Has Alabama Basketball Turned it Around?

The day was January 31, 2007, and Alabama was visiting Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers. Traditionally, the Crimson Tide are not a good road team, but they prevailed this day against the Bayou Bengals, 73-70.

Since that day, tradition has held true, as the Crimson Tide have lost 19-straight SEC road games, by far the longest streak in the conference.

But after the first two-game conference winning streak of the season, hope is starting to arise around this Crimson Tide basketball team as they travel to Oxford, Mississippi today to take on the Ole Miss Rebels (15-12, 6-7 SEC) and attempt to break the streak.

Alabama (15-12, 5-8) is on its longest regular season conference win streak since 2007, a streak which started with that LSU game in Baton Rouge and lasted a total of three games.

Even with the most confidence Phillip Pearson has seen in this team all season, Tad Smith Coliseum has been a tough place to play for Alabama, as the teams have often split the season series by holding serve at home. The Crimson Tide defeated the Rebels in Tuscaloosa, 76-73, earlier this season.

For Alabama to win this game, they must continue their play of the past two games. The Tide are averaging 87.5 points per game, led by senior Alonzo Gee and sophomore Senario Hillman.

Gee, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, is averaging 25.5 points per game over the streak, which include two of his best performances of the season. Against Mississippi State, he had a game-high and personal season-high 28 points. When Arkansas came to town, he was perfect from behind the arc, hitting all five of his three-point shots on his way to a 17-point first half.

As for Hillman, he has seemingly found the touch that made him lethal during early conference season. Over the past three games, Senario has averaged 16.3 points per game, and has definitely made a difference during the streak as well. Against the Bulldogs, Hillman had 19 of his 21 points come after halftime. Wednesday against Arkansas, he only had 13 points, but also had a career-high seven assists in the game.

Even with all this working for them, the Crimson Tide are still on the road, and breaking that 19-game streak is their biggest obstacle today when they enter the "Tad Pad" at three this afternoon.

If the Crimson Tide can pull off the victory, it should solidify the answer to the question posed earlier.

View From the Stands-February 25th, 2009

It has been a while since I did a VFTS blog on a national scale, so I thought it was about time to bring it back.

First, however, if you do not already do this, I am now on Twitter under the name ng11787, so if you want updates on when new blogs are available, just follow along on the site. It is also a great way to stay up to date with other outlets, such as al.com, ESPN, and even applications about Alabama Athletics.

• Tiger returns to the Tour, faces tough draw in WGC. For the first time since last June, Tiger Woods, still the world's No. 1 player, will tee it up today in his first professional tournament since his knee surgery. Woods, who won the 2008 U.S. Open on a torn ACL, is now at full health and strength, and has apparently been working on his short game. During his rehab, Tiger was limited with how many full swings he could take, so he spent more time on the green, often something that has been his weakness. In other words, the world's best player has gotten better. As for his draw, Tiger has an easy play today against Brendan Jones, but it gets a little tougher as the week will go on. In his bracket, Tiger has Retief Goosen, his probable Thursday foe, as well as former Masters champions Trevor Immelman and Mike Weir, plus Camillo Villegas and Geoff Ogilvy. There are always upsets in a match play tournament such as this, but the stronger players are always ready to make a run. The question is, how ready is Tiger?
• Birmingham's Davis Cup lineup announced, Roger Federer not on the roster. When Birmingham learned it had beat out Las Vegas for the rights to the first round Davis Cup matches between Switzerland and the United States, many fans were drooling over the prospects over a Roger Federer versus Andy Roddick match-up during the weekend. Last week, however, Federer backed out of the first round matches, saying he needs time to heal a back injury. As if I didn't need another reason not to like Federer, he managed to give me one. I have never been a Federer fan, always seemed a little cocky, and he is worse than Chad Johnson for not acting like you have been there before. Through thirteen career Grand Slam titles, there is no difference in celebration between No. 1 and No. 13. Robert Horry has a ring for everyday of the week, yet you didn't see him crumble like a New York Mets division lead in September when he won No. 7. Nonetheless, Andy Roddick will still be there for the U.S., as well as James Blake and Mike and Bob Bryan will anchor the doubles team. This lineup is the same the U.S. has used for eleven of the past twelve matches in Davis Cup play, which will take place March 6-8.
• Marbury and the Celtics are actually in talks. Remember about a month ago when Stephon Marbury, that cancer of a player who pulled a Mike Tyson and tattooed his cranium, said that he and Celtics were in talks? Remember how the Celtics responded hell no quicker than Florida snapped on Lane Kiffin? Well, now that Marbury and the Knicks have agreed to a buyout, it seems as if there was some truth to Marbury's claim. Reports are starting to circulate that Boston is now looking into adding Marbury to their lineup. Marbury has not played in a game since last April 16th, and has somehow managed to remain in the news over the past seven months. He is a career 19 points, seven assists player, but how will the layoff affect his play, and how will his attitude affect the Boston locker room? Apparently Danny Ainge and Co. are willing to take a chance on the two-time all star, but it may not be in the best of interest for the Celtics repeat chances.

View From the Stands-Alabama Athletics Weekend Rundown

• Baseball opens season with a win, loses series to Southeast Missouri State. After a great 5-1 victory on Friday night, the Alabama baseball team lost both games over the weekend to the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks. The Tide allowed eight runs in both games while only scoring seven total between the two. After Sunday's loss, coach Jim Wells was not too happy with his team's offense. "Our offense is a homer now. We have to have more than that to win. We had a lot of backwards K's, and you don't need to give up eight runs, but you'd like to see some semblance of an offense." For Alabama, this series loss does not bode well for the rest of the season, but it could also work as a wake up call. With only three non-conference weekends on the schedule this year, each series is important and will play a role into whether the Tide can make it to the field of 64 to play for a trip to Omaha. This weekend was by far not a good start.
• Tide Softball loses first game of season, but comes away with successful weekend. The Alabama softball team lost their first game of the season to No. 6 and Pac-10 powerhouse UCLA on Saturday 4-1, but managed to come back from the West Coast with a 4-1 record. The Tide beat some stiff competition this weekend, including No. 8 Oklahoma, BYU and Oregon. Both the Cougars and Ducks are in the other receiving votes category in the polls. The Tide is still number one for now, but the new polls come out today and Alabama should see a small drop from the top spot with their first setback of the season. The softball team, unlike the baseball team, has a few more marque match-ups before the conference season begins. The Tide will face Washington twice in Tuscaloosa, and then games against UMass, Houston, Southern Illinois, and Michigan in the Leadoff Classic in Columbus, GA.
• The saga that is Andre Smith continues to swirl. In what should have been a banner weekend for former Alabama left tackle Andre Smith at the NFL Combine, but the former All-American disappeared on Saturday...and told no one he was leaving. Smith later said that he was not prepared for the combine and was slightly out of shape. He reported his weight as 332, which is only two pounds heavier than he was on Rolltide.com, but he looked heavier because he was out of shape. Many NFL teams are up in arms about these actions by Andre, and CNBC has projected his magician's act on Saturday cost him around $23.8 million. That's just a bit more than a few houses and some nice cars. Smith now has two weeks to get back in shape for scouts for the Alabama workout day in two weeks, and he needs to impress with more than just his workout.
• Basketball notches big win over rival Mississippi State, 87-85, in double overtime. Most people have already given up on the Alabama basketball team this season. You could see it in the crowd on Saturday, and especially in the fact they were sitting during the final seconds of double overtime. However, the crowd got into the game when it matter, as the Tide rallied from nine points down and forced overtime against the Bulldogs, who had won five straight over Alabama. The Tide put together a fantastic effort from the line, making 31 out of 39 free throws on the afternoon as well as holding Mississippi State to only 34% from outside. The Bulldogs had recently broken the school record for threes made in a game in back-to-back games, but Alabama held State in check for most of the afternoon. In a game which started out looking like a new way to twist the knife for 'Bama fans, the Tide prevailed for once in a much needed win.

For the Atlanta Braves, the Regular Season Can't Come Soon Enough.

It had already been a bad off-season for the Atlanta Braves when the first full squad practice of Spring Training began on Wednesday, but there was still some hope to salvage that.

Tom Glavine was no where to be found as his contract negotiations are still being worked out, but the idea of Ken Griffey, Jr., one of the best players in the history of the game, coming to be a Brave was hot on everyone's mind.

Griffey has long wanted to play for Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox. Cox even scouted Griffey out of high school, calling him one of the best ball players he had ever seen.

Wednesday night, though, the bad off-season continued as Griffey informed the Seattle Mariners that he will be returning to where it all began.

Now, as a lifelong fan of the Braves, probably a stronger emotional attachment than my beloved Crimson Tide based on the fact I only get to see the Braves once a year, at best, I was ecstatic about the prospects of Griffey going to Atlanta. Sure, he may be past his prime, but it would bring people back to Turner Field in what has seemingly turned into an apathetic sports town.

Nonetheless, the loss of Griffey just adds to the long laundry list of tough off-season happenings for the Braves organization.

Before the 2008 season even ended, Mark Texiera was shipped way out west to the Angels because the Braves weren't going to make room for him on their roster. Texiera, who played his college ball in Atlanta at Georgia Tech, barely stayed for a year before moving away.

It was bad enough that the Braves pitching staff hobbled their way to the finish line, but things started looking bright at the beginning of the off-season.

For starters, Jake Peavy was one of a few key names being tossed around to come to Atlanta. Peavy, only 27, has been a great starter for the Padres, where he has spent his entire seven year career. He is a career 86-62 in 199 starts with an ERA of 3.25. The ERA is even more impressive when you throw in the fact Peavy has been under the 3.00 line four of the last five seasons.

Instead, Atlanta traded four prospects, including Brent Lillibridge, who contributed in Atlanta last season, to the White Sox for Javier Vazquez. Not only is Vazquez older, 32, but he has a career losing record of 127-129 in 353 career starts with an ERA of 4.32. The ERA gets worse when you see that Vazquez has been above the 4.00 line four of the last five seasons, having a losing record in three of those years.

Over the next week, the Braves turned their attention two places: A.J. Burnett and Rafael Furcal.

Burnett was a free agent possibility after his contract was up with the Blue Jays (seriously, who wouldn't want to leave Canada). Burnett may have not been the ultimate answer for Atlanta, but he was a consistent pitcher for Toronto along with B.J. Ryan and Roy Halladay. The Braves offered him four years, but when the Yankees offered him five, the Braves would not match the offer, so Burnett went to the Evil Empire.

The very next day, after sources had stated that Rafael Furcal would be returning to Atlanta and a contract had been agreed upon, Furcal re-signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Furcal, who has blazing speed and an even faster arm from shortstop, was loved in Atlanta during his six seasons there. Instead, he decided to stay out West, and the Braves were spurned for the second time in as many days.

After the calendar changed, things got somewhat better for Atlanta, as the Braves signed two pitchers in mid-January.

The first was Kenshin Kawakami, a Japanese pitcher from the Chunichi Dragons. Kawakami only throws around 90 mph, but he has an accurate fastball and a filthy 70 mph 12-to-6 curve ball that he can throw in the dirt and for a strike. In 214 career starts in Japan, Kawakami is 112-72 with a 3.22 career ERA. In his nine seasons of posting 20 or more starts, he has double-digit win totals in six of them, with a seventh season consisting of nine wins.

Two days later, the Braves signed Derek Lowe from the Dodgers. Lowe, who is already 35, started his career as a reliever and closer, but moved to the rotation when he was with the Red Sox in 2002. He had four up and down years with the Dodgers, but consistently won an average of about 13 games a year.

Then last night came the news about Griffey, which may actually be a good thing that he isn't coming to Atlanta, but the continued failure of Atlanta to win battles with other teams for players is not promising.

The Braves are not getting any younger, and by signing older players, the front office is only putting a temporary fix on things instead of going to their highly rated farm system. Another problem is that the Braves often trade away their young talent, with many high profile players in the majors having once been a part of this organization.

For once, it looks like the Braves will go to the farm system this year, because it seems Atlanta is done shopping the market before the season begins. By doing this, Atlanta may actually work to keep some of their home grown talent and hope that first game against the defending world champion Phillies yields some promising results.

Lane Kiffin: The SEC's Village Idiot

Very few head coaches in the world of SEC football are vocal to the media. Nick Saban hates the media for stupid questions. Gene Chizik has yet to open his mouth since being hired. Hell, even Urban Meyer hasn't said a word since beating Oklahoma for the national title.

With so many coaches focused on many other things, such as recruiting or player development, the amount of words you have heard from new Tennessee head football coach Lane Kiffin makes you wonder how much of an idiot this man really is.

Before we start, though, lets take a look back at the last SEC coach who opened his mouth about another team. Enter Les Miles' comment about how Alabama can't beat any team from Louisiana. Not only did the Crimson Tide go 2-0 against team from the Bayou in 2008, they even went to Baton Rouge to shut up Miles and the Tigers in their own backyard.

Granted since Kiffin has yet to coach a game, so no one has had a chance to put the new kid on the block in his proper place. However, to think that any coach is going to go nice on him this year is an absolute farce because Lane Kiffin makes Les Miles look like Charlie Chaplin.

To refresh your memory, here is what the Village Idiot with the hot wife has done since coming to THE premiere college football conference:

• Before Kiffin could even set up his office, The Ol' Ball Coach himself, Steve Spurrier, was already wondering if Kiffin was breaking the rules by contacting recruits without taking the test. Kiffin responded with his test score, a 39 out of 40, then asked what Spurrier made on his test when he first took it. In an article in The Tennesseean last week, Kiffin said he was just joking around with Spurrier. Apparently no one told him that football is taken very seriously in the South.
• In mid-January, Kiffin announced the official hiring of some of his coaches, including Lance Thompson from Alabama and Eddie Gran from Auburn. These guys were added to a staff which already included the former SEC Village Idiot Ed Orgeron and Lane's faja Monte Kiffin. Too bad Lance got kicked out of his own house and Auburn wanted nothing to do with Eddie Gran anymore, but Kiffin still decided to make some more noise. "To be able to take South Carolina's recruiting coordinator, Mississippi State's recruiting coordinator, Alabama's best recruiter and Auburn's best recruiter over the past 10 years was a great accomplishment for us." Apparently landing his own father for his staff was a great accomplishment as well, but you see how that is working out for Jeff Lebo and Auburn Basketball.
• Finally Signing Day rolled around and Lane decided that he needed a breakfast to celebrate his No.16 ranked recruiting class. Kiffin went first, and boy was this something for everyone to behold.

• Oh, no he didn't!!! And he wasn't done. Kiffin then went on to attack Nick Saban as well. "Nick Saban (Alabama's coach) should have started his press conference (Wednesday) by saying, 'Our great class that we signed ... I'd really like to thank Lance (Thompson) because Lance signed eight of those guys.'" Apparently no one told Lane a lot of things. One, Alabama has beaten Tennessee by a combined score of 70-26 the past two seasons. Two, Tennessee has yet to beat an Urban Meyer-coached team, losing to Florida by an average of 18.7 points in those four games. Three, Alabama (1), Georgia (9), and Florida (10), Tennessee's three biggest rivals, finished with better recruiting classes than the Vols did (16). Four, there is no rule about coaches not being allowed to call recruits when they are on other campuses. Mike Slive quickly jumped in and by the end of the day, Kiffin had released an apology to Florida.
• In this same news conference, Lance Thompson said that he was going to lock down Memphis, the highest quality of talent city-wise in Tennessee. Just a day later, Nick Saban got commitment number one of 2010 from one of the best receivers in Tennessee...out of Memphis.
• Finally, and most recently, Lane Kiffin eventually got around to trying to smack talk Georgia, the only rival he had left alone...to that point at least. Kiffin was commenting on recruit Marlon Brown who signed with Georgia over Tennessee. Kiffin said it happened because Brown's grandmother wouldn't let him go to Tennessee. Richt, surprisingly, didn't say a word and took the high road. I have to side with Grandma on this one, because Athens is ten times better than Knoxville.

That right there is just all the stupid things he has said. Now we will get into the stupid actions he has done.

• On February 9th, Tennessee self-reported two secondary recruiting violations to the NCAA...committed by Lane Kiffin. You know, the same guy who called out Florida and Urban Meyer for their "recruiting violations." Kiffin set up a fake news conference for his recruits during their visit and used a fog machine to let the prospects run through as they entered Neyland Stadium. The actions break the rule which prohibits the mimicking of game day atmospheres.
• Kiffin wasn't done being sent to the NCAA. A week later, Kiffin mentioned unsigned recruit Bryce Brown by name on radio after being reminded by the radio host that he is not allowed to do such a thing. Tennessee self-reported this violation as well, bringing baby face Lane's total up to three violations, averaging out to more than one a month since he has been hired.

All this, and Lane Kiffin hasn't even opened spring practice.

It takes real strong individual to make all these statements about other schools and coaches. Well, either that or an all out idiot, and I know no one who doesn't believe Kiffin fits into the latter category. When Al Davis fired Kiffin from the Oakland Raiders last Fall, many people thought Davis was off his rocker, but somehow Kiffin has managed to make Al Davis look like a sane, grounded person.

So, as the fall approaches, Lane will hopefully keep his mouth shut for the sake of his team.

Not only did the Volunteers not make a bowl last season, they must travel to Gainesville and Tuscaloosa in 2009 to take on two schools they are a combined 1-7 against in the last four seasons.

In other words, don't complain as Urban Meyer calls a time out with fifty seconds remaining just so he can get that tenth and last touchdown against Tennessee in late September.

Don't be surprised when Nick Saban runs over the Vols for a third straight season and doesn't even look back like he did something wrong.

And don't start to panic when Tennessee leaves Lexington on November 28th 0-8 in the SEC, because not even Vanderbilt is scared of the daisy orange anymore, especially with the Village Idiot at the helm.

Help Me, Albert Pujols, You're My Only Hope

Saturday was a bad enough day when it was reported Alex Rodriguez, my largest hope to break Barry Bonds' home run record*, was accused of testing positive for steroid use.

A-Rod was the heir apparent to this record. He is on record pace to hit 800 home runs by the time he hangs up his cleats. He can play in the field, despite what some people may say. He even seemed like a decent human being to top it all off.

Then today came the news that basically made me want to cry. My hopes were slashed as Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids today in an interview that will be seen on this afternoon's five o'clock Sportscenter.

It was bad enough to admit it, but A-Rod apparently made this a habit during his final years as a Texas Ranger.

Rodriguez said he used the drugs from 2001-03, culminating in his MVP season in 2003, in which he hit .298, driving in 118 runs and knocking 47 home runs.

A-Rod was never even a player many considered to possibly have to use steroids, having multiple successful seasons even before he began taking steroids.

In his final three seasons in Seattle, Rodriguez hit more than 40 home runs in each of those seasons and drove in at least 110 runs every year, including 132 in 2000.

This news can also been seen as a fitting conclusion to the whirlwind that has been Alex Rodriguez over the past year.

This past summer, rumors of him and Madonna were rampantly running through the tabloids, eventually resulting in his divorce from his wife, Cynthia. He also saw a drop in his numbers, playing in fewer games and amassing himself in controversy on the field with an incident in Toronto.

The yearly harassment for lacking production in the post-season was spared as the Yankees finished third in the AL East.

Then, finally, today comes the news that Alex Rodriguez did in fact take steroids, admitting he is one of the 104 random positive tests from screening in 2003.

The question now facing many people who supported A-Rod's quest for 763 and beyond is this: Where do we turn for the fresh face to correct the corruption in the universe?

Looking at the current landscape of baseball, there are two men who stand out in Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols.

Both are hitting home runs at rapid paces and are major threats for MVP every year. with both men already holding at least one in their back pocket.

Pujols has 319 home runs over his eight year career, averaging 39 home runs a season currently. He looks to be a life-long Cardinal, and is definitely someone that people can look up to. He just turned 29 last month, so his prime should be over the next few years and will definitely tell us if he has a chance to break the mark.

Howard is 29 also and only has 177 home runs, but is quickly making up time. He has hit over 45 home runs the past three seasons, but his late start in the Majors may make the difference. Barry Bonds is the only man to hit a sufficient amount of home runs, as in around 35, after his 38th birthday, meaning Howard would have to average over 45 home runs over the next season years to even potentially sniff 500 by age 37.

Nonetheless, all of these accomplishments will be watched very closely over the next few years to see how both men progress. New comers such as Evan Longoria are one to watch as well, but it will be another two or three years before he can truly be judged on his potential to reach 763.

As for the present state of baseball, more steroid allegations are sure to follow this A-Rod story as Curt Schilling, always one to keep his mouth shut, said that he wants all 104 names released from the 2003 testing. It wouldn't be surprising to see these names emerge sometime soon, according to Tim Kurkjian, especially with how dark the A-Rod admittance has now made baseball.

Catching Up On the Blog

After a long week including illness, school work, and all around craziness, I have finally found some time to get on here and update from the past week.

I am disappointed that I missed my chance to really discuss the Super Bowl, which Larry Fitzgerald is still a beast, Miller had the best commercial (High Life!), but the Steelers still came out victorious.

It was quite a boring game in the second half, but the 4th Quarter was one to remember.

The Cardinals made their pushing and eventually took the lead, but Big Ben to Santonio Holmes was the main difference in the game at the end.

It may have been one of the most watched, if not the most watched Super Bowl ever, but I still think last year's Patriots/Giants game was better.

That is all for now, but be looking out all weekend for new updates from this past week, including recruiting, Lane Kiffin, and the Alabama Basketball coaching favorites.