With Auburn’s loss today and Arkansas walking all over Tennessee, I guess we’ll all be watching the Razorbacks and Gators play for the SEC title this year (I know they have to win one more game, but they have Mississippi State next week). I couldn’t be happier for the other UA. They came out of nowhere this year to become a powerhouse. Congrats to you guys!

I was reading a pretty good column today by Paul Finebaum (I think I’m one of the few Bama fans that don’t hate him or what he has to say, but that’s neither here nor there). He talks about how the Iron Bowl next week won’t mean a hill of beans to the national audience like it used to. To make matters worse, Ohio State and Michigan face each other at the exact same time.

That especially rings true after Georgia’s win over Auburn. Heck, I knew after Alabama’s loss to MSU last week that I didn’t even want to go back to Tuscaloosa for the Iron Bowl. Unfortunately, I have to work it, so I have to be there.

I never thought I would want to skip the Iron Bowl (and I’ve been to a few), but this one is worthless to me. The coaching staff has ruined it for me this year. I was talking to a friend who works across the hall from me, and he made some good points about the team being so young (half of the 100+ on the roster are freshmen).

He’s not exactly ready to hang it up on Shula, but I just can’t feel the same way. I remember being a student Shula’s first year there. I remember the electricity and relief everyone had when he was hired in that town. We had just been through Dennis Franchiphoney and Mike Price, and he was a breath of fresh air.

Now, a lot of us don’t want him there any longer. I don’t need to go into all this again. I’ve written and vented enough. Heck, as I write this, Bama and LSU are 10 minutes away from the end of the game, and I’m emotionally numb. I knew LSU would kill them, so I’m not mad. I do hope, however, there’s enough anger elsewhere that someone will finally make a change.

Georgia 37
Auburn 15

There will be, and have been, people who say I have no right to talk about AU since Bama’s doing so poorly. Well, just let me know when I start bragging on my Tide again instead of sounding off. Maybe then I’ll stop picking on AU, too.

I just got home from shooting the Alabama game, and let me tell you one thing: Bama fans are sick and tired of Mike Shula. How in the blue blazes do you lose 24-16 to Mississippi State?

A friend, Brad Hood (see blog at right), and I were talking on the sidelines during the fourth quarter. He said something that almost everyone in Bryant-Denny Stadium was feeling this afternoon: “Boy, this team is just bad.”

Paul Finebaum wrote a column Tuesday that hit the nail on the head. He talks about how Auburn is the new Alabama, and vice versa. Everyone expects AU to blow people out and how Bama is expected to eek by or not eek at all.

I’ve said it before this year, and I’ll keep saying it (along with the majority of the Bama Nation). Something must be done to that coaching staff. Defensive Coordinator Joe Kines is welcome to stay in my opinion, but Dr. Witt (UA president) and Mal Moore (AD) need to either replace Mike Shula at the end of this season, or hire one heck of an offensive coordinator and tell Shula to stop calling the plays.

There’s an AP picture of UA students in the stand today with paper bags on their heads (see above). They were all standing a few feet away from us, and they had a message on those bags: “Shula is a bum.”

Mike, you’re a great guy off the field, but you HAVE to make a change, or you need to go. Our beloved program and team are too important to us to let this slop continue. Our tradition is too great to just flush away.

We want OUR Alabama back.

All I need to say is YO YO YO YO YO YO… Football!

Arkansas 27
Auburn 10