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Alabama notes
"Between now and regionals we have a lot of improving to do. There are a lot of shots that we are going to have to save if we're going to be successful."
For the sixth straight year, Tide Women Golf finish inside the Top 5. For Coach Mic Potter, that was not nearly good enough.
We were in position leading by six strokes with nine holes left to play, but the pressure seemed to get to us. We didn't play well down the stretch and you hate it for them.
This was the killer. Alabama led by five strokes after one round, and entered the final round up four strokes -- but finished fourth. Let's just say Coach Sewell is probably a lot angrier than conciliatory comments would suggest.
Alabama gymnastics senior Kayla Williams and sophomore Katie Bailey both posted top-five finishes in the NCAA Championships Individual Event Finals here in the Fort Worth Convention Center Sunday afternoon.
To this, Kayla Williams added a bronze medal in vault. Florida won its third straight overall Gymnastics Finals (team,) while Alabama finished fourth behind the Gators, Utah, and Oklahoma -- its same finish as last season. A very good year for first-year coach Duckworth. One note: Alabama did face, and beat, Auburn twice in two days, to run the series record to 116 consecutive victories.
Avery Johnson hires Alabama associate head coach from the Big East | AL.com
Bob Simon, an assistant at Providence, will join Johnson as the Crimson Tide's associate head coach, AL.com confirmed. He joins Antoine Pettway on Johnson's staff that they're shooting to complete this week.
By all accounts Coach Simon is a tremendous recruiter with access to excellent talent pipelines in the Northeast corridor. This is a unanimously praised hire amongst the Big East and hoops recruiting intelligentsia.
A-Day Reactions
Alabama Crimson Tide spring game: What we learned - SEC Blog - ESPN
If A-Day was a midterm exam, as Alabama coach Nick Saban put it, linebacker Reggie Ragland would give his team a C-plus. "We have a long way to go, offense and defense," the senior explained.
Except the secondary -- you guys did a great job. I was pretty pleased by the play of the defensive line and edge rush too; less so with the rebuilt right side of the offensive line. Then again, don't stress the outcome too much. The offense we saw and the effort on display Saturday are in no way indicative of what the Tide look like come August. It better not be or Wisconsin will seal club the Tide.
Answering the 5 questions Alabama faced on A-Day | AL.com
2. Jacob Coker threw 28 passes with the first team offense ― easily the most. But within that performance and 14 completions, his potential for success and inconsistency were evident. He threw a couple of very nice passes including a 40-yard touchdown. But there was a bad interception and another one that was dropped.
Put the brakes on the coronation. One step forward, one step back for Coker. He made some really nice reads and throws -- and then sabotaged that effort with some very poor decisions with the ball. The QB competition is hardly over, that's for sure. Cornwell acquitted himself well in limited action, but like the QB corps as whole, also had an uneven performance.
Alabama Film Review: Tracking and charting each A-Day pass as QB competition moves forward | AL.com
Cornwell's best pass had some touch on it. Lofting the ball down the right sideline, he found Falkins for 21 yards despite close coverage from Marlon Humphrey. Very nice throw.
Aye Ell Dot Com has done it for you: Charting the A-Day passes for this story that, for a second straight year, will be the all-consuming question mark until the Tide decide it on the field.
Questions remain for Alabama offense, but Tide got 2 good answers Saturday | AL.com
Foster's 125 receiving yards led the way on six catches while Stewart's eight receptions paced the offense to net 118 yards. Coach Nick Saban said he saw confidence in the way both played in primary roles for the first time at Alabama.
I was pleased with the secondary play; I was more pleased (and heartened) by Robert Foster, Ardarius Stewart, Ty Flournoy-Smith, and Raheem Falkins. Whoever wins the signal-caller position has no shortage of weapons to make him look a helluva' lot better. The above link also has Coach Saban's press conference.
Robert Foster, ArDarius Stewart Named A-Day Co-MVPs; Full List of Spring Awards
Sylvester Croom Commitment to Excellence Award Cam Robinson, Dillon Lee
Here's a name on that award that was very pleasing to note: Dillon Lee stepping up this spring and making an impression on the coaches (for a good reason). The full list of awards is above.
Other Spring games
Missouri Tigers' offense? Not as bad as you'd heard, but not exactly good, either | FOX Sports
The Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune charted seven drops by first-team wideouts in the first three scrimmages of spring ball
Missouri looked like butt. The defense is either the '85 Bears or the Tigers offense is the 2004 Crimson Tide (ouch). Hansbrough is that offense. Maty Mauk can sling it around, but the issue in Columbia is just a lack of experienced talent to get the ball to on the outside.
'I like where we're at,' says Auburn's Gus Malzahn after A-Day scrimmage | AL.com
"We played everybody, kind of mixed and matched. The effort was good, the attitude was good, and that was kind of our message throughout the spring. We came out of this this thing with no major injuries, and that's always a very positive thing from a head coach's stand point."
If you wanna listen to Gus ramble and babble about how awesome Jeremy Johnson is (and he was,) there's your link.
LSU spring game: What we learned - SEC Blog - ESPN
Harris probably made more flashy plays on Saturday, but both quarterbacks looked more composed than they did when we last saw them perform in a real game.
LSU's QBs looked far better in tandem than they ever did in a real game. It doesn't matter: This is the Fournette show and everyone, including Harris and Jennings, knows it.
Dak Prescott sharp in Mississippi State spring game
The Mississippi State quarterback completed 20 of 29 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns Saturday during the Bulldogs' spring game, spreading the ball around the field with the poise expected from a senior
Three new starters on the offensive line, a loss of 11 starters overall? I'm not stressing the Bulldogs, just yet. Although, Dak can be excellent as long as he's not tasked with decision-making. He should graduate this season with every conceivable MSU quarterbacking record.
Finally
Norway to become the first country to kill FM radio - UPI.com
The country is planning to switch to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), which is a radio format used in Europe and Asia that is said to be a higher quality than FM.
Since the US is still tethered to 1MBs internet, don't look for any digital revolution Stateside soon. But, it just became a lot more difficult to find Finebaum when you're in Stavanger, Bergen or Oslo.