'Bama gets ready for Kentucky...
Sell out crowd expected with Kentucky buying 30% of tickets
Let's see some fire from our coach on the sidelines...

    
 

That had to be a  charge!

        We landed a man on the moon several times. That was hard. I think that beating Kentucky will be harder for us than that moon land. Why? Kentucky is very, very good. we are tying to be good. Kentucky has an inside game that is almost NBA caliber. Alabama has a struggling inside game at best. But we did land a man on the moon, so a lot of things are possible. I have been thinking about a game plan we might use to beat Kentucky. Short of a severe flu epidemic hitting the Wildcat team I just can't think of a single way we can beat them.

     Serious question to all of you readers. Do we have one single player who can make the two platoon system that Calipari uses?(I am aware he is drifting away from that). I'm thinking that Levi Randolph and Ricky Tarrant are the only possibilities of any Tide player making the team. I don't think they could. That doesn't  mean they aren't good players. They simply are Kentucky good. Good players can beat great players on rare occasion. Rollie M. put together a game against Georgetown and beat the Hoyas for a national championship. His team shot 76% from the floor. So can we beat the Wildcats? In theory. In reality? That is a different question.

      Quality losses have made analyzing a record more difficult in my opinion. It might be better to play and loss to Kentucky than beat a team like North Florida. Losing on the road isn't as bad as losing at home for some reason. A loss is not necessary just a loss any longer in college basketball.  I have to tip my hat to Bama for coming back against Carolina. Last year, I think the team would have drifted away. This year seems to be different. I don't think we will beat Kentucky, but I think we will play them a decent game. Whether it seems correct to lose in a close game seems kind of strange, but that's the new world we live in.

My biggest grip is SEC scheduling. It's not all home and home. You might draw Kentucky twice. Some teams don't. That doesn't seem and isn't fair. You might draw Mississippi State twice. I'd rather that happen to us, but it may not always occur. The beauty of home and home is the fairness that follows such a schedule. Truthfully, beating a team like Kentucky or Arizona once a year is better than beating some other teams two times. So if Bama plays Kentucky, and we win, that is like landing a man on the moon. Losing a close game to the Wildcats might be like orbiting the moon with no touchdown.

We just waited to long to respond to Carolina's rough ball tactics...

South Carolina played bully ball and we didn't respond the way I'd hope we did. Personally, I'd like for a coach to rogue elephant and get a technical foul using language that would a.) have to be bleeped, and b.) get you kicked out of the gym. I'm talking about going Norman Dale on the refs. I don't think coaches get fined for technical fouls. Better to get one then than at a post game interview. In my officiating career I could tell when a coach wanted to get tossed. One asked me what he needed to do go get tossed. I told him just ask and scream in my face a little. I had no problem with that. Coaches want to see how his assistants and players react in his absence. The fans love their coach getting a technical foul when the refs blow a bad one.

Time for Coach Grant to learn to value of temper...

Not that it matters, but in my high school career I got one technical. We were getting beat by 20. I was getting roughed up. I'd already shot 15 or so free throws. I was tired, hurt, and angry. Any time you talk to a ref and the first letter of the conversation starts with an F... you get a technical. I told the ref I said the word but not directly at him. If  he thinks you said the F word followed by you you are a goner. That gets you tossed. It also got me suspended for two days from school. I got sent to see the principal who asked me if the reports were true. "Yes, Sir", I said, beaming with pride. He said he was going to suspend me for two days for saying that. I appealed. Told him I wasn't even on the school grounds. He said it made no difference. I will remember this as long as I live. So I said, "you telling me that if I said FU I can get suspended for two days?" Mr. Collier said absolutely. I looked him in the eye and said "F U then". That got me a week. I'm not proud of doing that, but my teammates thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. And by the way, I got to play three basketball games during the suspension which seemed odd. My first thought was - if I say those words I don't have to go to school and can still play. My father, Big Bill, straitened me out on that little plan. I seem to recall I was without transportation for a month.  That driving ban didn't include going to the store to buy my Dad his smokes. I was learning about life.

 

I think maybe it's time for Grant to learn a little something about sideline demeanor. It means a lot to players to think your coach is getting tossed because he thinks the refs are cheating you, the player, unfairly. Heck, my daughter, even got tossed from a game when she was a cheerleader. I beamed in admiration. That girl was a fighter, and her sense of right and wrong had no area of gray. So Anthony, let's get you teed up one game. Throw off that Armani or Hugo Boss shirt in the stands. Kick over a chair. Get in Teddy Valentine's year and tell him to toss you. Sports are about emotion. I want noise, I want loyalty, I want a man who makes me believe in his mission. If you don't understand exactly what to do, call Wimp Sanderson. You could call Bobby Knight and as bonus learn about slamming down phones and throwing chairs. Don't give me one of those drive by technical fouls. You know, the kind that no one really doesn't know what happened. Give me a technical that would make your mama blush. Throw in a little Rodney Dangerfield for good measure. Stick you chin out like Churchhill. Inspire us if you can. Get outside that little coaching box. Show your disapproval in the officiating. Get tossed. Get fined. Make us proud. Most fans are starting to get back behind you. Let us know you care. P.S. Don't do that in a critical moment however