There is no bigger news in Alabama today than the announcement of the retirement of Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban. Down here Saban and Alabama football are one and the same. No person is bigger in Alabama than Saban.
Per ESPN, Nick Saban, one of college football’s coaching greats who won seven national championships and turned Alabama back into a national powerhouse that included six of those titles, has announced his retirement.
“The University of Alabama has been a very special place to Terry and me,” Saban said in a statement Wednesday. “We have enjoyed every minute of our 17 years being the head coach at Alabama as well as becoming a part of the Tuscaloosa community. It is not just about how many games we won and lost, but it’s about the legacy and how we went about it. We always tried to do it the right way. The goal was always to help players create more value for their future, be the best player they could be and be more successful in life because they were part of the program. Hopefully, we have done that, and we will always consider Alabama our home.”
He had a winning record at every college where he was the head coach. While in college he was a member of the Kent State championship team that played in the Tangerine bowl game.
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Per the NY Times, Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey suspended his presidential campaign on Wednesday. In his speech, Mr. Christie did not endorse any of his rivals, nor did he address their prospects against Mr. Trump, dashing the hopes of Republican moderates that his exit would unify remaining members of the party who oppose Mr. Trump.
Minutes before his announcement in Windham, N.H., Mr. Christie could be heard on the event’s live stream, saying, “She’s going to get smoked, and you and I both know it,” in reference to Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor. “She’s not up to this.” He added of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, “DeSantis called me, petrified.”
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When I heard about the alleged congressional bi-partisan agreement on a spending bill a few days ago, my first reaction was, there goes Mike Johnson. His term of office as Speaker is going to be shorter than Kevin McCarthy’s term.
It didn’t take long for the House Freedom Caucus to start misbehaving. Per the NY Times, A dozen hardline Republicans defected from the party line to tank a routine procedural measure, blocking consideration of a pair of G.O.P. bills in what amounted to a warning shot by members of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus that they would not stand for the agreement. As the measure failed, members of the group could be seen in an animated discussion with Mr. Johnson and his deputies on the House floor.
The Republican revolt underscored Mr. Johnson’s predicament in trying to steer the spending deal through the closely divided House, where it has enraged a sizable bloc of Republicans, while keeping his grip on his job. The upheaval came as it was becoming clear that Congress would most likely have to resort to yet another short-term spending patch — something Mr. Johnson had previously ruled out — to buy time to push a bipartisan deal to fund the government.
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You cannot make this up. Just when you think things cannot get crazier in the world of politics, Hunter Biden shows up unannounced at a congressional hearing today.
Per the NY Time, when Hunter Biden interrupted a House Oversight Committee vote over holding him in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, Republican lawmakers were not the only ones caught off guard. President Biden’s advisers were surprised to see him there, too.
According to several people with knowledge of the younger Mr. Biden’s legal strategy,…his legal team, which includes the Washington scandal lawyer Abbe Lowel and the Los Angeles-based lawyer Kevin Morris, saw no reason to give the White House a heads-up.
Hunter Biden and his team had wanted the response they got: shock, surprise and, ultimately, unwillingness by Republicans to swear him in on the spot so he could testify in public, rather than in the closed-door deposition that the G.O.P. had demanded.
The chaotic scene on Capitol Hill came as the White House has been trying to keep its distance while the president’s son deploys an aggressive new legal strategy to hit back against the various political and legal battles he is facing.
I guess if the Secretary of Defense doesn’t feel it is necessary to tell his boss he is going to be out of commission for a few days, Hunter Biden must not have seen a reason to give his own dad a little heads up on his actions today. You cannot make this stuff up.
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Now that Michigan has won the National Championship and we have had a few days to celebrate, it is time to turn our attention to the Detroit Lions, who host the first playoff game in Ford Field’s history on Sunday night. The subplots are many, but none bigger than the two quarterbacks who were traded for each other. Stafford wanted out after twelve years with the Lions, and the Rams wanted Goff out as their quarterback after two down years following a trip to the Super Bowl.
Both quarterbacks are playing at a high level. Stafford won a Super Bowl in his first year with the Rams and is 7-1 in his last eight games this year. Goff had the best year of his career in leading the Lions to their first division championship in 30 years. Goff is 20-7 in his last twenty-seven games for the Lions, which is the best 27 game period in the Lions’ lengthy history.
I am really looking forward to watching the game on Sunday night.
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Quote of the Day: “I honestly don’t want to be remembered for a touchdown record or anything like that, but more so just a kind human being that brought smiles to people’s faces and just made a difference, made an impact on and off the field. That’s honestly how I want to be remembered.” Michigan running back Blake Corum
Orchid of the Day: Nick Saban, his success on and off the field is undeniable.
Onion of the Day: The Republican House Freedom Caucus. They make it so easy to get an onion.
Question of the Day: How hard will it be for Lions’ fans to root against Matthew Stafford on Sunday?
Video of the Day: Nick Saban in 1990 as he coached the University of Toledo to the Mid-American Conference championship.