Jumbo Package: Saban ain’t got time for your retirement wagers

Happy Friday, everyone. We are deep into the doldrums at this point, but as always will deliver what’s out there for you.

First, Saban was asked about people betting on his retirement date, and he scoffs at the notion.

“That’s not something I enjoy,” he said. “When I was at home for a few hours after surgery, I started walking around the yard and I think Miss Terry was about to call the police. So (retirement) is not something I want to do anytime soon, I can tell you that.

“I just enjoy being back on a team so much, the relationships. To have Julio Jones come back the first two days I was doing my rehab on my hip, he was there with me doing it. Tua (Tagovailoa, the starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide) actually came by yesterday when I was doing rehab and gave me a medical examination. Those kind of things are really special.

The man is in outstanding shape and is going nowhere any time soon.

Speaking of Tua, guess who isn’t the top QB in the country according to Paul Myerberg at USA Today?

2. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama (Jr.)

An otherwise dreamy 2018 season came to a relative thud at the end, with an unpredictably sour showing in the SEC championship against Georgia preceding the Tide’s shocking loss to the Tigers. That’s taken some wind out of his sails, but only to a point: Tagovailoa is still a star who grabs attention in a way no college quarterback has since Tim Tebow.

Keep pumping that Sunshine, national media. They need all the rat poison over there.

There is a BOT meeting this morning to discuss and approve revisions to the facility upgrade plan.

The student terrace in the upper deck of the south end zone would be eliminated in favor of a student concourse at the southeast ground level entrance that still includes concessions stands, restrooms, social spaces and televisions.

Bryne estimated the new concourse would be about 10,000 square feet and provide a shaded area for students to socialize.

“I don’t know of any stadium in the country that has an area like this designated for the students, so it will be a nice addition for them,” Byrne said.

The new plans will also preserve some seats and keep the total capacity above 100k. Still no timetable on the Coleman renovation, but an extra $17M was found for football. Discuss.

Nate Oats is cool with the three point line moving back.

The whole idea of the rule is to space the floor more and decrease the reliance on perimeter shooting.

“But, like I said,” Oats said, “if you can’t shoot from out there, it doesn’t matter. Your offense spaces and the defense stays in and you don’t space anything. If you can recruit shooters or develop shooters, work on it and space them ever further out and we go off the dribble … you know it’s not a big difference. You’re not going out to the NBA three.”

For a team that can shoot the ball, pushing the line back just adds more room for the dribble drive and forces the defense to cover more territory. That whole “being able to shoot” deal is a big caveat, obviously.

Dont’a got another ring, and it’s a big ‘un.

For Trey Flowers, Dont’a Hightower, Jonathan Jones and Brandon King, the Thursday night party at the home of team owner Robert Kraft wasn’t their first ring-presentation ceremony, but they did walk away with a bigger ring this time. The Patriots’ ring for Super Bowl LIII, designed by Josten’s for New England’s sixth NFL championship, is the largest in the history of the game.

Good for him.

Last, Alabama softball has some smart folks on the roster.

Alabama junior Bailey Hemphill is this year’s Google Cloud Division I Softball Academic All-America Team Member of the Year it was announced Thursday by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Sophomore teammate Kaylee Tow also earned CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition.

That’s quite a prestigious award for Hemphill. Congratulations to both on the recognition.

That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.

Roll Tide.