Tide Tidbits – December 29, 2009

Crimson Tide continues to prepare for Longhorns
Two University of Alabama regulars — cornerback Marquis Johnson and offensive lineman James Carpenter, missed all or part of practice on Monday with health and injury issues, but neither are expected to miss the Crimson Tide’s BCS National Championship Game against Texas on Jan. 7. Carpenter, UA’s starting left tackle, missed the entire practice with illness. “James Carpenter is not injured, he’s just sick. He has the flu so we held him out today — he did practice last night,” UA coach Nick Saban said. “Marquise has a combination of two things — he’s sick, but he hurt his thumb the last practice that we had. (before the holiday),” Saban said. “It’s in a cast, he did practice some today. He will be able to practice when it settles down and he should be able to play in the game. So we don’t have any issues there.” [More]

Tide’s recruiting class of 2008 lives up to hype
The first big wave of excite­ment leading up to the BCS na­tional championship game be­tween Alabama and Texas actually started on Feb. 6, 2008. That’s when Alabama wel­comed a recruiting class of 32 players that was judged by vir­tually every analyst as the best in America. A year later, it’s proving the analysts correct. “I was real excited about be­ing part of that class,” said re­serve linebacker Chris Jordan, a valuable member of the kick coverage unit the past two years. “We had a lot of talent. A lot of freshmen saw some play­ing time.” Barrett Jones was a fresh­man All-American this year. Mark Barron and Terrence Cody earned All-America hon­ors while Mark Ingram won the Heisman Trophy. “This is a talented class,” Sa­ban told the Mobile Press-Regis­ter earlier this season, “but we didn’t have a lot of depth so there was a lot of opportunity for those guys.” [More]

Rolling with the Tide: 10,000 miles on motorhome this year
Callie and Gerald Waldrop are taking tailgating to the extreme. They leave this week on their way to Pasadena for the BCS National Championship football game between the University of Alabama and the University of Texas in their 40-foot Allegro Phaeton. The Waldrops have not missed Alabama’s playing in a bowl game since 1964. This year they will have put about 10,000 miles on their motor coach during football season, including the trip to California. The Waldrops bought their first motor home in 1975, and they have been tailgating with family and friends since. “We have met some very interesting people along the way with many stories to tell,” Gerald Waldrop said. [More]

Nick Saban says he understands Urban Meyer’s coaching stress but would rather keep his ‘day job’
On the first day in the past three without breaking news about Florida coach Urban Meyer, Alabama coach Nick Saban addressed the health concerns facing college football coaches. “I could work here and take the stress, or I could retire and go home and work for (wife) Terry and take the stress there,” Saban said with a smirk. “I think I’ll keep my day job because I would be working just as hard at home. That’s kind of my motivation. I don’t really feel like I have an out right now. I’m willing to hang in there.” He then got more serious about the saga involving Meyer, resigned Saturday, then reconsidered Sunday and settled on taking a leave of absence. Coaches such as Meyer in the game makes college football better, Saban said while hoping for a recovery from whatever is causing Meyer’s health issues. [More]

Roll Tide!

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