Alabama senior Kayla Hoffman competes on the floor exercise during the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regionals on Saturday, April 2, 2011 at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Hoffman won the even with a score of 9.925. She won two other events and captured the all-around title. (The Birmingham News/Jeff Roberts)
TUSCALOOSA - Ho, hum. The Alabama gymnastics team won another NCAA regional championship Saturday night.

That's an NCAA-best 26 regional titles. The Crimson Tide is going to the NCAA Championships for, let's see, how many consecutive years?

"This is 29 in a row for my husband and me, but I can tell you that the feeling from tonight - it doesn't get any better than this," Alabama coach Sarah Patterson said.

"Some people say, 'Oh, it's old.' But I can tell you, it doesn't. It's amazing."

The second-ranked Tide dominated the meet, winning with a score of 197.275 before a Coleman Coliseum crowd of 8,174 (2,000 more than the crowd for the 2009 regional meet at Alabama).

Click here for link

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - A standout start from junior lefty Adam Morgan helped secure the 5-3 victory for the No. 21 Alabama baseball team (21-8, 7-1 SEC) over the 13th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (18-8, 2-6 SEC), Saturday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

"Morgan had a quality start and it's just been the same formula that it's been," UA head coach Mitch Gaspard said. "He took us deep into the game and Smart's been able to come in and close them out."

Morgan (4-1) won his second conference game of the season to improve his record to 2-0 in SEC play, after going 8.0 innings, allowing only two runs on six hits, while walking two and striking out a season-high seven batters. Morgan has now struck out five or more batters in each of this three SEC starts (6 vs. Mississippi, 5 vs. Kentucky).

Brett Booth had a solid day at the dish, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and one walk and Brant Hendricks added a pair of hits and an RBI. Austen Smith also continued to excel at the plate, going 1-for-4, knocking a double and scoring two runs. Smith is now 3-for-8 with a double, a triple, four RBI and two runs for the weekend.

Alabama closer Jonathan Smart came in for the ninth to earn his seventh save of the season, his fifth in SEC play, and second of the weekend. Arkansas starter DJ Baxendale (5-1) took the loss for the Hogs. The win is the Tide's seventh straight in SEC play.

Click here for link

In a reversal of usual pattern, University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban said the University of Alabama offense showed more positives than the defense in the year's first scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday.

"I was really pleased with the quarterback play," Saban said. "They managed the game well, their leadership was good and we moved the ball. Eddie (Lacy) and Trent (Richardson) both had some big plays in the running game.

"I thought the defense played well at times, but one glaring thing was that we didn't tackle well. We need to work on that, and in getting to the football so we are in position to help the tackler.

Click here for link

TUSCALOOSA -- After two weeks of practice, Alabama should get some tangible evidence today to determine how much progress has occurred this spring.

There's already enough practice film to overwhelm Steven Spielberg. But what about cold, hard statistics? Pass completions, rushing yardage, tackles and field goals will all be accounted for in the battle for positions.

And, of course, more film.

In today's scrimmage, a select few will be allowed to witness the quarterback battle between redshirt sophomore AJ McCarron and redshirt freshman Phillip Sims. This is their chance to show they can run the huddle, master plays from scrimmage and display their talent in game situations, minus any potential hits.

Click here for link

TUSCALOOSA - It's one down and two to go in the championship season for the second-ranked Alabama gymnastics team.

The Crimson Tide won the Southeastern Conference championship two weeks ago. In two weeks, it wants a shot at its fifth national championship.

But first comes a little big meet tonight.

It's little because finishing first isn't important.

It's big because it must finish at least second to advance to the NCAA Championships coming up April 15-17 in Cleveland, Ohio.

It's the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, and it starts at 6 p.m. today in Coleman Coliseum.

It's a meet the Crimson Tide has dominated over the year. It has won an NCAA-best 25 regional titles, and it has advance to the NCAA Championships 28 consecutive years.

Click here for link

You may have noticed that I added a new wallpapers section to the menu last night.  I am in the process of uploading the collection of wallpapers that I made for the old blog I had with hscoach, W&L, and BamaRabbi last year.  Most of you guys have already seen those if you were on TideSports back then, but I put them there any way in case some of the new people would like to have them.

I also just added a brand new one called Take the Show on the Road.  It is pretty simple compared to some of my past ones, but it has a good message.  It is about the 19-0 record the basketball team had this year at home.  Here is a preview of it:


Head on over to the wallpapers section if you would like to download it.  Feel free to share a link to the wallpapers section on any other sites you might post on, but only if they don't object to such links.

I plan to add the rest of the old ones as time permits.  I also have two other new ones in the idea stage that I am working on.  One of these will be for softball and the other gymnastics.

The hardest part of making these is to find good quality high resolution images that are in the public domain to use as source material.  So if you have any pictures that you have made yourself that you would like to contribute, please let me know.  I might be able to use them.  Right now I am particularly interested in gymnastics photos with the girls raising their hands at the end of their routine.  For softball any pictures you have of Kelsi Dunne pitching would be perfect for the softball project I am working on.

If you have any trouble with any of the wallpaper downloads please let me know.  I have included the 26 most common screen resolutions, so everyone should be able to find one that works great for their computer screen.

Thanks in advance for your help, and I hope you enjoy the wallpapers.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 21-ranked Alabama baseball team (20-8, 6-1 SEC) defeated the No. 13-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (18-7, 2-5 SEC) in a Southeastern Conference game by a final of 5-3 on the back of Austen Smith, Friday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Smith excelled at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a triple, knocking in four of the Crimson Tide's five runs. Taylor Dugas also continued to swing a consistent stick, going 3-for-4 with one walk and two runs to raise his on-base percentage to a whopping .512.

Click here for link

Personally I don't think Houdini could get out of the mess that the NCAA has created for themselves. The old saying of "spare the rod and spoil the child" might just fit this NCAA mess. When the NCAA lets these issues ride for up to 5 years before making a decision on the penalties to be handed down, it only opens the door for other players to do the same things because they don't care what happens, they have since left the school when the NCAA gets around to handling their case.

This could be the beginning of the end for the NCAA, something that most folks have wanted for a long time.

 

TUSCALOOSA -- A statue of Nick Saban will be unveiled at approximately 12:40 p.m. on A-Day outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium along the Walk of Champions, Alabama announced Friday afternoon.

It will be the fifth statue joining national championship coaches Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul Bryant and Gene Stallings. Plaques will honor players and staff members of the national championship teams.

Click here for link