Alabama Does It Again

While the SEC has shown dominance in the past 10 years through its performance in bowl games, a team has taken over the conference. That team is coached by one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.. Nick Saban. Alabama seems to consistently be the favorite heading into the season each and every year now to appear in the BCS championship game simply based on it's systematic approach to use their players to the best of their abilities. Unlike Gene Chizik at Auburn who can't seem to win  a game without Scam Newton, Alabama develops their players into their system similarly to the way Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots does. It is just simply amazing to see a team be consistently elite year in and year out in the toughest conference in arguably any sport.

Nick Saban has won over 65 games at Alabama and lost a little over 10 games with 6 of his losses coming in his first season at Alabama. Although most people cannot stand Nick Saban, especially people from Miami, I have tremendous respect for the way he can coach a team. His teams all seem to have an old school approach as well because they tend to all have great size and play sound hard nosed defense. If he continues coaching at Alabama, I personally think he may be just as successful as Bear Bryant was back in the day which is saying alot. I look forward to seeing Alabama win another BCS championship against Notre Dame.. maybe this time Nick Saban will show a little bit of emotion after the win.

Sean Taylor

Today we remember one of the greatest safeties to play the game of football, Sean Taylor. He passed away 5 years ago from today after getting shot in the femoral artery in his pine crest home during a home invasion while he was with his wife. It was truly a tragic moment in sports as the NFL truly suffered a loss. Some compare him to the Tupac of football as there are still many questions left unanswered such has could he have been the greatest NFL safety of all time. His career was marked only by incredible highlights since his playing days at Gulliver Preparatory School in pine crest, Florida through his days at the University of Miami all the way to his final days in the NFL. One highlight that stands out more than any other is when he leveled the AFC punter on a fake field goal in the pro bowl. Most people use the pro bowl as a break; however, he still went 100 percent just like he did in any other game.

Right before Sean Taylor passed away, he was tied in the NFC for most interceptions despite having missed two games which says alot about how great he was at his position. Most players feared the possibility of getting hit by Sean Taylor due to his fearlessness and tenacity. He seemed to show up in a really bad mood every time he was near a ball carrier. Sean Taylor's style of play has to be some of the reason why there are so many helmet to helmet hitting and defenseless receiver rules in place in the NFL today because he struck fear in nearly every NFL player.

A Thanksgiving to Remember

This had to have been my most epic Thanksgiving moment when the unranked Miami Hurricanes took down 18th ranked Boston College in 2008. Even though I was not able to attend the game in the ancient Orange Bowl because my parents wanted me home for thanksgiving, Miami's win in comeback fashion was enough to make it my most memorable moment. The prolific Boston College QB, Matt Ryan lost against the mediocre Kirby Freeman. Not expecting much from Miami, I still had faith that they would pull through... Or maybe that was just because I was a Miami fan at the time and gave them the ultimate bias. As a middle schooler I had felt like Miami should have been in contention for something much bigger than just a win over Boston College. The excitement was through the roof that Thanksgiving compared to any other because of the way Miami came back.

Black Friday Anticipation.. or Thanksgiving

Usually my Thanksgiving's consist of a relaxing day of watching football, sleeping and eating. However, last thanksgiving was more of an anticipation for what was to come a few hours later which was black friday with my closest of friends. As the holidays approached, we had many gifts to buy for our loved ones and figured there wasn't a better way than to do it together with your best friends. As a family there never really is ever a crazy amount of excitement on Thanksgiving just because we use it more as a function to relax and appreciate one another. Black Friday made last Thanksgiving more exciting because of the anxiety that built up throughout the whole day. The day was mainly a planning session for what stores to hit up and how to strategically attack black friday. As a hispanic family, we finish Thanksgiving dinner extremely early with all of our relatives so the night began extremely early.

Obssessed? Justified?

If you listen closely to ESPN, the name Tebow is said probably just as much as anybody else's. It is just a matter of time until ESPN stops talking about Tebow due to his lackluster seasons. During his college years, the media spoke about Tebow almost as if he was a godly figure because he is so religious. Tim Tebow has an incredibly strong following due to the fact he is heavily religious and christian which made him likable by large groups of people. The media capitalized and and tried making it seem like his success would continue in the NFL. The Denver Broncos also contributed to the media speaking highly of Tebow by drafting Tim Tebow in the first round. ESPN therefore had every right to speak so highly of Tim Tebow. Had Tebow not been drafted so highly, his media coverage probably would not have been as strong. I believe the Denver Broncos became a victim to all of the publicity of Tim Tebow.

Sure Tebow's religion helped with his popularity in the media;however, nobody can argue that he was not a highly successful college athlete. As much as people want to scrutinize ESPN for talking so much about Tim Tebow, his popularity is high enough to do so. I firmly believe in one or two more seasons he will become irrelevant on ESPN as long as he is not at the helm of an NFL team's offense. The fact is he is on the New York Jets right now in the midst of a team having trouble having quarterback trouble which makes for good air time when speaking about Tim Tebow or the future of the New York Jets.

Tim Tebow led a playoff team in the Denver Broncos which increased his media coverage rightfully so. Factor that in with him being traded to a popular team in the New York Jets, Tim Tebow's popularity or "Tebowmania" was as strong as ever.  As long as Tim Tebow has a chance at being the starting quarterback of an NFL team, he will be relevant in the media.

Vince Young: Blowing Money Fast

Through the failure of Vince Young and his team of advisors, Vince Young is officially broke, bankrupt, fully in debt. Clearly, his financial advisor did not do his job correctly as he would live his lavish lifestyle with his not so lavish play on the field. Many athletes rely on their agents or a close friend to help manage everything in their lives; however, most of those people are not qualified for what they say they are resulting in a complete disaster. Now Vince Young is the victim of poor regulation. Professional leagues should be required to give players information regarding financial advising just like they give players information about their respective substance abuse policies. The players play sports for a living and suffer injuries constantly and deal with fatigue. The league should help the players out with the basic issues of their lives such as finances.

Who Should Be Punished?

Throughout the years, many teams have been heavily sanctioned and punished in the NCAA in relation to some sort of scandal. What got my attention was the way Penn State was punished because for the next four years players that were in no way involved or associated with Jerry Sandusky are being heavily punished as a result of his actions. Teams still get in trouble all of the time because obviously the punishments currently given do not affect the actual programs themselves or people involved wearing the suits and ties. The NCAA should go after the pockets of the universities rather than the innocent athletes. If the universities are being fined heavily, I guarantee that they will be more careful because then the university officials will be much more inclined to make sure they are running a clean program.

A team under probation should be allowed to still compete just like any other team except they should just not be able to reap the financial benefits of being in a bowl game. Most schools are thrilled for the post season for mainly one reason, the money it brings to the school. From personal experience, I know that players are thrilled to be playing in a bowl game because they receive gift cards and shopping sprees which are much needed in their case. They should not be taken away that opportunity because of a scandal they are not involved in. The NCAA should go after targeting the individuals committing the violation and the officials that are responsible for running a clean program because they clearly do not do their job well enough.