Kings of the Quad

Another First By Bama

petersus — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:07:00 +0000

Alabama’s long tradition in football just set another first for any school in the land. Yesterday, when the AP All-American Team was announced, Alabama made history by being the first school to ever have 6 players named to the team. Until yesterday, Oklahoma had the record with 5 athletes making the team.

Here is a list of the Bama players who made the team:

Running Back Mark Ingram

Linebacker Rolando McClain

Defensive tackle Terrence Cody

Cornerback Javier Arenas

Offensive Guard Michael Johnson

Kicker Leigh Tiffin

Both Mark Ingram and Rolando McClain were unanimous additions, and Terrence Cody is now on the team for the second consecutive year.

Ingram Wins Heisman

petersus — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:52:00 +0000

Mark Ingram became the Univeristy of Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner ever.

Ingram edged out Stanford’s Toby Gerhart by 28 points. This was the Heisman’s tightest race ever in the 75 year history of the award. Of the six voting regions, Ingram won four, with Gerhart winning the West and Suh of Nebraska taking the Southwest.

Here is how the voting broke down:

Player / 1st Place Votes / Total Points

Mark Ingram 227 /1,304

Toby Gerhart 222 /1,276

Colt McCoy 203 /1,145

Ndamukong Suh 161/ 815

Tim Tebow 43/ 390

Saban Named Finalist

petersus — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:33:00 +0000

Nick Saban has been named one of the seven finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award. The award is given each year to the best coach in college football. Nick Saban has already been named the SEC coach of the year.

Coach Saban won the award last year, and won it the first time when he was at LSU in 2003.

Here is the list of other finalists:

Mack Brown- Texas

Paul Johnson- Georgia Tech

Brian Kelly- Cincinnati

Chip Kelly- Oregon

Gary Patterson- TCU

Chris Peterson- Boise State

The winner will be named on January 5th.

Smart Named Top Assistant Coach of the Year

petersus — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Alabama’s Defensive Coordinator Kirby Smart was given the Broyles Award given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

Now, with all the speculation about him leaving to go back to UGA to coach, Kirby says that he and his family are happy at Alabama.

Who wouldn’t be!!

McClain Takes Butkus Award

petersus — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:52:00 +0000

Alabama’s linebacker Rolando McClain has been awarded the 2009 Butkus Award for the nation’s top linebacker.

Was there any question after the hurt he brought to Florida last weekend.

Rolando becomes the second linebacker at Alabama to win the award. The other is Derrick Thomas who won it in 1988.

Mark Ingram Headed to New York!!!

petersus — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Alabama’s Mark Ingram has been invited to New York as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. After another unbelievable performance last weekend, we knew he was a lock to get the invite, but now he seems the Tide’s best hope ever to win the award.

The other Finalists are Toby Gerhart, Ndamikong Suh, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow.

Ingram will be the first Tide player since 1994, when Jay Barker was invited to New York for the ceremony.

SEC Championship Highlights.

petersus — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:12:00 +0000

Here are the highlights from the SEC Championship versus Florida.

Roll Tide!!!

Welcome to the Main Event

petersus — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Well it is the game we have all been waiting for. Saban and the Tide get a second chance at the SEC Championship and second shot against the Florida Gators. Going into this weekend, all I have heard is Tebow this and Tebow that. I give the guy credit for possibly being the college game’s best quarter back ever, but i think our friend Rolando McClain will have something to say about that this weekend and will have an extra eye on the so-called Superman.

So as I’ve been sitting here listening to the Atlanta radio stations say we don’t have a shot. It reminded me of the Sugar Bowl in 1992 when the professionals said we didn’t have a shot at winning that game either. So I received an email with a newspaper article written the day before the Sugar Bowl was played and i had to share it with everyone going into Saturday’s game the underdog.

“Miami will blow away Alabama”
Los Angeles Daily News article by Michael Ventre Jan. 1, 1993
NEW ORLEANS — Miami is No. 1. It will stay that way. Alabama doesn’t have a hope, or a prayer, or a shot in the dark of upsetting the Hurricanes for the national championship in tonight’s Sugar Bowl. And it won’t even be close. Alabama will be trounced, clobbered, mauled, devastated, humiliated and left for dead. The Crimson Tide will not roll, not even a little bit. Tonight you will experience low Tide. Probably even ebb Tide. You wouldn’t even have to hike up your pant legs to wade in what be left of this Tide after the Hurricanes pass through. Here are the reasons why:

Reason No. 1: ATTITUDE The Alabama people are just too darned nice. They’re too respectful. All their players act as if Bear Bryant is waiting in the woodshed with a whittled switch if they misbehave. This may be OK in the SEC, where everybody is like that. But how can you build up a nice healthy hatred for a renegade school like Miami if you spend most of your time acting like Sunday school teachers? You may not like Miami, but they have an attitude. And you NEED an attitude. Just listen to Miami wide receiver Lamar Thomas: “I try to talk to the defensive back as much as possible. When he starts listening, that’s when I know I have him in my back pocket.”

Reason No. 2: AIR POWER Alabama believes in establishing its running game. That’s dandy, except for the fact that tonight the only running the Crimson Tide will do is running onto the field, and then running off it. Alabama will not be able to move the ball. It won’t be able to BUDGE the ball. You will need calipers to measure Alabama’s productivity on the ground. So then the Alabama players will have to throw. And they won’t be able to do that, either. And they’ll commit turnovers. And then the Miami players will boogie and gyrate as they create a new dance for the occasion. See, Alabama’s quarterback is a guy named Jay Barker. He is a nice young man, and when he regains consciousness late tonight, I hope he has a plan for the future that features him as a constructive member of society. Because when the fraternity brothers of I Slamma ‘Bama get through with him, the only football he’ll ever want to play is Nintendo. Miami, on the other hand, has a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback in Gino Torretta, a formidable offensive line and a fine group of receivers. “We’re too talented,” Miami wideout Kevin Williams said. He speaks the truth.

Reason No. 3: COACHING Don’t get me wrong. I like Gene Stallings. He’s a terrific coach. He has restored much of the luster to the Alabama tradition. And he has his club on the brink of a national title. But he made a big boo-boo Thursday night. He kept his players at their hotel, the Hilton, instead of packing them up and taking them to some secret location, a la John Thompson of Georgetown and, for that matter, Dennis Erickson of Miami. “They showed Bourbon Street on TV,” Erickson said Thursday. “I’m glad I wasn’t there. It’s unbelievable, all the hoopla….We’ll go to someplace so remote even I won’t know where it is.” That’s good. For a game of this magnitude, you have, in no particular order, groupies, derelicts, boosters, maniacs, spouses of boosters, students, drifters, children of boosters and drunken rednecks scattered throughout the teams’ hotels, trying to get a piece of the action. This isn’t good.. On the night before a game, the team needs to stay together, avoid distractions at all costs and focus on the task at hand. Stallings, though, has chosen to keep his team in the middle of the madness. Big mistake. Most teams look confused and disoriented against Miami anyway. Tonight Alabama will look that way during pre-game introductions.

Reason No. 4: KARMA You just get the overwhelming feeling that its Miami’s year again. Little things are adding up. Alabama lost one of its best linebackers for the Sugar Bowl when Michael Rogers was injured in a Christmas Eve car accident. Miami survived the Pell Grant scandal and Hurricane Andrew and the loss of star defensive end Rusty Medaris and is still brazen as ever.
Tonight the Tide won’t roll. It will roll over.

So looks like there was a lot of doubt about the Tide going into that game as well, and we all know how that game ended. It has also been a while since the Crimson Tide was considered an underdog (vs Clemson and UGA in 2008) and we know how much these guys love that persona and that helps them to elevate their game to rise to the occasion.

So while they may have superman on their side, I think we still have a great shot at this one as well.

Prediction:

Alabama WINS 28-17.

ROLL TIDE

Alabama Leads Nation in All-Americans

petersus — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:45:00 +0000

The University of Alabama led the nation with 4 players named to the All-American team. The closest team to the Tide was the Texas Longhorns who had 3 players selected to the team.

The Tide’s four players selected are Running Back Mark Ingram, Offensive Guard Mike Johnson, Linebacker Rolando McClain, and CB Javier Arenas.

There are a few other SEC players named on the list however Alabama is the only SEC school with more than one player making the list.

Ingram named finalist

petersus — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:09:00 +0000

Alabama’s Mark Ingram was named one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. The other finalist are Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Ndamukong Suh, and Case Keenum. He is the only running back to make the final list.