Top 5 - Nick Saban and the 5 Values He Wants His Program to Have

Here's the 5 values Nick Saban tries to instill in his football program at Alabama. These 5 values could work in any competitive setting or your own daily life. 

1. Discipline

2. Commitment

3. Toughness

4. Effort

5. Pride

From this Daily Coach thread where they go into more detail on each of the values.

A New Day

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- German is kind of messed up

- This is kind of incredible. Also seems strange that a backfield that powerful would lose the last two games of the season.

- This is what two feet of snow looks like

- So is "tsundoku" a condition or a verb? Either way I have it.

- That's because Fairytale of New York is an awesome song

- Holy crap! This is true!

- Awwww - how orphaned kangaroos go to bed

Notre Dame vs Alabama

Pat Forde has a very interesting look at the historical rivalry between Notre Dame and Alabama. Good stuff.

I did not know that Bear Bryant was 0-4 against the Fighting Irish. That must really stick in the craw of many Tide fans. I also give Forde credit for mentioning "Catholics vs Cousins" but in addition he should have mentioned the even funnier "Golden Domers vs Mobile Homers" T-shirts.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Laurie Fine's nephew tells CNN that Bobby Davis "tampered with" tape released over the weekend. I have to admit that elsewhere I had mentioned that the Bobby Davis tapes were making me think of the movie Primary Colors.

- Funny because it's true. As a bonus - I bet the woman on the right likes bacon.

- Very interesting. So who is the real number two? Based on the evidence presented I did not pick Alabama.

- Tobey Macguire knows when to fold em. Pays $80k to settle out of poker lawsuit.

- The WKRP Turkey Drop Quiz

Scorched Earth Football

William Tecumseh Sherman was the first superintendent of LSU (at the time named Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy). By all accounts he was the best man for the job and did a tremendous job as head of the University. He was only there for a brief period of time but made a lasting contribution. Less than 5 years after leaving LSU - Sherman's name was hated in the state.

Nick Saban was the head football coach at LSU for about the same period of time as it took to wage the Civil War. He took over the program in November of 1999 and stayed on the job for 5 years. In 2003 he led the school to a BCS Championship. The program has been a top program ever since.

Now Nick Saban is the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide a program he led to a National Championship in 2009. I can't help but think that Saban and Sherman are somehow kindred. Both are probably held in similar regard by the people of Louisiana.

As a further Civil War connection - the LSU team name is the Tigers. This comes from the Civil War where Robert E. Lee started calling all soldiers from Louisiana "Tigers" after a New Orleans infantry company called the "Tiger Rifles" fought so well for him and his Army of Northern Virginia.

I can't believe I have to wait another week for this game.

Saturday Picks

Thought I'd offer up my picks for Saturday's NCAAF action. As always these are for entertainment purposes only.

Alabama -47 vs North Texas - I really think that when a line goes over 40 points it should be taken off the board. The temptation to run up the score just gets too great and nobody likes "style points" better then Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide may win this one 70-3.

Southern Cal -15 vs Syracuse - the Orangemen aren't that great to begin with and now they have to deal with the distractions of Southern California plus the news that the team may be going to the ACC. On top of everything else - the game is at 8:00 EST which may add in the jet lag factor.

Auburn +3 at Clemson - Death Valley hasn't been an intimidating place for visitors for some time (Clemson is just 1-4 ATS in last 5 home games). Auburn does well in close games plus this is an SEC vs ACC match-up (and I know that the ACC actually does pretty well in those matchups but I think that's due to small sample size).

Oklahoma -3.5 at Florida State - I think Florida State is improving but not quite ready to tackle a team like Oklahoma.

For record keeping let's say that each pick is for a mythical $100.

Good luck.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I hope Nick Saban sells his Gatorade soaked shirt from last night on eBay and gives the money to charity. Just the same as what Doc Rivers did after the Celtics won the NBA championship. Face it - Saban will never wear that shirt again - why not put it to some good?... The Big Lebowski rewritten as a work of Shakespeare... If you wanted to see what the "streaker" "idiot" from last night's game looked like click here... On this day in 1835 the US national debt was reduced to $0 for the one and only time in history... Wow! What Britain would look like without the Gulf Stream... On this day in 1821 James Longstreet was born. Many people know him as a famous Confederate General. I remember him best for a line attributed to him in the great book The Killer Angels. Longstreet was considered something of an expert on poker and when asked "How often should one draw at an inside straight?" He answered "Never!" That piece of advice has stuck with me and saved me some money over the years... I've admitted to being a geek and a Doctor Who fan - so I found this amusing... It's a shame! Wikipedia lists many famous people born on this day including Elvis, David Bowie and Larry Storch but they don't list the great sports writer Joe Posnanski. Another example why you can't always trust Wikipedia...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

According to the Rasmussen Poll 55% of people polled pick Alabama to win BCS Championship game while 37% say Texas will win. According to Covers.com - 57% of bettors are taking Alabama -4 points while 43% of bettors are taking the points and Texas... A couple of Texas fans having some fun imitating Alabama fans... Terry Francona is moving Jacoby Ellsbury to left field and having Mike Cameron start in center. I wonder if moving Cameron to right and having JD Drew play left was considered. Cameron's arm is good enough for right field and having Drew play left could save some wear and tear on his often fragile body... Now I feel kinda bad - Cowbell girl is sight impaired... There were four main reasons that Robbie Alomar wasn't a first ballot Hall of famer; 1. some people are still upset about the spitting incident, 2. some people won't vote for anyone on their first ballot, 3. the recent AIDS rumor about Alomar (homophobia), and 4. some writers use their ballots for "look at me" moments (see Jay Marrioti and him not voting for anyone). I'd bet that for many who didn't vote for Alomar that these reasons overlapped... Terry Glenn joins the Maurice Clarrett Ohio State Alumni All-Stars... Heh heh - the Beatles doing a Marlboro cigarette commercial... Tweet of the day from @Erik_Seidel "Obama still not addressing the security breech that allowed Joan Rivers back in the US"... Interesting column by Pete Thamel on J.C. Percy, the anonymous Boise back-up who made the call to execute the fake punt... The Booby Hatch presents Suck It (probably NSFW)...

Heh Heh - Bama's #1 Fan