Sunday, November 11, 2007

Oh what a difference.....Hell you have heard it before!!


I apologize to you my loyal visitors that come by here and read the things that spew out of my mind and soul. Life and times have been tough the past few weeks, and blogging has not been at the top of the priority list. So I will try to do better.

Apologies aside lets get to the venom you have grown to hate. Where do we start...... Hmm lets go with ol Bionic Coach and the sheep. Here is the thing with them. If you go back and look at every respectable prediction of their season, and you will find that the tiders are right where most people thought they would be. Some had them losing to us, some had them losing to Arky, so they are right where they thought they would be. At this point in the season Jim Dunaway had them at 7-3 and 5-2 in the conference. Which is not too far off. We all threw out these predictions at the start of the season that sounded weird because we thought the PARODY would be the biggest factor. We just underestimated the ripple effect of those losses. We did not take into consideration the coaching carousel that would ensue. But what happened was some teams won some games they were not supposed to (Bammer) and some teams lost a couple games they were not supposed to (Aubie and Rocky Top) and all the sudden the Crimson Vile that started spewing out from the sheep was unbearable. Go back to about week three or four of the season and read some blogs and comments. Let Us lose to Cal and Fla, let Aubie lose to South Florida and get Croomed. Read where the sheep were talking so much smack about how they were "Back to collect their championships that they had let everyone else use for a few years." Here are some random posts I have found to be humorous. No names to be given, but are public blogs:

The Auburn Tigers…..Well of course I am going to start with them. I have some self control but come on people I have been forbidden to go to my own games so it gives me great joy to talk about Auburn losing. What gives me more joy is that this was Auburn’s second home field lose and to a team, who if I remember correctly, we were laughed at for losing to last year. Oh how the tables have turned. I get yet another rush of joy to see after a week of calling for Brandon Cox to be benched your saving grace Cody Burns still couldn’t get it done. Auburn’s entire offense is in MAJOR trouble. If the line can’t protect against the defense of Miss State they have no hope against teams like Florida and LSU. The quarterback situation is dismal at best and the receivers and running backs look like high schoolers playing way out of their league.Now before my fellow Bama fans jump on me about calling Auburn “mighty”, let’s all remember that before the season began they were a top 25 team and supposed to be battling LSU for the SEC West. Funny how Alabama now leads the SEC West race 2-0. Can we now all agree Auburn is not as good as they once believed they were?

Never doubt Alabama alumnus Pete Holiday's ability to wear a dispassionate SEC hat and avoid homering in on his beloved Crimson Tide. I had not planned to include Alabama in the 'mediocre' category; they return too much talent, have a great quarterback, and of course they now have a strong coaching staff."Might want to consider Alabama for a 'mediocre' rating," wrote Pete in an email. "With Saban tempering expectations the way he is, we could be in for a 7 or 8 win season.""No freaking way is Alabama mediocre," I replied. "I have Kentucky and South Carolina. That's it."Pete thought it over. "We'll see. I don't see them finishing in the top 1/3 of the conference this year... but I'd be happy to be wrong about that."Viewing 2007 through those deceitful pre-season glasses, the conference's Top 4 will probably be Florida, LSU, Auburn, and Tennessee. Knocking on the door will be Alabama and Georgia. Then, and only then, do you hit the mediocre category: Kentucky and South Carolina are the dark horses.So there you have it, Pete: I'm saying Alabama will finish in the SEC's Top 5.

For five years Auburn had the run of the state. How long did it take to undo that half-decade of dominance?Three weeks. Six football games.Here it is, not even October yet, and Auburn's 2007 football season is already lying on the ground a smoking, rotting corpse, turning putrid in the late summer heat. They're done, ladies and gentlemen. In one fell swoop, the Auburn Tigers have fallen from the heights of their self-imagined greatness back to the status quo so familiar to them over the past 100-plus years… back to being a second-tier SEC team, with their only hope for redemption (as always) pinned on upsetting Alabama in the Iron Bowl later this year.This is a fun time to be an Alabama fan and alumni of that great school. As far as I'm concerned, Coach Nick Saban earned every cent of his $4 million a year last Saturday night. No matter what happens the rest of this season, it's obvious this man knows how to coach and fits perfectly with this program. I don't care about his salary. I checked my bank account this morning, and Nick Saban ain't costing me a dime personally. And I don't care if he refuses to play golf and stroke the ego of some millionaire coal mine-owning booster. I'd rather he concentrate on football, thank you very much. Because I liked what I saw last Saturday: I liked seeing Sly Croom whip Auburn. I relished seeing Tennessee getting spanked by the Gators. And I loved seeing Bama hang tough and pull out a win when the odds seem so stacked against them.The road ahead will be tough. No one should be expecting this Crimson Tide team to win every game on the schedule this year. (And the same time, it's not unreasonable to hope that is exactly what will happen!) But no matter what happens the remainder of this year, it is clear that Alabama is headed in the right direction. And Alabama fans know well the destination to which this road eventually leads.


The net is full of these. If you want to take the time it is really good reading. You are sure to have a couple good laughs at the wisdom of these people that knew the ship was right, the savior was on the sidelines and the nation should be scared. Trembling I am not. We have seen many a crazy outcomes this year, hey we were on the blunt end of one or two of them but we hold the keys to the bus that is own its way to a Hotlanta showdown with the Bengal Tigers. We will get to my team later.

Lets go between the hedges and look at the War Eagle Tigers of Auburn. I needed them to knock off the dogs. I needed Carolina to knock off the Gators too. Don't count on others to help your cause. Ain't gonna happen. But I was worried about the Orange and Blue going to Athens. Auburn has played great at times and weak at times. I have many times compared them to my Vols. Young talent, with experience at QB, and leadership on defense. But what I have seen is a team that can get up for some and let others sneak through. Have seen them shut down the run in Fayetteville, but get run over last night. Have seen them shut down the stars in Gainesville and Baton Rouge, but get deflated by Croom and The Hat. I think they will be really good over the next couple of years, and i think they have a good chance against the Bionic one. But I can also see them losing big to the sheep. They seem to have problems when they face a true balanced offense. The sheep can bring that to the table. Grant is good, but Wilson is about as dependable as flip flops on your feet running the 100 meter dash. You do not know what team will show up. This could either be the most entertaining game of the season, or it could be the sloppiest, ugly games we have tried to watch. Will in all likely scenarios, send the winner of the Iron Bowl to Atlanta, to the Chik-fil-A bowl and the loser to probably Memphis or Nashville.

Mississippi State is a good team. They have improved every week since the opener against LSU. I was glad to come out of there with a win. Carroll is going to be good. That defense already is. They have to get some help on the O-line. Every time I looked up they were in the backfield chasing Carroll or pounding him into the ground. Have got to have some support in the trenches. I think this will be a decent team over the next couple of years. But the major thing with them is the defense. Do you realize that Bama has not scored an Offensive Touchdown in the last THREE GAMES AGAINST CROOM AND THE BULLDOGS!!!!! That is INSANE!!!

Now to my VOLS. Where to start. Coaching. You have heard me say on this board that it is time for Fulmer to go. Still think that is the case but he is sure helping his cause. So much that 191 of his former players took out a full page ad in the News Sentinel calling the murmurs "laughable -- if the potential consequences weren't so serious." But nonetheless I think we are seeing some improvements. Cutcliffe has all but abandoned the pass. Run it early and run it often . Run till you get tired then we substitute for you and we run some more. But we marched up the field and down the field eating up a lot of time and keeping the hogs from ever getting into a rhythm. We only had 151 yds on the ground, arkansas had 10 more yards total offense, but we had 7:00 more in time of possession. "It seemed like they were on the field the entire first half," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said of the Vols. "We got out of rhythm." McFadden who rushed for 321 yds last week against a stingy Carolina team, was supposed to run over us like a steamroller. He settled for 117 yds on 22 carries. "He's a great back," Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo said. "But he's not going to win the Heisman Trophy in Neyland Stadium." Felix Jones, he settled for a deep thigh bruise and 3 yds and left the game early. "Nobody thought we could win this game," Mayo said. "We weren't surprised because we played well on defense at home all year," he said. "Our pride has been bruised all year." I can agree with that. whole heartily. In a weekend where we take one more step toward Atlanta, The Bionic one gets CROOMED! Jim Tressle gets Zooked, Aubie gets bit hard by the dawgs, and superior looks inferior........ Man what a difference a week makes!!!!!!