28 days later
(we'll have football to talk about)


for now, we have football talk to talk about. and what else would we talk about than the preseason coaches poll being released today.

for the first time since 1978, alabama begins a season at number one. it should always be this way. not alabama being ranked number one, but the previous season's champ beginning the next on top of the mountain. regardless of how many key members of that team you lost, until some other team proves otherwise, this team is still king.

as we get closer to the season, there will, of course, be much more to discuss, dismiss and dismantle about the upcoming college football season.

today, we have this.

55 of 59 votes, and let's be honest. the other four coaches are just being contrarian. i would love to hear their arguments against voting alabama one. what would it be? they lost an awful lot on defense. they are replacing all of those losses with more "talent" than last year. continue. ...

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they lost their kicker and punter.

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 there really aren't many holes, are there? the offense that was pretty powerful last year comes back stacked and more experienced. and, oh yeah, julio is healthy at the moment. he wasn't most of last year. think about for a second. also, depending on how the chips fall, this alabama backfield could be remembered as one of the best in college history. already, they are every bit as dangerous as the cadillac/ronnie brown duo from a few years back. julio will be better. maze will be better. i am getting ahead of myself. it's not time to get excited just yet. it's time to close the celebration of the 2009/10 season and begin the process of being an alabama fan for the 2010/11 season.

i was two when expectations were last this high. it will be fascinating to see how saban plays with this deck of cards as compared to his rag-tag group of cory reamers and javy arenas' and like overachievers. will the success of last year bring with it complacency. or swagger.

what if this year's team is (shiver) better?

jesus. i need to calm down and go watch the braves.

we'll start counting down and breaking down soon.

very soon...