FanHouse NickSaban

I don't know if the NCAA will officially release a statement acknowledging that their Web site overloaded this afternoon at 2 PM CT when the penalties against Alabama were posted, but for one hour around that time, it was impossible to access the site.

It would be fascinating to see the data of where the site traffic was coming from. My guess is the state of Alabama in first place, and the state of Tennessee in second place. Third place? The state of Louisiana. Followed by Mississippi and Georgia in fourth and fifth place. Seeing data on a day like this would serve to objectively catalog the relative hate and strength of rivalries in the Southland once and for all. But that's too much to ask, the NCAA can't even keep their Web site functioning. This was the message on the front page of the site:

NCAA.org is experiencing temporary technical problems. Please try again in a few minutes. Some services can still be accessed through the links below.

It's come to this, Alabama fans are tailgating outside of a new play based on Bear Bryant's life. Which is an improvement over what they would have been doing if Mike Shula was still coach, lighting themselves on fire with their red and white pom-pons in the parking lot. The play, entitled Bear Country, will be playing at Birmingham's Shakespeare Festival from August 6-20. It's already debuted to rave reviews and sellouts in Montgomery, Ala. In honor of the Bear, I decided that nothing would make more sense than a play about four fans tailgating before Bear's play begins. So here goes.

Characters:

Dale -- A 45-year old owner of an auto-body repair shop who fixes cars while wearing a houndstooth cap. His first child was named Bear, his second was named Bryant. He is now divorced.

The Sugar Bowl was a great night for those not in love with the college football establishment. Unbeaten Utah, getting no consideration for the national championship, blitzed former title favorite Alabama on a neutral field in New Orleans.

It wasn't cheap. It wasn't just dumb luck. The Utes whipped the Crimson Tide, and earned every bit of credit for a sound victory. Of course, if you're Alabama coach Nick Saban, it's easier to blame others than it is to give that credit.

The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.

We recently welcomed renowned lawyer turned author/blogger/athlete Clay Travis (read his new book!) to FanHouse. Naturally, we fired up the podcast machine. The result? Ye olde epic two-parter. The first half is after the jump and in it we answer the pressing questions: Is Tim Tebow a virgin? Is "fat-ass" an inappropriate term to use in intramural sports? Should you let your wife time your 40-yard dash? Is working at Deadspin fun? How many crazy pills did Lane Kiffin swallow? And, of course, who's more evil: Urban Meyer or Nick Saban? Do enjoy.

For some godforesaken reason, some Alabama fans and media think they have a shot at landing Michigan State's Tom Izzo as the replacement for Mark Gottfried. Apparently, just because their football coach, Nick Saban, is a former Michigan State coach, he can just extend a phone call and land Izzo at the drop of a hat.

There are two problems here. First of all, Izzo has already built a situation superior to one he could build at Alabama. He's worshipped on campus, and his family is settled in the area. You aren't going to uproot your entire life unless bowled over by money. How much more money does Alabama have to spend on a basketball coach than Michigan State? Not near enough, if any at all.

Following the success of an NFL team, it's fairly typical to see members of said team's coaching staff begin quickly departing, as jobs located higher in their professional spectrum begin to open up.

Given that the Carolina Panthers won 12 games this season, it would be unsurprising to see any of the coaches leave, if the right job presented itself. But for Sal Sunseri, Panthers defensive line coach, it's kind of hard to imagine that "University of Alabama linebackers coach" is a promotion. Still, that's where he's headed.

As we get ready for the Wild Card Weekend matchup of the Dolphins and Ravens, Brian Miller from PhinPhanatic and Tony Lombardi from ProFootball24x7 were nice enough to offer some insights on their teams for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

Sportz Assassin: How do both of you feel about how your teams are playing heading into the playoffs?

Brian Miller (PhinPhanatic): I like the fact that no one is giving us any real credit for getting there. Jim Mora says on air that the best AFC East team is New England and there has been little "props" for winning the division as most of the kudos surrounds simply the turnaround. The Ravens are three-point favorites in this game and the Phins are getting tired of feeling second rate.

Tony Lombardi (ProFootball24x7): The Ravens are really beginning to gel in Cam Cameron's offense and now they are getting contributions from Mark Clayton and Willis McGahee. Joe Flacco has come on strong since the last meeting with the Dolphins and has the third highest road QB rating among NFL quarterbacks. And of course the team's defense is always dependable. The Ravens could be a dangerous post season participant.

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, Louisiana), which pits Utah against Alabama.

Overview/Matchup: Say what you want about Utah deserving to be in the BCS (and you might be correct) but they didn't do anything so wrong as to deserve a game at the hands of an angry and previously undefeated Alabama team. Nick Saban probably knows there is no real shot for the Crimson Tide to win the national title, but he won't let them overlook the Utes in this BCS affair, and if it's anything short of a blowout, it would be a tremendous surprise.

Hotels: The stadium is close enough to the center of New Orleans that you could stay anywhere in the French Quarter or central downtown and only be a short cab ride away. The Omni Royal Orleans Hotel features a rooftop pool that's open year round. Even if you're not much of a swimmer, the views are worth a trip topside. The Hilton New Orleans Riverside is located just across from the Harrah's and the Riverwalk Festival Marketplace. It offers the best all around value for bowl travelers. Budget-minded fans should consider the Chateau Dupre French Quarter. The Chateau has nice accommodations for the price and is adjacent to the House of Blues.

You see, the bowl selection "work" done here to "pick" Alabama and Utah and place them against one another in a BCS bowl game, well, it seems a little poorly done.

Color me skeptical, but it just doesn't seem like there's anyway that the Utes can hang with an Alabama team that didn't lose a single game in the SEC until the championship. And while I actually think that's a characteristic that should allow the Crimson Tide to have a shot at a national championship (is their loss to Florida really that much worse than the Gators managing to lose to Ole Miss, regardless that it was the third week of the season?), that's not how the system works.

How the system does work is that, well, if you want to really muddle through it, go here and read it. Just know that the BCS doesn't strive to create matchups of the most intriguing nature. Otherwise, you would be seeing Utah-Ohio State and Alabama-Texas. Clearly, the latter two are three and four in the country in terms of quality and they should be playing each other.

But my opinion doesn't really matter; Alabama and Utah are squaring off and I'm not entirely sure it will end up being close. In fairness to Utah, they beat everyone they were supposed to beat, including a tough TCU team late in the season, and a big upset (at the time) over Michigan in the opening weekend, and a huge win against Oregon State in early October.

They rolled over most of the teams they played, although a three-point (13-point effort no less) win over New Mexico is kind of indicative of them being a team that, um, wouldn't beat Alabama -- especially an Alabama team that is going to be focused on bringing speed on defense and a power running game. Also, Julio Jones is amazing.

Football -- and athletics in general -- is a cutthroat business, particularly for coaches. Take Phil Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville, for instance, who both proved, with recent resignations from high quality SEC teams, that resting on your laurels for even a few years can land you in the unemployment line.

Nick Saban, head coach of No. 1 Alabama, is probably a good ways from worrying about job security. But that's not stopping him from being a little upset about the nature of his colleague's departure.

We [Al.com] just got done talking with Alabama coach Nick Saban, some about the Florida game, but most about the fact that Tommy Tuberville is out at Auburn. And seriously, he was shaken. He was frustrated for his profession and maybe a little angry.

"I really question some of the judgment," Saban said, "relative to how it is for our game that people who have those kind of relationships and have done that kind of job and affected so many people in a positive way -- and have had a reasonable amount of success relative to their circumstances -- would not be given more respect and consideration than what these guys have been. So I guess we're 5-7 away from the same thing."

REALLY. REALLY? Nick Saban, the guy who left the Miami Dolphins in the lurch in order to come back and coach against a huge conference rival for the team that made him the big name that he is ... this guy is concerned that people are a little too quick with the trigger on getting rid of coaches?