Drop the mic. Mrs B., AKA my lovely wife, gave me the wittiest take of the day when I arrived home following my show yesterday searching for the best slogan for 2016. I've got to tell you that we had some pretty good ones, but I was underwhelmed. She looked at me and said, "I think I have it....They call Alabama Title Town and we're living in Title IX Town." I went, "Ouch!!! Drop the mic, baby doll." That's some great stuff. You're not going to let her beat us, are you?
We have enough to go to Keeneland. It's on. Are you going? Talk to me. I've still got spots left on the bus. E-mail if you're interested. Spots are filling up fast. You don't want to miss what will be the event of the spring. 40 will be on, but 40,000 will claim one day to have done this with me and my peeps. Going to be a great day. $75? Are you kidding me?
Congrats to our grand prize winners in our Moosehead March Madness!
Mike Carver wins the Moosehead iPod Speaker Tower!
Brandon Stokes wins the Moosehead Kayak.
Get in touch and I'll get the prizes to you.
'X', presented by Smoothie King, has you now.
'X' Says
'By all accounts the Orange & White "Festival" was a success . Beautiful day, great turnout, lots of VFLs back in town, and only a few bumps and bruises to show for an hour and a half of competitive events with a little 11 on 11 mixed in.
In terms of recruiting, Tennessee had a very successful day. It picked up three, solid public commitments, it cemented itself as the team to beat for a number of its highest priority 2017 and 2018 prospects, and Saturday made a number of others prospects reconsider their position on Tennessee.
Let's look at each one of the commitments
Solon Page , linebacker from Marietta, Georgia. Page is 6"2" 200 lbs. Hard to argue with Tommie Thigpen's blueprint for developing SEC linebackers. Take long athletic kids who can run put weight on them and turn them loose. Page actually looks skinnier than 200 lbs. What jumps off the tape is his athleticism but mores his closing speed. Some doubters will cite Page's lack of offers from SEC schools Tennessee is reaching for a kid they could have picked up later. Not me. The only thing that matters to me is Tennessee offered Solon Page approximately three years ago and they have never wavered in their pursuit of him. Their willingness to take a commitment from him in April when so many highly touted linebackers have Tennessee in their top group speaks volumes about what they think of him.
KD Nixon, slot receiver/athlete from DeSoto, Texas. Told you last Friday to keep an eye on Nixon. Nixon has been trending to Tennessee for a few weeks. The recruiting of Nixon is just getting started. Now that his commitment has been made public you can be assured all the Texas schools that haven't recruited him will take another look at his film.
This staff collects wide receivers so taking Nixon is no surprise. In fairness, though Nixon is one explosive looking athlete. Tennessee has been using wide receivers in the slot position but Nixon to me looks like a true slot receiver.
At 5"8 and 181 pounds he is solid enough to take contact and yet explosive enough to make big plays. Do yourself a favor and watch his highlight tape. If he makes it to Tennessee , he is a perfect fit for the offense.
I would envision Nixon being used very much like the staff is planning to use Alvin Kamara this season. Whether running back, slot receiver, or in the return game all Nixon needs is space. What impressed me about his tape. If he gets a step on a defender he isn't getting tackled from behind.
It will be interesting to see if Tennessee can hold onto Nixon.
Cheyenne Labruzza, cornerback from Albany, Louisiana. As impressive as KD Nixon's tape is, Cheyenne Labruzza's tape is more impressive. While he is average height for a cornerback (6'0"), check out his length. He has got one set of long arms to be sure. In addition, Labruzza has excellent ball skills, attacks the line of scrimmage, and can run with wide receiver. Labruzza is a big time athlete in the state of Louisiana. He is a prospect LSU has high their board. It is somewhat surprising that a prospect of Labruzza's caliber would commit to a school other than LSU.... I expect many schools including LSU, Alabama and others to make a serious run at him.
The positive is maybe he is just one of those kids who wants or needs to get away from home. It will be a fight to hold on to him until February.
Peace
'X'
'X' incredible analysis. Blessed to have you here. Many happy returns. BTW, we will break this down with Dr. Sinclair today, live on the air. Dr. Sinclair has watched extensive film on all of these prospects. It will be interesting to see where he falls on these three youngsters.
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Mark Nagi tackles Tennessee spring practice.
Link
In a sports sense, I've always been a socialist. Lemme explain before you proceed to castigate me. The NFL has the best model because EVERY TEAM is on equal footing. Every dollar that comes into any league should be distributed equally. The NFL doesn't quite go that far, but it's pretty close. I'm a big believer that fans are being taxed beyond the pale to stay involved in both professional and major college sports. Besides that, the rich only get richer, both in major college sports and most professional sports leagues. Sure, lesser likes (Kansas City) have windows where they can enjoy semi-sustained success, but, for the most part, it's the usual suspects competing for the trophy. College football is a joke in the Saban era. Here's where I can feel the Bern. Can you feel the Bern on this one? If he gets elected, I'd drink to this in college football.
Link
T Mail
'Tony:
I saw Joshua Dobbs at the air show on Sunday, and at the time I thought I was mistaken because he was wearing what looked like an Alabama hat (script A in black on black hat). Then I saw the picture of him with the little boy, and he is wearing the same hat. I don't think Alpharetta uses that font, do they? Do you know anything about this?
If Conredge Hollaway had visited me when I was kid attired with Alabama with a Bama hat, I would have cried!
Peace
Sew, Knoxville,'
I don't, and I'm apparel illiterate in terms of what's Bama, what's Arkansas or Alpharetta, et al...I will say that Josh Dobbs can do on his time what he wants to. The kid is a wonderful example of what major college sports can be! It's kind of like the Inky Johnson deal last week. People were goading me to take off on him Friday, and I didn't take the bait. Why? Because Inky Johnson is a young man that left here impaired for life from a football injury in our stadium. He paid the price. If he wants to go and make a living and feed his family with motivational speaking, have at it. If part of his presentation entails putting on Florida Gators gear, go for it. Who am I to judge? And this leads me back to Josh Dobbs. No offense, but this guy is too good of a kid for me to major in the minors on him.
'Tony:
Did you see this on the newest hire from Holly's staff? Wow. Check it out. Does she fit the grievance culture mold that you talk about?
Link
Peace
BK, Knoxville'
BK: That's some great investigative stuff right there. Who knew? I don't know if you could call this the grievance culture since this seems to have been a legitimate beef. I'll tell you this....the seamy underbelly of major college women's hoops could be the greatest no holds barred book in the history of sports journalism. Could you imagine all the juice that has been covered up in the past 4 plus decades? I'm talking Niagara Falls.
'Hey Tony,
I typically do not have a chance to call, so I have to email.
As I had mentioned before, I am so happy that T-Rob is an active VFL and we get to see and hear him on a regular basis. As far as I am concerned, T-Rob is the best UT QB. PERIOD. Yeah, we love Peyton, but for all the QB skills, T-Rob had them all.
Also, I just wanted to compliment some of your regular guests-- Coach Glanville, Al Brown, among others: absolutely the best.
I hope I can drop by a remote soon and say hi.
I hope you and your family are well.
Keep up the good work,
Doc- Todd'
Doc: Great hearing from you! I love T-Rob. He's the all time best in my book, and his story is exemplary of redemption. The guy is back in our area working on getting a degree so he can live his dream of coaching! Big Will tells me T Rob is amazing with young kids, and that he's a wonderful tactician on the mechanics of passing. Love it! Thanks for reaching out.
'I have more than one slogan, Tony. They capture the essence of what's at stake.
"BURN THE SHIP"
In 1518, Cortez was sent to conquer Mexico, and the Aztec empire of 5 million people, with his 600 soldiers, 20 horses, 10 cannons and 11 ships. When the soldiers came ashore, Cortez ordered the ships burned. The confidence of Cortez and his troops so frightened the Aztecs that they surrendered.
Fear is often our biggest enemy, and it prevents us from taking some necessary risks in life. "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."
Butch Jones often often over-thinks the game, and can prevent from taking the risks it takes to win championships. Even with all of Alabama's recruiting and preparation, remember Saban's onside kick? With this in mind, my other slogan is
"JUST PLAY" or as it might better be put in Philly, as Rock said to Mr. T,
"GO FOR IT!"
MidState Heath'
MidState: I like you....I didn't say love...I like you and you can do better than this. I need you and this audience to dig deeper today. You can do better than this...
Final Thought: Do you think the Office of Diversity would celebrate me? I’m a straight, white, Christian male. How many boxes am I checking? OK. I’m a straight, white, Christian male who is a reformed Yankee. Any chance my diversity gets celebrated?
Final Thought II: I'm going to do my show today from the ole ball park. I'll be literally and figuratively in left field. Stop by if you think about it.
TB
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