let's get this party started
(time to perpetuate/fall victim to the hype)
((bcs title game, part one))
"independence bowl: georgia was not a particularly good team in the SEC this season, and yet they destroyed a texas a&m team that was able to score all over texas. apply a transitive property for the BCS title game as you see fit"... - (thanks, dan shanoff)
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
the color of urine
(2009 year in review)
((the curse of dcd))
this might not be as relevant a topic for my female readers (at least those that pee sitting down, wipe and never inspect their urine the way that men, by nature, are accustomed to doing), and for that, i apologize. but the question is this. how often do you pay attention, when going number one, to the liquid waste that is coming out of your body? if you are anything like me, pre-june, not very much. if it comes/came out extraordinarily yellow, one might think to themself, "man, i should drink more water." if it comes/came out extraordinarily clear, one might think to themself, "man, i've been drinking a lot of water." and that's about it, right? it was for me. for 32 and a half years, going to the bathroom standing up was about as unexciting a part of my day as it would be for any other human being.
and then, i peed blood.
the night in question was rather unremarkable. a pretty normal monday night as monday nights go. i played softball. have zero recollection as to whether or not we won (the trauma that would follow has rendered those events rather meaningless). i was probably dehydrated as i always was and had been before that night. i never drank water. always drank coke. probably quenched my thirst, post-game, with something carbonated. i half-way cleaned up. was ready for bed. went to the bathroom.
and then, i peed blood.
having never done so before, you can imagine my surprise. i went and got sarah, we went downstairs and started to google. i didn't even know what to be afraid of, but i was wishing that it was a one time thing. a figment of my imagination. we saw several options online, i calmed down enough to go to bed and sleep for a bit. i got up, nervously walked into the bathroom...
and then, i peed blood. again.
so, you are saying that something was off?
i called the doctor and you've heard the story since then. i was treated for an infection. i drank tons of water. things seemed to clear up. maybe they were right. maybe it was just "a really bad infection." several days passed. i started to feel better. one day remaining of my antibiotics. woke up six days after the initial incident thinking i had dodged a bullet.
and then i peed blood.
dammit.
"normal sized..."
"this is not."
"...mass."
"come back monday with your wife, and we'll talk about a plan."
"am i going to die?"
"no."
"you're sure??? i'm gonna make it?"
"we've got some work to do, but you are going to make it."
surgery.
day after.
"it was what we thought it was."
"renal cell carcinoma."
"completely isolated."
"totally contained."
"you can celebrate."
what the fuck just happened?
recovery.
sore.
dizzy.
scared.
getting stronger.
start to go crazy.
i am crazy.
seeing spots.
vision exam.
glasses (that i don't wear).
no eye tumors.
have a brainscan.
no tumor.
still feel crazy.
chest x-ray.
"results...negative"
get medicine.
start feeling a little better.
my elbow hurts.
what's that thing in my neck?
"it's a gland. or a lymph node."
"you are fine."
i don't believe you.
"you are going to be fine."
we'll see.
back to the original question. how often do you pay attention, when going number one, to the liquid waste that is coming out of your body? since that night in mid-june, i do every time.
every. single. time.
the intensity with which i anticipate going to the bathroom is knee-buckling at times. what if i pee blood again??? i only have one kidney now. i don't have a safety net. i am too young. i don't want to lose my family. i am not ready to die. I AM NOT READY TO DIE!!! WHY AM I SHAKING AGAIN? WHY AM I YELLING AT MY DAUGHTERS?
snap out of it, kevin...
please. chill the fuck out.
ok. i'll try. god help me. let 2010 be different. let 2010 be something else. let it be a celebration of the life i was taking for granted. let it be the first step in being prepared to handle something like this in a healthier fashion (for all involved) than i was able to this year.
let's rewind.
1) be a serviceable lay leader - well, serviceable was about as good as i can rank myself here. many pastors claim that the first year in their congregation isn't about doing as much as it is learning and getting to know their congregation. i tried to take the same approach, myself. i made all but one sprc meeting. i didn't miss a finance meeting. co-chaired a relatively smooth nominating process. took in a whole lot. didn't speak out of turn once. offered several opinions on things i thought important. didn't pick any fights. left some on the table. got through a fairly easy pastor transition. set my eyes upon being more proactive and visible in the coming year. all of which leaves me with what? a passing grade? yeah, i would think so. there are probably some that would still argue that i and my sunday school class had way too much to do with a pastor and some "key" members tucking tail, but i would argue that no one makes you leave a church. if there is a problem, it's a "you" problem as colin cowherd would put it. that's for another post. now, if my sunday school class and i can just shake this damned curse. more on that later.
2) don't die - i have shuddered every time i've gone back and read this since june. for each time this has made the list the last few years, it's been with tongue planted firmly in cheek. it will be number one with a bullet next year, but for very different reasons and with very different thought behind it. not that not dying was never important. it was. it just wasn't until this year that it sunk it that is was going to happen to me sometime. and maybe if i hadn't peed blood, it would have happened a lot sooner than later. shudder. nevertheless, if i am lucky enough to claim this as my second chance, things will be different moving forward in a major way. "don't die"??? check. goodness.
3) buy a motorcycle - in an ironic twist of fate attached to my losing a kidney, my doctor only set two limitations on my life moving forward when i asked him what i would have to change. "no motorcycles. no trampolines." if that means not meeting my maker for a long time, you just tell me where to sign, dr. wade. anybody got a pen?
4) speaking of my brother... - this one resolved to spend more time with brian, because my life is a better place when he is close and in it. unfortunately, the only time i saw him was when he made the trip to see me through my surgery. i am not sure if he or i imagined that he'd be helping me out of a hospital bed in 2009, but he never thought twice about coming. and i love him for that, even if i couldn't make this resolution happen.
5) don't get fat - mostly thanks to the extreme amounts of weight that i lost worrying about my condition and not eating for three days after the surgery, this one gets a check in the "success" column. i am hopeful that next year weighs more on my healthy habits (better diet, continued exercise) moreso than another trip to the operating table.
6) handle hannah's transition to kindergarten with dignity and respect - really, i handled this quite well. in truth, her going to school fell victim to my selfish state of mind when it came around at the beginning of august. i was only beginning to lose my mind, and, while it seemed sad and wonderful at the same time that she would be going to school, i didn't have it in me to shed vast amounts of time and energy worrying about her being ok. or mommy being ok. or my being ok. truth be told, she handled it better than anybody, and that's the way it was always going to be.
7) handle alabama's growing pains in 2009 with dignity and respect - lost a senior quarterback? starting running back? three starters off the offensive line, including two all-americans? who cares, right? i am so glad i was wrong on this one. this alabama football season has meant more to my mental healing than i probably even know. jan. 7th is very close now.
8) be more intentional about finding time for my friends - for the most part, an unfortunate fail must be registered on this one. sure, i saw kiker at softball and on several occasions outside of that, but circumstances dealt my want to see andy more a cruel blow and chris perry and i never hooked up. i found and find them on facebook now and the temptation to let that be good enough will be hard to fight. as i mentioned in january, i know we are "busy", but jeez. i saw one football game with the boys all together this year??? one??? one can hope that the national championship game will provide the means to make up for lost time. i will say, though, that there are and were beautiful exceptions to this rule. i feel like i got to spend a lot of good time with amy and katie, and let me be brutally honest for a second. i could not have made it through the year without my sunday school class. to kathy, brad, donald, tanya, chris, melinda, kim and deb...thank you for inviting me and sarah into your fold. thanks for putting up with all my sarcastic and inappropriate comments and language. thank you for your support. and thank you for your friendship. i would have always done anything for you if you had asked, but now i look forward to those opportunities. i love you all. now if we could only get past that curse. more on that later.
9) introduce other voices to HACAM - this started off with a bang. i appreciate rebecca and kiker's contributions. things waned heavily in my making it a priority, though, in the latter 3/4ths of the year, but this is still going to happen. this blog is going to feel a lot different next year. and that's a first glimpse of one resolution for 2010.
10) don't let the church consume me - you know. i made this work. i do feel like we are there every time the doors open again. and i was at a lot of meetings, events, etc. maybe because we did it more as a family than when i was on staff, but this year will provide a good template for next year and hopefully many years after that.
and now...saying good-bye to the curse of dcd.
i am not very well versed on being the victim of a curse. perhaps, you don't know that you are, in fact, cursed until you come out the other side. let's take a look at certain proverbial stones that struck the heads of the weeds class in 2009.
cancer.
the death of a husband/father/friend.
the celebration of a newborn child tempered by the realization that something is amiss.
the passing of the mother of one of our emeritus members.
why did all of this happen to us? was it because we didn't get along very well with the previous pastor and he has used his black magic, upon leaving, to ruin our lives? well, that's my theory, but i am rarely (and by "rarely" i mean usually) right about anything.
were we just unlucky? maybe in some terms. in others, though...
i lost a kidney, but not my life.
our class was blessed with healthy twins and a fighter in the mighty noah that will make all of us, most especially his incredible parents, better human beings.
one of us was a serviceable lay leader.
one of us rejoined our church's staff.
one of us will manage our facility with a strong, yet humble, hand.
one of us (with the help of the rest of us) will always make vbs rock even if she says this year is her last year.
one of us is now a city councilperson and can get me free stuff (oh yeah, and change her church AND her city for the better)
one of us continues to make our daycare a place worthy of a waiting list.
one of us championed our children, challenged our council and then led the way by shepherding our many faces of our future, herself.
one of us will bring our worship technology into the current millenia.
one of us will set an example for all our of church's mothers through the trials she has and will continue to overcome at home.
one of us, with his "questions", got this ball rolling.
were we cursed after june? as far as this blog was concerned, um, yes. absolutely.
in reality, crappy things happened, but lessons in perspective through the victories that we enjoyed together will forge, for us, a brighter tomorrow. that's a promise.
good riddance, 2009. don't let propaghandi hit you on the way out. because they will hit you. hit you in the face with my best record of the year.
2009...
the end of my world as i knew it.
(2009 year in review)
((the curse of dcd))
this might not be as relevant a topic for my female readers (at least those that pee sitting down, wipe and never inspect their urine the way that men, by nature, are accustomed to doing), and for that, i apologize. but the question is this. how often do you pay attention, when going number one, to the liquid waste that is coming out of your body? if you are anything like me, pre-june, not very much. if it comes/came out extraordinarily yellow, one might think to themself, "man, i should drink more water." if it comes/came out extraordinarily clear, one might think to themself, "man, i've been drinking a lot of water." and that's about it, right? it was for me. for 32 and a half years, going to the bathroom standing up was about as unexciting a part of my day as it would be for any other human being.
and then, i peed blood.
the night in question was rather unremarkable. a pretty normal monday night as monday nights go. i played softball. have zero recollection as to whether or not we won (the trauma that would follow has rendered those events rather meaningless). i was probably dehydrated as i always was and had been before that night. i never drank water. always drank coke. probably quenched my thirst, post-game, with something carbonated. i half-way cleaned up. was ready for bed. went to the bathroom.
and then, i peed blood.
having never done so before, you can imagine my surprise. i went and got sarah, we went downstairs and started to google. i didn't even know what to be afraid of, but i was wishing that it was a one time thing. a figment of my imagination. we saw several options online, i calmed down enough to go to bed and sleep for a bit. i got up, nervously walked into the bathroom...
and then, i peed blood. again.
so, you are saying that something was off?
i called the doctor and you've heard the story since then. i was treated for an infection. i drank tons of water. things seemed to clear up. maybe they were right. maybe it was just "a really bad infection." several days passed. i started to feel better. one day remaining of my antibiotics. woke up six days after the initial incident thinking i had dodged a bullet.
and then i peed blood.
dammit.
"normal sized..."
"this is not."
"...mass."
"come back monday with your wife, and we'll talk about a plan."
"am i going to die?"
"no."
"you're sure??? i'm gonna make it?"
"we've got some work to do, but you are going to make it."
surgery.
day after.
"it was what we thought it was."
"renal cell carcinoma."
"completely isolated."
"totally contained."
"you can celebrate."
what the fuck just happened?
recovery.
sore.
dizzy.
scared.
getting stronger.
start to go crazy.
i am crazy.
seeing spots.
vision exam.
glasses (that i don't wear).
no eye tumors.
have a brainscan.
no tumor.
still feel crazy.
chest x-ray.
"results...negative"
get medicine.
start feeling a little better.
my elbow hurts.
what's that thing in my neck?
"it's a gland. or a lymph node."
"you are fine."
i don't believe you.
"you are going to be fine."
we'll see.
back to the original question. how often do you pay attention, when going number one, to the liquid waste that is coming out of your body? since that night in mid-june, i do every time.
every. single. time.
the intensity with which i anticipate going to the bathroom is knee-buckling at times. what if i pee blood again??? i only have one kidney now. i don't have a safety net. i am too young. i don't want to lose my family. i am not ready to die. I AM NOT READY TO DIE!!! WHY AM I SHAKING AGAIN? WHY AM I YELLING AT MY DAUGHTERS?
snap out of it, kevin...
please. chill the fuck out.
ok. i'll try. god help me. let 2010 be different. let 2010 be something else. let it be a celebration of the life i was taking for granted. let it be the first step in being prepared to handle something like this in a healthier fashion (for all involved) than i was able to this year.
let's rewind.
1) be a serviceable lay leader - well, serviceable was about as good as i can rank myself here. many pastors claim that the first year in their congregation isn't about doing as much as it is learning and getting to know their congregation. i tried to take the same approach, myself. i made all but one sprc meeting. i didn't miss a finance meeting. co-chaired a relatively smooth nominating process. took in a whole lot. didn't speak out of turn once. offered several opinions on things i thought important. didn't pick any fights. left some on the table. got through a fairly easy pastor transition. set my eyes upon being more proactive and visible in the coming year. all of which leaves me with what? a passing grade? yeah, i would think so. there are probably some that would still argue that i and my sunday school class had way too much to do with a pastor and some "key" members tucking tail, but i would argue that no one makes you leave a church. if there is a problem, it's a "you" problem as colin cowherd would put it. that's for another post. now, if my sunday school class and i can just shake this damned curse. more on that later.
2) don't die - i have shuddered every time i've gone back and read this since june. for each time this has made the list the last few years, it's been with tongue planted firmly in cheek. it will be number one with a bullet next year, but for very different reasons and with very different thought behind it. not that not dying was never important. it was. it just wasn't until this year that it sunk it that is was going to happen to me sometime. and maybe if i hadn't peed blood, it would have happened a lot sooner than later. shudder. nevertheless, if i am lucky enough to claim this as my second chance, things will be different moving forward in a major way. "don't die"??? check. goodness.
3) buy a motorcycle - in an ironic twist of fate attached to my losing a kidney, my doctor only set two limitations on my life moving forward when i asked him what i would have to change. "no motorcycles. no trampolines." if that means not meeting my maker for a long time, you just tell me where to sign, dr. wade. anybody got a pen?
4) speaking of my brother... - this one resolved to spend more time with brian, because my life is a better place when he is close and in it. unfortunately, the only time i saw him was when he made the trip to see me through my surgery. i am not sure if he or i imagined that he'd be helping me out of a hospital bed in 2009, but he never thought twice about coming. and i love him for that, even if i couldn't make this resolution happen.
5) don't get fat - mostly thanks to the extreme amounts of weight that i lost worrying about my condition and not eating for three days after the surgery, this one gets a check in the "success" column. i am hopeful that next year weighs more on my healthy habits (better diet, continued exercise) moreso than another trip to the operating table.
6) handle hannah's transition to kindergarten with dignity and respect - really, i handled this quite well. in truth, her going to school fell victim to my selfish state of mind when it came around at the beginning of august. i was only beginning to lose my mind, and, while it seemed sad and wonderful at the same time that she would be going to school, i didn't have it in me to shed vast amounts of time and energy worrying about her being ok. or mommy being ok. or my being ok. truth be told, she handled it better than anybody, and that's the way it was always going to be.
7) handle alabama's growing pains in 2009 with dignity and respect - lost a senior quarterback? starting running back? three starters off the offensive line, including two all-americans? who cares, right? i am so glad i was wrong on this one. this alabama football season has meant more to my mental healing than i probably even know. jan. 7th is very close now.
8) be more intentional about finding time for my friends - for the most part, an unfortunate fail must be registered on this one. sure, i saw kiker at softball and on several occasions outside of that, but circumstances dealt my want to see andy more a cruel blow and chris perry and i never hooked up. i found and find them on facebook now and the temptation to let that be good enough will be hard to fight. as i mentioned in january, i know we are "busy", but jeez. i saw one football game with the boys all together this year??? one??? one can hope that the national championship game will provide the means to make up for lost time. i will say, though, that there are and were beautiful exceptions to this rule. i feel like i got to spend a lot of good time with amy and katie, and let me be brutally honest for a second. i could not have made it through the year without my sunday school class. to kathy, brad, donald, tanya, chris, melinda, kim and deb...thank you for inviting me and sarah into your fold. thanks for putting up with all my sarcastic and inappropriate comments and language. thank you for your support. and thank you for your friendship. i would have always done anything for you if you had asked, but now i look forward to those opportunities. i love you all. now if we could only get past that curse. more on that later.
9) introduce other voices to HACAM - this started off with a bang. i appreciate rebecca and kiker's contributions. things waned heavily in my making it a priority, though, in the latter 3/4ths of the year, but this is still going to happen. this blog is going to feel a lot different next year. and that's a first glimpse of one resolution for 2010.
10) don't let the church consume me - you know. i made this work. i do feel like we are there every time the doors open again. and i was at a lot of meetings, events, etc. maybe because we did it more as a family than when i was on staff, but this year will provide a good template for next year and hopefully many years after that.
and now...saying good-bye to the curse of dcd.
i am not very well versed on being the victim of a curse. perhaps, you don't know that you are, in fact, cursed until you come out the other side. let's take a look at certain proverbial stones that struck the heads of the weeds class in 2009.
cancer.
the death of a husband/father/friend.
the celebration of a newborn child tempered by the realization that something is amiss.
the passing of the mother of one of our emeritus members.
why did all of this happen to us? was it because we didn't get along very well with the previous pastor and he has used his black magic, upon leaving, to ruin our lives? well, that's my theory, but i am rarely (and by "rarely" i mean usually) right about anything.
were we just unlucky? maybe in some terms. in others, though...
i lost a kidney, but not my life.
our class was blessed with healthy twins and a fighter in the mighty noah that will make all of us, most especially his incredible parents, better human beings.
one of us was a serviceable lay leader.
one of us rejoined our church's staff.
one of us will manage our facility with a strong, yet humble, hand.
one of us (with the help of the rest of us) will always make vbs rock even if she says this year is her last year.
one of us is now a city councilperson and can get me free stuff (oh yeah, and change her church AND her city for the better)
one of us continues to make our daycare a place worthy of a waiting list.
one of us championed our children, challenged our council and then led the way by shepherding our many faces of our future, herself.
one of us will bring our worship technology into the current millenia.
one of us will set an example for all our of church's mothers through the trials she has and will continue to overcome at home.
one of us, with his "questions", got this ball rolling.
were we cursed after june? as far as this blog was concerned, um, yes. absolutely.
in reality, crappy things happened, but lessons in perspective through the victories that we enjoyed together will forge, for us, a brighter tomorrow. that's a promise.
good riddance, 2009. don't let propaghandi hit you on the way out. because they will hit you. hit you in the face with my best record of the year.
2009...
the end of my world as i knew it.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
catheters
of all the years in my life, i don't have gratuitous amounts of memories from any. there are reasons for this. and then are reasons for this. for whatever reason, though, the way that i see myself looking back is like staring deeply at a 1000 piece puzzle of an ocean, only 900 pieces are missing. i have enough of it to cobble together the "big picture", but the facts of the matter are so few and far between that i am left with a great bit of grey area to fill in the blanks in other ways. pictures. stories. songs. family. now facebook. i'd like to think, looking backwards, that the way i represent my history is mostly accurate, but i would be more of a liar than i already am if i said there wasn't a good bit of revisioning in the process. for better or worse, leading up to june 2009, what you got of me was a fragmented understanding of my former self with a bent towards growing up to being a better husband, father and friend. that's it.
maybe this is how it has always worked. with everybody. but the last six months, i have a feeling, may singe their way into my own long-range planning unlike any six month span of my so called life.
"what you are looking at here is your left kidney. this is what a normal sized kidney looks like."
<nods, approves>
"this is not."
<oh, ...shit>
one of the more vivid memories from my stay in the hospital was the morning after my first night. the friday following the surgery, sarah had gone home to get the girls ready for their day. amy had stopped in to see me on her (out of the) way home from work. a couple girls from jeff. st.'s nursing program came into my room. they asked me for permission to take out my catheter. nervously, i looked over at amy (a nurse, herself) and asked if i should think handing over to them my permission would be ok. she shrugged at me and said that it should be fine, and so i said "yes." the girls left the room for a minute and amy and i were able to talk about what was going to happen.
"don't worry", she said. "anybody can do it."
what???
well, ok.
the nurse-in-training and her supervisor came back into the room to do their thing. evidently, the process goes like this. deflate the balloon that's been forced up into your bladder, pull tube out. easy-bake oven easy as that. i guess the nurse-in-training handbook didn't mention that, if the patient has just had an organ pulled out of his belly-button area, she shouldn't use the patient's abdomen area for leverage. not that she was balancing her entire weight on me, but she pushed down just hard enough to make everything between my navel and what-felt-like my neck spasm. i groaned. the nurse jumped, sure that she had hurt me with whatever they were attempting to do "down there". she hadn't, but i was ready for them to finish and leave. now.
finish, they did. i think amy had left the room for them to do the deed. my memory goes grey at this point again. but, in that moment, i knew something major had happened to my body. what i didn't know was how long it would take me to get back to where i once was.
i am still waiting.
sure, i am perfect push-upping again. crunching. lifting. i can carry whatever whomever needs carried to their car. hell, i am even sleeping some now.
but i am not back to where i once was. maybe i never will be. and maybe that's the point.
kiker had some surgery a couple nights ago. scared me to death. even got his own catheter story that i can't wait to hear. what? is something wrong with that?
the latter half of this year has been a rough one. rough enough that i think i am going to remember an awful lot of it. and i am not sure that's a good thing.
to be continued...
of all the years in my life, i don't have gratuitous amounts of memories from any. there are reasons for this. and then are reasons for this. for whatever reason, though, the way that i see myself looking back is like staring deeply at a 1000 piece puzzle of an ocean, only 900 pieces are missing. i have enough of it to cobble together the "big picture", but the facts of the matter are so few and far between that i am left with a great bit of grey area to fill in the blanks in other ways. pictures. stories. songs. family. now facebook. i'd like to think, looking backwards, that the way i represent my history is mostly accurate, but i would be more of a liar than i already am if i said there wasn't a good bit of revisioning in the process. for better or worse, leading up to june 2009, what you got of me was a fragmented understanding of my former self with a bent towards growing up to being a better husband, father and friend. that's it.
maybe this is how it has always worked. with everybody. but the last six months, i have a feeling, may singe their way into my own long-range planning unlike any six month span of my so called life.
"what you are looking at here is your left kidney. this is what a normal sized kidney looks like."
<nods, approves>
"this is not."
<oh, ...shit>
one of the more vivid memories from my stay in the hospital was the morning after my first night. the friday following the surgery, sarah had gone home to get the girls ready for their day. amy had stopped in to see me on her (out of the) way home from work. a couple girls from jeff. st.'s nursing program came into my room. they asked me for permission to take out my catheter. nervously, i looked over at amy (a nurse, herself) and asked if i should think handing over to them my permission would be ok. she shrugged at me and said that it should be fine, and so i said "yes." the girls left the room for a minute and amy and i were able to talk about what was going to happen.
"don't worry", she said. "anybody can do it."
what???
well, ok.
the nurse-in-training and her supervisor came back into the room to do their thing. evidently, the process goes like this. deflate the balloon that's been forced up into your bladder, pull tube out. easy-bake oven easy as that. i guess the nurse-in-training handbook didn't mention that, if the patient has just had an organ pulled out of his belly-button area, she shouldn't use the patient's abdomen area for leverage. not that she was balancing her entire weight on me, but she pushed down just hard enough to make everything between my navel and what-felt-like my neck spasm. i groaned. the nurse jumped, sure that she had hurt me with whatever they were attempting to do "down there". she hadn't, but i was ready for them to finish and leave. now.
finish, they did. i think amy had left the room for them to do the deed. my memory goes grey at this point again. but, in that moment, i knew something major had happened to my body. what i didn't know was how long it would take me to get back to where i once was.
i am still waiting.
sure, i am perfect push-upping again. crunching. lifting. i can carry whatever whomever needs carried to their car. hell, i am even sleeping some now.
but i am not back to where i once was. maybe i never will be. and maybe that's the point.
kiker had some surgery a couple nights ago. scared me to death. even got his own catheter story that i can't wait to hear. what? is something wrong with that?
the latter half of this year has been a rough one. rough enough that i think i am going to remember an awful lot of it. and i am not sure that's a good thing.
to be continued...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
holy crap.
i thought this was well worth a post of its own versus a second "update" on the one below.
all six crimson tiders named to the sporting news first, second or third teams were named to the ap's first team.
ingram (unanimous)
mcclain (unanimous)
johnson
cody
javy
tiffin
mark barron was named to third-team ap.
just incredible.
i thought this was well worth a post of its own versus a second "update" on the one below.
all six crimson tiders named to the sporting news first, second or third teams were named to the ap's first team.
ingram (unanimous)
mcclain (unanimous)
johnson
cody
javy
tiffin
mark barron was named to third-team ap.
just incredible.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
the last lonely night for a while
it's been a while since i took much time to write about my anxiety/paranoia. i can thank alabama football for that. even though there is no coincidence between the color scheme of this blog and its subject matter for 90 percent of the last two month's posts, even i couldn't have predicted how taken i've become with this team that has a chance to complete one of, if not, the most special season in the history of the storied program. mark ingram's win last night secured that potential. an undefeated regular season. a sec title. a butkus winner. a heisman winner. how many first or second team all-americans will they have? four? five??? the chance at knocking off 4 top ten teams if they can take care of business on jan. 7. wouldn't that seal it? that would have to be the most accomplished team ever, right? i'll bow to some of the older readers of this blog to correct me if i am wrong. for this 33 year-old, though, i think 2009 could be the best. ever.
(UPDATE: 12/15/09 - the answer from the sporting news was, in fact, five. ingram, rolando, johnson...first team. cody and javy...second team. kiffin made third team. wow.)
and due to that and the momentum of excitement i've felt over the last month and a half following the epic ending of the tennessee game, i've almost forgotten about that constant feeling that i was going to die any minute. or somewhere close down the road, but i just hadn't been told how close yet.
maybe it's the time factor. i am now almost five full months removed from my surgery. on top of that, i am, what, over ten weeks into a cycle of medication that is helping me to control some of my irrational urges and thoughts. maybe it's the clean brain scan. the clean chest x-ray. the continuing love and support and encouragement from those closest to me that i am, indeed, ok. that i was one of the lucky ones. lucky enough to have found something bad inside of me before it got worse. or too bad. i am trying to believe it. every day i am. and every day i get better at it. please god, tell me i am not fooling myself. please tell me the follow-up scan in about a month is going to give me more reassurance. is this a selfish request? of course it is. i am a selfish bastard most of the time. at least, i feel that way inside.
the girls have been away this weekend, and tonight is my third and last night to sleep in the house by myself. it's been better than the last time sarah was away. those days i didn't sleep much at all. that was before the medicine was fully flowing through my veins. that was then. this is now. now, i am not as scared to go upstairs to bed as much as i plain don't want to. today was a good day, all things considered.
i am starting to put my thoughts together for what, i am sure, will be the most emotional year end post i've put together since this thing started four years ago. confronting that which i've been avoiding the last couple of weeks has been unnerving at times, but also, probably, good for me. i don't know if i am ready to own the idea of being a "survivor" yet, but i am reaching a point where i am not afraid to be alive. that, in and of itself, is a good thing.
i am gonna try and get that done before friday. we'll see if it happens. i'd like to make this bama central come friday when the football team begins preparing for their biggest game in seventeen years. i want to year-end sooner rather than later, so i can be as annoying and single-minded as possible leading up to our national championship game bash.
having said that, i'll try not to forget that christmas is coming. and a big girl birthday. there will be some of that included too.
"to the end, to the end, i'll journey to the end. to the end, to the end, i'll journey to the end. to the eeennnddd, eeeennnnddd. to the end, to the end, i'll journey to the end."
it's been a while since i took much time to write about my anxiety/paranoia. i can thank alabama football for that. even though there is no coincidence between the color scheme of this blog and its subject matter for 90 percent of the last two month's posts, even i couldn't have predicted how taken i've become with this team that has a chance to complete one of, if not, the most special season in the history of the storied program. mark ingram's win last night secured that potential. an undefeated regular season. a sec title. a butkus winner. a heisman winner. how many first or second team all-americans will they have? four? five??? the chance at knocking off 4 top ten teams if they can take care of business on jan. 7. wouldn't that seal it? that would have to be the most accomplished team ever, right? i'll bow to some of the older readers of this blog to correct me if i am wrong. for this 33 year-old, though, i think 2009 could be the best. ever.
(UPDATE: 12/15/09 - the answer from the sporting news was, in fact, five. ingram, rolando, johnson...first team. cody and javy...second team. kiffin made third team. wow.)
and due to that and the momentum of excitement i've felt over the last month and a half following the epic ending of the tennessee game, i've almost forgotten about that constant feeling that i was going to die any minute. or somewhere close down the road, but i just hadn't been told how close yet.
maybe it's the time factor. i am now almost five full months removed from my surgery. on top of that, i am, what, over ten weeks into a cycle of medication that is helping me to control some of my irrational urges and thoughts. maybe it's the clean brain scan. the clean chest x-ray. the continuing love and support and encouragement from those closest to me that i am, indeed, ok. that i was one of the lucky ones. lucky enough to have found something bad inside of me before it got worse. or too bad. i am trying to believe it. every day i am. and every day i get better at it. please god, tell me i am not fooling myself. please tell me the follow-up scan in about a month is going to give me more reassurance. is this a selfish request? of course it is. i am a selfish bastard most of the time. at least, i feel that way inside.
the girls have been away this weekend, and tonight is my third and last night to sleep in the house by myself. it's been better than the last time sarah was away. those days i didn't sleep much at all. that was before the medicine was fully flowing through my veins. that was then. this is now. now, i am not as scared to go upstairs to bed as much as i plain don't want to. today was a good day, all things considered.
i am starting to put my thoughts together for what, i am sure, will be the most emotional year end post i've put together since this thing started four years ago. confronting that which i've been avoiding the last couple of weeks has been unnerving at times, but also, probably, good for me. i don't know if i am ready to own the idea of being a "survivor" yet, but i am reaching a point where i am not afraid to be alive. that, in and of itself, is a good thing.
i am gonna try and get that done before friday. we'll see if it happens. i'd like to make this bama central come friday when the football team begins preparing for their biggest game in seventeen years. i want to year-end sooner rather than later, so i can be as annoying and single-minded as possible leading up to our national championship game bash.
having said that, i'll try not to forget that christmas is coming. and a big girl birthday. there will be some of that included too.
"to the end, to the end, i'll journey to the end. to the end, to the end, i'll journey to the end. to the eeennnddd, eeeennnnddd. to the end, to the end, i'll journey to the end."
Saturday, December 12, 2009
thank you, tommy craggs
my favorite writer over at deadspin finally plays the voice of reason versus this whole undercurrent of ndamukong "SUUUUUUHHHHHHH" is now the greatest player in the history of the college football universe nonsense.
listen, i am on record saying this guy is awesome. how many games did his team lose again? i think three (suh, ingram, mccoy) of the five finalists could make winning arguments. i have this fear, though, that this guy is going down the path of being the next mario williams. remember him? probably not.
anyway, best line(s) of the post.
"How silly is Heisman voting? We're swapping recency bias for skill-position bias and rightly calling it a huge step forward. Tune it tomorrow to see which cognitive handicap wins!"
my favorite writer over at deadspin finally plays the voice of reason versus this whole undercurrent of ndamukong "SUUUUUUHHHHHHH" is now the greatest player in the history of the college football universe nonsense.
listen, i am on record saying this guy is awesome. how many games did his team lose again? i think three (suh, ingram, mccoy) of the five finalists could make winning arguments. i have this fear, though, that this guy is going down the path of being the next mario williams. remember him? probably not.
anyway, best line(s) of the post.
"How silly is Heisman voting? We're swapping recency bias for skill-position bias and rightly calling it a huge step forward. Tune it tomorrow to see which cognitive handicap wins!"
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
become a fan of mark ingram for heisman
(i am, but i am going to ignore your request)
made a point yesterday on facebook that i thought was worth expounding on here for a few minutes.
did you see the texas/nebraska game saturday night? yeah? me too. i was still coming down off of the high that was the sec championship game. since alabama had nailed down their spot in the title game, i figured it was worth my time as a fan to scout the probable competition, the texas longhorns. for weeks now, the consensus said the bcs title would pit the winner of the sec versus texas. for weeks now, the prediction has been playing out. alabama and florida marched towards their inevitable battle while texas mauled lesser opponents in the lesser conference that is the big 12.
saturday came and mark ingram, who many, if not most (including me!), had written off as a heisman candidate after being shut down by auburn, went off. the key component to the most impressive alabama offensive display this season had the usual tebow worshippers that were calling the game singing ingram's praises. 113 yards rushing. another 79 through the air, including the signature play of the game. the screen pass that answered florida's only touchdown took away any and all momentum the gators had momentarily grasped. all of his abilities were on display. the push through a couple armtackles. the burst of speed that it doesn't look like he should possess. the look of a bowling ball that would be terribly uncomfortable to hit and, thus, halt his rampaging forward momentum. it was all there, and it will be on the tail end of his heisman highlight montage saturday night.
and then came the texas/nebraska game. colt mccoy had made himself the favorite for the heisman on thankgving night against texas a&m, shredding their porous defense for what felt like 500 yards through the air and what felt like another 300 on the ground. he was the heisman frontrunner going into his own conference championship game, only somewhat forgot to tell ndamukong suh. the unstoppable defensive tackle from nebraska single-handedly embarrassed the texas offense. constantly in the backfield, constantly pressuring, if not sacking, the now former frontrunner for the stiff-armed trophy. former because, if you were watching the same game i was and had yet to cast your vote, you could no longer vote for mccoy. if he wasn't even the best player in his own conference, surely he could not be the best player in the country. that game, in spite of colt mccoy being a good to really good college football quarterback, lost him his heisman.
which gets us to the meat of the matter. so, ndamukong suh should win, right? well, he was the best player in that game. and he was certainly better at his job on saturday night than the right side of the texas offensive line was at theirs. but, is he heisman good? maybe. probably even. but therein lies the crux.
how many nebraska games did you watch this year. be honest. was it more than one? two? three? if you say more than three and you are reading this blog, i know you are lying.
how about texas games? did you even watch the texas/oklahoma game? after bradford got hurt, was it worth it? did you watch them thanksgiving night? when, then?
how about stanford? and toby gerhart? they played a terrible notre dame defense on local television two saturdays ago? did you watch him play then? any other times this season?
we all have seen tebow. we saw him saturday night too. ingram was better. that case is closed. that one is easy.
back to the other three candidates. so, what do we base our opinions of them on? their highlights, which, by definition, are highlights. bias. on espn talking heads that probably haven't seen many more of these candidates games than we have? bias. on sports blogs that try and counter mainstream media with more opinion and less hype? bias.
awards like the heisman are silly, just like the polls are silly. what ap poll or coach's poll or harris poll voter sits and watches 25-50 college games every saturday so they can come up with a close to objective sorting of teams. ZERO. how many heisman voters have seen every game of ingram's this year. every carry, block and reception, like i have. almost ZERO. so, how in the world do they vote in these polls? for these awards?
through whatever colored glasses their own personal biases bend them towards. it's as simple as that. and that's why these "big stage" games like we had on saturday are so vital to the measured votes being cast. it's quite unique for a college football team and its players to have the stage to themself. for four teams (we won't count the acc teams. sorry, spiller), they had that stage on saturday. colt mccoy was terrible. suh and ingram were the opposite. most likely, those performances, in the minds of many voters, exemplified what must have been the lion's share of their performances all year. we have enough mccoy highlight packages on espn to convince us otherwise on him, but with only two days between ingram and suh's signature games of their season, it makes perfect sense that they would be the odds-on favorites for the award that will be announced this coming weekend.
i don't want to slight toby gerhart. he is big and fast and white. all of which make for very good tv. i just don't believe his competition against pac-10 defenses was anything close to what ingram faced nine times this year.
why do i think that?
because i didn't see any of his games of course.
roll ingram.
(i am, but i am going to ignore your request)
made a point yesterday on facebook that i thought was worth expounding on here for a few minutes.
did you see the texas/nebraska game saturday night? yeah? me too. i was still coming down off of the high that was the sec championship game. since alabama had nailed down their spot in the title game, i figured it was worth my time as a fan to scout the probable competition, the texas longhorns. for weeks now, the consensus said the bcs title would pit the winner of the sec versus texas. for weeks now, the prediction has been playing out. alabama and florida marched towards their inevitable battle while texas mauled lesser opponents in the lesser conference that is the big 12.
saturday came and mark ingram, who many, if not most (including me!), had written off as a heisman candidate after being shut down by auburn, went off. the key component to the most impressive alabama offensive display this season had the usual tebow worshippers that were calling the game singing ingram's praises. 113 yards rushing. another 79 through the air, including the signature play of the game. the screen pass that answered florida's only touchdown took away any and all momentum the gators had momentarily grasped. all of his abilities were on display. the push through a couple armtackles. the burst of speed that it doesn't look like he should possess. the look of a bowling ball that would be terribly uncomfortable to hit and, thus, halt his rampaging forward momentum. it was all there, and it will be on the tail end of his heisman highlight montage saturday night.
and then came the texas/nebraska game. colt mccoy had made himself the favorite for the heisman on thankgving night against texas a&m, shredding their porous defense for what felt like 500 yards through the air and what felt like another 300 on the ground. he was the heisman frontrunner going into his own conference championship game, only somewhat forgot to tell ndamukong suh. the unstoppable defensive tackle from nebraska single-handedly embarrassed the texas offense. constantly in the backfield, constantly pressuring, if not sacking, the now former frontrunner for the stiff-armed trophy. former because, if you were watching the same game i was and had yet to cast your vote, you could no longer vote for mccoy. if he wasn't even the best player in his own conference, surely he could not be the best player in the country. that game, in spite of colt mccoy being a good to really good college football quarterback, lost him his heisman.
which gets us to the meat of the matter. so, ndamukong suh should win, right? well, he was the best player in that game. and he was certainly better at his job on saturday night than the right side of the texas offensive line was at theirs. but, is he heisman good? maybe. probably even. but therein lies the crux.
how many nebraska games did you watch this year. be honest. was it more than one? two? three? if you say more than three and you are reading this blog, i know you are lying.
how about texas games? did you even watch the texas/oklahoma game? after bradford got hurt, was it worth it? did you watch them thanksgiving night? when, then?
how about stanford? and toby gerhart? they played a terrible notre dame defense on local television two saturdays ago? did you watch him play then? any other times this season?
we all have seen tebow. we saw him saturday night too. ingram was better. that case is closed. that one is easy.
back to the other three candidates. so, what do we base our opinions of them on? their highlights, which, by definition, are highlights. bias. on espn talking heads that probably haven't seen many more of these candidates games than we have? bias. on sports blogs that try and counter mainstream media with more opinion and less hype? bias.
awards like the heisman are silly, just like the polls are silly. what ap poll or coach's poll or harris poll voter sits and watches 25-50 college games every saturday so they can come up with a close to objective sorting of teams. ZERO. how many heisman voters have seen every game of ingram's this year. every carry, block and reception, like i have. almost ZERO. so, how in the world do they vote in these polls? for these awards?
through whatever colored glasses their own personal biases bend them towards. it's as simple as that. and that's why these "big stage" games like we had on saturday are so vital to the measured votes being cast. it's quite unique for a college football team and its players to have the stage to themself. for four teams (we won't count the acc teams. sorry, spiller), they had that stage on saturday. colt mccoy was terrible. suh and ingram were the opposite. most likely, those performances, in the minds of many voters, exemplified what must have been the lion's share of their performances all year. we have enough mccoy highlight packages on espn to convince us otherwise on him, but with only two days between ingram and suh's signature games of their season, it makes perfect sense that they would be the odds-on favorites for the award that will be announced this coming weekend.
i don't want to slight toby gerhart. he is big and fast and white. all of which make for very good tv. i just don't believe his competition against pac-10 defenses was anything close to what ingram faced nine times this year.
why do i think that?
because i didn't see any of his games of course.
roll ingram.
so, yeah. i guess tiger woods is kind of a loser.
sportsnation summed up the cycle of this tiger woods story quite nicely today. in so many words, one of the hosts said that tiger, in the span of 7 to 8 days, has gone from being mythical to scuzzy. just another in a long line of athletes and celebrities that have traded their wealth and fame into whatever their heart might desire. in tiger's case, it seems like he desire(s)d lots and lots of women. yikes.
anyway, the editor at deadspin published this a few hours ago.
it's a fascinatingly disgusting read. i'm going to wash my hands by talking about mark ingram some more.
sportsnation summed up the cycle of this tiger woods story quite nicely today. in so many words, one of the hosts said that tiger, in the span of 7 to 8 days, has gone from being mythical to scuzzy. just another in a long line of athletes and celebrities that have traded their wealth and fame into whatever their heart might desire. in tiger's case, it seems like he desire(s)d lots and lots of women. yikes.
anyway, the editor at deadspin published this a few hours ago.
it's a fascinatingly disgusting read. i'm going to wash my hands by talking about mark ingram some more.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
excellent schadenfreude for those of us convinced that verne and gary may very well be from another planet
(or, at least aboard tim tebow's spaceship)
enjoy.
(or, at least aboard tim tebow's spaceship)
enjoy.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Friday, December 04, 2009
tebow drinking game
(thank you so much(!!!) to jane-ann putman for sending this to me. it is quite full of awesome...say it with me...just like tebow)
In honor of Tebow's sheer awesomeness (gag), we give you the Tebow SEC Championship Drinking Game!
* Drink every time Tebow is called "a warrior." Bonus chug if any of your friends sing Scandal's opus "I am a warrior" and change the lyrics to "Tebow is..." Dance, Tebow, you magnificent bastard.
* Drink every time Tebow's called "a leader," then salute.
* Drink every time Tebow's called a "special athlete," then yell "Tiiiimmmmmmmmay!"
* Finish your drink if the announcers suggest Tebow should win the Heisman again this year.
* Drink every time Tebow points to the sky. Then realize the only reason the sky hasn't fallen is the strength of his pointing.
* Drink every time Tebow references God. Or himself. Tom-A-to. Tom-ah-to.
* Drink every time he's shown on the sidelines flapping his arms like a bird (or an idiot) to pump up the crowd.
* If (when) Tebow actually takes flight, finish your drink and do a shot.
* Drink every time Tebow's on camera for no reason when the Florida defense is on the field.
* Drink every time Tebow is seen screaming with his helmet off.
* Drink every time they show a "I Heart Tebow" sign in the stands.
* Drink every time you see a Florida fan in jorts. (Small sips on this one. Otherwise it could kill you).
* Shot every time they mention his experience as missionary.
* If they mention him performing circumcisions in the Philippines while he was a missionary - Chug your beer, do a shot of Patron.
**When Alabama wins and Tebow gives a tearful speech in the post-game press conference, give the television the bird, turn up your bottle of Jim Beam, and don't stop drinking OR flipping off the TV till Tebow runs out of tears. (This may take several bottles of Jim) Then throw the empty bottle(s) through the television and quote the good book by saying "the Terrence Cody falls upon the just and the unjust alike!"
Club a baby seal and start prepping for Texas.
(Disclaimer: Playing the Tebow drinking game may/will result in death. So don't do it. Ever. Not even in jest. The content above this disclaimer is a joke, not a suggestion. If you're dumb enough to do it, just pray Tebow is nearby. Only he can save you. Him or a local hospital with a stomach pump.)
(thank you so much(!!!) to jane-ann putman for sending this to me. it is quite full of awesome...say it with me...just like tebow)
In honor of Tebow's sheer awesomeness (gag), we give you the Tebow SEC Championship Drinking Game!
* Drink every time Tebow is called "a warrior." Bonus chug if any of your friends sing Scandal's opus "I am a warrior" and change the lyrics to "Tebow is..." Dance, Tebow, you magnificent bastard.
* Drink every time Tebow's called "a leader," then salute.
* Drink every time Tebow's called a "special athlete," then yell "Tiiiimmmmmmmmay!"
* Finish your drink if the announcers suggest Tebow should win the Heisman again this year.
* Drink every time Tebow points to the sky. Then realize the only reason the sky hasn't fallen is the strength of his pointing.
* Drink every time Tebow references God. Or himself. Tom-A-to. Tom-ah-to.
* Drink every time he's shown on the sidelines flapping his arms like a bird (or an idiot) to pump up the crowd.
* If (when) Tebow actually takes flight, finish your drink and do a shot.
* Drink every time Tebow's on camera for no reason when the Florida defense is on the field.
* Drink every time Tebow is seen screaming with his helmet off.
* Drink every time they show a "I Heart Tebow" sign in the stands.
* Drink every time you see a Florida fan in jorts. (Small sips on this one. Otherwise it could kill you).
* Shot every time they mention his experience as missionary.
* If they mention him performing circumcisions in the Philippines while he was a missionary - Chug your beer, do a shot of Patron.
**When Alabama wins and Tebow gives a tearful speech in the post-game press conference, give the television the bird, turn up your bottle of Jim Beam, and don't stop drinking OR flipping off the TV till Tebow runs out of tears. (This may take several bottles of Jim) Then throw the empty bottle(s) through the television and quote the good book by saying "the Terrence Cody falls upon the just and the unjust alike!"
Club a baby seal and start prepping for Texas.
(Disclaimer: Playing the Tebow drinking game may/will result in death. So don't do it. Ever. Not even in jest. The content above this disclaimer is a joke, not a suggestion. If you're dumb enough to do it, just pray Tebow is nearby. Only he can save you. Him or a local hospital with a stomach pump.)
Thursday, December 03, 2009
rubbernecking.
color me fascinated by this whole tiger thing. i hope to post something of substance on the matter sooner rather than later.
but, really??? negotiating towards 100 MILLION dollars just to keep the mother of your children around. wow.
investing in your wife like she's stock? priceless.
color me fascinated by this whole tiger thing. i hope to post something of substance on the matter sooner rather than later.
but, really??? negotiating towards 100 MILLION dollars just to keep the mother of your children around. wow.
investing in your wife like she's stock? priceless.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
"if it wasn't for Tebow, it's easy. alabama wins the game."
(the capital "t" is intended. like it would be if i were talking about the G-O-D)
and that comes from lane kiffin! he says a lot of good things about alabama, as a matter of fact. all four coaches interviewed for the story do (you may not want to read, greg mcelroy).
i am so stoked for this game.
and, it's only wednesday!!!
(the capital "t" is intended. like it would be if i were talking about the G-O-D)
and that comes from lane kiffin! he says a lot of good things about alabama, as a matter of fact. all four coaches interviewed for the story do (you may not want to read, greg mcelroy).
i am so stoked for this game.
and, it's only wednesday!!!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
what did happen
in short, for the first nine minutes and eighteen seconds, auburn won the iron bowl.
oh yeah...
then the rest of the game happened.
let's get to the first ten minutes of the game first. during this stretch, nothing can be taken away from auburn. they stuff alabama, force a three and out and get the ball. no sooner than i am settling down for alabama's defense to answer, the end-around happens. zachery is never touched on the longest play alabama has given up and most likely will give up all season. well, shit. that sucked. i and another alabama fan that works for me pick up each others' jaws off the floor and start to rationalize. "well, auburn is just jacked up." "that's emotion for you!" "i wonder if auburn has run that, that well, all season." "time for 'bama to answer." we aren't even finished yet with our excuses when the most perfect of onside kicks is executed. alabama is caught completely off guard. the kicker is jumping around and into teammates. my stocker leaves the office to go find a dog to kick and i sit, stunned. at this point, i don't know that the defense will step up to the challenge, but i do hope it very much. they don't. auburn's best and only real drive of the game follows the onside kick. alabama has run three plays. they are down 14-0. dammit.
my phone, e-mail inbox and facebook home page is lighting up with auburn fans that have been under a rock for weeks. "overrated", they chant. "this is the number two team in the nation???", they snicker. kiker is catastrophizing from texas. "bama looks asleep." "malzahn is owning saban." "fuck." i can't find a good comeback...
except for this...
i tell rondell, "wait 'til it turns into back into a football game (and not some boise st.-ish gimmick-fest). then get back with me." turns out i was right. thank god.
for the remainder of the game, the last fifty-plus minutes to be exact, alabama looks like the number two team in the country that is on the road against their biggest rival and may not be playing their best game. ingram is not getting off, but give credit to auburn for loading up the box to stop him (also give some of the blame to bama's offensive coordinator for some terribly vanilla play-calling in the first three quarters). bama's defense settles in and figures out all the misdirection. they give up one big play (and boy, was it a big play) the rest of the game. even having to scratch and claw to find offense and move the ball down the field, alabama outscores auburn 26-7 over the last 5/6th's of the game. am i discounting the first ten minutes? absolutely not. those first ten minutes to me, though, made the last three quarters that much more impressive. any self-respecting alabama fan knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that a shula-era bama team would have folded and lost friday somewhere in the realm of 31-7. not now. not this team. not with this talent and depth. and not with this coach.
is saban a dick? yep.
is he the most media-savvy of coaches? nope.
can he recruit? um, yes.
can he coach? looks as though he can.
and did alabama just go 12-0 for the second straight year? i do believe they did.
what did happen friday was unexpected, sure. i wasn't predicting a 36-0 blowout again, but i could've seen 36-14. that didn't happen. but, three days removed, what did happen makes me feel better about saturday than i did before the iron bowl.
this alabama team that wasn't playing with passion (according to their coach) spotted a good team 14 points, caught the tigers by their tails and won anyway.
you would be kidding yourself if you didn't think this team will be emotionally ready before the game on saturday. more on what will happen later today or later this week.
what did happen? auburn played very hard and gave us the best iron bowl we've had in ten years. they are still two years away from beating alabama.
alabama is now two wins away from something very special and very fun.
to be continued...
in short, for the first nine minutes and eighteen seconds, auburn won the iron bowl.
oh yeah...
then the rest of the game happened.
let's get to the first ten minutes of the game first. during this stretch, nothing can be taken away from auburn. they stuff alabama, force a three and out and get the ball. no sooner than i am settling down for alabama's defense to answer, the end-around happens. zachery is never touched on the longest play alabama has given up and most likely will give up all season. well, shit. that sucked. i and another alabama fan that works for me pick up each others' jaws off the floor and start to rationalize. "well, auburn is just jacked up." "that's emotion for you!" "i wonder if auburn has run that, that well, all season." "time for 'bama to answer." we aren't even finished yet with our excuses when the most perfect of onside kicks is executed. alabama is caught completely off guard. the kicker is jumping around and into teammates. my stocker leaves the office to go find a dog to kick and i sit, stunned. at this point, i don't know that the defense will step up to the challenge, but i do hope it very much. they don't. auburn's best and only real drive of the game follows the onside kick. alabama has run three plays. they are down 14-0. dammit.
my phone, e-mail inbox and facebook home page is lighting up with auburn fans that have been under a rock for weeks. "overrated", they chant. "this is the number two team in the nation???", they snicker. kiker is catastrophizing from texas. "bama looks asleep." "malzahn is owning saban." "fuck." i can't find a good comeback...
except for this...
i tell rondell, "wait 'til it turns into back into a football game (and not some boise st.-ish gimmick-fest). then get back with me." turns out i was right. thank god.
for the remainder of the game, the last fifty-plus minutes to be exact, alabama looks like the number two team in the country that is on the road against their biggest rival and may not be playing their best game. ingram is not getting off, but give credit to auburn for loading up the box to stop him (also give some of the blame to bama's offensive coordinator for some terribly vanilla play-calling in the first three quarters). bama's defense settles in and figures out all the misdirection. they give up one big play (and boy, was it a big play) the rest of the game. even having to scratch and claw to find offense and move the ball down the field, alabama outscores auburn 26-7 over the last 5/6th's of the game. am i discounting the first ten minutes? absolutely not. those first ten minutes to me, though, made the last three quarters that much more impressive. any self-respecting alabama fan knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that a shula-era bama team would have folded and lost friday somewhere in the realm of 31-7. not now. not this team. not with this talent and depth. and not with this coach.
is saban a dick? yep.
is he the most media-savvy of coaches? nope.
can he recruit? um, yes.
can he coach? looks as though he can.
and did alabama just go 12-0 for the second straight year? i do believe they did.
what did happen friday was unexpected, sure. i wasn't predicting a 36-0 blowout again, but i could've seen 36-14. that didn't happen. but, three days removed, what did happen makes me feel better about saturday than i did before the iron bowl.
this alabama team that wasn't playing with passion (according to their coach) spotted a good team 14 points, caught the tigers by their tails and won anyway.
you would be kidding yourself if you didn't think this team will be emotionally ready before the game on saturday. more on what will happen later today or later this week.
what did happen? auburn played very hard and gave us the best iron bowl we've had in ten years. they are still two years away from beating alabama.
alabama is now two wins away from something very special and very fun.
to be continued...
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