Spin and control: Tide RB Eddie Lacy wants hands to catch up to his feet | al.com
What separates Alabama redshirt sophomore running back Eddie Lacy from talented teammates of his past and present? It's the way he separates himself from would-be tacklers. The Spin. "It's the nastiest spin move ever," Richardson said. "We call him 'Feets' in practice."
Nick Saban's smokescreen highlights Alabama's opening scrimmage | al.com
"I don't want to make this a public controversy," Saban said. "This is something that we're going to handle internally, we're going to handle it internally with the players. They're doing a great job of handling it and I don't think we need anyone to add to the confusion, of what we're managing relative to those two guys competing for this position, and they're doing a great job of it. "If everyone else could just be patient, and allow them to do a great job of it, I'll be very, very happy and pleased with your professionalism."
Alabama preseason notes from Sunday (Aug. 14, 2011) | al.com
Saban challenged the Crimson Tide to play with consistency. In general, he credited some veterans with playing hard throughout. "Obviously, the more maturity, the more experience you have, those guys seem to be able to do it a little better, and we have some young guys that probably need to make some improvement in that area," Saban said. "So we have things we need to improve on. This will certainly give us a great barometer of where we are as a team. We can evaluate a lot of players to see how they responded in a competitive situation and how they competed and how they played."
TideSports.com - Shula, Gottfried made nearly $1.5M last year
Mark Gottfried and Mike Shula were paid a combined total of almost $1.5 million by the University of Alabama athletic department in the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to information obtained through open-records requests by The Tuscaloosa News, making Gottfried and Shula two of the top five earners in UA athletics despite the fact that neither is still employed by the school. Gottfried, who resigned as men's basketball coach in January, 2009, pulled down $900,000 in liquidated damages in the fiscal year that ended on June 30. Shula, who was fired from his position as Alabama's head football coach after the completion of the 2006 regular season, was paid $574,193.52. Liquidated damages are paid by contract to coaches who are terminated without cause before fulfilling the term of their contracts.
TRips: Redmill remembers fall camp
When camp arrives, it is a total shock to your daily life. There are no students on campus, no other campus activities going on. It’s more like a ghost town than a normal college campus. It’s just you, your teammates, your coaches and your alarm clock. In case your alarm clock didn’t work, we always had Tank Connerly (long-time UA equipment manager), who took great pleasure in waking you up via air horn at 5:00 AM, to serve in that role. Trust me, it was a very unpleasant experience.
I Bleed Crimson Red: How ESPN Created a Vocal Leader for Alabama: The New, Improved Trent Richardson
By encouraging Richardson to write down his goals for each day, ESPN helped to unleash the massive potential of a vocal, in-your-face leadership force. Identifying his priorities has given Richardson a new confidence to stay on top of his responsibility to push teammates further for a bigger purpose. At an early-morning practice in late July, Richardson arrived at the facility to find several of his teammates dragging and complaining about the heat. "I said, 'You've had all summer off and you're here now,’" Richardson says. "I told them, 'Run onto that field like you're walking into the ring. Run these drills like they're the last ones you'll ever run. Run them like we're in the championship game.'"
The 1961 national championship team – Bear Bryant’s first title team – is celebrating their 50th anniversary this season. The team reunited at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. Lee Roy Jordan, Billy Neighbors, Darwin Holt, Bill Oliver, Mal Moore and others were on that team and met with reporters during the scrimmage.
Coaches recall when they were sweating to survive as freshman players - Palm Beach Post
When Schnellenberger started at Kentucky in 1952, the incoming freshmen were bused to a little town called Millersburg, some 40 miles out in the country. A military school there was used as a spartan training headquarters for the Wildcats. Bear Bryant, Kentucky's head coach at the time, knew how to use it.
"I saw that movie about Coach Bryant taking his Texas A&M players to Junction (Texas) for a pre-season camp and how miserable that was supposed to be, but there came a point in that film on Day 7 where a Greyhound bus comes and takes them all back to College Station. If that's tough, we were twice or three times as tough as that at Millersburg."
This is a process. The Texas A&M Board of Regents is still scheduled to meet Monday. The item that would authorize R. Bowen Loftin to negotiate athletic conference membership remains on the agenda. Other issues also require resolution. The higher education committee of the Texas House of Representatives still plans to question Loftin in Austin on Tuesday afternoon about a possible move. In a statement released Sunday, Loftin said everything will move forward as planned. "As we have seen over the past several days, there has been a considerable amount of misinformation regarding these discussions and any associated timelines," Loftin said in the statement. "The chairman of our board has indicated that the regents will proceed with tomorrow's agenda item, which authorizes the president of Texas A&M to take all actions related to athletic conference alignment. I will also accept Chairman [Dan] Branch's invitation to participate in his committee's hearing on Tuesday. These are extremely complex issues, and it is imperative that we proceed methodically and in the best interests of Texas A&M."
Yes, the SEC decided Sunday not to take a vote on any conference realignment matters.That probably really shouldn't surprise anyone, even though it's not exactly how we saw this thing playing out. But the important thing is that we are not the SEC presidents, and we are not facing a billion-dollar lawsuit (literally) for tortious interference if the Big XIIish can prove that we had a role in breaking up their conference. So everybody needs to step back from the avalanche of news that seemed to start up Friday afternoon and look at this more like a businessman.
SEC satisfied with current alignment, doesn't extend invite to Texas A&M - ESPN
"It was really an open discussion, not just about A&M but about the future of the conference and the future of other conferences," Gearhart said. "We did talk about Texas A&M. It's a great university, a great place. But I think the decision was to make no decision at this particular time." "(Texas A&M) did approach the SEC, not the other way around," Gearhart said. "I'm not really sure of all the reasons for that. I'm sure that there's a lot of speculation on behalf of a lot of people that what caused them to do that. "The bottom line is they did approach the SEC."
Texas A&M’s Expected Defection to SEC Is a Sign of N.C.A.A. Anarchy - NYTimes.com
College football is a multibillion-dollar enterprise with many millions of fans, and with one glaring flaw: no one’s in charge.
Florida State talking to SEC about a possible jump according to source | PalmBeachPost.com
Florida State officials have been flirting with the SEC for several months and the discussion now are getting more serious, according to sources. Rumors have been spreading that the SEC is poised to expand, first to 14 teams and then to 16, and the Seminoles and Texas A&M of the Big 12 could be the first two to jump. "This is real," said a source close to FSU.
Sports Radio Interviews " Roddy White and Julio Jones Could Make a Prolific Receiving Duo in Atlanta
What are you doing to help Jones through the transition to the NFL?: "I’m in his ear every day because I want him to be his best. Like I tell him every day, we’re going to work on all the little things that you don’t want to do. That’s what makes receivers great, it’s the little things that you have to go out there and work on every day. … I always tell him, man, just use your hands, especially at the line of scrimmage when people are bumping you. … And always get your step on routes. When young guys come in the league, they think they aren’t moving fast enough."
Falcons look to Super Bowl with veteran team
Despite the presence of future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez and Pro Bowl seasons by White, running back Michael Turner, quarterback Matt Ryan and right tackle Tyson Clabo, the Falcons’ offense finished only 16th in the NFL in yards per game. In each of the past two seasons, the Falcons have suffered crushing losses to perennial NFC power Philadelphia, with its quick-strike ability on offense. With Jones, the Falcons are trying to match that kind of offensive firepower. Thus far, Jones has wowed at camp with his ability to catch the deep ball — even against veteran corners. "We’re very proud as an organization to this point where we are with Julio," Dimitroff said. "We’re excited about it, very excited about it.
Theatre Tuscaloosa presents Bear Country
Theatre Tuscaloosa will present Michael Vigilant's acclaimed play on the life of Alabama's legendary head coach Paul W. Bryant, Bear Country, from Sept. 9 through Oct. 2.
Bill Barnwell on the winners and losers of NFL free agency - Grantland
Mark Anderson never developed after a 12-sack rookie season, and once offensive linemen figured out what he was doing to get those sacks, he never adjusted. He's also too small to serve as anything beyond a situational pass-rusher, which the Bears discovered before cutting him last season.
Green Starts In USA Basketball's Rout of Hungary - University of Alabama Official Athletic Site
University of Alabama forward JaMychal Green started and scored seven points in USA Basketball's 102-53 win over Hungary in the second game of pool play at the World University Games.
and etc.
SEC Forecast: Alabama leaves them all shooting blanks - Dr. Saturday - NCAAF Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Video: An interview with Tide legend Lee Roy Jordan | al.com
Video: Introducing Alabama LB C.J. Mosley | al.com
Video: Check out Alabama tight ends warming up for a scrimmage | al.com
Blueprint For Change - ESPN Video - ESPN
Alabama quarterbacks and receivers before 2011 scrimmage - YouTube