maybe obama isn't the antichrist
(maybe he was just dealt a shitty hand)
i am fairly terrible at talking politics. and i am just a little less terrible when it comes to writing about it, which is why i haven't done much of that here.
one of the things i'd like to do soon, though, is write, from HACAM's perspective, down some thoughts concerning the state of "the state of the union" and see how ridiculous it sounds.
for today, though, in contrast to all the "obama is terrible", "why won't he look the camera in the eye (really...how retarded does that even sound?)", "he is taking away our human rights" nonsense that's been bubbling for months and is now being screamed from the rooftops after his address last night, i offer a counter-argument, one that suggests (gasp!) that he did ok with his speech.
from gawker.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
is it too early to start prepping for the world cup?
i think not.
i wish tommy craggs would write more. he has quickly become my favorite contributor at deadspin.
here's his post from yesterday, riffing on charlie davies road to recovery.
i think not.
i wish tommy craggs would write more. he has quickly become my favorite contributor at deadspin.
here's his post from yesterday, riffing on charlie davies road to recovery.
LOST
here is another primer from doc jensen of ew (again, don't read this if you are sprinting to reach the end of season 5 before next tuesday).
i've mentioned this before, but my LOST experience became a full-bodied one when I happened across doc jensen's preview and post-view columns a few seasons ago. they are incredibly fascinating reads from someone that takes the show every bit (if not more) as seriously as i and so many of us do.
seven days now. seven. days.
here is another primer from doc jensen of ew (again, don't read this if you are sprinting to reach the end of season 5 before next tuesday).
i've mentioned this before, but my LOST experience became a full-bodied one when I happened across doc jensen's preview and post-view columns a few seasons ago. they are incredibly fascinating reads from someone that takes the show every bit (if not more) as seriously as i and so many of us do.
seven days now. seven. days.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
shame on us
there isn't anything we can do about it now, but the take home message from today's service was a little sad.
"we are sorry."
not once, but twice did ruben clemente, the leader of humc's hispanic "ministry", feel as though he had to apologize on behalf of his congregation for perceived transgressions made towards the facilities we have been allowing them to use for several years.
"we are sorry our children scratched/colored on your walls."
"we are sorry that we spilled sodas on the carpets."
"again, we are sorry."
------------------------------------------
"please stop sending me hate letters."
"we are leaving now."
"you don't have to worry about us anymore."
"good riddance."
ok, ok. the last four were made up by me and kiker, but it felt like they would have been appropriate considering the tone of ruben's choice of words.
the message that we have been sent concerning ruben's group and their departure is that they no longer felt safe in our community. and to be fair, there is a very real cultural barrier that separates hispanics and blacks in general, not just in huffman. part of that sentiment may be true. but the message that ruben delivered this morning was different.
i am paraphrasing...
"we started in your parlor. we outgrew your parlor (read: they broke something and were asked to move.). we moved into your chapel. we outgrew your chapel (read: they probably broke something in there too.). we moved downstairs into your basement. we used your fellowship hall. we used nursery and sunday school class rooms. we have baptized over forty adults in the name of christ since we have been using your building. we feel like we are doing god's work." but, we are really sorry about that one time one of our girls stuck her arm through one of your doors. we suck. and are careless. forgive us. please. don't be mad at us anymore. she is fine now, by the way. thanks for asking. lucy, show them your scar.
again, that last part is mine.
don't get me wrong. there were all sorts, and i mean ALL SORTS of communication stumbling blocks and issues with this relationship from the get-go. it took a couple years for the majority of our congregation to realize that there was, even, a group of hispanics meeting in our building. when people complained and things boiled to a head, we, collectively, chose to "support" and own the group as our hispanic "ministry", implying that we were doing them a favor by letting them use our place, but keeping them, still, at an arm's length. by that point, the damage had already been done. ruben didn't feel welcome. we weren't going out of way to make them feel welcome. he started looking around. dcd started helping them look. harris came on board and they already had one foot out of the door.
it's probably for the best. for, as vibrant a ministry as ruben may have been leading, the ministry was connected by several tentacles to the era at our church that we are now trying to lead ourselves out of. the era of trusting and then blaming the pastor for everything that goes right or wrong. the era of nobody having any idea of what anybody else is doing. the era of committees in name only. the d.i.a. era, full or something or another, but really signifying nothing. the era of longtime members looking for reasons to leave and then finding them in scapegoat drama, sunday school classes or pastors. the era that will mark, if we don't do something about it, the beginning of the end.
ruben's ministry was the last true tie to that unfortunate era. as a matter of fact, their group serves as a wonderful metaphor and cautionary tale all at the same time. the hispanic group thrived. at the same time, other good and godly things happened at our church. ministry has not ceased to exist. but each man and woman and ministry have been operating on their own island, set adrift from any central or mainland message that will always welcome our missionaries home with open arms and a singular purpose.
lessons can be learned from the aforementioned era, and we will continue to examine them in the future, hopefully in contrast to something new and improved. hopefully, in this peace and quiet that we now find ourselves in, we may discern subtle and impactful ways to do god's work. hopefully, we can figure out what we want to be as a church in the middle of a huffman community with so many needs to be filled.
and hopefully, the next time a non-member addresses a portion of our congregation to express his or her thanks for the use of our facilities, he or she won't be made to feel like stains in the youth room define their experience.
there isn't anything we can do about it now, but the take home message from today's service was a little sad.
"we are sorry."
not once, but twice did ruben clemente, the leader of humc's hispanic "ministry", feel as though he had to apologize on behalf of his congregation for perceived transgressions made towards the facilities we have been allowing them to use for several years.
"we are sorry our children scratched/colored on your walls."
"we are sorry that we spilled sodas on the carpets."
"again, we are sorry."
------------------------------------------
"please stop sending me hate letters."
"we are leaving now."
"you don't have to worry about us anymore."
"good riddance."
ok, ok. the last four were made up by me and kiker, but it felt like they would have been appropriate considering the tone of ruben's choice of words.
the message that we have been sent concerning ruben's group and their departure is that they no longer felt safe in our community. and to be fair, there is a very real cultural barrier that separates hispanics and blacks in general, not just in huffman. part of that sentiment may be true. but the message that ruben delivered this morning was different.
i am paraphrasing...
"we started in your parlor. we outgrew your parlor (read: they broke something and were asked to move.). we moved into your chapel. we outgrew your chapel (read: they probably broke something in there too.). we moved downstairs into your basement. we used your fellowship hall. we used nursery and sunday school class rooms. we have baptized over forty adults in the name of christ since we have been using your building. we feel like we are doing god's work." but, we are really sorry about that one time one of our girls stuck her arm through one of your doors. we suck. and are careless. forgive us. please. don't be mad at us anymore. she is fine now, by the way. thanks for asking. lucy, show them your scar.
again, that last part is mine.
don't get me wrong. there were all sorts, and i mean ALL SORTS of communication stumbling blocks and issues with this relationship from the get-go. it took a couple years for the majority of our congregation to realize that there was, even, a group of hispanics meeting in our building. when people complained and things boiled to a head, we, collectively, chose to "support" and own the group as our hispanic "ministry", implying that we were doing them a favor by letting them use our place, but keeping them, still, at an arm's length. by that point, the damage had already been done. ruben didn't feel welcome. we weren't going out of way to make them feel welcome. he started looking around. dcd started helping them look. harris came on board and they already had one foot out of the door.
it's probably for the best. for, as vibrant a ministry as ruben may have been leading, the ministry was connected by several tentacles to the era at our church that we are now trying to lead ourselves out of. the era of trusting and then blaming the pastor for everything that goes right or wrong. the era of nobody having any idea of what anybody else is doing. the era of committees in name only. the d.i.a. era, full or something or another, but really signifying nothing. the era of longtime members looking for reasons to leave and then finding them in scapegoat drama, sunday school classes or pastors. the era that will mark, if we don't do something about it, the beginning of the end.
ruben's ministry was the last true tie to that unfortunate era. as a matter of fact, their group serves as a wonderful metaphor and cautionary tale all at the same time. the hispanic group thrived. at the same time, other good and godly things happened at our church. ministry has not ceased to exist. but each man and woman and ministry have been operating on their own island, set adrift from any central or mainland message that will always welcome our missionaries home with open arms and a singular purpose.
lessons can be learned from the aforementioned era, and we will continue to examine them in the future, hopefully in contrast to something new and improved. hopefully, in this peace and quiet that we now find ourselves in, we may discern subtle and impactful ways to do god's work. hopefully, we can figure out what we want to be as a church in the middle of a huffman community with so many needs to be filled.
and hopefully, the next time a non-member addresses a portion of our congregation to express his or her thanks for the use of our facilities, he or she won't be made to feel like stains in the youth room define their experience.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
i resolve...
(2010)
((the year we face our fears))
new year's resolutions are like boxes of chocolate. you never know what you're gonna get. some ridiculously overrated movie character said something like that once.
speaking of...
tell me to name my top five movies of all time. do it!
i can't. narrowing the list down to five would just be too hard.
do it!!!
ok. ok. jeebus. shawshank, pulp fiction, cool hand luke, la confidential, fight club. there. there's a rough draft. satisfied???
two of my favorite movies of ALL TIME were released the same year as "runnn, forrest, runnn", and both were deemed not as deserving for that year's greatest prize. and it's a damn shame. one changed the way movies were made and one, in my opinion, is the single greatest movie and story about hope that ever was. gump was a fine movie. i will give it that. i enjoyed it. would enjoy it again if i sat down and watched it right now. it just wasn't "change the world" good, just like every box of chocolates i've ever had.
give me shawshank or give me death. i'll probably just re-gift your box of candy.
i digress.
to the resolutions.
i am a couple weeks late, but no one will remember that come the end of december. man, i hope i make it to the end of december, which brings us to number one. are you surprised???
1) don't die - no shocker here. karma bit me on the ass last year when i let this one slip to number two. her cruel joke was to take one kidney from me, put the fear of death into my brain so that i would not be able to shake it and see how i reacted. well, i see your joke, karma, and i hear you loud and clear. to be serious for a moment, i didn't realize it at the time, but i do now. the moment i first peed blood, i was being given a second chance. at least, that is how i am choosing to look at it. a second chance to be all i can be for my family, for my friends and for my church. which brings us to number two...
2) get "operation limbo" off the ground, up and running - my first year as lay leader was a relatively quiet one, right??? unless you partly blame me and my deceitfully evil gang of weeds for running off dcd. if that is the case, invite me to your fantasy world, won't you? i would love a cup of special tea too, but i hope you'll come back and join us at 711 gene reed road soon. things will be changing this year for the better. for the first time in a long time. gone, for now, is the discord that has defined us for too many years. here, for now, is a peace and quiet that might allow good people to do good things and reap good rewards along the way. "operation limbo" will be my first honest attempt at stirring the juices of our fair starship humc since 2005. don't know what i am talking about yet? you will. soon. stay tuned.
3) be a more than serviceable lay leader - for those of you that pay attention, this one will serve to be the next logical step towards my new year's resolutions in 2014 when number two that year will be "be the greatest motherscratching lay leader god ever put on this earth". last year, i laid in wait for the most part, serving my church in quiet and subtle ways. voicing opinions that i found important. reading some scripture. kicking some ass in vbs. you know...the usual. this year, my guess is that you'll see my ugly mug and my crooked teeth a little more often. i hope this isn't too much of a turnoff for those that walk our halls that still have trouble making eye contact with me. just know that i love you. and i am trying to be more than serviceable.
4) prepare for the inevitable - how weak-ass weak is it that the college football season is over? alabama basketball sucks. the falcons suck. and spring training hasn't arrived, so i can't hate the braves yet. what is a floundering fan to attach his irrational emotional investment to? i don't know either. so, i'll just pine for alabama football and hope that august gets here sooner rather than later. the inevitable i resolve to prepare for is this. bama has not lost a regular season game in TWO FREAKING years. next season, they host penn st., florida and an improving auburn team. they have to go back to baton rouge. the law of averages is bound to catch up with this team at some point, right? i mean, they can't completely retool and reload their defense and go undefeated again next year, right? they can't just outscore every opponent with their entire offense coming back and control the sec like it was the late 70's again, right? jesus. i hope so. but i'll mentally prepare for a loss anyway, just to be safe. number four is pretty high for something as trivial as college sports, but the trivial crimson tide helped me heal from cancer. that's worth bumping them up a couple slots in my book. roll tide.
5) don't forget about my deceitfully evil gang of weeds - i announced "operation limbo" to my SS class this past sunday, and pledged to them that i wouldn't be leaving them for good when limbo gets started. concerning healing from cancer, this group was just as important, not only as a support system but as a carrot on a stick to get back to them, to look forward to hanging out with them on wednesday nights. there is no other group in the church that has given love a bad name like we have. and i couldn't be any more proud of anything than i am of that fact. all that being said, and sarah can attest to this, when i threw my head into "big things" at the church in the early 2000's, it was easy for me to get very single-minded and forge ahead with blinders on to the rest of the world. limbo is going to be extremely important, to me and to our church and to our community. my weeds must remain every bit as important.
6) say no to drugs - and by drugs, i mean lexapro. i would like to believe that, by the end of this year, i can fight off my demons naturally without the assistance of a tiny pill altering the chemical balances in my brain. we'll see.
7) find brian again - i failed at this last year, but i can't give up the ghost. whether it's driving to savannah or convincing him to come back home, i gotta get closer to my brother. and it can't be because i can't get out of my hospital bed without him.
8) find dad again - oh shit. what's going on here? i've tried to move on. i have. it's just not working out for me. there are about five people in this world that i could not see for months and then, out of the blue, go to dreamland with and pick up like we just saw each other last weekend. in my opinion, if you have those people in your life, you should probably spend more time with them, not less. dad is one of those. so, yeah. that's what's going on here.
9) take ken to a braves game - continuing number eight's theme. i have another brother. his name is ken. he lives in atlanta. he has a baby boy. i am his uncle. i've never met him. how fucking ridiculous am i? exactly. very fucking ridiculous. differences this. hurt feelings that. blah, blah, blah. excuses. i am the fucking vincent van gogh of excuses. only one other person i've met can carry the same loving disdain for the braves as i can. that's ken. i resolve to take him to a game this year and have seats close enough for melky cabrera to hear every single one of our taunts.
10) keep loving my girls - if you've read these lists before, you know i always offer myself a gimme. this one is easy, but ever-evolving. hannah's becoming a trainwreck. she is finding herself, testing boundaries, talking back. more often than not, i want to destroy all of her toys in front of her so that she can understand how painful she is making it for me to like her. and then she sucks on her "meow". she trances out and is the most Godly thing, in every sense of the word, i will ever lay eyes on. she understands her wrongdoings and starts to say "yessir" and "yes ma'am" in that sweet voice of hers. she plays with her sister. incites laughter that will make my heart fill with joy. she becomes, again, the reason i waste my time maintaining this site. she is my everything. and caroline, sweeeeet caroline (bah, bah, baaahhh). i have a hard time remembering hannah at this age. i was away a lot, in body and mind. caroline can be her own trainwreck, but it a weirdly different way. obstinate at times to the point of confusion. cute and cuddly and adorable in others. talkative. sitting on the potty. dancing to the black eyed peas. spitting out her food that she just chewed up. she's my everything too. keep loving my girls. this one should be easy.
good luck to all my fellow list makers. may you all have years that you can be proud of.
(2010)
((the year we face our fears))
new year's resolutions are like boxes of chocolate. you never know what you're gonna get. some ridiculously overrated movie character said something like that once.
speaking of...
tell me to name my top five movies of all time. do it!
i can't. narrowing the list down to five would just be too hard.
do it!!!
ok. ok. jeebus. shawshank, pulp fiction, cool hand luke, la confidential, fight club. there. there's a rough draft. satisfied???
two of my favorite movies of ALL TIME were released the same year as "runnn, forrest, runnn", and both were deemed not as deserving for that year's greatest prize. and it's a damn shame. one changed the way movies were made and one, in my opinion, is the single greatest movie and story about hope that ever was. gump was a fine movie. i will give it that. i enjoyed it. would enjoy it again if i sat down and watched it right now. it just wasn't "change the world" good, just like every box of chocolates i've ever had.
give me shawshank or give me death. i'll probably just re-gift your box of candy.
i digress.
to the resolutions.
i am a couple weeks late, but no one will remember that come the end of december. man, i hope i make it to the end of december, which brings us to number one. are you surprised???
1) don't die - no shocker here. karma bit me on the ass last year when i let this one slip to number two. her cruel joke was to take one kidney from me, put the fear of death into my brain so that i would not be able to shake it and see how i reacted. well, i see your joke, karma, and i hear you loud and clear. to be serious for a moment, i didn't realize it at the time, but i do now. the moment i first peed blood, i was being given a second chance. at least, that is how i am choosing to look at it. a second chance to be all i can be for my family, for my friends and for my church. which brings us to number two...
2) get "operation limbo" off the ground, up and running - my first year as lay leader was a relatively quiet one, right??? unless you partly blame me and my deceitfully evil gang of weeds for running off dcd. if that is the case, invite me to your fantasy world, won't you? i would love a cup of special tea too, but i hope you'll come back and join us at 711 gene reed road soon. things will be changing this year for the better. for the first time in a long time. gone, for now, is the discord that has defined us for too many years. here, for now, is a peace and quiet that might allow good people to do good things and reap good rewards along the way. "operation limbo" will be my first honest attempt at stirring the juices of our fair starship humc since 2005. don't know what i am talking about yet? you will. soon. stay tuned.
3) be a more than serviceable lay leader - for those of you that pay attention, this one will serve to be the next logical step towards my new year's resolutions in 2014 when number two that year will be "be the greatest motherscratching lay leader god ever put on this earth". last year, i laid in wait for the most part, serving my church in quiet and subtle ways. voicing opinions that i found important. reading some scripture. kicking some ass in vbs. you know...the usual. this year, my guess is that you'll see my ugly mug and my crooked teeth a little more often. i hope this isn't too much of a turnoff for those that walk our halls that still have trouble making eye contact with me. just know that i love you. and i am trying to be more than serviceable.
4) prepare for the inevitable - how weak-ass weak is it that the college football season is over? alabama basketball sucks. the falcons suck. and spring training hasn't arrived, so i can't hate the braves yet. what is a floundering fan to attach his irrational emotional investment to? i don't know either. so, i'll just pine for alabama football and hope that august gets here sooner rather than later. the inevitable i resolve to prepare for is this. bama has not lost a regular season game in TWO FREAKING years. next season, they host penn st., florida and an improving auburn team. they have to go back to baton rouge. the law of averages is bound to catch up with this team at some point, right? i mean, they can't completely retool and reload their defense and go undefeated again next year, right? they can't just outscore every opponent with their entire offense coming back and control the sec like it was the late 70's again, right? jesus. i hope so. but i'll mentally prepare for a loss anyway, just to be safe. number four is pretty high for something as trivial as college sports, but the trivial crimson tide helped me heal from cancer. that's worth bumping them up a couple slots in my book. roll tide.
5) don't forget about my deceitfully evil gang of weeds - i announced "operation limbo" to my SS class this past sunday, and pledged to them that i wouldn't be leaving them for good when limbo gets started. concerning healing from cancer, this group was just as important, not only as a support system but as a carrot on a stick to get back to them, to look forward to hanging out with them on wednesday nights. there is no other group in the church that has given love a bad name like we have. and i couldn't be any more proud of anything than i am of that fact. all that being said, and sarah can attest to this, when i threw my head into "big things" at the church in the early 2000's, it was easy for me to get very single-minded and forge ahead with blinders on to the rest of the world. limbo is going to be extremely important, to me and to our church and to our community. my weeds must remain every bit as important.
6) say no to drugs - and by drugs, i mean lexapro. i would like to believe that, by the end of this year, i can fight off my demons naturally without the assistance of a tiny pill altering the chemical balances in my brain. we'll see.
7) find brian again - i failed at this last year, but i can't give up the ghost. whether it's driving to savannah or convincing him to come back home, i gotta get closer to my brother. and it can't be because i can't get out of my hospital bed without him.
8) find dad again - oh shit. what's going on here? i've tried to move on. i have. it's just not working out for me. there are about five people in this world that i could not see for months and then, out of the blue, go to dreamland with and pick up like we just saw each other last weekend. in my opinion, if you have those people in your life, you should probably spend more time with them, not less. dad is one of those. so, yeah. that's what's going on here.
9) take ken to a braves game - continuing number eight's theme. i have another brother. his name is ken. he lives in atlanta. he has a baby boy. i am his uncle. i've never met him. how fucking ridiculous am i? exactly. very fucking ridiculous. differences this. hurt feelings that. blah, blah, blah. excuses. i am the fucking vincent van gogh of excuses. only one other person i've met can carry the same loving disdain for the braves as i can. that's ken. i resolve to take him to a game this year and have seats close enough for melky cabrera to hear every single one of our taunts.
10) keep loving my girls - if you've read these lists before, you know i always offer myself a gimme. this one is easy, but ever-evolving. hannah's becoming a trainwreck. she is finding herself, testing boundaries, talking back. more often than not, i want to destroy all of her toys in front of her so that she can understand how painful she is making it for me to like her. and then she sucks on her "meow". she trances out and is the most Godly thing, in every sense of the word, i will ever lay eyes on. she understands her wrongdoings and starts to say "yessir" and "yes ma'am" in that sweet voice of hers. she plays with her sister. incites laughter that will make my heart fill with joy. she becomes, again, the reason i waste my time maintaining this site. she is my everything. and caroline, sweeeeet caroline (bah, bah, baaahhh). i have a hard time remembering hannah at this age. i was away a lot, in body and mind. caroline can be her own trainwreck, but it a weirdly different way. obstinate at times to the point of confusion. cute and cuddly and adorable in others. talkative. sitting on the potty. dancing to the black eyed peas. spitting out her food that she just chewed up. she's my everything too. keep loving my girls. this one should be easy.
good luck to all my fellow list makers. may you all have years that you can be proud of.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
what would colt mccoy do?
(wrapping up)
is it frustrating? sure,...a little bit. i think most alabama fans are already tired of hearing how things may have been different had texas not lost their starting quarterback. the implication with that particular choice of words making it sound like someone stole colt mccoy as he was getting off the bus, or he was kidnapped in the tunnel prior to the team running out onto the field. something that would lead the uneducated reader to believe that colt mccoy did not, in fact, play in the national championship game.
quite the contrary. he played. he was just too much of a girl to finish it.
i am not getting too bent out of shape at the immediate revisioning of the history, for most of the kneejerk journalism will give way in the coming months and years to a more realistic perspective of the title game and the big picture that will paint alabama for what they currently are and will always be...national champions of the 2009 college football season.
years from the now, the story will read in this way. colt mccoy, the winningest college quarterback ever, was knocked out of the championship game, leaving a true freshman to pick up the pieces, find himself quite quickly halfway through what will end up being the biggest game of his life, make the game interesting and then allowing destiny to write the proper ending. being "knocked" out paints a different image than "lost", now doesn't it?
it is, to those that watched the game, a more accurate representation of the story. and it will play a bigger role in the retelling down the line.
i see it in this way. teams that run the ball look at their strategy like they were chopping down a tree. the first few times you swing the ax, the tree doesn't seem to budge. but damage is being inflicted even if you can't tell a major difference right from the jump. eventually, the axman will inflict so much damage that the tree will fall, the last few whacks being no more or no less important than the first few unless you spin the story that they were. doing so would be quite ridiculous, but doing so would be no different than retarded baseball columnists trying to convince you that games in april are meaningless and games in september are huge. how insane is that logic??? all games count equally in the standings, correct? the teams that are able to take their aprils as seriously as their septembers usually are the better teams. now back to football teams that run the ball and then hopefully i can find my way back to my point. teams that run the ball will run it in the first quarter and second quarter and third quarter, figuratively trying to wear and chop down the tree that is the opposing defense. how many times this year did alabama make this scheme pay off in spades? remember the south carolina game? mcelroy struggled, so they stuck with the run. stuck with the run. stuck with the run, and then, in the fourth quarter, ingram was able to take over and impose his will in the wildcat drive that started his heisman campaign. similar strategy worked to a tee in the virginia tech, lsu and florida games. some trees are tougher than others. but you see the idea. punish the opponent 'til they can take no more. 'til they begin to armtackle. 'til they don't want to hit you anymore. 'til they don't want you to hit them. punish them. be tougher than them. if you can win this tug of war, you will usually win the game.
this particular brand of gameplan can be applied on the defensive side as well. physical defenses want to push the opposing offense out of their comfort zone with toughness. if you are playing a running team, hit them hard in the first quarter so they might tippy-toe to the line of scrimmage late in the game on an important third or fourth and short. if the quarterback likes to sit in the pocket, bring pressure and make him move. if the quarterback fancies himself a runner, hit him and remind him he is a quarterback. again, if your will, your plan can be imposed over your opponent, you will usually win the game.
alabama knew mccoy would be dangerous out of the pocket if he chose to run. unfortunately for texas fans, it only took one running attempt for alabama to impose their will over their opponent. the hit on mccoy by dareus could not have been any cleaner. but it was damaging. and it changed the way texas would have to play the rest of the game.
is that alabama's fault? of course, and that is exactly the point. they didn't take mccoy out. they kicked his ass, and he wasn't strong enough to fight back. in football, the idea is to hit your opponent.
hypotheticals such as "it would have been different if mccoy was in the game" are not applicable if you are not able to play by the rules of the game. injuries happen and it was unfortunate if you were a texas fan to see your all-american go down. i am fairly sure your team counted the victory against oklahoma when bradford was knocked out, correct? yes, they did. you can't have it both ways. you just have to tip your hat and say, "yep. they were better and tougher than we were tonight."
mccoy's injury was unfortunate, not unlucky. to claim as much only draws attention to your ignorance about football. alabama was the better team thursday night, just as they were every time they stepped on the field this perfect season. 14-0. national champions.
goodness gracious. and roll tide.
(wrapping up)
is it frustrating? sure,...a little bit. i think most alabama fans are already tired of hearing how things may have been different had texas not lost their starting quarterback. the implication with that particular choice of words making it sound like someone stole colt mccoy as he was getting off the bus, or he was kidnapped in the tunnel prior to the team running out onto the field. something that would lead the uneducated reader to believe that colt mccoy did not, in fact, play in the national championship game.
quite the contrary. he played. he was just too much of a girl to finish it.
i am not getting too bent out of shape at the immediate revisioning of the history, for most of the kneejerk journalism will give way in the coming months and years to a more realistic perspective of the title game and the big picture that will paint alabama for what they currently are and will always be...national champions of the 2009 college football season.
years from the now, the story will read in this way. colt mccoy, the winningest college quarterback ever, was knocked out of the championship game, leaving a true freshman to pick up the pieces, find himself quite quickly halfway through what will end up being the biggest game of his life, make the game interesting and then allowing destiny to write the proper ending. being "knocked" out paints a different image than "lost", now doesn't it?
it is, to those that watched the game, a more accurate representation of the story. and it will play a bigger role in the retelling down the line.
i see it in this way. teams that run the ball look at their strategy like they were chopping down a tree. the first few times you swing the ax, the tree doesn't seem to budge. but damage is being inflicted even if you can't tell a major difference right from the jump. eventually, the axman will inflict so much damage that the tree will fall, the last few whacks being no more or no less important than the first few unless you spin the story that they were. doing so would be quite ridiculous, but doing so would be no different than retarded baseball columnists trying to convince you that games in april are meaningless and games in september are huge. how insane is that logic??? all games count equally in the standings, correct? the teams that are able to take their aprils as seriously as their septembers usually are the better teams. now back to football teams that run the ball and then hopefully i can find my way back to my point. teams that run the ball will run it in the first quarter and second quarter and third quarter, figuratively trying to wear and chop down the tree that is the opposing defense. how many times this year did alabama make this scheme pay off in spades? remember the south carolina game? mcelroy struggled, so they stuck with the run. stuck with the run. stuck with the run, and then, in the fourth quarter, ingram was able to take over and impose his will in the wildcat drive that started his heisman campaign. similar strategy worked to a tee in the virginia tech, lsu and florida games. some trees are tougher than others. but you see the idea. punish the opponent 'til they can take no more. 'til they begin to armtackle. 'til they don't want to hit you anymore. 'til they don't want you to hit them. punish them. be tougher than them. if you can win this tug of war, you will usually win the game.
this particular brand of gameplan can be applied on the defensive side as well. physical defenses want to push the opposing offense out of their comfort zone with toughness. if you are playing a running team, hit them hard in the first quarter so they might tippy-toe to the line of scrimmage late in the game on an important third or fourth and short. if the quarterback likes to sit in the pocket, bring pressure and make him move. if the quarterback fancies himself a runner, hit him and remind him he is a quarterback. again, if your will, your plan can be imposed over your opponent, you will usually win the game.
alabama knew mccoy would be dangerous out of the pocket if he chose to run. unfortunately for texas fans, it only took one running attempt for alabama to impose their will over their opponent. the hit on mccoy by dareus could not have been any cleaner. but it was damaging. and it changed the way texas would have to play the rest of the game.
is that alabama's fault? of course, and that is exactly the point. they didn't take mccoy out. they kicked his ass, and he wasn't strong enough to fight back. in football, the idea is to hit your opponent.
hypotheticals such as "it would have been different if mccoy was in the game" are not applicable if you are not able to play by the rules of the game. injuries happen and it was unfortunate if you were a texas fan to see your all-american go down. i am fairly sure your team counted the victory against oklahoma when bradford was knocked out, correct? yes, they did. you can't have it both ways. you just have to tip your hat and say, "yep. they were better and tougher than we were tonight."
mccoy's injury was unfortunate, not unlucky. to claim as much only draws attention to your ignorance about football. alabama was the better team thursday night, just as they were every time they stepped on the field this perfect season. 14-0. national champions.
goodness gracious. and roll tide.
Friday, January 08, 2010
Thursday, January 07, 2010
bcs title game
(part ten)
((the x-factor))
all excerpts taken from HACAM
from august 31, 2007:
"- finally, if you don't believe that the only thing that matters is whether julio jones comes to alabama and brings his five star buddies with him, then you can't see the forest for the trees."
from november 28, 2007:
"i stick to this. losing four straight to end the year hurts. it hurts real bad. i have faith in saban, though. i have faith that he can convince julio that alabama needs a supernova to lead them back to prominence. a supernova to go along with their "star". we'll know in just over a couple months whether bama gets him or not. i am saying here that they do."
from february 6, 2008:
"and the leader? the moses that anchored the group that will be remembered for years to come, barring anything illegal or unforeseen, as the class that announced alabama's return? his name is julio. julio jones. why is he the name above all names? why is he more important today than burton or tyler or even star? because he's already a legend. if you are even a casual college football fan, if someone says the name, "julio", you know who they are referring to. to some in this state, he's already an icon. he will soon be a brand. why? because according to the worldwide leader in sports, he the most gifted high school senior in the nation. not just the state. not just the southeast. the. nation. he is the most high profile athlete ever to pick alabama (to this day, i still feel jilted by tim heisman) and it's not just us, the fans, that noticed. it's the high school seniors that came to alabama to play with him. it's the high school juniors that will want to come next year. it's the parents (the ones that live through the accolades of their children) of high school sophomores and freshmen that heard, today, that alabama was now shown in lights, decorated with tinsel, no longer clouded with the suspicion of being past it's prime...
...why does julio matter? because everything just changed. here's hoping it feels familiar."
from august 12, 2008:
"god bless you, julio (and burton and jerrell and mark and mark and tyler and others). crimson and white suits you (all) quite nicely."
from august 17, 2008:
"this serves as just another testament to the possibility that julio jones is the savior of all mankind. even in the midst of two-a-days, your promise of "something better" can keep old friendships aflame."
from august 25, 2008:
"to be or not to be julio?
i choose "to be.""
from december 7, 2008:
"julio jones was freshman all-american."
from april 7, 2009:
"i swear to christ, if he says one more thing about freaking julio jones, i am never going to read his idiotic blog again..."
from october 31, 2009:
yep.
-----------------------------------------
by definition, x-factors tend to fly under the radar. julio jones hasn't flown under the radar since he was about 16.
but a funny thing happened on the way to julio leading the rabid collection of humans that root for the university of alabama football program in unhealthy ways through to the promised land.
after posting ridiculous numbers for a sec freshman in 2008, leading all to believe he was set to break even more records in 2009, his role evolved. he would be equally important, in skill and scheme, to the gameplan, but he would not be the focus point. saban found the identity of his team early, and i mean virginia tech early, in his ferocious three headed attack in the backfield of ingram, spelled by this year's super-frosh trent richardson and relieved on third down by mr. reliable, tried and true senior rusher roy upchurch. alabama would run to set up the pass. they would run to set up play-action. and they would run to set up the deep ball to julio and maze. and it worked.
julio's numbers suffered for it, but, whether you choose to believe it or not, he says that he doesn't and didn't care. whether you choose to believe it or not, julio says that he wants to do whatever he can to help his team win. if that means blocking downfield, he has done that. if that means carrying his team to a game winning iron bowl drive, he has done that. if it means no longer being the most decorated player in his own recruiting class (how flipping ridiculous is that???), he has done that.
and so, in a twisted and beautiful irony, julio has fallen under the radar. just a bit.
until tonight. i don't make predictions very often, but i predict that julio will be the most important player on the field. he may catch 10 balls for 150 yards and 2 td's and he may not.
but just as he was way back in february of 2008, julio is the one that changed the rules. he is the one that led alabama back from irrelevance. and no matter the outcome tonight, he is the neo to my morpheus. blindly and with complete confidence, i cast my team's fate with him. he is the one. he is...
...the x-factor.
(part ten)
((the x-factor))
all excerpts taken from HACAM
from august 31, 2007:
"- finally, if you don't believe that the only thing that matters is whether julio jones comes to alabama and brings his five star buddies with him, then you can't see the forest for the trees."
from november 28, 2007:
"i stick to this. losing four straight to end the year hurts. it hurts real bad. i have faith in saban, though. i have faith that he can convince julio that alabama needs a supernova to lead them back to prominence. a supernova to go along with their "star". we'll know in just over a couple months whether bama gets him or not. i am saying here that they do."
from february 6, 2008:
"and the leader? the moses that anchored the group that will be remembered for years to come, barring anything illegal or unforeseen, as the class that announced alabama's return? his name is julio. julio jones. why is he the name above all names? why is he more important today than burton or tyler or even star? because he's already a legend. if you are even a casual college football fan, if someone says the name, "julio", you know who they are referring to. to some in this state, he's already an icon. he will soon be a brand. why? because according to the worldwide leader in sports, he the most gifted high school senior in the nation. not just the state. not just the southeast. the. nation. he is the most high profile athlete ever to pick alabama (to this day, i still feel jilted by tim heisman) and it's not just us, the fans, that noticed. it's the high school seniors that came to alabama to play with him. it's the high school juniors that will want to come next year. it's the parents (the ones that live through the accolades of their children) of high school sophomores and freshmen that heard, today, that alabama was now shown in lights, decorated with tinsel, no longer clouded with the suspicion of being past it's prime...
...why does julio matter? because everything just changed. here's hoping it feels familiar."
from august 12, 2008:
"god bless you, julio (and burton and jerrell and mark and mark and tyler and others). crimson and white suits you (all) quite nicely."
from august 17, 2008:
"this serves as just another testament to the possibility that julio jones is the savior of all mankind. even in the midst of two-a-days, your promise of "something better" can keep old friendships aflame."
from august 25, 2008:
"to be or not to be julio?
i choose "to be.""
from december 7, 2008:
"julio jones was freshman all-american."
from april 7, 2009:
"i swear to christ, if he says one more thing about freaking julio jones, i am never going to read his idiotic blog again..."
from october 31, 2009:
yep.
-----------------------------------------
by definition, x-factors tend to fly under the radar. julio jones hasn't flown under the radar since he was about 16.
but a funny thing happened on the way to julio leading the rabid collection of humans that root for the university of alabama football program in unhealthy ways through to the promised land.
after posting ridiculous numbers for a sec freshman in 2008, leading all to believe he was set to break even more records in 2009, his role evolved. he would be equally important, in skill and scheme, to the gameplan, but he would not be the focus point. saban found the identity of his team early, and i mean virginia tech early, in his ferocious three headed attack in the backfield of ingram, spelled by this year's super-frosh trent richardson and relieved on third down by mr. reliable, tried and true senior rusher roy upchurch. alabama would run to set up the pass. they would run to set up play-action. and they would run to set up the deep ball to julio and maze. and it worked.
julio's numbers suffered for it, but, whether you choose to believe it or not, he says that he doesn't and didn't care. whether you choose to believe it or not, julio says that he wants to do whatever he can to help his team win. if that means blocking downfield, he has done that. if that means carrying his team to a game winning iron bowl drive, he has done that. if it means no longer being the most decorated player in his own recruiting class (how flipping ridiculous is that???), he has done that.
and so, in a twisted and beautiful irony, julio has fallen under the radar. just a bit.
until tonight. i don't make predictions very often, but i predict that julio will be the most important player on the field. he may catch 10 balls for 150 yards and 2 td's and he may not.
but just as he was way back in february of 2008, julio is the one that changed the rules. he is the one that led alabama back from irrelevance. and no matter the outcome tonight, he is the neo to my morpheus. blindly and with complete confidence, i cast my team's fate with him. he is the one. he is...
...the x-factor.
bcs title game
(part eight)
((where were you?))
i have talked before on HACAM how my memory suffers from not being able to remember anything. that truth can be applied when it comes to the sugar bowl in 1993 as well. as an alabama football fan, that day, truly, should stand out above all others, right? it is the only national championship i've been able to experience as an aware fan. it was seventeen years ago, but seventeen years isn't that long, right?
well, for me, it seems like a very long time.
i don't remember much about my life around that time, because i don't want to remember much about my life around that time. i had a mother that was starting to wear down, her own tumultuous life chipping away at the invincible shell that i perceived her to have for the longest time after her and my father's divorce when i was eight. i had a younger brother in the house that was having growing pains of his own. the divorce was worse to him. asthma was kicking his ass. the medication designed to help him through the breathing problems was causing him to gain weight and his bones to grow brittle (not a good combination). all of this on top of some good, ole' fashioned o'kelley anxiety set him up for a bad to real bad next several years (i am ashamed to say i was unaware of all of this at the time.). and to top it off, there was a stepfather in the house. one that, in his own way i guess, cared for my mother. but, he was not a good man. and we'll leave it at that.
i don't remember much about early 1993, because i choose not to. here's what i remember about the game, itself. of course, i remember the george teague/lamar thomas non-play. i remember derrick lassic seeming unstoppable. i remember gene stallings being carried off the field on the shoulders of his players. that's it. that's pretty much the list. for a night, as a bama fan, that should stand out above and beyond all others, that's pretty pathetic, right?
it is what it is.
tonight should be different. we will have a house full of family and friends all with the same passionate, rooting interest. we will have children running around that care nothing about the most important football game to me of my lifetime, completely unaware of how this game and this excitement and this anticipation has done more for me getting past july 23rd than just a football game should hold weight to do so. we will have more food than we need. we will have a brand new television broadcasting in spellbinding high definition. we will have high fives. and cuss words. and joy. and sorrow. and, hopefully, a celebration for the ages.
or for the next seventeen years.
fuck you, cancer nightmares. there is a game on tonight.
come back tomorrow, thank you. or don't come back at all.
whatever.
where were you?
(part eight)
((where were you?))
i have talked before on HACAM how my memory suffers from not being able to remember anything. that truth can be applied when it comes to the sugar bowl in 1993 as well. as an alabama football fan, that day, truly, should stand out above all others, right? it is the only national championship i've been able to experience as an aware fan. it was seventeen years ago, but seventeen years isn't that long, right?
well, for me, it seems like a very long time.
i don't remember much about my life around that time, because i don't want to remember much about my life around that time. i had a mother that was starting to wear down, her own tumultuous life chipping away at the invincible shell that i perceived her to have for the longest time after her and my father's divorce when i was eight. i had a younger brother in the house that was having growing pains of his own. the divorce was worse to him. asthma was kicking his ass. the medication designed to help him through the breathing problems was causing him to gain weight and his bones to grow brittle (not a good combination). all of this on top of some good, ole' fashioned o'kelley anxiety set him up for a bad to real bad next several years (i am ashamed to say i was unaware of all of this at the time.). and to top it off, there was a stepfather in the house. one that, in his own way i guess, cared for my mother. but, he was not a good man. and we'll leave it at that.
i don't remember much about early 1993, because i choose not to. here's what i remember about the game, itself. of course, i remember the george teague/lamar thomas non-play. i remember derrick lassic seeming unstoppable. i remember gene stallings being carried off the field on the shoulders of his players. that's it. that's pretty much the list. for a night, as a bama fan, that should stand out above and beyond all others, that's pretty pathetic, right?
it is what it is.
tonight should be different. we will have a house full of family and friends all with the same passionate, rooting interest. we will have children running around that care nothing about the most important football game to me of my lifetime, completely unaware of how this game and this excitement and this anticipation has done more for me getting past july 23rd than just a football game should hold weight to do so. we will have more food than we need. we will have a brand new television broadcasting in spellbinding high definition. we will have high fives. and cuss words. and joy. and sorrow. and, hopefully, a celebration for the ages.
or for the next seventeen years.
fuck you, cancer nightmares. there is a game on tonight.
come back tomorrow, thank you. or don't come back at all.
whatever.
where were you?
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
bcs title game
(part seven)
rolando mcclain
javy
mt. cody
mark barron
these are the voyages of the starship alabama defense. and with all due respect to the other starters, once you have claimed all-american status, the above four will be the ones that get to share time in the captain's chair. chances are, one of these four guys will make a huge, if not game-defining, play tomorrow night. chances are, two of the four will be holding the gatorade bucket if alabama is lucky enough to have more points than texas when the game ends.
the impact of this year's defensive unit cannot be overstated. when greg mcelroy forgot how to play quarterback during the season's midsection, it was the defense that held opponents at bay long enough for ingram to get going, long enough for leigh tiffin to kick a few field goals or long enough for cody to turn into a mythical creature and create a daniel moore painting.
if there is one defining image of the defense this season, in my opinion, it came during the arkansas game. it was during that game that one of arkansas' big offensive linemen executed a perfectly legal and perfectly cheap cut block on donta' hightower. donta' couldn't get his knee out of the way of the cowardly dive at his legs and his season was immediately ended. all of sudden, donta' unable to pick himself off the ground, there was a significant hole in what was forming into a solid to really good defense. all of a sudden, alabama would have had a legitimate excuse had they lost a game. "well, we did lose donta!'"
alabama never lost that game. nico johnson eventually filled hightower's shoes, and has laid claim to a starting spot next year if rolando decides to turn pro. the loss of donta' was greatly exaggerated and the defense has grown more intimidating by the week.
i am concerned that cody will not be much of an influence against the pass happy texas attack. the other three all-americans must come to play. and they will. i am sure of it. saban and mcclain would not have it any other way.
i love the way this defense plays. i love all the nicknames. i have this feeling they have another special, sec championship game-like performance in them. not one will be my x-factor come tomorrow's final preview post. that'll be someone else.
hmm...
who have i left out?
i think you all know where this is going.
(part seven)
rolando mcclain
javy
mt. cody
mark barron
these are the voyages of the starship alabama defense. and with all due respect to the other starters, once you have claimed all-american status, the above four will be the ones that get to share time in the captain's chair. chances are, one of these four guys will make a huge, if not game-defining, play tomorrow night. chances are, two of the four will be holding the gatorade bucket if alabama is lucky enough to have more points than texas when the game ends.
the impact of this year's defensive unit cannot be overstated. when greg mcelroy forgot how to play quarterback during the season's midsection, it was the defense that held opponents at bay long enough for ingram to get going, long enough for leigh tiffin to kick a few field goals or long enough for cody to turn into a mythical creature and create a daniel moore painting.
if there is one defining image of the defense this season, in my opinion, it came during the arkansas game. it was during that game that one of arkansas' big offensive linemen executed a perfectly legal and perfectly cheap cut block on donta' hightower. donta' couldn't get his knee out of the way of the cowardly dive at his legs and his season was immediately ended. all of sudden, donta' unable to pick himself off the ground, there was a significant hole in what was forming into a solid to really good defense. all of a sudden, alabama would have had a legitimate excuse had they lost a game. "well, we did lose donta!'"
alabama never lost that game. nico johnson eventually filled hightower's shoes, and has laid claim to a starting spot next year if rolando decides to turn pro. the loss of donta' was greatly exaggerated and the defense has grown more intimidating by the week.
i am concerned that cody will not be much of an influence against the pass happy texas attack. the other three all-americans must come to play. and they will. i am sure of it. saban and mcclain would not have it any other way.
i love the way this defense plays. i love all the nicknames. i have this feeling they have another special, sec championship game-like performance in them. not one will be my x-factor come tomorrow's final preview post. that'll be someone else.
hmm...
who have i left out?
i think you all know where this is going.
bcs title game
(part six)
it wouldn't be an alabama football story cycle if i didn't rip at least one post from deadspin. you could see this one coming as soon as the facebook group formed. and yet, it is still hilariously true.
http://deadspin.com/5441468/alabama-fans-threaten-weatherman-god-over-snowstorm
(part six)
it wouldn't be an alabama football story cycle if i didn't rip at least one post from deadspin. you could see this one coming as soon as the facebook group formed. and yet, it is still hilariously true.
http://deadspin.com/5441468/alabama-fans-threaten-weatherman-god-over-snowstorm
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
will this be the one?
(bcs title game, part four)
i am on record, if not on this blog, in my inner circles (notice how important and mysterious "inner circles" makes me sound? no??? it just makes me sound douche-y??? perfect.) having said that if and when alabama loses a game this year, it'll be because greg mcelroy has screwed something up.
going into the season, i wasn't convinced that mcelroy wasn't a step up from jp haircut, but that says more about my thoughts on john parker wilson than my confidence in the would be new guy.
i like what i read in the linked maisel story about his competitive fire and i have really liked how he's handled himself with the alabama football crazed media in this state when things weren't going well for him in the middle of the season. in those games, most notably the tennessee game, you would've been hard-pressed to find many bama fans that didn't believe the tide were winning in spite of their quarterback's play.
as this and other stories have noted, though, something changed in the lsu game. being there in person, i was as shocked as anybody with the gameplan that called to open the game up with mcelroy throwing the ball all over the field. but the confidence the coaches showed in him that day was repaid in full with his performance in the iron bowl, when did alabama won the game not in spite of him but because of him.
i still believe that he is alabama's weakest link. and i still believe that if alabama loses thursday, it'll be because greg mcelroy has screwed something up. but i don't dislike him. and i'll be proud to welcome him back to tuscaloosa for his senior season if he is carrying that crystal football with him.
he doesn't have a nickname that i know of. i am not totally in love with his game. but, i do love his heart. and that matters. it could matter a bunch come thursday. i am not going to call him the x-factor for the title game. that'll be someone else. for a post closer to the game. for today, though, i think alabama has a better shot at winning because mcelroy's the qb and jp haircut didn't stick around for his eighth year.
go get 'em, greg. and roll tide.
(bcs title game, part four)
i am on record, if not on this blog, in my inner circles (notice how important and mysterious "inner circles" makes me sound? no??? it just makes me sound douche-y??? perfect.) having said that if and when alabama loses a game this year, it'll be because greg mcelroy has screwed something up.
going into the season, i wasn't convinced that mcelroy wasn't a step up from jp haircut, but that says more about my thoughts on john parker wilson than my confidence in the would be new guy.
i like what i read in the linked maisel story about his competitive fire and i have really liked how he's handled himself with the alabama football crazed media in this state when things weren't going well for him in the middle of the season. in those games, most notably the tennessee game, you would've been hard-pressed to find many bama fans that didn't believe the tide were winning in spite of their quarterback's play.
as this and other stories have noted, though, something changed in the lsu game. being there in person, i was as shocked as anybody with the gameplan that called to open the game up with mcelroy throwing the ball all over the field. but the confidence the coaches showed in him that day was repaid in full with his performance in the iron bowl, when did alabama won the game not in spite of him but because of him.
i still believe that he is alabama's weakest link. and i still believe that if alabama loses thursday, it'll be because greg mcelroy has screwed something up. but i don't dislike him. and i'll be proud to welcome him back to tuscaloosa for his senior season if he is carrying that crystal football with him.
he doesn't have a nickname that i know of. i am not totally in love with his game. but, i do love his heart. and that matters. it could matter a bunch come thursday. i am not going to call him the x-factor for the title game. that'll be someone else. for a post closer to the game. for today, though, i think alabama has a better shot at winning because mcelroy's the qb and jp haircut didn't stick around for his eighth year.
go get 'em, greg. and roll tide.
Friday, January 01, 2010
"beep, beep"
(bcs title game, part two)
i'll always have a soft spot for marquis maze, because he's one of the few (maybe only???) current bama guys that i got to see play in high school.
i have fond memories of that night. some of you may know jason white from humc softball, but you've never heard him called jason white. when jason hooked up with the softball team (what, gosh..., eight years ago??? wow.), chris hicks annointed him "rookie" and the name just stuck. after rookie graduated from uab, he went on to teach and coach at oak grove high school out towards hueytown-ish. during his first year at oak grove, kiker and i went out to show some friendly support when rook and oak grove came out to play tarrant.
i didn't know anything about tarrant, but it didn't take long to figure out who their go-to guy was. kiker is usually a little farther ahead of the curve than i am when it comes to prep athletes, so he told me the guy that was dominating from the jump was marquis maze. compared to the little corn-fed white kids from oak grove and most of his own teammates, maze seemed like a man amongst boys. he returned kicks, punts, played quarterback and running back that night. every time he touched the ball, it seemed like he was streaking the length of the field with helpless oak grovers trailing behind. oak grove was destroyed that night, single-handedly, by marquis maze, and i've had my eyes on him ever since.
i loved that he signed with saban's first class and just knew he'd be an instant impact guy. he wasn't. he redshirted his first year, learning his new position.
he first appeared for the tide against clemson last year in the season opener, and what a first impression he made. a leaping, one-handed catch that ended up not counting announced his arrival. when it was said marquis maze was the target, i did a double-take.
what? this tiny guy can't be the same marquis maze that i saw out at tarrant two years ago!!! he was bigger than everyone that night!
in reality, he was only 5-8, 5-9 and weighed less than me. crazy, the difference between all-state at tarrant and the big boys of the sec.
i love his nickname, and i love his game. i am not going to call him the x-factor for the title game. that'll be someone else. for a post closer to the game. for today, though, it's fun to think back to that night out at tarrant with kiker and fast-forward to now, a week away from playing a vital role in the bcs national championship.
go get 'em, marquis. and roll tide.
(bcs title game, part two)
i'll always have a soft spot for marquis maze, because he's one of the few (maybe only???) current bama guys that i got to see play in high school.
i have fond memories of that night. some of you may know jason white from humc softball, but you've never heard him called jason white. when jason hooked up with the softball team (what, gosh..., eight years ago??? wow.), chris hicks annointed him "rookie" and the name just stuck. after rookie graduated from uab, he went on to teach and coach at oak grove high school out towards hueytown-ish. during his first year at oak grove, kiker and i went out to show some friendly support when rook and oak grove came out to play tarrant.
i didn't know anything about tarrant, but it didn't take long to figure out who their go-to guy was. kiker is usually a little farther ahead of the curve than i am when it comes to prep athletes, so he told me the guy that was dominating from the jump was marquis maze. compared to the little corn-fed white kids from oak grove and most of his own teammates, maze seemed like a man amongst boys. he returned kicks, punts, played quarterback and running back that night. every time he touched the ball, it seemed like he was streaking the length of the field with helpless oak grovers trailing behind. oak grove was destroyed that night, single-handedly, by marquis maze, and i've had my eyes on him ever since.
i loved that he signed with saban's first class and just knew he'd be an instant impact guy. he wasn't. he redshirted his first year, learning his new position.
he first appeared for the tide against clemson last year in the season opener, and what a first impression he made. a leaping, one-handed catch that ended up not counting announced his arrival. when it was said marquis maze was the target, i did a double-take.
what? this tiny guy can't be the same marquis maze that i saw out at tarrant two years ago!!! he was bigger than everyone that night!
in reality, he was only 5-8, 5-9 and weighed less than me. crazy, the difference between all-state at tarrant and the big boys of the sec.
i love his nickname, and i love his game. i am not going to call him the x-factor for the title game. that'll be someone else. for a post closer to the game. for today, though, it's fun to think back to that night out at tarrant with kiker and fast-forward to now, a week away from playing a vital role in the bcs national championship.
go get 'em, marquis. and roll tide.
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