5-at-10: Alabama quarterback plan, ESPN not showing the national anthem on MNF, Texas A&M's sticky situation, Rushmore of Angels

Alabama quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa (13) and Jalen Hurts (2) take part in practice Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa (13) and Jalen Hurts (2) take part in practice Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

Quarterback quandary

There are a lot of reasons to bemoan Nick Saban.

If you are a college football fan not familiar with the parking situation outside of Bryant Denny, then he's dominating your favorite sport unlike anyone ever.

If you are a casual sports fan, he makes the outcome downright predictable in the most crazy and most dramatic regular season in sports.

If you are a member of the media, well, the egg shell walk between good question and becoming the target of a viral rant is borderline invisible.

But for those who are perplexed about Saban not naming a quarterback, well, that's a you problem.

First, Saban has always waited until the very last minute to name a starter. Always.

Second, even though we all know they do not need any extra advantages in the opener against an overmatched Louisville bunch, when your quarterbacks have differing styles, it makes sense to have the opposition spend time getting ready for both skill sets.

Third, by not naming a starter, Saban does not crush Jalen Hurts' feelings, which in the grand scheme of things, he does not really care that much about. But what happens if Saban names Tua QB1 and Hurts is hurt and then Tua gets injured?

Finally, does anyone at this point expect it to be anything but Tua being the guy and both getting snaps in what will be a 45-6 runaway from Louisville?

photo President Donald Trump waves as he steps off Air Force One, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, in Charleston, W.Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sticking to sports

Donald Trump had a rough Tuesday. Some of his inner circle dudes - past and present - got caught up in the legal system Tuesday.

He spent a chunk of his speech last night not addressing those issues, instead throwing haymakers at the NFL protestors in general and the ESPN decision in particular not to show the national anthem in its Monday Night Football broadcasts.

Debate that as you wish. Toss out fake news or whatever you want. Quote the Clay Travis-coined catchphrase of "MSESPN" as a play of the overly liberal MSNBC and the perceptions/accusations that ESPN is overly liberal too.

(And previous regimes at ESPN deserved some of those claims considering the ways that certain employees were disciplined in various degrees for what seemed to be similar offenses. Curt Schilling, an open conservative, was fired for repeated social media infractions. Jemele Hill was suspended for a week for repeated social media infractions. There are a slew of examples, too.)

The new leadership at ESPN after John Skipper left has been more balanced and more aware of the perceptions of bias, especially from the right.

But, in regard to this for Trump and the anti-protestors and the anti-ESPN overlappers, it's fair to ask if this is having your cake and eating it too.

If you ask ESPN to stick to sports, can you then criticize them for trying to take the controversy out of the equation and trying to stick to sports?

Texas A&M situation

Wow, lots of SEC stuff to get to on Wednesday, Aug. 23.

But this story is bigger than a conference, a school, or potential NCAA violations.

Here's the story on a former Texas A&M linebacker who has transferred to Arizona (which is coached by Kevin Sumlin, the former Aggies coach who recruited the four-star linebacker to College Station).

Here's the Reader's Digest version: Santino Marchiol, said LB, left A&M& for Arizona. Like every other transfer athlete who has not graduated, Marchiol is required to sit out a season. Marchiol is petitioning to be eligible right away because of the NCAA violations A&M committed during the offseason under Jimbo Fisher.

Yes, there are far-reaching ramifications of this.

We have debated the transfer rule changes that the NCAA is weighing. Should athletes be able to switch schools - like every other student and every other member of any athletic department - and be able to get to work right away? (Remember how fond the NCAA is of making sure to call them 'student'-athletes whenever possible.)

Now comes this potential loophole.

Marchiol is admitting to NCAA violations - he took the money to entertain the recruits - and then wanting rewarded for that is another issue on this, too.

It's a further extension of the recent - and ill-conceived - decision for the NCAA to give immunity to recruits at rival schools for testimony about violations at other schools.

Yes, the simple fact of the matter is the tried and true: Don't cheat and you don't have to worry about it.

It's also of note that Marchiol's attorney is Thomas Mars, the guy who repped Houston Nutt against the Ole Miss allegations and was part of the process that led to toppling Hugh Freeze.

This will be quite interesting to follow, and the ramifications are far bigger than potential secondary violations and whether a transfer linebacker is ready to play this fall or next.

This and that

- Nice job by the Braves last night. A big 6-1 win with Dansby Swanson hitting a couple of dingers.

- THE Ohio State decision is expected today. And we all agree that Urbie was wiggled off the hook and will keep his gig. Wonder, in this time of fake news and blaming the messenger, this is an interesting case to follow to see how much Uribe's bosses hold his feet to the fire for lying to the media.

- Baltimore corner Jimmy Smith has been suspended for four games. The details are in this story and the NFL said it found evidence of threatening and emotionally abusive behavior by Smith to a former girlfriend.

- Daniel Carlson is only kicker left on the Minnesota Vikings roster. Daniel Carlson is awesome. AWE-some. In fact the only thing better than having Daniel Carlson as your kicker is Daniel Carlson's nickname. Playing off the moniker given to the athletic freak that was Calvin Johnson - who was known as Megatron - Mr. Carlson if you're nasty is known as Legatron. That's boss.

- Want to know why the crew at Press Row is a fan of Hard Knocks? First, the director - Ken Rodgers - is a good dude and a friend of the show. Second, and just as important, are clips and quotes like this. Good times.

- The importance of reading the fine print is right here with a momma having her boy wear a green shirt to picture day before realizing that the green screen was the same color. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/shouldnt-worn-green-shirt-mom-finds-schools-use-green-screens-class-photos-late-231022098.html

- This is an amazing story. A family who bonded with a couple of guerrillas met back up with said primates and the reunion was everything you would hope it be. It's a little dusty in here, excuse me.

- And now, today's head-scratching moment of, "Man, we have real problems in this life, so it's a good thing someone has the time to worry about this" in today's program. After much belly-aching from PETA, Nabisco has finally freed the cartoon animals on the front of the animal cracker box. Yes, PETA was perturbed because the cartoon drawings on a cardboard box (yes read that again) were portrayed behind bars. Man, someone needs to get the Jag Corps on the blower and investigate if Cap'n Crunch it see if he truly is, you know, a captain.

- This is pretty interesting, right? That's LeBron, KD and Kawhi Leonard working out together at UCLA. Hmmmmmmmm,

- Good story on UTC football coach Tom Arth's ability to find and lure dudes with lofty coaching ceilings. Did you know that UTC starts a week from tomorrow? Crazy, right?

Today's question

Which way Wednesday, so we'll go this way:

What piece of sports memorabilia would you greatly overpay for?

What will be Uribe's punishment, a fine, miss games or time served?

As for today, Aug. 22, let's review:

James Corden, late night TV host and creator of Carpool Karaoke, is 40 today. Carpool Karaoke is a big friend.

Ty Burrell is 51 today. He's Phil Dunphy on Modern Family. Also a friend.

Carl Yastrzemski is 79 today.

Today is national be an angel day.

Rushmore of Angels, and be creative.

(And remember the mailbag.)

Upcoming Events