Thoughts from the Chick

Ugh Courtney Upshaw…..

Update to this - Upshaw won’t be suspended for the incident.  Neither parties are pressing charges. Blah, Blah, Blah…

However, the mugshot of the girl involved is priceless…  Don’t know that I’ve ever seen someone look so happy in a mugshot.

Just wanted to give Cory Reamer props for getting a shout out from Coach Saban himself - from today’s B’ham news/al.com:  “Saban also cited senior linebacker Cory Reamer of Hoover as a player who developed from a core player on special teams to a starter on defense.  ‘Those kind of guys are priceless,’ Saban said.”

So, all you haters who posted on al.com a couple of weeks ago and were ready to get rid of Reamer can suck it.  Yeah, I said it…suck it.

Seriously….

I just really don’t know what else to say, except, you got to be f’ing kidding me. 

These are the people that are going to scare Nick Saban away.  I saw the 1st photo of the people with the tiny baby on the field, and thought that was bad enough, and then someone showed me the rest of the pictures….

Click here to see them.

I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry….

So, I stayed up and watched the replay of a preseason Atlanta Falcons game to see John Parker Wilson make his NFL debut. 

The Falcons played all 4 quarterbacks, and John Parker was the last to get playing time in the 4th quarter.   He looked good and got a lot of praise from the announcers for the Falcons.  They said he had looked good in scrimmage - was ”athletic,” has a good arm, has the ability to run, yada yada yada…  They also said that the Falcons thought that he was a player who could be developed.  So, let’s see what happens for John Parker.  I will be pulling for him to succeed.

Right after watching the Falcons, I switched over to HBO’s Hard Knocks and my feelings went from pride for our former players to dismay, as I quickly learned that Andre Smith hasn’t reported for camp because his contract is STILL unsigned.  Instead of showing him out there kicking ass, they showed him in Tuscaloosa working out with a trainer trying to stay in shape while his agent continues to try to work out a deal with the Bengals. 

C’mon man.  Get the deal done.  You F’d yourself before the draft and now you’re holding out for a few million more dollars?  The last Bengals offer was for $33 million!!!  Look at the big picture dude, get the deal done, and get your ass to training camp.

To end on a good note - I also watched the Nick Saban post-scrimmage press conference, and continue to be more and more excited for the season to get here!!!!  I’m ready to see it all come together!!!!

I don’t know why I continue to listen to Paul Finebaum’s show every day.  I guess I continue to hope that I might learn something new about Alabama football, or football in general, or sports, or interesting sports figures or anything sports related. 

It is supposed to be a sports talk show, right?  sighhhhh  

And while little sports tidbits do seem to pop up occasionally on Mr Finebaum’s show, the vast majority of the time on the show is spent taking calls from barely audible idiots who want to yell at eachother, or the show’s guests, or at Finebaum himself.  

WHY???????????  WHY??????????????? 

With the advent of the internet, we all have a choice of listening to a plethora of radio shows that stream live through our computers.  In fact, that’s how I access Mr. Finebaum’s radio show - via the internet.   But what I’ve noticed is that none of the other sports radio shows I listen to allow the type of calls that Finebaum takes.  And I think most people understand that there is a reason for that.   

Do I think that at one point, it may have been slightly entertaining to listen to the likes of Tammy and Charles?  Possibly.  But as I try to explain to my 3 year old, a joke is only funny the first couple of times you tell it…after that it begins to get old, and frankly, annoying.  

And we are WAY past the stage of being just old and annoying, Mr Finebaum.  It’s stupid.  And I continue to wonder why a radio host who is on the list of the most influential people in the SEC continues to allow it?   

So, you may say to me, “Why do you keep listening?  Turn the dial if you hate it so much.”   

I’ve asked myself that question before, and I do turn the dial occasionally.  But I continue to listen because I want to hear about Alabama football - about SEC football.  I don’t want to hear about national sports and then 5 seconds about my team, which is what I get on most other stations.  

So Mr. Finebaum, PLEASE, I’m begging you, PLEASE… CAN the freaks and talk about football!!!!  Have guests and callers on your show who can talk intelligently about football (ahem, more Cecil Hurt, please)!!!!   That’s why people take time to listen to your show!!!!!!!!  And if callers are rude and yell at your guests (case in point, wack-job Jim), then get their ass off the phone!  That’s what any host worth his salt would do.  Show the freaks the door and let’s talk football. 

Kickoff is 3 weeks from today.  If you can’t talk about football at this point, then you shouldn’t be on the radio.

Darren Evans, Virginia Tech’s leading rusher in 2008, is out for the season with a torn ACL.  He set several school records as a freshman last year with 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns, and was the MVP of VA Tech’s Orange Bowl win last year over Cincinnati.

Looks like Ryan Williams, David Wilson, and Josh Oglesby (if he can get healthy) will be the likely replacements for Evans this season.

This is the first time these 3 guys have been allowed to meet the media. 

Julio is endearing since he seems a little tentative and almost shy about answering questions.  It was reported that he asked Mark Ingram to wait with him until he was finished answering questions.  The onfield persona and off field persona are definitely different there.  And apparently he played with injuries (sports hernia & shoulder/wrist problems) for 10 out of the 14 games last season - can you imagine what this guy’s going to do now that he’s healthy??? 

It seemed a little uncomfortable for Mark Ingram to answer questions about Trent Richardson since that could prove to be some competition for him. 

And Dont’a Hightower just seems like the man.  A team player and ready to do whatever it takes.

But my favorite quote that came out of yesterday’s media q&a in T’town was from Coach Saban when he spoke about the freshmen, “It’s always a tough transition to practice for freshmen,” Saban said. “Some of those guys, so much anxiety - I’ve never, ever seen the look in the faces that I saw (Thursday) night. It looked like they were in a gang fight and the gang didn’t show.”

I guess even superstars get anxious sometimes….

Check out the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll

Let’s hope that the coaches actually filled out their own ballots this time (ahem, Steve Spurrier).

Word on the street is that Percy Harvin should seriously consider motivational speaking as a new career.  Here’s how the beginning of the speech might go if the latest rumors are true:

“Listen all you young football players out there, the way to succeed is to smoke lots of weed and choke your coach!”

Now, I should say again that this is all rumor.  But another sports blog is reporting that sources told them that the Gator’s coaching staff asked Harvin to come back and talk to some recruits about his time at the University of Florida.  And allegedly, after the song and dance of how being a Gator had prepared for the NFL, and how great it was to be a Gator, Percy really let loose.  Apparently he told the recruits that he smoked pot almost the whole time he was at UF, that the party scene in Gainesville was awesome, and that the University was even nice enough to cover up an incident where he choked his wide receivers coach so that the media wouldn’t report it.  

Could somebody not get the cane and pull this guy off before he got that far??? 

I’m not sayin’ it’s true, but I’m just sayin’ - really, Percy Harvin???

Oh, and now’s a great time to post a link to a funny video taken of Congresswoman Corinne Brown from Florida (a UF alum) giving a congratulations Gators speech in front of the US Congress.  You’ve probably seen it, but it’s worth laughing again! 

With the Kickoff Classic coming up in about a month, I started wondering about Virginia Tech.  A good SEC Football Chick knows a decent amount about the competition in the conference - but I’ll admit, I wasn’t entirely familiar with the Hokies.   (Actually, the biggest thing that stuck out in my head about Virginia Tech football was that Michael Vick played there and his brother got kicked off the team.)

So, I set out to find out more about the Virginia Tech Hokies….  Who are their play-makers?  What are their strengths?  What are their weaknesses?  How do they stack up against the Alabama Crimson Tide?

I quickly found some information about their playmakers….

Scary Dudes on the Offense:

On my list, the number 1 scary dude to watch is Greg Boone - a QB turned tight end.  And he’s BIG.  Really big.  6′3″ 280lb of big.  And not only does that make him hard to take down once he has the ball, he’s also versatile enough to be used in their “wild turkey” formation as a passer.  Want to see this big man?  He was one of the Hokies’ team representatives at ACC media days.  

Other threats are Tyrod Taylor (QB) and Darren Evens (RB).

Not only does Tyrod Taylor return this year to start at the quarterback position, but he is fast.  In fact, he was 2nd only behind Darren Evans, in rushing yards in 2008.  Last year Taylor racked up 738 yards for 7 rushing TD’s and an average of 5 yards per carry.  But Taylor’s passing game is one of the unknown variables - in 2008, he passed for only 2 TD’s and threw 7 interceptions - but another year under his belt can’t hurt his confidence.  And his receivers are also back this year with a little more experience under their belts as well.

Darren Evans was one of the ACC’s leading rushers in 2008.  This running back hustled for 1265 total yards last year, averaging 4.4 yards per carry and scoring 11 touchdowns.  This year the Hokies also expect Ryan Williams (RB) to have a breakout year and help Evans carry the load.

Scary Dudes On Defense:

Kam Chancellor (FS) played quarterback in highschool, and will start the 2009 season in his 3rd position in 3 years.  Chancellor is a powerful hitter was 6th on the team in tackles in ‘08 with 56.  He’s versatile and is a team leader.  He was also one of the Hokies team representatives for ACC Media Days. 

Jason Worilds (DE) led the Hokies defensive line in pass rushing with 62 tackles, 18.5 tackles for a loss and 8 sacks.  Worilds played through the end of the season after a shoulder dislocation during the Miami game and had surgery in the offseason.  This tough guy will be ready to play.

So, after a little research - the consensus on Tech’s strengths are that they will continue to have a dominant defense, although they did lose 4 defensive starters in 08.  They have a returning quarterback and receiving corps, and they have a returning offensive line.

Their weaknesses seem to be their passing game and filling some holes on the defense.

Compare that to Alabama’s strong defense, and some new blood on the offense, and I think we’re going to have a hell of a football game come September 5.  (Take a look at the Chick’s Picks - Guide to Atlanta for the Kickoff Classic)

Oh, and in case anyone was curious - as I was before today - a Hokie is a bird.  The “Hokiebird” evolved from a turkey (Tech used to be called the “gobblers”).  Go figure….