Bama 20 - Cocks 6. Bidgood Bob game notes

The sports world is awash with the Crimson Tide today. Mark Ingram is getting well-deserved Heisman buzz and the defense hasn't given up a TD in two games. The Crimson Tide has jumped the Gators to land at #1 in the AP poll and #2 in the BCS. Oh, and the Aubs lost at home to a mediocre Kentucky team playing without its starting QB. Life is good. 

Here are a few Bidgood Bob observations:

South Carolina fans. The Cock fans seemed to be a very well-behaved group who came prepared to take their ass-whipping with dignity and grace. I've always thought SC had a good fan base and I didn't see anything Saturday to change that perception. They were real nice folks. I only saw one near-incident when a pickup truck with Butler County plates tried to cut off another pickup with SC plates. What ensued was a classic verbal exchange with some of the most excellent cussin' I have ever heard in public. The best interchange was between the women riding shotgun in the respective rigs (both had tattoos). As I watched this disagreement between fellow southerners unfold I realized that the Confederacy never really had a chance.   

"We are perennially second-tier, but our stadium is louder than yours!" A couple of SC columnists I read today seemed to take solace in their perception that Williams Brice Hellhole, er, Stadium in Columbia is louder than Bryant-Denny. Well, if you're basing that assumption solely on your visit last night, you may be right. BDS wasn't particularly loud. But you also need to understand this: you're South Carolina. Your fans get excited when Bama comes to your stadium. We don't get very excited when you come to ours. You've never stood between Bama fans and any sort of prize. You've never pissed us off. Your head coach was at Florida the last time he inflicted any damage on Bama fans, and that was a long time ago. Now, he's just a lovable old cuss who's lost his fastball. You want loud? Come back to Tuscaloosa next weekend when the Vols come to town.  

The ribbon boards are a distracting nuisance and serve no purpose other than maybe causing migraines. Scores and stats? Hell, no. REGIONS BANK!!!! YOU MUST BANK AT REGIONS BANK!!! Or my favorite -- ZERO METH!!!!! Sometimes when the ribbon boards change colors they are brighter than the stadium lights. A couple of times last night I thought I had a brain tumor. 

And speaking of ZERO METH, I appreciate their sponsorship of University of Alabama football and it's certainly a good cause. It can't possibly be cheap to advertise on THE RIBBON BOARD or to sponsor the "Zero Meth Instant Replay" (maybe the University is donating the ad space). But I have to wonder if this is effective advertising. I mean, what sort of a meth addict are you if you are inside of Bryant-Denny stadium? Wouldn't you have traded your tickets for some meth?

We know it's third down. I can't believe we need sound effects, creepy animated elephants and that weatherman-sounding PA announcer to let us know it's third down. Alabama fans used to know when it was third down. 

I think the whole thing has gotten a little too polished. I miss Simpson Pepper.  

Here's one from 2003. I had just quit smoking and needed to rant. I have mellowed quite a bit since then (but still feel the same way about MSU)

WARNING. YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER A NICOTINE FIT.

________________________________________

Today is 30 days without a cigarette. Not one relapse. Also, on Monday I ran out of Nicorette gum and decided, hell, since that crap costs more than the Marlboros I have known and loved the last 24 years, I'd just quit those too. Well now I guess the nicotine is completely out of my system, because I can't concentrate worth a damn and I've almost had three wrecks today already and haven't accomplished anything worthwhile other than taking my brother to lunch and almost getting HIM killed and then I decide to check out the Bama message boards on the internet to take what's left of my mind off the cravings and lo and behold there's some Aub on there obsessing about Brodie Croyle’s lack of experience and high interceptions to touchdowns ratio and I wanna go, "HEY! YOU! AUB!! What's your time in the 40? How many pull-ups did you do in the Presidential fitness test in P.E. class? When are you going into the Hall of Fame? But no, I laid off of the bastard because I'm a nice guy, but NO MORE!! You Aubs are a bunch of chinless, genetic throwbacks who start every college days story with "Hey, remember that time you and Tonya came over to my trailer..." And what about you Tennessee types? Listen up, hillbillies... that thing you dry off with after your weekly shower is called a "towel." It's not a "towl." It's a two-syllable word with an "e" in it. Got that? Now you can go back to feuding with the McCoys or groping your sisters or whatever in the hell else y'all do for fun. And I don’t really know what you Georgia leg-humpers and Ole Miss julep-drinkers are sensitive about, but whatever it is, consider this post a whole wheelbarrow load of it, right in your face. If there are any Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU (you drunken swamp trash), or Florida people reading this... listen up: YOU ALL SUCK!! Oh, and don't think I forgot about you Mississippi State morons... I hate you worst of all. And all of you Vanderbilt poindexters can KISS MY CRIMSON ASS, TOO!

Thanks, I feel better now. If I offended anybody with this, I DON'T CARE!!

May 28, 2003

Handicapping Alabama vs. Mississippi (not a football post)

Big game this weekend! Let's compare Alabama and Mississippi position-by-position.

Vegas line: AL favored by 6. Edge to AL

AP Poll: AL #3, MS #20. Edge to AL

Usual rankings in everything else: AL #49, MS #50. Dubious edge to AL

White sandy beaches: Big edge to AL

Funny names of towns: Dick, MS and Dot, MS for example. Edge to MS

Famous musicians: Slight edge to AL
This requires more thought. AL has an advantage in sheer numbers due to its larger overall population and cities like Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile producing depth. MS has the Big Stud All-American in Elvis. But the King is countered somewhat by AL's legendary Hank Williams, who drank himself to death at an earlier age than Elvis. That's got to count for something.

The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi are canceled out by the Blind Boys of Alabama. Both AL and MS claim Jimmy Buffett, so there's no advantage there. Some sources claim Britney Spears for MS, but she is a Louisiana swamp tramp through and through. I don't even think the Bayou State claims her anymore.

The meat of the MS lineup is its impressive blues unit featuring John Lee Hooker, Tommy Johnson, BB King, Pinetop Perkins, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf and a slew of others, all led by Robert Johnson, who sold his soul to Lucifer J. Mephisto down at the Crossroads. This is a deep, deep squad that will tune 'em up in open G and come at you in waves.

AL can't handle the MS blues unit head-on, so it will counter with a deep and talented soul squad. The bellcow of the AL soul unit is Nat "King" Cole, who will line up with Lionel Richie, the Commodores, Martha Reeves, Clarence Carter ("Strokin'" I love that song), Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett and the odd Pip and Supreme thrown in. MS counters weakly with Ike Turner, Thelma Houston and David Ruffin of the Temptations, but the rest of the Temps all hail from the AL side.

AL holds a slight edge at the shitkicker position with Hank Jr., the eponymous Alabama, Emmylou Harris, Sonny "Country Gentleman" James, the Oak Ridge Boys, Tammy Wynette, Steve Young and Bobby Goldsboro. The MS country slate is talented, with Faith Hill, Charley Pride and Conway Twitty, but lacks depth. I also think Faith Hill was engineered in some kind of laboratory and may not be eligible this weekend.

The musicians were all pretty even until I got to the tie-breaker: American Idol. AL brings it with Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks and Bo Bice. MS can't answer.

Prettiest song: Louisiana, 1927; Randy Newman.
I couldn't think of any pretty songs about AL or MS.

Most screwed-up blue laws: Edge to MS

Famous writers: Huge edge to MS

This one is not even close. MS is at least three-deep at this position with a starting lineup that includes William Faulkner (L), Walker Percy, Alice Walker, Tennessee Williams, David Halberstam and Eudora Welty, backed up by a second team of Willie Morris, John Grisham, Thomas Harris, Jim Henson, Florence King, Shelby Foote and Stephen Ambrose. MS still has William Alexander Percy, Greg Iles, Ace Atkins, Barry Hannah, Patrick D. Smith and Jill Conner Browne in reserve. Pretty scary unit.

AL has a group that is talented at the top, led by starters Harper Lee (R) and Truman Capote, but falls off quickly with backups Helen Keller, Rick Bragg, Gay Talese, Howell Raines, Winston Groom, Fannie Flagg, Daniel Wallace, Edward Osborne Wilson, William Bradford Huie, Robert McGammon and Warren St. John. This AL group could hang in there with most, but MS is just too strong here. Jimmy Buffett and Mark Childress are claimed by AL and MS, but I'm letting them play for AL this time just to keep it fair. This one is so lopsided Bidgood Bob might even get in.

Crooked politicians: Dead even

The rest of my scientific pick 'em categories pretty much cancel out. One state's obesity is cancelled out by the other state's illiteracy, one HIV infection rate counters the neighbor's infant mortality. Both populations are mostly poor people who keep electing Republicans, for some reason. MS casinos neutralize AL "charity bingo." Neither group has an advantage in much of anything.

But what we're most concerned about is FOOTBALL, so based on the foregoing I'm laying the 6 here and taking Bama.    

Ro Tide: Notes from Bama-UK; SEC Network; Aubs (uh-oh); Kiffin (lost ball in high weeds)

Rolando McClain played his ass off. The consensus on talk radio this morning seemed to be that Bama was lucky to get four turnovers against the Cats. Well, that may be so. But the defense made those breaks: Barron's INT - pressure; Ro's INT - pressure; Anders' INT - great heads-up play by Ro; Upshaw's FR for TD - another great play by Ro. Sometimes you have to get some luck. Ro Tide anyway.

Thumbs up on SEC Network. I thought Dave Neal and Andre Ware did a very good job on the broadcast, particularly Ware, who was extremely well-prepared. Neither one has Chris Schenkel's pipes or Keith Jackson's infectious enthusiasm, but they got the job done without any axes to grind and without distracting the audience from the football game with inane crap, value judgments or gaffes. Ware's immediate comparative references to plays and situations from prior games (even prior seasons) evidenced the fact that he had done his homework on both teams.

Ware was also able to point out quarterbacking mistakes without seeming overly critical or condescending a la Danielson. In my book, his Heisman Trophy gives Ware a little more NCAA cred than Danielson. Ware also played for the Detroit Lions, but doesn't seem to have a chip on his shoulder about it, Gary.

Neal's play-by-play work was very good (I watched it twice). His only flat spot came when he made a flippant, self-deprecating "dumb jock" comment about a shot of the UK library coming out of a commercial. Something like "Andre, you and I never spent much time at the library, did we?" Andre seemed to bristle at this one, replying that yes, he actually did spend quite a bit of time at the library. Andre - it's obvious that you spent time in the library, the classroom, learning your craft and getting ready for Bama-UK Saturday. Thanks!

Cara Capuano is not up there in lofty Jill Arrington territory with Erin Andrews or ex-WSFA sideline babe Alex Flanagan, but she did okay. All-in-all, the SEC Network, with its ESPN production quality, is a huge step up from the Lincoln Financial/Jefferson Pilot days.

Why play football at UK? I guess a Kentucky football player and an Alabama basketball player can relate. Wildcat football has played second fiddle to hoops since, well, since forever. I was amazed that UK fans were camping out to get tickets for a basketball practice at Rupp Arena -- but probably no more amazed than the UK fans were when 92,000 Bama fans showed up for a football practice at Bryant-Denny. Oh well. UK is the same school that gave Coach Rupp a new Cadillac for winning the SEC basketball title the same year Coach Bryant won the SEC title in football. A grateful UK gave Bryant a nice cigarette lighter.

Auburn. Just like a bad penny. The pesky Tigers looked fantastic against the hated Vols. I loved seeing Lane Kiffin go all deer-in-the-headlights on national TV. It reminded me of another coach we Bama fans used to know and, uh, love. It is obvious now that Chris Todd's shoulder really was bunged-up last season and the Tigers are playing with confidence. Who knew?

Regarding Kiffin, I advise him to go see the Coen Brothers movie about SEC football, No Country for Young Coaches with Hot Wives. Bama fans have all seen it before... it's violent and has a dissatisfying ending.

Alabama. The State of Surprises. Well here's a shocker for ya.

The boys in marketing came up with that campaign a few years back. The ads were all Surprise! They Have Beaches in Alabama! Surprise! They Have Mountains in Alabama! Surprise! They Have Great Cheap Unplayable Golf Courses in Alabama! The basic gist of the campaign was - We're Not Just Stupid Rednecks. Surprise!

Meet Jackie Denise Knott

Read the link and be sure to peruse some of the comments.

Why am I not surprised?

No wonder the state's broke

Here in Alabama it's been in the news that the Gov needs to fill 193 vacant board seats. Well I am glad he is finally getting a handle on this. Lord knows we don't need vacancies on the State Board of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Alabama Cosmetology Board, Center for Information Services Partnership (I wonder what in the hell that is),  Legislative Youth Advisory Oversight Commission (I hope they don't really have oversight over anything), Massage Therapy Board (I am sure they are the ones who outlawed "happy endings") and a Supercomputer Authority (I heard they are looking to upgrade to a 486). 

I can see where we need an Alabama Securities Commission. There are slickos out there trying to sell bogus investments to widows and orphans. But we also have a Funeral Service Board. I mean, really, how bad can a funeral director screw up?

There is a Statewide Health Coordinating Council (huh?) and a Southern High-Speed Rail Commission (I'm holding my breath on that one). One of my favorites is the Restriction of Youth Access to Tobacco Advisory Board.

I wonder what happens when one member of the Polygraph Examiners Board calls bullshit on another.

We have a Boxing Commission. There hasn't been a boxing match here since Sen. Charles Bishop (the fine statesman from Jasper) punched out Sen. Lowell Barron on the floor of the Alabama Senate in 2007.

We are still funding UFO Days in Fyffe, Mule Day in Winfield, the Syrup Sopping Festival in Loachapoka... our legislature at work. Oh, schoolteacher salaries got whacked by another 7.5% yesterday.

I am just happy the Alabama Cosmetology Board is still in business. We won't be having any of this in Alabama.

Mascot Rant (I'd stand back)

I am referring to the Disney-type, cartoonish mascots. Unless you're desperate to sell tickets, they're stupid.

This pestilence began with that damn Mickey Mouse running around Disneyland and Disney World. "Why doesn't he talk?" millions of little tykes ask. "He's saving his voice for his next movie," reply millions of soon-to-be-broke-as-hell parents. Why doesn't Big Al talk? Why doesn't Aubie talk? Because they're just a couple of stupid college students in stupid costumes and they don't have anything to say.

KGB, the San Diego Chicken, was funny the first few hundred times I saw him. Then came the Phillie Phanatic, a horrific creation, then suddenly everybody had to have a mascot. Lest we forget, the whole idea of these mascots was something the boys in marketing came up with to put butts in seats. Distressed that the lucrative 3 to 7 year-old demographic might not be properly targeted, the boys in marketing decided that what every team needed was a mascot in a fuzzy costume.

Damn thing doesn't even have tusks. Pitiful.

Unbelievably, the University of Alabama copied an Auburn concept when they unveiled Big Al at the end of the 1979 season. It was in response to Aubie, himself (itself?) a marketing ploy launched during the Doug Barfield era, when Auburn couldn't sell a football ticket if it came with a free John Deere cap. Did Alabama really need a kid in an elephant suit to sell tickets? What were we thinking? Hell, Bama had just won two straight national titles and some geniuses decide we need a mascot, because Auburn has one? I think it snowed in hell that day.

You might reply -- but kids like mascots! What's wrong with mascots? Well, kids like Disney movies, too, but that ain't The Little Mermaid they're showing up there on the jumbotrons. That's an instant replay of Rolando McClain trying to put his headgear through Ryan Mallett's spinal column, that's what it is, and it ain't fit for little kids to see.

Here's the deal. When you have mascots, your little kids want to go to the game. So you take ‘em, because they’re little kids and they’ll cry if you don’t. When they get there, they want to go see Big Al or the other team’s mascot -- even better if they're rasslin' each other -- so you walk them down fifty rows to the fence and back up a couple of times -- and that's when they're not making you fetch cokes, hotdogs and those always-tasty stadium nachos topped with great gobs of nourishing pump cheese. Then you have to go with them to the bathroom about twelve times. Then they get hot and cranky and midway through the forth quarter of a tight ballgame you’ve got no choice but to leave early, try to beat the traffic and endure Eli Gold’s call of the final minutes. I blame all of this on mascots.

Now, a real elephant is out of the question. When Uga takes a dump over in Athens, some sideline attendant can take care of that with a zip-lock bag. If Bama had a real elephant on the sideline, well, the logistics get complicated. I remember when the DKEs were selling elephant rides a few years ago at homecoming (they said it was to raise money for the March of Dimes or somebody, but I know it was for drugs). Anyway, the whole campus smelled like elephant shit all day.

So to sum up... a real elephant won't work and we can do without a fuzzy sideline mascot. We can keep one of Big Al's heads so Lee Corso can make an ass out of himself on GameDay. Better still, that old buffoon can just pick the other team to win. I don't care.

This guy would kill Big Al, just to watch him die.

I like real mascots. As much as it pains me to say it, the eagle flight at Auburn is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And what about the Seminole brave who charges to midfield on his Appaloosa and then plants a flaming spear in the turf? Well, that’s more crowd-pleasing, emotion-charging and potentially intimidating than a sophomore in an elephant suit stomping on a stuffed tiger. I like the Sooner Schooner. I like Bevo. He’s a mean-looking steer. You don’t wanna step on nothin’ Bevo’s left behind. That Southern Cal Trojan Man? Get it? Hell, I even like ol’ Smokey and Uga. They’re real dogs. And I loved it when Uga went after that Aub’s crotch.

Good boy.