WAITING ISN'T A LOT OF FUN

MARSHALL STILL MUM ON FUTURE...
The media is locked out in this one...

    I just read what Tim Brando said about Alabama fans discussing the merits of a basketball coach. You have to laugh. It was funny and basically true. Most Tide fans think they know everything about everything and that isn’t even close to accurate. Alabama fans want Gregg Marshall to be the next coach. I seriously wonder how many people even knew who Coach Marshall was a year ago. When you read posts about wanting to hire the Mountain Brook High School coach it makes me shake my head and wonder. That’s been done before. Notre Dame hired a living legend of a high school coach and it didn’t work out. That would be putting it kindly.

Who are these guys?

   I see names of posters on TI that I’ve never heard of before.  Many are people who drifted over from the football forum to give us their two cents worth of comments.  I’m sure it would be fair to say that everyone is entitled to their opinion stupid or not. I have a list of my top ten favorite posters. These are people who make sense, are realistic, and don’t like to speak in terms of a diatribe. That’s not to say that I always agree with them. Some posters are just mean. Some are thoughtless about saying things they haven’t really analyzed.  My bottom line is there are serious posters and then you have the yahoos. I grew up in Cleveland, Alabama that puts me clearly in yahoo category at times.

Supported Grant …

   Earlier last month I said that I supported Anthony Grant. One of the main reasons I thought Bama should at least consider keeping him was we really didn’t have a lock on a replacement. My thought was that it might be better to keep him, perhaps things get better, and we don’t have to go through all wringing of hands and the spreading of ashes. My point was that I didn’t think Battle had really intended in firing Grant and he hadn’t been sending out feelers. I know that when we hired Grant we had a basic understanding of which coach we wanted and felt he would come. I don’t think we did that with Gregg Marshall early on. It doesn’t mean that we can’t hire Gregg Marshall. But it means we might get caught holding the bag at the end of the day. I have a feeling that won’t happen, but we have to acknowledge the possibility. Right now we’re all in on Gregg Marshall. I haven’t heard an additional name connected with Alabama except last year’s assistant head coach. I’ve seen people speculate who others might be, but I haven’t read anything about anyone else. I’m sure there is someone out there who hopes that Marshall turns down the Tide, because he wants the job. I’d like to add that if we don’t get Marshall please don’t hire Richard Pitino. He may a decent coach but not the man who can get us moving on up.

Alabama is a tough job…

      A lot of us keep saying that the Alabama job isn’t the end all job that fans want to believe, Just because it is Alabama doesn’t mean anything. That remains the truth in basketball. My personal belief is that Marshall is trying to decide if Alabama is really sincere about wanting to elevate its basketball profile. If Bama is honest and wants to do make that happen, that might sway Marshall to come. If Bama really is not  serious, the man has given up a job he could keep for his coaching life and traded it in for a school that had 2900 people show up for its NIT game.  All that talk about not showing up because it might be interpreted as support to Grant just wasn’t true. Grant was gone and people still didn’t show support. I’ll never figure that one out. Frankly, that is embarrassing. What that tells Marshall is that Alabama has a lot of fair weather fans. That isn’t true in Wichita. With all the injuries suffered by the team this season I was proud the team made it to the NIT. I was really surprised at how well we played without Tarrant and Hale. By that time, people really didn’t matter. Maybe some fans used the record as an excuse not to attend. It just shows me that it isn’t the administration that needs to step, it up. We have 5000 thousand or so hard core supporters at best. I hope that all the noise makers on all the forums will actually show up next season. We’d need an arena with 30,000 seats if that happened.  I think that the measure of a fan is to support the team. You might not like the coach but the players are still playing. They need the support. It is also obvious that the forum has a lot of people who love Alabama basketball. I’m not referring to these fans.

It could be Friday before we know…

      My original thought was that we’d know something in 72 hours. My hope was 24 but I knew that really wasn’t going to happen. I’m not sure that Marshall would even respond publicly if he decides to stay in Kansas. The ‘Shockers made it to the Sweet Sixteen and beat Kansas this season. That was about what  Alabama did in football. We went to the playoff and beat Auburn. One difference is that Kansas will not schedule a game with State. So when will we know something? Some reports say that Coach asked until Friday to let ‘Bama know. Perhaps the Marshall family is really planning a trip to visit God’s own country later this week. If Mrs. Marshall says okay - he is coming. I’d hate to tell my wife that we are moving when she didn’t want to do so. Man, I’d be calling all my buddies to check out their guest room situation, and so would you. Mrs. Marshall is likely to do what her husband wants to do however.  Partnerships cut both ways.

Maybe Coach Saban’s lovely wife will make a call…

    We could know at any minute about the decision. He may come to Tuscaloosa after talking to his team. If he were my client I’d suggest a Friday afternoon press conference. Of course, he’s not client.  He isn’t going to change his plans just because Alabama fans are as nervous as a chain smoker in the nitroglycerin plant. I think for the most part fans on the forum have been very understanding about the time Marshall is taking. That’s the way it should. Is Marshall coming to ‘Bama? My best belief is yes. I just don’t know when we will know. Maybe Mrs. Saban will call Mrs. Marshall will have one of talks which escapes a male’s understanding. It wouldn’t hurt.  Here’s one thing you should know.  Coach Marshall and CM Newton are friends. I’d stop knocking CM it you can. Marshall has said in the past how much he respects Newton. Just because a lot of posters were not alive when Newton was here doesn’t diminish his clout. You’d have to understand exactly what CM did when hired.