701 Days. That's All It Took.

Processed (v.)- The act of Nick Saban destroying your coaching career to the point that you are no longer with your team.

As stated in the title, it has only been 701 days since Nick Saban was hired to take over the Alabama Crimson Tide.

That's all it has taken for Saban not only to turn the Tide, but to take back the state, to make his presence known once again in the SEC, and to get Alabama back in the national spotlight.

So how has everyone gotten here over the past 23 months? Here is a quick timeline to refresh your memory.

• Jan. 3rd, 2007: Nick Saban is hired as the 26th head football coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. In his opening press conference the following day, Saban said, "I know there's tremendous expectations here. I can tell you that, however you feel about it, I have even higher expectations for what we want to accomplish. I want to win every game we play."
• Feb. 7th, 2007: Saban signs a recruiting class that has his partial stamp on it. Kareem Jackson and Rolando McClain are the two stars of the class which is ranked 10th by Rivals.com.
• Apr. 21st, 2007: Over 100,000 people crowded Tuscaloosa to watch Nick Saban's team scrimmage in the annual A-Day Game. Fans were turned away at the gate as the largest crowd to ever watch a spring game assembled at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
• Sept. 1st, 2007: Nick Saban makes his debut as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide in a rout of Western Carolina 52-6. The win was Saban's first college win since 2004.
• Sept. 15, 2007: Nick Saban gets his first SEC win at Alabama with a come from behind win against Arkansas 41-38. It was Alabama's first come from behind win in since the Dennis Franchonie era.
• Oct. 20, 2007: The Crimson Tide destroy the Tennessee Volunteers 41-17 in Tuscaloosa to reach 6-2 in Saban's first season. Alabama will enter November tied for first in the SEC West heading into Saban's first game against LSU.
• Nov. 3rd, 2007: LSU comes into Tuscaloosa and comes out with a win 41-34 over Alabama, sending the Crimson Tide into a tailspin to finish their season. Alabama would lose in consecutive weeks to Mississippi State, Louisiana-Monroe, and a sixth straight to Auburn. Alabama finishes the season 6-6, 3-5 in the SEC.
• Dec. 30, 2007: Alabama finishes their season in the Independence Bowl for the second straight season, beating Colorado 30-24. Alabama ends the season 7-6, only the second winning season over the previous five years for the Crimson Tide.
• Jan. 30th, 2008: Jim McElwain is hired by Nick Saban to be Alabama's new offensive coordinator. McElwain leaves Fresno State and simplifies Alabama's offense to avoid confusion for John Parker Wilson and company.
• Feb. 6th, 2008: Alabama puts the finishing touches on the consensus No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. Final 48 hour commitments from Mark Ingram and Julio Jones helped to propel the Tide above Notre Dame, Florida, and Ohio State.
• Apr. 12, 2008: Nick Saban's second A-Day Game doesn't sell out, but 72,000 people still come to watch the Crimson Tide practice. The new offense does just enough to get fans interested as to how this team may play this season.
• June 2008: The new freshman class reports to campus for the first time. Combined with a new senior leadership, the freshmen help the team find a new level to practice at, bringing intense competition to each practice.
• Aug. 30th, 2008: Nick Saban's second team hits the turf in the Georgia Dome against Clemson and blows out the Tigers, 34-10. Alabama jumps into the Top 25 while Clemson never fully recovers from their opening game beat down.
• Sept. 27th, 2008: Alabama takes their show on the road to Athens with an undefeated record for a Top 10 match up. The Crimson Tide runs away in the first half on national television en route to a 41-30 victory over the Bulldogs. Alabama vaults to a number two ranking, the highest since 2005.
• Oct. 13th, 2008: Tommy Bowden resigns at Clemson after a dismal start to what was thought to be an ACC championship season.
• Oct. 25th, 2008: Alabama goes into Neyland Stadium and overpowers the Vols, 29-9, to take the second straight game from Tennessee and Phil Fulmer to reach 8-0, the best start for a Nick Saban team. A week later, Phil Fulmer would resign as head coach, effective at the end of the season.
• Nov. 8th, 2008: Alabama reaches 10-0 after a wild, overtime win in Tiger Stadium against LSU, ending a November losing streak in the SEC dating back to 2005. The win was also the first against the Bayou Bengals since 2002.
• Nov. 29th, 2008: Alabama ends a six year skid against the Auburn Tigers with a 36-0 thrashing, ending Auburn's chances for a bowl. The win cemented Alabama's first undefeated regular season since 1994, the first 12-0 regular season in SEC history, and Nick Saban's first undefeated regular season of his career. The loss, the worst for Auburn since 1962, left doubt about Tommy Tuberville's job security.
• Dec. 3rd, 2008: Tommy Tuberville resigns as head coach of the Auburn Tigers.

Those are the important points which bring us to today's events. It is only a matter of time before we see what this means for both Alabama and Auburn. In the meantime, Alabama has a championship to play for.

What is Alabama Football?

This was an email I recieved this past week describing what Alabama Football really is:

It is Wallace Wade.
It is Bear Bryant.
It is Gene Stallings.
It is this man in charge.


It is not Bobby Bowden, Phil Fulmer or Dennis Franchione.
It is the Rose Bowl.
It is hearing Keith Jackson call an Alabama game.
It is watching George Teague running down Lamar Thomas in the 1993 Sugar Bowl then rewinding it and watching it again.

It is hearing the first notes of Sweet Home Alabama .
It is the desire to beat Auburn at any competitive event that exists.
It is a houndstooth hat.
It is being " Dixie 's Football Pride"
It is having enough pride to fight for your school but having enough class not to.
It is cheering the same amount for a first down on second and 6 as on fourth and 1.
It is watching Cornelius Bennett give Notre Dame quarterback Steve Beuerlein a concussion on that October day in Birmingham in 1986.

It is determining who you are going to date & marry by which team they swear allegiance to.
It is beating Florida in the SEC title when everyone said the game in "The Swamp" was a fluke.
It is watching The Bear on the jumbotron before a game in Bryant-Denny Stadium and almost seeing him leaning against the goalpost in the end zone.
It is right behind God and family.
It is spending a day at The Bryant Museum and still not seeing everything.
It is cool crisp autumn Saturdays where you can smell football in the air and feel it whenever there is a slight breeze.
It is watching The Bear get number 315 against Auburn .
It is watching The Bear get number 323 against Illinois .
It is hearing Paul Kennedy do the play-by-play when Van Tiffin kicked the 52-yard field goal against Auburn in 1985.

It is remembering the feeling of the upper deck at legion field rumbling due to feet stomping.
It is knowing how many days until the start of a season year round.
It is driving down Colonial Drive to see Bryant-Denny Stadium not the sorority girls.
It is getting chills up and down your entire body whenever you hear anything about the 1993 Sugar Bowl and the pride you feel because that night tradition ruled.
It is hearing The Bear's voice and having all the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up because you know no matter what he said, it was something special.
It is hearing The Million Dollar Band play "Yea Alabama " and knowing it just does not get any better.
It is imagining hearing Penn State Quarterback Chuck Fusina ask Alabama linebacker Barry Krauss "How close is it?" and hearing Krauss say "About an inch, you'd better pass" right before fourth down during The Goal Line Stand in the 1979 Sugar Bowl.

It is almost coming to tears whenever Alabama loses to Auburn or Tennessee .
It is The Kick. It is The Goal Line Stand. It is The Desperation Block.
It is purposely not wearing any clothes with the colors orange and blue.
It is the Third Saturday in October.
It is not needing an alarm clock on game days, you sit bolt upright in the bed long before the alarm goes off because you know that it is a gameday, you can sleep after the bowl game.
It is walking into a stadium and knowing Alabama will win the game no matter who they are playing because it is just the way it is supposed to be.
It is the saying "Offense wins games, Defense wins national titles."
It is the Bear Bryant 'A'.

It is getting to the stadium hours before the game just to be there.

It is walking into another team's stadium and having those fans hate you because you are from Alabama .

It is the pride that a father has when he brings his children to a game so they may cherish the tradition.

It is the hit by Roman Harper in the 2005 against Tennessee that meant everything

It is beating LSU in Baton Rouge .
It is hearing the crunch as a linebacker dressed in crimson and white hits a running back dressed in orange and blue.
It is the pride you take in being every team's rival.
It is pulling for any team that is playing Auburn .
It is pulling for any team that is playing Tennessee .
It is singing Rammer Jammer period.
It is wishing both teams could lose when Auburn plays Tennessee .
It is knowing that the SEC Championship is a birthright.
It is being respected and feared at the same time.
It is holding up four fingers at the end of the third quarter.
It is not caring about a Heisman Trophy.
It is knowing what "Mama Called" means.
It is whipping Auburn 31-7 in Jordan-Hare Stadium when nobody picked you to win.
It is NOT "The Jungle".
It is The Catch.

It is having 21 Southeastern Conference Titles.
It is having 12 National Titles.
It is more than I can ever mention in this list.
It is class.
It is tradition.
It is Alabama Football.

Roll Tide!

Nick Saban gets fired up!!!

If you haven't heard what Nick Saban had to say last night about this week's game against Mississippi State, you may want to take a listen.

Coach Saban got on a roll last night about those who are viewing Mississippi State as a pushover team.

Just a heads up to those of you who may not know:

• We have lost two straight to State.
• We haven't scored an offensive TD against State in 186 minutes of football.
• Our two campuses are the closest of any in the SEC.
• O yea, in case you forgot, their head coach played for The Bear.
• Finally, they have the most annoying cheer in the SEC. (BTW, the correct cheer is "State sucks, State sucks." They will love you for it.)

So, now that you know that, I'll let the man say his peace about this game.

So yea, all you students who don't show up to the game until kickoff or are not planning on coming at all, this is not the State team you are used to from when you were in high school.

This team is a bit better than what you may think, and this game is extremely important for this season.

Nick Saban's Warnings, Basketball Returns, and Other Things

As if Nick Saban returning to Baton Rouge this week was not going to be enough of a media distraction, Alabama now has a No. 1 ranking in all polls to create a media barage during time with the media.

But don't worry, Saban has already issued a warning to the media on both instances.

After the game Saturday, the talk of of the Fighting Tigers had begun, and Saban was already clearing the air about his connections to this game.

"It ain't going to be about me," Saban said. "It's going to be about our players and about our team. And I don't care how hard anybody tries to make it about something else, it's not going to be. So I'm kind of giving you a little forewarning. If somebody wants to get a you-know-what chewing this week, that would be a good way to get it. Because it's not going to be about that."

Safe to say, if anyone drops the idea that Saban once coached the Bayou Bengals.....well, getcha popcorn ready!

As for the new BCS, AP, and Coaches' poll rankings, Saban was flattered, but made his statement to try and protect his players from the new distraction.

"We appreciate the interest shown to our team," Nick Saban said in a statement, "but rankings at this time of the season do not define anything relative to the post-season. Our concern is our preparation to play a very good LSU team and these external factors can not affect our planning, schedule or focus on the task at hand."

As fans, that goes for you, too. We play LSU this week, and any hopes of Miami and maybe even Atlanta to an extent hinge on this victory.

In other news, the Men's Basketball team took to the court last night with a new look, a new three-point line, and ready for a new season.

The Crimson Tide, sporting the "throwback" jerseys from a few years ago (which all indications are that the Tide will be in these jerseys all season) took to the court for their first open practice so far this season.

What transpired was somewhat familiar, but there were a few nice suprises.

The Crimson Team won 102-77, led by a Demetrius Jemison double-double and diaper dandy JaMychal Green's 18 points.

The White team was helped by Ron Steele's 21 points to lead the White team and a double-double from Alonzo Gee.

The suprises, however, were quite nice.

Mikhail Torrance, on the Crimson team, led all scorers with 27 points and nine assists to easily have the breakout afternoon in this game.

As for the new three-point line, which has been moved back a foot for the men's game, it did not seem to make a difference for the Crimson team.

JUCO transfer Anthony Brock, who shot 47% from three last season, was 3-6 from downtown as was Senario Hillman.

The best suprise of the afternoon, however, had to have been the free throw percentages for both teams.

The Crimson team shot 91% from the line, the White 75%. Both of those numbers are lightyear's ahead of the team's free throw percentage from last season.

The men will take to the court for their fist exhibition game on Thursday, November 6th, against Faulkner at 7pm.

Now, just for a quick rundown of what an early morning browsing of the internet has revealed:

• Sign ups for Mark's Madness have begun! To sign up, visit Coleman Coliseum sometime between 2-5pm Monday-Wednesday and between 6-9pm on Thursday for the Faulkner game.
• Mark Ingram has been named SEC Freshman of the Week this week for his performance against Arkanas State. Ingram ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns against the Red Wolves during Alabama's homecoming victory.
• Sources are beginning to report that Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer and UT officials have agreed to a deal that would have Fulmer step down at the end of the season.

That's all for now. Be on the lookout this afternoon for my Top 25, my Heisman list, as well as links from around the country concerning Alabama and the SEC.