By: @LivingCrimson
The bye week is over and, according to reports, it was an uneventful one for LSU players. As an added bonus, it’s official “get out of jail free” week. “There will be no players withheld from this game.” – Les Miles
All jokes aside, the mini-NFL clash is on. During a recent Tennessee Titans game, some sportswriters opined that “the Crimson Tide may have a better stop unit than some NFL squads.” Both teams have at least 21 players predicted to be taken in the upcoming NFL draft. Here’s hoping the game is one for the ages.
Speaking of ages … Happy 60th Birthday, Coach Saban. All the players signed a #60 jersey for a birthday present. His response: "I can't wear this. I'm a skill position guy."
Kicking off game week, Nick Saban chills out in his Monday press conference.
“It's fun to play in games like this, but it's also important to focus on what you need to do to play well. You have to be ready to play the game well when the game comes.”
Les Miles adhered to the chaos theory and promptly began his press conference with a potential secondary violation.
“Friday night I went to high school football. I watched three prospects: Kragthorpe, Cooper and Miles. It was the University High Cubs game, I hope this is not an NCAA violation, but I noticed Kragthorpe to Miles and I feel that this is a good tendency.”
Ahem, Les, according to NCAA bylaw 13.10.2, “a member institution may comment publicly only to the extent of confirming its recruitment of the prospective student-athlete. The institution may not comment generally about the prospective student-athlete's ability…”
Then Miles went on to misspeak the age of Twitter. “My Twitter account that I have had for 10 years hasn’t really changed a lot. I think these games are played in between the white lines.”
Twitter launched in July 2006. Says @brownbil1970, “Well, we all know sense of time is not one of Les's strong suits.”
Tuscaloosa News is reporting the Alabama LSU game will have a bigger impact on the local economy than most games. Ahmad Ijaz, an economist at the University of Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research, said most game-day weekends bring an extra $15 million into the local economy. But this week’s game will “bring in $17 million to $18 million for Tuscaloosa.” A much appreciated boon for a city still recovering from the tornado ravages of six months ago.
Tickets are hard to come by and scalpers are already at work at the Capstone. LSU students have begun camping out in hopes of securing student tickets. @WSJSports reports the top asking price on StubHub for 50 yard line seats is $3,799. In-state tuition for 12-16 credit hours at Bama? $4,300.
According to ESPN, the highest priced tickets for sale are $10,423.14 … each.
RollBamaRoll has a nice piece on the history of the series dating back to 1895. And BCS guru Brad Edwards notes that the last two Alabama LSU games were won by the home team. The last time there were three straight home wins in this series: 1946-48.
Former Alabama and current NFL players Roman Harper (S, New Orleans Saints) and DeMeco Ryans (LB, Houston Texans) break down Saturday’s game and tell why they think Alabama will win the National Championship. Harper says Alabama wins “[b]ecause we’re a better team, and it’s in Tuscaloosa. We’re bigger… I like the way our offense matches up.” Ryans says Alabama wins “because they’re playing at home, and their defense is good enough to stop LSU’s run, get to the quarterback and create some turnovers. I think this defense is great.”
More Alabama updates on Twitter at @LivingCrimson.
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