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Alabama Weekly May 11, 1999 -- Issue 6 -- Volume 2 HELLO BAMANATION CITIZENS!! Welcome to Alabama
Weekly, your weekly E-Mail Newsletter about Alabama Crimson Tide sports.
The purpose of this newsletter is to recap the week's events in
University of Alabama Sports. This issue of Alabama Weekly is being sent
to over 1000 people, with many new subscribers added daily! Alabama Weekly Staff Reports In case you didn't notice it at the top of the page, the homepage for Alabama Weekly is now TideFans.com. We have changed names and locations to serve you better. We are now offering multiple Message Boards, more sites, links, references, historical information, etc! BamaNation.com is being merged into TideFans.com and is still owned and operated by Brett Young. You can look forward to more great content, features, and "cool" stuff at the new site that we weren't able to do at the old site. BamaNation.com is still up and running until we get all the content moved over. After that, BamaNation.com will be re-routed to point to TideFans.com!!!! The Grand Opening is TODAY!!!! We're still sprucing the place up, but come see what we have to offer.... !! Please let us know what YOU would like to see on the site. And, the best part of all: IT'S ALL FREE!!!! TideFans.com .... by the Fans, for the Fans! Bama Gymnasts place Third in National Championship! written by Brett Young Alabama Weekly Editor The University of Alabama Gymnastics team, with six freshmen, five sophomores , and a couple of seniors and juniors, finished third at the NCAA Championships in Pravo, Utah. The Tide placed third behind Georgia and Michigan. Super Freshman, Andree Pickens, won the all-around competition and tied for first on the balance beam. Pickens became the first freshman in NCAA history to earn five All-American honors and was the only all-around competitor to go all four events all three nights without a fall. Alabama's 1999 All-Americans: All-Around Place Freshman Andreé Pickens ** 1st team 4th Vault Freshman Andreé Pickens 1st team 5th Senior Gwen Spidle 1st team 8th Uneven Bars Freshman Andreé Pickens 1st team 4th Sophomore Dara Stewart 2nd team Balance Beam Freshman Andreé Pickens 1st team 1st Sophomore Lissy Smith 1st team 4th Floor Exercise Freshman Andreé Pickens 1st team 10th Bama Players Drafted/Signed by NFL in 1999 written by Chris Depew Alabama Weekly staff Editor's Note: We welcome Chris DePew to the Staff of Alabama Weekly!!! Chris brings with him a deep love and knowledge of Bama sports. Welcome aboard, Chris!... Alabama football has many leagacies, but one of the most prominent may be the tradition of droves of Crimson Tide players going on to excell in the National Football League. This tradition gives future recruits the knowledge that Bama is a place where they can hone their talents for a possible future in pro football and serves as a way to spread the message of how special the Alabama family is nationwide. This year, a half-dozen former players had dreams of taking the first step on the journey to the NFL, hearing their name called on draft day. While only one player saw this dream come true, the others are already hard at work finding other paths to success via free agent minicamps, the CFL, NFL Europe, and other avenues that will let them continue in the sport that they love. FERNANDO BRYANT: Cornerback 5' 10 180 lbs. Selected 1st Round by Jacksonville (26th overall) Fernando Bryant was the only Tide player assured of being drafted, and as it turned out was the only one drafted period. Bryant impressed Jaguars coaches with his ability to play true man coverage and a good week of Senior Bowl preperation. Head Coach Tom Coughlin broke with his usual preference for tall cornerbacks and made Bryant the 4th cornerback taken in the draft and the first ever CB taken by the Jags as a first rounder. He should do no worse than play extensivelly as a nickel back, and is a good bet to win a starting job. Bryant should improve a pass defense that struggled last season and has never been better than middle-of-the-pack in its NFL existence. DANIEL POPE Punter 6' 0 197 lbs. Rookie Free Agent signed by Detroit Punters tend to be the forgotten men on draft day. The ones who get drafted go almost exclusively in the late rounds. Furthermore, it sometimes seems that they recieve only minimal scouting, and are selected mainly by whatever stats show up on paper. This may account for Pope going undrafted in a year in which only one college punter, Oregon's Josh Bidwell, really distinguished himself. Still, Pope's consistently high punting average (over 44 yds. his senior year.) and mastery of the coffin-corner punts convinced Detroit to sign him up before the draft day dust had settled. Pope's task is an uphill one. To stay with the Lions, he will need to beat out veteran John Jett, a steady but unspectacular performer. Merely equaling Jett's abilities may not be enough to keep Pope a Lion, but it would certainly attract the interest of teams less satsified with their current punter. Pope is a medium to long shot to stick with Detroit, but he has a better than 50% chance of being some NFL team's punter by opening day. Kevin Sigler Safety 6' 1 186 lbs. Rookie Free Agent signed by Tennessee The game of "what if" is as least as popular in the world of football as it is in real life. So "what if" Sigler had not suffered a season-ending knee injury against East Carolina? Well for one thing, he probably would have been a 1st to 3rd round draft pick with as much security as any defensive rookie could have. Now, however he must prove that he has recovered with his speed intact. Healthy, Sigler is a force to be reckoned with. His 86 tackles as junior was tops on the 1997 Tide defense, and his 54 tackles in six games last year was still good for 6th place. Sigler should be competing for a backup safety position against veteran Steve Jackson, the still-raw Perry Phenix, and Auburn draftee Brad Ware. No one knows for sure how Sigler will perform coming off of his injury, but if his knee holds, he should be able to demonstrate the aggressiveness and tackling ability that made him a standout at Bama. If healthy, Sigler should make the Titans roster, but if not, his football days may be over. Chris Hood Defensive Lineman 6' 1 283 lbs. Quincy Jackson Wide Reciever Michael Vaughn Wide Reciever 6' 2 212 All three players are longshots at best to get invited to NFL camps. Hood missed the 98 season after being ruled academicly ineligible. He had shown good pro potential before being injured as a junior, but even then questions had arisen about his work habits and many were put off by the fact his is legally blind in his left eye. Jackson doesn't dazzle anyone with his speed, but he was the definate "go-to" guy his junior year, and emerged as the "hands" receiver in last years crowded WR situation. His ability to catch most any ball thrown his way may give him the best chance of the three to get a minicamp invite. Vaughn clearly could have benefited from another year of college football, although rumors have circulated that he may not have had that as an option. His stock clearly dropped this past season after coming off of a dominant sophmore campaign and a medical redshirt year. He returned in 1998 to find the reciever positions much more competitive and he struggled to get his share of catches, even with Alabama's more pass oriented offense. A deep WR draft only compounded his problems. Alabama in Strong Position for Post-Season Baseball Play written by Grif Carden Alabama Weekly staff - Baseball Editor With only a three-game series at Florida remaining in the regular season, Bama appears to be ready to make another strong run at a berth in the College World Series. The Tide now has the best overall record in the SEC at 39-14, while its SEC record of 18-9 trails only Arkansas. The NCAA has increased the number of teams invited to post-season play from 48 to 64 and has changed the format from eight six-team regionals to a two tier system, whereby there will be 16 four-team regionals with the winners advancing to eight super-regionals in which the teams will play a best two of three series with the winning teams advancing to Omaha for the CWS. Alabama has submitted bids to host both a regional and super-regional. Andy Phillips and G.W. Keller are closing their careers at or near the top in almost all hitting categories for the Tide. In team career statistics, they rank as follows (with the current leader also listed): Games Played 1) Joe Caruso 242 2) Phillips 229 9) Keller 185 At-Bats 1) Caruso 900 2) Phillips 831 7) Keller 701 Runs Scored 1) Caruso 206 2) Phillips 200 3) Keller 194 Hits 1) Caruso 309 2) Phillips 296 4) Keller 262 Home runs 1) Phillips 55 2) Doug Duke 50 Keller 50 Triples 1) Keller 12 3) Phillips 10 Doubles 1) David Magadan 64 3) Phillips 54 RBI 1) Phillips 213 4) Keller 186 Total Bases 1) Phillips 533 3) Keller 474 Despite missing most of his sophomore and junior seasons beacuse of injuries, Manny Torres has joined in the record chase. His career record of 20-3 places him sixth in career victories (the leader is Mike Innes with 27); he also ranks eighth in career strikeouts at 189 (leader is Mike Sodders with 274). Jeremy Brown's grand slam in the first inning of the final game of the Vanderbilt series gave him the freshman records for both home runs (13) and RBI (47). Both records had been held by Dustan Mohr. Alabama continues to lead the SEC in home runs (96) and triples (27). The home run totals trail only the 1997 team (which hit 161, the third best mark in NCAA history) and last year's 122. Keller, Phillips, and Dan Chavers this season have all tied the school one-game home run record of three, with Keller becoming the first Tide player to do this twice. Keller has joined Mick Kerns as the only Bama players who rank in the top 10 in both career home runs and career stolen bases (Keller has 36, which ties him for 10th). Bama had the SEC's best home record, at 32-4, for the third consecutive season. These games were played before 152,381 fans, an average of 4233 per game. The stadium is being expanded next season to approximately 6500, so the attendance records will almost certainly be short-lived. Unfortunately, Bama has struggled in road games this season, with only a 7-10 record heading into the series at Florida. Current SEC-West standings are as follows: Arkansas 20-7 Alabama 18-9 LSU 16-10-1 Mississippi 15-12 Auburn 15-12 Mississippi State 14-12 South Carolina leads the East, at 14-13 with Florida (13-14) and Kentucky (12-15) the only other two teams with a chance to make the eight-team field for the SEC tournament which will be played May 19-23 in Birmingham. Arkansas plays at South Carolina this week-end, so Bama needs some help from the Gamecocks if it is to win the SEC regular season title. If Alabama and Arkansas tie for the championship, Bama would receive the number one seed in the tournament by virtue of its series sweep of the Hogs. ROLLERCOASTER RIDE FOR ALABAMA BASEBALL (Report from 5/3/99) Alabama moved from fourth place in the SEC West to a first place tie with Arkansas after sweeping the Hogs in a three-game series April 23, 24, and 25. After a mid-week 22-5 pounding of UAB, Bama went into a three-game series at Ole Miss with wins in eight of the last nine games and realistic hopes of taking over first place by itself. Instead, Bama lost two of three to the Rebels while Arkansas swept its series with Mississippi State. Arkansas at 17-7 in the SEC is now two games ahead of the Tide and Ole Miss, which have records of 15-9. LSU has crept up from last in the West to only one game back of Bama at 14-10, while Auburn (13-11) and Mississippi State (12-11) remain close. Alabama has six games remaining in the regular season, hosting Vanderbilt (see report below) and travelling to Florida in the next two week-ends. A sweep of Vanderbilt, last in the SEC with a 6-18 record, is a must if Bama is to have any hope of regaining first place. Alabama went into the Ole Miss series with the SEC lead in both triples (26) and home runs (83), but hit no triples and only one round-tripper (Jeremy Brown's eleventh of the season) in the three games at Oxford. Brown, who had at least two hits in each of the Ole Miss games, was about the only bright spot offensively. He now is only one home run and three RBI short of the Alabama season records for a freshman both of which are held by Dustan Mohr. G.W. Keller and Jayson Cox went into the series hitting .379 and .317 respectively, but managed only a combined 1 of 23 (Keller 1 for 14, Cox 0 for 9) against the Rebs. Jonathan Blankenship, who was SEC pitcher-of-the-week for the week ending April 26, continued his strong pitching getting the only win over Ole Miss (his first career complete game) despite having his team commit five errors. In his last four appearances he is 4-0 with a 0.46 ERA, and has allowed just one earned run in the last 19 innings. Andy Phillips hit safely in each of the Ole Miss games and now has an 18 game hitting streak. He owns Alabama career records for home runs, RBI, and total bases and is closing in on several others. He also joined former LSU star Todd Walker as the only conference player to record 10 or more career triples and 50 or more career home runs. Alabama finished its nonconference season with a 21-5 record and is 29-4 in home games. However, the Tide is a woeful 7-10 in road games and lost all three of its road series against teams from the SEC West by identical 1-2 records against Auburn, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. Bama is 7-2 against teams from the SEC East; hopefully this is good news since all remaining games are against teams from the East. In Memory of Coach Johnny Dee written by Joe Bivona Alabama Weekly Special Contributor I was deeply sadden to hear of Coach Dee passing away recently. He was Head Basketball Coach for THE University of Alabama from 1953-1956. His overall record was 68 - 25 and he won the 1956 SEC BB Championship from the University of Kentucky. His 1956 victory over Kentucky was one of the most exciting Alabama BB game's that I ever heard on radio. I was 11 year's old and the KY game was played in Montgomery's Garrett Coliseum in front of more than 10,000 fan's. At that time it was the largest crowd to see a college BB game in Alabama. Coach Dee, was very much like Coach Bryant was with his Freshmen class. He promised them that if they practiced and played hard, in their Senior year that they would beat KY, and win the SEC Championship. The first half of the KY game was close. Neither team could keep a lead. Bama would be up by 3-5 point's and KY would catch up and get their own 3-5 point lead. At the half Bama was up by 3 point's, but "The Rocket 8" was going to go into orbit!!! As the second half began KY went ahead by 5 point's....then Bama's "Rocket 8" EXPLODED!!! In about 5 minute's, Bama not only took the lead, but was up by at least 15 point's!!! I could hardly hear the radio broadcast for the Bama fans were going crazy in yelling "ROLL TIDE" and "WE WANT 100 POINT'S" !!! The Bama "Rocket 8" did not let them down, and Bama beat KY 101-77. It was THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY BASKETBALL THAT A TEAM HAD EVER SCORED 100 POINT'S ON KY!!! I, as well as all members of the Bama family extend our sincere sympathy to Coach Johnny Dee's family. May the memory of Coach Dee be inscribed in crimson in the history of the University of Alabama Basketball Joe Bivona UA '64 AEKDB Kappa Sigma AND THE BAMANATION SAID: "ROLL TIDE!" Newsletter by: Brett Young and Jess Nicholas Guest Article by: Joe Bivona Special Thanks to: Chris DePew and Grif Carden for their contributions. PLEASE VISIT THE HOME OF ALABAMA WEEKLY: TideFans.COM TideFans: http://www.TideFans.com Thanks for subscribing! Remember: All back issues will be online one week after their publication! ROLL TIDE ROLL! (c) 1999 TideFans.com(tm) / Alabama Weekly(sm) DISCLAIMER: All content courtesy of the respective authors may not be the official position of TideFans. However, TideFans does have ultimate editorial authority, so it's pretty much in line with how we feel! ;) ROLL TIDE!
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