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Click logo to go to tidesports.com

Throughout my life I've always admired and respected Coach Bryant, as well as several of Bama's football greats, but I never liked the program very much.  In 1991 my feelings changed when I went to The University of Alabama, where I spent two years earning my teacher certification.  I can easily say that the Crimson Tide is my favorite team and Alabama is my favorite university.

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Click on Colonel Reb and go to the Ole Miss site

Having grown up in Jackson, Mississippi, I had to make a big decision at a very early age.  Was I a State (Miss. State) fan, or an Ole Miss fan?  Being a reasonable and rational little boy I chose Ole Miss, of course!  Archie Manning was, and still is, a hero of mine.  When he joined the Saints my parents bought me a Saints uniform with Archie's number on it for Christmas.  I can't tell you how proud I was of that uniform.  What can I say, it was a fine moment in time.  I'll ALWAYS root for Ole Miss, except for one day a year when they play Alabama.

Current Opinions on College Football:
 
My secret wish is that Shaud Williams (RB) is the first Crimson Tide player to ever win the Heisman.  Yeah, I'm crazy, I know, I know.
 
Mississippi State is probably going to get everything it deserves for hiring the crooked fool, Jackie Sherril.  It will be very unfortunate when the only people who really get punished are the MSU football players.  Sherril should be financially punished so harshly that he has to become a greeter at the Noxipater Wal-Mart for the rest of his life.
 
Archie Manning has been one of my heroes since I was a very little boy.  I respect him and admire him as much as anybody.  However, I have two observations about two of his three sons.  Peyton Manning, to this day, has never won a game he wasn't already supposed to win, meaning he isn't winning the most important games.  Eli Manning, who I like almost as much as his dad, ain't gettin' it done so far this year.  I'm sure he would enjoy at least 3 seconds in the pocket to set up, but hey, you can't have everything!  I'm hoping he does much better very soon.
 
Alabama seems to have a good man in Mike Shula, although I still think Sylvester Croom would have been a much better coach.
 
Math Class
Maurice Clarret + Ohio State = Train Wreck
 
Nice going, idiot!
Maurice Clarett
 
 
Alabama hired the wrong man.  Mike Shula might end up being the next best thing to Bear Bryant, and I hope he does, but he was definately not the most qualified, experienced, or talented candidate for the job.  Sylvester Croom was.  Coach Croom has 3 National Championship rings from Alabama.  He earned one as a player.  The next two were earned when he coached beside Bear Bryant for 10 years.  Coach Croom has also had a great career as a pro coach.  He is also from Tuscaloosa.  Sylvester Croom IS Alabama football.  I'm ashamed to say that there is only one reason he didn't get hired.  He's black.  The SEC doesn't seem to have much of a problem with hiring a black basketball coach (Tubby Smith), but they aren't ready for a black football coach.  It's disgusting.  Despite Bear Bryant's efforts to offer scholarships to black players and integrate the SEC, which he had to wait five years to do for fear of losing his job (it also took a big loss to Sam Cunningham and USC), his son, Paul Bryant, Jr., who is the head of the board of trustees that controls Bama, didn't have the guts to hire the most qualified man for the head coaching position. 
 
Sylvester Croom should actually have been hired when Mike DuBose was hired.  How different might things be at the Capstone if Croom had been hired back then, when he was the most qualified candidate for the first time?
 
I'll support Mike Shula 100%, now that he has the job, but despite how he performs I'll always know the right man for the job was not hired.
 
Also, I wish Mal Moore, the Alabama AD had been fired along with the ultra-sleezy disgrace, Mike Price.
 
Alabama cheated.  Did DuBose know about it?  Probably.  He was in over his head and was absolutely desperate to win, as are all Alabama coaches.  It's the natural order of things in a sports-dominated university.  Was it his responsibility to know?  Definitely!  Did Mal Moore know?  Possibly.  Should he have known?  Absolutely!  Should Mal have been fired too?  YES!  He was a pathetic offensive coordinator and is a horrible AD.  Should the president of the university have known?  YES!  It's was his university at the time (he's gone now, thank goodness, perhaps Bama can become more of an academic university now) and it was his responsibility as the boss and leader of the entire institution. 
 
Did the NCAA handle it well?  I think they came down harder on Bama than they have on dozens of other schools throughout their history.  Bama turned themselves in, unlike many other universities, even if it was because they knew they would probably get caught down the road.  Should Bama have been punished?  Yes.  Now the precedent has been set.  Are other universities cheating?  I would bet my last dollar on it.  I'm definately not defending Alabama for cheating.  I was raised to hate cheating.  I'm embarassed that Bama cheated, however, if the NCAA is going to REALLY crack down on Division I cheating, then DO IT!  I'll be interested to see what happens to Michigan with the Chris Weber scandal.  I'd dare say that Alabama athletes aren't receiving over $180,000 by their sophmore year. 
 
Mississippi State's coach, Jackie Sherrill, is an idiot.  He couldn't find his butt with both hands and he also couldn't find a winning season with the talented group of young men he recruited last year.  It's a shame for his players and it's a shame that he's embarassing the state of Mississippi with his foolish antics.  State should buy him out and kick him out!
 
Also, the NCAA is breathing down the Bulldogs' necks and Jackie might finally get what's coming to him.
 
What should happen to coaches that cheat and leave an athletic program in ruins?  Number one, if anything illegal took place, then send them to jail.  Number two, they should AT VERY LEAST, not be allowed to coach for as long as the school they left is on probation.  Number three, they should not be paid by their former employer during this time (should be in every contract by NCAA edict).  Number three, if their transgressions are large enough, then kick them out of coaching for good.  I'm sick of cheaters.
 
Notre Dame should have hired Ty Willingham the first time they went looking for a coach, instead of that ruddy-faced liar, Jim O'Leary.  O'Leary was never even a good coach in the first place.  Ralph Friedgen was evidently the brain behind Georgia Tech's wins during the O'Liar years.  (I originally wrote this before the 2002 season started, and even though I've traditionally disliked Notre Dame, I like seeing Ty Willingham succeed.)
 
 
 

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