It's the off season so actual Alabama football news is still scarce around these parts. Add to that the RBR Junta has been busy carefully crafting the glory that will be this year's Yea Alabama and you end up with a dearth of football entries. But there have been a few things of note so we offer you this Jumbo Package to wrap up your Friday before you head out for the three-day weekend.
Dammit, You People Are Blowing Our Cover
While the Oklahoma Sooners seem to be the consensus pre-season No. 1 team a few of the prognoscoscenti have begun to argue that the Crimson Tide may be more deserving of that honor. Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel offered up his assessment on Wednesday and Dr. Saturday over at Yahoo! Sports gave his take on the matter yesterday. Both make the same argument, the defense is not just loaded but likely to be the best in the country. As long as the offense is serviceable, the fact Alabama is breaking in a new QB shouldn't be an insurmountable issue.
RBR readers have since debated the merit of being the top ranked team starting the season (or not) in the fanposts. Expect this discussion to continue - and become more heated - all the way till Sept. 3.
The Booty in Baton Rouge
Fellow SB Nation stalwarts, And The Valley Shook, are looking back at the history of LSU football and have taken time to reminisce about the 1999 game against the Crimson Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium. This is somewhat co-incidental since we made reference to 1998 Battle on The Bayou in Baton Rouge in our Trivia Challenge on Monday. Oh Gerry DiNardo, you came and you gave without taking.
Bama Bats Fall Short
Yesterday was not the most stellar outing for the Crimson Tide on the diamonds. The softball squad dropped the Super Regional Opener against Stanford 5-2 and have to take both games today against the Trees to keep their season alive. The Crimson Tide baseball squad got blanked by Florida 6-0 in the SEC Tournament Second Round. They take on Arkansas in an elimination game today. We'll have game threads up for all the contests.
Wear It and Be Awesome
The official RBR t-shirts are now available for pre-order. Be sure to buy extras as your sexual attractiveness will be amplified by wearing them to the point members of opposite sex will be compelled to rip them from your body.
Lend A Hand If You Can
One month ago today, Tuscaloosa got hit by the EF-4 tornado that turned all of our lives upside down. While the attention has deservedly moved on to other locales that have been devastated since then - particularly Joplin, MO - the needs of the state remain acute. There is a lot of work left to be done and the stream of donations and volunteers is slowing each day.
If you can find a few hours this Memorial Day weekend to help out somewhere it would really make a difference. Drop by the Toomers for Tuscaloosa Facebook page or the Disaster Relief for Alabama site hosted by the UA School of Library and Information Studies to find out where your help would come in handy.