Music Friday: "Losering"

One of these days this week I listened to Whiskeytown's Strangers Almanac. 

Here's a straghtforward song from that opus. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Apparently the NFL is moving the Pro Bowl to become a flag football game. It was already that way in the past because like the NBA All-Star game, defense is optional in those silly games. Now the NFL is simply being truthful, which is a rare occurrence. 

"How Kansas Kept Abortion Legal" by Amy Littlefield in The Nation is worth a read. I hope it's a bellwether for the upcoming mid-term elections. 

I'm searching for a professional way of saying "bitch, please" without having to actually say "bitch, please." Here are suggestions from my friends on FB:

• Your opinion is duly noted, but I respectfully disagree.
• Bless your heart.
• Per my previous email
• Thank you for your interest.
• Please send me these concerns in an email.
• I'm sure that makes sense to you given your level of experience. 
• I'll take it from here.
• I appreciate your input, but we will be going in a different direction.
• Thank you very much, but I'm going to pass on that idea/opportunity at this time. 
• Thank you for the information.
• Perhaps.
• I've got you covered. 
• Ok, great. 

While I cannot find it online yet, you should pick up the most recent issue of The Nation and read Stephen Berry's "Confederates Take the Capitol." Berry is the Gregory Professor of the Civil War Era at the University of Georgia. He penned a trenchant essay about the January 6th insurrection and its historical context. 

Here's one of my favorite statements in the article: "At the base of most contemporary American conspiracy theories is the white male fantasy that indulges the feeling of being aggrieved, abused, dominated, or violated, precisely to justify the legitimacy of the ensuing white male vengeance and demonstrations of power and control." 

A few ¶s before, he makes this important statement: "...they [students of history and politics] assume that a majority of people act in their material self interest. Especially in the American context, they often don't. They act in their cultural self-interest. Any government program that benefits everyone (whether Obamacare, mask mandates, or vaccines) benefits out-groups relatively more--and America's traditionally dominant class (white male Christians and their allies) like winning less than they like watching other people lose. They not actually cynical about government; they know it works, but they want it to work for them particularly, perhaps exclusively, as it usually has--or they want it to not to work at all." 

Sunday Hangover: Vanderbilt

It's been quite a while since Alabama has played Vanderbilt. So the 'Dores came to Bryant-Denny on Saturday and got roundly spanked by a tune of 55 to 3.

Vandy had one good drive that resulted in a field goal in the first quarter, but that just seemed to piss off the Tide, and they shut everything down from then on out. 

The first part of the game didn't feature much of a running game. It was like Alabama just wanted the Oline to practice pass protection and get Young some quality work with his receivers. 

That plan happened if it indeed was a plan. 

Later one when Vandy when to a three-man front, the Tide decided to run more, and with the Tide up big, the running backs got some good work. It didn't matter whether it was a three-man or a four-man front. 

Gibbs didn't feature much in the game, but when he did, he looked outstanding. If he gets a little bit of space, he can use his speed to make some defenders look flat out silly. 

It was great to see McClellan running hard. He's more along the long line of bigger, brusing backs we've had in the past. 

And while Jamarion Miller has only gotten work in garbage time, he looks really damn good too. 

Brooks had one hell of day. Young threw to him often in the first quarter, and overall he amassed 117 yards on 6 catches with 2 TDs. 

Next up is a very difficult matchup in Fayetteville against Arkansas after they had a heartbreaking loss against Texas A&M. They should have won in Jerry World. 

Music Friday: "Program" & "Wall"

While doing work this morning, I listened to a couple of albums the Living Colour, specifically Shade from 2017 and Stain from 1993. 

Below are couple of great songs that probably don't get enough attention for music lovers. 

Please come out with a new album soon, fellas. 

Sunday Hangover: Louisiana-Monroe

Well, I suspected the War Hawks of Louisiana-Monroe were going to pay for the lackluster showing the Tide had in Austin.

63 to 7. 

Alabama scored in all phases of the game - on offense, on defense through Anderson's pick six, and two special teams touchdowns from a blocked punt and a punt return by Brian Branch.  

McKinstry had to be thinking "Why didn't I get a touchdown?" after Branch ran his back. Kool-Aid five punt returns for 136 yards. 

The offense had 273 net yards from a lot of different runners, some of whom I've never seen before like Jamarian Miller and Jonathan Bennett. 

The receivers did well against inept competition. So we'll see how they do against a surprising Vandy team next game. And then there's a three-game gauntlet of very good SEC teams to deal with: at Arkansas, vs. Texas A&M, and at Tennessee. 

There's not much to learn about the team based on the competition they faced. 

I did like seeing a TE besides Latu catch a pass. True freshman Amari Niblack had a nice catch for a TD. But it was good seeing Latu back on the field and doing well. 

Music Friday: "My Hometown"

I was listening to Dead Man's Town: A Tribute to Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. this morning, and I was reminded of the original and the cover by the North Mississippi Allstars. 

Check 'em out. 

Sunday Hangover: Texas

The last time I wrote about an Alabama-Texas game it was the Tide's first national championship under Saban. 

This one was a very different game except that both kind of went down to the wire although yesterday's game went down to the final seconds, not minutes. 

I didn't get to watch much of the game because I was driving for a weekend jaunt during it, so I listened to off an on because we were down in southern Illinois where the service was spotty as hell. I heard most of the game though, and here's what I gathered from what I heard and was told by the passengers who watched the game while I listened. 

The defensive backs played poorly. 

The offensive line struggled against the Texas defense throwing everything at them coupled with a very loud crowd. 

The young receivers struggled to get open. 

Alabama probably should have focused on running the ball more. 

It was the sloppiest game of the Saban era. So many damn stupid penalties...

Bryce Young is an exceptional football player. 

So, in sum, the areas where the Tide had question marks all had issues during a feisty road game. 

My hope is that this game serves as a good-bad win, meaning that Alabama played poorly in so many ways, they won, and the good-bad win works as a reality-anchor on how the Tide needs to work the process and get much better. 

There are all kinds of coaching points that Saban and the assistant coaches will be mining for weeks. 

Music Friday: "Whose God Is This" & "Bible Vs. Gun"

I was first introduced to the music of Will Hoge by a friend who turned me on to his great song "Bible Vs. Gun." 

The album that dropped for him this year, unfortunately, is first one I've purchased, and it's a good one. So today I'm featuring the closing song of Wings on My Shoes. "Whose God Is This" should invite some thinking. 

Music Friday: "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"

I got lazy and didn't post a Music Friday post in time. 

Regardless, here's a classic from the Allman Brothers Band. 

Sunday Hangover: Utah State

I understand that Alabama is a very good team, but I thought Utah State would give them a bigger challenge because they won 11 games last season and won their conference. 

But they didn't. 

It was a 55 to 0 drubbing.

The biggest questions for me were the play of the new corps of wide receivers and the offensive line. 

As for the wide receivers, the new crop stepped up. I like Holden a lot, and Burton played well with two touchdowns apiece. And the freshman Prentice started and looked good. 

They have even more depth there with Bond, Leary, and Brooks. It's early in the season obviously, but we seem to have some players ready to contribute.

With the offensive line, Alabama needs to run the ball more effectively. Their performance, to me, was just okay. But I'm a fan of smashmouth football. 

Next up is an away game at Texas. The pundits tongues will be wagging about Saban going up against Sark.