrew Steele - he's been probably the finest student-athlete that I've coached - he made a mistake," Grant said. "His body of work speaks for itself in terms of who he is as a person and what he's been all about. I was a former student-athlete. You are faced with a lot of different things and you have to make decisions. Sometimes you make the wrong one. I don't think that's any indication of who he is as a person. Same thing with Trevor Releford. He's a young man that's in his sophomore year in college and made a bad choice. I think his teammates understand that. Certainly as a coach, I don't condone it, but I'm not going to condemn him as a human being for making a bad decision. We will move on and get ready to play."

Alabama coach Anthony Grant gets understanding and support from ex-boss Billy Donovan | al.com

"I really believe that in order to win big, you've got to be prepared to lose big," Donovan said. "I think Anthony's attitude is, he's not going to be the kind of guy that's just going to plug holes in a leaking ship ... because eventually that stuff at some point is going to rear its head and it's going to bite you at some point."

No. 14 Florida without Yeguete, Rosario at Alabama - NCAA - SI.com

Since forward Patric Young is dealing with an ankle injury and forward Cody Larson is coming off a stomach virus, losing Yeguete is a huge blow for a team trying to avoid a three-game losing streak. "Dire is probably a pretty good word,'' Donovan said about his frontcourt situation. "We're going to have to do some different things both offensively and defensively. There is a tremendous void for us defensively at the basket. ... We're going to have to do things about our energy, our passion, that kind of mentality like collectively getting it done together and not leaving somebody on an island in the low post by themselves.''

Florida F Will Yeguete could be out more than a week with concussion – Orlando Sentinel

Yeguete’s absence leaves Florida lacking depth in the frontcourt, meaning it will likely need more minutes from guard Casey Prather. The 6-foot-6 sophomore is one of the most athletic players on the team, but Donovan said he’s had trouble translating his play in practice in games. Donovan met with Prather on Sunday to discuss an increased role. He’s averaging 9.8 minutes per game but is expected to get more playing time this week. With Yeguete out and Cody Larson still recovering from a stomach virus, that could include some time at power forward. "I think one of the things with Casey is if there’s anybody on our team that deserves to play well in games, it’s him," said Donovan. "His minutes have been very, very inconsistent. He’s not necessarily in a steady rotation all the time, and he has never, ever once – and I’ve got unbelievable respect for him – he’s never had a bad attitude."

NCAA College Basketball Preview - Florida Gators at Alabama Crimson Tide - CBSSports.com

Coming off back-to-back defeats for the first time in almost two years, Florida could find getting back on track in Tuscaloosa all the more difficult with its top two reserves sidelined. While Alabama will again be without its top two leading scorers, it should be getting a couple of key pieces back for Tuesday night's SEC showdown against the 14th-ranked Gators. After getting blown out 78-58 at No. 1 Kentucky last Tuesday, Florida (19-6, 7-3) saw its 19-game home winning streak end with Saturday's 75-70 loss to Tennessee. "I think these are the experiences where you get kind of hardened a little bit and our team needs to be hardened a little bit," coach Billy Donovan said. "We need to be more battle-tested, battle-weary, so to speak."

Donovan says Florida depth situation ‘dire' heading into Alabama | Gainesville.com

Florida will be short-handed heading into its matchup tonight at Alabama. But the Crimson Tide also are depleted. Alabama coach Anthony Grant has decided center JaMychal Green and forward Tony Mitchell will remain suspended for tonight's game against Florida. Guards Trevor Releford and Andrew Steele have been re-instated from a one-game suspension against LSU. The Gators will be without their two top scorers off the bench as forward Will Yeguete (concussion) and guard Mike Rosario (hip pointer) are out for the game. Florida coach Billy Donovan said reserve forward Cody Larson (flu) practiced Sunday and will make the trip, but isn't 100 percent.

Men's Basketball Set to Host No. 14 Florida - rolltide.com

Florida travels to Tuscaloosa with a 19-6 overall record and a 7-3 record in SEC play. After rattling off seven straight wins in conference play, the Gators have dropped their last two games to Kentucky and Tennessee. Florida features the SEC's most potent offense at 78.8 points per game on 46.6 percent shooting and more than 10 three-pointers per game. "I think Florida hits you with skill at four or five positions that puts different guys on the floor and creates matchup problems," Grant said of Tuesday's opponent. "With the way they run their offense, it makes it difficult for you to make sure you cover all the territory that needs to be covered. We will have to use as much time as we can to make sure our guys understand personnel and understand the adjustments we will need to make."

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