Busy, busy--work, my wife had our second baby, and no football!  LOL...

How's everyone doing?

Yep, it's been a good year.

Roll Tide!

What's up, my Bama brethren?

Last year at this time there was much gnashing of teeth.  At least from yours truly.  But what a difference a year makes!

My wife and I added another baby Legal to the world, we beat Auburn, and then last night happened.  I just wanted to pop in and give a hearty ROLL TIDE!!

I hope things are going well with all of you.

ssmith is right...it has nothing to do with the product.  The fact of the matter is that the Marlins WILL turn a profit, even with their crappy team and their anemic fan base, all due to revenue sharing.  Why do you think baseball owners are so selective in who they will "approve" as an owner?  They like their status quo, and they like making their money.

There are a few franchises that exploit the revenue sharing system, putting a minimum amount of money on the field (in salaries) to maximize their revenue sharing, thus turning a profit.

Yeah, that ain't happening.

So some things NEVER change, eh?? 

I'm not gonna say that he learned that from me, or that I learned that from him, but let's just say that the similarities are eerie....

What have I missed since I've been gone?

I see our American ladies did quite well today...

I've been doing a lot of "Internet surveys" of the aftermath of the tornadoes the past couple of days, and I'm still blown away.  Don't even have the words.

Both of my parents are from Tuscaloosa, and I practically grew up down there even though our home was in Birmingham.  There are so many places that I had sentimental attachment to that no longer exist, from the former home of my grandparents, to friends' houses, local businesses, you name it.

The one that hurt the most, though, was the church I practically grew up in.  Central church of Christ, on Hargrove Road, is a total loss.  My Grandfather was an elder there for many decades, my mother (and an aunt and uncle) grew up there, my parents were married there, I was baptised there, and my wife was baptised there.  The fact that that wonderful old church building is gone is just devastating to me.

Here is a link to a story ABC 33/40 did about several students who sought refuge at the church and made it through:

Click here for link

The church is obviously a total loss.  I got word tonight that once the insurance adjusters do their reports, the whole thing will be bulldozed.

After thinking for some time what I could do to help, I've decided that the best way for me to help is to give money to my former church.  In the grand scheme of things, giving money to the Red Cross is wonderful, but it lacks that personal connection of knowing exactly where your money goes can give you.  They've asked that any donations be earmarked for either their campus ministry (to go to students that were displaced or affected by the storm), their building fund (to help rebuild), or their benevolence fund (to help members of the Tuscaloosa community that need help).  Another reason I'm choosing to give to Central is that I feel like a local organization might be in a better place to directly help than the Red Cross.

I would encourage all of you that are looking for a way to help to find something that has a personal connection and help directly.  Whether it be a friend of a friend, family member of a friend, friend of a family member, a local organization, etc., I think that putting the funds where they can do the most good is the best way to go.

Donating supplies does a great help, I'm sure, but from what I've heard the outpouring on that front has been tremendous. One report said the bleachers at the Rec Center were overflowing, which is awesome! Working in search and rescue, or helping those you know or are friends of those you know try to collect their belongings out of their destroyed homes, are also great options. But, if you no longer live in the area like me, helping in those ways is hard to do.

Either way, I think that ANY help, whether it be donated in goods, services, or money, will help, and I encourage EVERYONE to do so. Tuscaloosa needs all the help she can get right now.

This is good stuff.

http://victorybellrings.com/2011/04/27/bigger-than-sports-lending-a-hand-to-bama/

I would imagine that the aerial surveys will reveal a truly amazing amount of damage.

Not sure where to put this, so feel free to move...

Best I can tell from putting together news reports, Twitter posts, FB posts, texts with friends & family, and conversations with friends and families, is this:

Tornado cut a wide swath from Kauloosa/359 northeast to the intersection of 15th Street and McFarland (and beyond).  Everything around that intersection is basically gone.  6th Avenue East from 15th Street to University totally blocked.  Krispy Kreme, Full Moon, Milo's, Shell gas station, CVS, everything at that intersection is just gone.  Hobby Lobby shopping center all kinds of messed up.  McDonald's right there messed up.  One reporter said everything on 15th Street from McFarland to Wendy's was either gone or basically destroyed.

The projects on 10th Avenue were flattened.  New apartments across 10th Avenue sustained major damage.  Harbrooke Downs on Hargrove close to 10th Avenue had extensive damage.  Glendale Gardens (neighborhood off of Hargrove next to Harbrooke) suffered major damage.

No telling how many trees down in Tuscaloosa.  The area around 15th Street and McFarland literally looks like a bomb went off.  Alberta City was basically flattened.

I'm at a complete loss for words.  I thank God that my family and, miraculously, all of my friends in Tuscaloosa are OK and that I was able to communicate with most of them.  The cleanup is going to be extensive and is going to take quite some time.  The University apparently escaped mostly unscathed; had this monster gone a mere 1/2 mile to the north on its track, the University would be in shambles.

Yikes.  All three of those teams are getting jobbed.

Who gave you the right to bring logic into a conversation about Auburn?  Come on, man!

Since the news report pointed out who he gave money to, them's the only people he EVER gave any cotton-pickin' money to.  Dadgum Yankees.