From the Sideline – Bluegrass Beat Down and Notes from the Hardwood

Alabama’s win Saturday night at C.M. Newton Field capped a busy week for me, with high school games on My68 on Thursday and Friday before I headed to Lexington.

The Crimson Tide’s dominance of Kentucky – especially in the first half – was a microcosm of the season thus far. This team makes enough mistakes to cause you to scratch your head. Two fumbles and a couple of dropped passes that would likely have led to touchdowns, can obviously hurt you in close games.

However, we also saw a Bama team that was virtually unstoppable – except by themselves.

I’ve said it from the start, and will continue to do so until I’m proven wrong, but this team – while not as good as it was 12 months ago at this time – is still more than capable of beating any team it lines up against by season’s end.

Even with the drops and fumbles, I still think Alabama took another step forward against the Wildcats.

More importantly, Nick Saban does.

The Tide’s head coach talked about how his team is improving, and for a man who has preached dominating your opponent since the day he walked on campus, you know he loved a night in which his team had a more than 400-yard edge in total offense.

Tough injury for Bama Basketball

There used to be a feature on the 70’s TV show “Hee Haw” where a group of crying, drunk guys would sing a song called “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me”. One line in the song says, “If it weren't for bad luck, we’d have no luck at all.”

That just about sums up the injury front for Anthony Grant’s Alabama basketball team the past couple of seasons.

The latest casualty is junior Levi Randolph, who is out for “several weeks” with a knee injury according to a UA press release. Nobody has started more games for the Tide the past two seasons than has Randolph, and I’m not sure his leadership can be replaced. Let’s hope his time away from the court will be minimal.

Good news for the SEC Tourney

I loved the announcement Tuesday that Nashville will become the primary home for the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament.  Bridgestone Arena is a great venue, with so many great hotel, restaurant, and entertainment options within walking distance or a short ride from the arena.

I think the aspect of the announcement I like best is that the tourney will still move to a different site once every four years. That will still allow the league to expose the tourney to different markets.