Sound Off
Gottfried making big mistakes:
I can't help but feel that the form of disaster that occurred in the Alabama athletics department last year is about to repeat itself again.
Don't you remember? Before last season, Mike Shula and Dave Rader reviewed all the game film from the 2005 season and decided that there was nothing wrong with the offense they were running and that no change in philosophy, coaching or techniques was required. We all know what happened after that.
At the end of this past basketball season, Mark Gottfried promised a full and thorough review of the program. So far, the solution he has come to for his team's annual stamina and defensive problems is to elevate an assistant from the current staff. Don't bring in a Larry Shyatt to cover his defensive deficiencies. No T.R. Dunn to get some effort from the players on the other side of the ball. Not even an Antoine Pettway to tell these guys that with just a little talent and a lot of determination, they can go a lot farther. No, his solution is to shuffle a staff that thinks "hands up" is participation in the wave at a football game.
What's worse, even though his program is at his most crucial crossroads ever, Gottfried has decided to vacate the recruiting period for a Pan Am Games excursion. I wouldn't blame him for taking the trip for the recruiting exposure angle if that were his program's fatal flaw. As a recruiter, though, he's been pretty good. No, I blame him for leaving because solving the problems with his program require developing every individual's basketball skill set (especially defensively); changing his off-season conditioning regimen so that his teams don't run out of gas down the stretch; and bringing in an assistant who can cover his flaws. I blame him because he's made two decisions that could cripple his program in the long run.
I hope I'm wrong because I like Gottfried and I really do want him to succeed. However, I fear that in a year or two, after Ronald Steele is gone, he will have lost his job because the rest of the league got a lot better while he fiddled at the Pan Am Games. Of course, at that point, Gottfried may be thankful that he went to the Pan Am Games so that he has a wider recruiting base for the new team he'll be coaching at a program that people have barely heard of. Bill Owen, -- Pelham --
Another coach tells a fib:
Liar, liar, pants on fire. If you want a coach who lies, just get him from the state of Florida. Billy Donovan lied. Nick Saban lied. Liars in the first place. Liars in the last place. Once a liar, always a liar. Jimmy Howell, -- Opelika --
Hog kill was a disgrace:
As a native Alabamian living in Georgia, I first of all could not believe that there was a hog as big as Hogzilla running wild in Clay County. I also was incredulous that someone would let a child hunt a "wild boar" with a handgun on a hunting preserve. Then I find out that the 1,100-pound "wild boar" was a pet pig named Fred that was raised on a farm in Fruithurst, sold four days before it was "hunted down" and shot 11 times before it died. How disgusting and degrading to the reputation of Alabama sportsmen. To the parents of the "lucky" kid: What were you thinking? David Bennett, -- Marietta, Ga. --
Black eye for hunting:
Just when Alabama is gaining momentum and a positive image in the public eye, this ugly, disgusting Hogzilla story and picture hit the news wires. What a great tribute to hunters everywhere - it only took 16 shots with 12 hits over three hours to kill a pet pig in a pen. Personally, in the circulated photo, I see two swine. Charles Miller, -- Birmingham --
While I agree with Birmingham News staff writer Doug Demmons' denunciation of Formula One team orders, I have to say Lewis Hamilton didn't have a chance in the world of passing Fernando Alonso in the Grand Prix of Monaco. It was better to warn him against challenging the leader than to chance a crash that would have taken both season championship contenders out of the race.
Monaco is a narrow, twisting street course in which the pole sitter invariably wins. It's virtually impossible to pass, unless there is a great disparity in race car performance. Clearly, there was little, if any, disparity in the McLaren cars of Alonso and Hamilton.
And Demmons is right: A pass in F1 is about as frequent as a visit from Halley's comet. Still, the series is a fascinating showplace for cutting-edge technology. I remember a Speed Channel television special in which Jeff Gordon swapped his Cup car for then F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya's McLaren. Gordon was ecstatic after his drive. Montoya, ever his arrogant self, allowed as how his time at the wheel of Gordon's Chevrolet was "interesting."
Dave Perry, -- Trussville --
More excitement in F1:
Doug Demmons missed a salient point in his auto racing column. Formula One awards a championship based on team points; NASCAR does not. If Lewis Hamilton had wrecked both cars while attempting to pass, it would have cost the McLaren team dearly in the Manufacturer's Championship.
As for the rest of Demmons' attack on F1, it all depends on a fan's preferences. I prefer not to watch a snooze-fest like NASCAR filled with meaningless passes while cars circle endlessly. Drew Donoho, -- Fort Lauderdale, Fla. --
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