The "Hot Nows" of our Season So Far...

Okay, so this morning I got sidetracked a little bit by the "Hot Now" sign blinking at my local Krispy Kreme establishment. Even with my self-control put into high gear, I seriously can never resist that orange neon blinking beacon (despite the strange connection between KK and Tennessee's Coach Phil)...if it's blinking, I'm buying (although this morning, I only bought two for myself, which was a pretty good case of self-control).

The hot doughnuts turned my thoughts toward Bama football (doesn't everything these days?) and I began to ponder a bit on the way the team played against Tulane this past Saturday. For all of you were there--or for all of you who've caught the rerun on television, or read the articles about it in the newspaper--I think it's pretty obvious that the game was a step backwards. We wanted to see a performance similar to what we saw against Clemson a week earlier, but it never materialized. The offense was very stagnant, people couldn't catch balls, the line couldn't protect the quarterback, and the defense didn't have as many big plays as it needed.

It seems that Coach Saban knew something that we all didn't want to admit--that this team still has a lot of maturing to do, and that it would have a hard time living up to the hype that had built around it since the week before.

Since I am a Glass-Half-Full sort of personality (seriously--while the obnoxious guys two rows behind me continued to yell, "They suck!" and seemed to think that they could coach better than anyone else on the field, I really wanted to turn around and tell them WHY some of things were happening and that they were all correctable!), I think, though, that a positive spin can be taken on the game.

This, then, is who I see as my "Hot Nows" on our football team two games into the season...

Hot Now #1: Javier Arenas

This guy is seriously Number One in my heart right now! He has speed...he has grit...he has heart! (Anyone who blacks out, suffers a concussion, and then has to have his teammates take away his helmet to keep him from coming back in the game is Awesome with a capital A! Take some of his determination and lavishly dispense it on the other guys!)

Hot Now #2: Mark Ingram

I think I'm going to start calling him The Bulldozer. Ingram apparently has no fear in running over anyone in his path. He is strong and powerful and fast, and the most promising freshman on the team right now. Give him even more runs, please!

Hot Now #3: Rolando McClain

Fifteen tackles during the game is one way to make a difference! Good for Baby Ro (that doesn't really seem imposing, does it? but the team apparently calls him this), who bodes really good things for our future (since he is our strongest defensive player right now, and is only a sophomore).

Hot Now #4: Our defense in the Red Zone!

Yes, the defense let Tulane get a lot of plays that they shouldn't have. They even gave up some pretty big plays. But did you see the way they toughened up in the Red Zone? Last year, this was a serious issue...but I am pleasantly surprised so far this year!

Being the Glass-Half-Full person that I am (remember, I mentioned that propensity of mine already?), I'm not going to mention the Cold as Krispy Kreme's Yummy Frappacino Players today (I think you all kinda know who they are!).