Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Dr.'s A-Day Recap

I arrived into the Capstone around mid-afternoon Friday and realized that their was something quite different going on. As I drove down University Blvd., you could see RV's lined up in the usual spots. This time it was RV-ers in the middle of April, not the lunatic fans who stay from Wed. to Mon. during the fall. Restaurants and bars were packed with people at 3 p.m.

After a good meal and some drinks/shots at Catch-22, we decided to call it a night early to ease the hangover for Saturday and the game.

Saturday came with a slight headache and an amazing spread for breakfast (Thanks to Candice, the hostess) I was really surprised how many people my age had made the trek into town. Around 11:30 a.m., my mother called to say she was saving us seats and we probably needed to hurry because the stadium was already crowded and looking like it was filling up rather fast. I thought she was slightly exaggerating the conditions.

As soon as we left the condo, I realized she was right. Traffic was backed up on University from campus to McFarland and at a standstill. People were everywhere. We found a close parking spot and decided to walk across campus instead of fighting traffic. It looked like a gameday. Tents all over the quad with smoke rising from grills. People everywhere wearing red shirts and walking with solo cups.



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When I personally got into the stadium the bottom bowl level was just about completely filled up. Shortly after the start of the scrimmage/practice they announced they were opening the East side upper deck. As you all know now, and after the fire marshal stopped allowing people to enter, the number was 92,138 people. Barner fans even have to admit it was something very impressive.

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Now the game itself was very bland. No huge plays, No turnovers, two penalties. Saban did the running clock scrimmage to where the clock rarely stops. However, the energy from the crowd and the turnout is what sent the message this past Saturday.

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Say what you want about Saban. Take guesses at how many games Bama will win this year, and then act like you personally know that Alabama fans will hate him or run him out of town next year, but the bottomline is things have changed in Tuscaloosa. There is a new postive feeling. The fans are behind the team again. The players believe, and the players see that the fans are still behind them. Can you imagine what went through the heads of the recruits Saturday afternoon? It might not happen immediately, but the wheels are in motion. Its coming.

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53 comments:

ShakeYour$Maker said...

Those numbers at the A-Day game seem a little exagerated. They did not take up tickets, and you know that they did not have people standing at the gates counting folks. Looked to me like there were a few more empty seats than what the Bama administration would have everyone believe. Yes...there were a lot of people at the game...but after hearing the low amount of money raised for Enterprise High School rebuilding...it made me realize what kind of people made up this 92,000+ group. They only made $36,000 in donations. That is sad considering that there were over 92,000 people at the Stadium. That`s not even $0.50 a person.

As for the game....very lackluster. Same average players at every position. They looked like the same bland offense...that actually made some plays against a bland defense. Field that team in the fall and Bama will lose a few. But yes, there was an interception that Saban called back, causing a 3 point swing. It didn`t seem like a real game scrimmage with Saban out there with the players. Did he think he was with a little league team or something getting them huddled up. I thought this game`s purpose was to give players a chance to get some live game action in front of fans. Great practice to prepare them for real life in the fall. Just seemed childish.

I`m sure with that many delusional fans in one place...the bullshit talk of "returning to glory" and the "I wish The Bear was here to see this...he`d be proud" and the "I may loose all my teeth this year...but by God Bama`s gonna win a National Championship! Come on Honey, hop in the Thuderbird and lets go yell Roll Tide to the people on the strip."....could cause some brainwashing and cause you to start talking the same bullshit. This was a spring practice game, and should be treated as any other practice. Times may be improving at the Crapstone, but they are long from where they once were, and with the expectations of some of the Tide faithful looking for immeadiate improvement on that 6-7 record from last year...Saban may get run off before he has a chance to rebuild the entire program. He has already pissed everyone off in the media...and his arrogant ass won`t even let his secretaries talk to him directly....This arrogant man who thinks he is the second coming of the Christ child.. seems to be a perfect fit for a school that will do anything.... (Cheat, Coming off the bench to tackle an opposing player, paying cash for recruits)...to get a Win.

Carl Montgomery said...

First off I am glad Shakes is the expert on how the number was counted. Easily 92,000+ there. They quit letting people in during the 2nd Qtr. I know the number bothers you. And also are you really bringing up the Enterprise High School rebuilding fund?? That is quite possibly be the absolute gayest comment you have ever pointed out. I would like to see first off where you got the amounts from. Second, what the fuck does that have to do with anything?? So are you questioning the support of Alabama fans for their help in philantropy?? Fucking Ignorance as usual

Same bland offense?? For starters, the are still learning the new systems so it would likely be that things would go a little shaky in a scrimmage a few weeks from their first practice. JPW attempted 36 passes. One time last year Alabama attempted more than that. The offense will be airing out the ball next year, and will not be the "same bland" offense.

It is a fucking scrimmage, also known as a practice. He is the coach. He can run his scrimmage/practice anyway he wants. Thanks Coach Shakey for explaining that it wasn't a real "game scrimmage" What you thought and what the coaches wanted to get out of this game have absolutely no parallels and your entire second paragraph is a "childish" attempt at trying to belittle a practice. A fucking practice Shakes. How pathetic

And once again here we go with a Barner who predicts the future.

"Saban may get run off before he has a chance to rebuild the entire program. He has already pissed everyone off in the media"

Thanks for telling how its going to be, because of all people, you would know. Its comments like this one that make it seem as you BArners really hope Alabama fans will "run off" Saban. And also throw in the "pissed off the media" comment, like anyone other than the media actually gives a shit whether they like him or not.

He is arrogant, also another irrelevant point. Like I or anyone else gives a shit about his arrogance. Tuberville is also a very arrogant person. Barner fans seem to embrace him now, sweatshirts and all.

Also throw in the cheating comment, as usual. Auburn is the most penalized athletic program in history, and yet you bring up cheating again. Another ignorant point that I have never read from you.

The game was bland in the way that 1. It flew by 2. Nothing really big happened, no 30+ yard plays, no tackling on special teams plays which most likely negated one TD 3. THe offense primarily ran out of one formation

Carl Montgomery said...

And the empty seats are very visible in the second picture taking from saturday, dumb ass

Wilbur Churchill said...

Dr, did you give your 39 cents to Enterprise??

Carl Montgomery said...

Its so sad that all you all comment on is enterprise.

How much have you all given?

Carl Montgomery said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lola said...

dear dr.,
i work with some bama fans and all evening on saturday they were talking about the 92000 fans at the spring game. they were in the back watching tv or something whilst i was busting my hump saving lives and stamping out disease. i hope you had a good time. take the ribbing with a grain of salt. did you really expect any more? both sides here need to look out for georgia next year. just my humble clempsun opinion.
love,
lola

Daddy said...

lola,
are you a doctor? And I agree with you about Georgia.

lola said...

no, daddy, i am a nurse. white hose under my chaps.......

Daddy said...

Are you a gentle nurse. I have met some not so gentle nurses. White and lacy?

tigernation said...

OK, my take on A-day. 92,000 is indeed impressive. congrats. But what does it show? A new attitude i guess and thats is good for bammer. Claim some kind of title for attendance at a practice....nice.

The 36,000 generated for Enterprise is embarrassing no matter how you look at it. Those people had FREE seats at the game and were either too cheap or too heartless to give more that $0.33 a person. I don't care how you put it, that is sad. Ohio State had 75,000 at their spring game at $5 a head. Maybe they can give some of that to Enterprise. Glad the Capstone of Alabama and their passionate fans are too good or too poor to help anybody but the football team. Pitiful

Back to the sheer #'s. On a beautiful spring day in a state with no pro sport and nothing else to garner people's attention, one would expect the masses to show up to watch the Sabior stroll around on the field.

South Carolina sold out every game for 2 years.......with a 1-21 record. Attendance does not equal wins. But good try.

Bragging about attendance is the most pathetic, sad, funny, laughable, we haven't won in so long we need some silver lining, piss poor, waste of breathe i have ever seen. And the entire state and its media are crowing like it was a national title.

Spare me because i dan't care if 250 million showed up. Lets see what these 92,000 say when the mighty tide starts out 2-3 next year. Or when they lose to Auburn agian. Should be funny.

But congrats on the turnout...if that is something to be congratulated about.

tigernation said...

Try this one:

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/04/24/095257.php

lola said...

gentle nurse....it all depends.
nation, my parents had season tickets to williams-brice. half the people didn't make it out of the parking lot in those years. you had to stay and protect your car from vandalism.

tigernation said...

Ha ha lola thats funny.

Carl Montgomery said...

Alright clowns re read what I wrote. I don't think I ever said attendance equals wins
Actually I said exactly what you said. There is a new attitude which can have a positive impact on the program

And comparing to USC is absurd

Seriously still bringing up the enterprise thing? What does that have to do with anything?

tigernation said...

The Enterprise thing is just a reason to be negative....come on you know that. Ha ha

Carl Montgomery said...

Yes I am aware but I also thought you had better things to be negative about other than donations to a relief fund

I however expect nothing less than negativity from you. See labels for post.

Lola seriously these clowns do not bother me. Just like tp stir things up

King of Tigerland said...

Did you wear your shirt with the little elephant on it, Carl?

King of Tigerland said...

92138-national record and impressive
$100,000 to Enterprise = extra impressive

tigernation said...

It should say "Barner Winning" since that is all i do....

tigernation said...

Ha ha i just read where daddy asked lola if she wears "white and lacy" hose under her chaps. what!?!

daddy you are too funny. Did you ask that because you also wear white and lacy stockings? I can see you now, when Janna isn't home, wearing some white hose around the house. Ha ha i'm laughing so hard right now.

Daddy said...

I bet you do imagine me wearing white hose, but instead of laughing you are really yearning. Sorry to ruin your fantasy, but I just wear knee highs and garters. Gained too much weight to get the hose all the way on.

King of Tigerland said...

Did you not expect any comments when the last picture is a scenic shot of Saban appearing as if he had just conquered Rome?

3:1 odds.....that same picture is made into a painting...maybe even a Daniel Moore if he can straighten out his legal issues with capstone

King of Tigerland said...

garters are a given for you

Daddy said...

nation, did you hear the Black Crowes album is being postponed to late 2007/early 2008 to coincide with a new world tour.

Daddy said...

you have to have something to hold up the knee highs dummy

ShakeYour$Maker said...

Carl,

My apologizes for talking shit about Alabama`s huge A-Day success. I merely pointed out a few observations that I noted from Saturday`s record setting day. On the Enterprise High School thing, I found it rather interesting that the Bama faithful could only muster up $36K, however I am not suprised. The game was free to the public...so why could these people not spare the extra change in their pockets that they would`ve spent on admission. UAT advertised before the game that they were raising relief money for the school..... so you would think that you would see the benefit, but not in this case. They could`ve even charged one dollar admission and given all proceeds to EHS. They would`ve raised about $30K more. Just shows what kind of fans attended the game. Oh well, I guess they learned best from their new leader who only gave 2% of his salary back to the school. Ticketholders give more percentage of their salary back to the school than the actual coach. Interesting, but not suprising.

Yes, this was a practice, and I am glad you pointed that out to me. I actually thought that the powers that be were going to give Alabama a 1-0 record to start the upcoming season.

You talk about how we would love to see Bama "run off" Saban...well I could care less who coaches UAT. At this point in time, it wouldn`t matter if the Bear came back to life...your team is still mediocre at best. By the way, Why has Jesus...I mean Saban not signed his contract? I thought everything was a done deal. Kinda strange and almost Franchonie-ish!!!!

tigernation said...

Shakes - NCAA rules say that you cannot give ticket revenue to a charity. I think it might have to do with taxes, but not sure.

daddy - didn't hear that about the crowes. I hope they don't pull a Guns N' Roses and never release anyhting or tour again. They really need Mark Effing Ford back in the band. He is THE only lead gutarist for the Crowes. Everybody else sucks.

Daddy said...

Yeah you are right about Ford. I wonder what the real reason he left the band was. He said it was ruining his sobriety, but he didnt look that sober to me anyway. I do hope they never take Johnny Colt back.

I think the Crowes are here for a while in some form or another. They may forever have changing line ups like the Brothers, but I think that at least Chris and Rich will make music together for a long time.

Carl Montgomery said...

Shakesmalldick do you ever read your belligerent rants? You are so laughable

Thanks to nation for pointing out a good point.(maybe its the elderness)

So I guess next year we will just be like the Barners and charge $5 and keep it all to ourselves. Dumb ass

Second why the hell would I or yourself care how much Saban gives back % wise before he has ever coached a game. He gave 200000 which is 200000 more than he had to give. Its not like we need it and second I bet you are saving up more than 2% to give to your employer this year, right?

And yes Saban has actually already left Tuscaloosa. I think he is taking the job at with the arena's Crush.

King of Tigerland said...

I hear a few AFL2 teams are looking for a coach.

Yeah, tax ? could have surfaced but if they had wanted to get it done, it would have been accomplished....it is still a state run institution.

tigernation said...

daddy - Johnny colt is funny. He was so bad. Sven is the main man on bass now i think. I heard that Steve left too but that may be untrue.

So if they can keep everybody but just change lead guitar players every now and then they should be fine.

Carl Montgomery said...

So king where did Aubarn send their collections from Saturday?

$5 a head at 31000

That's 155000 that went directly to the rebuilding of Enterprise high?

King of Tigerland said...

by saturday do mean when the baseball tigers took the series from bammer??

tigernation said...

OOOHHHh Burn!

Ok i researched the attempt at donations to enterprise.

There were apparently individuals accepting donations at the gates in T-town. So thats $.39 per person to get to $36,000.

I assume most of the people were so excited to get to their seats that they just decided not to pay. I would imagine it was pretty hectic at the gates since it was such a huge game and everybody wanted to get a good seat.

Nope, the people in that staduim were your typical sidewalkers, first and last time in that stadium, so why would they spend the rest of their money on a donation. Since i'm sure most of their cash was spent on gas and food for the babies on the way to the game....because it wasn't spent on a ticket.

No i haven't donated to Enterprise and i don't know how much AU sent them.

92,000 people is funny to me, and also a sign that the bammer fanbase is as desperate for a winner as it gets.

Ok I'm done with A-day

Carl Montgomery said...

How in the fuck does 92000 fans for Aday translate to desperate for a win?

Alabama has always had no charge for aday. They have never asked for donations before either. It was an idea from the sabans. Terry and the coaches wives helped get donations. They also only took up donations for an hour and a half and stopped at 1 pm.

.39 a head is .39 more than you barners donated on your highly defensive spring practice/game

tigernation said...

Ok then, instead of desperate for a win, lets go with desperate for a positive feeling. Or desperate for good news? Is that better?

I know all 92,000 didn't show up to watch a coach? No, people wouldn't be that crazy....would they?

If you will read what i posted above you will see that i didn't donate a dime. But then again, nobody asked me either.

Anonymous said...

Carl,

I will not argue about A-Day anymore after this.....You gave Saban credit for giving $100,000 more than what he actually gave. (That equals 2% of his salary.) That is not even close to what ticket-holders and other donors give to the schools when looking at percentages of salaries. Pretty sad that some make it seem like this guy has given so much back.

Oh and by the way....I give back more than 2% of my salary to my company. And would imagine you do the same being a real estate salesman. Look at your next commission check.

Carl Montgomery said...

Desperate for a positive feeling would be much better

Did anyone see the story of the old man doctor who was arrested in Florida for groping a woman while he was dressed up as captain america. Classic

Carl Montgomery said...

Anonymous,

Apologize for overstating his actual donation. Yet, as I said earlier I don't think it really matters. He had been on campus for 2 weeks maybe s little longer. Do you seriously think this will be his only donation to the school especialy if he stays for 8 years??

I do not give anything back to my company. I work for a builder and I get a flat percentage of houses built and sold. As for you or anyone else who says that their commission checks show that they "give back" to the company, that is bullshit. You do not voluntarily give a dime.

I doubt any coach in america has it in their contract/employment agreement that they have to give anything back.

Would love if you can find numbers on what other coaches have in their first month or two on the job.

ShakeYour$Maker said...

Carl,

I did not realize that stating facts was a laughable post. You know just as well as I do that the EHS donations was embarrasing for UAT because of the adverstising before-hand. You also know but maybe ashamed to answer that your team is still mediocre as it was last year during their 6-7 campaign. Same players with a different coach may change the outcome of 1 or 2 games.

Outcome from A-day...2 records broken in one day. Most people attending a spring jamboree, and also "Biggest Number of Imbreds Ever in the Same Place." Keep it Rollin!

Carl Montgomery said...

The team is still mediocre as it was last year a fact? That good old barner education stepping in. Facts need to be backed up. They may very well end up mediocre but as of April they have not played a game. Also calling something embarrassing is part of you tater-tot penised opinion, once again not a fact

AUBURN DID NOT DONATE A DIME FROM ITS A DAY

Lick my balls

tigernation said...

This is not about AUBURN. But i would be willing to bet, judging by the level of education and income of the respective fanbases, that IF Auburn had advertised a fundraising campaign for A-day (even with paid admission), that they would have collected a better average than $.39 per person. Its embarrassing any way you cut it, whether you admit it or not.

But enough about the lack of giving of the masses.

I heard that the concession stands ran out of food at Bryunt-Danny so people started to get hungry and angry. Well, a young boy had a ham sandwich and gave it to Sabior and he fed all 92,000 with one sandwich.

Did you like your ham sammich Dr?

ShakeYour$Maker said...

Carl,

You are embarrassed about the EHS thing, or you wouldn`t be so damn defensive. Hell, I would be embarrassed if that is all Auburn could muster up with over 90K attending.

Mediocre is not an opinion...it is a fact. These are the same idiots that went 6-7 last season. No superstars in this bunch. Are you telling me that 6-7 is not mediocre? As I said before, the presence of Saban alone should improve the record by a game or two...but with the same players taking the field, how do you expect the Tide not to be mediocre this upcoming season. Take off your Crimson glasses for 5 minutes and be realistic.

ShakeYour$Maker said...

The water fountains also started dispensing sweet red wine as well.

ShakeYour$Maker said...

Did he heal Prothro to play this upcoming season?

ShakeYour$Maker said...

Sorry, I know that was disrespectful to the Lord, but I couldn`t resist.

Carl Montgomery said...

Don't care about the EHS thing

Think it is very hippocritical for you fags to keep bringing it up when barners helped no cause

38000 is a lot more than UA had to give

King of Tigerland said...

Well, then we can talk about how female Saban and yourself are apparently on a first name basis, Terry is it?

"Well, Terry and the rest of the coaches wives met down at Winn Dixie with Collette and dem to collect can goods. Then they went to Shoneys for the buffet."

Carl Montgomery said...

I don't know if it is something you ate this week kingdom, but your jokes aren't coming close to being funny

ShakeYour$Maker said...

$38,000??? Again you up the actual figures giving the Alabama faithful more credit than what is due. 36K to be correct.

Tell me the honest to God truth Carl....Are you embarrassed about the low amount of money that was raised by over 90 Thousand at A-Day? (Don`t give me any of that Auburn didn`t donate bullshit. Auburn never advertised that they were taking up donations, but as I said before...if they did, you can bet that it would be much higher than what the Turds in T`town put in.)

Also, are you embarrassed that Juwan "Ice Cream Cone" Simpson was allowed to place his prints at Denny Chimes? That would be the equivalent of Eric Ramsey or Montae "Rap Superstar" Pitts getting a place on the Tiger Walk of Champions.

ShakeYour$Maker said...

Carl,

How long has Saban been a legal resident of the US? I read where he was born in Bethlehem in a manger, and spent some of his life around the Nazareth area. Can you inform us about this?

tigernation said...

From the house of David