It was a back and forth game from the start, but the Alabama Crimson Tide softball team ended up with the victory as they took down the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers by a score of 7-6 in game 3 of the Tuscaloosa Regional. Senior Jackie Traina started pitching for Alabama, but sophomore Leslie Jury was put in at the top of the sixth to close out the game, giving her the win and taking her record to 18-7 on the season. Western Kentucky’s junior pitcher Emily Rousseau gets handed the loss, which is just her seventh on the season.

Sparks started flying right off the bat in the first inning, as Alabama senior Kayla Braud scored on a error by WKU catcher Karavin Dew, who was trying to get freshman Haylie McCleney out at second, who advanced the third. Then sophomore Jadyn Spencer singled up the middle to score McCleney. It was 2-0 Tide after the first.

Western Kentucky responded very quickly in the top of the second, when senior Katrina Metoyer hit a two-run, one-out home run to left field to give her two RBI and giving her team the tie game at 2 apiece. Western Kentucky took control of the game in the top of the third when Metoyer slapped a two-out triple to right field with the bases loaded, giving the Hilltoppers the lead at 5-2. Metoyer would end the day two for four batting with 5 RBI.

Alabama didn’t back down as it quickly loaded the bases up in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Courtney Conley then got walked, scoring junior pinch-runner Jordan Patterson. Sophmore Danae Hays sent a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring junior Kayla Hunt and making it 5-4 WKU. Andrea Hawkins followed that with a single to right field, scoring Spencer. Braud also got a sacrifice fly, this time to center field to send Conley home. The inning finally ended with Alabama taking a 6-5 lead.

After a couple of blank innings, starting pitcher Traina got pulled after allowing a single to lead off the 6th inning. Jury was put in. That single, however, would give Western Kentucky the tie game after a single up the middle by sophmore Preslie Cruce got pinch runner Brooke Holloway home to make it 6-6.

Junior Molly Fichtner would be the difference for the Crimson Tide as she knocked a sacrifice fly to center field to score Hawkins and make it 7-6 Tide and that would be enough to send Alabama to the Regional Championship Sunday.

Alabama will now await it’s opponent out of the loser’s bracket, which will be determined by two games that will be played today at Rhoads Stadium. South Carolina Upstate and Jacksonville State are currently playing in the top of the second at the time of this posting. That winner will play Western Kentucky in an elimination game to determine who will face the Crimson Tide Sunday.

Alabama will play Sunday at 1pm CT in the Tuscaloosa Regional Championship. If the Crimson Tide does lose the first game, there will be a second game held 30 minutes after the end of the first game. The winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional will move on to the Super Regional against the winner of the Knoxville Regional.

Follow Chris on Twitter.

Joshua Lindsey-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama Basketball’s non-conference schedule for 2013 and 2014 just got a little tougher as it was announced today that they have scheduled a home and home series with the UCLA Bruins. The Crimson Tide will head to Los Angeles to take on the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion next season, while UCLA will make the return trip to Tuscaloosa in 2014-15.

Anthony Grant and company are working hard to improve the Crimson Tide’s non-conference strength of schedule to give the team more opportunities to earn quality wins. The Crimson Tide’s inability to earn a quality win in non-conference play last season was detrimental to Alabama’s NCAA Tournament aspirations.

The Tide’s non-conference strength of schedule ranked 135th in the Pomeroy Ratings, and if Alabama wants an easier road to the NCAA Tournament, then scheduling better is a must.

The news of the home and home series with UCLA comes a few weeks after it was announced that the Crimson Tide would be among the participants in the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York at Madison Square Garden. Alabama won the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden last year by defeating both Oregon State and Villanova, which was the second consecutive season that Alabama won an early season tournament.

This field will prove to be the toughest yet, however, as Alabama will be in a semifinal field with Duke, Arizona, and Rutgers. Alabama will play two home games as a part of the tournament, but will make the trek to Madison Square Garden regardless of what happens in those games.

Even with Moussa Gueye and Trevor Lacey deciding to transfer, expectations and excitement are high for the 2013-14 Crimson Tide, and at least one Alabama player is already looking forward to making the trip to Los Angeles next season for a date with the Bruins:

Too hyped to play UCLA next year! @kyleanderson5

— Trevor Releford (@TRelly12) May 18, 2013

Follow John on Twitter.

After a two hour and fifteen minute weather delay, sophomore pitcher Leslie Jury and the Alabama Crimson Tide softball team took game two of the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 4-0. Jury gets the win while JSU junior pitcher Tiffany Harbin receives the loss of a game that saw a combined 18 hits from both teams.

Jury pitched all seven innings and ended up shutting out the Gamecocks, even though she found herself in many situations where the bases were loaded. She ended the day with four strikeouts and one hit by pitch, improving her record to 17-7 on the season. It was certainly a fantastic effort by Jury and the Alabama defense to hold their ground, even when the situation was dire.

The game was tied at nothing until the bottom of the third inning, when junior Molly Fichtner hit a 2-RBI single to center field, sending Ryan Iamurri and Kayla Braud in to score two and make it 2-0. It would be Fichtner’s only hit of the game, who usually bats .311 on average. Still, those two RBI sent her to 29 total on the season.

Then, in the bottom of the fifth, junior 2nd baseman Kayla Hunt hit a solid solo home run to left field. Sophmore 1st basemen Jadyn Spencer followed that up with a solo home run of her own, taking the score to 4-0 Crimson Tide, which would be the final. It wasn’t the first time that Alabama has hit back-to-back home runs this season: Fichtner and freshman utility player Leona Lafaele did it against Kentucky on May 4th.

Jacksonville State came up with a total of 8 hits on the night, led by senior 3rd basement Cara Longworth, who ended up 2-for-3. The problem was that when they got on base, Alabama always found a way to get out of the inning unscathed. That also happened on several occasions for Alabama on Friday night, but Alabama was simply able to capitalize better on the night.

Day 1 started with Game 1 earlier in the afternoon, where the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers defeated the South Carolina Upstate Spartans 3-0. Alabama and Western Kentucky will kick things off tomorrow at 1pm CT in the winners bracket for game 3. The winner advances to the regional championship game on Sunday. Jacksonville State and South Carolina Upstate will follow that around 3:30pm in an elimination game 4. Then, the winner of that game will take on the loser of game 3 in another elimination game around 6pm.

Follow Chris on Twitter.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Former Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Rolando McClain announced his sudden retirement at just 23 years old this week. The troubled linebacker was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders.

He spent three years with the Raiders before being cut this offseason, which had more to do with his off the field antics than his on the field play. A month ago, he signed with the Baltimore Ravens as he looked to put his troubled past in Oakland behind him.

A short time after signing with the Ravens, McClain was once again arrested in his hometown of Decatur, Alabama. It was his third arrest in the last 17 months, and it put his future with the Ravens in serious doubt.

Yesterday, McClain announced that he would be retiring from the NFL, although what he said in a statement today made it sound more like a break than a retirement.

In a statement, McClain said “I love football, but I have decided at this time it is in my best interest to focus on getting my personal life together.”

McClain received a lot of vitriol from fans and media alike when he announced his retirement from the NFL, with many pundits saying how much talent he let go to waste. And to this point, they would be correct. McClain came to the NFL with enormous expectations after three successful seasons at Alabama.

His play on the field with the Raiders didn’t quite live up to the lofty standards that were set when he was dominating college gridirons, but it was off the field problems that always kept standing in the way of him becoming the player most expected him to be. A retirement, at age 23, is not what anybody had in mind when he was drafted three years ago.

But, then again, this doesn’t sound like an official retirement. It sounds like a break until he can get his personal life together. It sounds like the first mature decision that McClain has made since he left Alabama a year early to go to the NFL Draft.

Getting his personal life together will be a full time job, and he knows to fully commit himself to doing so, he wouldn’t be able to give football everything he had.

McClain went on to say in a statement that “I am very grateful for the opportunity [ the Ravens] gave me and wish them the best of luck in the future. God willing, maybe I’ll play for them one day.”

That certainly doesn’t sound like someone who has decided to hang up the pads for good. His off the field issues have held him back on the field, and if he can get those issues fixed, then he could very well make a successful comeback to the NFL in the future.

There’s no denying that the talent is there. McClain is one of the best, most instinctive linebackers I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching at the Capstone. He had an innate ability to diagnose plays before they happened. He was an unquestioned leader during his three years in Tuscaloosa.

In 2009, McClain spearheaded Alabama’s defense that led the team to the National Championship. He was a unanimous first team All American, and earned the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker.

At 23, McClain is still very young, so he could take a couple of years off and still have many years ahead of him in the NFL. It will be an uphill battle for him, and nothing over the last few years suggests that he will be able to stay out of trouble off the field in order to make a successful comeback on the field.

There aren’t many who are betting on him to do it, and I’m definitely in the minority in thinking that he can. Maybe it’s for selfish reasons because when McClain has his head straight, there aren’t many that I enjoy watching more.

Here’s hoping we get to see Rolando McClain play football again. Here’s hoping he gets his life together.

Follow John on Twitter.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama announced on May 11 that Texas Tech women’s basketball coach Kristy Curry would be taking the same position for the Crimson Tide.

Curry spent seven seasons in Lubbock as the coach of the Red Raiders from 2006-2013. In her tenure at Texas Tech she was able to lead her team to the NCAA Tournament twice, once in 2011 and once this past season. The Red Raiders also made three appearances in the WNIT including two trips to the third round. Curry was 130-98 in her time at Texas Tech.

Before accepting the head coaching position at Texas Tech, Kristy Curry built the Purdue women’s program into a year-to-year competitor in the Big Ten. Curry was 179-51 in seven seasons with the Boilermakers including two Sweet Sixteen appearances, an Elite Eight appearance, and a trip to the National Championship game in 2001.

Kristy Curry replaces former Alabama basketball player Wendell Hudson who only led the Tide to one winning season in five years as Alabama’s women’s basketball coach.

Alabama athletics director Bill Battle expressed his high expectations for Coach Curry during a Crimson Caravan event on May 14. “We’re excited about the future and direction of women’s basketball,” Battle said. “It may take her some time to get some better players. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.”

The ultimate goal for the women’s basketball team seems to be a move out of Foster Auditorium. Foster Auditorium, built in 1939, currently serves as the home for women’s basketball and volleyball games. The venue only holds 3,800 and the Crimson Tide struggled to keep attendance up this year.

Kristy Curry isn’t used to half capacity crowds. In her final season at Texas Tech, Curry saw an average attendance of 6,439. The Red Raiders even drew a record crowd of 12,871 in their game against Baylor in February.

Curry’s experience in two of the nation’s toughest conferences, proven rebuilding skills, and marketability should bode well in her future as the head coach for the Crimson Tide. The women’s basketball program is one of the few at Alabama that hasn’t seen its share of conference dominance over the past decade. It looks like Bill Battle and the rest of the athletics department are poised to change that.

Follow Nick on Twitter.

Last month, we gave away a $300 worth of Sports Memorabilia…This month, FanSided and Bama Hammer have teamed up with Deals2Buy.com to give away a LG Electronics 42-Inch LED TV!!!

This LG Electronics 42-Inch LED TV is provided by Deals2Buy, a leading website for deals, discounts and close-out inventory offers. Focused on delivering best-of-web pricing, Deals2Buy is known among tech-savvy consumers as the one stop shop for deals on items like laptops, cameras, televisions and other technology products – as well as apparel, accessories, travel, and even credit card offers. Sign up for the Deals2Buy Hot Deal Alerts newsletter and follow them on Twitter and Facebook to stay in the know about the hottest deals every day!

To enter, simply like us on Facebook and sign up for our daily email newsletter, FanSided Daily. It is completely free and customizable to your unique rooting interest. Then earn additional entries by sharing the contest with friends!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C., 18 years and older, who are the owners of the property depicted in the photo. Begins: 9:00 a.m. C.T. on 5/15/13. Ends: 11:59 p.m. C.T. on 6/15/13. Subject to Official Rules at www.fansided.com. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: FanSided. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

Jan 7, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide back-up quarterback Alec Morris (11) helps block the signal call into the offense during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2013 BCS Championship game at Sun Life Stadium. Alabama won 42-14. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Tana Patrick

Rated as one of the top linebackers coming out of high school in 2009, Tana Patrick made the decision to play for Alabama. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound redshirt senior linebacker has played in blowout games the last three years.

Patrick redshirted in 2009 as a freshman and played in five games in 2010. During those five games, he recorded four total tackles.

In his sophomore campaign, Patrick played in ten games while making seven tackles. He had a career-best four tackles in Alabama’s first game of the season against Kent State.

This past season, he played in every regular season game either on special teams or as a backup linebacker. He improved his tackle numbers to 16 tackles on the season.

For his career, Patrick has 27 total tackles.

Look for Patrick to contribute in 2013. He made eight tackles during A-Day while playing with the presumed first team defense. Hopefully, his three years of experience help Patrick to a solid senior year on defense.

Alec Morris

Alabama fans are interested in seeing who wins the backup quarterback position in hopes of figuring out AJ McCarron’s replacement in 2014. Some folks are giving the early nod to redshirt-freshman Alec Morris.

He came to Tuscaloosa from Allen (Texas) High School and seen as Top 50 quarterback in the 2012 recruiting class.

Morris committed to Alabama after committing to Wake Forest in 2011. His commitment came the same week as Jameis Winston announced his plans to attend Florida State rather than Alabama.

During A-Day, Morris completed 10 of his 18 passes for 141 yards, the best for the Crimson team.

Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been 85 years since the first broadcast signal was put on on American airwaves. Since then, it’s evolved into so much more than we can imagine. We have cameras that show more detail than ever before. The amount of channels we get are ever increasing, thus choice in content is expanding. So, why do people still find reason to cut their TV services? Simple. It’s all about money. Let me help break it down for you.

As a person who’s worked in broadcast media for about six years, even in that very short timeframe I have learned so much about the industry and, more importantly, it’s future. As the internet is slowly becoming an essential part of our everyday lives, the TV set is adapting to that change by way of Smart TVs and internet apps. That leaves cable and broadcast companies on the wrong side of the stick, unfortunately, but opens a new window.

That’s why the 20-year deal to create the SEC Network with ESPN and the SEC has me baffled. Obviously, this was a long-awaited project that was discussed ever since the SEC and ESPN signed the original 15-year agreement with ESPN to cover many of the league’s events in 2008. But a lot has changed since then and a lot will change in the TV industry by 2034, when the contract is set to expire. So why make a deal that long knowing good and well American’s viewing habits are changing?

There is one thing I do know about cable operators: They pay a a heck of a lot of money to sports networks for their content. According to whatyoupayforsports.com, ESPN requires operators to pay $5.06 per subscriber so that you can get SportsCenter on their main network. ESPN2 is an additional .67 cents and to get your ESPN fix in 3D it’s another $2.71.

And it’s not just ESPN. TNT and TBS, who broadcast MLB, NBA and NASCAR among others, charge a combined $1.80. It may not seem like much alone, but if you compare it to a bunch of other non-sports networks that charge anywhere between .05 and .20 cents, it’s a lot. And all of those rates continue to rise as demand grows. ESPN is literally causing your cable bill to get higher.

So the reason ESPN and SEC struck such a long-term deal is because they know that sports fans will always want live sports. Remember the times when it was rare to see Alabama on television? Or even see the Vanderbilt game? Now, you are able to find that game somewhere on your lineup, thanks to some historic deals made by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and the respective networks. He knows more than anybody in the business that fans, especially those in the sports-rabid SEC, demand they should be able to watch their team.

But many Americans are fed up with paying for watching TV shows. Comcast reported a 60,000 subscriber loss, while Time Warner Cable lost over 100,000 customers. With alternatives like Netflix and Hulu+, which would cost a combined total of about 17.98 minimum, it’s easy to do the math. For sports fans, they can use WatchESPN to view ESPN and other channels on their computers and mobile devices…with a subscription to a provider of their programming. According to the SEC Network deal, you will be able to do this for the new network as well.

But wait! Could the cable networks simply refuse to carry the SEC Network so that they don’t raise their rates to their subscribers? Sure they could. But once that Georgia fan realizes that the Georgia/Tennessee game is carried on the SEC Network and Comcast doesn’t carry it, he will demand that Comcast get the network because he doesn’t want to miss any game because he’s a fan. And many other Georgia and Tennessee fans will do the same thing. Soon, operators will have no other choice but to give the customers what they want. Yet, those same customers will be baffled as to how their bill rose.

So, is the SEC Network worth the cost? The answer to this question is yes and no. It is worth it because it’s another way to get your fix of your team’s news and other medium to watch your team in action. However, the rising cost of cable may cause even more Americans to get frustrated with cable and satellite, thus making the SEC Network a flunk. Most of this really depends on what ESPN will charge to operators to carry the network. But, it already seems like an agreeable rate, considering AT&T U-Verse has already signed on.

Only time will tell if the SEC Network will be a fantastic source of sports or an absolute fluke.

Follow Chris on Twitter.

Alabama Crimson Tide softball will attempt to defend its national title as the No. 10 seed of the 2013 NCAA Tournament and will host the Tuscaloosa regional starting on Friday, May 13.

The Tide, who lost to eventual champion Florida in the second round of the SEC Tournament, hosts its ninth consecutive regional and eleventh overall. The Crimson Tide boasts 10 regional titles in its history, including eight straight since 2005. Alabama has a 38-9 overall record in regional play.

Alabama will host Sun Belt runner-up Western Kentucky, as well as conference champions South Carolina Upstate from the A-10 and Jacksonville State from the Ohio Valley. Alabama has already faced Jacksonville State earlier in the season, posting a 11-3 win. The games will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The first game on Friday will start at 3:30 pm between South Carolina Upstate and Western Kentucky. Following that will be Alabama and Jacksonville State, which is slated for a 6pm start. Saturday’s games are slated for 1pm, 3:30pm and 6pm starts. Finally, the championship series will be held on Sunday at 1pm, with an if-necessary game slated for a 3:30 pm start if the team from the winner’s bracket loses the first game.

The Southeastern Conference has 11 teams in the NCAA tournament, including seven that will host regionals with top seeds. Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, LSU, Kentucky and Texas A&M all will host regional action in their respective cities. Arkansas is going to be headed to the Norman regional with the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma Sooners. South Carolina will head to Austin as No. 4 Texas will play host to the Gamecocks, while Georgia is headed to Arizona with No.5 Arizona State.  Mississippi State was the final SEC team to make the tournament and will travel to Mobile regional hosted by No. 13 South Alabama, even though the Bulldogs didn’t qualify for the SEC Tournament.

Tickets and information are available at RollTide.com or by calling 205-348-BAMA.

The winner of the Tucsaloosa regional will face the winner of the Knoxville regional, which includes No. 7 seed Tennessee, James Madison, Longwood and NC State, to face off in a best-of-3 Super Regional.

Follow Chris on Twitter.

November 3, 2012; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback AJ McCarron (10) against the LSU Tigers during a game at Tiger Stadium. Alabama defeated LSU 21-17. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

AJ McCarron doesn’t need much of an introduction; he’s made his name known to all of college football. The recognition comes with quarterbacking two straight BCS National Championship teams and winning 25 of your first 27 starts.

Entering his senior season, McCarron looks to take every major Alabama quarterback career record. He already owns a few records: the most touchdowns in a season (30) and career (49) and the most pass attempts without throwing an interception (291).

Like his teammates, McCarron’s recruiting rankings varied by service. ESPNU called him the number four quarterback in the 2009 class and the 37th best player overall. Rivals.com viewed him as the seventh best pro-style quarterback, ten spots ahead of where Scout.com rated him. He also played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and earned Elite 11 quarterback honors.

Alabama fans weren’t aware of Greg McElroy’s injured ribs when Alabama played Texas for the national championship, McCarron’s first year on campus. Coach Nick Saban revealed after the game he was willing to take the redshirt year away from McCarron and let him play over Star Jackson if McElroy needed to leave the game.

McCarron saw action in all of Alabama’s 13 games in his redshirt freshman season. He threw three touchdowns and just under 400 yards on the season while backing up McElroy.

McElory’s departure brought a quarterback competition. Fans and media wondered if McCarron or redshirt freshman Phillip Sims would earn the starting job. McCarron separated himself from Sims early in the season and started all of the Crimson Tide’s 13 games.

Members of the media labeled McCarron as a “game manager” as they did Greg McElroy. Some claimed he was doing the same thing McElroy did: win games because of a great defense and running game. Those claims went away in New Orleans when Alabama had its famous rematch with LSU for the national championship. He earned the Offensive MVP award by throwing for over 200 yards and completing 23 of his 34 passes.

In his “game manager” season, McCarron threw for over 2,600 yards and 16 touchdowns. Two of his five interceptions came in week one against Kent State.

The 2012 season involved McCarron making his name nationally-known. The AP named him third team All-American, and he was selected as second team All-SEC. He finished the 2012 season with 30 touchdowns and 211 completions for 2,933 yards.

His first interception came in Alabama’s tenth game of the season against Texas A&M. He threw three for the entire season. Not many quarterbacks or coaches would say “no” to a 10:1 touchdown to interception ratio. He had the second-longest streak in SEC history with 291 pass attempts without an interception.

What should fans expect from McCarron in 2013? The same thing they saw in 2011 and 2012: consistent, intelligent quarterback play. He has the best wide receiver group the University of Alabama has ever had. He should impress NFL scouts and Alabama fans.
He’s already receiving some Heisman talk for 2013. No telling how likely his chances really are. A completion, and not an interception, at the goal line late in the fourth quarter against Texas A&M may have won him the Heisman this past season.

McCarron can add to is records total in 2013. Take a look at the Alabama records McCarron is in line to hold after the 2013 season.