Monday links: springing forward

— In the state of Alabama, we have many points of pride. One of those points of pride is not the quality basketball we play here, as Scarbinsky reminds us with this column. This seems like a tradition, by the way, among local columnists: complaining about the low-wattage hoop in the state every spring. It's sort of like a rite of spring, along with people complaining about pollen and ridiculous A-Day attendance figures. Speaking of things we do well here, the Tourism Bureau is adding the state's championship tour to its marketing campaign. Of course we are.
— Which means, obviously, that we should talk about football. Nick Saban's bunch was back at it this week, and BSR has the most comprehensive spring reports for your reading pleasure. TideSports has the video.

One of the key focus points for the 2012 edition of the Crimson Tide is the defensive line, which must begin with the nose position. The secondary is also rebuilding, but, as anyone who reads me regularly knows, I believe being great up front will cover up for a mass of deficiencies in the back end.
Oh, and while we're here, it's worth noting that Alabama's athletic department was the most profitable in the nation last year. But they still want me to be a contributor. I feel like cursing at that automated voice every time I hear it.
— The baseball team did what the baseball team usually does. Softball did its usual thing, too. These things are opposites, by the way.

— Chipper Jones announced his retirement at the end of this season last week. David O'Brien calls him the greatest Brave of the Atlanta era, and it's hard to argue.
In other baseball news, Joba Chamberlain has really terrible luck.
— Miscellaneous stuff: Anniston's George Smith eulogizes the great Furman Bisher; the NYT discusses how to fight the NCAA; the state of Kentucky is preparing for Armageddon; and Texas A&M is taking its last long, wistful looks back at the Big XII.
— Finally, I would be remiss not to link to this wonderfully penned column about Tim Tebow, written by the great Spencer Hall. He's about got this Internet thing figured out.

The truth is that -- in what will be year three -- no one knows that it will not work. I think Tim Tebow could be a superb tight end, H-back or fullback. He could probably be a passable linebacker given time. If he wanted to throw the world a curveball, he could probably become a professional rugby player of some serious value. I think he will get an NFL pension by playing in the league for five years, and will probably spend the rest of his life being a reasonably good person somewhere. I am certain he will marry someone attractive (because he is rich) and make burly children (because he is burly).
These are things I think based on things I know about the subject of Tim Tebow. I believe nothing about him, but that is not about sports. That's a matter of belief, and of theology, and of things without box scores. Football is not a theology. If Tim Tebow exists on the football field, it will not require prayer, hope or faith to prove it. He will be right there between the lines, and as irrefutable as gravity itself.