'Bama has no down side to the upcoming season...
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| Can Randolph turn into a real leader? |
The upcoming season
is going to be one wild ride. It's going to be a year to remember. Let me say
right off the bat that the Tide has no downside. If the Crimson and White make
it to the NCAA the fans will be jubilant. Should the year turn out to be less
than successful then it might mean that Coach Grant is finished. Either way a
lot of people are going to be very happy. That's a win-win situation to a lot
of folks. Is there some middle ground? The rumor going around basketball
circles is that Battle has promised Grant the upcoming season and the next. I'm
serious and the people who told me this are absolutely positive this is true. I
don't know. I will say one thing - Grant has been pretty relaxed for a man on
the hot seat. Of course, finding a pulse in the man isn't easy.
Jacobs is trying to take AU hoops to another level...
Now that Auburn has made a real commitment
to a basketball program, the higher ups at Alabama need to understand just how
unhappy basketball fans are with Alabama hoops. In the past, regardless of how
poorly the team performed, the Tide was always going to beat AU. That is no
longer a given. Auburn's new arena and the AU AD has changed the round ball
dynamics in this state. Ironically, the hiring of Bruce Pearl may help save
Alabama basketball. My good friend, David Wilson, is the only AU basketball fan
I know. I've run into a lot of AU fans who like the Tigers to win in
basketball. Wilson is the only AU follower I know who is a dire hard fan. The
drive to from Oneonta to Lee County isn't short, and there haven't been a lot of
good memories for David. This season could be different. He's grinning like the
Cheshire Cat down the rabbit hole. If your coach can recruit 4 of the top 150
players in the nation without even speaking to them, what can he do next season
when he can? How can he do that? Hmm... Rumors of Pearl and his staff cheating
abound. Only time will tell. My best guess is he is telling his recruits that
they can become instant starters.
Not worth the price of admission ...
Someone in the ticket office told me
that "many" season tickets holders have said adios to the Tide Pride
program. I personally pay 3K for my donation and another few hundred for the
tickets. The product just isn't worth that amount any longer. One more year for
me, and then after watching over a thousand Bama games I'm going on an ala carte
basis. When you look at the history of Alabama basketball things haven't fully
recovered since Wimp Sanderson was removed by Hootie Ingram. I thought Grant
might have been Moses. I was wrong. Only a miracle turn around will change the
way his era ends at Alabama. I personally believe that Anthony Grant has
reached his personal melt down point. It will take a 20 plus win season, and a
good finish in the SEC, plus, and this is an important plus, a trip to the
NCAA. A single win in the tournament might or might not be enough. I can never pull against the Tide. Let me put it this way - I like Mike Shula. We all love Nick Saban. I'd welcome a "Saban" of hoops around the Capstone. Can we get such a man? Sure, pay him five million or so a year. I'm not sure the Tide would pay that to get a top coach. I'm not sure they can afford not to try though...
