Paul Finebaum - Crossing the line?

Paul Finebaum may have gone too far...He may be dragged out into the streets of Birmingham for this one:

Breaking bad news to Bear

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

The brisk, icy wind was whipping the barren tree branches as I slowly walked from the car down the narrow, rocky road. In the background, I heard the faint sound of a train slowly making its way down the track. It was near dusk as I arrived at Lot 57, Block 30 in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery.

"So, you are back?"

It was the deep, gravely and resonant voice of the Bear.

"There has been a lot happening since my last visit, Coach," I said. "Thought I better get over here and fill you in."

"Get to it, son."

"Alabama's looking for another coach," I said.

"I don't care about all that," he interrupted. "What bowl we going to this year? Sugar? I would like to beat those ... from Notre Dame again."

"Well, Coach, Alabama is playing Oklahoma State in the PetroSun Independence Bowl in Shreveport."

"Shreveport!" said the Bear. "What is that cow pasture doing hosting a bowl game?"

"Coach, Alabama went 6-6 this year and there's trouble on the horizon."

Coach Bryant paused for a moment, then finally, said, "OK, you better start from the beginning. Last time you visited me, Franchione had just left for Texas A&M and we hired Price from Washington State. I guess he finally wore out his welcome after four years, huh. I knew we should have hired Danny Ford."

I informed Coach Bryant that Price never made it to the first game. He was fired in May of 2003 because of an alleged transgression with a stripper.

Suddenly, the ground shook and a crashing noise could be heard. At first, it sounded like an explosion. I soon realized it was laughter. Coach Bryant finally said: "And they fired him for that?"

"Yes, sir, President Robert Witt said that kind of behavior was not acceptable at Alabama."

"So, who took over? No, don't tell me. They brought back Bebes and he wants to head back to the ranch now. Can't say I blame him. He's no spring chicken anymore."

"No coach, they hired Shula."

"Shula, well, I'll be," Bryant said. "I never liked him, but he did win a few Super Bowls. So what happened, the old Mount Rushmore face finally hang it up. Don't blame him. He must be pushing 75."

"Uh, Coach, they hired Mike Shula, his youngest son."

"Mike Shula. You mean, the little kid who played for Perkins and then got run out of the NFL."

"Yes, Coach. They fired him after losing the Auburn game at home."

There was silence for a moment. "He lost to Auburn at home. How embarrassing. How could Alabama ever lose to the cow college at home?"

"Coach, he lost four straight to Auburn. You're not going to believe this, but the school gave him a new contract earlier this year and raised his salary to nearly $2 million a year. This followed a blowout last year at Auburn when the Tide was down 21-0 in the first quarter and the quarterback got sacked 11 times. On top of that, Alabama had to pay Shula an additional $4 million on a buyout."

"What kind of morons do we having running our school?"

"Well, coach ..."

"How many national championships did Shula win?"

"None, Coach."

"Well, I realize it's tough to win it all now with that stupid BCS. I had trouble winning three straight myself. What about SEC championships? How many?"

"None, Coach."

"Let me get this straight. He didn't win any national championships? He didn't win any SEC titles and never beat Auburn and they gave him a raise and a new contract? Do we have The Three Stooges running this school?"

"Coach, let's cut to the chase. Shula was 26-23 after four years. He was 2-14 against Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU and Auburn."

"Is Mal on Auburn's payroll? Is he some kind of secret agent sleeping with the enemy. How does he keep his job? What is going on there?"

"And Coach, Alabama has now lost five straight to Auburn and five out of seven to Tuberville."

"I always liked that boy, Tubby. I knew his kin folk from over in Camden (Ark.) Why don't we just go hire him and end this debate once and for all."

There was quiet for a few minutes and then finally, Coach Bryant said: "OK, enough of this. So where is the search going now? I hope we're going to hire Spurrier. He's the best coach I've seen since I walked the sidelines. Love that guy. I think he might have even given me fits."

"Well, Coach, it looked like they had a shot at him but they dropped the ball and Spurrier ended up getting a contract extension at South Carolina."

"You're kidding me. Who is running this stupid search? There's no way they're letting Mal get anywhere near it, right?"

"Well, Coach, pretty much Mal, Paul Jr. and the president are in charge."

"Oh, my goodness."

"Coach, are you OK?"

"I'm sorry, I just can't believe this. So where are we now?"

"Well, the school supposedly offered Nick Saban a small fortune. Story in the Miami paper said with the bonuses, the number could go as high as $57 million, although Alabama folks denied it."

"He's not bad. A little arrogant. So when does Saban start?"

"Uh, Coach, he said he wasn't interested."

"He turned down $57 million?" said Bryant, his voice raging with anger. Finally, he calmed down and said, "So what's next? Petrino?"

"Said he wasn't interested."

"Beamer?"

"Same."

"What about Butch Davis? Didn't he put Miami back on the map after probation?"

"Coach, he desperately wanted the job but Alabama let him get away to North Carolina first."

A loud groan was heard.

"Then the school offered to double the salary of Rich Rodriguez of West Virginia."

"West Virginia," screamed the Bear. "Why would we hire a coach from that backwoods place? I can't believe we hired the stupid West Virginia coach at Alabama. How embarrassing. He better not put on one of my houndstooth hats."

"Uh, Coach, he turned it down, too. Said he wanted to stay in Morgantown."

Suddenly, the whipping wind stopped cold and there was neither sound nor motion.

A small, faint echo emitted, almost like a small baby crying. It became a little louder and finally, stopped.

"I'm sorry," said Bryant. "I got a little bit emotional for a second. I can't believe after all those years I put in that this has happened to my beloved school. We have become a laughingstock, a national punch line. Tell me, son, is there any hope at all?"

I took a deep breath and began walking toward my car. I looked back for a fleeting moment and slowly shook my head in silence.

Contact Paul Finebaum at:

finebaumnet@yahoo.com

His column appears Tuesdays and Saturdays in the Press-Register.

Not to say he doesn't make some valid points, but my goodness, talk about "taking the lords name in vain"!

Here is the link.

Paul...god help you.

Stay Tuned...

My Take: Alabama Football

I am getting close to jumping on the Steve Kragthorpe band-wagon. I like his style. His offense is potent. He's done a good job turning a joke like Tulsa into an annual bowl team, and there is reason to believe in the right circumstances he could really thrive at UA. Recruiting is always a concern when you bring a guy like that in, because he has limited experience recruiting a conference like the SEC. Then again, Mike Shula had zero experience recruiting on any level, and many would say that was the strong point of his tenure.

I've been saying for days that bringing in a "big name" is not the priority right now. Hiring the right coach is all that matters. Maybe that is Nick Saban. Maybe it is Jimbo Fisher (who has surfaced as a candidate for the UAB job...how embarrassing to be competing with UAB for a coach). Maybe it is Steve Kragthrope. Time will tell, and the success of this hire will not be determined by the media response, or by the teams record next year. It will be determined by the teams W-L record in 2010. It will be determined by what the "talent" on the roster looks like in 5 years. It will be determined by how many years Alabama is a non-factor in the SEC West heading into November.

For Alabama fans looking for a quick fix and long-term solution in the same package...you are what is holding us back! Such things just don't exist. If we hire someone like Nick Saban, you can count on him bolting the minute the USC job becomes available. If it isn't USC, it will be somewhere else. I promise. We will only succeed if we bring in someone who is hungry for an opportunity, respects the history of Alabama Football, accepts the responsibility of having a state hang on your every word/decision, is talented enough to take advantage of what UA provides a coach (pay, facilities, tradition, etc.), and willing to be aggressive in changing the mindset of Alabama Fans. Expectations are a bitch.

This team will be loaded with talent next year. There is no reason we can't win 10 games. There is no reason we can't compete for the SEC championship. There is no reason we can't still be in the BCS talk heading into late-November. There is no reason not to succeed next year. Beyond that we all need to accept the inevitable step back. LSU took one after Saban left. Florida took one after Spurrier left. We will take one too. Lets wait and see if the new coach can figure out how to turn one step backwards into two steps forward before we rush to judgment.

Its not that Alabama Football is a joke. Its not. Alabama FANS have become the joke. Seriously. What do Maggots and Bama fans have in common? They can both live off a dead bear for 25 years. See. A joke. We can appreciate what Coach Bryant did for Alabama (as a state, a university, and a football program), but respecting what he did doesn't mean we have to hold everyone that takes that position to the same standards. Coaches like that don't come around often, and there is reason people say "lightening doesn't strike twice."

Patience is what we need. Faith is what we lack.

If Alabama Fans are serious about returning to national prominence (notice I don't say "returning to the good 'ole days") then we're all going to just have to sit tight and wait for it. People on the message boards called those of us who supported Shula "Sunshine Pumpers" because we were so optimistic about Shula's long-term viability (By the way, I still am convinced he will be an outstanding head football coach) and we couldn't' see "how bad things were". Those people are just as guilty, but what they "can't see" is how much their vehement love for the Crimson Tide has prevented us from moving forward from the disaster that was Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchoine, and to a lesser extent Mike Price.

Its going to take time.

A whole lot of time.

But we still get to watch Alabama Football while we wait. Some weeks will be better than others. Some seasons better than others, but if we wait, good things will happen. The ingredients are in place, but you can't rush the cook.

Roll Tide!

Stay Tuned...

Something to calm the 'Bama fans...

Here is a good link to an article by Ben Cook of Lindysports.com.

I will post the text for those of you too lazy to click a link:

Despite common perception, Alabama coaching search still has options

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Ben Cook
LindysSports.com

The college football world had a big laugh at the expense of the University of Alabama last week when Rich Rodriguez decided he would rather spend a couple of million dollars a year in West Virginia than Alabama, so he told Alabama athletic director Mal Moore thanks but no thanks. Or maybe he told Moore to take his job and shove it. We'll probably never know exactly what he did, but he turned down the opportunity to coach the Alabama Crimson Tide. The perception is that Rodriguez was the third big name coach to turn Alabama down. He was not third; he was first. Steve Spurrier did not turn Alabama down. He never got the chance. For some unknown reason, Moore never contacted Spurrier. The odd thing is, Spurrier was ready to listen to Moore. He was interested in what he had to say, but Moore never called. Of course, just because Spurrier was interested in listening to Moore had to say does not by any means say that Spurrier would have taken the Alabama job if it were offered. But South Carolina certainly worried enough about the possibility to kick in another half a million dollars a year on Spurrier's salary to insure he would not leave.

The Nick Saban situation is a little different. There was enough interest there that some figures were tossed out to a Saban representative, but don't believe that $5 million a year fantasy created by The Miami Herald. As for a formal offer, that's cloudy but if I had to bet on it I would bet it never reached that stage. It could have had there been interest from the Saban camp, but whether there was is questionable; not out of the question, just questionable.

So that leaves Alabama without a head coach at the moment. So what? The only game the Tide has coming up is a meaningless bowl game against another average football team in the Independence Bowl, or whatever sponsor name it goes by these days. Back when bowl games really were rewards and you had to be a pretty good football team to be invited, neither of these teams would have been given a second thought.


So what's the big deal about not having a coach? It's recruiting, of course. Every day Alabama doesn't have a coach is a day lost. Oh sure, the remnants of Mike Shula's coaching staff are supposed to be holding the fort down when it comes to recruits, but anybody who believes they are putting their hearts into it is out of touch with reality.

But frankly, Alabama needs to think beyond this recruiting class and not hurry into anything. It would have been easy last week for Mal Moore to panic and start throwing out job offers like buckshot just hoping to hit something. The talking heads at ESPN are talking about how nobody wants the Alabama job and how Alabama has screwed up this search because the courtship of Rodriguez was so public, as was the rejection. But in this day of instant news via the Internet, radio, television and just plan fans who like to track movements of university planes there is just no way to conduct a coaching search in private if you are a big-time football school.

Moore didn't make the search public, the public and the media did. And they will do it again as soon as Moore targets his next candidate. It would be the same if it were Georgia or Auburn or Nebraska or Notre Dame. It's the nature of the beast.

So where is Moore looking now? The rumors are still strong about Saban and Alabama could afford to wait on him now that his Miami Dolphins season appears it will officially end on December 31. Hiring Nick Saban the first week or so of January would energize the Alabama program and it would likely be reflected on signing day.

But there are other coaches out there that could take over the program and flourish. Alabama is not--as some would have you believe--a graveyard for coaches. It is just a graveyard for the wrong coaches and Alabama has made a lot of wrong choices over the past 25 years AB (After Bryant). But now is the time to make a right choice, a choice of a coach who will not wilt under the spotlight that shines on the program or be intimidated by the looming specter of Paul William Bryant. The right coach will embrace the legacy that Bryant left behind and use it to his advantage, which is possible.

Despite what Moore said in the beginning about how he would land a coach who is a proven winner and had been a head coach, there are assistant coaches out there just waiting for someone to hand them the keys to the kingdom. Given the opportunity, there are some capable young assistants who would take the job and start added his legacy to that of the Bear. I'm not saying it is the way to go, but it is a way that should not be overlooked. Somebody is going to make a Jimbo Fisher or a Bo Pellini or a Norm Chow a head coach someday and they are going to be glad they did.

Of course, there are other good head coaches who wouldn't cower in fear at the prospect of coaching at Alabama--Steve Kragthorpe at Tulsa, Chris Peterson at Boise State or Paul Johnson at Navy just to name three. I'm not saying any of these coaches are anxious to leave their current positions, but they are evidence that just because Rich Rodriguez said no, the world has not fallen in on Alabama just yet.

Stay Tuned...

Someone call 9-1-1!!! There are Law Students out there!

Police Sketch based on preliminary reports

So...

Two 1Ls definetly just called 9-1-1 on AJK and I.

We were just standing outside, smoking cigarettes, talking about evidence, or interviewing, or some such non-sense.

Then Aaron saw someone come to the door of the library and then run away.

Then they did it again.

Aaron decided he should go in and check it out.

When they saw him approaching the door they FREAKED OUT, picked up their cell phones and called 9-1-1.

No joke, they were standing at the circulation desk, on their phone. Right before Aaron walked to the door, the auxillary lights turned off, adding to the "freakiness" of the situation. When they saw that Aaron was inside the building, the girl started screaming "No! No! No!" and waving her phone at him as if the glow from the display would vanquish him back to hell. (Actually might work with AJK)

At this point I went over, screamed through the door "Hey, we're students" but they didn't believe us. They insisted we show them ID. I didn't have mine, but Aaron did. Thankfully.

They are 1Ls, what the hell do they know anyways.

Aaron: "It must be the beards"
JMay: "Or they are just so green that they don't realize they aren't alone in the law school at 4am during exams..."

(Aaron's away message after "the incident": "Hello 9-1-1? Yeah you better get down to the law school right away. There are two incredibly dumb 1L's loose in the building. If you don't get here soon they're liable to hurt themselves. . . Oh? You spoke to them already? Brilliant!")



Stay Tuned...

Barack Obama Annoucement

This gives me goose-bumps...



He's so good...charismatic, clever, everything you want in a President.

Its too soon for Barack, but he could be an ideal VP in 2008.

Here is the link for those of you reading on facebook.

I think 2016 is the first time Barack would have a real shot.

Lets go BEARS!

(well, Titans first, but then the Bears)

Stay Tuned...

Pete Carroll at USC? It will never work...

This is a great article for the Alabama Faithful out there wondering what to do next...

I am going to paste the text in for easy reading:

Carroll's hiring is another mistake for troubled USC - University of Southern California football coach Pete Carroll

Tom Dienhart
Dear Mike Garrett:

I 'think you made a mistake hiring Pete Carroll as USC's next coach. As Trojans athletics director, you needed to hit a home run with this hire. This looks more like a scratch single.

I know. Carroll might end up being grand, but the perception in the here and now is what matters for a program that's on the wane. And that perception isn't good.

Some might compare Carroll to Paul Hackett, the coach he replaces. That might not be fair, but you can't blame them. Carroll is an NFL guy. He's a defensive tactician who hasn't coached in college since 1083, when he was an assistant at Pacific. Hackett was an offensive expert who hadn't coached in college since 1092 when he landed the USC job before the 1998 season. At least Hackett's most recent college stint at the time was as head coach at Pittsburgh.

Unlike Hackett, Carroll proved he can be a successful head coach, leading the New England Patriots to a pair of winning seasons and playoff berths. He's also a super-enthusiastic guy. But Carroll doesn't know college football.

Oh, he's saying the fight things. You know, stuff like, "If you can understand the process in the NFL ... in the draft process, it's all about watching players in college, I don't consider myself unfamiliar with the college game at all."

I'm sure Carroll, like Hackett, knows his X's and O's. The problem is the college game Carroll doesn't know. It was the same one Hackett had trouble grasping. I'm talking about things like academic issues, recruiting / and dealing with alumni.

Is Caroll up for whispering sweet nothings into the ears of know-it-all 18-year-olds? Is Carroll up for spending more time speaking at booster events than breaking down film? Is Carroll up for fans demanding to know why USC can't dominate the Pac-10 anymore?

Carroll needs a positive start and would help himself by retaining defensive line coach Ed Orgeron and running backs coach Kennedy Pola, a pair of Hackett assistants who red-line their intensity meters.

I know, Mike. You say, "Average Joe doesn't know football." Believe what you want, but Average Joe has reason to doubt your hiring skills and thinks you are part of the problem. Hackett was 19-18 at USC, and his last team finished last in the Pac-10, the first t/me that ever has happened. He was your man after you mishandled the termination of John Robinson after the 1997 season.

Your job might be riding on Carroll's performance. Your non-communicative ways cause people to make conclusions that might not be tree about you and your program. And you didn't help yourself a few years ago when you gave a "pep talk" in the locker room.

It was hard for you to believe people didn't fall over themselves to coach your beloved USC. But it's not that good of a job because it's not 1975 anymore. The 85-scholarship limit has made college football an equal-opportunity sport in which schools such as Oregon State and Virginia Tech have BCS dreams.

Also working against USC are substandard facilities-all the way from Heritage Hall to the antiquated weight room. And the L.A. lifestyle isn't tot everyone, especially not for assistant coaches. Housing prices are out of sight, To live in a decent area, coaches must drive an hour to and from work. Their days are long enough as it is.

Oregon State's Dennis Erickson and Oregon's Mike Bellotti are the biggest names who sniffed around the USC job but didn't really pursue it. San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley would have been a good hire. He served as Oregon State's coach from 1997-98 and was USC's offensive coordinator before that, but he couldn't make up his mind. When he continued to drag his feet, you grabbed Carroll, who was out of work last season.

Contrast that to the job search at Alabama. Marquee names such as Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer and Miami's Butch Davis seriously considered taking the job. In the end, the Tide got TCU coach Dermis Franchione, one of the hottest coaches in the college game.

Dennis Franchione, USC Coach. Would've had a nice ring to it.

Sincerely,

Tom

Here is the link for those who want to see the source.

It makes a great point, though by accident.

Hind-sight huh?

Coach Fran, USC Coach.

That will be the day!

Roll Tide!

Stay Tuned...

Worst TV President ever...

Charles Logan - Season 4 & 5 of "24"

Stay Tuned...