Daily Archives: August 3, 2012

Smith, Castille, Tinker get UA degrees

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Former NFL players Kenny Smith and Tim Castille are scheduled to walk in today’s summer graduation exercise at Alabama, according to a university news release. 

Smith played at Alabama during 1997-2000, helping the Crimson Tide win the 1999 SEC championship. He was in the NFL during 2001-09, but his time in pro football was marred by spending three seasons on injured reserve (2004-05 and 2008).

The New Orleans Saints took him in the third round of the 2001 draft, and he spent three seasons with the organization. He started 10 games and finished with 56 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

During 2004-09, he spent time with Oakland, Tampa Bay, New England and Kansas City. He was out of the NFL in 2006. Of those four franchises, the Chiefs were the only team to play him in a game. In 2009, he played in six contests, making three tackles.

Tim Castille played fullback at Alabama during 2004-07 before spending 2008 with the Arizona Cardinals and 2009-10 with the Kansas City Chiefs. For his career, he rushed 19 times for 58 yards and caught 18 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown.

He is serving as a graduate assistant coach for the current Alabama team.

Also scheduled to graduate today is Alabama’s Carson Tinker, a long snapper who has one more year of eligibility. Football players David Blalock, Samuel Kearns and Nick Tinker also are scheduled to graduate.

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Updated: Josh Rutledge on a tear

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Former Alabama shortstop Josh Rutledge hasn’t slowed down in his short time with the Colorado Rockies.

Since being called up from the Class Double-A Tulsa Drillers, the Cullman native has homered six times in 20 games, including five in his last six contests. He is struggling with his fielding, however, making his fifth error with the Rockies in Saturday night’s games.

Check the link (Josh Rutledge) for a short piece from MLB.com on Rutledge.

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Two Vegas hotels post Tide-Michigan lines

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Alabama is ranked No. 2 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, while Michigan is No. 8. But two Las Vegas hotels say the two teams aren’t as close as that.

According to Vegas.com, Caesars Palace and the Las Vegas Hilton already have posted Alabama as a 12-point favorite over the Wolverines. The two teams will meet Sept. 1 in Arlington, Texas, in the Cowboy Classic.

In other opening-week games, Tennessee is a four-point favorite over North Carolina State, which will host the Vols. LSU is a 43-point favorite at home over North Texas. No line has been posted for Auburn-Clemson.

Alabama and Michigan have met three times previously, and all three were in bowl games. Michigan won 28-24 in the Hall of Fame Bowl on Jan. 2, 1988, and 35-34 in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 2000. Alabama won 17-14 in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 1997.

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More Jesse Williams and the 600 Club

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Remember in July when Alabama’s Jesse Williams sent Twitter into a frenzy by bench pressing 600 pounds?

Well, his teammates say that’s not really a surprise that Williams lifted that much weight. One teammate wonders if that even is the Tide nose tackle’s limit.

“He probably could do more than that, honestly,” Alabama linebacker Nico Johnson said Thursday. “I don’t think he even knows how strong he is.”

Tide center Barrett Jones still summed it up best when he tweeted about Williams’ accomplishment: “I have to block that.”

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AJ McCarron vs. Barrett Jones

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Mentioning teammate, roommate and friend Barrett Jones brought a big smile to the face of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, who was otherwise business-like in his meeting with reporters today.

“That kid’s a handful,” McCarron said.

McCarron said he and Jones, the Tide’s starting center, room together, and it’s not unusual for them to tease each other a bit.

McCarron said he tried good-naturedly to see if he could get under Jones’ skin recently. It didn’t really work, but McCarron seemed to have fun telling the story anyway.

“Everything he said, I disagreed with, even if he was 100 percent correct,” McCarron said. “Finally, he looks at me, rolls his eyes and says, ‘I’m going to bed.’ ”

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Saban talks freshmen, Blake Sims, Arie Kouandjio

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After a two-hour morning workout to kick off Alabama’s preseason camp, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban fielded questions from reporters:

He began with his typical deadpan sense of humor, keeping a straight face as he said, “I must admit I missed you all. It was actually good to come back from vacation so I get the opportunity to actually tell somebody else what to do. All I did was take orders the whole time. But seriously, folks …”

Some of the highlights:

–The conditioning test results are probably the best Saban can recall.

–He split the first day of practice into veterans in the morning and newcomers in the evening to benefit the new guys. The morning practice had about 50 players, and the one this evening will have about 50 as well.

“I always thought it was good in the old days when you could practice with the freshmen for a few practices so that you could sort of teach them and sort of eliminate some of their anxieties about going out to practice the first time and being around those guys they didn’t know very well that knew more about what was going on than they did and they end up in the back of the lines,” Saban said.

“They don’t maybe get as many turns because they’re in the back of the lines. This way if we can take 50 players to practice this morning and 50 players to practice tonight, all the young players will be able to practice tonight. So the focus of our attention will be on those young players.”

–Running back Eddie Lacy, who is returning from toe surgery, looked good to Saban, although Lacy hasn’t done much cutting yet.

–There’s no resolution yet on the incoming freshman who hasn’t been cleared by the NCAA. Saban didn’t identify the player, but he is believed to be Brandon Hill, an offensive lineman from Collierville, Tenn.

–Blake Sims will get time at both quarterback and running back.

“He will get turns at quarterback to see how our quarterbacks develop, and he may give us a different option at that position,” Saban said.

–Lineman Arie Kouandjio had a good summer while coming back from a knee injury.

“He actually did a lot better in the summer than we anticipated that he might, relative to his injuries and the downtime that he had to have in rehab because of the type of injuries that he had and the multiple injuries that he had,” Saban said.

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Opening practice goes off as scheduled

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TUSCALOOSA — Alabama opened practice this morning at 9:30, and based on the 20-minute media viewing period, we now can tell precisely how the entire season will go.

Or not.

Based on our time watching the Crimson Tide go through some basic drills, here’s what we can tell you:

–The team practiced in helmets, shorts and shoulder pads. The workout is expected to last a couple of hours.

–Running back Eddie Lacy looked good and ran well. As you might recall, he had off-season surgery on his toe, which bothered him almost all of last season. Even with the injury, he finished with 674 rushing yards with seven touchdowns. He added 11 catches for 131 yards.

–Quarterback AJ McCarron threw well. It’s hard to judge based on 20 minutes of pitch-and-catch drills, but he did look as confident and strong-armed as you would want a returning starting QB to look. He threw to about a half-dozen different receivers. He was one of only two quarterbacks to practice this morning, as Phillip Ely was the other.

–Cyrus Kouandjio, who looks every bit of the 6-foot-6 and 311 pounds he is listed as being, looked good. He played in the first eight games last season as a freshman before going down with a knee injury, which required surgery. The Crimson Tide isn’t in full pads, but he seemed to be moving well. He is the projected starting left offensive tackle.

–Almost no newcomers were at this morning’s practice. They are slated to practice this evening at 7:30 p.m. Cornerback Deion Belue, a junior college transfer, was part of the morning workout. The Deshler High graduate signed with Alabama in 2010 but spent the past two years at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He is expected to help the secondary immediately.

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