tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18314300429445337192024-02-02T03:45:35.501-06:00DBH Dance PartyI'd marry you if you could dance.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.comBlogger945125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-38604686467877515392014-08-11T22:41:00.000-05:002014-08-11T22:41:01.953-05:00it's been 20 years since 1994My original title for this was "The Year of Jay Barker." Because really, for Alabama fans — particularly Alabama fans in the eighth grade who spent Sunday mornings and evenings arguing about football with people at Sunday School and youth group — 1994 was about Jay Barker, as much as it was anything else.
It's funny to me now that more people don't talk about the 1994 football season. It was a Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-89575242503688002312014-08-01T22:35:00.000-05:002014-08-05T11:27:04.894-05:00the 2004 Laurens County football scandal: all journalism is localEditor's note: Because of certain career changes currently taking place, I have spent much of the summer not writing. I am now forcing myself to write because it's important to continue doing so. So this blog — which was really only a vanity project on my part in the first place — may become even less readable than before. I apologize in advance.
A decade ago this summer, I became a sports Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-86298176557557015772014-07-18T11:12:00.001-05:002014-07-18T11:12:42.659-05:00contemporary worship, tradition and so forthDuring my second turn at Music & Arts Week at Camp Sumatanga, in 2008, the clinician, Dr. Randall Hooper, introduced to me the concept of "aleatoric" music. In the most layman of terms -- I'm not particularly good at music -- it means "singing or playing without paying a great deal of attention to anybody else around you."
As part of this, he had his choir sing a 1,000-year-old Gregorian Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-78552870383929070932014-05-29T19:26:00.001-05:002014-05-29T19:26:44.117-05:00thoughts on That Game: six months laterEditor's note: The sometimes author of this blog has fully intended to write a comprehensive breakdown of ... That Game. It has taken 6 months to find the time and composure to do so. There's a lot of ground to cover here. Let's hope it was worth it.
It's funny how the progression of time can change a person's perspective, particularly when one is evaluating a football season.
This is Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-44403947175332780792014-05-14T14:20:00.000-05:002014-05-14T14:21:10.201-05:00starting fresh with something different: a wrestling paperSo. Here we are, wondering why it's been so long since we've been together. I don't have a good excuse, but my intent is to make better use of the platform. It's unlikely to be the same as in the past — stuff other than football, at least — and to prove it, I'm sharing a paper I wrote last fall for an English course (never mind why). It's a Google doc, and the paper is about professional Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-43849511717003552712013-09-18T22:48:00.002-05:002013-09-18T22:48:25.012-05:00week 2 thoughts: not today"There is only one god, and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: Not today."*
* I spent most of my summer every reading "A Song of Ice and Fire." It's gonna come up periodically. I apologize in advance.
The bulk of a sports fan's life is learning how to deal with losing.
It's true. For as much as talking heads — most of them former coaches — blather on about "the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-66292575423609032332013-09-04T22:22:00.000-05:002013-09-04T22:22:06.068-05:00week 1 thoughts: something to sayEditor's note: So, remember when I said I was probably going to post here only with sporadic frequency? Yeah, about that. Turns out there's a lot going on these days, that's going to keep me from my slavish devotion to the blog (not shutting down ... just saying). I still am frequent on Twitter, as most of you already know, and a good bit of what I used to do here I can now do there. We'll just Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-73829107824186945922013-08-18T18:04:00.003-05:002013-08-18T18:04:35.156-05:00newspaper column: in the key of meWe can all use a good editor
Here’s a technique whose popularity is increasing: writing in the "key of me."
I have no idea who coined the phrase – I wish I could take credit for it, but I picked it up from either a column or a blog or possibly on the radio (I stay in the car a lot). It probably originated as a musical term, but works for this purpose well.
A columnist writing in the "key of meAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-35656023857050676292013-08-07T22:47:00.000-05:002013-08-07T22:47:01.549-05:00reality dose: Saban and the hurry-upWe talk about this all the time, I suppose, but one of the realities of Alabama's recent run under Nick Saban is this: It's pretty boring.
Not boring, for the record, in the sense that having the same team win over and over again is boring; when that team is your team (here I am!) that's actually pretty awesome. I mean "boring," in the sense of Alabama's style of play, best envisioned as a Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-7405675806703398412013-08-01T23:27:00.002-05:002013-08-01T23:27:27.719-05:00return to post: the trouble with feelingsFor as long as I have been a writer, I have struggled with "feelings."
This is hardly an uncommon thing for a person who writes, or really produces anything. A strong, well-written piece is sort of a piece of the writer's soul — it represents hours on end that the writer spent interviewing subjects, going over word choices before they ever met the page. If it's investigative, it probably Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-82738360203474293832012-08-14T00:30:00.000-05:002012-08-14T00:30:01.804-05:00Tuesday tube: some classic opening actsContinuing with our theme of great openers in Alabama history, here are a few classics from the Bryant era. The most obvious: the 1971 game against Southern Cal, which actually signaled the beginning of a brand new era for Bryant and Alabama.
The second: a 1978 Labor Day night game vs. Nebraska that was made for TV.
Good to know we'll be playing another of those games this time. Beats Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-91405526526316796192012-08-08T16:00:00.000-05:002012-08-08T16:00:03.497-05:00fun with over/unders ... or, Halcombe hijacks the seasonSo ... it's time we started blogging some actual football around here, no? There have been mitigating factors, obviously — we're in the process of moving to a new house and the Olympics have been on and whatnot. Still, it's August, and football is less than a month away. So it's time we started doing something about it.
Much like Peter King or the staff at Deadspin, I have found that the best Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-53788898038223425932012-08-08T09:00:00.000-05:002012-08-08T15:23:41.873-05:00a newspaper column about 'community' (no ... not 'Community')Been in a bit of a quandary recently with my columns for the St. Clair Times: I have ideas in my brain that don't make it to paper, and I can't allocate the proper time to making them coherent. Which is how you get stuff like this. If you care to discuss this further or offer me advice, you can comment here or on Twitter.
More to life than ‘community’
Among us media types, there are a number Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-91918920892246342752012-08-07T06:10:00.002-05:002012-08-07T06:10:55.725-05:00Tuesday tube: Opening with a flourishI feel like I've discussed this game before, but it's impossible to discuss big opening nights in alabama history without this: Alabama's comeback win over Georgia in 1985.
It was a portent of things to come — Alabama wound up bookending its season with another great drive to beat Auburn, rebounding from a 5-7 season the year before.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-13447087754093116842012-08-02T00:30:00.000-05:002012-08-02T00:30:03.427-05:00a newspaper column about the long, slow offseasonPretty sure that this week's column for the St. Clair Times is a repeat of a column I wrote last year or the year before last. But each offseason keeps getting worse, and I can't help it. As always, feel free to respond here or on Twitter.
For football fans, the waiting is the hardest part
It’s probably just because I am older. Check that, it’s definitely because I am older.
Seems like the “Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-89481273291127440502012-07-31T00:30:00.000-05:002012-07-31T00:30:00.228-05:00Tuesday tube: the band plays onAnnually one of my favorite blog posts is this one: A number of marching bands have pop/rock songs they play that appear to have nothing to do with their schools or their schools' mascots. Here are a few of my favorites. Please to enjoy.
Enough to start getting excited about football season anew. As if you needed an excuse.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-7237375083975461132012-07-27T13:21:00.001-05:002012-07-27T13:21:22.055-05:00a newspaper column about our attempts to fix it, whatever "it" isEditor's note: This week's column from the St. Clair Times was actually borne out of my ambivalence to the NCAA's sanctions against Penn State, which in my mind sort of diminished the tragedy of the offenses committed by punishing ... the football team (for the best take on this, read Spencer Hall's excellent piece from Monday). As always, feel free to leave your own thoughts here or on Twitter.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-14992079022413445622012-07-24T00:30:00.000-05:002012-07-24T00:30:01.288-05:00Tuesday tube: a reason to smileFrankly, the news these past few days hasn't been any fun: shootings, the nightmare at Penn State, the presidential election and so forth. So here are a few games from our past that we can enjoy. Because we need to.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-72756956041876398802012-07-19T00:30:00.000-05:002012-07-19T00:30:00.149-05:00a newspaper column questioning the greatness of BatmanEditor's note: I want to emphasize something before you read this week's column for the St. Clair Times: My criticism of "The Dark Knight" is NOT that I dislike the movie. I'm simply somewhat confused by the number of people who made it into the Greatest Movie of All-Time. It's a fun movie — maybe a great superhero movie — but some of the folks (like, say, Will Leitch) need a note from Nick SabanAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-10217833403188623512012-07-17T00:30:00.000-05:002012-07-17T00:30:03.618-05:00Tuesday tube: Is it time already?Editor's note: I tried for the entire weekend to come up with a cogent post about the ongoing horror show in State College, Pa. But I can't do it; everything I tried to write seemed to either minimize the tragedy or fall short of what it should've been. So, unlike the Paterno family, I've decided to keep my mouth shut and attempt to move on with life. As with the shooting in Auburn last month, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-81624878725147368322012-07-12T00:30:00.000-05:002012-07-12T06:53:22.191-05:00newspaper column about the passing of a TV heroEditor's note: This week's column for the St. Clair Times is actually a week old, but come on — I couldn't NOT write about Andy Griffith's death, could I? Also you can enjoy the fact that I apparently wrote "passage" when I meant to say "passing." I feel like I'm getting worse at this. Anyway, as always, you can comment here or on Twitter.
‘We shall meet, but we shall miss him’
An open letter, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-82458348298511065312012-07-10T00:30:00.000-05:002012-07-10T07:17:17.583-05:00Tuesday tube: defending the Air RaidToday's post is inspired this excellent post at Smart Football, about the evolution of the "Air Raid" offense. As it happens, Mike Leach's famous offense struggled only a few times that I can recall; Alabama figured in prominently.
While we're here, we might as well show one of those games that was the coming-out party for Hal Mumme and Tim Couch: their big win over eventual 4-7 Alabama. It's Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-20376783688365668302012-07-05T15:00:00.000-05:002012-07-05T15:00:03.321-05:00revisiting 2010: the team that was missing ... something
The truest champions — the ones we remember for years and years and years — are the ones that keep coming even with all those circumstances and setbacks, that won't be kept down because that's what champions do.
I wrote those words in February 2010, when our boys were barely a month removed from the 2009 BCS national championship game vs. Texas. At that point, we were riding an undefeated streakAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-3626673094063289742012-07-03T06:56:00.000-05:002012-07-03T06:56:18.594-05:00Tuesday tube: the newcomersSomething that went mostly unnoticed over the weekend: Missouri and Texas A&M became official members of the Southeastern Conference.
Another stat that went mostly unnoticed: as a result of Missouri's inclusion in the league, Alabama no longer owns an all-time winning record in football vs. all SEC opponents, with an all-time record of 1-2 vs. Mizzou. Bama's last matchup vs. A&M came in the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831430042944533719.post-44020566209475004642012-06-28T15:00:00.000-05:002012-06-28T15:00:04.371-05:00a newspaper column about heroes you don't really knowThis week's column from the St. Clair Times actually started out as a blog post several weeks ago. Seems all the more appropriate now. As always, feel free to argue, either here or on Twitter.
Heroes we don’t really know all that well
Two nights before the Auburn-Alabama game in 2010, I was in Opelika for a Thanksgiving function with members of my extended family. As with everything else that Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129235080749224440noreply@blogger.com0