A request.

[OldDad]

tennman and duck,

FOUR Bama fans!  Life long Tide fan! Didn't attend the University, went to Bible college instead, but deep roots.  Before I went to college I had attended all but four home games for the previous 10 years.

My dad was one of the State Troopers who escorted Coach Bryant and the team (he worked for Perkins, "What's-his-name", and Stallings, also).  And my baby brother is named Paul Bryant, something my Dad finally wore my mom down on.  He had asked to name each of us that, and my mom just got tired of saying "No."

I think Bama will surprise a lot of folks this year.  Probation gives them nothing to lose and everything to prove.  I also think Coach Fran is a potential dynasty builder in the Bobby Bowden mold.  I miss not being in Alabama for football season, but I keep up via the internet and manage to make it to A-Day each spring and at least one game during the season.

Jerry: Big Ten football is like watching two mules fight over a turnip.  Indiana vs. Illinois???  Who cares!?  :p

OD

[Rocketman]

I never recovered from the last baseball strike, so I'd just as soon them strike again and maybe kill it as we know it today. Hopeful that it will reemerge as something that it seemed to lose.  I got it, a restoration baseball league. RM baseball. It could work.

I tried to stay out of the football debate but I am an Auburn alum and fan.  Oh and to bring this back to a cofc context, AU's coach Tommy Tuberville is a member of the Auburn Church of Christ. So, I'd like to ask these crimson brethren to pray for their brother Tommy.  :D

[Jeff]

There was a great article in The Sporting News a few years ago about Gene Stallings when he was head coach at Alabama.  The article mentioned Coach Stallings visiting the hospital to see some members of his church (CoC) that had been in a bad car wreck.  The article pointed out how impressive this was since it was in the middle of the football season and all coaches' time is at a premium.  When a family member of the hospitalized folks was asked why the head coach at the University of Alabama would choose to spend his time this way, the response was simple: "That's what Christians do.  This is what Jesus would do."  What a great testimony, especially when it occurred in the secular press!

[OldDad]

Rocketman,

Amen to the Legion Field thing.  Last year we drove from my mom's house in Pelham to the Hyatt downtown and rode the shuttle back to the stadium so we wouldn't have to park down there.  Do you know if there are plans to tear LF down and build in another area?

I guess it's kind of a moot point, since Bama will be playing all home games in Tuscaloosa pretty soon.

OD

[duckman]

Dare we say that it's time for a Restoration Movement for baseball?  It would be nice to get back to a time when the players (not only in basesball, but in other professional sports) played for the love of the game.

The owners?  Even when baseball was good, they were greedy and egotistical - Jesus said we would always have the poor with us.  In the same way, the owners will always be greedy!

Of course, as a Red Sox fan, this year is like all the others for the Red Sox (a good team, but never quite good enough!).  So for me, not much has changed in baseball!

[Bon Voyage]

I request a moment of silence.  For Major League Baseball.

[duckman]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]It's college football season. Forget about those spoiled baseball players.

Believe it or not, I am not a Tennessee fan. Nope. It's the Alabama Crimson Tide for me. So, there are two Tide fans on this board that I know of....myself and Lee Wilson.[/quote]
Make that 3 Crimson Tide fans - U of A grad, class of 1978 here.  Maybe one day we'll have something to cheer about.

As for this season, my oldest daughter just began her freshman year at N.C. State.  Since my money and my daughter go to school there (hey, I'm paying the coaches' salaries, right?), they are number 2 on my list - Bama will always be first.

[Jeff]

Hoo, boy, let me weigh in on this one.  First of all, Jerry, I agree a moment of silence is in order for MLB.  It's truly sad what it has become.  I was watching ESPN Classic this spring -- the game was from 1985 -- and I was amazed at the difference in the announcing and television production from just a little over fifteen years ago.  Just watching a game on TV now is disheartening with all the flashbacks and insets and constant yammering by the commentators (or perhaps I'm just getting old??) Of course all these young steriod-pumped monster men have to "pose" before settling into their home run trot... Don't get me started on the costs of attending a game these days... my dad wanted to come up and go to a Braves game this summer.  I told him to wait and just let me know when he was going to Greenville SC (his in-laws live there) and I'd drive up with my boys and attend a AA game there with him:  more intimate ball park, lower cost, less hassle with traffic, more pure baseball being played.  I'm also a big college baseball fan, so the demise of MLB wouldn't slow me down much.

Oh, and gentlemen.... it is college football season (watched the first half of Colo State and U Va tonight) and the Seminoles of Florida State will be back in the hunt this year.  Of course, I feel a comraderie with all of you Alabama fans since "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."  May the entire SEC give a warm welcome to Coach Zook's first year at the University of Florida (heh, heh, heh.)

[segell]

My brother lives in Birmingham, Alabama and every fall I get at least one call that begins something like this:  "RRROOOLLLL, TIDE, ROLL!".  At first I thought it was a new sales gimmick for at laundry detergent I use.  He finally set me straight.

(By the way, my brother and I were quarterbacks in school, so you should understand we love the game).  

Nonetheless, I remember sitting back so many years ago at around 4:00 PM (east coast) feet up and excited about watching USC kick Notre Dames butt from on end of the field to another.........ahem, sorry, got carried away with a fond memory.  

My son will be a senior at Maryland this year.  I am an ardent Terp fan.  But, Beware the Turtle??   :D

[duckman]

OldDad,

I suppose we should pray that Tommy comes to a more complete understanding of the truth?

[Rocketman]

Hey Janine,
Where did your husband play?  I know many wives who feel like you, but college football is more than just the game in the south, there is the social aspects of tailgating and visiting that adds to the fun of it all.  I know many who come to Auburn just for the tailgating, never even making it to the game but having fun catching up with old friends.  I dont understand not going to the game, but whatever works for you.  :D

[OldDad]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]I know many who come to Auburn just for the tailgating, never even making it to the game but having fun catching up with old friends.  I dont understand not going to the game, but whatever works for you[/quote]

Rocketman,

I could understand preferring sitting in a parking lot over going to an Auburn game...  Unless they were playing Bama!

:p

OD

[marc]

My earliest memories of baseball come from the fall of 1971, when I was 9, watching Roberto Clemente turn the game into an art form and lead the Pirates to the World Championship.  The next year I became a Reds fan, and spent my formative years watching Pete Rose crouch at the plate and then play the game as if his livelyhood depended on it. . .  Joe Morgan flap his arm twice, then drive the ball and run. . . Johnny Bench dominate games from behind the plate while pulling the ball over the left field fence. . . George Foster muscle the ball out of the park. . . Tony Perez nearly always come through in the clutch. . . .

But the end began in '76.  The reserve clause was broken, and. right as this was, an era of player disloyalty and team instability began.  The Reds refused to play by the new rules.  Soon Rose was wearing another uniform.  Then a new General Manager took over the team, and quickly dismantled the remainder of the machine.  

And nothing was ever the same.  Rose's final humiliation was the final act of a long, sad play. Baseball would never be the same again.

Yes, the game still has it's moments.  I have enjoyed watching the way Barry Larkin plays, for instance, in ways that remind me of the old days.  And other players--Tom Browning, Chris Sabo, Eric Davis, to name a few--have been worthy of the uniform.

But still, the game will never be the same.

And what is happening now is just one more payment for the years of injustice when the reserve clause reigned.  But maybe, just maybe, if the blow is severe enough, then Baseball will be reborn from this dying seed, and will grow to be stronger and more righteous than ever.

At least that's the dream.

[Rocketman]

Olddad,
I fully expected that reply from you. Thanks for fulfilling my expectations!  

I cant understand it myself, I'd go to see just about any game, well maybe not UAB but thats because its life risking to go to Legion Field.

[Rocketman]

Hey wait a second s1n4m1n dont you mean War Eagle?  Ha ha. Ironically related to your post, Northview plays Auburn High the second week of the season.  There is some irony there isnt there?  Dubose in another contest with Auburn but at Duck Samford stadium rather than Jordan Hare.

[OldDad]

Jerry,

Does it still exist?  I was a lifelong Braves fan, but I haven't watched a half hour of professional baseball since the last strike killed the World Series.

For the last few years on Opening Day, I break out my "Ken Burn's 'Baseball'" tapes and remember the grand, deceased, former national pasttime.

OD

[Bon Voyage]

I think the SEC is always full of overrated teams.  Big Ten Baby.

[Booty]

Football is it now?

And wasn't Ireland cheated in the World Cup? But Brazil did deserve to win, they did.

Ohh You mean that gladiator event you yanks have??

Sorry, I'll drop out.

[Rocketman]

Olddad, we all need it.  And besides what could be more Christ like for yall to be praying for Tommy?  He did say pray for your enemies and now your enemy is your brother.  Puts you in a tough spot I guess.   :D

[Rocketman]

He is a native Arkansan and went to Southern Arkansas I believe.

[OldDad]

Arkstfan,

Didn't you guys end up with Ray "Mr. Personality" Perkins for awhile?  I never quite figured out why he left 'Bama.

OD

[janine]

*Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond LA
*1979-1983 or thereabouts
*guard & center (offensive line)
*ended with a total dislocation of the knee

Oddly enough, the university ended its football program soon after he left... :p

We hear it's coming back, though.  (The program, not the knee :D .)

[4kidsandadog]

Hey Janine,

I am the same way when it comes to football.  One of my good friends in the church here is a big football fan, though.  Her dad just retired from 31 years of coaching their small-town football team.

I enjoy watching baseball, though.... hardly ever actually watch it, but if you asked me if I wanted to go to a game, I'd probably take you up on it.  We managed to get down to a Reds game 2 weeks ago.  It was OK; I agree that baseball is way over-priced these days.  Our city just got a minor-league team a couple of summers ago and they have sold out every year.  The only tickets left to buy by the start of the season are lawn tickets out behind the outfield (you bring a blanket to sit on).  $5 a ticket isn't too bad.  So a lot of people have stopped driving the hour down to Cincinnati in favor of watching the hometown team.

Karen

[s1n4m1n]

Hi all,

A big ROLL TIDE to everyone. We've been through some lean years recently but hopefully things are turning around.

Just a side note, Mike Dubose is coaching at Northview High School in Dothan (I attended there a couple of years before moving).

Ken

[OldDad]

I know we've yanked this thread into a discussion of College Football, and that is my favorite sport, but...

jerrybrooke started this to mourn the passing of Baseball as we know it.  In that spirit I post excerpts from Dan Thomasson's column...

----------

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]"For millions of Americans, the time may have passed for the national pastime, and under the current circumstances it's about time.  In fact, for many of us fed up with the childish wrangling among multimillionaires, the August 30 deadline set by players for a strike can't come too soon.

"With the economy still sputtering, the stock market trying to decide whether it is a bear or a bull, terrorist alerts every whip-stitch and the seemingly never-ending debate about Iraq, who besides sportswriters and talk-show hosts and statistic nuts has time to be concerned about the alleged problems of baseball players who average $2.5 million a year and greedy billionaire owners who constantly want bigger and better stadiums at taxpayer expense?

"...Who are the bad guys?  Both sides qualify.  But most fans will be inclined to blame the players, with their highly publicized, spectacular salaries awarded when their recent production wouldn't have gotten them out of the minors in the old days.

"They are becoming removed from those who buy the tickets.  Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers makes $118,579 a game.  To figure his total pay, keep in mind that there are some 160 regular-season games. Certainly he needs a union like a steelworker or a Detroit assembly-line worker, doesn't he?"
[/quote]

Farewell, National Pastime, we will miss you...  :(

OD

[Arkstfan]

I used to be a big fan but have lost interest. The last real fun I had with baseball (other than my son playing) was going to Pine Bluff, Ark to watch the Locomotives from an Independent minor league.

Just a bunch of young men clinging to the dream of playing pro ball even though they had either been passed over or washed out of the player develoment system of the majors. That was fun.

[marc]

College football season (or pro football season, for that matter) doesn't begin until late October, after the last out of the World Series.  Until then, nothing else matters.

Having said that (and established myself as the baseball fanatic that I am) I have to say that I have not attended a game this year and will not be attending one--this in a year in which my Reds are closing out their stadium and are only now slipping out of contention.  I am on strike.  I'll be back in the new stadium if sanity ever returns to the game, but honestly, I'm no sure what that means.  If the end of the season is wiped out, there's a good chance I won't go back next year, at least.

[nerdneh]

When I was a boy I saw Ted Williams hit one off the center field wall in Comiskey Park in Chicago. I will never forget how easy his swing was. Now we have pampered millionaires. Should I worry about the fate of a millionaire?

[janine]

Ever seen the cartoon character Homer Simpson "in church" or at the ballet, somewhere he just has no desire to go, it's all over his head, he's only there 'cause people he loves are there?  

Have ya seen him, zombie-like, eyes pointing two different directions, drool rolling down his chin, a gargled, garbled moan emanating from him diaphragm?:p

That's me when sports are in the air, appetizing thought that it is.  High-pro sports of any kind disillusioned me a long time ago... I never really liked any game I (or a loved one) wasn't playing in...

Mike always says I'd love the chess-like football if I only understood it.  Heaven knows how we ended up together, with him such a football devotee, playing college football on a full-ride scholarship, etc. Maybe my problem is that I don't want to understand it.

Y'all enjoy yerselves!  I hope this thread goes on for miles, and all sorts of wandering visitors who love the games are drawn in to discuss them.  Maybe that's how I'll finally get some folks introduced to this discussion board, I'll tell 'em to check out the baseball/football thread...

I'm going to go do something more fun now...  Maybe scrubbing the commode...  :D

Love ya, fellas... :)

[OldDad]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]I'd like to ask these crimson brethren to pray for their brother Tommy.  

[/quote]

He's certainly going to need it!  :p

OD

[Arkstfan]

Tommy nearly ended up as head coach at Arkansas State in 1993 but couldn't hammer out the contract details.

[janine]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]FOUR Bama fans!  Life long Tide fan! Didn't attend the University, went to Bible college instead, but deep roots.  Before I went to college I had attended all but four home games for the previous 10 years... I think Bama will surprise a lot of folks this year.  OD[/quote]


Riddle:
Q: What's the difference between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Kellogg's Corn Flakes?
A: Cornflakes belong in a bowl.

[janine]

Yeah, that's the scenario I need to enjoy a baseball or football game.  I need to have a loved one playing, or some other compelling reason to be there... enthusiastic kids with me,  & cheap tickets,  & a hot dog in one hand & nachos in the other!

"Yay team (crunch)!"

"(Pass the sausage) Look at that popup fly!"

"(Slurp) (get me a refill will ya?) Run!  Run!  No, not you, honey, I have a Coke already, I was yelling at the receiver!"

[Rocketman]

Oldad,
There are no plans to tear down Legion Field as of now. (Though a couple years ago it was about to fall down on its on , but they did some repair work) Bham has kicked around the idea of building a dome that would replace it, but that plan was voted down by the citizens of Bham.  I dont blame them as with the cost involved I wouldnt trust the Bham politicians with my money either (its been a couple years but seems like some tax proposal was suppose to fund the dome).

I did the shuttle thing the last time I went to Lesion field too.

Pelham huh?  Isnt Tyler Watts a member of the cofc?  I had heard he was.

[Rocketman]

Janine, if you have ever been there you would understand.   :D
Thats just kind of a nickname some folks have for the place.