<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKE-3qvz4uA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKE-3qvz4uA</a>

This is great!

What an ending to what I think is one of the most amazing stories ever at the University of Alabama. Just by chance that Jesse Williams was discovered at a JUCO in New Mexico and played on two national championship teams, what are the odds of that. We can all thank an excoach, Jim McElwain, for this ever happening.

I have met Jesse only briefly and I wish it were possible that I could spend a long while with him, just to hear him tell his story of how all this happened. Having met his family, I am so impressed with them, they are a proud family and rightfully so.

Jesse was a star for this Bama team, having very little experience when he came to Bama, but learned one of the most complicated football systems in college football and now he will go to the next level of football and should be just as big a star there. What an accomplishment.

Good luck to Jesse in the next chapter of his life as a professional football player. I guess I feel somewhat cheated that I didn't get to see him play four years for the Crimson Tide, but I'll always cheerish the two that I did get to see.

His dad, Kuiyam, looked at me after the game monday night with sadness in his eyes and said, it's over, it's all over, Jessie is done playing football for Alabama. We looked at each other for quite sometime and I could see then the love that Kuiyam and family had developed for Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama.

I will miss them because you never want to say goodby to a good friend, but Kuiyam has promissed me that they have plans to come back to Tuscaloosa in the years ahead to visit and I'll be looking forward to that.  

Roll Tide Mates, !!  

First: I want to congratulate the Bama coaches and players on winning the 15th National Championship at the University of Alabama.  I want to send an extra congrats to the coaches who put together a fantastic game plan for the game.  Coach Nussmeier called an outstanding game and the players executed it almost to perfection. 

Offense:  The offense did whatever they wanted.  The Bama offense had drives of 82, 61, 80, 61, 71, 97, and 86 yards.  ND defense had given up only 75 yards once all year.  The Bama offense had only 1 three and out all night.  They also only had 3 negative plays all night, all tackles for losses.  The Bama offense got into the red zone 5 times and scored all 5 of those times.  The other TD came from just outside the red zone.  I don’t know if you noticed, but the time AJ and BJ got into it, it was not the first time in the game.  Early on the offside call against ND you see them getting into it a little there.  I don’t know if you noticed, but JW got two blocks on the TD run by TJY.  He clipped MT and then went on to the next guy who wanted no part of him.

QB:  I thought this was AJ’s best game of the year.   I think the only bad throw he made was when he threw the ball too hard and hit TJY in the face mask. He was 20 for 28 and this included 2 drops.  He barely missed two throws to AC.  If you put it in perspective he could have easily been 24 for 28.  He put the ball in the right spot all night and he pulled the trigger when needed.  I will say I thought they could have called a late hit on ND when he gave himself up on the scramble. 

RB:  Both EL and TJY ran hard all night.  There were times the ND defense looked like they did not want to tackle them.  The both showed patience in their running and hit the hole running.  They both showed great balance and made yards after contact.  A lot of time that contact did not happen until they were in the secondary.

REC:  AC and KN stood out.  AC has been big all year, but it seems every big game, KN makes big catches.  MS came in and played well, except for the one drop which he was hit hard about the time the ball arrived.  I also think KN got a bad shake on the holding call.  It also looked like KN was another option on the TD throw to AC where he came across the field. 

OL: This is where the game was won.  The OL completely dominated the ND defense.  They continually mad contact on the defensive side of the ball.  They made so Bama could run the ball effectively to the right or the left.  Also, they gave up no sacks during the game.   You continually saw the OL getting to the second level and being downfield when the ball was run and the running backs broke the LOS.  In pass blocking, DJF rarely needed help.  Many times the OL handled their man one on one.

Defense:   The defense had a good game and played good assignment football.  They only had 2 three and outs, but they also had 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and an interception for a total of 6 negative plays.  Also, remember Bama had the ball for a very long time.  This helped keep the D fresh every time they came on the field.  After a while it looked like the ND players were dreading getting hit.  ND had a total of 1 first down in the first quarter.  Bama may have benefited from the incomplete call on the pass in the first quarter.  I thought he controlled the ball.   It didn’t matter if the blitzes where from the secondary or the backers, they were well timed in this game.

DL:  They did a good job staying in their rush lanes most of the night.  They also stopped what little running game that ND tried.   Did anyone else see the chop block that could have been bad.  It was after Bama went up 14 to 0.  One guy is engaged with the defender and #70 comes in low and from behind. 

LB:  NJ, TD, and CJM played well.   This is evident as CJM was named the defensive player of the game.  They played sideline to sideline.  It helps to keep them fresh by rotating them and also being able to change according to what defensive package Bama ran.

DB: I thought, overall, the DB’s played a good game.  They were in position most of the night, but ND rec’s did make some plays.  However, the DB’s made more.  I thought this was their best game tackling this year.  I do think HCD took a bad angle on the deep throw that ND completed. 
 
Penalties: I think Bama was fortunate on the punt interference call.  I thought they could have actually said the Bama player pushed him in the back which caused the problem. However it went our way and Bama was fortunate.  I will say again, I thought KN got a bad call on the holding call.  Also, the argument between AJ and BJ, if you noticed, was AJ trying to get the ball snapped before the 25 second clock ran out.  He could see the clock winding down. 

Special teams:  They did a great job corralling the return guys for ND.   LC made a big tackle on a ball ND field on about the 5.  There was a missed opportunity on the fumble as there was only one Bama player in the vicinity.

Finally:  Again, Congrats to the Bama team and coaches.  It was you night and a great finish to the year.  Next year, won’t be able to come soon enough for some of us.  I want revenge on JM and T A&M.  Also, ND players and coaches showed great class after the defeat.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

Last night proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you give Nick Saban 6 weeks to prepare for a game he will dominate his opponent. No one in the country is better at preparing his team, getting them focused, and making sure they know their role. It doesn't matter if Bama played Oregon, Ohio St, Florida St, or even a rematch with Texas A&M. If Saban has time to prepare, he cannot be beat. He did it to Clemson, Va Tech, Texas, LSU, Michigan, Michigan St, and now Notre Dame. He gets his team prepared and focuses their thoughts with laser intensity. I believe we will beat A&M next year in College Station because Saban will be preparing for that game all off season, just like he did against Michigan. Also, how wild is it that we finished the year the way we started it: 42-14 over Michigan, 42-14 over Notre Dame. Roll Tide!

A Tribute to Les Miles, with Apologies to Robert Frost

Losing a Game on a Snowy Evening

Whose notes are those, I think I know.
On down and distance, time to go;
He reads but does not understand
Words writ by Saban years ago.

His players must all think it queer
To pass the ball, the end so near
With a two-point lead at stake
There's darkness in between his ears

While LSU heads start to shake
Les wonders, "is there some mistake"?
The only sound is Clemson's roar
And murmuring, "this guy's a flake".

The mind of Les is dark, and deep,
But two time outs he had to keep?,
And Miles must go before I sleep,
And Miles must go before I sleep.

This is sad for me, as I was fortunate enough to know Charles and played summer league baseball against him when he attended Alabama. Charles was one of the best, if not the best athlete, that I ever saw. This guy was good at everything and was as humble as humble can be described. I have some good memories of our playing days. We had some chances to rehash some of those days after his professional career was over and there were many good laughs that we shared.

R.I P. 

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Without the Heisman, or the Maxwell, or the Walter Camp award.
No O’brien, or Unitas, Lombardi, or Jim Thorpe
No Bednarick, or Dick Butkus, Nagurski, or Ray Guy
No Doak Walker, or the Outland
Though it’s hard to figure why.

The John Mackey, Ted Hendricks, and Lou Groza brushed them off.
Like the Spirit, and the Lott, and the Fred Beletnikoff.
This group of dreamers showed there was no limit to their hearts.
And proved to be much greater than the sum of all the parts.

So with the Campbell for a scholar, and the Rimington award.
They stayed true to the process and continued working hard.
No individual trophies with engravings of their names.
But they’re headed to Miami for college football's biggest game.

I must have missed the memo, because it’s not really clear.
How the coaches of these great young men are not the coaches of the year.