Alabama showed everyone why they should have been in this game. I am a University of Pittsburgh graduate so this is an impartial viewpoint (opinion). First, it was not a fluke that Alabama did what they did to LSU there were several contributing reasons. Defense-Alabama shut down LSU's option play, which allows LSU to open things up and do a lot out of this package, since it did not work for them Alabama was able to press their coverage and not worry to much about the deep ball. We did get a glimpse of Alabama's secondary and it is not as strong as their front line. That front line pressured, harassed and sacked LSU so much that the secondary did not have to worry too much about getting beat deep. Running back-Alabama had the edge, due to Trent Richardson, but look out for Lacy next year going forward, he had a strong game. Receivers and tight ends-Alabama's best receiver went down after a fantastic punt return and the receivers and tight ends stepped up. There were deflected passes that were caught at crucial times, deep passes caught at crucial times. Quarterback-not many, but the true Alabama fans, knew that McCarrion was as athletic as he showed us and he kept it under control while Jefferson looked confused and not in control. Mental Game-Alabama wanted this more than LSU. It felt like LSU thought that Alabama should roll over and hand them the win. Coaching-Alabama out coached LSU. Les even admits this in post game interviews, he said he as surprised and did not know how to help his team.."WHAT! REALLY?!?" Score- Alabama SHUT OUT LSU, case closed they showed that they are the best in the nation and showed it in dramatic form. They proved that they, not Oklahoma State or anyone else should have been in this game. Just to put an exclamation point on this, LSU had one penetration of the 50 yard line into Alabama territory and less than 100 total offensive yards!
This was my brief take on the BCS game, I didn't think it was boring, I really enjoyed the watching how well coached BOTH defenses played, but LSU's defense was on the field for a long time and those boys got tired.
This February the 21st is FAT TUESDAY but I believe I'll be visiting friends in Missouri so I will not be around to take dat money at Harrahs.
I was thinking about bad beat jackpots the other day and how hitting one of those could elevate someone's bankroll, quickly! Well I have been involved in four at Harrahs and one in Biloxi, three at Harrahs were table stakes and the one in Biloxi was a table stake even though it was hit at another table! Very cool. The other that I was involved in was pretty special as I was the one who beat the guy for the bad beat, it was the beginning of my poker stint back in 2002, Harrahs poker room was in the back where the steak restaurant is, it had two levels and it was a great room! We were isolated, not too noisy from the slots but visible enough for people to find. This was before Moneymaker had hit it big and No Limit Texas Hold'em became "the" game. Here in New Orleans before Moneymaker, omaha was the big game, especially 1-4-8-8 limit omaha/hold'em. Well I was at the front table by the walk way towards the buffet. There was this old guy who had pissed me off on the prior hand by chasing and catching on the river, we were working through the omaha round, every time the button got to the dealer the game would switch from hold'em to omaha back and forth. I was in the 10 seat he was in the four seat, in the bad beat hand I had QJ suited 8 2, can't remember if it was hearts or diamonds. I still remember the guy, about 6'4', always wore a baseball hat, white hair, mustache and trimmed beard and had a look of "whatever" on his face at all times. (SIDE NOTE-Little history, I used to play 7 card stud, at the treasure chest. This is where I met Christy for the first time, she is an excellent dealer at Harrahs and usually deals the final table on the main events with Darrell. I used to look at the half/half game back then and was very intimidated at the speed and the bets. I finally start playing half/half and started to beat it eventually I would play during the week and the games would finish early so they told me about the room at Harrahs. I make my way there and really enjoyed it.) So we get a family pot, now I am steaming, this was during a time when my poker etiquette...SUCKED! I was steaming and you could see it. I think I was under the gun, yep, and the flop comes K, 10, 9 of hearts/diamonds. I bet out, it was four bucks, two callers to the lunchbox and he raises and my buddy, Chris, calls, I call and another one of the earlier callers call as well. The turn brings another heart/diamond like a 3 or 4, I check, check, lunchbox bets, Chris calls, I raise...yep...fold, lunchbox re-raises and Chris calls. I look at Chris and he says to me, "Hope you got what I think you have!" yes with three of us playing. I simply call because I am confused. I know that the lunchbox has the ace high flush so I am trying to get a lot of money from him, I just didn't know why Chris was still in it because a set should have let it go after the re-raise. Well the river is a king, I don't care, I bet, lunchbox gets frustrated and folds, Chris says you do don't you! He raises, I re-raise and he screams yes! He calls and yells "JACKPOT!" Now look, I haven't shown my cards yet, I could have been an idbot and raised with a full house or the ace high flush. He turns his cards over with two black kings that match the two red ones on the board. I scream and turn over my straight flush and the table erupts, even my nemesis. It was a sizable jackpot as I took home $8k, he got over $20k and the table got a nice chunk. I can't tell you what I did with that money but I promise you, bankroll management was not part of my vocabulary. I hope that one day I can get snapped off for a jackpot but until then...
(similar but represented what happened)
You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!
No comments:
Post a Comment