Tide Talk

[Spooky]

Just out of curiosity I Goggled UW Huskies Hockey and low and behold the University of Washington has a hockey team as well and I had absolutly no idea.

http://www.huskyicehockey.com/

[TinkTanker]

I can see you guys having an ice hockey team, because y'all have actually winter. We get a dusting every couple years or so, but this winter I can count on one hand the number of times it has dropped below freezing at night.

[TinkTanker]

When Nick Saban runs college football ... wait, he does

The press conference was scheduled for 11:30 a.m., but with a plane running late and Nashville traffic being Nashville traffic, we soon learned that we were operating on Saban time.

The press conference would begin when Nick Saban decided it would begin. And it would end when he decided it would end.

Join the club. These days, college football operates on Saban time.

It's good to be the king. With two national championships in the last three years and three in the last nine, Saban is the undisputed most powerful force in college athletics. Alabama pays him $6 million a year to coach football, and he's worth twice that.

He is far and away the best at his chosen profession. Why? For one thing, he's the best recruiter in college football. For another, he's the best strategist in college football. And it doesn't hurt that he employs the best staff in college football.

Other than that, search me.

Saban is a notorious control freak, so much so that non-coaches in the Alabama athletics department know better than to make eye contact with him in the hallway. No wonder the college game suits him better than the NFL, which he tried for two forgettable seasons with the Dolphins in 2005-06 before beginning a quest to out-Bear the Bear.

"I think my passion for young people is what makes college a better fit for me," Saban said on Tuesday prior to an appearance at a fundraiser for the Jason Foundation. "That doesn't mean that it's better than the NFL. That just means it's better for me.

"Maybe my experience in the NFL sort of educated me about myself. I like having the opportunity to see young people grow, personally and athletically."

He didn't mention recruiting. He didn't have to. Saban likes the fact that he can control his roster through hard work, contacts and a sales pitch instead of depending on the draft and free agency.

The NFL is about parity. Saban spends 24 hours every day trying to obliterate parity from college football.

Consider the old line about a superior coach: He can take his team and beat you with it, and he can take your team and beat you with it. Saban prefers to stock his team with so much more talent than yours that he doesn't have to worry about switching sides to prove a point.

That's why he scoffed at the suggestion by some that only conference champions should be eligible for any of the proposed playoff systems. In case you missed it, Alabama did not win the SEC last season and thus would not have played for the national championship under a gotta-win-your-league amendment.

"There are conferences that are in the BCS that if they played in the SEC, their champion may be in fourth or fifth place," he said. "... If you're one of the best two teams, you should be able to play in the game.

"We were fortunate to have the opportunity to get back in the game this year, and I think we proved with our performance that we should have been in the game."

Of course, he's right. He usually is.

[AdmiralDigby]

Saban is a notorious control freak, so much so that non-coaches in the Alabama athletics department know better than to make eye contact with him in the hallway.


I despise people like that .

[TinkTanker]

Saban is a great coach, perhaps the best in college today. He does great things for charities. His people skills leave much to be desired.

But he's said he is so focused on football that he doesn't have time to be distracted by minutiae. Minutiae like going on the rubber chicken circuit in the off-season or even learning the names of secretaries who are not his own. He does not like to be approached because he typically works 18-20 hours a day and stopping for even five minutes to chat it up is a distraction. Especially when you do it twenty times a day. Hell, he has a remote control on his office door so he doesn't have to waste time getting up to open and close it. If you are in his office and your time is up, the door opens and he smiles and thanks you and is on to the next task at hand within seconds. I've talked to someone who was 'shown the door' that way and he said it was kind of intimidating but awesome at the same time.

When he came here, he said there is one voice for the football team, himself. He does not allow assistant coaches to talk to the press except under very limited situations. This is one of the reasons Alabama was able to keep quiet news that Greg McElroy was playing with broken ribs going into the 2009 SEC Championship game and how Trent Richardson had a bad knee (which eventually required surgery) during the entirety of the past national championship game.

Bluntly, Saban's an Chuckhole. But he's our Chuckhole. Alabama people tolerate his crap because he wins. He wasn't hired to smile and kiss babies and as long as he wins, that's great.

And a lot of the terrible stuff about him is overblown. He's softened a lot over the past couple of years. I've even seen he smile on occasion. Sure his team had just won its second national championship in three years, but still.

[AdmiralDigby]

I totally understand that .

But the whole "don't make eye contact" stuff you hear about Alphas is ( in my mind ) pathetic .

Tom Cruise ?
Jennifer Lopez ?

They're famous for it .

At least Mr Saban actually works for a living .

Anyways - that one line from the article leaped out at me .

That's all

[TinkTanker]

Truthfully, I don't like it one bit either. And I'm not sure it is longer correct. I know he used to have that rep, but I seem to recall it being said that's no longer the case.

Anyway, I'm just glad I don't have to work for the guy.

[TinkTanker]

Got a little dusty in here...

Richardson Goes To Prom - ESPN Video - ESPN

[AdmiralDigby]

That was wonderfully dusty .

[TinkTanker]

Nice to know there are people like Trent. Gives you hope.