[image: The Bama Beat] <http://blog.al.com/bamabeat/> The Bama Beat <http://blog.al.com/bamabeat/> Alabama Crimson Tide news, recruiting and more from Gentry Estes View from the other side: Florida By Gentry Estes, Mobile Press-Register<http://connect.al.com/user/gestes/index.html> December 03, 2009, 12:20PM
[image: florida-gators-logo.jpg]Alabama is back in the SEC championship game against Florida, so for the second consecutive year<http://blog.al.com/bamabeat/2008/12/view_from_the_other_side_flori.html>, we welcome the Miami Herald's outspoken Gators beat writer *Joseph Goodman*onto the blog. As I mentioned last year, Joseph is originally from Birmingham (so he knows exactly what buttons to push, Alabama fans), and he and I attended high school together at roughly the same time. He lives in Gainesville and does very nice work on what I've long considered to be the most difficult college beat in the country. Click here<http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gator_clause/>to view his blog. And here is the Q&A<http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gator_clause/2009/12/gator-clause-swaps-questions-with-an-alabama-beat-writer-and-things-get-physical.html>I sent his way on the Crimson Tide. Admittedly, my answers were definitely not as entertaining as his. Here goes ... *Message from Joe Goodman: Some of this is tongue-in-cheek humor, Bammers. Use your heads before you email me. In all seriousness, go Shades Valley Mounties! Go LeFlore Rattlers! I'll never forgive Joey Jones for coaching at Mountain Brook!* *What are the biggest differences between the Gators right now and at this point last year?* *Goodman:* Before Tuesday morning I would have said nothing. No change. Now, the biggest difference is obviously not having *Carlos Dunlap* at defensive end. Losing Dunlap hurts but isn't as potentially devastating as Bammers would like. Junior defensive end *Justin Trattou* is a talented player and actually better against the run than Dunlap. Behind Trattou, defensive end *Duke Lemmens*, is another talented junior. Behind Lemmens is *William Green*, the sophomore from Hoover Spain Park High who chose UF over Alabama. *Two best current Florida players other than Tim Tebow and why?* *Goodman:* a) Cornerback *Joe Haden* is a top 10 pick. He's better than *Javier Arenas*, if that gives you any indication. Probably the only defensive back in college football better than Haden right now is Tennessee's *Eric Berry*. Haden leads the team in interceptions (four) and solo tackles (46). He has three sacks and two forced fumbles. At corner, Haden will cover Julio Jones about half the time. UF sophomore cornerback *Janoris Jenkins* will also help. Haden will be a gunner on punt return and play centerfield on kickoff return to prevent Arenas from taking one to the house. b) We could go through a dozen or so offensive and defensive players who are playing well. I'll go with a wild card. Punter *Chas Henry* is a finalist for the Ray Guy Award. His punts do not get returned. Seriously, they don't. In two years, he's allowed about a handful of punt-return yards. This will be key on Saturday. It's going to be a long day of field-position battles. May the team with the best punter win! (By the way, Bama punter *P.J. Fitzgerald,* a walk-on from the *Mike Shula* days, is from South Florida.) Congrats to P.J., who has already received his undergraduate degree and is working on his Masters in sports management. *Having covered Friday's game in Auburn, what were your initial impressions on how Alabama stacks up?* *Goodman:* Alabama was excellent in the fourth quarter against Auburn. That's the most important thing to take away from the Iron Bowl. Bama needed its quarterback to win the game, and the kid from Texas did it. *Greg McElroy* is another Mike Shula kid getting it done for Saban. Actually, McElroy is the kid Shula settled on when he missed on *Tim Tebow*. And, by the way, it will be interesting to see if Jacksonville drafts Tebow. Shula is the Jags' quarterback's coach. Shula and Tebow still have a great relationship. *Perhaps off topic, but has the city of Miami forgiven Nick Saban yet?* *Goodman:* Why do you think this question is off-topic? Maybe to your readers in Alabama it's off-topic, but to everyone else *Nick Saban* is just another guy who couldn't make it in the NFL. Great college coach; complete failure in the pros. There are only a few players left on the Dolphins' roster right now who played for Saban. That's amazing! Bill Parcells had to rebuild the entire team after Saban left. Pretty much the only thing he did right was leave, but, of course, he messed that up, too. (Give Saban credit for drafting *Ronnie Brown*, the Bammer killer.) Yeah, I'm pretty sure people in South Florida still hawk and spit when Saban is mentioned. By the way, Saban hasn't won anything in two years at Bama save two division titles and two Iron Bowls. If he loses on Saturday, will he be on the hot seat? If he loses on Saturday and then loses to another mid-major in the Sugar Bowl, will he be on the hot seat? I know they keep the throne warm in T-town and the trapdoor oiled and ready. Think it's asking too much of Saban, The Most Powerful, to deliver on his fat paycheck in his third season? Plenty of former Alabama coaches have national or SEC titles in their third year: *Gene Stallings*, *Bill Curry*, *Mike Dubose*, *Wallace Wade* and *Frank Thomas* all won something in year three of their coaching tenures at Alabama. Question for Bammers: Why did it take *Bear Bryant* so long to win a national title? Four years? *Urban Meyer* already has two national titles after his fourth season. If Meyer remains at Florida for 10 more seasons, then he will dethrone Bryant as the SEC's greatest coach. And they don't even know how to make sweet tea in Gainesville! The nerve! *And honestly, you made hotel reservations in Pasadena yet? * *Goodman:* Yes, I have made reservations in Pasadena, but only because I'm covering the national title regardless. Prediction: Too close to call, but I'll go with Florida 9, Alabama 6. Bama covers! 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