T-Town Times Three

As mentioned before, the NIT is "The Victory Lap," but I can't recall ever doing the same site three times. The games were Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday, and I went home in between each time. So that's three round trips to Tuscaloosa. I was in-and-out on each trip, so there weren't a whole lot of highlights. Here's the Top Five:

1) Alabama hired a new Athletic Director. Mal Moore resigned due to health concerns, but they moved quickly to replace a man who's had a part in 10 Alabama football national championships. They hired Bill Battle, who once played for Bear Bryant and later coached Tennessee. His first game on the job as AD was our Saturday game vs Stanford.

2) Five. It never disappoints. Between the din of a lively bar & grill, and the (limited) gourmet menu, it is one of the top dinner joints in the SEC. Too bad we never stay anywhere near downtown.

3. Too bad we never stay anywhere near downtown (didn't I just say that?). The Yellowhammer Inn was a castle in the hinterlands. It's more of a hunting and golfing retreat with very little to remind you of Alabama football - except for the huge oil painting of Nick Saban in the lobby.

4. The NIT Quarterfinal game between Alabama and Maryland was one of the most dramatic games of the season, with Alabama falling 58-57 after Trevor Lacey's shot at the buzzer didn't go. More importantly it was a good telecast with some entertaining storylines. Did you know that Bear Bryant's first job as a college head coach was at Maryland?

If you don't have another game for 8 months, that's a good one to go out on.

5.  Superior Cuts. When you've been scrambling around on the road for a week and the sides of your head looks like a ChiaPet, it's probably a good idea to get tightened-up. So I returned from lunch hour 12 bucks and about a tenth of a pound lighter. I looked and felt better, but nobody on the crew noticed.

It was a quality African-American barbershop experience. They told me the Alabama hoops coach Anthony Grant and his family get their hair cut there as well.

So that's it Tuscaloosa. See you in September when it will be much warmer (it was really cold all week) and it will be a zoo. The NIT might be just the right speed for me there, just cruising like a Victory Lap.

Would You Trade First Class For A Middle Seat To Get Home An Hour Earlier?

That's the decision that I was faced with today. There was a southeast storm system that caused residual delays throughout the area.

I know the ground shook overnight at the Yellowhammer Inn with some overnight thunderstorms. So my connection home was delayed but the previous flight was delayed as well, and had one seat left. Guess who was first on the list.

It was a 6 AM call time and not a great game in Tuscaloosa. Alabama easily handled Stanford to reach the NIT quarterfinals. It was bone-chilling cold and rainy in the morning and then after the game, the flight I tried to stand-by for in Birmingham was sold out. So I spent the time with some Good People at BHM.

The good news of the day was that I got the call to do one more game, a third in Tuscaloosa in an eight-day stretch, on Tuesday. An extra game this time of year is like a Christmas Bonus, hence the NIT "Victory Lap." An extra game pays one month's mortgage or two kids' summer camp.

But to answer the question posed in the title: definitely.

It's a short flight home, and time at home is precious this time of year. At least until the final leg of the Tuscaloosa 3-legged race.

Not Outta The Woods Yet

In what is likely my last basketball game of the season, our crew found itself in rather unusual digs. I've been on SEC sports for about 3-4 years now, and never stayed in a place like the Yellowhammer Inn in Tuscaloosa.

The NIT isn't a planned event, at least on college campuses. It's not on the schedule, so when we're assigned to Stanford vs Alabama the same weekend as the Alabama Relays (several major college track and cross-country squads), the Cardinal basketball traveling party was forced to stay in Birmingham. And our smaller group was forced about 15 minutes off the beaten path.

I called the Yellowhammer Inn "rustic," a term a more jaded colleague called a euphemism (for something crappy). I can honestly say I've never stayed in a hotel that featured eight bucks heads in the lobby beside an oil painting rendering of Nick Saban.

It is a hunters/golfers retreat, and I imagine it's where the high rollers stay for football. It is without business amenities or room service, which can be inconvenient for people used to life working on the road.

I'm sure some of them never actually used an actual hotel room key - until now.

Personally, it gives me a Tuscaloosa flavor I haven't felt before. This is the town that displays the BCS Championship trophy at Wal-Mart, so anything a little different is good.

Just so long as I don't see Scatman Crothers roaming the halls, I won't worry about being the main dish in a Stephen King movie adaptation.