From what I have read Eli is the one who made a mess of this. CTSN and the school stood by and supported him when he was sick and missed a full year in 22 and all road games in 23. Eli's contract was up for renewal this year. The CTSN decided it would be best not to renew the contact with the old terms. They wanted him to continue but in a lesser role and move Chris Stewart to the play-by-play announcer role. Eli said no. CTSN then wanted to make a joint announcement that Eli would be retiring, and Eli went nuts saying he would not agree to the announcement. That left the CTSN no choice but to make the announcement they were parting ways with Eli and thanked him for all he had done.

It was Eli's choice to make it ugly. IMO, he burned a bridge with a university that had been very good to him. I think he thought the fans would rebel and demand he keep his job. He underestimated the fact that all games are on TV, and no one listens to him on the radio anymore.

The CTSN and the school will be better off with Chris Stewart. Eli will regret he acted like a little bit@#.   

He seemed like a good guy. He was a lot of fun with a quick wit. He left us far too young. Prayers to his family.

 

OMG! He was only 43. 

Bama got a big home win in OT over Florida last night. We did not play well against a very good Florida team but found a way to win. We are now 19-7 and in first place alone in the SEC with an 11-2 record. We are projected as a #3 seed right now and rising.

I may be in the minority, but I like Chris Stewart much better. Eli talks too much and says very little. Listening to him while you are watching a game is fine. If you have radio only, he does not do a good job of keeping you up to speed on down, distance, time, and score.

Chris Stewart is outstanding in basketball and baseball. He will do a great job with football.

Coach Saban told the Administration, then the team, and then the public. What else was he supposed to do. I am glad he did not do a farewell tour and even more glad we did not name a coach in waiting.

Coach Saban left the program in great shape. I think Coach Deboer is a very good hire. In today's college game you will be miserable if you get upset every time a plyer hits the transfer portal or an assistant coach leaves for another job.

Pros: This team is fun to watch. When we hit our shots, we can beat anyone. Pringle has his best game of the year. We need more of that. Any road win is a good win. Bama is tied for the league lead with a 9-2 record. Currently projected as a #3 seed.

Cons: This team needs to learn how to play defense. Teams with a big post player give us trouble.

Grubb leaving for Seahawks.

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Softball is off to a good start in Atlanta at the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic. Bama got off to a great start with Arkansas State Transfer Kayla Beaver pitching a 3-0 no hitter against Villanova. Game 2 was a 13-0 run rule win over Longwood. Torrance got the win in that game. Freshman pitcher Jocelyn Briski pitched all 7 innings in Game 3 win over Georgia Tech with 3-1 win. Both Beaver and Briski looked good in their Bama debuts.

Saturday has Bama playing Longwood at 11:00 and GT at 2:00 to close out the weekend.

Alabama needs to get back on a winning streak starting this morning at LSU. Game tip is 11:00.

FIFY

Huge game today. Playing at home is a big advantage. My gut tells me we will play well and get a good Quad 1 win.

It happened at Tenn last year too but in a different way. We only lost by 9 but scored only 59 points. The score was closer than the game.

We are still in good shape. We are in a 3-way tie for 2nd in the league. Beat Auburn at home on Wednesday and we are tied for 1st. We need to put the UT game behind us and get ready to beat our biggest rival on our home floor.

I like the Deboer hire. All I knew about him was he took Washington to the championship game this year. Since he accepted the Bama job, I have read up on him and he has an impressive resume. He is a winner. He has won everywhere he has been at every level.

I also like the staff he is putting together.

If I have a concern it is recruiting. He has never had to recruit at the level required to complete for championships in the SEC. That does not mean he can't do it.