Webb on the Web and More ...

I promised that this blog won't be nearly as political in 2007 as it was in 2006, but I have to give due time to Virginia Senator Jim Webb. I'll talk about the picture above in just a moment.

As you may recall from blog entries ranging from last summer through the November election, I tried my best to point out the many, many flaws of Virginia Senator George Allen as he campaigned against Jim Webb. I was never a particularly great fan of Webb, I just thought that he, or 90 percent of the American public, would be far better than George Allen as a senator from our commonwealth.

When I heard that Webb would be delivering the Democratic response to the Bush State of the Union Speech, I must admit I was a bit nervous. After seeing numerous clips of Webb on the campaign trail, I knew he wasn't the most charasmatic guy. No one will ever mistake him for Barack Obama (more on that below).

While Webb didn't impress anyone with his personality or the delivery of his speech, I thought his content was excellent. You can see Webb on the Web here. Once you go to the link, you'll be able to view in Quicktime or Media Player. I hope you take a few minutes to check it out.

Speaking of Obama, though, I briefly turned on the TV this morning to see that just about every network was going to have him on their morning shows to respond to the State of the Union address. This guy is unquestionably the media darling. Well except Fox News. But I am already starting to worry about the race for the 2008 election.

As usual, the media is playing favorites. Obama and Clinton are getting most of the coverage while the rest of the field fights for a few minutes of face time. I mean, how many of you have seen former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel on TV? Yeah, I actually know Mike. I've had dinner with him and his lovely wife, Whitney, a few times. Mike's a good guy currently living in Arlington, Va., and he's been working on changing government for years, but he gets no coverage.

What am I saying here? I'm not sure, but I think my point is that the PEOPLE of this nation need to seek out candidates and learn about them without relying on the mainstream media. Remember how Howard Dean was the intriguing newcomer on the national political scene in the 2004 election and then the media turned on him and crucified him after the infamous Dean Scream?

And poor John Edwards. Here's a guy who was also promising in 2004 but then got caught in the disaster known as John Kerry. As a friend of mine just stated about Edwards: "He'll need to work hard to scrub the Kerry stink off him." Apparently the media has forgotten about Edwards, who had that Obama charm just four years ago and now seems to be an also-ran in the eyes of the mainstream media.

At any rate, it's clear that Bush is STILL leading us down the wrong path. It's clear that politics is still politics. And it's clear that the presidential race of 2008 (now that it's barely 2007) is going to be long, brutal, and expensive. Is this why crap like American Idol is how we spend our time as a country?

The King Is Back

Before I move off the subject of Alabama football, at least for a while, I'd like to point out the recent article by Mobile Register sports columnist Paul Finebaum.

Finebaum outlines a lot of what I said in my blog entry below. The Bama Nation has gone through many troubled times in the past 25 years, but not the NCAA, our SEC rivals, nor the media could finish us off. And now, hope lives and the King is back.

Hey Auburn, are you scared yet?

Tired of the Bama Bashers

Tuscaloosa News sports columnist Cecil Hurt recently wrote a column about hope returning to the University of Alabama football program. I couldn't agree more. It's been a rough decade to be a fervent Tide fan. Coach Gene Stallings led the Crimson Tide to a National Championship in 1992 as part of a 28-game winning streak that lasted for part of 1991, all of 1992, and part of 1993.

Then came a run-in with the NCAA and a punishment that disallowed the Crimson Tide an appearance in a bowl game in 1995. The Tide bounced back in 1996 with a 10-3 record and a win over Michigan in the Outback Bowl.

But Coach Stallings retired after the Outback Bowl, and troubled times soon set in. Coach Mike DuBose proved to be a bad hire, UA was hit with NCAA sanctions again and suffered arguably the most unfair penalties in NCAA history, Coach Dennis Franchione came and went, which was followed by the Mike Price debacle, and finally a coaching stint by Mike Shula, who barely had a winning record in four years at UA.

The national media excoriated Alabama for firing Shula, despite the fact that his record was weak and his leadership questionable. Serious questions hung around the football complex regarding discipline, strength and conditioning, the competence of some of the coaches, and the general direction of the program.

The press and Bama rivals seemed to rejoice when West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez turned down an offer from UA to become the next Bama head man, but Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore and President Dr. Robert Witt still had hope that their No. 1 choice would still be a possibility. And after the NFL regular season was over, Miami Dolphins Coach Nick Saban was announced as the new Alabama head coach.

Again, the media torched Saban and Alabama. Saban lied, the media decried, when he said he was not interested in the Alabama job only to take it a few weeks later. Hey media pinheads, I'm not saying Saban handled the questions about his coaching future well, but it happens all the time. Tommy Tuberville said he'd only leave Mississippi in a pine box just a couple days before bolting for Auburn. Dennis Franchione said he wasn't looking at any other jobs just before he stepped on a plane to College Station, Texas, never to return to Alabama. Even recently Louisville's Bobby Petrino said he would honor his 10-year contract with the Cardinals just before taking a job as the Atlanta Falcons head coach. And what about the owners or college athletic directors who give a coach their "vote of confidence" and then fire the guys two weeks later? Geez, enough of the hypocrisy.

Was Saban less than honest? Yes. But it happens all the time in sports and the media rarely questions it and never as vehemently as it has done in the case of Saban and Alabama. Just last night on ESPN in the "Sunday Conversation" on SportsCenter, the camera zoomed tight on Saban's face while Chris Mortensen, two weeks after Bama hired Saban, continued to ask about Saban's "less than truthful" departure from the Dolphins. Part two of that conversation comes tonight, and it is supposed to focus more on what Saban wants to do at Alabama and be less about Saban defending himself to the media—again.

With Saban comes a guy known as a leader—a guy with whom you do things his way or you hit the highway. He doesn't generally schmooze with the press and is known to be a difficult guy to work with, but his take-charge attitude is exactly what Alabama needs right now. It's what Alabama had from 1958 to 1982 with legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant running the Tide football program. Ray Perkins and then Bill Curry failed to fill the shoes of Coach Bryant. Stallings had a similar demeaner to Bryant and his leadership brought Bama back to where it was under Bryant, and then the wheels fell off.

I feel confident that Saban will put Alabama in a position to where it was in years such as 1961 or 1978 or 1992. I think with some rebuilding on Alabama's defensive front and in the linebacking corps that Alabama will be contending for SEC championships, and perhaps national championships, within a few years. Alabama fans have been like whipped dogs, hanging their heads, afraid to be bold and aggressive. But with the hiring of Nick Saban, Bama fans are once again proud. They are buying Tide Pride tickets and Bama gear. They are showing their colors. For the first time in a long time the Bama Nation is united. The championship mindset has returned, now let the on-the-field championships follow.

And to the media that keeps bashing Bama, give it a rest. Columnist Cecil Hurt points out the hypocrisy again in his column today. Great comments by Cecil: "What Alabama fans want, in the long term, is to field a team that is competitive, year in and year out, in the SEC. It’s the same thing that Florida wanted when it replaced Ron Zook. It’s the same thing that LSU and Auburn and all the other teams in the league’s upper echelon expect, and the rest of the teams aspire to. And it is by no means unreasonable."

Roll Tide!!!!!!!!!

Weight Watching

I'm hungry! It's true. Over the course of my life, I've never made any sort of serious effort to really improve my eating habits. By eating habits I basically mean I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Sure I had the occasional salad, but I also had lots of junk food and such awesome and tasty treats such as fried chicken, barbecue, Buffalo wings, macaroni & cheese, burgers, and lots of chocolate. You get the picture.

But beginning January 2, I started to make a conscious effort to reduce the amount of food I was eating and also to try to eat more healthful foods. It's been a struggle, but a week in, things have been going OK. I have lost a few pounds, so things seem hopeful.

I've also tried to step up the exercise just a bit. Unfortunately, I am hungry—a lot. And that occasionally makes me want to smack someone in the head. But we'll see what happens. Wish me luck. And with any luck, I'll never have to make such a painful New Year's resolution again.

Happy New Year!

Yes, I realize that it's been a long time since I've blogged. A LONG time. And even though we're a week into 2007, it is one of my goal's this year to blog a bit more.

In 2006 many of my blog entries were of a political nature. I'm going to try to switch directions a bit this year, though. I'll focus on a more wide array of issues including sports, pop culture, writing, and my various observations about life.

So, I formally apologize to those of you who have been checking this page for two months with no new content. But those days are quickly changing.

So welcome to 2007, and I hope you stop in and visit often.

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year.