Monday Musings: NASCAR, Chance, and Freeze's rants

• Though NASCAR ain't my thing, I assume that everyone saw the horrific crash at Daytona on Saturday that left 28 people injured and could have very easily killed someone. Of course, in the aftermath holier-than-thou pundits everywhere penned columns demonizing the sport and calling for Congress to take action, up to and including an outright ban due to safety concerns, right? Wait, they didn't? Oh, well. Maybe Jimmy Johnson's victory will help him move some male enhancement pills, anyway...

• Manti Te'o said at the NFL Combine that fake Lennay had nothing to do with his poor play against Alabama. Good on him for not making excuses I guess, but seems he'd be better served claiming to have been distracted rather than exposed as a fraud. Will be very interesting to see where he lands in the draft. In any case, I love DJ Fluker's quote about Manti: "As far as me, I really didn't see him that much. I saw the other linebackers. (Te'o) had to go against Chance Warmack, so we didn't see him too much." Troll Tide, DJ...

• Speaking of Warmack, he offered some glowing reviews when asked about a couple of former teammates. According to Chance, Cyrus Kouandijo is "super athletic... I haven't seen a tackle like him in awhile. He's going to be a top-three pick, I think." He also said that Trent Richardson would "be in the Hall of Fame someday." Nice to see the guys supporting each other and representing Bama well. I have a feeling Chance is going to be a perennial All-Pro in his own right...

• Love him or hate him, Mel Kiper Jr. had some nice things to say about the Bama player development program. "People love the fact they're coached up so well; it's basically pro coaching," Kiper Jr. said. "They're so much more well prepared for what the NFL has to offer. Those kids will benefit from their career at Alabama playing for Nick Saban." He also said that playing for Saban can be good for as much as a "half-a-round bump up." Keep lining up, top recruits. It will pay off...

• Guessing that Hugh Freeze is starting to understand the passion of SEC fans. If you hadn't heard, Hugh got a little perturbed over allegations of recruiting improprieties involving his 2013 class, challenging anyone with evidence of wrongdoing to email his compliance staff with the information. In the days that followed, 85 different emails were received with 54 turned over to The Commercial Appeal out of Memphis in response to a FOIA request. The Ole Miss general counsel's office is still combing over the other 31 but doesn't expect to find anything damning. In any case, the linked piece offers a few rather hilarious samples. Among my faves: "Your coach is an idiot. Isn't that against some rule?"

Roll Tide, everyone.