Morning Kickoff: Crimson Tide News 1/11
By Chris Hale
Get your day started with the Morning Kickoff. All your Crimson Tide news in one place.
Defense Propels Alabama to Win Over Tennessee, 56-38
"Although the Alabama Crimson Tide (12–3, 2–0 SEC) struggled to score at times on the road against Tennessee (9–5, 1–1 SEC), a strong defensive effort propelled the Crimson Tide to a 56–38 victory.Saturday afternoon’s win marks Alabama’s first conference victory on the road since February 2013. The Crimson Tide have notoriously struggled on the road throughout Anthony Grant’s tenure at Alabama, but they were able to notch a much needed victory.Senior guard Rodney Cooper led the way for Alabama finishing with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists. Cooper was the Crimson Tide’s lone offensive weapon at times as Tennessee’s defense shut down Alabama’s leading scorer Levi Randolph."
Great for the team to finally get a road win. It’s been non-existent for a few seasons. I hope this is a turning point and they can get back on track.
NFL Playoffs 2015: Alabama has more players in Super Bowl hunt than any other college
"Seventy-five former Alabama Crimson Tide players have gone on to NFL careers that have seen them reach the Super Bowl. That’s not the most of any school. It’s not even the most for any SEC school. But in the race for Super Bowl XLIX, Alabama is out front — way out front.The eight teams involved in this weekend’s conference semifinal games have 13 former Alabama players on their rosters. That gives the Crimson Tide four more players still chasing a Super Bowl ring than any other college. Next in line are North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin with nine apiece. The second-best for an SEC member belongs to Florida and LSU with seven apiece."
Alabama football players never work out in the NFL they said. They are over worked in college they said. Spare me your asinine rhetoric.
Tide’s Bateman still waiting in wings after scout team duties
"The rising redshirt sophomore led the White team to a 17-13 victory over the Crimson team while throwing for 156 yards and a touchdown. Bateman appeared to be in a good position heading into last year’s quarterback competition.But as the 2014 season progressed, Bateman was relegated to fourth string while handling scout team duties when the Tide prepped for mobile quarterbacks. Still, Tide coach Nick Saban would speak highly of Bateman’s progress throughout the year. He also repeatedly praised Bateman for his scout-team work.“Being in the position where I am, just a scout-team quarterback, and hearing my name come up in his interviews, that means a lot,” Bateman said. “All the teams we played this year are in wildcat, fast-tempo teams, and being part of that unit and playing on (Tide defensive coordinator) Kirby’s (Smart) field, it’s been fun.”"
You never know how these things will work out like who will get the starting job or is liable to transfer but that’s college football. If any player comes through Tuscaloosa, I always hope for the best for them no matter where life leads them. Look at Blake Sims. He finally got his shot this year and made the most of it.
Cooper to continue classes, train in Tuscaloosa
"Cooper may be leaving a year of eligibility on the table by declaring for the NFL a year early, but he will stay in Tuscaloosa to continue taking classes, while also training for the combine, which he said he will participate in in February.According to the 2014 Biletnikoff Award recipient, he has 20 hours left before he earns his degree. After this semester, he will only need 14 hours, or one semester.“Being able to get my degree is important,” Cooper said. “I’ve worked just as hard on those hours as I’ve worked on the football field.”"
Such a great thing to read. I hope he gets it done. He is so close plus he is going to make some good change in the NFL here in a few months.
Frozen Tide hockey sweeps Florida State, 12-1 and 5-4, in Pelham
"The Alabama Frozen Tide hockey team swept Florida State in two matches this weekend, 12-1 and 5-4.Alabama’s dominant win Friday night over the Seminoles was followed up by a more closely-contested game Saturday night that had FSU lead the Tide 2-0 with 11:16 in the first period.Alabama tied the game at 4-4 in the second period, and then got the go-ahead goal by Bryan Puffer with 16:15 left in the final period to win 5-4."
Softball Holds First Team Practice of the Spring Semester
"The defending SEC Champion Alabama Softball team held its first team practice of the spring semester on Saturday, preparing for the start of the 2015 season which is less than four weeks away.The four-hour practice began with indoor hitting drills before the team moved outside to brave the cold weather to work on team defense. Alabama Head Coach Patrick Murphy, entering his 17th season at the helm of the program in 2015, said that fundamentals would be the key focus this early in the season.“It’s been since late November that we’ve been together as a team. We had Thanksgiving break, finals and Christmas break and now it’s January 10th. We’ll have about two weeks of fundamentals where we do hitting circuits the first part of practice. Hopefully when the weather starts warming up we go outside and do some defensive work.”"
Crimson Tide Travels to Oxford for Sunday Matchup with Rebels
"The women’s basketball team (11-7, 0-3 SEC) will take on Ole Miss (12-4, 2-1 SEC) on Sunday at the Tad Smith Coliseum. The game is slated to tip off at 2 p.m. CT and will air live on SEC Network +.BROADCASTSunday’s game will air on SEC Network + with Will Kollmeyer (play-by-play) and Armintie Herrington (analyst) on the call. The game can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Roger Hoover announcing the action."