Another Thing Only Bama Fans Can Do

File this off-season blog post under the category of something only Bama fans can do…compare three BCS National Championship Logos.

Let’s take a look at them and then discuss…

First up, 2009:

2009 BCS National Championship Logo

Next, 2011:

2011 BCS National Championship Logo

And, finally, 2012:

2012 BCS National Championship Logo

 

The 2009 logo celebrates Alabama’s 37-21 win over Texas in a game played at the Rose Bowl.  This logo  incorporates a crimson canvass with white words and gray used to color the football.  All of that works well together, but the kicker for me is the use of the two roses on the bottom of each side of the logo.  The use of the roses allows a touch of green to be added, for the stems, and is a permanent reminder of the game’s location, Pasadena, California.  This use of green in the 2009 logo is the only color besides crimson, white and gray to be used in any of the three logos.

The 2011 version commemorates the Tide’s 21-0 win over LSU in New Orleans, Louisiana.  This version, like 2012′s, doesn’t include the word “Alabama.”  Instead it highlights “National Champions” in the center of the design.  The logo also subtly pays homage to the historic site for the game, the Louisiana Superdome, in two ways (at least to my untrained eye): 1) the top third of the logo resembles the Superdome’s iconic shape; and 2) the football in the bottom portion of the logo also has the rounded shape of the Dome.  (Ok, #2 may be a stretch.)  The ornate design on either side of the script “A” at the top of the logo also harkens to mind the similar designs included in architecture of the French Quarter.  This design, again like 2012, only includes crimson, white and gray.

The most recent logo commemorates Bama’s destruction of Notre Dame, 42-14, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.  It’s crimson, white and gray, like it’s 2011 counterpart, and rightfully highlights the Tide’s status as “Back to Back National Champions” in the center.  The only reference to location in this design is the use of two palm on either side of the script “A” at the top of the logo.

The year of each championship is also included on each logo.  It appears at the top for 2009 and at the

bottom for the other two.  Immediately following Bama’s win over the Irish, another logo appeared, but included “15″ at the bottom instead of “2012.”  This version, however, seemed to disappear pretty quickly after the win.  I like the incorporation of “15,” but including the year is a way to specifically honor the 2012 team and does provide some historical perspective.

2012 BCS Champion Logo with “15″

Which is my favorite?  I have to say the 2009 version.  A 17-year title drought made me so hungry for a championship that probably any old logo would have sufficed, but the classic setting for the game, and thus the incorporation of the roses, makes this version stand out.

The 2011 version is a solid logo, but upon it’s release immediately paled in comparison to 2009.  Compared to roses used in 2009, the subtle references to New Orleans seem way too subtle.

The 2012 version stands out because of the back-to-back championships aspect, though, at first glance one does wonder if it commemorates both championship teams, or just the 2012 squad.

Jeff Gordon’s Test Drive

If you haven’t seen Jeff err Mike Gordon’s test drive, take a minute to check it out…

That’s good stuff right there.

Weird on Weird: The Te’o Saga Continues

I can’t remember a weirder story than the one involving Manti Te’o.

ESPN.com’s story, which contains mostly responses and reactions, is interesting in comparison to the story that broke on Deadspin.com.

ESPN’s article would have one believe that Te’o was the victim of an elaborate online hoax. Deadspin leads the reader to believe Te’o was involved.  An example or two:

ESPN:

Swarbrick said Te’o never met Kekua in person.

“What I will tell you, this was exclusively an online relationship,” he said.

Deadspin:

Nov. 28, 2009: Te’o and Kekua meet after Stanford’s 45-38 victory over Notre Dame in Palo Alto, according to the South Bend Tribune: “Their stares got pleasantly tangled, then Manti Te’o extended his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes.” Kekua, a Stanford student, swaps phone numbers with Te’o.

ESPN (quoting Te’o):

“This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her.”

Deadspin:

2010-2011: Te’o and Kekua are friends. “She was gifted in music, multi-lingual, had dreams grounded in reality and the talent to catch up to them” (South Bend Tribune). “They started out as just friends,” Te’o's father, Brian, told the Tribune in October 2012. “Every once in a while, she would travel to Hawaii, and that happened to be the time Manti was home, so he would meet with her there.”

Those accounts are quite different. Which is the truth?  I dunno.  I guess we’ll see which one shows up first on Oprah.

The biggest thing that bothers me about all this is the media.  How does a story this big, this false, pass through the media’s fingers with no one ever asking a question?  Did not one reporter from Hawaii, California, South Bend or anywhere else, think about contacting the girlfriend’s family or friends or think about visiting the doctors who treated her or grave site where she was buried?  Why did no one even think about practicing a little journalism? 

There’s a lesson somewhere in this for all of us.

 

Exposed, part 2

When we last saw Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o, he was getting exposed by the Eddie Lacy and the rest of the Crimson Tide offense.

Apparently, he’s been exposed again:

Manti Te’o did lose his grandmother this past fall. Annette Santiago died on Sept. 11, 2012, at the age of 72, according to Social Security Administration records in Nexis. But there is no SSA record there of the death of Lennay Marie Kekua, that day or any other. Her passing, recounted so many times in the national media, produces no obituary or funeral announcement in Nexis, and no mention in the Stanford student newspaper.

Are you kidding me?  I mean, are you kidding me?

This is one of the most incredible stunts ever.  An All-American linebacker at the country’s most storied college football program fakes the death of his girlfriend???  And the charade runs for basically the entire football season.  Incredible.

Te’o got exposed as an extremely overrated football player when the Irish got trucked by the Tide.  The national media was also once again exposed for having not a shred of credibility.

#Admitstrong

Lance Armstrong has done nothing to me.  

Sure, I’ve watched a snippet or two of a Tour de France race here and there, but I’ve never really been a big fan. I’ve never bought a yellow bracelet or any of that fancy yellow clothing, so, I suppose he won’t be admitting anything to me and following up with any sort of apology.

But as someone who has done quite a bit of apologizing and as someone who thinks there should be quite a bit more apologizing in this world, I am interested in the proceedings.

As he’s battled these allegations through the years, Armstrong has been aggressively defiant.  If someone questioned his cleanliness, they were paid back in spades.  He used a scorched-earth policy to defend his reputation.  So now that he’s coming clean, how will he address his scorched-earth tactics?  Will he take the approach that I so often take and just be sorry he got caught?  Or, will he take follow the example of the wee little tax collector, Zacchaeus:

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Luke 19:8 ESV

It’s not up to me to judge his apology.  As I said before, I haven’t really been affected by any of this, and even if I were, as a follower of Christ, I have an obligation to forgive.  But the world needs more apologizing – and not just the “give me back my endorsements kind.” The world needs to see and hear a heartfelt, I’ve done a bad, bad thing kind of apology.

One of the problems that I have always had with Armstrong was that his whole recovery and subsequent tour victories were always about him.  Look at me and look what I’ve done.  I’m living strong.  It would have been nice to see and hear him honor his Creator and Sustainer.  Sure, his foundation has done wonderful things to support those with cancer and help them in their battle, but the foundation of the foundation was seemingly based on the wrong thing.

Unfortunately, in my life I’ve done some horrible things that have had very negative effects on others.  Often, I spent time in denial about what I had done and the way I had done things.  Many times thereafter, I would apologize for what I had done and then deliver a justification for my self in the same breath.  Obviously, those apologies fell flat.  (I’m afraid I still do this some times.)

A real apology means you admit what you did and you forsake the excuses.  You admit to what you did and you commit to cleaning up the mess as best you can, no matter the cost.

In Armstrong’s case, there seem to be legal problems lurking around his behavior.  It’s possible that a real apology would have a negative effect on these issues.  It will be interesting to see how he navigates this mess.

Whatever the mess and whatever the cost, though, I’m hoping he does his apologizing the right way.

Stepping Over the Line

It’s always fashionable for the college football world to bash Nick Saban for “roster management” and all that falls within that concept, namely oversigning, greyshirting, medical redshirts and pulling scholarships.

I generally defend these practices, especially when coach Saban is mentioned, by saying a couple of things: 1) these things aren’t necessarily illegal, immoral or unethical; 2) we don’t usually know all of the story.

Regarding #1, most of the complaints seem to come from one particular side of the political spectrum and I’ll leave it at that.

Regarding #2, most of us never know the details of coach and player (prospect or current) conversations.  My belief is that if a coach is caught lying to his players, word gets out and that will eventually hurt recruiting.  In the case of Nick Saban, that would even more so seem to be the case.  I call that the free market of college football.

There must be a reason players are flocking to Alabama to play for Saban.  The type of player being recruited by Alabama could play anywhere in the country and would certainly flee if what Saban was selling didn’t turn out as he said.

Which brings us to one Lane Kiffin who seems to be having a run-in with the free market:

Fitts spoke to several of Kiffin’s assistants at the Under Armour All-America game, and across the board all were excited to have the player with the rest of the team as soon as possible. That was on January 5. Two days later, and thus three days before Fitts’ life was supposed to change forever as he entered college, he received a phone call saying his scholarship was no longer available for the spring semester.

That’s right.  Ole Laner got caught a scholarship short and had to renege on his word with a highly touted recruit.  What did the recruit do?  He’s going somewhere else:

Fitts will not be heading to Los Angeles in the fall. Instead, the young man is looking for an entirely new place to play. His coach told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that Notre Dame, Washington and UCLA were all back in the mix for the player’s services.

(Actually, if Fitts goes to UCLA he will be in Los Angeles.)

When we start to routinely hear stories about coach Saban, then we can start worrying.  My guess, though, is that we won’t.

What Might Have Been: Chris Black Edition

Amari Cooper was scary good for a freshman in 2012:  59 catches, 1,000 yards receiving and 11 touchdown receptions.  All of those stats were either freshman records or overall records.

But what’s even scarier, is there was another freshman wide receiver who was all the rage before a season-ending shoulder injury – Chris Black:

But the former star from First Coast High School in Jacksonville, Fla., was upbeat about his first year at Alabama when he spoke on media day, two days before the Jan. 7 BCS Championship Game against Notre Dame.

“Some people probably think it was tough for me, due to the injury, but I was still pretty grateful,” said the 5-foot-11, 178-pound Black. “I got a chance to come in in the spring and learn everything. I feel like I learned a lot, even through this whole year, before the injury. I’m recovered now.”

Black, in fact, was cleared to play before the SEC Championship Game, but he did not play in a 32-28 victory over Georgia or in a 42-14 victory over Notre Dame.

Was that a letdown?

“No, not at all,” Black said. “I feel like it was a blessing for me. I got a chance that week to prove I could play the outside position. All along, I had been playing the slot position. Just for that particular week, I had to learn the outside. I got a chance to prove that. It wasn’t that big of a letdown. We got the win. That’s the most important thing.”

Folks, the offensive line for 2013 is obviously going to need some work, but the rest of the gang will be scary good.