A view from the Alabama fan sites

Submitted by 1VaBlue1 on December 28th, 2023 at 9:06 AM

A little slow at work this morning, so I was curious enough to sniff out some Alabama fan sites that might be similar to MGoBlog.  I was hoping to find some good content - similar to what we get from Brian, Seth, and Alex - with a Bama perspective.  What I found was, ahem, not that...

Bama fan sites, from what I saw, seem a step down from 11 Warriors - hard as that is to believe.  There were three entries, none of which are worth a trip through the links provided.

Our first stop is rollbamaroll, which features a column called 'Jumbo Package'.  This appears to be a collection of quotes from different stories/people, without any detail behind it.  It's latest version has a quote from Saban about signgate - “We always change things up a little bit. We’re focused on what we have to do to try to get good execution and we’re not really concerned about any of that stuff”.  Nothing inflammatory...

A previous version talks about the Helow hiring - "I think every year that we’ve been in the Playoffs we’ve tried to bring somebody in ... somebody to do a little extra work that has good experience,” Saban said. “And when we get off the road, being able to give us a good scouting report of what we need to know. So that’s the purpose, just to add sort of a special assistant to me, whatever you want to call it, to when I come off the road be able to get me up to speed on what’s happening."  The bolded text is mine and explains exactly why he was hired.  But of course, this is perfectly legal and has nothing to do with endangering the players safety.

The second stop on our journey is bamahammer, and is the worst of the three - by a mile.  The one story I read (signed by a Nicholas Rome), was not even surface level - it was a 5th grade attempt at stereotypes.  Not worth reading, I won't ever regain the time I spent there and suggest you don't waste your precious time on such trash.

The third, and final, stop is tidefans.  This place might have some value in further investigations, perhaps the message boards if you're so inclined, as the one story I read was an interesting article.  It is a comparison of the two teams' units, giving the advantage to Bama in 6 of the 8 categories.  However, the author does say all the comparisons are very close - some uncomfortably so for Bama fans - and clearly gives the edge to the homers in most of these.  He does say that Michigan's edge in running backs is clear and that Michigan's DL against Bama's OL is a bigger advantage to M than the Bama DL vs M OL battle is to Bama.  Overall, this story offers a fair comparison but suffers from pedestrian, surface level evaluations rather than a more in depth, game film analysis that we're used to here.  And it falls back on the old SEC vs Big Ten stereotype 'speed vs power', which, c'mon...

TL/DR?

TL/DR - Don't waste your time looking up Bama sites, there is no BamaGoBlog to be found.  Maybe check out the TideFans site message boards if you want some smack talk, because that board had the only article worth reading.  And I use that term loosely...

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1VaBlue1

December 28th, 2023 at 10:55 AM ^

I'm largely okay with McElroy, heard him a fair amount when he had a morning show on Serious XM.  He was always fair about Michigan and seemed to like Harbaugh.  At least he was fair about whatever was in the news at the time.  I don't, however, know what he said about Signgate.

Not sure that I really, care, either...

Joined: 01/31/2016

MGoPoints: 127087

Hensons Mobile…

December 28th, 2023 at 11:50 AM ^

I decided to try to look that up for you. I am sure he said a lot of stuff and I didn't track it all down. He is cool with sign stealing, isn't cool with what Stalions did. Called it "significant" but I think that just means it is significant to break a rule, he didn't say it was a significant advantage from what I saw.

He didn't support a postseason ban. He wanted to fine Harbaugh. I couldn't find his reaction to suspending Harbaugh but my guess is he was okay with that.

My sense is that he doesn't think it's a big deal at all but had to act like it was a big deal so he latched on to "breaking rules is bad and the head coach is responsible."

Joined: 09/12/2019

MGoPoints: 49403

GRBluefan

December 28th, 2023 at 9:17 AM ^

TL/DR - Don't waste your time looking up Bama sites, there is no BamaGoBlog to be found.

I think this same statement can be applied to basically every CFB team...Mgoblog is a 1 of 1 as it relates to high quality content.  We are the lucky ones.

Joined: 02/13/2009

MGoPoints: 18356

Perkis-Size Me

December 28th, 2023 at 9:23 AM ^

I recall being really mad after the Helow hiring and thinking how is this any different than Signgate, where is Pettiti standing up for one of his cash cows and demanding player safety, fair competition, Helow shouldn't be allowed to coach Alabama or trade information until after the season is over, etc. 

At this point....I'm just of the mindset that if Michigan loses because Helow was the deciding factor for everything he brings to the table, then Michigan DESERVES to lose. It may be a lot of players Helow has coached, but he hasn't been involved with the team for nearly a year. Minter is not going to be stupid enough to be using the same signs and information that Helow would have access to or remember on command. 

But I still do feel like this all goes to show just how completely ridiculous SignGate was from the outset. Stallions goes and does something really stupid, but largely does it from the stands with a bunch of his buddies with crummy iPhone footage. The whole sports world loses its minds and demands Michigan pay for this injustice with blood. Meanwhile, Saban goes and hires a former coach, a trained professional with potentially intimate knowledge of Michigan's program, its players, and a guy who's had a bird's eye view of everything Michigan has done the last few years, how they've operated, especially from a defensive standpoint, and no one bats an eyelash over it. In fact, they praise Saban's savviness and his ability to be a true evil genius. 

The advantage they both provide is minimal, the information they provide is largely the same, but one demands punishment to the highest degree. The other is praised for being a "win at all costs, do whatever you need to do to tip the scales in your favor" decision. 

Just continues to reinforce the horse-assery of this whole situation. No one ever cared about the signs or fair competition. They just cared that it was a chance to go after a guy that they already don't like. 

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105740

mgobleu

December 28th, 2023 at 9:38 AM ^

“Just continues to reinforce the horse-assery of this whole situation. No one ever cared about the signs or fair competition. They just cared that it was a chance to go after a guy that they already don't like.” 

It’s all pretty simple. Yeah Day hired the PI and dropped it on the NCAA, but it didn’t blow up until it got to ESPN, who you may note, just signed a pretty little $3 billion deal with the SEC.

They’re by no means objective, not that they ever have been. 

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 38428

Perkis-Size Me

December 28th, 2023 at 10:45 AM ^

Pretty much. ESPN has no reason to hold back against Michigan in its press dealings. They don't get a dime of TV revenue from Michigan going forward, so what incentive do they have to report an objective viewpoint? 

Why else do you think Urban Meyer was not out there shouting from the rooftops about Michigan being a fraud and a cheater? Why else was Joel Klatt preaching slow it all down, get due process and hand out punishment when you know the facts? They know who signs their checks and butters their bread. They work for FOX, and FOX is going to protect its investment until its given a good reason not to. 

That said, I do believe that if it was Purdue that had done this, or Illinois, or Rutgers, no one would've cared. It would've been a one day story, two days tops, and everyone would've forgotten about it by the following week. 

But its Michigan, and more importantly, its Harbaugh. A guy who already rubs a lot of people the wrong way, particularly in E-SEC-PN land. He's "not a member of the club" as it pertains to the coaching ranks, he has a lot of viewpoints that directly contrast with other coaches and what they think (or at least say publicly), so when they see some blood in the water, they are ALL going to go after him. 

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105740

LDNfan

December 28th, 2023 at 9:45 AM ^

So, true..but I'm not ready to say that these are equivalent and minimal. Saban hired Helow and isnt doing it for minimal gains...all gains at that level are beneficial and a guy like Saban isn't wasting his time looking for crumbs.

And no doubt UM/Harbaugh are being extra careful not to bend any rules so for them even minimal gains of a Stalion type operation are in all likelihood gone or even less beneficial. 

Someone (Warde, Santa...) at UM needed to get the messaging right on this whole nonsense well before Saban played his hand. And then after Saban signed Helow someone should have aggressively pointed out the hypocrisy (even whilst saying 'nothing against what Saban/Bama are doing..BUT...'). Think they missed a critical opportunity to show support for Harbaugh and kick sand in Tony P/NCAA's face. 

Joined: 09/28/2014

MGoPoints: 10423

Perkis-Size Me

December 28th, 2023 at 12:27 PM ^

Well with being a public university, Saban (and Alabama, by extension) is almost certainly required by law to disclose that information, but I'm sure he would've kept it secret if the law allowed for it. 

Also, who's really going to go after Saban? Even if this was considered a shady move and not in the spirit of fair competition, you think a guy like Greg Sankey is going to care? Sankey protects his money-makers, so Saban knows no one is going to step out of line and rock the boat over this. 

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105740

TESOE

December 28th, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^

The Helow/Signgate comparison doesn't work on any level. 

The actions of the team were enough to tell the world Michigan understood the signs. 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8QjBXgV/

OSU knew we had their signs. The conspiracy is the BS that bothers. Finding an antiquated rule and ruining careers and honest (if ignorant) effort is what ticks me off. 

Compliance should have caught this rule and flagged it for the coaches. The sign stealing was never understood as anything more than film study. But the knowledge that Michigan knew was evident. I'm not sure how it could have been more public.

Helow is a coach. He deserves to work as one. In the off season every coach shares techniques and best practice. I see zero wrong with the hire given the time frame. I wish him well.

 

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 8494

Clarence Beeks

December 28th, 2023 at 9:24 AM ^

These reports always highlight just how blessed we are to have Mgoblog (both for content and the board) - other teams don't have this, and I think many here don't realize that.

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