College Football Playoff bracket

Ok So the ever present playoff talk has been going back and forth on EDSBS with Orson mildly defending the BCS, (take the knife out of our backs man) and other sites like JCCW. Here's what our bracket would look like:



Now here is how we came to this conclusion:
You take the champions of all the major conferences and any champion from a smaller conference (MWC in this case) that happens to be in the top 8, and you rank them according to their BCS final ranking:
#1 Oklahoma
#2 Florida
#3 USC
#4 Utah
#5 Penn State
#6 Cincinnati
#7 Virginia Tech

Why the Top 8? Because the top 8 teams that make it into this bracket will play home games, so we could have included Boise, but we won't because they were #9 and Texas who is going to get that last home game is #3 in the final BCS rankings. Also in some scenarios if you went with a top ten you would have 9 or ten teams that deserved home games, so we'll stick to 8.

Then we take the next 9 teams in the BCS rankings and add them into our playoff:
#8 Texas
#9 Alabama
#10 Texas Tech
#11 Boise State
#12 Ohio State
#13 TCU
#14 Oklahoma State
#15 Georgia Tech
#16 Georgia

So Texas jumps in and takes the last home game and Alabama is the first one to miss it, sorry your home game went to Utah since they were a highly ranked MWC champion. And plus I doubt Tide fans want to argue that point after the Sugar Bowl.

Once we have our 16 teams then we decide how to seed them, for the most part we are going to stick to the rankings we already have, but putting Utah in the Eastern bracket wouldn't be very nice since I'm sure they would rather trade 2 seeding spots to stay closer to home, plus it helps Cincinnati in the same way. Then we feel sorry for Alabama missing that last home game so we drop them one seed and let them play closer to home. We also bump Texas Tech down one so that we stay away from a first round rematch with Texas, this bumps Boise up two spots to #9 and they can feel good about themselves since they were actually #9 in the polls.

First round games are at home, second round games are at current bowl sites or at two new conveniently invented bowls just for such a playoff. Two are at NFL sites at Heinz Field and the Cardinals new stadium, these games of course will be played on Saturday so that there is time to clean up just in case there is an NFL home game on Sunday (Atlanta does it for the Chick Fil A bowl which ends at like midnight so quit your whining). The other two will be played at the Cotton Bowl and a rotating site from the BCS' current 4 bowl structure. Those sites already rotate and the site that gets stuck with the 2nd round game will host the championship the next year (or reverse) so for 2008 it would have been the Sugar Bowl. 3rd Round games will be played in 2 of the BCS sites, in 2008 it would be the Fiesta and Rose Bowls. And the Championship game would be played at the last BCS site, in 2008 being the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Now who is unhappy with this structure?
#1 the other bowls, but we could use two of them instead of the two new sites I came up with, but lets look at whats left for them. Not exactly scraps.

Capital One gets Michigan State vs. Ole Miss since UGA is in the tourney and Ole Miss is without a home since the Cotton Bowl is part of the tournament.

All the bowls tied in with the ACC and Big 12 get 1 free upgrade since Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State snuck into the tournament, they get teams one higher in the pecking order.

The Insight bowl, running out of Big 12 teams takes Notre Dame, $$$

The Hawaii bowl doesn't get Notre Dame so they take Navy since the Eagle Bank Bowl won't have any teams (last ACC team Wake Forest vs. Navy) but no one watches that game anyway.

So really the bowls can't be that upset except for the little bowls that just recently popped up anyway and some years won't have teams to play there anyway, most other bowls actually get a better team than they had in the non-playoff scenario.

#2 The presidents. Despite giving lip service to President Obama, the college presidents are as against a playoff as you can get. They will be very unhappy if this happens, why? Many reasons that they will forget about when all that money comes rolling in. A 16 team playoff system would make the NCAA so much money it’s sick. Just like March Madness, some network will drop some major cash on the exclusive tournament rights. In fact, I’ll guess that a network would drop way more money than the networks dish out to cover the current BCS bowls. Each of the 8 tournament games can keep their bowl games (and destinations?) in the event the NCAA wanted to keep corporate sponsors. For example, the 1 vs. 16 match-up could be the Gaylord Hotels Bowl and/or the 2 vs. 15 match-up could be the Outback Bowl. As the playoff boils down, the NCAA would still maintain their major bowls like the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange and keep their lame sponsors.

#3 The players. The players may not like more games, but they will sure like actually playing for a real championship. Plus one of the biggest issues with transitioning to the NFL is that players wear down after 12 or so games in the pros. This would give players an opportunity to experience that kind of playing time before they make that step to the next level.

#4 Those evil bastards at the Rose Bowl. They hate college football, happiness, and puppies.

Madden NFL Fantasy Draft

We ran a Madden NFL Fantasy draft to see where things would wind up with the best players in the league. In the Fantasy draft the Colts got the first pick, and they
selected (drum roll for this crazy stuff) Bob Sanders!
the rest was far more realistic,
#2 LT
#3 Brady
#4 Peyton
#5 Randy Moss
One person we should have thought of went 9ish and that was Albert Haynesworth. No TEs or G in the 1st round and Champ Bailey was the only CB taken and that was 29th.
I thought that Bailey and Corners in general would be a relatively hot commodity.

A: I like it. If healthy, Brady goes #1 in my book but that's a big if. Glad you are an LT homer like me. I know it sounds crazy but I actually think he's been underrated his entire career, minus the MVP season of course. Yeah, my boy Haynesworth is a monster. He's top 10 no question.

T: The only thing about LT is that before this year he was pretty much invincible, now that the curtain has been pulled back a little he may start to decline with these little injuries. I still think he is top 5 all time without a doubt in my mind, maybe even the best IMHO

National Championship Game

I'm going to write this before i read any messages that are in my box.

Oklahoma's defense played far better than I think anyone expected them to. They did a great job of confusing Tebow (and the rest of the offense) and shutting down any kind of running threat in the first half. I think Tebow had a subpar game except for the last two TD drives. Other than those two drives he looked scared IMO and was inaccurate on any resemblance of a deep throw. They also had Florida's line jumping
all over the place. UF could never get any kind of rhythm going at all and needed Tebow to strap them on his back and run them down the field for that second TD, and it wasn't until the final TD drive that the Gator offense looked comfortable in the game. I know you guys probably don't remember this, but oklahoma did the same thing Auburn did the last two times they beat Meyer's gators. Bring your safeties up, daring them to throw downfield, and run your defense straight up the field at them.

Oklahoma may have the best offensive line in the history of college football. I told my brother the Florida fan yesterday that they should look at what Ohio State did to Texas for their game plan: Blitz the hell out of the QB. And they did, it just wasn't as effective. Other than a hold here and there the OL from OU handled a man for a man. The exceptions being in crucial situations like 4th and goal at the 1. If you can't get that 1 yard you don't deserve to win. I still think maybe
the Heisman should go to OU's OL.

Do you think the play by Oklahoma's Nic(sp?) Harris on Harvin was dirty? You tackle a guy who has had an injured ankle, then when you get up you drag him half a yard by that ankle. The announcers touched on it, but i haven't listened or read anything to see if anyone else is talking about it.

All in all this was a honey of a game. Take out all the penalties
(lots and lots of penalties) and you have yourself a classic. Of the
BCS title games over the years, it has to be in the top 3 with USC vs.
Texas, and anOSU vs. Miami (more of a testament to crappy title games). But now i think there is some pressure off of Jim Tressel because now everyone will be pointing at Stoops as being "overrated" or "underachieving". It's not true, and hey, maybe Oklahoma will play anOSU in a title game and we will all want to shoot ourselves

How did the predictions go?

If you will remember, I didn't officially make as many predictions as
as usual. However, I did have some unofficial predictions like
Marshawn Lynch having a phenomenal fantasy football season and Michael
Turner flopping fantasy wise that obviously didn't turn out so hot. I
also thought the Falcons and Ravens were morons for starting their
rookie quarterbacks. Here is another prediction that was not so good for me.

"Mike Tomlin will come under heavy fire from the fans"

You will remember this was actually more about the Steelers tough
schedule than poor coaching by Tomlin. Regardless, the prediction
flopped. I think my other four predictions turned out pretty well.
You guys can make the call.

"The Tennessee Titans will lead the NFL in rushing yards"

"New Orleans Saints 2008 offense = New England Patriots 2007"

"A defensive lineman will win the defensive player of the year award"

"At least two second-year safeties will make the Pro Bowl"


Vince Young factored into my rushing yards equation but he was benched
in favor of Kerry Collins. So that prediction was okay. I also
didn't predict the Titans offensive line would pull a San Diego and
suddenly turn into a much better pass blocking than run blocking unit.
Had the Saints offense not suffered so many injuries I feel extremely
confident that prediction would have come true. Ed Reed, DeMarcus
Ware, or James Harrison may win the defensive player of the year award
but I think it's pretty safe to say this has been a very good year for
star defensive linemen. And while my second-year safeties prediction
fell short, no one questions Michael Griffin turned in a Pro Bowl
caliber season. Brandon Merriweather played well too and who could
have guessed that LaRon Landry, Reggie Nelson, and Eric Weddle would
badly regress as a group this season. That was very odd.

I was also right to predict the Titans and Panthers making the
playoffs, both of which were quite controversial picks at the time. I
was also right to pick Minnesota to win their division and the Eagles
to claim a wild card spot. Not placing Dallas as the #1 seed in the
NFC and predicting they wouldn't win a playoff game was good, even if
my #1 seed was the Saints. I was way way off about the Giants and
Browns. I actually pride myself in putting the Jaguars as the #5 seed
in the AFC playoffs considering the level of hype surrounding this
team in the preseason.

My list of obscure NFL players that will make or break the 2008 season
fell flat for the most part but I did get a couple players right in
LaMarr Woodley, Jason Jones, and Ryan Kalil. Many of the players who
flopped were playing for teams that turned out to be horrendous

Book Review: “The Secret”

Ari Brouillette's review of "The Secret" in it's original form can be found here, but is pasted below since I am sure it will be taken down by Amazon very very soon.

 

Please allow me to share with you how "The Secret" changed my life and in a very real and substantive way allowed me to overcome a severe crisis in my personal life. It is well known that the premise of "The Secret" is the science of attracting the things in life that you desire and need and in removing from your life those things that you don't want. Before finding this book, I knew nothing of these principles, the process of positive visualization, and had actually engaged in reckless behaviors to the point of endangering my own life and wellbeing.
At age 36, I found myself in a medium security prison serving 3-5 years for destruction of government property and public intoxication. This was stiff punishment for drunkenly defecating in a mailbox but as the judge pointed out, this was my third conviction for the exact same crime. I obviously had an alcohol problem and a deep and intense disrespect for the postal system, but even more importantly I was ignoring the very fabric of our metaphysical reality and inviting destructive influences into my life.
My fourth day in prison was the first day that I was allowed in general population and while in the recreation yard I was approached by a prisoner named Marcus who calmly informed me that as a new prisoner I had been purchased by him for three packs of Winston cigarettes and 8 ounces of Pruno (prison wine). Marcus elaborated further that I could expect to be anally raped by him on a daily basis and that I had pretty eyes.
Needless to say, I was deeply shocked that my life had sunk to this level. Although I've never been homophobic I was discovering that I was very rape phobic and dismayed by my overall personal street value of roughly $15. I returned to my cell and sat very quietly, searching myself for answers on how I could improve my life and distance myself from harmful outside influences. At that point, in what I consider to be a miraculous moment, my cell mate Jim Norton informed me that he knew about the Marcus situation and that he had something that could solve my problems. He handed me a copy of "The Secret". Normally I wouldn't have turned to a self help book to resolve such a severe and immediate threat but I literally didn't have any other available alternatives. I immediately opened the book and began to read.
The first few chapters deal with the essence of something called the "Law of Attraction" in which a primal universal force is available to us and can be harnessed for the betterment of our lives. The theoretical nature of the first few chapters wasn't exactly putting me at peace. In fact, I had never meditated and had great difficulty with closing out the chaotic noises of the prison and visualizing the positive changes that I so dearly needed. It was when I reached Chapter 6 "The Secret to Relationships" that I realized how this book could help me distance myself from Marcus and his negative intentions. Starting with chapter six there was a cavity carved into the book and in that cavity was a prison shiv. This particular shiv was a toothbrush with a handle that had been repeatedly melted and ground into a razor sharp point.
The next day in the exercise yard I carried "The Secret" with me and when Marcus approached me I opened the book and stabbed him in the neck. The next eight weeks in solitary confinement provided ample time to practice positive visualization and the 16 hours per day of absolute darkness actually made visualization about the only thing that I actually could do. I'm not sure that everybody's life will be changed in such a dramatic way by this book but I'm very thankful to have found it and will continue to recommend it heartily.

New sayings

When life gives you Lemons, go around the corner and get yourself some fucking oranges…

SEC 2004 vs. SEC 2008

The argument this year has been that the SEC is down and that is the reason that Alabama and Ole Miss had such great success this year. The response to which by the Alabama fans is that the SEC was down in 2004 when Auburn went undefeated (it's always about Auburn isn't it with you people?) Here is the statistical breakdown of the SEC in those years:

Looking at win differentials
SEC from 03 to 04
Alabama improved by 3 wins
Auburn improved by 6 wins
Miss St. declined by 2 wins
LSU and Arkie declined by 3 wins
Ole Miss declined by 5 wins (eli leaving)

2 teams in the west improved and 4 declined

Georgia and Florida stayed the same
UT and UK improved by 1 win
South Carolina improved by 2 wins
Vandy is the only East team to decline (by 1 win)

3 teams in the East were up (AU had 3 wins against them)
2 Teams stayed the same (1 AU win)
1 team declined

All in all 5 teams were improved (4 AU wins), 2 stayed the same (1 AU win), and 5 declined (4 AU wins)

2007 to 2008
Ole Miss improved by 6 wins
Alabama improved by 5 wins
Arkansas declined by 3 wins
LSU, Auburn, and Miss St. declined by 4 wins

So 2 teams in the West improved and 4 teams declined

East
UF improved by 3 wins
Vandy improved by 2 wins
South Carolina improved by 1 win
UGA and UK declined by 1 win
Tennessee declined by 5 wins

So 3 teams improved (0 bama wins) and 3 teams declined (3 bama wins)

So you had 5 teams that improved (1 bama win) and 7 teams that declined (7 bama wins)

The total differential is in 04 the SEC was down 1 win, and in 08 the SEC was down 5 wins

In 2004 of Auburn's 9 SEC wins only 4 came against teams that declined from the year before

In 2008 of Alabama's 8 SEC wins 7 came against teams that declined from the year before and only 1 against an improved team (ole Miss)

In 2008 of Ole Miss' 5 SEC wins, 4 were against teams that declined from the year before and only 1 against an improved team (Florida, woohoo Rebels)

The SEC was indeed down this year and Alabama and Ole Miss reaped the benefits, both were improved teams no doubt, but they feasted on a weakened SEC and 5 of the 6 most disappointing teams in the nation were on Alabama's schedule (#1 Clemson, #2 Michigan, #3 Tennessee, #4 Auburn, #5 LSU, #6 Georgia (preseason #1 and all))

*Ed. note - 03 was a 12 game season and 04 was an 11 game season so i dropped one win each from 03 since every team put a nobody on their schedule for that extra game.

Defending Tony Dungy

Sorry guys, this is my new obsession. I just want to lay that out.
Also, I promise to avoid talking about Peyton Manning. This isn't
about #18. This is about defending one of the hands down best coaches
of our time.

Dungy is getting blasted in the media and I am really taking issue
with it. First of all, Dungy's team is setting records for regular
season proficiency. Why doesn't he get more credit for that? You
know, what Dungy should do is set expectations lower during the
regular season. They constantly have personnel turnover on the
defensive side of the ball. Recently the Colts have battled severe
injuries. Perhaps Dungy should just not play so hard and so well
during the season. No one in their right mind would criticize him if
Indy didn't destroy the league every single season. That would buy
him some good grace in the media.

Let me compare Tony Dungy to the coach every one of his critics
basically feels he is the equivalent to: Marty Schottenheimer.
Martyball always exceeds regular season expectations then flames out
in the playoffs. But a closer look reveals these two men are not the
same. For one, Schottenheimer gets criticized immediately following
playoff losses for stupid coaching decisions or for his players being
sloppy and boneheaded. That hasn't happened with Dungy. Is he a tad
conservative sometimes? Sure but welcome to the club. The playoffs
feature a ton of conservative game management. I can promise you
Dungy's conservative coaching moves are a drop in the Indy bucket of
problems. Furthermore, Schottenheimer's pension for playoff meltdowns
may have to do with the fact that his teams recently have not been all
that veteran and there is a psychological buildup because of his
reputation, for or not. Maybe any coach in Schottenheimer's situation
would struggle given that perfect storm.

Finally, no one says exactly what Dungy has done wrong. Unlike
Schottenheimer and other coaches who supposedly aren't made for the
playoffs, everyone criticizes Dungy for the overall result but not for
anything specific. Apparently, coaching is just magic. His teams
always play very hard and all things considered, play smart too. The
defense, Dungy's specialty, seems to always play above their
experience and talent level in big games. Look at all of the Colts
playoff games the last 6 years or so. The offense game after game
after game does not score as many points as people would have
predicted beforehand, win or lose. So I guess Dungy could be
criticized for not firing his offensive coordinator Tom Moore. But
Moore is well-respected and I have not heard anyone point out why
Moore is at fault. Darn those specifics. Seeing how Dungy is being
treated, I can see why "fall guys" are so common in business and
politics. No one asks any questions when you can focus enough ire
toward one particular scape goat. It's like extreme Bush bashing.
Once you have decided the man is pure evil, you can criticize him for
everything from World War II to AIDS in Africa.

As for the Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl once Dungy left, how many
coaches help their teams improve in their first season? This happens
constantly, to the point that I am now refusing to cast my support for
the Coach of the Year Award behind a first year coach again. So the
fact that an offensive guru brought a new energy to Tampa Bay and
spruced up the side of the ball that wasn't Dungy's expertise for one
year is no surprise. What has the great Gruden done since that first
year? Not much. I'm not saying Gruden isn't a good coach because he
is but it would seem apparent to me that instead of criticizing Dungy
we should realize that what happened in Tampa Bay is what does happen
on several teams every single NFL season.

What do you guys say?
Why does he deserve to get criticized in the media?

RIP George

Always do whatever's next.

At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.

Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.

Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Dusting is a good example of the futility of trying to put things right. As soon as you dust, the fact of your next dusting has already been established.

Electricity is really just organized lightning.

Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.

Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.

I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.

I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories.

I think people should be allowed to do anything they want. We haven't tried that for a while. Maybe this time it'll work.

I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me - they're cramming for their final exam.

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.

I'm always relieved when someone is delivering a eulogy and I realize I'm listening to it.

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.

I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect.

If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.

If we could just find out who's in charge, we could kill him.

If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten.

In comic strips, the person on the left always speaks first.

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.

Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.

May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.

Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.

Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did.

One can never know for sure what a deserted area looks like.

People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think.

Religion is just mind control.

Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.

Standing ovations have become far too commonplace. What we need are ovations where the audience members all punch and kick one another.

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.

The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.

The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept.

The status quo sucks.

The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.

There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.

Think off-center.
*ed note: If you haven't listened to James McMurtry, you should. "Out here in the middle, where the centers on the right"



Weather forecast for tonight: dark.

Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?

When someone is impatient and says, "I haven't got all day," I always wonder, How can that be? How can you not have all day?

When Thomas Edison worked late into the night on the electric light, he had to do it by gas lamp or candle. I'm sure it made the work seem that much more urgent.

When you step on the brakes your life is in your foot's hands.

When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat.

You know an odd feeling? Sitting on the toilet eating a chocolate candy bar.

You know the good part about all those executions in Texas? Fewer Texans.

Tuscaloosa Graveyard

A team in Hamburg is having a team themed graveyard. No word on wether they stole this from the University of Alabama, or if they plan on also building a ghetto in close proximity.

Help you finish the week motivation

It's Thursday and we are all struggling to finish out this damn week. Here are a few of my favorite Motivational posters to help you get through till 5:00 Friday.

91 days and counting

Until football!!!

Linked at Every Day Should Be Saturday

From last night's travelin' crimson revival meeting in turdtown...

Preface:
This is the work of Archie, the uber spy, 006 as they call him, and not my own. I appreciatte all the hatemail i have received over the last week (I love you guys too!) but all the credit belongs to Archie, you can reach him at jughead@gmail.com

Once again his holiness, the SaBear, cautioned the crimson, huddled masses to "keep it down home" or he would find a way to avoid the next revival tour...

Cell phones and cameras were checked at the door once again and he warned any press present to pen or report exactly ZERO on his comments or he would help them find other gainful employment. He reminded them that the REC was a powerful, far reaching instrument at his disposal and if they doubted he would use it, he would provide them with Neal McCready's phone number. Most of the assembled press bowed their heads and closed their eyes and ears for the rest of the evening.

He finished his introductory remarks by warning everyone (AGAIN) against posting anything pursuant to his comments on the net or it would become instant "news"

So let it be written, so let it be done!

I'm getting bored with reporting on his repetitive refrain of "The University of Alabama is special. Alabama fans are special. I am special." . . .so let me just report of some of his "inside" spuat football comments...

1. If Prince Hall comes back he will certainly be suspended for a few games. Or maybe a half or two. Depends on the opponent and the half-time score.

2. Fans do not need to get down on JPW. JPW is real hard on himself and true bammers everywhere need to support him. He plays worse when his confidence is down.

3. Jimmy Johns is athletic and physical enough to play linebacker. He just can't learn the schemes. And "we're not gonna' play a HS defense at alabammer!" The players say he is not reliable but "I" love Jimmy Johns because he works hard and loves to play football.

4. HE wants 1 big non-conference game every season. He is trying to get Notre Dame while they are still a lousy football team. HE will never schedule LA Monroe again. BIG mistake on somebody's part.

5. HE asserted HE expects the stadium to be expanded within the next year. HE doesn't give a DAMN about what the University President thinks about spending priorities and the DAMN guy better stay out of his way if he knows what's GOOD for him. Ask Neal McCready about the REC. HE said WHEN (not if) the expansion happens that Bryant-Denny-Tuberville Stadium will be one of the top 3 stadiums in the country.

6. HE specifically said that the rest of the SEC sees what HE is building at CousinGrinder U and they are scared Sh##less. The day is NOT far off when HE will rule the SEC as Bryant once did and coaches will come and go at Auburn, LSU, UT, and the rest of the SEC like a bunch of "falling dominoes."

7. And, finally, when that DAY comes...he wants to see his DAMN statue all over the DAMN campus.

Sometimes if it Walks like a Duck, and Talks like a Duck, it may not be a duck

Im Pressin Charges!!! - Watch more free videos

This cheerful young lady that wants to know if you would like to see "Jesus kill George Bush" is wearing an Atlanta Braves hat and is not an Alabama fan as you may think at first glance. In fact due to her locale and her mouth, I would assume she is a thUGA grad.

****UPDATE****
This is actually Knowshon Moreno's girlfriend, no wonder she has that penchant for singing soulja boy... SHe did not in fact press any charges, and apologizes saying she was high when the incident occured and she would never act like this in public sober.

Perrilloux gets the boot from Lester

Les Miles has dismissed Ryan Perrilloux from the LSU football team because of his affair with Pitcher Roger Clemens. Coach Les Miles said Perrilloux, who had been suspended three times in his college career, "didn't fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete," but did not offer details. LSU said Friday that Perrilloux is expected to finish out the spring semester at the school. Miles suspended Perrilloux in February, shortly before spring practice began, for unspecified team violations. Perrilloux's former high school coach, who remains close to the quarterback and his family, has said Perrilloux missed a mandatory team meeting, then missed classes to attend his father's funeral without notifying coaches. It was the third suspension for Perrilloux, who was to be the Tigers' starting QB this year. Perrilloux has been involved in a counterfeiting investigation, used a fake ID to enter a Baton Rouge, and was involved in an incident at a nightclub in November, where 3 LSU football players fought bouncers. When the cops showed up they simply sent everyone home but Perrilloux and the other 2 LSU (Jeremy Benton and Derrick Odom) players threatened the bar employees as they left. After this little "incident" at about 4 in the morning Derrick Odom and 2 masked men (that suspiciously looked like Perrilloux and Benton) were caught on video smashing out windows and denting the car of an employee of the bar. Odom was charged, and he and Benton were promptly thrown off the team, Perrilloux simply sat out the win over Alabama. This is according to an employee of the Varsity whose car it was that was damaged, all of his accounts have vanished since about a week after the incident. You can read the similar police report here that of course does not mention Perrilloux returning to the scene, only masked men. Hmmmm…

LSU will be better off without him, and I applaud LSU coach Les Miles for kicking him off the team. Sure it was a long time coming, but they did have to workout the buyout in his contract. Miles has now in a sense sacrificed LSU's season because they will have a transfer from Harvard starting at QB. But you can afford such things when you just won a national title.

Early rumors say Perrilloux will transfer to F$U, we can only hope. Maybe he will follow Cecil Collins footsteps to McNeese State.

If Nick Saban were still the coach at LSU, his punishment would be One-game--whoops, I mean, one-half suspension against Tulane and Bad-mouthing Perrilloux to pro scouts after his eligibility was used up.

Saban’s trip to Huntsville last night.

This is completely stolen from Archie, this was passed on to me through an email this morning and the apparently legendary spy deserves all the credit for these notes.

Notes from the SaBear/REC Revival meeting in Huntsville last evening...

Sporting a teal (as in it could have come straight from the Miami Dolphins team store) blazer, Nick Saban arrived as the '80s rock star of the Crimson Caravan last evening in Huntsville.

He joked that he'd heard too much criticism about always wearing one of his three (he does have more than one!) gray suits that he branched out with the Don Johnson look, complete with the black mock turtleneck.

Anyway, during his brief visit with the media before speaking to a crowd of about 700 foaming at the mouth turder incestors at the South Hall of Von Braun Center, he spoke highly of the spuat nation, who he asserts is deserving of the imminent return to their "rightful" place among college football powers. (I thought they were already there - 8th or 9th best program in the SEC this decade.)

He was clearly not happy with the published reports of his private comments during his Crimsom Revival stops at Dothan and Talladega earlier last week and this week; he told the media present that if he saw his visit mentioned or if any of his remarks were printed or recorded in any form, he would not return to Huntsville to speak again.

Later, when he addressed the true believers and rock star worshippers, he warned them, too, that if any of his comments made it to the internet, he'd never set foot in a REC meeting in Huntsville again. Shortly thereafter, his storm troopers starting taking photos and names of the 700 members of the congregation in case they needed to track down any infidels later. They KNOW where YOU live!

His actual speaking engagement lasted 20-25 minutes. He really got the cousin grinders and 'necks fired up and they interrupted his fire and brimstone speech every 2-3 minutes with standing ovations and Rebel yells. I'm convinced if you closed your eyes and just listened to his molding and manipulation of the true believers, you could easily transport yourself back to the late '30s, early '40s and find yourself in Nazi Germany -- listening to Hitler scream and shout about PURITY of RACE, RIGHTFUL PLACE IN HISTORY, DOMINATING THE WORLD...and on and on. Seriously.

He reminded everyone of "how close" spuat was to dominating the SEC last year (close, late losses to eventual BCS Champion LSU as well as an OT loss to this year's pre-season #1 pick, UGA); he promised that "they" hadn't seen anything yet, that last year's #1 ranked recruiting class was "just the beginning"...within three years spuat's 85-man squad would be the biggest, strongest, deepest, most talented 85-man squad in all of college football. He repeated (at least 3-4 times) the mantra that HE would DOMINATE his in-state rival on and off the field, that college football would soon FEAR the spuat Program....that college football programs, coaches, and fans would absolutely "rue the day" HE took the head coaching job at spuat. That remark drew a standing O that was heard throughout southeast Huntsville for 3-4 minutes. In addition, I'm pretty sure I saw close to 100 cousins drop to the floor and start having sex - they were so excited about the Savior's promises...

By the way, I would offer photographic evidence of this but all cameras and cell phones were confiscated at the door.

At any rate, the SaBear closed the evening's worship service with the same closing remarks heretofore offered at all of his recent Revival meetings...

"The University of Alabama is special. Alabama fans are special."

"I am special."

Autographed copies of THE SaBear with his 2008 National Recruiting Championship Trophy were sold at the door on the way out; they were sold out in less than 5 minutes.

Fun with Photoshop Thursday!

Coach Saban has vowed to clean up the streets of Tuscaloosa (by forbidding his players from going to the strip).

anOSU now has a player that can beat an SEC team!

Watchout Florida, you better hope that Ohio State isn't there also. Justin Boren has transferred from Michigan to anOSU citing an erosion of family values. And he brings with him a fantastic (for anOSU) high school 40 time of 5.24 seconds which is 7 seconds faster than anyone else on the Buckeyes roster. Michigan fans are doing spin control saying the kids a quitter or the typical scorned lover response, we didn't want him anyway even though the kid was going to start.

All kidding aside the thing that gets me the most is that he is transferring to Ohio State. How can this be? You don't see this with Auburn and Alabama, Army and Navy (they can't), USC and ND (probably too far anyway), or any real rivalry. Yet this has happened atleast three times I'm told with the anOSU UM rivalry. If you claim to be the greatest Rivalry of all time, how can you have kids transferring to your biggest rival?

And now, trapped in an elevator:

Conspiracy in West Alabama?

As seen recently on ESPN, Nick Saban got very upset with Ian Rapaport of the Birmingham News for asking how he was going to get down to the NCAA required 85, Ian wrote about it in his blog.

"Some questions, you can't wait to ask. If a pitcher coming off arm surgery throws a no-hitter in his first start back, it would be fun to ask him, So how does that feel? On the other hand, there are some questions that you simply have to ask. Ya know, because it's your job. Numbers! A lot of times, it's clear that while the answer will be valuable, the process getting there won't be pretty. Your subject might not want to talk about it. Yeah, you might get yelled at. (Not that you mind...) Today, after Alabama's last spring practice, I had one of those situations. One of the big questions, I think, for the off season is how will coach Nick Saban whittle the roster down to just 85 scholarships? There are 66 on scholarship now, and assume 25 freshman will enroll. That's 91. ...."

There are two numbers set in stone: 25 (the maximum number of recruits signing LOI each year) and 85 (the maximum number of players on football scholarships at any time each year). spuat signed 32 players to LOIs in 2008 - that's 7 over the limit! Rapaport stated; "... There are 66 on scholarship now, ..." and $aban didn't disagree. So it's safe to say that was a correct number of spuat players on football scholarships! Add 32 ( number of recruits signing 2008 LOIs) and you get 98 - that's 13 over the limit (max number of players on football scholarships at any time each year). So Rapaport was justifiably responsible in asking how Saban was going to whittle the spuat roster down to the 25 (players signed on National Signing Day) and 85 ( the maximum number of players allowed on football scholarships at any time during a year)!

Of course, Saban 'ducked' the legitimate and pertinent question asked by Rapoport. Also, Saban has had most of spuat's practices closed to the fans and media. Could it be that this is how Saban plans to get around the "25 - 85 NCAA Rule"? If no one is allowed to attend practice, then spuat can exceed the "25 - 85 Rule" and have as many players as they want involved in practice (of course, $aban would only dress out 85 players at game time, giving an appearance of adhering to the "25 - 85 NCAA Rule")! Another version of the old "shell and pea" confidence game, Saban style if you believe in conspiracies.

Of course this can't be true, how on earth could you pull such a thing off? But the bigger question is how in the Hell is Alabama going to get rid of 13 kids? No matter how he does it there is going to be a stink, no matter how much deflecting and sweeping he does.

Mike Belotti’s Crab and Shrimp Bisque

crab and shrimp bisque

2 lbs jumbo lump crab meat (picking out pieces of shell will take a while)

2 1/2 lbs small peeled and deveined shrimp (uncooked)

1 medium white onion

2 cans swanson chicken broth

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cans cream of shrimp soup

1 stick of butter

1 pint half and half

tony's creole seasoning

cayenne pepper

3 bunches of green onions

dice white onion into small pieces and sautee with stick of butter until goft and mushy

in a large stock pot combine all soups and one can of water and sauteed onion on medium heat and bring to a simmer

add tonys and cayenne pepper to taste,add cayenne slowly and taste until you get a slight after burn

add crab meat and shrimp and cook for about 5-6 min to cook shrimp

stir in half and half and bring back to a simmer stirring often to keep from sticking in bottom of the pot.

dice the green onions and put in a bowl

pour bisque in bowl and sprinkle green onions on top and serve with crackers