March Madness takes on a new meaning for beat writers. Things are about to get a lot busier in Tuscaloosa, as this serves as the final football-free weekend for the next month and a half.
There’s plenty to discuss. Alabama football opens its spring camp this week while the Crimson Tide’s basketball team looks to shake off a disappointing loss to Tennessee.
Pour yourself a drink, and let's dive in.
Drink of the week — Penicillin
For the second time in as many weekends, I had to scrap my originally-planned cocktail due to an underwhelming performance from Alabama basketball. Perhaps those drinks will resurfice in future columns, but for now I’m going to leave you with something more fitting for the Crimson Tide’s current situation.
What Alabama needs at the moment is a shot in the arm, and that’s what we’re crafting up today.
The penicillin cocktail is a tart and spicy riff on the gold rush, made with two different types of scotch (a blended and a Islay single-malt), lemon juice and honey-ginger syrup.
I realize some of these ingredients for this drink might not be available to everyone reading this drink. Fortunately, you’ve been watching Alabama basketball the past couple of weeks, so you’re already used to making due with what you have.
Chances are you don’t have a bottle of honey-ginger syrup, so you’re going to have to make your own. It’s going to be messy and a bit frustrating, but you’re used to that as well after watching Alabama’s freshmen over the past few games.
Peel a 4-6 inch peice of ginger and slice it thinly. Add that, a cup of honey and a cup of water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. From there, let it simmer for five minutes and strain it into a new container.
Once you have your syrup, add ¾ ounces of it along with ¾ ounces of lemon juice and two ounces of a blended scotch into a shaker with ice. Shake until the drink is as cold as Alabama’s second-half shooting agaisnt Tennessee and strain into a rocks glass with a few cubes of ice. From there, float ¼ ounce of the Islay single-malt scotch over the top of the drink and garnish with a candied ginger.
This cocktail is a lot of work, but it’s one of the better ones out there. The blended scotch pairs perfectly with the ginger and lemon, while the smokiness of the Islay single-malt gives it a nice finish.
It’s a dependable and sophisticated drink to help you ease the pain until Latrell Wrightsell Jr. can return from his head injury and give Alabama the shot it needs on the court.
Cheers!
It’s time to switch up the starting lineup
The prognosis for Wrightsell’s head injury is still a bit foggy, but Nate Oats seems optimistic that he could get his sharpshooting senior back in time for Alabama’s trip to Florida on Tuesday.
Wrightsell warmed up with the team before Saturday’s game but wasn’t cleared to play against Tennessee. The Crimson Tide could have certainly used his 3-point touch and perimeter defense as it threw away a 7-point lead midway through the second half.
Wrightsell’s absence the past four games has been glaring, as Alabama has been forced to replace him with struggling freshman forward Jarin Stevenson in the starting lineup. Stevenson, who reclassified to join Alabama this season, figures to have a bright future in Tuscaloosa. However, lately the 18-year-old is looking his age on the court.
In his last seven games, Stevenson is averaging just 3.8 points and 2.42 rebounds over 18.7 minutes. During that span, he’s shooting just 7 of 32 (21.9%) from the floor and 4 of 21 (19%) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Alabama has posted a -14 point differential during his 131 combined minutes on the court.
That’s just not going to cut it if Alabama wants to end the regular season on a strong note.
Wrightsell’s return would go a long way toward improving the Tide’s options on the court. However, head injuries are unpredictable, and Alabama needs a plan in the event it has to continue to play short-handed.
Senior center Nick Pringle has taken his game to another level recently, averaging 11.2 points and 5.7 rebounds over 21.3 minutes per game during his last six outings. However, inserting him into the starting lineup would bump Grant Nelson away from his preferred role at the center position while leaving the Tide without much size off the bench.
Another option would be to ride the hot hand of Davin Cosby Jr. The redshirt freshman guard has combined for 21 points over 21 minutes the past two games while connecting on 7 of 14 shots from beyond the arc. On the other hand, giving Cosby extended minutes might come at the cost of an already struggling Alabama defense.
At the moment, either path appears to be a better decision than starting Stevenson against Florida, especially considering the freshman failed to score over 17 minutes during Alabama’s overtime victory over the Gators two weeks ago.
My take on crowd stormings
Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne is calling for games to be forfeited, while Oats seems content in finding an easier escape route for him and his team. After Duke center Kyle Filipowski suffered a sprained knee during a court storming at Wake Forest last weekend, everyone has a take on how similar incidents should be handled moving forward.
Court and field stormings aren’t an issue at Alabama, as Crimson Tide fans have long turned their nose up at the idea of leaving the stands following big wins.
"We don't storm the court here. We expect to win games,” Oats proudly exclaimed when asked about the topic this week. “We've won a lot of big games here. I actually love the fact that our fans are unbelievably great and give us a great environment during the game and then act like we've been there and done that.”
Still, the Crimson Tide has seen its fair share of crowd storming on the road, as opposing fans have spilled onto the court/field after upset wins.
Auburn hasn’t beaten Alabama inside Jordan-Hare Stadium without storming the field since Nick Saban’s debut season with the Crimson Tide in 2007. The Tide has also experienced field stormings at LSU and Tennessee in 2022 as well as at Texas A&M in 2021. The latter resulted in Saban receiving a a golf ball-sized bruise on his right arm
Oats dealt with a court storming last year after Texas A&M upset then-No. 2 Alabama in the final game of the regular season.
“We let their staff know that if they ended up winning the game, which is what happened, that we were not going to stick around and shake hands, that we were getting off the court immediately, which is what happened,” Oats recalled this week. “So we got everybody out as the buzzer was sounded and avoided any issues with the court storming.”
Outside of Saban’s bruise, Alabama has been able to avoid injuries when fans rush the field. However, the Crimson Tide was involved in a messy situation after wide receiver Jermaine Burton struck a female fan following the Volunteers’ upset win in 2022.
So how should these incidents be regulated moving forward?
Earlier this week,
Byrne suggested that the home team be required to forfeit the game if it fails to control its fans. While that would certainly make people think twice about leaving the stands, it seems difficult to enforce and unfair to the players who would suffer a defeat for something they had no part in.
Other suggestions have called for fans who run onto the field to be arrested. That works in professional sports where the occasional stray spectator can be picked off by security. However, policing a herd of 1,000 college kids in an impossible task. Even if police could arrest that many individuals, they’d need a shuttle service to bus them to the county jail.
They way I see it, there’s only one real way to stop crowd stormings, and most college fans aren’t going to like it.
The reason why this isn’t a problem in professional sports has more to do with how the crowd is set up than it does the threat of arrest. The people wealthy enough to afford floor seats to NBA games are too focused on beating postgame traffic to contemplate any thoughts of rushing the court. That’s generally not the case in college where students are often handed prime seating inside the arena.
Positioning students further away from the action would likely buy teams more time to leave the field following games. But at what cost?
Part of the charm of college athletics is that there are fans passionate enough to leave the stands in a state of euphoria. Hiding those people behind a sea of corporate executives and wealthy alumni would surely tank the environment that fuels the sports.
Crowd stormings might not be ideal, but they’re a part of the chaos that makes college sports so unique. Love them or hate them, they’re here to stay as long as passionate crowds still fill college stadiums.
I hope that’s the case for many years to come.
Five quick thoughts on spring camp
The start of an era
The Kalen DeBoer era technically began in January, but this week we’ll get our first look at how things will operate under his watch. By the sound of it, the media should have better access than it did under Saban. That’s an exciting thought heading into what figures to be an eventful spring camp.
More Milroe magic?
Jalen Milroe still has several naysayers despite being the top returning Heisman Trophy vote-getter from last season. It remains to be seen how the redshirt junior will fit into Alabama’s new offense. However, if things click, he has the chance to become one of the most exciting players the Crimson Tide has ever produced.
Alabama’s next elite back
Justice Haynes flashed his potential during the Rose Bowl, carrying the ball four times for 31 yards against a stingy Michigan defense. After waiting his turn behind a loaded backfield last season, we should see more of the sophomore moving forward.
A lot on the line
Alabama's interior offensive line will be loaded, as the Tide brought in Washington transfer center Parker Brailsford to play between returning guards Tyler Booker and Jaedan Roberts.
According to Pro Football Focus, Brailsford is the nation’s top returning interior lineman while Booker ranks No. 3 and Roberts comes in at No. 7 overall.
While that trio should dominate opponents inside, Alabama still needs to replace both its starting tackles from last season. Redshirt sophomore Elijah Pritchett figures to fill one of those roles while redshirt freshmen Wilkin Formby and Miles McVay enter spring as the two favorites for the other opening. Together, that trio combined for just 137 offensive snaps last season.
Reshaping the secondary
Speaking of inexperienced units, Alabama will need to replace four of its five starters from last year’s secondary. That includes both of the cornerback spots where the Tide loses projected first-round picks in Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry.
Alabama brought in Southern California transfer Domani Jackson, but at the moment he’s the only cornerback on the roster with a college snap to his name. Alabama also added Michigan defensive back Keon Sabb, who has the ability to line up in the slot or back deep as a safety. He should help fill the void of last year’s leading tackler, Caleb Downs, who transferred to Ohio State earlier this offseason.
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