holiday links for your reading enjoyment

Since a good number of the home readers are already on vacation, I owe you some links to help you pass the time. Before we begin, though, enjoy this.



Pretty beautiful, no? (h/t: RBR & Gentry)

Our links today deal almost exclusively with a relatively big game you may have heard about. The one played on Jan. 7. You've heard? Well, enjoy these, then.
— First, on coaching: Gentry gave us the Saban-Muschamp angle today; Saban went on his (very predictable) rant against "media" yesterday; Saban forgot his anniversary (yikes); and here's a great feature illustrating how the Saban contract (lampooned nationally as fiscally irresponsible) has paid off considerably.
Also on the coaching subject, Mr. SEC gives us a coaching carousel update. Remarkably, it appears we're going to keep our staff intact for now.
— History section: as I'm sure you've heard by now, Alabama has never beaten Texas in football. In fact, the boys at RBR have done a fantastic job in this department recently, with a series of stories related to Texas, as well as one related to the Rose Bowl.
Of course, because this is the history section, we must discuss last year's bowl game, a game that was so unhappy it nearly caused a trial separation at my house. Fortunately, this game is the only one that matters.
One other history-related note: Chris Low totally stole my idea by ranking the programs over the course of the decade.
— Finally, player notes: McElroy says he holds no grudges against Texas; Kareem Jackson is exploring his NFL Draft status; and, since you're only as good as your backup QB, here's a story about A.J. McCarron.
In prospective player news, the future of Tide punt returning may very well be Corey Grant. Which, obviously, is pretty cool. Also, in former player news, several of our boys are in the ASHoF Class of 2010.

Back with more later. Roll Tide.