Aranas thankful for BCS "streaker"

The sight of the “streaker” in the second half of January’s BCS National Championship Game made most witnesses chuckle. For Javier Arenas, Alabama’s cornerback standing directly in the path of the clothed wacko running across the Rose Bowl, it was more of a blessing.

Here’s what he said when I asked about it before Saturday’s autograph signing in Decatur.

“I was thinking, I’m not moving one foot. I didn’t laugh. I didn’t have any energy. I had no air in my lungs, so I thought God had sent him out to the field at that moment, because I needed it real bad.”

“He smelled like alcohol too. I got a little whiff. I got a contact intoxication.”

“I was about to go shake his hand, but I didn’t want him to leave me hanging. That would have been embarrassing.”

Javier Arenas hits Decatur

Now former Alabama cornerback Javier Arenas was in Decatur on Saturday morning signing autographs at Martins on the Beltline. Here’s a quick look at the first few fans on line as they meet with the Kansas City Chief.

Read more about Arenas in Sunday’s paper.

Checking in on ‘Bama NFL rookies

It’s been about a month since the NFL draft and the Crimson Tide players selected are settling into their new surroundings. Here are a few updates courtesy of the beat writers who cover the teams and a few other newspapers.

Leigh Tiffin wasn’t drafted, but he signed on with the Cleveland Browns. The TimesDaily ran this update in today’s paper.

Terrence Cody appears to be doing well with the Baltimore Ravens, according to this story and this story.

Javier Arenas is working at nickel back with the Chiefs, the Kansas City Star reports.

Mike Johnson is working with the Falcons second-team offensive line, so says the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Rolando McClain, the San Francisco Examiner says, is “a stud.”

Kige Ramsey didn’t play at Alabama, but he does like his Tennessee Titans jerseys and makes great videos. Here is your Kige video of the day.

Who really will be a better pro?

It is the question I posed in the Bama Blog poll and there was a runaway winner. Rolando McClain has the high expectations of the readership by earning 77 percent of the vote. Javier Arenas and Terrence Cody picked up seven percent a piece to tie for second.

Click here for the compete results.

If you’re asking me, I’d have to agree with the 77 percent who went with McClain. He has all the physical and mental tools to succeed at the next level. He seems to be making an impact already in Oakland Raiders mini-camp and I’m fascinated to see how he’ll do this fall.

Arenas is another smart bet considering his versatility. Nick Saban said his NFL experience taught him the importance of having a player who can handle himself at cornerback and punt/kick returner. With smaller rosters, it’s important to find a player who can handle two positions like Arenas.

The only surprising result of the poll was the confidence the readers had in the other Alabama first-round pick. Kareem Jackson got just two percent of the vote.

I’d like to hear more of your views on the topic. Leave a comment by clicking the comment button at the top of the post. And if you haven’t voted yet, do so below.

<div><a href=”http://www.micropoll.com/akira/mpview/648539-250504″>Click Here for Poll</a><a href=”http://www.questionpro.com&#8221; title=”online survey”>Online Survey</a><BR><a href=”http://www.surveyanalytics.com/enterprise-feedback-management.html&#8221; title=”Enterprise Feedback Management”>Enterprise Feedback Management</a><BR> | <a href=”http://www.micropoll.com&#8221; title=”Polls”>Polls</a><BR> | <a href=”http://www.contactpro.com&#8221; title=”email marketing”>Email Marketing</a><BR><BR> | <a href=”http://www.ideascale.com/&#8221; title=”crowdsourcing software”>Crowdsourcing Software</a><BR><a href=”http://www.micropoll.com/akira/MicroPoll?mode=html&amp;id=250504″>View MicroPoll</A></div>

And now, the latest from Kige Ramsey.

Javier Arenas is now a Chief

Cornerback/kick returner Javier Arenas just went to the Kansas City Chiefs with the 50th overall pick becoming the third Alabama player taken in the draft.

The ESPN talking heads are giving him plenty of love, even comparing him to Ronde Barber.

Terrence Cody remains on the board and there is no good prediction as to where he’ll go.

VIDEO: Walk of Fame ceremony at A-Day

Take a look at the scene surrounding the Walk of Fame ceremony at A-Day when Rolando McClain, Mike Johnson and Javier Arenas were honored as the 2009 captains.

Before the captains and Nick Saban arrived, three bus loads of special guests arrived.

A few minutes later, McClain, Johnson and Arenas are welcomed by the few hundred fans.

Then comes Saban.

And the players give quick speeches …

Finally, the hands and feet go in the cement while Saban addresses the crowd.

McClain named Bama player of decade

Of the 3,000 or so ballots cast in the BAMA Magazine voting, only three didn’t include Rolando McClain. Despite that, the Decatur product earned enough to be named player of the decade by the publication. He was one of six players from the 2009 title team to make the team of the decade released Wednesday afternoon by BAMA Magazine.

Full coverage can be found in the spring issue of the magazine, but editor Kirk McNair gave us a preview today. McClain, not much for the individual accolades,  wasn’t expecting this one

 “Really, I’m surprised, particularly since we had a Heisman Trophy winner n this decade,” McClain told BAMA Mag. “There have been a lot of great players at Alabama over the past ten years, so this is really an honor that I appreciate. But it’s also a team award. Because we accomplished so much as a
team, we have had a lot of individual honors.”

The other 2009 team members honored include that Heisman winner Mark Ingram, offensive lineman Mike Johnson, nose tackle Terrence Cody, cornerback Javier Arenas, placekicker Leigh Tiffin and wide receiver Julio Jones.

A-Day schedule released

If you’re heading down to Tuscaloosa for Saturday’s A-Day, you’ll might be interested in the schedule released by Alabama this afternoon. A quick check of weather.com reveals a predicted high of 83 with isolated thunderstorms.

11:00 a.m: Gates open at Bryant-Denny Stadium

12:00 p.m: A-Club 7-on-7 Flag Football Game (Bryant-Denny Stadium)

12:15 p.m: Walk of Fame: ’09 Captains (Javier Arenas, Mike Johnson and Rolando McClain) with Coach Saban (Denny Chimes)

2:05 p.m: A-Day Game (Bryant-Denny Stadium)

* Remember all times are Central.

Pro Day: A quick wrap up

The Pro Day at Alabama just wrapped up after more than two hours of drills in the indoor complex. Here are the bigger nuggets of information:

• Rolando McClain played every game after the Tennessee win with a “tweaked” hamstring, he said for the first time Wednesday.
• McClain also spoke about his issues with Chron’s Disease. It’s an interesting story that I’ll dive deeper into in Thursday’s paper.
• Terrence Cody’ weight is all the way down to 348 pounds and he’s expecting to go in the “top 10 or 15 picks in the draft.
• As expected, Javier Arenas did not participate after suffering a hamstring injury at the NFL Scouting Combine.
• Stay tuned for a few videos.

Upchurch heading to Senior Bowl

Roy Upchurch got the call late Sunday that he’d be invited to the Senior Bowl. LSU’s Charles Scott (you might remember him as “Chuck the truck”) is hurt and Upchurch was available.

He’s the sixth Alabama player to make the roster after being the No. 3 running back in the Tide offense this season. Javier Arenas, Terrence Cody, Mike Johnson, Colin Peek and Leigh Tiffin will also be in Mobile this week.

The game is at 3 p.m. Saturday and will be televised on the NFL Network.

News and notes on SEC championship week

It’s a soggy late Wednesday morning in Tuscaloosa. Here’s what’s making news:

• I wrote about ticket scalpers today. So did the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Here’s what they had to say.
• Guess what? SEC coaches think Tim Tebow is good. Read more here and here.
• Tony Barnhart of CBSsports.com offered this quality retrospective of the Saban era to this point.
• Check out this interesting look at the SEC Championship’s marquee linebackers, Rolando McClain and Brandon Spikes.
• Javier Arenas’ hometown paper, The Tampa Tribune, wrote about his quest for NCAA punt return records. Click this to read all about it.
• Last season’s fourth quarter belly flop taken by Alabama is the subject of much discussion this week. Read this for some of that.

Javier Arenas casts first stone

Alabama’s outspoken cornerback Javier Arenas wasn’t too familiar with Auburn in high school. In fact, he had no idea it existed at all. At least that’s what he told the cameras Monday.

Since the player interviews are separated into three groups (two for TV and one for print reporters), I did not hear it spoken originally. But after hearing about it, I had to post it for you. So check out the video courtesy of the Tuscaloosa News. Skip ahead to the 1:00 mark for the good part.

Click here for the video.

Iron Bowl week theme: Efficiency

Nick Saban preached it, then practiced it Monday afternoon. With a short week to prepare for Auburn, the key is being efficient. He went on to give the fastest moving Monday news conference of the season with precise answers and not much dead time.

There simply isn’t a minute to waste.

Here are the other highlights from Monday:

• Javier Arenas was named SEC special teams player of the week after breaking the league mark for punt returns for touchdown Saturday. No big surprise there.
• Colin Peek (a.k.a. Holla McGhee) met reporters for the first time in a while. He spoke about his knee injury and the fight to get back. Read more about that later. We’ve missed his entertaining interviews.
• The theme of this Iron Bowl will be Alabama’s ability to shut down Auburn’s running game. Also, you will get to read more later in the week.

News and notes from the Monday after

It’s Monday afternoon so there are the usual nuggets to report. Here are the highlights.

• Javier Arenas was named SEC defensive player of the week for his seven tackles against LSU that included two for loss.
• Game time for the Nov. 21 meeting with Chattanooga was set for 11:21 a.m. CST and will be televised on the SEC Network.
• Nick Saban delivered a passionate defense of referees in his afternoon news conference. Read more about that Tuesday.
• In other award news, Leigh Tiffin was named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza presented to the nation’s top place kicker. He joins an army of teammates who also made the semifinalist cut for national awards.

Check back later for updates from this afternoon’s practice.

Updates on pregame warmups

A few line-up notes to keep in mind:

• Colin Peek is listed as the No. 1 tight end and he is dressed in his No. 84 jersey for warm-ups. Remember, his knee sprain was suffered in the same run-through two weeks ago against Tennessee.
• Running back/kickoff returner Terry Grant was not listed on the depth chart provided before the game. Mike McCoy OR Trent Richardson were the only others listed with Javier Arenas as kickoff returners. We’ll see who gets the nod soon enough.
• The place is starting to pack in now that kickoff is 20 minutes out.