There’s certainly something magical about Augusta. Even the least interested golf fan, like myself, tunes in for constant updates and coverage. The grass is greener. The swing of the put is sweeter. And the victory is spine-tingling. Regardless of the … Continue reading
There’s nothing like a half-court buzzer-beater to get you in the mood for March Madness. Alabama beat Georgia 61-58 on Saturday, after having blown a 14-point halftime lead (only to be saved by this unbelievable shot from Trevor Releford). Alabama … Continue reading
The Daytona 500 never ceases to entertain, what with its high-speed competitive driving and typically dramatic crashes. It was certainly the case on Saturday as 13 cars collided, creating a spectacle of flames and flying parts. But unlike a typical … Continue reading
First and foremost, I would like to extend a special thank you to everyone who made my first year of blogging so much fun. I never expected to have the following and visitors that I did, and while it’s still in the early stages and mostly just a site for personal fun, it’s rewarding to know that what I write about is read by others. Ah, ’tis the life and fulfillment of a journalist.
Second, I am happy to announce that in 2013 Classic Southern Chic will be MOVING AGAIN. This time it’s back South, where the inspiration for my work originated. I will be working as a fellow for the Cooking Light website and couldn’t be more thrilled at the opportunities that lie ahead. It was a whirlwind of a year on the job hunt and I’m sure this year will carry more of the same. But for now, I’m so happy to have direction and to finally be putting to use my degree and skills learned at Alabama.
Happy New Year to everyone! May 2013 be your year to shine.
Photo project about the April 27, 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado 
Paul Finebaum in the studio via Finebaum.com 
DVF logo from DVF.com 
Moving to NYC 
Indy Car class trip 
Alexander McQueen from Style.com 
Cafe 1001 in London 
The London Eye 
Rocky Block photograph from FreeTravelWithUs.com 
Dallas exhibit 
Image of Coach Nick Saban, retired Coach Bobby Bowden and late Coach Joe Paterno before the Alabama v Penn State game in 2010. (Zimbio) 
LSU v Alabama image from CollegeSportsMaddness.com
In the re-re-match of the century, Alabama will take on rival team, LSU, for the third time in the last year. And this game is bound to be the most epic of all three meetings.
With everything on the line, Alabama will enter Death Valley with a target on its back. After a gut-wrenching loss to the Tide in the BCS National Championship in January, LSU has a monumentally large chip on its shoulder. Revenge is what they want. Revenge is what they seek.
So what will set the two teams apart and make the difference in the game?
Image from CollegeSportsMaddness.com
The list could go on and on. Arguing the coaching styles of Saban v. the Mad Hatter will get you nowhere. Debating the strength and dominance of the O-line is equally as irrelevant, since both are at the forefront in college football. What I truly believe will be the game-changing factor is experience. AJ McCarron has grown into the player that Saban and the rest of the Tide envisioned last year. As the Tide crushed the Tigers in the Superdome in NOLA, AJ accepted his place of prominence on the team and hasn’t taken a step back since. And Saban is not a stranger to the venue, crowd or the opponent, as we all well remember. On the other hand, the Tigers don’t seem to know who they are as a team. Strong in all aspects and a definite threat on their home turf, a disconnect among the team and coaches will ultimately decide the game.
Prepare for a little bias.
I’ve never once hidden the fact that I’m an SEC fan. And everyone knows that Alabama is not only my team, but one of the major loves of my life.
So it should come as no surprise that after the results from Week 3 of this college football season, I’m a firm believer in the idea that this conference will once again dominate in the post-season.
Alabama owned Arkansas.
Image from The Chicago Tribune
The Big 10 exited the race to Miami as Michigan State lost to Notre Dame, and Ohio State barely escaped defeat by Cal.
Texas is impressive but still in a rebuilding phase, and they are likely still a season or two away from true success.
Image from ESPN.com
Nothing is a guarantee in college football, as Matt Barkley learned in a devastating USC loss to Stanford for the fourth straight year in a row.
Image from ESPN.com
And while Florida State and Oregon poise as viable contenders for the national championship game, when put against an Alabama or LSU, both are likely to fall short.
The season has only just begun. The upsets and surprises are guaranteed to happen, and there’s no telling who will be #1 and #2 at the end of the race. I, for one, can’t wait to see what comes next.
For awhile now, I’ve simple sat back and listened to the scandal surrounding the football team, Joe Paterno, and of course, Jerry Sandusky at Penn State. I kept my personal opinions to myself and just waited to hear the official opinions, and it turn, consequences, of the NCAA.
Now, I’d like to say a few things.
First and foremost, there’s nothing okay about what happened at Penn State. My heart goes out to all of the families who were effected by the selfish and evil actions of Sandusky. In addition, nothing that Joe Paterno did to cover up the accusations was acceptable. I have the greatest respect for him as a football coach, for his skill on the field is undeniable, but in his legacy, I find myself doubting everything I ever thought of him as a man aside from the game.
Image of Coach Nick Saban, retired Coach Bobby Bowden, and late Coach Joe Paterno before the Alabama v Penn State game in 2010. (Zimbio)
Was it right to remove the statue of the man who used to be one of the winningest coaches of all time? The answer is unclear even to me. But I’m proud of the school officials who made the decision, without being forced, out of respect for the victims in this horrible situation.
Image of the empty platform where the statue once stood. (DailyMail.co.uk)
Now about those NCAA sanctions on Penn State…dead on. The NCAA had to take a stand and make a statement that this kind of behavior is not acceptable anywhere in society, especially at an institution for the developement of young people. Are the sanctions harsh? The harshest they could be without completely doing away with the program. But they will serve their purpose and hopefully keep anything like this from ever happening at a school again.
But that brings me to my last concern – the current players. It’s hard to say that the school deserves what it’s getting, because everyone who was involved directly in the situation is now gone. All that remain are innocent, total bystanders who must now accept and face the consequences of the actions of those who came before them. It’s incredible to me that players like Paul Jones, redshirt sophomore quarterback, are willing to stay, knowing that they will never see the likes of a bowl game during their entire college careers. There is no way around saying that it is completely unfair that this team of guys, who worked tirelessly throughout their high school careers to make it to the collegiate level, should be stripped of the chance to see excellence in the post-season. But my deepest respect goes out to those players who are choosing to stand by their school in its darkest hour yet.
Fans beg players to stay at Penn State. (ABC News)
It will take time, but with players who are dedicated and strong for their school and fans who are unwavering in loyalty, Penn State will rise to football excellence again. We are Penn State. We were Penn State. We will be Penn State, again.
There’s the tale of a young boy, turned professional driver, losing his own dad and learning valuable life lessons through the parents of his childhood best friend. There’s the driver turned dancer, who wowed audiences with his moves on and off the track. And then there’s the big-shot Hollywood actor who races in his spare time, with a line outside his tent that rivals the crowds around the most famous drivers in the sport.
IndyCar has it all.
But how does a sport that resembles its bigger brothers, NASCAR and Formula 1, in so many ways differentiate itself? “We like to say that we’re the fastest, most versatile racecar and racecar driver in the world,” said CEO of IndyCar Randy Bernard, when asked about how the sport not only draws in fans but maintains them. “F1 doesn’t do ovals and NASCAR doesn’t go at our speed. So it gives us our own differentiation. It also allows us to reach another demographic.” Bernard explained that since the major split in the sport in 1995, he and others involved have been working to reshape IndyCar by “trying to track the best drivers in the world.”
And his efforts have not been without avail. For F1 fans, there was a new instant attraction when Reubens Barrichello lost his place in the series last year and began competing with KV Racing Technology through the IndyCar series, after a little persuasion from his life-long friend and fellow driver, Tony Kanaan. Barrichello was the most tenured driver in F1 history, driving from 1993-2011, and the fan base that followed his move to IndyCar was a direct result of his hard work. After his first race of the 2012 season, Barrichello explained that his love of driving is unwavering but some differences in the logistics of IndyCar racing will impact the way his team works during a race. “Strategy plays a bigger game here in the US,” he said. “You have yellow flags that can pack the whole group up and you need to work more to save fuel and really use strategy.”
In addition to bringing in drivers from other racing circuits, the series has also seen its fair share of how star-dome draws in fans from all bases of life. Helio Castroneves, three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and winner of the first race of the current season, found success in another sport in 2007, taking home the Mirror Ball Trophy as the winner of Dancing with the Stars during its fifth season. Castroneves was a fan favorite from the beginning, bringing in supporters of IndyCar to watch in his new endeavor. What he did not expect was the resounding number of fans of the show, who turned around and begin supporting him on the track after his big win. “I didn’t know what I was capable of on the show,” Castroneves laughed. “What was great was that a lot of people from Dancing [with the Stars] started watching me race and really seemed to support me even after the show had been off for awhile. I was totally outside of my familiar territory, but I learned a lot about what I could do on the show.”
IndyCar has not been without its hardships though, experiencing the worst loss of all last year as driver Dan Wheldon fatally crashed his car at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October. Bernard described the initial reaction of the sport to the tragedy, expressing that his primary goal was to show respect to the victim’s family and be transparent for the fans. “Always be honest,” he said. “If someone asks you a question, just tell them the truth. We always try to stick by that. One of the most important things during the tragedy was that we didn’t want to be disrespectful to the family.
“You can’t sit there and look someone square in the eye and tell them that you have a great product, if you don’t,” he continued. “We knew [as soon as Dan crashed] that we wanted to look into the accident and figure out what happened…If I’m sitting in my office, I’m not doing my job. We’re not dealing with rocket science; we’re dealing with a sport. So it’s important for me to get out and shake as many hands as possible and just work. I need to figure out what’s in [the fans’ minds] and get that out there to make our sport more appealing.”
The tactics are working, and with new parts meant to make the cars safer for all involved, as well as the appeal of celebrities like actor and driver Patrick Dempsey, there really is something for everyone to tune in to see this season.
Last Friday, my sports writing class at the University of Alabama took a college-style field trip to Birmingham to spend the day at Barber Motorsports Park for the IndyCar races. The day was full of eye-opening interviews, and I learned to really appreciate the art and sport of racing.
I’m currently working on a story about the sport and how IndyCar in particular has something to offer to everyone. But while the story is still in the works, I wanted to go ahead and post some pictures of the day. Enjoy!
LEFT: Helio Castroneves, AAA driver, and Lars Anderson, our professor and Senior Sports Writer at Sports Illustrated
RIGHT: Rubens Barrichello, former F1 driver and current BMC driver, and Tony Kanaan, Geico driver
LEFT: CEO of IndyCar Randy Bernard
RIGHT: Myself with Patrick Dempsey, actor and co-owner/driver for Dempsey Racing
For those of you out there who know nothing about racing, it really is more than just driving cars around and around for hours on end. There’s a lot of planning, strategy and competition. It’s face-paced, tense and thrilling. And most of all, from celebrity drivers to professionals, there really is something for fans of all interest-levels to enjoy!
At this point in the football offseason, I’m beginning to find it doubtful that things could get any crazier. Peyton Manning becomes a Bronco. Tim Tebow becomes a Jet. Sean Payton becomes a bystander to his own team.
The drama is at a peak, and with my football withdrawals becoming more and more obvious by the day, it might be a good thing. A great thing, in fact.
There’s a lot to be said about these recent revelations, but I’m going to keep it short and sweet.
1. Peyton Manning – He looked great in royal blue for so long; it’s going to be odd to see him don the navy and orange. I’m also eager to see how he will transform the Broncos, and if he can in fact make it to the Super Bowl again and take home another ring.
Peyton Manning as a Colt via NFLpassers.com
2. Tim Tebow – Tebowmania is over in Denver, and I’m anxious to see how Alabama’s old quarterback (Greg “baby” McElroy) and the Gator get along. Oh, and on a football strategy standpoint, I think that the Jets have implemented a strategy that is average at best by adding Tebow to the roster, in what is sure to be a mainly wildcat role.
Tim Tebow as a Florida Gator via BleacherReport.com
3. Sean Payton – This topic is the most controversial of all three, duh. I just find myself questioning how much he knew about the bounties, like the true extent of payment and standards, and why he as the ultimate leader of the team would not come forward with the information. He’s an incredible coach and I still think he’s a pretty great guy, but a suspension like this can really taint a reputation. Best of luck to the Saints this coming year as they attempt to keep the drama off-the-field, off the field.
Sean Payton, suspended Saints head coach via ESPNFlorida.com
Classic Southern Chic 