SB Nation User Blog: Nico2.0

All-Time Records Against 2009 Opponents

Nico2.0 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:20:01 -0000

This is nothing but a bit of boredom on my part and provides no real insight or anything, but I figured it would be interesting anyway if you're a bit of a trivia and stat junkie.

The lists via the links also provide aggregate scores.

Virginia Tech: 10-1
Florida International: 1-0
North Texas: 2-0
Arkansas: 11-8
Kentucky: 34-2-1
Ole Miss: 45-9-2
South Carolina: 10-3
Tennessee: 46-38-7
LSU: 44-23-5
Mississippi State: 72-18-3
UT-Chattanooga: 10-0
Auburn: 39-33-1

Here's the fun facts/trivia gleaned from this pointless exercise (and some I already knew):

An all-time record of 324-135-19 (.679) against our 2009 opponents.
We've played all 2009 opponents at least once.
Eight of the ten times we played UT-Chattanooga happened before 1960.
Our last contest against Virginia Tech was the one loss. A 38-7 beatdown that came in the 1998 Music City Bowl. A weird stat from that game I didn't remember is that we held the ball for 36 minutes, yet had only seven points to show for it. Talk about your statistical anomalies.
There was a 55 year span between the two Kentucky victories over us.
For those of you that didn't know, we've played Mississippi State more than any other team (which I did know beforehand.) Also, Alabama and Mississippi State are geographically the two closest teams in the conference.
The earliest Mississippi State can even the series is 2062...and that'll take reeling off 54 straight wins.
As was mentioned in Watchman's recent fanpost, Alabama rolled up 833 yards of total offense on VaTech in 1973 and 748 of those were rushing yards. Let that one sink in for a minute. Four different players had over 100 yards rushing in that game.
We won't have to see Steve Taneyhill's mullet this year.

Top 10 Road Trips I'd Like To See: #10: Rutgers

Nico2.0 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:19:33 -0000

As you can tell from the current series "Stadiums I've Been to for College Football Games," I like to travel to watch football. Furthermore, as I'm sure you've astutely observed, my team doesn't even have to be involved for me to want to make the trip (e.g. Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, Starkville, etc.) With that in mind, I've conceived a Top 10 list of places I'd like to see Alabama play and I've ranked them in terms of a combination of the destination itself and the quality of the opponent.

Some awesome potential opponents have been left off of the list because, frankly, they aren't located in places that I particularly want to visit outside of the scenario of a football game being played there. Norman, Oklahoma is a place that fits that bill. Morgantown, West Virginia and South Bend, Indiana are also on that list. And before the Sooners, Mountaineers and Fighting Irish reading this get all huffy about my assessment of their towns and say "Well, Tuscaloosa isn't exactly a vacation destination either," I say to you, "You're absolutely right. If Alabama didn't play football there, I'd have no real reason to go there either." Basically, I'm not pointing any finger at anyone else that I'm not pointing at myself on this one.

There are some fairly major vacation destinations I left off of the list because I have no real desire to go there or we've got it on future schedules already. In the "I have no real desire to go there department," I'm looking at you Las Vegas. At best, Las Vegas would've come in at #10 on the list. If I want to go have a wild weekend, I'll go to New Orleans thank you very much....which I can easily drive to. Not only that, it has better music and food and it doesn't have imitation versions of other cities in it. In the "we have future road trips planned there soon" scenario, New Orleans and Atlanta fit that bill. We're headed to New Orleans to play Tulane in 2012 and we've been playing neutral site games in Atlanta a lot lately as well as having a trip to play Georgia Tech in 2014 on the docket already.

There were also quite a few near misses of places I'd like to go, but they typically missed out because of the quality of the opponent, or because they just didn't make the overall cut on destination desirability as much as the others did.

So, without further adieu, I bring you #10 on the list....

No, I don't have any burning desire to go to New Brunswick/Piscataway, New Jersey, but I'm always up for a trip to New York...and according to Mapquest, the two are a mere 36.23 miles apart.

Pickup game of football in Central Park anyone?

Seriously. How awesome would this trip be? New York & Alabama Football. Namath would be in heaven. We should schedule this as a tribute and a "thank you" to Joe if nothing else. Additionally, I'm not sure that we've played in the neighborhood of NYC since the 1986 Kickoff Classic where we beat Ohio State 16-10 at Giants Stadium. Warren St. John could put the Friday night party together. You know he's got connections...or the Greater New York Alabama Alumni Association could put something together. I've got a feeling those folks could put on a pretty serious party.

From an historical perspective too it makes sense. One of college football's most storied programs playing in the Birthplace of Intercollegiate Football (they invented it, we perfected it.) Just imagine the field day ESPN could have putting pregame montages together: old Rutgers football photos from the 1800s shifting into clips from the 1926 Rose Bowl going into a series of Bryant-era clips going into a montage of the resurgence of Rutgers under Schiano and Alabama under Saban. Really, this stuff just writes itself.

This game would figure much higher on the list if Rutgers and NYC were easier to get to from one another. Looking at the NYC/NJ subway map, I'm guessing you'd have to make quite a few transfers (and a decent time investment) to get from Manhattan to New Brunswick (and even further and longer if you're staying with your hipster friends in Williamsburg...if they/their parents can still afford rent that is.) That being said, this is the closest D1 football has to offer for a trip to New York, so I say we snag it. Set it up Mal!

Stadiums I've Been To For CFB Games: Vanderbilt Stadium

Nico2.0 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:54:58 -0000

Last row of the stadium and still a great seat

Vanderbilt Stadium (website)
Vanderbilt Commodores (website)
Nashville, Tennessee
Capacity: 39,790

I've only been there once, for Alabama's 24-10 win over the 'Dores in 2007. It was a bit of an ordeal getting there for me. My car broke down on the way and after I did a roadside repair which greatly delayed me, my air conditioner broke. Needless to say, a 4+ hour car ride with no A/C in early September was kind of brutal.

Our fans completely took the place over (see below.) It felt like a tiny, quaint version of BDS that day. Any time they started a cheer, we'd just drown it out instantly. The stadium is super easy to get in and out of both on foot as well as traffic-wise...and that's always a major plus when thinking about leaving places like Athens or Tuscaloosa after a game. Anyway, I had a seat on the last row of the stadium and it still felt like I was right on top of the action.

There's no real tailgating to speak of there (I saw very few tents) and even the vendors outside of the stadium were selling Alabama gear at a rate of about 10-1 to Vandy gear. Not one of football's "hallowed grounds" by any means and nowhere you're going to go out of your way to check out if your team's not involved, but given my proximity to it, I'd definitely go see Alabama play there again....plus it's in Nashville, which is always a good time.

What's this about it being a road game?

494 miles round trip with no A/C in September...the things we do for our team

Stadiums I've Been To For CFB Games: Independence Stadium

Nico2.0 — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:38:21 -0000

906 miles round trip and all I got was a sinus infection, strep and the flu. Vacation: FAIL

Independence Stadium (website)
Independence Bowl (website)
Shreveport, Louisiana
Capacity: 53,000

I saw Alabama's 2006 Independence Bowl loss to Oklahoma State at this stadium. Tough loss, but it was an exciting game. The stadium was nothing to write home about and I don't really see myself going back there unless we somehow wind up playing against Texas or Oklahoma...and even then, that'd be just for the sake of "tradition vs. tradition." Furthermore, I'd have to have a big ol' pile money to burn or I wouldn't really consider it.

It was my least favorite football road trip ever. First of all, we lost. Secondly, the room rates in the city of Shreveport were insanely high and we ended up staying in Ruston (about an hour outside of Shreveport.) We ran into a terrible traffic jam on game day (totally unrelated to the game) and to top it off, I ended up coming down with the flu, a sinus infection and strep throat on the trip. It made for an incredibly rough drive back. It made the drive back home from this year's Sugar Bowl seem awesome by comparison. You know, I've been to Louisiana three times for Bama games and we've lost all three. Maybe I need to not go there for Tide games anymore.

If nothing else, I can say I was there for this...

Photo Series of Bama Fans by Wes Frazer

Nico2.0 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:29:31 -0000

Birmingham based photographer Wes Frazer has recently put up a series of portraits of Alabama fans from last year's Alabama vs. Clemson game on his Flickr account. He spent the afternoon before the game photographing and talking to fans. I accompanied Frazer on this trip and it was cool getting to talk to people and hear their various stories. For instance, a few of the folks in this series were about to leave for Iraq and Afghanistan and this game was their last bit of fun before heading off to war. Frazer also does work for the New York Times and has done a lot of interesting band photography (TV on the Radio, Tuscaloosa's very own Dexateens, etc.) A link to the full set of Bama fan images can be found here. Make sure to check the whole set as you or someone you know might be there. Frazer plans on this being an ongoing series, so check back for more images. Here's a few samples (click on any of them to enlarge):

2010 Alabama Football Schedule (Tentative)

Nico2.0 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:05:45 -0000

In December of last year, we posted what we knew of the 2010 football schedule. With the recent announcements of games against San Jose State and Georgia State, the list of opponents for the year should be complete unless there are last minute tweaks. I'm not even going to attempt to order the games, but here is the list of home and away games:

Home:
Penn State
San Jose State
Georgia State
Auburn
Florida
Ole Miss
Mississippi State

Away:
Duke
Arkansas
LSU
Tennessee
South Carolina

Even though Georgia State is a total cupcake, that's a pretty respectable schedule. In addition to the normal SEC slate (which will include Florida and South Carolina on the rotation), we get two BCS out of conference opponents, and a team that's at least off the beaten path for us (San Jose State.)

CFB Stadiums I've Been To: Davis Wade Stadium

Nico2.0 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:32:18 -0000

Davis Wade Stadium

Mississippi State Bulldogs
Starkville, Mississippi
Capacity: 55,082

I've been to DWS twice. Once for a complete snorefest that saw South Carolina beat the Bulldogs 15-0 on five field goals. The other time was in 2007for a complete snorefest when LSU smacked MSU around to the tune of 45-0 in a thoroughly rain soaked affair. I've had a good time both times I've been, though I'm sure they'll give me plenty of crap when I head over there for a Bama game. It's a small stadium, but it's really easy to get in and out of (both on foot at the actual stadium and regarding traffic in the town.) Also, I was living in Tuscaloosa both times I went, so having to travel further to get there in the future may temper my fond recollections of the place as well. I can't complain though, I was fed thoroughly at the tailgates of strangers both times (despite them discovering I'm a Bama fan), so despite the fact they're a divisional rival, I have to say they're pretty good folks from my experience. I'll definitely return there in the future since it's such an easy trip.

CFB Stadiums I've Been To: Kenan Stadium

Nico2.0 — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:42:02 -0000

Kenan Memorial Stadium (website)
North Carolina Tarheels
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Capacity: 60,000

I went to the North Carolina vs. Notre Dame game last year during Alabama's bye week (and just two days after the game in yesterday's post.) This is one of my favorite stadiums I've been to so far. Though it's a fairly small stadium (by SEC standards anyway), it's in a beautiful wooded setting and has some interesting design features. I was also surprised by how passionate the crowd was for football given that I was in the middle of basketball country.

I managed to get a great seat for this game too.

I was wearing a Bama shirt at the game and as I was walking to the stadium some guy in a Carolina shirt yelled "War Eagle!" I yelled back "Go Duke!" He said that wasn't funny and got kind of irate and I said, "Well, think about what you just said to me." Otherwise, their crowd was cool about me being in Bama gear. Here's a clip of the crowd chanting during the game:

2009 CFB TV Schedule

Nico2.0 — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:40:26 -0000

2009 CFB TV Schedule

If you're insanely bored right now like I am, feel free to peruse the tentative 2009 CFB TV schedule. That way you can go ahead and set your DVR for Ball State at Western Michigan on Tuesday, November 24th.

CFB Stadiums I've Been To: BB&T Field

Nico2.0 — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:22:43 -0000

The season is over, spring practice is over, A-Day has happened, signing day is finished and even the NFL draft is now but a distant memory. We're now in the "silly season" as we like to call it here at RBR....that crappy place where we're starved for football content. In the spirit of that, I'm going to do a daily rundown of the various stadiums I've been to for college football games.

BB&T Field (web site)
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Capacity: 31,500

There were two things about BB&T field that really made it stand out in my mind. 1) They have a general admission grassy section in one of the endzones that's really cool. Of course, that'd never work in a lot of places, but it was really cool to see people spread out on blankets watching the game. I imagine that's kind of what college football was like waaaaaaay back in the day and it's cool to see a place still doing that. 2) The crowd (general admin grassy section aside) stood for pretty much the entire game. I was surprised to see that in a stadium so small, but maybe since the stadium is so small that only the hardcore fans go. I really wish people stood the whole game at BDS because a) it keeps you more into the game and b) the seats are so tiny that standing would actually be more comfortable. The game was a total bore (a 12-7 win over Clemson), but I dug the stadium.

I'm not even a donor or an alumnus and I got an awesome seat at the game. Granted, my camera has a powerful zoom, but still, I was almost on the field.