Nick Saban, You're Wrong On This One!

I maybe forever banned from my home state of Alabama for making this stand, but it comes with the territory.

Nick Saban recently voiced his opinion on no huddle offenses in yesterday's SEC Teleconference.

(from CBSSports.com)

"[The no-huddle]'s obviously created a tremendous advantage for the offense when teams are scoring 70 points and we're averaging 49.5 points a game," Saban said on an SEC coaches teleconference, as quoted by the Birmingham News. "With people that do those kinds of things, more and more people are going to do it.

"I just think there's got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking, 'Is this what we want football to be?' "
But Saban wasn't just arguing against the no-huddle over its lack of "fairness" to the defenses -- he views it as a safety hazard as well.

"At some point in time, we should look at how fast we allow the game to go in terms of player safety," Saban said. "The team gets in the same formation group, you can't substitute defensive players, you go on a 14-, 16-, 18-play drive and they're snapping the ball as fast as you can go and you look out there and all your players are walking around and can't even get lined up.

"That's when guys have a much greater chance of getting hurt when they're not ready to play."

Let's look at the history of football in general. Wasn't it at one time that there wasn't even a forward pass during it's infant stages? Did the purists cry foul when the forward pass was adopted? I'm sure they did, and they probably said it gave the offense a leg up. Was it the same way when the spread offense or even the wildcat for that matter? Of course.

My point is, college football has evolved. It surprises me that the most elite coach in college football is expressing his displeasure about a strategy that is evolving in college football.

I can't say that I'm not surprised that Saban is not a fan of the no-huddle offense, the same offense that is used during a 2 minute drill. In the beginning of the 2009 National Championship game against Texas, Colt McCoy was gashing the Alabama defense before Marcel Dareus broke him in half. In the Ole Miss game this past Saturday, the defense seemed to have trouble with the no-huddle.

Nick Saban is the best coach in college football, what do the best usually do? They find a way to adapt. To play the "players could get hurt card" is like saying "we care about the well being of the student athlete", which we all know is complete crap.

Returning to Radio in 11 days

Okay okay, I just couldn't stay away from radio long enough. In 11 days I will be returning to radio Saturday, October 13th 2012 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Also, I just want to try out this mobile app I just downloaded. Sweet!

Replacement Ref outrage hits critical mass. Let's look at other factors

I have to admit, I didn't watch all of the Monday Night Football game last night. I also didn't want to be up until 2am watching it. You couldn't say the NFL replacement refs are horrible and can't do their job. You can say they're overwhelmed and not as efficient. The negotiations between the referee union and the NFL are now at a standoff. The refs can hold on and say "Look what you're doing to the product by being so uptight." The NFL can turn around and say "Look what your selfishness has done to our brand." I don't know which side will give, but Roger Goodell has had a bad run of publicity as of late.

Last night, the dissatisfaction with the replacement refs finally hit critical mass. Fueled by a controversial last play where Packers Defensive Back M.D. Jennings look to had intercepted a Hail Mary pass by Seahawks QB Russell Wilson. However, Seahawk WR Golden Tate tied up Jennings and was awarded the touchdown by the replacements which won them the game.

There's many things you can criticize in regards to that play. The positioning of the back judge where he got into position after the play had ended. The indecision of the side judge in the end zone to make a call. The confusion was obvious.

The plays I watched on SportsCenter that Matt Millen pointed out that were just as bad was a roughing the passer call that really wasn't roughing the passer, or a pass interference call against the Packers that should have been called on the Seahawks. So there's something in common in all three. The Packers defense got screwed over and over again last night.

Let me try and make you think, or you can fill in the holes that I missed last night because....I didn't watch the whole game.

How many points did the Green Bay Packers score last night? 12 right? 12 points against the Seahawks. Not to discredit the defensive performance of Seattle, but Green Bay has a Super Bowl winning QB who has lifted himself from the shadow of #4. If you want to say the refs screwed the Packers defense, then you have to also say the Packers offense screwed their defense by putting them in that situation to begin with.

Think about that and then fill in the holes that I missed.