party like it's 1970?


the 2008 nfl draft was this past saturday and sunday. if you are an alabama football fan, there wasn't much use in paying attention. anyone that witnessed the product the tide put on the field this past season couldn't have imagined that pro scouts drooled over bama's excess of highest-level talent. but there were a couple names of note, d.j. hall and simeon castille being the two that jump first to mind, that i could have seen being picked late in the second day with a long-distance shot of making a team come the fall. it didn't happen, though. for the first time in 38 years, the university of alabama did not have one player selected in the draft. not one! only three teams from the mighty sec could claim this ignominious distinction. ole miss, miss. st. and alabama. wow. that's it. that's the list. as i combed through espn's scouting reports, i was humbled and enlightened to realize that the university of alabama has been playing with the same level of talent as the crap-tastic teams from mississippi. understanding that fact makes it easier to swallow having lost to miss. st. each of the last two years. why wouldn't alabama lose to miss. st.? they are the same team! with the same players. if two teams with equal talent were to play a seven game series, i would always give the edge to the team with the better coach, hence alabama would still probably come out top. but college football is a one day war. and miss. st.'s roster is filled with guys that didn't get offers from alabama, guys that carry that chip with them into the game and have shown they wanted it more than the "entitled" players in tuscaloosa did. good for them. on pure talent, alabama is on par with teams they consider their poop smells better than. and those teams beat them. frequently. this begs the question, what happens when this trend begins to change?

one side note: the player flags for some of the players espn graded crack me up and, further, go to prove how crappy alabama's been. simeon was flagged as being retarded. d.j. hall was flagged with the burden of "character issues". and wallace gilberry was flagged as being not-fast. i wouldn't draft them either!

looking ahead to next year and next season's roster, i don't see a ton of movement on the talent meter. yes, if andre smith comes out, he'll be a first-rounder. and yes, antoine caldwell will probably go in the first three rounds. having those two one more year seasoned and anchoring the offensive line has to help, right? what doesn't help is having a quarterback that the now-defunct steeldogs wouldn't even consider behind that line. what doesn't help is not having a go-to wide receiver that isn't a true freshman. what doesn't help is depending on an undersized and still undermanned secondary as the last line of defense when you are facing high-powered offenses like clemson, georgia and lsu (all not in tuscaloosa). i am extremely reserved when i look at 2008 schedule, but i am optimistically predicting here (and early) nine wins with "upsets" in knoxville and home vs. auburn.

i do give credit to auburn. they have more than capitalized on alabama's troubles with the whole following the rules thing. they have recruited and committed good to very good players. they have gone out of state to do the same. and they have parlayed the success off the field with fairly consistent success on it. they have a first-round lock, too, of a defensive tackle next year in sen'derrick marks if he chooses to come out. and as long as tuberville is there, i would be magnificently surprised if a nfl draft ever came and went without an auburn tiger's name being called.

i do wonder what will happen as that talent gap begins to close. when alabama is, again, closer to the lsu's and florida's of the country than the ole miss's and uab's. i hope that it means another 38 years before what happened this weekend happens again. and i hope that it produces a program that, once again, has to come to grips with being favored against sec competition every once in while because bama has more "talent" than your team does.

partying like it's 1970 is kind of bummer. now, 1993? that would be more like it!