FanHouse Alabama

Michael Lewis's opus The Blind Side is currently filming in Atlanta and slated for release on November 20, 2009. The book recently received a jolt of interest when the primary subject of the story, Ole Miss offensive tackle Michael Oher, who rises from a hardscrabble existence in Memphis to become the top offensive tackle in the nation, was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens. A major portion of the story focuses on the top-ranked Oher's recruitment by three men: then-LSU coach Nick Saban, then-Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, and then-Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron. It's a recruiting battle for the ages.

Two weeks ago Bruce Feldman reported that Orgeron would play himself in the movie. Now I can report that Phil Fulmer will be playing himself, having traveled down to Atlanta this past Friday to film his scenes with Sandra Bullock. All that remains to be determined is whether Nick Saban is playing himself. And wouldn't that be great if Saint Nick donned the purple and gold to reprise his role for the film?

There's a lot of drivers at Talladega that doing a whole lot more than shaking in their little space boots over this weekend's UAW-Ford 500. Limited sight lines, inexperienced drivers, and an always-there lack of patience are just a few of the reasons why those drivers -- most of them Chasers -- are straight up worried about Sunday.

Denny Hamlin didn't seem to be one of them Friday at Talladega. NASCAR parked the last-place Chaser with 15 minutes left in the first practice Friday after he reportedly was bump-drafting a little excessively.

It didn't affect Hamlin's team (or they didn't admit it) as the No. 11 car decided to not practice in happy hour, either.

Regardless, Hamlin had some questions for NASCAR over their ruling, until he answered them himself.

Hamlin felt the Joe Gibbs Racing team was singled out, as he was drafting well with Stewart and J.J. Yeley when he was caught. But he said many other cars also were bumping.

"They said Gibbs cars in specific, they had an eye out on," Hamlin said. "I wonder what makes us different than anyone else, other than we were the first three cars in line. We were working well together, and when I say working well together, we were pushing each other well.

"But they said they didn't want any contact, and we broke that rule. So we're going sit have to sit out for a while."

Now Denny, was that so tough?

Chaser Jeff Gordon also decided to not to participate in the day's second session. Tony Stewart led both practices with the fastest speed of 194.959 mph in the draft.

Qualifying for Sunday's race starts at 1:00pm ET Saturday.

In 2005 Texas Tech averaged over 375 yards passing per game. They scored, on average, nearly 40 points per game. In the Cotton Bowl, the Tide's defense held the Red Raiders to 225 yards passing and only 10 points. The strong, fast, and frustrating Alabama defense, however, lost 7 starters in the off season. The new comers have some big shoes to fill but, with the exception of LDE Wallace Gillberry, the top spots on the depth chart belongs to Juniors and Seniors.

While it's unlikely that the 2006 squad is going to have a top-five spot nationally in four defensive statistics, a weak early-season schedule should give the new starters a little time to get on the same page. Here's the current depth chart heading into the season-opener.

Not since Shaun Alexander left The Capstone has the Tide had a solid offense capable, week-in and week-out, of putting up enough points to win ball games. In recent years, the team has counted on a stingy defense to keep opponents out of the end-zone and allow games to be decided by just a few points. This year, however, is filling the shoes of seven starters -- over half of the defense -- and if Alabama wants to win 10 ball games this year, they're going to have to improve on their average of 22 points a game from last season.

The success of this year's season rests squarely on the shoulders of these guys: