JB's Sports Collectibles

Joyful Noise Unto the Lord

2014-12-19T16:16:00.001-06:00

2014-10-07T09:27:00.001-05:00

Fans of the Family

2014-10-02T09:19:00.002-05:00

Shells from Callie and Adam

Micky Hendon bought me this drink

My Swan Planter with Periwinkles

Lived down the hill from Grandmother

My Tomatoes or Tomatos

Play Ball

2014-09-19T12:00:00.002-05:00

2014-09-17T11:11:00.000-05:00

2014-09-11T11:13:00.001-05:00

2014-09-03T12:14:00.003-05:00

2014-08-22T17:12:00.001-05:00

By Andrew Gribble | agribble@al.com al.com

2013-08-20T18:37:00.003-05:00

By Andrew Gribble | agribble@al.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on August 20, 2013 at 6:05 PM, updated August 20, 2013 at 6:17 PM

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Alabama sophomore cornerback Geno Smith, who was arrested early Sunday for driving under the influence, has been suspended for the season opener against Virginia Tech, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said after Tuesday's practice.
Smith also has some other things to take care of "in house," before he can return to the field, Saban said.
"We've never had an issue with Geno. He's an excellent person," Saban said. "He's never been in trouble here before, never been in my office for anything, but I think this is something that everybody should learn from that when you make a bad choice, sometimes the consequences of that choice can really have a negative effect.
"Some of these guys don't have enough foresight to understand cause and effect, but Geno has been a really good person in the program and just made a choice, bad decision. Made several of them, so now he's got consequences for it."
Smith was on the practice field Tuesday, but he wasn't working with his normal groups. During the first period, he was with a handful of walk-ons and players who haven't seen the field much. Later, he watched as safety Jarrick Williams filled his spot at "Star" with the first and second-team nickel defense groups.
Smith, who was arrested early Sunday at the intersection of 4th Street East and 2nd Avenue, was released from Tuscaloosa County Jail some time Sunday evening. His bond was $1,000.
Smith emerged as a regular contributor in Alabama's secondary during his freshman campaign and was in line for significant snaps at the Crimson Tide's "Star" position in nickel defense situations. In 13 games, the Atlanta native had nine tackles, two pass breakups and two passes defended.
In an early August interview, senior cornerback Deion Belue raved about Smith's improvement.
"He's getting better and better. Even practice, he's picking it up," Belue said. "He's learning even more. It's starting to become easier for him. You can see it now, he's not thinking as much. He's just playing."
Smith is the first Alabama player to be arrested since February, when four players -- D.J. Pettway, Eddie Williams, Tyler Hayes and Brent Calloway -- were involved in multiple incidents of second-degree robbery and credit card fraud. All four players were initially suspended and eventually dismissed from the team.

Bill Battle?

2013-03-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

Alabama president to recommend Battle as AD
TUSCALOOSA (AP) — Alabama President Judy Bonner is recommending former Crimson Tide football player Bill Battle as athletic director.

Bonner says outgoing athletic director Mal Moore strongly endorsed Battle as his successor. Moore is stepping down to become a special assistant to Bonner because of health issues.

The Alabama board of trustees' executive committee scheduled a conference call Friday to vote on the selection.

Battle played with Moore on Bear Bryant's 1961 national championship team. He spent seven years as Tennessee's football coach starting in 1970 and his teams went 59-22-2 and won four of five bowl games.

Battle founded the Collegiate Licensing Company in 1981 and served as president and CEO until 2002. He also has served as chairman of the board of Licensing Partners International.

University of Alabama News

2013-03-20T15:13:00.002-05:00

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama announced today that Coach Mal Moore will step down as athletics director, effective March 20, 2013, to become special assistant to President Judy Bonner.

Coach Mal Moore
“Mal Moore is Crimson Tide sports,” said Bonner. “During his tenure as athletics director, our student athletes have experienced unprecedented success in every aspect of their careers at UA, on the field of play and in the classroom. His contributions to UA athletics on every level are unsurpassed. And, while he will no longer be in charge of day-to-day operations, I am so pleased that we will continue to be able to rely on his wisdom and expertise going forward.”

“As many of you may know, due to factors related to my health, I am at a point that I can no longer fulfill my duties as athletics director in the true championship manner the position requires,” said Moore. “While I have to focus on my health issue, I look forward to maintaining an ongoing working relationship with this great University as special assistant to Dr. Bonner. I know I can count on each of you to continue your unequaled support for me and The University of Alabama.

“I cannot adequately express what the University means to me. It has been a part of my life for more than 50 years, and I feel honored to have served the Crimson Tide as a player, coach and administrator. I am so appreciative of the University administration, coaches, staff, student-athletes and fans who have made my tenure as director so very meaningful, memorable and special.”

A 1963 graduate of The University of Alabama, Moore earned both an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a 1964 master’s degree in Secondary Education from the Capstone. The University of Alabama’s director of Athletics since 1999, Moore was a football player under legendary Crimson Tide head coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant from 1958-62 and went on to serve as an assistant football coach on Bryant’s staff. Moore has the distinction of being a part of 10 national championship football teams as a player, coach and athletics director.

In 2011, he was elected to the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a coach and an administrator. After the completion of the 2011-12 academic and athletic seasons, Moore was named the winner of the John L. Toner Award, given by the National Football Foundation and the Hall of Fame to the nation’s best athletics director.

In addition to making his mark on Alabama, Moore also had a national impact as a key member of several prestigious NCAA and college football committees. He has served on the NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee, the SEC Athletics Directors Bowl Advisory Committee and the Big Six Conferences Minority Coaches Forum.

Moore’s successor as athletics director will be named as quickly as possible.

There's one sad truth in life I've found while journeying east and west -the only folks we really wound are those we love the best.We flatter those we scarcely know, we please the fleeting guest, and deal full many a thoughtless blow to those who love us best. ~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

2013-03-14T09:54:00.001-05:00

March Madness

2013-03-12T11:01:00.006-05:00

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament performed each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship of the major college basketball teams. The tournament, organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), was created during 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen.[1] Performed mostly during March, it is known informally as March Madness or the Big Dance, and has become one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States. The NCAA has credited Bob Walsh of the Seattle Organizing Committee for starting the March Madness celebration during 1984.[2]

The tournament teams include champions from 31 Division I conferences (which receive automatic bids), and 37 teams which are awarded at-large berths. These "at-large" teams are chosen by an NCAA selection committee, as detailed below. The 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single elimination "bracket", which predetermines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is "seeded", or ranked, within its region. After an initial four games between eight lower-ranked teams, the tournament occurs during the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites around the United States. Lower-ranked teams are placed in the bracket against higher ranked teams. Each weekend eliminates three-fourths of the teams, from a round of 64, to a "Sweet Sixteen", to a "Final Four"; the Final Four is usually played during the first weekend of April. These four teams, one from each region, then compete in one location for the national championship.

The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969. Presently, the games are reported by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV by the trade-name NCAA March Madness. Starting in 2011, all games were available for viewing nationwide. As television coverage has grown, so too has the tournament's popularity. Presently, millions of Americans "fill out a bracket",[3] predicting winners of all 67 games.

With 11 national titles, UCLA has the record for the most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships; John Wooden coached UCLA to 10 of its 11 titles. The University of Kentucky is second, with 8 national titles, while Indiana University and the University of North Carolina are tied for third with 5 national titles. 2010 champion Duke University ranks fifth with 4 national titles.

Legend of The Peabody Ducks

2013-02-27T16:32:00.000-06:00

How did the tradition of the ducks in The Peabody fountain begin?

Back in the 1930s Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had a little too much Jack Daniel's Tennessee sippin' whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain.

Three small English call ducks were selected as "guinea pigs," and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic. Soon, five North American Mallard ducks would replace the original ducks.

In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, offered to help with delivering the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody Duck March. Mr. Pembroke became the Peabody Duckmaster, serving in that capacity for 50 years until his retirement in 1991.
The original ducks have long since gone, but after nearly 80 years, the marble fountain in the hotel lobby is still graced with ducks. The Peabody ducks march at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.

2013-02-25T16:50:00.005-06:00

Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he didn't need my help to leave the hospital.
After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator.
On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him.
'I don't know,' he said. 'She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.'

Car Salesman/You Gotta Love 'em/or Not

2013-02-19T08:28:00.003-06:00

In town the local policeman was making his evening rounds…
As he was checking a used car lot, he came upon two little old ladies sitting in a used car..

He stopped and asked them why they were sitting there in the car or were they trying to steal it?

'Heavens no, we bought it.'

'Then why don't you drive it away?'

'We can't drive.'

'Then why did you buy it?'

'We were told that if we bought a used car here,
we'd get screwed ... so we're just waiting.'

Super Bowl records set in Super Bowl XLVI

2013-01-16T08:32:00.001-06:00

Oldest winning head coach: 65, Tom Coughlin, Giants
Most consecutive completions: 16, Tom Brady, Patriots
Most consecutive completions to start game: 9, Eli Manning, Giants
Most passing yards, career: 1,277, Tom Brady, Patriots
Most passes, career: 197, Tom Brady, Patriots
Most completions, career: 127, Tom Brady, Patriots
Most punts inside 10, game: 3, Steve Weatherford, Giants
Most first downs passing, game, both teams: 33 (Giants 18, Patriots 15)

Super Bowl records tied in Super Bowl XLVI

Most games started: 5, Tom Brady; Matt Light, Patriots
Longest touchdown drive, team: 96 yards, Patriots
Fewest turnovers, game, team: 0, Giants
Most safeties, game, team: 1, Giants
Fewest touchdowns rushing, game, team: 0, Patriots
Fewest passes had intercepted, game, team: 0, Giants
Fewest first downs by penalty, game, team: 0, Patriots
Fewest punt returns, game, team: 0, Patriots
Fewest fumbles, game, team: 0, Patriots
Fewest fumbles lost, game, both teams: 0 (Giants 0, Patriots 0)

– Compiled By Elias Sports Bureau

Notre Dame vs Alabama

2012-12-27T14:18:00.000-06:00

Matchup Overview

	ND	UA
Wins-Losses	12-0	12-1
Avg Points	26.8	38.5
Avg Points Allowed	10.3	10.7
Home Record	7-0	7-1
Road Record	5-0	5-0
Division Record	2-0	5-1
Conference Record	0-0	7-1

Paul William "Bear" Bryant

2012-11-08T14:47:00.002-06:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships. Upon his retirement in 1982, he held the record for most wins as head coach in collegiate football history with 323 wins. At the University of Alabama, the Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall, Paul W. Bryant Drive and Bryant–Denny Stadium are all named in his honor. He was also known for his trademark black and white houndstooth or gingham hat, deep voice, casually leaning up against the goal post during pre-game warmups, and frequently holding his rolled-up game plan while on the sidelines.

Paul Bryant was the 11th of 12 children who were born to William Monroe and Ida Kilgore Bryant in Fordyce, Arkansas.^[1] His nickname stemmed from his having agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a theater promotion when he was 13 years old.^[2]

He attended Fordyce High School, where 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall Bryant, who as an adult would eventually stand 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), began playing on the school's football team as an eighth grader. During his senior season, the team, with Bryant playing offensive line and defensive end, won the 1930 Arkansas state football championship.

Bryant accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Alabama in 1931. Since he elected to leave high school before completing his diploma, Bryant had to enroll in a Tuscaloosa high school to finish his education during the fall semester while he practiced with the college team. Bryant played end for the Crimson Tide and was a participant on the school's 1934 National Championship team. Bryant was the self-described "other end" during his playing years with the team, playing opposite the big star, Don Hutson, who later became an NFL Hall-of-Famer. Bryant himself was second team All-SEC in 1934, and was third team all conference in both 1933 and 1935. Bryant played with a partially broken leg in a 1935 game against Tennessee.^[2] Bryant pledged the Sigma Nu social fraternity, and as a senior, he married Mary Harmon.^[2]

Bryant was selected in the fourth round by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1936 NFL Draft, but never played professionally.youtube Video Bear Bryant

Highschool Football First Round Pairings

2012-11-07T08:53:00.000-06:00

First round
Class 1A
Kinston (5-5) at Linden (9-1)
St. Jude (6-4) at Keith (8-2), Memorial Stadium, Selma
Fruitdale (4-6) at Brantley (10-0)
Billingsley (7-3) at Loachapoka (6-4)
Winterboro (3-7) at Maplesville (9-1)
Pleasant Home (4-6) at St. Luke’s Episcopal (8-2), Mobile
Ellwood Christian (5-5) at Notasulga (7-3)
McIntosh (5-5) at Geneva County (8-2), Hartford
Meek (5-5) at Marion County (9-1), Guin
R.A. Hubbard (6-4) at Collinsville (8-2)
Hubbertville (7-3) at Ragland (10-0)
Spring Garden (8-2) at Shoals Christian (6-4)
Phillips (5-5) at Cedar Bluff (9-0)
Falkville (7-3) at Pickens County (8-2), Reform
Donoho (5-4) at Hackleburg (9-1), at Vina
Berry (6-4) at Addison (7-2)

Class 2A
Samson (6-4) at Sweet Water (8-2)
Aliceville (6-4) at Elba (6-4)
Southern Choctaw (7-3) at G.W. Long (9-1), Skipperville
New Brockton (4-6) at Lamar County (7-3), Vernon
Hale County (4-6) at Luverne (7-3)
Houston Academy (6-3) at Washington County (9-1), Chatom
Goshen (5-5) at Oakman (9-1)
Mobile Christian (7-3) at Providence Christian (7-2), Dothan
Vincent (7-3) at Reeltown (9-1)
Sheffield (5-5) at North Sand Mountain (8-2), Higdon
Randolph County (5-4) at Woodland (8-2)
Westbrook Christian (7-3) at Red Bay (7-3)
Lexington (5-5) at Fyffe (10-0)
Fultondale (8-2) at Lanett (8-1)
Sand Rock (5-5) at Tanner (9-0)
Horseshoe Bend (8-2) at Walter Wellborn (8-2), Anniston
Class 3A
Abbeville (5-5) at T.R. Miller (9-1), Brewton
Midfield (6-4) at Gordo (8-2)
Straughn (6-3) at Daleville (10-0)
Northside (6-4) at Trinity Presbyterian (8-2), Montgomery
B.B. Comer (5-5) at Fayette County (8-2), Fayette
Slocomb (6-4) at W.S. Neal (8-2), East Brewton
Sipsey Valley (6-4) at Leeds (9-1)
Bayside Academy (6-4) at Dale County (6-4), Midland City
J.B. Pennington (4-6) at Piedmont (10-0)
Deshler (7-3) at Hanceville (7-3)
Glencoe (5-5) at Geraldine (8-2)
Vinemont (8-2) at Lauderdale County (9-1)
Colbert County (6-4) at Hamilton (10-0)
Sylvania (8-2) at Saks (8-2), Anniston
Winston County (5-5) at Madison Academy (8-2)
Susan Moore (6-4) at Plainview (8-2), Rainsville

Twenty-Five Hours

2012-11-06T16:03:00.002-06:00

Nick Saban has a 24-hour rule for his players, which means they can enjoy a win or mope over a loss for 24 hours, then they must move on. The week-end of the nail biting LSU game, it just so happened that we fell back an hour for fall; giving the team 25-hours to mope or enjoy. This game I am not sure which the players did. It was too close for comfort. I have so much faith in the Alabama team that I knew that they would score a touchdown. People were walking out our door thinking it was over for the tide. My question, “where are you all going? Alabama is going to score. That is just what they did in five plays.

Week # 10 LSU vs Alabama

2012-10-29T21:56:00.000-05:00

The Game between Alabama and LSU in Tuscaloosa in November of 2011 was about as good as it gets.

It was certainly criticized.

When the two SEC teams meet on Saturday night the same storylines will exist that created the "Game of the Century" hoopla a year ago.

Alabama and LSU will still be fighting for a one-game lead in the SEC West, and in all likelihood the winner will play for the SEC Championship

Will the 2012 game be as monumental as the 9-6 battle last year? Everyone focuses on Alabama's defense, but this Crimson Tide offense can and will move the ball on LSU.

Florida beating LSU, has made LSU have to win, the rest.

Week Nine

2012-10-22T19:11:00.002-05:00

"The expectation level is high at the University of Alabama and it should be. What's wrong with people expecting excellence?"~~~Coach Gene Stallings

Week Eight Alabama vs Tennessee

2012-10-15T21:43:00.000-05:00

Volunteer Who May Give Crimson Tide Trouble

The Alabama Crimson Tide once again is the best team in college football, but anything can happen.
In next week's SEC matchup in Tennessee, there is a Volunteer on offense that could make the game a lot closer than many will initially expect.
In talking about Tennessee's upset potential, and the player to look out for as an opposing team, you have to start with QB Tyler Bray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Funny Quote;Saban runs a tight ship in practice, One particular day, Saban was not happy with the effort given by his team, and he uses a rather humorous correlation to let them know about it.

“If I had a barometer up you’re a** to see whether you were giving effort, or not, it was about 50 percent.” ~~~Nick Saban

Nick Said It

2012-10-09T18:09:00.000-05:00

“The best way to disrespect somebody is to just walk away from them. But that is the show business part of what we have to deal with, and to me it's wrong. It's a bad example for young people to see and it's not the kind of character and attitude that we want our players to represent this organization in, our owner, the Miami Dolphins ... or the people on the team who all have to suffer because of that.~~~Nick Saban