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Introducing “Keith’s Korner!”

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:49:47 +0000

Hello everyone, welcome to the first edition of Keith’s Korner. Every week I will take my nose out of the Korner and try to give you a different view of Crimson Tide sports. You will come to see that I’m a fan who tries to find the positive out of every situation or event. So buckle your seat belts for a wild ride! For my first column I just want to share some random thoughts going through my mind.

The first thought that I can’t get out of my mind is that I can’t wait until football season is here. I’m ready to see Kareem Jackson lock a wide receiver down all game. I’m ready to see Rashad Johnson make a clutch interception to preserve a win (it seems like he’s done that a million times to me). I’m ready to see Rolando McClain develop into the next great linebacker at Bama. I’m ready to see Terrance Cody fall on some helpless QB (ouch)! I’m ready to see JPW and the great year he’s going to have. I’m ready to see Roy Upchurch develop into a great RB (in my opinion he has all the tools to be the best). I’m ready to see Julio Jones live up to the hype and Chris Jackson be the surprise of the recruiting class. I’m ready to see Burton Scott anywhere on field (he’s a LEADER). I’m ready to see teams kick away from Javier Arenas and Marquis Maze burn them for kicking it to him.

The second thought I can’t get out of my mind is wow! Coach Saban can recruit!! TRENT RICHARDSON could start for the Dolphins today!!! I really believe if we can hang on to him, he will be the first Heisman Trophy winner at Bama! I think that the 4 key recruits are Tana Patrick, Nico Johnson, Dre Kirkpatrick and Kendal Kelly. The third and most recent thought that I can’t get out of my mind is that I wish the crap with coach Fulmer would go away. When I saw the news about the subpoena today, I cringed. That was a long time ago and it’s time to move on. This kind of crap just pours salt on the wound. Besides, the best revenge happened last year and Bryant Denny Stadium.

The fourth and last thought in my mind is that now that SEC Media days are over, my brain starts getting amped up for football!!! Next week I will give my predictions on the SEC. I will try to take off my crimson colored glasses and give my thoughts on what will happen in east and west for this year. Until next week, I’m putting my nose back in the Korner!!!!

ROLL TIDE!!

Introducing “The Mines Report”

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:03:55 +0000

The Mines Report is brought to you by our official partner Bamafan1.com

And so it starts…

SEC Media days ‘08 is a wrap, under 35 days til kickoff, and old rivalries are at an all time high.

Hello everyone and welcome again to The Mines Report.

Hoover, Alabama played host to the 2008 SEC Media Days again this year, with more fans, larger national media coverage, but surprisingly not much in the way of on-the-field news. This year seemed to be strictly about the coaches and their relationship with the press. Everyone asked and answered the same questions from “What are the team’s goals for this season”, to “How has the team improved since last year”. Exciting stuff, I know, but what news can you expect to hear from the most competitive conference where even starting rosters are held top secret?

All 12 coaches fully understand that anything they say will be picked apart and used to try to gain an advantage by the opposing teams. Knowing this, we are left with boring sound bytes and quotes that sound more like it’s being read from campus brochures than the coach’s actual feelings. We still have over a month before our favorite teams take the field, and it seems like forever since the last game was played, so we’ll all take what we can get.

One of the bigger stories from this year’s Media Days had to be the fiasco surrounding Tennessee Head Coach Phillip Fulmer, affectionately known outside of Knoxville as “The Great Pumpkin”. Before Coach Fulmer could make his way into the lobby of The Winfrey Hotel in suburban Hoover, Alabama, he was hit with a subpoena for a decade old court case involving an Alabama recruiting scandal. Fulmer is scheduled to give his testimony in a Birmingham, AL court September 25th, just two days before the VOLS face Auburn on the plains. I’m sure this is all a coincidence and not meant to deflect the Tennessee coach’s attention in the middle of an important season. We’ll see if Coach Fulmer and his attorneys actually show up, or if this case will even be heard, as the time nears.

Check back weekly for updates in the SEC and for “Karus’ Picks” where I’ll give my picks for the winners, key players to watch, and the upset game of the week.

Bamafan1.com’s 2008 SEC Predictions

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:30:05 +0000

This is brought to you by one of our offical SECBlitz partners, Bamafan1.com

1. Alabama 9-3 – I don’t have my “crimson colored” glasses on, but I think that Bama will be a much better team this year. With this recruiting class, this is the most talented Bama team in many years. This team will start several freshmen and if they can live up to the hype, watch out! The DL and LB are areas to watch-out for this year, but with the coaching staff on campus, I’m optimistic.

2. Arkansas 5-7 – McFadden, Jones and Monk are gone, and with new head coach Bobby Petrino at the helm as good as he is, this team will not be above 500 this year. I must say that in a couple of years this team will be a contender, but as of now, forget about it.

3. Auburn 8-4 – The Auburn Tigers is predicted to win the west this year, but I think with two new coordinators and an “unproven” quarterback, I don’t see it. They will be good this year on the defensive side of the ball, but on the other side of the ball they don’t have the athletes yet to run that offense. If you don’t believe me, name a receiver on the team that could take it to the house on any play! My point…………..

4. LSU 10-2 – Now that Ryan Perrillous is no longer on the team, the defending SEC and National Champions will have a new quarterback with no SEC experience. They still have the most talented team in the SEC, but LSU will have some rough roads. The AU and Bama games will be crucial for LSU winning the west.

5. Ole Miss 7-5 – Ole Miss came very close to beating Florida and Bama last year. They will return the QB and some very good receivers. They will be without Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis (RB), but they are my “Surprise Team” in the SEC West and with the addition of Coach Houston Nutt, watch out. The saga has now ended with 5 star defensive tackle Jerrell Pow now being cleared to play…

6. Miss St. 6-6 – Coach Croom has done an outstanding job to say the least, but this year will be close to the records of old. They beat Auburn and Bama last year and they have a two game winning streak against us. Reality will set in this year and no disrespect to Miss St. they will fall back in their respected position this year.

SEC EAST DIVISION

1- Florida 10-2 – Florida will bring back an explosive offense and last year’s Heisman Trophy winner in Tim Tebow. With the addition of Emmanuel Moody from USC, look for that offense to be even better this year. If Florida’s young defense of last year steps up this year, they will be a very hard team to beat.

2- Georgia 10-2 – Georgia has been picked to win it all this year and with Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno I can see why they are the team to beat, but hold your horses. This is the same Georgia team that underachieves every year. They win games they shouldn’t win and lose games they shouldn’t lose, with that said, I think Georgia will win the SEC, but that’s all.

3- Kentucky 5-7 - Rich Brooks is a very good coach and last year with the talent he had it showed. Like Miss.St., this Kentucky team will fall back in line to their respected position. It’s very hard for Kentucky to compete year in and year out in recruiting with the other SEC powers.

4- South Carolina 7-5 - I must say that I’m not sure what SC will do this year, but with Steve Spurrier as HC they will be very competitive and win some close games this year. They have to find play makers and a QB that can stay out of trouble, because Stephen Garcia evidently can’t.

5- Tennessee 6-6 – The absence of Eric Ainge at QB, the Volunteers will be looking for a QB that can run the offense. Arian Foster (RB) will be back and (man is it me or does it seems like he has been there for at least 6 years) will carry the load at the RB position. TN will try to find play makers at the WR position. On defense they will have pre-season hype Eric Berry (DB), who I must say is a legit All SEC First Teamer.

6- Vanderbilt 5-7 – The Commodores will have many challenges this year, and with Earl Bennett in NFL, they will be looking for someone to step up and create some offense. Vanderbilt is a well coached team, but being a primarily Academic School and getting 2-3 star players yearly, there’s no way they can really compete in the SEC.

SEC Championship Game
LSU vs GA
Winner—- GA

*******These are my predictions for the year and keep in mind that each team’s prediction could easily go one win up or one win down.******