Monday links: time to start over

It's been a big weekend here at The Home of the Party. My wife graduated from Samford's Nurse Anesthesia Program on Friday. Auburn and Alabama met in a big weekend baseball series at Three-Name Complex. And apparently the world is ending Saturday.
So, here's an attempt to get back on a regular schedule in the interim. Hey, assuming we're all still here this time next week, maybe we'll settle into a routine. As always, please remember to visit the Red Cross' website and donate, if you haven't done so already.

— Our guys did come up with a bit of a rally in that series vs. the Tigers today, winning 7-6 to salvage a game in the series. In all honesty, these two teams are pretty closely matched: the final scores of the Saturday doubleheader were 7-5 and 8-7, and 'Bama had the tying run on base in both cases. If there was one disheartening aspect of the weekend, it's that Bama's bullpen came apart so catastrophically Saturday and dug too big a hole for the squad to climb out. In any case, we need to close strong vs. Carolina to get to Hoover. And, um, Carolina's pretty good.
— Speaking of pretty good, Alabama's softball team is set to host a regional this weekend, the No. 2 seed overall. With a win in the regional, the Tide will also host a super regional the following weekend. It's good news for a group that's been through a ton these past few weeks.
— A fun story: Shaun Alexander, set to be inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, admits he chose Alabama because of ... well, climate.

"Driving up from Cincinnati (to Michigan), all the roads were down to one lane on a four-lane highway. I'd never seen that much snow. It freaked me out. And when I got on campus, the only thing I could think was, 'It's cold.' "

— Slightly more depressing news about former players: Keith McCants is suffering. This is, um, sad.
— Equally sad: Alabama and Tennessee folks came together this weekend for the funeral of Aaron Douglas, which naturally stole headlines this week for its tragic nature (and, of course, ESPN's bizarre handling of the story initially). I don't even like speculating on stories like this; really, anything other than, "This is really, really sad" would be inappropriate. So let's stick with that.
— Something related to actual football: A (free) post from BOL measuring which Alabama linebackers were the best in 2010. The answer may be somewhat surprising (then again, maybe not).
— Finally, here's a link where Mark Richt criticizes coaches who are "winning at all costs." Did I post this just to mess with my buddy Peter? Mostly, yeah.