SB Nation User Blog: kleph

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kleph — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:13:43 -0000

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kleph — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:13:18 -0000

RBR Reading Room: Coach Tommy of the Crimson Tide

kleph — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:35:23 -0000

At Coach Paul W. Bryant's funeral in 1983, Ohio State coach Woody Hayes noted that "Rockne was the great coach of his era and Bryant was the great coach of his." Frank Thomas was the great coach that connected them.

That there is no authoritative biography of this legendary Alabama football coach borders on criminal. About the only tome to be found is a slim volume penned by sportswriter Naylor Stone in the mid-1950s almost immediately after his death, Coach Tommy of the Crimson Tide. In just 86 pages it attempts to circumscribe the career of a man who led the Crimson Tide to no less than two National Championships and three undefeated seasons.

In fact, if remembered at all today, Coach Thomas tends to be recalled for his role mentoring Bryant as a player and a coach. Still, it's worth noting that while Coach Thomas has been almost completely eclipsed by his famous protege, he never suffered a single losing season during his career – something Coach Bryant was not able to boast.

Coach Thomas himself was the protegee of Knute Rockne. Playing for Notre Dame in the 1920s with the famed "Four Horsemen" and George Gipp who was his roommate during college. Coach Rockne called Thomas the smartest player he ever coached and, unsurprisingly, hired him as an assistant after the younger man's playing days were done.

It’s through Rockne, that Coach Thomas found a particular manner to lead his charges later and a particular genius for winning mid-game strategy changes. Both attributes he passed down to his most famous pupil.

One particularly interesting aspect of Thomas’ career is his time as an assistant at Georgia under George Woodruff. When Coach Thomas took over at Alabama he brought the Notre Dame Box offense with him but, it turns out, he had already introduced it to southern football at Georgia while serving as backfield coach for the Bulldogs.

The offense became synonymous with Crimson Tide football due to the team's success under Coach Thomas but it certainly wasn't unique to the region's teams by the time he implemented it in Tuscaloosa.

Harry Gilmer, Coach Thomas, Vaughn Mancha

While Coach Tommy of the Crimson Tide is an important snapshot into an oft-overlooked era of Alabama football, often reads like an overlong newspaper fluff piece from the period. It relies on interviews with both Coach Thomas and his wife but little else. There is little inkling of the charisma and leadership of the man that pressed so heavily on Coach Bryant and molded the latter’s legendary leadership style.

In fact, there’s little of anything in terms of the man’s personality outside of glowing reports of each season and a dultiful accounting of his civic work. But that’s at least partially forgivable given the fact the book was written so shortly after the coach’s death.

There is little inkling of the man that had such a reputation for toughness that a young Paul Bryant was terrified of him. "Scared of him? You're damn right I was." Bryant later confessed. In The Last Coach, Thomas is described by Bryant as having an "aloof, imperious way" that left as lasting impression on the young man as much as his tactical expertise. But almost none of this is evident in Coach Tommy of the Crimson Tide.

And, since the book was published in 1954, Bryant is an ancillary aspect of the narrative at best. The future Crimson Tide coach doesn’t appear at all in the first third of the book and when he does make his entrance it’s by last name only. Eventually, he’s duly noted for his exploits as a player (particularly the infamous Tennessee game he played with a "bad" leg) and as an assistant on Coach Thomas’ staff.

If nothing else, the book does a valuable service in showing the stature of the Alabama program and the tradition of a championship-caliber team that preceded the Bryant Era. But the most important legacy of Coach Tommy of the Crimson Tide is how clearly it demonstrates the need for a definitive book examining the career of this oft-overlooked championship coach.

Next week: The Junction Boys

Don't Yield to Fatigue... Get a Lift with Camel!

kleph — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:49:51 -0000

I stumbled across this phenomenal ad for Camel cigarettes digging through the University of Alabama Library's online digital archive. This is from the university humor magazine/student newspaper Rammer Jammer in anticipation of the football team's appearance in the 1935 Rose Bowl. Which explains the emphasis on Cliff Montgomery who was MVP in Colombia University's upset of Stanford the year prior.

Monday Morning Required Reading

kleph — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:02:10 -0000

MMRR is sticking to the shade these days.

The sweltering heat of summer is finally fully upon us and the doldrums of the off-season seem nigh-insurmountable. But there is actual news out there. Somewhere. Let us know if you find it. Till then this this will have to suffice:

Kirby Speaks!: Alabama DC Kirby Smart gets a rare opportunity to speak to the media during a dinner event in Georgia. His theme? Recruiting. His message? We're good at it. Anything else? James Carpenter and Robby Green have impressed him in practice. (HT Rapoport, of course)

Ozzie for AD: Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome adds fuel to the ongoing speculation he'll be the next AD at Alabama with a series of maddeningly evasive answers to the point blank question. Looks like folks in Baltimore are taking notice of it now.

American Hero: Crimson Tide linebacker Don Salls snagged an interception against Kentucky and ran it back 76 yards for a score in 1938. He later helped liberate Paris in WWII and coached at Jacksonville State for 18 seasons. He turned 90 Friday and remains more awesome than you could even dream of being.

How to Fail in the SEC Without Really Trying: Little Rock Touchdown Club is seriously considering inviting Phil Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville as guest speakers for this year's meetings.

The Mysteries of Tuscaloosa: The Tuscaloosa News is reviving its once popular series and wants your input. Question one: Where did my wayward youth go?

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kleph — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:21:11 -0000

The Crimson Tide Covers the World

kleph — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:55:55 -0000

Bringing culture to the underprivileged. Crimson Tide fans gather on gameday in London.

"Wherever you go," as the saying avers. "There you are." And if you are a Crimson Tide fan it also means a little bit of Alabama has arrived with you no matter how alien a locale you happen to find yourself in.

Being based in Lima, Peru for the past five years, I've gotten to know the particular trials a fan of college football in general and Alabama football in particular. And so, when Todd was putting together this year's issue of Yea Alabama he asked me to pen a piece examining the experience of the expatriate Bama fan - "A Bama Fan Abroad."

Because as hard as it is to carry your devotion to Alabama football with you when you travel abroad, it's infinitely worse trying to survive when you live overseas. The passion is there but the community is not. In the process of my research about that topic, a number of folks responded to my inquiries and I really had no way to include them all in the space available for the magazine. So this teaser article is my way of addressing that situation...

Yea Alabama, the must-have preseason magazine for Crimson Tide fans, is available for pre-order through July 6.

Andrew Brock and his wife Kelly moved to London, England in 2006 due to his job and it wasn't long before they met another couple with ties to the Capstone. Last year, after several attempts, they succeded in fouding what they believe is the first international chapter of the Alabama Alumni association.

The primary focus of the group are getting together to watch the football games during the seaon. As many as two-dozen folks will pack their apartment even though the kickoff is sometimes at 1 a.m. on Sunday morning. By far the best gathering was the packed house singing "Rammer Jammer" following last year’s Iron Bowl, Brock said.

"To me, it showed that no matter where you are in the world, nothing is sweeter than shutting out Auburn at home and having some fellow Alabamians to sing along," he said.

In terms of bringing the game to the locals, Brock says there is a bit of common ground with the Brits due to the intensity of the rivalries amongst the various supporters of British football (soccer). What tend to cause the greatest fascination on the part of the English are the sheer size of US football stadiums – often twice the capacity of those for England football matches – and the phenomena of tailgating.

"They just do not have the land for tailgating," Brock says. "Instead, most people spend a few hours in a pub before heading into the match."

There is, he says, a strange paradox in one’s fandom after you spend significant time overseas. On the one hand, the distance sharpens ones appreciation of the both the team and ties to the university. At the same time, it can dampen one’s connection to the experience.

"It’s easy to forget about the losses when no one around you cares and there is no local media coverage of the game," Brock said. "After a while, you learn to let games slide off your back a great deal easier."

Scott Bowden is another Alabama alum and world traveler. Since graduating in 1985, his job with Chevron has taken him across the globe with stints in England, Germany, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Benin, Toga, Ghana, China, Kazakhstan, and Angola. To name a few.

Admit it. You want one.

He currently resides in Moscow and credits his survival during football season to Slingbox - a device that allows remote viewing of cable tv using the internet. Bowden rigged the device to his mother's TV in Jasper, Alabama and never misses a game.

As alien as US-style football is in Russia, Bowden has discovered what is, quite possibly, the greatest Alabama-themed item for sale outside the continental United States - Matreshka stacking dolls featuring the likenesses of Crimson Tide football players.

Still, when you get as far afield as Bowden does, finding college football aficionados, much less Crimson Tide fans, is pretty rare. Particularly in the oil patch which is a field that tends to be dominated by A&M Aggies, Texas Longhorns, and LSU Bayou Bengals.

But one night in Ghana a few years back proved to be the exception. While having dinner with a group of guys working on the West African Gas Pipeline Project, Bowden bumped into another ‘Bama alum and, as you might expect, started talking football.

"The next thing I knew, one of the new accountants spoke up and he was from Alabama. Then a visitor doing consulting work for the World bank spoke up, and he was a 'Bama Alumni. Then a welding inspector came in the room, and he was from Mobile, and a lifelong Tide fan! Finally, another engineer walked in, and, you guessed it, he's a 'Bama Grad! Six Alabama grads at the same dinner table on the same project in Accra, Ghana, talking Tide football."

"There's an Auburn joke in there somewhere," he says. "I just know it."

The Scents of the SEC

kleph — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:12:22 -0000

If you wanted to capture the smell of my collegiate experience you'd have to encapsulate the odor of stale beer and abject frustration slathered over the pungent odor of abiding penury. It's not something I'd suggest bottling and trying to sell but it seems someone thinks there might be a buck in doing just that.

Masik Collegiate Fragrances, of Harrisburg, PA, is producing a line of perfumes and colognes based on various universities and specifically targeting schools with strong football fanbases. Since they intend to charge $60 for each 3.4-ounce bottle of the stuff, they seem to be aiming for a slightly more affluent level of nostalgiac than myself.

For example, according to the company the "signature scent" for LSU involves a mixture of Provencal Lavender, Oakmoss and Indonesian Vetivier. Which, no matter how pretty you word it up, doesn't quite seem to capture the essence of cheap bourbon and human sweat that sweltering September afternoons in Death Valley are likely to produce. And the absence of any hint of corn dog is downright unforgivable.

With that in mind, we humbly offer the following suggestions in creating the distinctive fragrances for the rest of the conference:

Alabama: The pervasive aroma of The Process complimented by pungent notes of nostalgia. Currently contains a perplexing tendency to dissipate completely after extensive use.
Tennessee: An abiding bouquet of arrogance and confusion with a persistent and unmistakable flavor of dismay. Excessive application will incur a secondary violation.
Florida: The musky masculine smell of invincibility highlighted by the aroma of evangelical boy-man on the move. Possesses a persistent whiff of the regular misdemeanor arrest.
Ole Miss: Magnolia and noblesse oblige on a luxurious foundation of preseason acclaim. A persistent hint of inevitable anarchy and trap-game disappointment.
Arkansas: An abiding atmosphere of pine sap and questionable defense. The head coach aroma has a distinct flavor of expertise and transience.
Kentucky: A heady swirl of Bluegrass, bourbon and cussedness accented with a distinct flavor of December bowl game inevitability.
Georgia: A pungent mixture of big-game faceplant relieved by the sweet essence of low-expectation excellence. WARNING: Do not wear with Black.
South Carolina: The redolence of slightly-better-than-mediocre performance accented by the inevitable flavor diminished aspiration.
Mississippi State: The heavy odor of rebuilding year fatalism with high notes of new regime confidence.
Vanderbilt: A disarming mix of blue blood pedigree and frothy aspirations of repeat Music City Bowl champions.
Auburn: A distinctive bouquet that reeks of bovine effluvia infused with the tears of defeat. Recently injected with the fragrance of delusional optimism.

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kleph — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:13:09 -0000

Niners Nation Looks at Glenn Coffee

kleph — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:55:27 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sakuma - AP

2 months ago: San Francisco 49ers third-round draft pick Glen Coffee, a running back from Alabama, stretches during NFL football minicamp at 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Friday, May 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Browse more photos »

Fellow SB Nation blog, Niners Nation, has a very in-depth look at former Crimson Tide running back Glenn Coffee posted today that is very much worth checking out. You got the obligatory breakdown on his formidable career with Alabama football but Niners Nation's Professor Bigelow takes care to cover all the bases; Coffee's growing up in Saudi Arabia, the importance of his religion in his life and involvement in the textbook case (which, for many of the team's fans, might be all they know about him). All told, assessment is overwhelmingly positive for this relatively surprising pick by the 49ers franchise:

"He looks to me like a solid back-up, with potential to carry a major amount of the load somewhere down the line. We'll see if he gets favored early over Robinson and/or Clayton, but as of right now, I'm liking this guy, if for his dedication alone."

And the tone of the comments seem to echo that sentiment. The Green Mile references aside, this is a nice snapshot of Coffee's career to date and the promise his skills hold for him at the professional level. And the YouTube vids are awesome.