The Battle Plan
10/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | General
The Most Meaningful Regular Season in Sports
Hats off to the Bowl Championship Series and the College Football Playoff! To me, the BCS structure has had much to do with the playoff atmosphere that we as college football fans are enjoying every week. I know of no other sport in which every regular season game means so much. In spite of the criticism the BCS received over the years, the BCS accomplished exactly what its creators hoped for - pitting the top two collegiate teams against each other, keeping the regular season relevant, and protecting the tradition of the bowl games.
The College Football Playoff has been set up to accomplish those same objectives and will, hopefully, improve the odds of getting the best two teams into the championship game. It is my hope that the number of teams in the playoff does not expand past four. Why? Two reasons: 1) Player safety - I am concerned that playing more games presents a player safety hazard; 2) The degradation of the regular season. While adding more teams might make for a better playoff scenario, and could probably generate more post-season revenue, I believe it would take away from the regular season and hurt the game overall.
The NCAA Basketball Championship is one of the most exciting playoff experiences of any sport. But the downside is that it has made the regular season almost irrelevant. We need creative thinking to restore excitement, interest, and attendance in the basketball regular season. In my judgment, we definitely should not risk losing what we have now in football.
Savor Every Victory
I was very proud of our team and fans last Saturday in Fayetteville. The weather was ugly, the crowd was hostile (in a sportsmanlike manner), and conditions were tough. If you have never experienced the Razorback fans rocking the stadium with "Woo Pig Sooie", you need to add that experience to your bucket list!
Arkansas had enjoyed the luxury of an open date week and the Hogs were rested and well-prepared. They have a good team on both sides of the ball, and they will get on the winning track again soon.
While our win wasn't especially pretty, it did reflect our team's toughness, resolve, character and resilience. Our defense shut down one of the most prolific running teams in the country. And our freshman punter (JK Scott) did a great job of turning the field over and helping us win with old fashioned field-position football. It reminded me of the kind of games we played many times back in the 1950's and 60's. I was delighted to leave Fayetteville with another check in the "WIN column" and a 5-1 record.
It will be nice to return to the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium this week. Texas A&M comes to town with a high-powered offense and a much-improved defense. They shocked the world when they beat South Carolina in the first game on the SEC Network in August. They shocked us in 2012 when they came into our stadium and jumped out to a 21-0 lead and again last year in their stadium when they jumped out to a 14-0 lead. We almost came back in 2012 and did come back last year for a big road win. We will need to be at our best when the Aggies come in Saturday.
Our coaches and team are working hard and they are excited about another big SEC game. All the tickets are sold, the weather this weekend should be great, and many recruits in all sports will be on campus. We look forward to a great game on a special college football Saturday.
We are honored to have Demeco Ryans, Evan Mathis and Bob Baumhower serving as honorary captains this week. They will meet fans between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in a tent on the corner of University Boulevard and Wallace Wade.
The End of an Era
It was with mixed emotions that I spoke with Mike Slive earlier this week and he told me he was announcing his retirement. He has been a visionary leader since he joined the Southeastern Conference as its Commissioner in 2002. The league has moved light years ahead in most every category during his tenure. I admired him from afar until last year when I came back to Alabama. I admire him even more now after seeing firsthand over the last year and a half what he stands for and how he operates.
We are fortunate that Mike will continue his leadership through the summer of 2015 and will serve as a consultant to the league for an additional four years. The job of Conference Commissioner is a difficult one. It takes a smart, tough, thick-skinned person to lead an organization like the SEC and keep everyone relatively happy. We hope and pray that his health will continue to be good as he fights a difficult disease, and that he has many years ahead to enjoy life in retirement.
Hoops on the Quad This Saturday
The weather is expected to be ideal this weekend and it will provide the perfect backdrop for a new event that we hope will get you excited about the upcoming basketball season.
This Saturday we officially open the 2014-15 basketball season with an event that is the first of its kind at Alabama. Our men's and women's basketball teams will host Hoops on the Quad presented by Alabama Power, a special fan-friendly event that is scheduled to take place beginning at 11 a.m. The hour-long event will take place on a special outdoor court and showcase both teams as they participate in a variety of activities, including team introductions, a skills competition, a three-point shootout, a brief scrimmage and more. After the event ends, both teams will remain on site following the show to sign autographs for fans. And fans will still have time to get to the Walk of Champions in the North End Zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium at 12:30.
I am excited about the possibilities of this upcoming season. We have a men's team that is coming together nicely, and our women's program is definitely on the upswing. We have good leadership in both programs and these teams need - and want - your enthusiastic support. You can make a difference for our teams - and that effort starts this Saturday.
Power of Pink Events This Weekend
We are pleased to enter our sixth annual Power of Pink program this week with events in soccer, cross country and volleyball. The initiative was started in 2004 by coach Sarah Patterson, and since that time the program has grown to include all women's teams at Alabama. The start of this year's Power of Pink events coincide with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. An estimated 1.7 million new cases occurred throughout the world last year.
Our fall events are just the beginning of Alabama's 2014-15 Power of Pink slate. Winter events include swimming and diving, gymnastics, and women's basketball. Spring events include women's tennis, track and field, softball, and rowing. We are pleased that our teams are involved in many community service initiatives that enable our student-athletes to realize their ability to contribute to causes that affect us all.
The 2015 Football Schedule
Our 2015 football schedule was announced Tuesday evening on the SEC Network's SEC Now. We will have seven home games, four road games and one neutral site game. Our schedule takes us to some interesting locales, including a return trip to the Cowboys Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, against Wisconsin on September 5. The true road games next year take us to some of college football's most colorful and tradition-rich programs - a trip to Athens to take on Georgia on October 3, a game at Texas A&M's newly-redeveloped stadium on Oct. 17, and trips to Mississippi State (Nov. 14) and Auburn (Nov. 28). The trip to Georgia will be our first in Athens since 2008, only our eighth since 1965. The trip to Kyle Field in College Station will be only our third in history to that venue.
After the opener against the Badgers we return home for three straight games against Middle Tennessee (Sept. 12), Ole Miss (Sept. 19) and Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 26) before heading to Athens to take on the Bulldogs on October 3. After that we return home for a game with Arkansas on Oct. 10 before taking on Texas A&M on Oct. 17. Tennessee visits Tuscaloosa on Oct. 24 before our only open date on the schedule on Oct. 31. The final stretch of November games features a home game with LSU on Nov. 7, a trip to Starkville to take on Mississippi State on Nov. 14, a non-conference game against Charleston Southern on Nov. 21 and the Iron Bowl at Auburn on Nov. 28.
It's a typically difficult schedule made especially intriguing by the road venues. Start making your plans now for those trips next season.
Fan Experience Initiatives
As I noted in a blog a couple of weeks ago, we continue to make improvements throughout Bryant-Denny Stadium that are aimed at making your experience attending our games more comfortable and enjoyable. Everything we do in this effort is based on feedback from our fans. We rely on you to tell us what you need, where we are falling short, where we are doing well, and what you want. There's plenty of talk these days about the fan experience. Quite simply, it's all about remembering that you are the key to our success. Based on your suggestions we have improved the look and checkout capacity of our concession areas; added new televisions in our concourses; added point-of-sale signage to expedite the flow of people through our concession lines; and added water tanks in the concourses throughout the stadium to help our fans cope with the heat and humidity.
We remain diligent in this effort. It is an effort that will be constantly evolving, but the key element to our ability to provide you with what you need is the feedback that we get. We send out surveys to ticket holders after most of our games. Please take the time to respond to those inquiries, or simply contact us directly, to tell us how to continue to make the experience of attending our games better. Remember - if you experience problems in the stadium, particularly issues that need immediate attention, call our hotline at 205-348-5620 or text the key word BAMA along with your question to 71855 and one of our dispatchers will assist you. For the latest information on football gameday, remember to go to uagameday.com.
Fall Sports Update
Here are brief updates on our fall teams that saw action last weekend. You can follow the links provided to read more in-depth information about these teams.
Head Coach Ed Allen's VOLLEYBALL squad continued its stellar season by splitting two SEC matches last weekend. After a tough 2-1 loss at No. 19 Texas A&M on Friday the Tide returned home on Sunday to take a victory over a very good South Carolina squad (read about it here) to improve its record to 16-4 overall and 4-2 in SEC action. The Tide resumes play this Sunday at Foster Auditorium against Ole Miss (15-3, 1-3 SEC) in a 1 p.m. match.
Our SOCCER team is resurgent this season, standing 8-4-2 overall this season and 3-2-1 in SEC play. The Tide battled back to earn the eventual win in overtime, 3-2, against the LSU Tigers on Thursday night in front of a national audience on the SEC Network (read about it here). After falling behind twice, the Tide did not fold and put consistent pressure as time ran down and eventually won in overtime on a goal by Theresa Diederich. The Tide hosts Arkansas this Friday evening before traveling to Missouri for a Sunday match.
The WOMEN'S GOLF team continued its fall season last weekend at the Tar Heel Invitational at the University of North Carolina, taking 11th in the team standings (read about it here). Coach Mic Potter's retooled team is improving as the fall progresses, and that's definitely encouraging based on Mic's track record. The Tide returns to the course Oct. 24 at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C.
Our ROWING team continued its fall season last Saturday with a successful day on the Tennessee River, medaling six boats at the Chattanooga Head Race, including gold in the Women's Collegiate 8+ and Novice 8+ (read about it here). Coach Larry Davis's team continues its fall season next weekend in Cambridge, Mass., at the Head of the Charles Regatta. Two days of races begin on Saturday, Oct. 18.
The SWIMMING & DIVING teams posted strong showings at Georgia last Friday afternoon in the Crimson Tide's road and Southeastern Conference opener, winning three of the four relays and earning seven individual wins on the day as well as 10 individual runner-up finishes (read about it here). Alabama's men and women's team are both now 1-1 overall and 0-1 in SEC competition.
Our excellent WOMEN'S TENNIS team hosted the 2014 USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships last weekend, earning 31 total wins in the four-day tournament (read about it here).
Catch Alabama Athletics on The SEC Network
Here's a summary of our athletic events to be televised this weekend on The SEC Network. Our soccer games on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, along with our volleyball match on Sunday and Coach Saban's press conference on Monday, can be seen via SEC Network +, which is available online via ESPN3 here.
(All times listed are Central Time)
Friday, Oct. 17
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 7 p.m. | Soccer vs. Arkansas | SEC Network + |
Sunday, Oct. 19
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 1 p.m. | Soccer at Missouri | SEC Network + |
| 1 p.m. | Volleyball vs. Ole Miss | SEC Network + |
Monday, Oct. 20
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 12 p.m. | Football - Nick Saban Press Conference | SEC Network + |
Upcoming Events
If you are coming to campus for our football game versus Texas A&M, be sure to make plans to cheer our soccer team on against Arkansas on Friday night and our volleyball team versus Ole Miss on Sunday. We also have a cross country meet this Friday evening starting at 5 p.m. at the Harry Pritchett Running Park adjacent to the VA Hospital near the Tuscaloosa Arboretum. Here's a summary of athletics events over the next several days (times listed are for the location of the event):
Thursday, Oct. 16
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Day | Men's Tennis | at USTA/ITA Southern Regional | Auburn, Ala. |
Friday, Oct. 17
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 p.m. | Cross Country | Crimson Classic | Tuscaloosa |
| 7 p.m. | Soccer | Arkansas | Tuscaloosa |
| All Day | Men's Tennis | at USTA/ITA Southern Regional | Auburn, Ala. |
Saturday, Oct. 18
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:30 p.m. | Football | Texas A&M | Tuscaloosa |
| All Day | Rowing | at Head of the Charles Regatta | Cambridge, Mass. |
| All Day | Men's Tennis | at USTA/ITA Southern Regional | Auburn, Ala. |
Sunday, Oct. 19
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 p.m. | Volleyball | Ole Miss | Tuscaloosa |
| 1 p.m. | Soccer | at Missouri | Columbia, Mo. |
| All Day | Rowing | at Head of the Charles Regatta | Cambridge, Mass. |
| All Day | Men's Tennis | at USTA/ITA Southern Regional | Auburn, Ala. |
Sunday, Oct. 19
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Day | Men's Tennis | at USTA/ITA Southern Regional | Auburn, Ala. |
Monday, Oct. 20
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Day | Men's Tennis | at USTA/ITA Southern Regional | Auburn, Ala. |
Wednesday, Oct. 22
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 p.m. | Volleyball | at Auburn | Auburn, Ala. |
We've reached a crucial point in the fall semester for all of our teams currently in competition. Your vocal presence is more important than ever at these events, so please try to work them into your plans. If it's not a sport you regularly attend, try it out - you most likely will find attending these events to be most enjoyable. Like I always say - you can (and you do!) make a positive difference in the performance of our teams. A rising tide lifts all boats and it's up to all of us to Keep the Tide Rising!
