College Football

[MumInOhio]

Thanks Lalas for the updates.

I knew that knee was suspect just by the changes in the game plan. I hope this is the end of his problems with it and he can play to his full potential. He matured a lot towards the end of the season and I am hoping for a great season from him.

[Lalasmom]

Friday, March 12, 2010
A spring break trip Jones will never forget
By Chris Low
ESPN.com

Every time the graphic images flashed across the television screen, Barrett Jones’ heart ached a little more.

He wanted to help, wanted to do something, wanted to make a difference.

On the football field, that had always come easy for Jones, a Freshman All-America guard last season on Alabama’s national championship team.

But this was Haiti, a country that had been rocked by a massive earthquake. The destruction was beyond imagination. The suffering was unthinkable.

“It will take years to build everything back,” Jones said. “The least I could do was give up a week.”

So after more than a month of planning and raising money, Jones takes off for Haiti on Saturday along with a couple of his friends from Alabama for a spring break trip he knows he’ll never forget.

Going with him are Hardie Buck, a walk-on receiver at Alabama, and friend David Gannon, a student at Alabama. They’re all three actively involved in the Campus Crusade for Christ Ministries.

They will spend the week working with orphaned children and distributing supplies at a camp for IDP’s, which is short for internally displaced people.

They will eat beans and rice, maybe a little goat meat, and there’s no such thing as seconds. They will sleep in tents. That is, what little sleep they get.

“It’s not the Ritz-Carlton, and there’s no beach,” Jones said. “We’ll be working all day, every day. We’re not going there to have fun. We’re going there to help people who need help.

“There will be plenty of other opportunities for me to hang out on the beach and have fun, but opportunities like this are rare. This is something I feel like I was called to do.”

The Crimson Tide will begin spring practice later Friday afternoon, but will be off next week for spring break.

Jones will fly out of Atlanta on Saturday and into the Dominican Republic. Flying into Haiti is sketchy right now because the airport is constantly opening and then closing again.

The earthquake’s epicenter was just outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.

The relief camp where Jones and his companions will be working is located in Pignon, a town closer to the Dominican Republic. To get there, it’s a 13-hour drive, and about half of that trip will be in the back of a cargo truck over grueling terrain.

The dust is so bad that you have to wear dust masks. But it’s also the rainy season in the mornings, so ponchos are a must.

“It’s probably not what a lot of people think about when they think of spring break, but I can’t wait,” Jones said. “I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for a long time. This came along, and I knew it was right.

“I’ve had so many good things happen to me in my life. I wanted to be able to give back in some way.”

The trip wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Roy “Soup” Campbell, who’s the executive director of Eikon Ministries in Memphis.

Campbell has already been to Haiti 25 to 30 days this last month on relief missions and was the person Jones’ grandfather, Harry Smith, reached out to in an effort to get Jones pointed in the right direction. Campbell said he would do more than just help. He's going back to Haiti with Jones and his buddies.

“Anybody with a heart like’s Barrett who wants to go serve in that capacity … I’ll do whatever I have to do to get them there,” said Campbell, a former baseball player at Memphis State back in the early 1980s.

Campbell knows the lay of the land in Haiti. He took a group from his church, Fellowship Memphis, a week after the earthquake hit.

On this trip, they will be working in conjunction with Hosean International Ministries, a Haitian missionary organization that was founded by Caleb Lucien.

“They told anybody that wants to come out of Port-au-Prince that they will feed them, give them medical attention, put their kids in school,” Campbell said. “The first time I was there, there were about 62 people there. Now, that school has 1,400 students.”

Because so many children lost their parents after the earthquake hit and witnessed so many horrible things, many of the kids in the relief camp are still struggling emotionally.

“You’re starting to see some happiness and laughter with these kids, and Barrett will help build that,” Campbell said. “Because of his age, he’ll be able to connect with these kids quicker than me. They don’t get to see somebody as big as Barrett [6-foot-5, 300 pounds] every day in Haiti.”

And while football will always occupy a very important part of Jones’ life, it’s something that will be put on the backburner as soon as the Crimson Tide step off the practice field Friday afternoon.

“There’s just such a need over there, all those children separated from their parents,” Jones said. “It’s a new perspective on life. We all think we have it bad some days, and then you see people who really have lost everything.

“This is a trip that will change my life forever.”

[Lalasmom]

Crimson Tide take trip to remember

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The American economy is struggling to gain traction. Two branches of the government are embroiled in a debate over the future of our nation's health care.

Maybe that's why the leader of the free world blocked out time Monday to confer with the coach of the national champion college football team in the Green Room of the White House.

"Every new success brings a new set of challenges," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

"Tell me about it!" replied President Barack Obama.

A couple of minutes later, Obama and Saban walked out of the Green Room and turned right into the East Room. A Marine jazz ensemble in the foyer struck up "Yea Alabama." And the 44th president of the United States of America stood before the microphone and cried, "Roll Tide!"

The American president is not only head of government but also chief of state. He hosts an Easter egg hunt every spring. He pardons a turkey at Thanksgiving every fall. And when a team wins a championship, he throws open the doors of the White House -- no matter the season.

The Crimson Tide became the 10th championship team to visit the White House in Obama's 14 months in office. That list, ranging from the Columbus Crew of MLS to the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, doesn't include visits by NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson and PGA Tour Presidents Cup captains Greg Norman and Fred Couples.

The 30 minutes Obama would spend with the Crimson Tide had been exactly two months in the making.

On Friday, Jan. 8, the day after Alabama defeated Texas 37-21 in the BCS National Championship Game, Joe Kennedy from the White House Office of Public Engagement called Alabama associate athletic director Jeff Purinton. Small world -- Purinton used to work at Florida State. Kennedy, 26, is the son of former Seminoles men's basketball coach Pat Kennedy, now the coach at Towson.

The following Monday, Joe Kennedy and Alabama football operations director Mike Vollmar discussed possible dates. Saban wanted to make the visit after signing day on Feb. 3 and before the start of spring practice, which is this Friday.

Five weeks later, on Feb. 8, they talked again. The White House ruled out the first week of March. Alabama had scheduled its pro day for seniors on Wednesday, March 10. Spring practice would start two days later. That pretty much left March 8 or 9.

The White House confirmed the date during the last week of February. The public announcement didn't come until the week before the event. Then the planning began in earnest. Purinton e-mailed a long file of anecdotes to White House assistant speechwriter Kyle O'Connor.

"Not long after … the 2008 season ended," Purinton wrote, "Coach Saban put a picture up of Florida winning the championship and asked if our players wanted to work hard enough to win a starting job or to beat out a teammate in a drill, or did they want to work harder than the best team in the country, hard enough to be the best in college football. I think that carried a lot of weight with our guys."

The team charter flight arrived at Reagan National Airport at 11:02 a.m. ET Monday. Waiting on the tarmac were four chartered buses and three D.C. police cars.

When the buses pulled up to the White House, police dogs gave them a once-over. As each of the 175 people in the Alabama traveling party stepped off the bus, a uniformed police official asked for a government-issued ID. When they reached the entrance to the White House, maybe 100 yards away, they showed their IDs again. Unlike at the airport, no one complained.

On the walls of the South Hall are five official presidential portraits, including the famous posthumous portrait of John F. Kennedy, looking down with his arms folded across his stomach. In one recess of that wall stands a bust of Abraham Lincoln. Next to the bust stood quarterback Greg McElroy, a big grin on his face as a teammate snapped a photo.

The White House forbids video cameras and any other type of recording device on its private tours. Photography is for personal use only -- no Facebook, no Twitter.

Shortly before 1 p.m., White House officials gathered the team in the State Dining Room, at the opposite end of the South Hall from the East Room, where the ceremony would be held. The officials asked the players and coaches to line up Noah's Ark style, two by two.

The taller players, going in first, stood on the back risers behind the presidential podium. Junior tight end Preston Dial and offensive lineman David Ross did their scouting. They surveyed the East Room and timed their walk so they ended up standing behind the podium -- prime photographic real estate.

"I slowed down and let a few teammates walk past me," Dial said, a knowing grin across his face.

The program called for no food to be served, yet White House maitre d' George Hannie, resplendent in a tuxedo, stood in front of the State Dining Room. Hannie, 63, grew up in Northport, just across the Black Warrior River from Tuscaloosa, Ala. He came to work at the White House during the Johnson administration in July 1966. He never left.

"We just had the Lakers," Hannie said. "It gets better and better. I'm more excited by my hometown."

Hannie said Obama really enjoys the visits.

"Wait until you see him," Hannie said. "He will be bright-eyed, like a young kid. When the Lakers were here, he was wide-eyed and happy."

Obama has taken the traditional visits of champions and put them to work. As part of his United We Serve campaign, every team that comes to the White House engages in a service project. The Pittsburgh Steelers, for instance, joined with the president, wounded warriors and the USO to assemble care packages for military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During the transition to the Obama administration, Joe Kennedy said, the president-elect asked the staff "to re-evaluate some of the traditional events. … One of the things about the championship events is that people wanted to do them. We have a first family that is really engaged in the value of getting kids active and having a healthy lifestyle."

Just off the State Dining Room, in the Old Family Dining Room, 22 boys and girls from Falcon's Edge, a family outreach center in Washington, stood with their coaches and club officials. Executive director David Jones Sr. sounded the alarm many parents voice these days.

"We're trying to get them out of the house and off video games," Jones said.

At 1:15 p.m., Saban and the team leaders -- captains Javier Arenas and Mike Johnson, McElroy, Heisman winner Mark Ingram, wide receiver Julio Jones and linebacker Cory Reamer -- walked into the room.

"At some point in all of our lives," Johnson told the kids, "we made the decision to do good in school and get all our work done so that we could go on to college, be on that college team and … get to experience that education. That's what is most important to us. That's what we've done with our lives. That's what we've worked for. I hope you'll do the same in your lives and make it to college and get your education."

When Saban and the players returned to line up for the ceremony, Purinton informed Johnson and Arenas that they would be presenting the president with the team gifts. Johnson would present the crimson jersey, replete with the president's name above a white 1. Arenas would give Obama the game ball and the crimson helmet with the number 13, representing the national championships Alabama has won.

Playing for the crystal football had nothing on this.

"I got nervous. I got sweaty. I got jittery," Johnson said. "I've never even been to Washington, D.C., much less met the president."

Ingram didn't need a role in the ceremony to have butterflies. "I'm a nervous wreck," he confided to Terry Saban, the coach's wife.

The team and university officials returned to the East Room and took their places. At 1:45, a sonorous voice introduced the president and the coach.

Obama and Saban entered the East Room. The president spoke for a shade more than five minutes.

"I've got to tell you, everyone was really excited about this team coming today," Obama said, "except for my press secretary, Robert Gibbs. He was born and raised in Auburn. He's hiding in his office right now."

Obama congratulated Ingram for winning the Heisman. He congratulated Rolando McClain (in absentia, although Obama gave no indication of knowing McClain had stayed behind, in order to prepare for the draft) for winning the Butkus Award. And he showed that the speechwriters had read Purinton's notes.

"One of the trademarks of this team has been its unwavering focus on what's important," Obama said. "I know shortly after the 2008 season, Coach hung a picture of the Florida Gators winning the national championship in the locker room -- not too subtle. It was his way of asking his players, did they want to work hard enough to beat their teammates in a drill? Or did they want to work hard enough to beat the best team in the country? It's pretty clear what choice they made."

The president closed with another congratulations. "The best of luck next season," he said. "I know spring practice starts on Friday -- woo, man. Next Friday, huh?" And naturally, he added another, "Roll Tide!"

Arenas made the handoff of the game ball to the president, and Johnson gave him the jersey. Obama turned and shook hands, moving from one end of the line of players to the other. Departing senior defensive back Chris Rogers, wearing a long blue coat with a beige plaid vest and matching pants, stuck out his hand and said, "I wore this just for you."

"Mr. GQ!" Obama replied, and everyone in earshot roared.

"I got a good handshake," Rogers said. "I can remember that forever."

"I got a kiss!" Terry Saban said, pointing to her right cheek. "I didn't get a kiss the first time."

Terry Saban was referring to her first White House visit with her husband, after his LSU team won the BCS title in 2003. That Nick Saban came back is unusual. That he came back with another school is unprecedented. Yet optimism is epidemic among the Crimson Tide family. As Karen McElwain, the wife of offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, walked out of the White House, she turned to the policeman sitting behind the desk.

"See you next year!" she said.

By 2:30 p.m., the Alabama players and coaches had left the White House and headed east down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. They went from there to the Lincoln Memorial, then to the Pentagon and then back to Reagan.

The day cost Alabama at least $85,000 -- including $79,000 for the Delta charter round-trip flight from Tuscaloosa to Reagan National Airport, $1,700 for four charter buses in Washington and $3,300 for box lunches (including a few extra sandwiches; this was, after all, a football team) delivered by Chick-fil-A to the team after the visit.

When the door on the Delta charter shut, so did the door on the 2009 season. Spring practice, as the president reminded the players, is upon them.

But the value of the memories the trip created can't be measured.

[Cat]

I just wanted to to say good game to Troy for their victory over Auburn.I am not happy UAB beat Alabama,but thats just a game

[Lalasmom]

Thursday, April 1, 2010
'Light getting brighter' for QB Pryor
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has a difficult time keeping track of just how far quarterback Terrelle Pryor has come.

"Today I was trying to close my eyes and think back to last spring," Tressel said Thursday after the Buckeyes' first spring workout. "He just seemed to have a little bit more confidence than he did a year ago at this time."

With good reason. Pryor grew into the job last year as the fifth-ranked Buckeyes went 11-2, won an outright Big Ten title and then beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Pryor did not appear to have any limitations during the 2-hour workout in sunshine and temperatures around 70 degrees. He underwent surgery on his left knee two months ago to clean out damage sustained during an Oct. 31 victory over New Mexico State. Pryor, who will be a junior this fall, suffered a partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament. But after intensive rehab over the past eight weeks he appeared to have no restrictions in movement.

    “

    Is the light getting brighter? Yeah. You can see that. Did it take an extra step of brightness through the bowl preparation and bowl performance. I think so. But it's got to keep getting brighter.
    ” -- Ohio State coach Jim Tressel on Terrelle Pryor

Perhaps of larger concern for the Buckeyes is whether he continues to develop after being thrust into the job two years ago. He played well at times and not so well at others a year ago, with Ohio State playing its best football coming down the stretch when he spent most of his time handing off to the running backs.

After not throwing more than 17 passes in each of his previous five games, Pryor completed 23 of 37 passes for 266 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while being named MVP of the Rose Bowl. He also led the Buckeyes in rushing with 72 yards for 338 yards of total offense.

Pryor was not available to speak after the first practice. But Tressel said he was impressed with the steady improvement his quarterback has made.

"People like to use, 'Did the switch go on?' or 'Did the light go on?' I'm not sure I've ever seen that," said Tressel, starting his 10th year with the Buckeyes. "Is the light getting brighter? Yeah. You can see that. Did it take an extra step of brightness through the bowl preparation and bowl performance. I think so. But it's got to keep getting brighter."

This should prove to be an interesting 15 practices this spring for the Buckeyes. They welcome back nine starters on offense and six more on defense. Early projections have them ranked among the top handful of teams in the nation.

They must replace safeties Kurt Coleman and Anderson Russell, defensive end Thaddeus Gibson and linebacker Austin Spitler. Jermale Hines and Ohrian Johnson, both of whom showed flashes of good play a year ago, should fill in the spots in the secondary. Even without Gibson, the Buckeyes still have a big-time talent on the line in Cameron Heyward, who mulled going to the NFL a year early.

"I'm definitely happy with what I've done so far, but I'm not satisfied," Heyward said. "I still want a national championship. I think everybody on this team does. We've been there two times before [losses after the 2006 and 2007 seasons], but there's still a lot to accomplish on this team."

There are several candidates to take over Spitler's vacant spot, including Etienne Sabino and Storm Klein. The newbie will be helped along by the presence of holdover starters at linebacker Brian Rolle and Ross Homan, both seniors.

"We've got some experience, but the depth is going to be critical," co-defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said. "The young guys are really going to have to come on fast. They've got to learn a lot, they've got to learn the defense. We were fortunate last year we had a lot of older guys in the two-deep."

The major losses on offense were tight end Jake Ballard -- who made a leaping catch that may have been the most memorable play of the Rose Bowl win -- along with tackle Jim Cordle.

The Buckeyes will hold their annual intrasquad scrimmage on April 24. Then come 29 August workouts leading up to the Thursday night opener against Marshall at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 2.

"[We will] just kind of figure out who can do what and who's going to mature, which young guys are going to look more like veterans and who's going to fight for playing time," Tressel said. "Hopefully we'll progress each day."
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=5048670&type=story