From the Sideline — Welcoming the Holiday Break

I know this is a special time of year for most people, but it is really a special stretch of days for me.

After working the Alabama men’s basketball game against Stillman last Friday, I worked a pair of high school games on TV Saturday for My68.

One of those two games featured Crimson Tide signee Dazon Ingram, from Theodore High School near Mobile. Ingram is 6’5” tall, and already built like a college player.

Ingram is a great scorer - and appears to be a great teammate. He also seems to be a very unselfish player. The guard gets the ball up the floor in a hurry by passing it, rather than trying to simply do it all himself – even though he is easily the best player on his team. And while his shooting range isn’t great, it’s not bad, either.

One of the real strengths of his game is his rebounding. In the Steel City Invitational Third Place game, Ingram went for 29 points, 20 rebounds, and seven assists. He will be a great addition to the Alabama roster next year.

Obviously, my job as a play-by-play announcer takes me out of town and away from my family, quite often. But Sunday gave me a chance to “pay it back” to my kids a little bit.

I ordinarily tape my pregame radio interview with Anthony Grant after his team’s shoot around. I took my 14-year old daughter and nine-year old son with me. Both kids love basketball. Anne plays on the 8^th grade team at her school. Parker plays 4^th grade rec league – but thinks he’s in the NBA.

Coach Grant is always fantastic to my family, but as much as the kids enjoy spending a few minutes with the Alabama head coach, they enjoy the interaction with his players, even more.

Actually, their favorite part about going with me early to my “office” at Coleman Coliseum, is the fact they get a chance to shoot for awhile on the same floor that the Crimson Tide calls home.

After the kids got a few shots up, we went a few blocks over to Foster Auditorium to see the Alabama Women’s team in action. Kristy Curry and her staff are really doing a nice job in their 2^nd season in Tuscaloosa. Her squad has some great young talent, and enough veterans, to push for a finish in the upper half of the SEC this season.

Back at Coleman later that afternoon, we all sweated through Alabama’s 60-59 win over Appalachian State. It was far from a thing of beauty, but it beats a loss – something that three ranked teams suffered against similar mid-major opponents in the past week.

Everybody knows the Tide missed out on an opportunity against Wichita State. Nonetheless, the Crimson Tide sits at 8-3, with winnable home games against UCLA, UNF, and Texas A&M before they go on the road again. An 11-3 record at that point would at least put them on the radar of the NCAA Tournament selection committee – something that hasn’t really been the case at that point of the year in about three seasons.

If the veterans (namely Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper) deliver consistent play, and the new additions (namely Michael Kessens, and Riley Norris) continue to improve, this team can challenge for an NCAA berth.

But finishing the non-conference slate successfully (and beginning SEC play the same way) is absolutely imperative.