family conversations, 2010 version, part 3

Welcome back to "Family Conversations," a much beloved tolerated running segment in which I trade emails with my cousin's husband (cousin-in-law?) Jamie regarding 'Bama football, Auburn football and life in general. You can read the first two parts here and here. To voice your own opinion, feel free to leave it here or visit me on twitter.

Jamie: Thanks to church league softball's 9:30 slot tonight, I won't be going to bed anytime soon so I will go ahead and respond.

1) 04 Auburn vs 09 Alabama: Hell that's easy, '09 Auburn almost beat '09 Bama...no contest.

2) I think most AU fans would agree with me in that I am proud of what Tommy Tuberville did here winning most of his games, all the while having one of the cleanest 10 year runs I can remember in terms of off the field issues. Tommy did some things that made me ill (referring to early season losses as "pre-season", wearing fear the thumb t-shirts and counting all shared western division titles as...western division titles). All in all however, I will look at his years here as a time to be proud of our program. As for the Richt comparison, ask me 3 years ago, I'll take Richt's success. Right now, I would rather be Vanderbilt than to be associated with the thugery that is UGA football. Give me Tommy's 10 years please.

... Back to the first question for a serious answer.

I have said this before but after we went to Knoxville in 2004, I knew we would beat every team left on the schedule only question in by how
much. 10 out of 10 games between the two teams I would have to say that 5-5 is likely for both teams. Earth shattering answer, I know. breaking down the two schedules Bama gets points for beating the best 2 teams on either schedule. AU gets points for winning only two games by less than 10 pts (LSU and VT) Bama had three wins by less than 10 but all 3 were against teams which ended the season with at least 5 losses. O vs D: AU was explosive on offense with a very underrated defense (#1 scoring defense in the country) while Bama had the nations best defense along with a an offense that was very good most of the time. If there is one advantage AU would have, it is that I believe AU's offense vs Bama's defense would be close to a wash while I would give AU's defense a slight edge on Bama's offense. Give me a homer pick of AU - 21 UA - 20 and I'll go home.

Jamie: If you could pick 1 SEC QB in the last 10 years to be the next starter at Alabama, who would it be and why?

will: Weird answer: Jamarcus Russell. I know, I know ... he's failed miserably as a professional, and for the life of me I cannot figure out why. Quite simply, I never saw anyone do the things he did from the quarterback position.

Considering he (apparently) did all those things with little to no practice or training, I can't imagine what kind of player he'd have made with some coaching.

Jamie: Out of every game you have ever seen Alabama play. What single play do you replay in your head the most?

will: A difficult question. The one I've probably replayed the most in my head is a play that actually didn't count: George Teague running down Lamar Thomas in the 1993 Sugar Bowl.

I say "didn't count" because 'Bama was offisdes on the play. In retrospect, though, to have that play happen in that game, to that player (Thomas had been running his yap all week) ... was just too perfect. Nobody would bother writing that story, because no one would believe it.

Jamie: On the same note, what one play would you go back and change the outcome of?

will: Tough to call: it's much easier to recall the painful memories than the positive ones. I've narrowed it down to these 3:

• 1995: Curtis Brown's "Catch" vs. Auburn. One of the only memorable plays in the history of this rivalry that is nowhere to be found on youtube, or anywhere on the Web (as far as I can tell).
• 1997: Ed Scissum's fumble vs. Auburn. I will link to it but not show it, for reasons related to my father's mental health. Arguably the cruelest stomach punch I ever endured during my time as a fan.
• 2005: Tyrone Prothro's broken leg vs. Florida. This one is especially painful because it ruined a) the 2005 season; b) the career of a promising underdog football player; c) the reputation of the university's medical staff (because they botched the whole thing beyond repair). I could barely watch at the time, and I certainly can't look at it now.

will: My follow-ups:
• Aw hell, your two questions are so good, let's flip them around from the Auburn side: your most-replayed plays? Most regrettable plays?
• How much do you pay attention to Auburn guys at the next level?