1- Yes, that was the first thing he talked about after all of his introductions. He said the extra time of practice has paid big dividends to the team but the trip itself was a big learning experience for the players.

2-Enstrom practiced with all the energy that he had before and he was wearing a brace but I would think that would be required of him by the team physician. CAG went into detail about Engstrom and explained that this is his fifth year to ever play basketball. The previous years have been a learning process for him in that everything was all mental for him. He explained that in the past years if a ball was in the air, Carl would start thinking to squat, put arms in the air, and jump to catch with both hands versus the natural reaction that we all know because we grew up playing basketball. Cag said that now the reaction thing is taking place for him and not the thinking process of doing everything right. He also said that Carl would never be a player that will average 20 points a game but he does so many other things very well that permits the others to score.

3- If you hadn't known that the incoming players were freshmen you wouldn't have guessed it. I was pleased with the intensity of all on both ends of the court. I think the you are right about their playing time.

4- He did and is very pleased with what he has done so far. They ended practice by doing a session of heavy stretching the legs and he is very vocal, maybe a little spin off of Cochran and that shouldn't be bad.

5- Seven. Ricky sat next to me and Trevor across from me. Ricky was very talkative and Treavor was the quieter of the two but he did share in some of the conversation at the table. T. I told him that we had gotten him two more years of eligibility and he respond, fantastic. Treavor has this great smile which is usually his answer to your question . Ricky explained to me that he had just come off of a fracture of his back and was all excited about getting on the court. I asked him about Levi and he hinted maybe him returning within the next two weeks but CAG was very cautious about the return of Levi, he doesn't want to ruin his career.

By the way, CAG calls Releford "Rele", I guess that's from when he had two Treavors on the team.

Each year, season ticket holders are invited to attend a team practice and then have dinner with the team. I was a little late getting there for the practice and only saw about 25 minutes of it but was impressed with what I saw.

Nothing has changed with the tempo of what Bama wants to play this year as they were pushing the ball up and down the court. I didn't have a team roster with me to pick out some of the players I was interested in watching but at the pace they were practicing, you kind of wanted to watch all of them. There were some 3 pointers made but it looked like the emphasis was to work the ball underneath for the big men and it was plenty physical underneath the basket. The new ones on the team seem to have adjusted well to the team play and I'm anxious to see them in action.

The players were allowed to sit with us at our tables and guess who sat with us, Trevor Releford and Ricky Tarrant. Ricky is a transfer from Tulane and has a great personality. He just returned to the team today from a back injury so the roster gets a little deeper. Levi Randolph was on the sidecourt with a knee brace and seemed to be walking without much of a limp.

CAG addressed the crowd after the meal introducing his staff and players first. He then spoke for about 30 minutes about the team, new rules, and the upcoming season, especially their schedule. With the addition of Taylor and Hale, Engstrom healthy, and Jacobs coming back in great shape after losing 30 lbs, CAG is feeling good about the play under the basket. He had some good things to say about all four of them. The big question was how long Levi Randolph would be out and he struggled to find a good answer for the question. He said when you have a hyperextended knee that only time can answer that. In most cases it is best to let this kind of injury heal good before trying to play on it. If a player comes back too quick and reinjures it then it might take all season to heal. He emphasized the side motion of the knee is usually the big problem in the healing process.

There are some rules changes this year and othe one he talked most about was the charging and blocking rule. The NCAA tweeked this one some and CAG said that basketball make look a little ugly this year because of this rule change. He said it was changed to help the offensive side of basketball and we will probably see more free throw shooting this year. He was questioned about Bama becoming a better free throw shooting team and he answered that more emphasis would be put on it this year.

CAG then talked in detail about them not making the Big Dance last year and the reasons why. In December last year the team went 1-5 and in the months of November,January and February they were 18-4. He felt December took them out of the tournament. This year they have added better teams to their schedule to improve their RPI, which  is the key to making the tournament. Sometimes a loss to a good team is better than a win over a nobody so they added some teams this year that will give them a chance to really improve their RPI.

It was a great evening and I wish all of you could have been there to enjoy as well. The season starts in two weeks and I am ready for it. Roll Tide!!

It was a beautiful day at the ballpark and we got to see a little of everything from a 10-0 blowout by Bama to a last inning run that gave Bama a 1-0 win.

I'm still impressed with the freshmen, they have now played a big role in all four games with their bats. The pitching was again very impressive as Littlejohn, Jury, and Traina all had impressive outings. Leslie Jury pitched a 5 inning no hitter in the first game.

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First: I want to congratulate the Bama coaches and players on the win.  The players were well prepared for the game.   I also like the excitement the players showed this game. I really didn’t see it last game. 

Offense:   The offense put together 532 yards of offense and again did whatever they wanted.  They scored TD’s on drives of 68, 38, 84, 72, 30, 72, and 85 yards.  That had a short drive and kicked a 36 yard field goal.  Bama started subbing early in the 3rd quarter.  That had 15 total plays of over 10 yards and several for 9 yards.   In the red zone they scored TD’s every time (3).  Four of the TD’s came from outside the red zone.  One of the good drives was when Bama was pinned down on their own 1 and drove about 65 yards to flip the field.  Here they turned it over on downs.  They only had 2 negative plays and the first one didn’t come until 7:50 left in the game.  They had no fumbles or turnovers during the game.

QB:   AJ completed 71% of his passes.  He did overthrow KB for a TD, but Bama drove down and scored anyway.  He threw off his back foot many times or didn’t move his feet causing the recs to have to reach back or slow down for the ball.  In other words they weren’t hit in stride.  The only incompletions were basically balls he threw away.    There was what I would consider a drop when one ball looked like it went thru AC’s hands.  BS didn’t look great throwing the ball with the few opportunities he had. 

RB:   They all ran hard and use the cutback on the zone play to gain 352 yards.   They averaged 9.5 yards per carry.  TJY did miss the blitz pickup once which caused a quick throw.  They were also involved with the passing game and TJ almost made one heck of a catch on the ball right before he ran the draw for the TD.  The question was where was Tenpenny?

REC:  They caught the ball well.  As I stated above there was only 1 pass that I consider a drop.  AC seems to be coming back into playing form.  This should help Bama greatly in the coming games.  The weapons are beginning to unfold.

OL:   They played well again.  This trend, too me, seems to have happened when Lindsay took over at center.  I am pretty sure no running back was hit in the backfield when the starting OL was in the game.  There was a chance when Shepherd missed a block on the inside.  To be fair, on that play it looked like the D got a good jump off the ball.  Understand many of these long runs/passes don’t happen without the OL doing their job along with the downfield blocking by the wide outs.    This also shows what happens when the OL gets to the 2nd level.  They completely controlled the LOS.  One of the funniest moments in the game was when TJY ran the draw for the TD and AK is basically chasing down the LB where he can block him. 

Defense:  The defense played very well.  They gave up a total of 256 yards.  This may seem a little high, but Bama scored quickly on few drives, some of which were short, and gave Arky a little more time with the ball.  They actually had Bama on time of possession.  As far as negative plays, the D had 3 tackles for losses, 1 sack, 2 ints, a fumble recovery and a blocked FG.  They had3 three and outs, but one was negated by the fake punt.  After this they only ran 3 plays and punted.They only gave up 5 plays for 10+ yards.  There were 2 pass plays and 3 run plays.  Both of the pass plays were for 20+ yards.  However, they never got into the end zone so it really doesn’t hurt.   The D may have had only one sack, but they were able to pressure because of the tight coverage which made the QB throw the ball away numerous times.  A point I also want to make is how all of the players get coached.  When the put the backups in, you didn’t see just a plain vanilla defense.  They were adjusting and moving just like the starters.

DL:   I just want to say what a good job they did occupying more than one blocker which allowed the LB’s to make plays.  This is especially evident on teams trying to get to the edge.  There was one instance where 30 went inside and allowed the QB to get the edge on the scramble for a first down. 

LB:  They made plays in coverage as well as on running plays.  Again, CJM has a good game, but he did drop and int.  The guy that does a good job but doesn’t get the recognition is TD. 

DB:   They only gave up 91 yard passing and the QB only completed 7 passes.  They came up with 2 ints on plays that Ark had been successful with earlier.  It looks like the competition is wide open at the corner position.  Number 4 didn’t start again but did play in the mop up role.  There was a play again this week where the corner, I think it was Fulton, allowed an outside release.  If he wants help from the cover 2 safety, then he better force him inside.  Also, I am looking at the HaHa suspension this way.  It helped Bama.  Since he wasn’t playing it allowed Bama to get other players ready.  Now VS gets hurt and the players are ready to step in and play.  Also, this is a tribute to HaHa, he had to be tuned in during game planning and practice, thinking he wasn’t going to play much, but had to when VS went down. 

Penalties: This is simple, there were none.

Special teams: The biggest problem was the fake punt where the outside rushes went inside and allowed the punter to get outside for the first down.  The good thing is it didn’t hurt.  People, like Collins and Hart continue to shine on special teams along with Lee and Henry.  Also, why do people keep kicking to Jones?

Finally:  Bama has improved, but less be honest the competition has not been the best.  I do like the way Bama played with more excitement last night.  I really hate that people left when the backups got into the game and didn’t stay to cheer for them.  They work hard and deserve to hear the cheers the starters are getting.  This game and the last were very good for the backups to get in and get good quality game time. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

Bama won the second game 4-0. Jury started the game and pitched 4 innings, Traina pitched the last three innings.

Bama's competition wasn't the calibur of a Florida or Tennessee but they were a cpmpetitive team that played well against the Tide. In the first game Bama was leading 3-2 in the bottom of the 6th and scored 8 runs. In the second game Bama hit the ball well but made some costly base running mistakes or the score might have been bigger than it was.

Littlejohn impressed me in the first game. She gave up kust two hits in 7 innings and one was a home run and the other was an infield hit. The homerun did rattle her for a few batters but the defense bailed her put. Jury and JTrain looked awesome. Jury was very impressive with her control and velocity. She seemed very confident when she pitched in on the batters and didn't hit anyone and maybe walked one, can't remember. JTrain was just as awesome. She had her velocity of old back and her control was something else. She was painting the corners with a lot of consistency giving up one hit and didn't walk anybody.

It seemed strange not seeing Kayla Braud at the plate but the top of the order did well today in both games. Defensively they might be better this year with the exception of having a catcher with a strong arm. The three new players on the team, other than Littlejohn, looked good with the bat and well as with their glove. Peyton Grantham was at third, Marisa Runyan was at shortstop, and Chandler Dare played left field. Runyan hit a 3 run homer in the first game but all three got a hit in their first time at bat.

This was their first games to play this year and by no means was the competition anything like what they will face next spring, but I think they have players that can get better and improve the team as a whole, they have some good athletes.

Next Sunday they will play another double header against Middle Tennessee State and I think the competition will be a little better. First pitch is at 1 pm so if any of you are nearby, come on out and enjoy, the cost is $5.

The ladies got their season started with an 11-2 win over Northwest Fla State College  in the first game of their doubleheader. The best news today is that Bama did not lose the freshman pitcher Littlejohn to La Lafayette. The player lost was the good hitter from Texas and not the pitcher. Littlejohn pitched a complete game today giving up 2 hits and one of them was an infield hit. I plan on watching the 2nd game and will fill everybody in on what all went on here today when I get home.

First: I want to congratulate the Bama coaches and players on the win.  After a mistake laced 1t quarter the coaches didn’t panic and, as they say, righted the ship for a dominant victory.

Offense:  Again the O did whatever they wanted in this game.  They had 668 yards of total offense.  The only problem with this is Bama had close to 140 yard in the first quarter and no points.  The only reason drives were stopped was because Bama stopped themselves.  They did this by fumbling twice with one being in the red zone.  Bama also had a dropped pass that would have given them a first down and kept the drive alive.  Bama only had 3 negative plays last night.  Two of the three were fumbles and the other was a tackle for loss.  There were no three and outs for Bama’s offense last night.  The Bama offense had 24 plays of 10 plus yards.  Fourteen of these were pass plays and 10 were runs. Two other pass plays for over 10 yards were negated by a step out of bounds and the other a penalty.   If my stats are correct the Bama RB’s only got hit 3 times behind the LOS and 2 of these, I think, were attributed to the TEs.  Bama got into the red zone 7 times.  They had a fumble, 2 field goals, and 4 touchdowns.  Two touchdowns came from just outside the red zone.  Too me the biggest concern was the 5 drops last night. I thought for a while the team was not real focused and it looked like they knew they were playing an inferior opponent and was playing not to get hurt.   Finally, I am really surprised the starters were left in as long as they were.

QB:   AJ had a good game.  Officially he was 21 for 35 which is 60%.  However, there were 5 legitimate drops that would have pushed his completion rate to 74 %.  He also had two receptions negated by a penalty and a catch out of bounds.  What I like most was how he recognized coverage and where to go with the ball quickly.  The only knock on AJ was the underthrown deep balls a couple of times.  BS did a nice job cleaning up and leading a touchdown drive. 

RB:  They ran hard and did a good job pass blocking.  The knock you have to protect the ball, cover the ball up, in the red zone and not leave points on the field.  KD had 4 of the runs for 10+ yards while TJ had 3.  KD also had a couple of catches which gained more than 10 yards.  He also had one of the drops along with TJ.  JF was used mostly as a blocker this game, but he did have one of the drops.
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REC:  Overall they did a good job.  KB had 2 drops and was the only wide rec to drop the ball. Again, my big complaint here is the lack of effort when AJ is scrambling.  They is a perfect example on a couple of plays where you can see potential recs watching as AJ is scrambling.  We use to incorporate the scramble drill in our pass hull sessions even in high school.  I hate to keep harping on this, but it is something that is important and keeps drives alive.

OL:   I thought they played well.  They seem to communicate better and it seemed as though the LOS was always pushed, not driven back.   GH got a lot of playing time and others may have also, I just didn’t notice.

Defense:   The defense played well.  They only gave up188 total yards.  They had 5 negative plays which included 4 sacks and 1 tackle for loss. The defense had 3 three and outs and 2 four and outs.  What I mean here is there were a couple of drives where they made 1st downs of the first play, one by a pass and one by a penalty, but then went 3 and out.  Also, I didn’t count, but it didn’t seem like UK really put together more than a couple of 1st downs all night.  They gave up 2 runs for 10+ yards and 3 passes for 10 plus yards.  I don’t know what others thought, but I thought Bama played a lot of base defense.  I include nickel in the base package.  Here I mean I didn’t see a lot of stunts or blitzes.  There were a few, but not a lot.  The defense played very good assignment football most of the night. 

DL: They did a good job putting pressure on the QB with a 4 man rush many times.  They kept the OL from getting to the 2nd level allowing LB to make play.     

LB:  This is another game that showed the way CJM plays.  He gets people where they need to be.  He not only got the DL in place, but did you see him tell VS what he was supposed to do when he almost didn’t blitz.  Right after this you see CKS talking to VS on the sideline.  I would like to see everyone play with the fire/passion of CJM.

DB:   I have the DB’s for 5 pass break ups.  The only negative what the TD, which I couldn’t see on TV, but the announcers called a rub route.    This basically means the DB got picked off of his rec.   I really like the way VS breaks on the ball.  I thought JW play a good game.  One thing that really stood out in the 4th quarter was when LC comes down hill and filled the lane and made a play for a short gain.

Penalties:   Bama had 7 penalties which needs to be cut down.  They are lucky that AK didn’t get a spearing call on that one play.

Special teams:  They gave Bama good field position on a couple of punt returns.  Also, they didn’t allow any real big returns.  I feel like CF is kicking the ball better this year than he has in the past.  If I remember correctly Bama only punted once the whole night. 

Finally:  Bama seems to have made strides to improve.  Again, they played a vastly inferior team.  Hopefully, they can continue to improve.  One other thing Bama has been able to do the last couple of games is get some valuable playing time for those who may be needed in the future. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

After a sleepy week 6, week 7 culled the herd of unbeatens and exposed some pretenders to the thrown. Let's start with Michigan, previously unbeaten but also unimpressive. Hosed. We'll see them lose a bowl game but prolly not a BCS bowl. Stanford, was exposed, but we'll have to see if they are completely hosed. With high profile games left on their schedule they can still impress their way into contention. UGA, owing to some devastating injuries, was hosed. This sets up a three-way battle in the East between Fla, Missou,  and USCe which should be fun to follow down the home stretch. And then there was OU, as in OU pompous asses. Lost to a bad Texas team that went to the woodshed at the hands of a mediocre SEC west team.  Is it Stoops, or Woops?

Ducks were exposed. When someone plays even a little defense, they lose 50% of their offensive production. Look for a vengeful Stanford to re-emphasize that lesson when they take the Ducks to school in a few weeks. Clemson had it's handful with Boston College, suffering a little Northern exposure. Louisville and Baylor were also seriously exposed in close calls against unranked teams.

Lurking in the shadows of their bye-weeks were OSU and FSU. Let's see what the bright glare of the national stage has in store for them next week.