We
agree with you about fashion, Commissioner. As Coach Bryant still reminds
us every Saturday, the same things win that always won. Some of
those things are desire, the will to prepare to win, being able to run the
football when you need to, hard-hitting defense, and winning the kicking
game. Alabama had all of those going for it last night. Speaking of
fashion, through the week various football pundits made it fashionable to pick
Mississippi and its oh-so-stylish offense to beat Alabama and its methodical
will-breaking style of play. When all was said and done last night, those
same things proved to be the difference without regard to style of play.
Alabama
is not yet a complete football team. There are units which still have a
ways to go to produce at the level required to win a championship. On the
other hand, a third of the way through the season, Alabama is 4-0, ranked #1 in
the country, has beaten two ranked teams, is one of only two undefeated teams
in the SEC, has won three games by 25 points each time, is coming off a shut
out of a team that was averaging over 44 points a game, and will likely be
favored in every game in October. Even with the Aggies on the schedule,
Alabama's defense is giving up just over 14 points a game. Believe us,
things could be a lot worse.
A
word about our coaching staff. It has also become fashionable to leave
your starters on the field and run up as many points as possible when the game
is no longer in doubt. Earning "style points" they call
it. We have little doubt that Alabama could have punched in another
touchdown or two late in the fourth quarter Saturday night. The coaching
staff chose not to exert extra efforts to do that, choosing to play the second
and third string. We think of that as something that never goes out of
style -- we call it class.
Regular
readers might want to sit down before reading the rest of this sentence, but we
feel a bit sorry for the on-field officials as far as the targeting rule goes
(no credit for apparently not knowing that it is against the rules for a
defensive back to tackle a receiver while the ball is in the air). The
scandalous waste of oxygen that is the NCAA "developed" a rule that
is practically impossible to see in real time and subject to so much
"judgment" and "interpretation" as to be essentially
impossible to get right dependably. To make it harder on the officials,
the NCAA then decreed that in a close situation, officials were to err on the
side of calling the penalty. Let that sink in a minute, the NCAA
wants the officials to err. This rule, a questionable use of the term
given its definition, should have been eliminated by the end of the second week
of the season. Only the NCAA could concoct a situation where a team is
penalized 15 yards for doing something that is not, on video review, a
violation of the rules. Leaving the on-field officials to try to clean up
this mess is as unfair to them as it is to the players. Our
officiating crews have enough problems and are routinely (and rightly) roundly
criticized by media and fans. The NCAA should give them, and us, a break.
Roll
Tide everyone, hope to see you at homecoming.
The Correspondent From The Tire Store
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