Saban desires leprechauns

[bellefay1 1]

I don't read al.com other then the Auburn side I have bookmarked. I decided to view the main page today and these were two of the red letter, "latest news" stories

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/07/news_v...calls_loss.html

Saban recalls the loss to UAB

(sorry, the recalling the loss to UAB article was mentioned but not posted...just the headline of Saban saying he wants to play a big team posted 3 times)

Is this really news?

[GalensGhost 0]

I don't read al.com other then the Auburn side I have bookmarked. I decided to view the main page today and these were two of the red letter, "latest news" stories

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/07/news_v...calls_loss.html

Saban recalls the loss to UAB

(sorry, the recalling the loss to UAB article was mentioned but not posted...just the headline of Saban saying he wants to play a big team posted 3 times)

Is this really news?

He's pandering. They're honking.

It's 1979 again. Alabama wants to play Notre Dame. Wow. Two has been programs with would-be coaches. Who DOESN'T want to play Notre Dame these days?

[TitanTiger 20,509]

Hell, we tried to play Notre Dame. They blinked.

[SouthLink02 8]

I actually attended the UAB game. Sat in the North endzone.

That was the game that LSU gave tickets to all High School Seniors around the state to come see LSU's campus. I just went for the free tickets.

[AuTigersX311 2]

ok galen i have mad respect for you but why do you and everybody quote the poster when you are the second person to reply?? sorry it just bugs me. anyways, uab beat lsu . that's got to be imbarrassing!!!!! like my spelling.. on a side note, who wants to participate in the csi, miami drinking game????

[GalensGhost 0]

ok galen i have mad respect for you but why do you and everybody quote the poster when you are the second person to reply??

Never thought about it. Basic board etiquette?

[CircleDrill 178]

EVERYBODY wants to play Notre Dame in 2007. It's an easy win that will be touted in the media as a legendary match-up of the Titans for weeks leading up to the game, and the coverage will be monumental. The exposure you get from playing this mid-tier-at-best team is unreal. Who wouldn't want to play them?

Saban wants to take advantage of this fact. He didn't say he wants to play a powerhouse team. He said he wants to play a "high-interest" game.

[kickerman97 3]

Copied from an email I received, not sure of source yet:

Saban wants Irish

By now, Nick Saban realizes he thinks differently from other coaches.

"Everybody says I'm crazy," the University of Alabama coach said.

Accordingly, he doesn't care how others feel about his philosophy for creating a football schedule. What he wants is one big-time, high-interest intersectional game per year.

"I'd like to play Notre Dame," Saban said during the question-and-answer period following Wednesday's speech to the Rotary Club at the Harbert Center. "We played them three times at Michigan State and beat them three times. That was a great national game, it creates fan interest and TV will always jump on those games."

Among the other teams he'd like to schedule in the future, Saban named North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Penn State, and Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide does have Penn State and Georgia Tech in home-and-home games on its future schedules. The Tide also plays Florida State at a neutral site this season. He didn't sound scared of any of them. Creative scheduling isn't new for him, though it would be a departure from Alabama's recent history. Last year, for instance, the most high-profile game was the home matchup against Hawaii.

But Saban, when he was LSU's coach, tried to initiate a series with Texas and Arizona State, among others. He just grew used to fans asking, "What if you lose?" He also set a precedent at Michigan State by facing in-state teams like Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Central Michigan. "People say, `If they beat us, it'll be a disaster,'" Saban recalled. "I said, `(Heck), if we lose one of them, we ought to get fired.'"

Just for clarity's sake, he insisted he wasn't advocating that Alabama play any of its in-state "rivals," like Troy or UAB, but that he was just making a point. This all came during the end of a 39-minute speech, which was arranged by UA system trustee John McMahon. Even before it began, the place was buzzing. As soon as President Herb Sklenar began the club proceedings, the crowd gave Saban a standing ovation. "I'm sure your enthusiasm is driven by our speaker here," Sklenar told the crowd of 470 people, the largest for the Rotary Club in nine years.

Saban said Athletics Director Mal Moore chose this appearance for him. For roughly 25 minutes, Saban delivered what sounded like a political stump speech, mixed with some motivational words about teamwork and winning. He made jokes, he told stories, and he referenced noted thinkers such as Socrates, Muhammad Ali, and Martin Luther King Jr. The beginning was spent attempting to lower fan's expectations. He reminded the crowd that at LSU, he lost to UAB.

"We've been through this expectation deal before," he cautioned. "It's great to be optimistic, it's not as good to be pessimistic, but it's best to be realistic." With regard to the type of team he wanted to put on the field, he brought up horror film star Freddy Krueger, asking, "Why is everybody scared of him? Because no one can kill him. We need a personality like that." There was other news after the speech, both during the Q&A session and in talking to reporters afterward. Saban was noncommittal when asked about whether freshman running back Jamar Taylor, who is dealing with "personal problems" at home in Lakeland, Fla., intended to transfer.

"We're trying to work through (his issues) and help him decide whether it's better to go a little closer to home to school," Saban said. "In some cases, it might be, and if it is in his case, we're certainly going to help him do that." Asked about recruiting, Saban sounded off on his much-publicized alleged conversations with three Miami-area recruits. The school plans to file a report with the SEC office. According to Saban, his mere presence started the controversy.

"I get criticized all the time, saying that I go talk to players at a high school. But I go talk to the coaches," Saban said. "I go to practices because I think it's important for all of these kids to know that football, the game they invest their time in, is special. I want to be there, so they know it's the greatest game in the world. Then everybody says, `Coach Saban' is there, he's got to be cheating talking to players. But my response is, it's important in developing the game for me to be there."

[mowegl 4]

I think everyone wants a piece of ND right now.

[sogaaufan 27]

EVERYBODY wants to play Notre Dame in 2007. It's an easy win that will be touted in the media as a legendary match-up of the Titans for weeks leading up to the game, and the coverage will be monumental. The exposure you get from playing this mid-tier-at-best team is unreal. Who wouldn't want to play them?

Saban wants to take advantage of this fact. He didn't say he wants to play a powerhouse team. He said he wants to play a "high-interest" game.

Exactly, you will notice that USC wasn't on his "wish list" of teams to play. And UNC, for crying out loud? I know Butch Davis is there now, but how do you spin this for ratings? Tune in this Saturday folks for a mighty battle of monumental NFL failures! Do you think that would pack "em in?

I've got to hand it to Saban, he appears to know how to play to the unwashed masses. He must have learned his lessons well in Baton Rouge. Can't you just hear them now? "Yeee Haw! "At 'ole Nick, boy, he sho' ain't skeerd, iz 'e! Duh Huh Duh Huh Duh Huh"

[JohnDeere 0]

Satan just shot hisself in the foot.

This is going to be fooder for the wolves if he can't beat the 'cow college' two/three years from now.

I can hear them now:

"He never had his priorities straight. He never realized there is only ONE game that matters in the state of Alabama, that is Bama vs. Auburn. He is too worried about playing Notre Dame and getting national media attention insteading of focusing on beating the barners."

If I were Nicky, I would worry about Mississippi State first, then FSU in 2008, before talking about scheduling Notre Dame. Old timers have a saying about putting the horse before the cart.

[TigerOne 1,152]

Satan just shot hisself in the foot.

This is going to be fooder for the wolves if he can't beat the 'cow college' two/three years from now.

uat's playing Clemson?He's saying these things so they can start adding on the stadium sooner.

Schedule big names and they can justify it

They want to have the largest stadium in the SEC.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Satan just shot hisself in the foot.

This is going to be fooder for the wolves if he can't beat the 'cow college' two/three years from now.

uat's playing Clemson?He's saying these things so they can start adding on the stadium sooner.

Schedule big names and they can justify it

They want to have the largest stadium in the SEC.

Uhhh the south end zone expansion is already on the books.

Satan just shot hisself in the foot.

This is going to be fooder for the wolves if he can't beat the 'cow college' two/three years from now.

I can hear them now:

"He never had his priorities straight. He never realized there is only ONE game that matters in the state of Alabama, that is Bama vs. Auburn. He is too worried about playing Notre Dame and getting national media attention insteading of focusing on beating the barners."

If I were Nicky, I would worry about Mississippi State first, then FSU in 2008, before talking about scheduling Notre Dame. Old timers have a saying about putting the horse before the cart.

Why do you just assume that he wont be able to beat AU?

[JohnDeere 0]

Why do you just assume that he wont be able to beat AU?

It is funnier to assume UAT won't be able to beat Mississippi State.

Having worked with State fans, seeing their sheer joy in beating UAT was awesome, while the UATers sulked; and after 5 years........you get my point.

[runswithscissors 33]

Satan just shot hisself in the foot.

This is going to be fooder for the wolves if he can't beat the 'cow college' two/three years from now.

I can hear them now:

"He never had his priorities straight. He never realized there is only ONE game that matters in the state of Alabama, that is Bama vs. Auburn. He is too worried about playing Notre Dame and getting national media attention insteading of focusing on beating the barners."

If I were Nicky, I would worry about Mississippi State first, then FSU in 2008, before talking about scheduling Notre Dame. Old timers have a saying about putting the horse before the cart.

yeah, what a maroon.....having goals for our program.......what was he thinking????

[ssgaufan 0]

Copied from an email I received, not sure of source yet:

Saban wants Irish

By now, Nick Saban realizes he thinks differently from other coaches.

"Everybody says I'm crazy," the University of Alabama coach said.

Accordingly, he doesn't care how others feel about his philosophy for creating a football schedule. What he wants is one big-time, high-interest intersectional game per year.

"I'd like to play Notre Dame," Saban said during the question-and-answer period following Wednesday's speech to the Rotary Club at the Harbert Center. "We played them three times at Michigan State and beat them three times. That was a great national game, it creates fan interest and TV will always jump on those games."

Among the other teams he'd like to schedule in the future, Saban named North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Penn State, and Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide does have Penn State and Georgia Tech in home-and-home games on its future schedules. The Tide also plays Florida State at a neutral site this season. He didn't sound scared of any of them. Creative scheduling isn't new for him, though it would be a departure from Alabama's recent history. Last year, for instance, the most high-profile game was the home matchup against Hawaii.

But Saban, when he was LSU's coach, tried to initiate a series with Texas and Arizona State, among others. He just grew used to fans asking, "What if you lose?" He also set a precedent at Michigan State by facing in-state teams like Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Central Michigan. "People say, `If they beat us, it'll be a disaster,'" Saban recalled. "I said, `(Heck), if we lose one of them, we ought to get fired.'"

Just for clarity's sake, he insisted he wasn't advocating that Alabama play any of its in-state "rivals," like Troy or UAB, but that he was just making a point. This all came during the end of a 39-minute speech, which was arranged by UA system trustee John McMahon. Even before it began, the place was buzzing. As soon as President Herb Sklenar began the club proceedings, the crowd gave Saban a standing ovation. "I'm sure your enthusiasm is driven by our speaker here," Sklenar told the crowd of 470 people, the largest for the Rotary Club in nine years.

Saban said Athletics Director Mal Moore chose this appearance for him. For roughly 25 minutes, Saban delivered what sounded like a political stump speech, mixed with some motivational words about teamwork and winning. He made jokes, he told stories, and he referenced noted thinkers such as Socrates, Muhammad Ali, and Martin Luther King Jr. The beginning was spent attempting to lower fan's expectations. He reminded the crowd that at LSU, he lost to UAB.

"We've been through this expectation deal before," he cautioned. "It's great to be optimistic, it's not as good to be pessimistic, but it's best to be realistic." With regard to the type of team he wanted to put on the field, he brought up horror film star Freddy Krueger, asking, "Why is everybody scared of him? Because no one can kill him. We need a personality like that." There was other news after the speech, both during the Q&A session and in talking to reporters afterward. Saban was noncommittal when asked about whether freshman running back Jamar Taylor, who is dealing with "personal problems" at home in Lakeland, Fla., intended to transfer.

"We're trying to work through (his issues) and help him decide whether it's better to go a little closer to home to school," Saban said. "In some cases, it might be, and if it is in his case, we're certainly going to help him do that." Asked about recruiting, Saban sounded off on his much-publicized alleged conversations with three Miami-area recruits. The school plans to file a report with the SEC office. According to Saban, his mere presence started the controversy.

"I get criticized all the time, saying that I go talk to players at a high school. But I go talk to the coaches," Saban said. "I go to practices because I think it's important for all of these kids to know that football, the game they invest their time in, is special. I want to be there, so they know it's the greatest game in the world. Then everybody says, `Coach Saban' is there, he's got to be cheating talking to players. But my response is, it's important in developing the game for me to be there."

I guess he really is a football GOD, if it's that important to the game of football that he needs to be at high school practices!

[GalensGhost 0]

yeah, what a maroon.....having goals for our program.......what was he thinking????

It's not a goal. It's pandering. And you're honking away like it might be the last cream horn in the box.

Look, Saban isn't in charge of scheduling. He can run his mouth about whatever he wants to, but he's not going to get to make that decision. In addition, schedules are set far in advance for the most part. You don't just call up Touchdown Jesus and stick another game to next season's schedule. If he were able to influence the administration to put a "big" game on the schedule (and Alabama-Notre Dame is only a big game to the stuck in the 70s goobs who support those programs) it would likely be at minimum three years away and more likely somewhere between 5 and 10 years. By then, he'll be gone and whoever is cleaning up his mess will have to deal with his grand schemes.

[80Tiger 899]

yeah, what a maroon.....having goals for our program.......what was he thinking????

It's not a goal. It's pandering. And you're honking away like it might be the last cream horn in the box.

Look, Saban isn't in charge of scheduling. He can run his mouth about whatever he wants to, but he's not going to get to make that decision. In addition, schedules are set far in advance for the most part. You don't just call up Touchdown Jesus and stick another game to next season's schedule. If he were able to influence the administration to put a "big" game on the schedule (and Alabama-Notre Dame is only a big game to the stuck in the 70s goobs who support those programs) it would likely be at minimum three years away and more likely somewhere between 5 and 10 years. By then, he'll be gone and whoever is cleaning up his mess will have to deal with his grand schemes.

I heard one sports show who was looking at schedule and determined that 2013 would be the earliest it could be worked in. What will be funny if NS is till at UAT is when he walks out on the field at Notre Dame with that gray sports coat on.

[runswithscissors 33]

yeah, what a maroon.....having goals for our program.......what was he thinking????

It's not a goal. It's pandering. And you're honking away like it might be the last cream horn in the box.

Look, Saban isn't in charge of scheduling. He can run his mouth about whatever he wants to, but he's not going to get to make that decision. In addition, schedules are set far in advance for the most part. You don't just call up Touchdown Jesus and stick another game to next season's schedule. If he were able to influence the administration to put a "big" game on the schedule (and Alabama-Notre Dame is only a big game to the stuck in the 70s goobs who support those programs) it would likely be at minimum three years away and more likely somewhere between 5 and 10 years. By then, he'll be gone and whoever is cleaning up his mess will have to deal with his grand schemes.

CNS isn't in charge of scheduling, however you can't honestly believe that he won't have input. unless you know personally that as soon as he finished saying it he turned around, snickered, and said "these idiots..." i don't think you can make the assumption that all he's doing is pandering. thats the assumption you make because the story has the words "Saban" and "Alabama" in it. am i sitting here wetting myself with excitement over the thought of playing one of those teams? no. i'm simply stating that its nice to have a goal to get decent enough to eventually compete with one of them.

[TheDrewYouKnew 3]

am i sitting here wetting myself with excitement over the thought of playing one of those teams? no. i'm simply stating that its nice to have a goal to get decent enough to eventually compete with one of them.

I believe that Saban will meet your expectations because they are reasonable. He will probably get Bama "decent enough to eventually compete with one of them," and I doubt yall will have to worry about Mississippi State (anymore) while he is at the helm.

[runswithscissors 33]

am i sitting here wetting myself with excitement over the thought of playing one of those teams? no. i'm simply stating that its nice to have a goal to get decent enough to eventually compete with one of them.

I believe that Saban will meet your expectations because they are reasonable. He will probably get Bama "decent enough to eventually compete with one of them," and I doubt yall will have to worry about Mississippi State (anymore) while he is at the helm.

at this point nobody really knows. you can judge from his past performance at other schools and say he will. i'm just very cautious about it. i'll probably feel better about making a statement after a few games, who knows. i do believe he is a huge upgrade from the CMS era, and we will have a better chance of winning....not necessarily meaning that we WILL be winning more. i'm sure he's going to lay an egg here and there, and i would imagine one would be laid this coming season. there's just so many unknowns, you really can't tell.

[TDAuburn 2]

I can't believe no one has jumped on this hypocrisy...

He also set a precedent at Michigan State by facing in-state teams like Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Central Michigan. "People say, `If they beat us, it'll be a disaster,'" Saban recalled. "I said, `(Heck), if we lose one of them, we ought to get fired.'"

Just for clarity's sake, he insisted he wasn't advocating that Alabama play any of its in-state "rivals," like Troy or UAB, but that he was just making a point.

He did it at Michigan St., but won't now? Okay, what point is he making... that he left his gonads at Michigan St.?

[AUdaREALsecTigers 2]

Is Muhammad Ali really a noted thinker?

"I get criticized all the time, saying that I go talk to players at a high school. But I go talk to the coaches,"

Bet he reads playboy just for the articles also.

[FootballFanatic 4]

Is Muhammad Ali really a noted thinker?

"I get criticized all the time, saying that I go talk to players at a high school. But I go talk to the coaches,"

Bet he reads playboy just for the articles also.

He spoke out against racism during his boxing career and was part of the civil rights advancement for african americans. I heard some of his speeches, and though not filled with fancy rhetoric, they did have a strong emotional and factual impact on people. Especially the sports fan community that was in awe of his ability to box.

I wouldn't say he was a Martin Luther King or Malcom X level player in the civil rights world, but he did have a large impact.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Muhammad Ali was quite a thinker. INCREDIBLY intelligent. Was a little bit out there on some of his ideas, but dead on with others.

And best trash talker of all time.