Raleigh, NC – A powerful Hurricane Earl threatened to sideswipe much of the East Coast just ahead of Labor Day, worrying countless vacationers who planned to spend the traditional last week of summer at the beach. The Federal Emergency Management Agency warned people along the Eastern Seaboard to prepare for possible evacuations and islanders in the Turks and Caicos hunkered down in their homes Tuesday as the Category 4 hurricane steamed across the Caribbean with winds of 135 mph. North Carolina officials announced the first evacuation would be Ocracoke Island beginning at 5 a.m. Wednesday. Tourists would be ordered to leave the barrier island accessible only by ferries, but those who live there year-round have the option to stay.

Earl was expected to remain over the open ocean before turning north and running parallel to the East Coast, bringing high winds and heavy rain to North Carolina’s Outer Banks by late Thursday or early Friday. From there, forecasters said, it could curve away from the coast somewhat as it makes it way north, perhaps hitting Massachusetts’ Cape Cod and the Maine shoreline on Friday night and Saturday. “My guests are calling and they don’t know what to do and I don’t know what to tell them,” said Dave Dawson, owner of the oceanfront Cape Hatteras Motel in Buxton, N.C. Forecasters cautioned that it was still too early to tell how close Earl might come to land. but not since Hurricane Bob in 1991 has such a powerful storm had such a large swath of the East Coast in its sights, said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center. “A slight shift of that track to the west is going to impact a great deal of real estate with potential hurricane-force winds,” Feltgen said. even if Earl stays well offshore, it will kick up rough surf and dangerous rip currents up and down the coast through the Labor Day weekend, a prime time for beach vacations, forecasters said. The approaching storm troubled many East Coast beach towns that had hoped to capitalize on the BP oil spill and draw visitors who normally vacation on the Gulf Coast. on Monday, Earl delivered a glancing blow to several small Caribbean islands, tearing roofs off homes and knocking out electricity to people in Anguilla, Antigua and St. Maarten. in Puerto Rico, nearly 187,000 people were without power and 60,000 without water, Gov. Luis Fortuno said. Cruise ships were diverted and flights canceled across the region. but there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries. on Tuesday, gusty winds from Earl’s outer fringes whipped palm fronds and whistled through doors in the Turks and Caicos Islands as tied-down boats seesawed on white-crested surf. Islanders gathered to watch big waves pound a Grand Turk shore as the wind sent sand and salt spray flying. “We can hear the waves crashing against the reef really seriously,” Kirk Graff, owner of the Captain Kirks Flamingo Cove Marina, said by telephone as he watched the darkening skies. “Anybody who hasn’t secured their boats by now is going to regret it.” in the U.S., FEMA administrator Craig Fugate said state and local authorities may need to order evacuations along the Eastern Seaboard later this week if the storm does not veer away as expected. “Today is the day to make sure you have your plan completed and your supplies in place,” he said. as of late Tuesday afternoon, Earl was centered about 150 miles east of Grand Turk island — and 1,000 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. — as it headed northwest at 14 mph. Close on its heels was Tropical Storm Fiona, which was not expected to reach hurricane strength for at least several days. Carl Hanes of Newport News, Va., kept an eye on the weather report as he headed for the beach near his rented vacation home in Avon, N.C. He, his wife and their two teenage children were anticipating Earl might force them to leave on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule. “We’re trying not to let it bother us,” Hanes said before enjoying the calm surf. in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Judy Rice said she has no plans to leave the vacation home where she has spent most of the summer. in fact, the Oak Hill, Va., resident plans to walk around town in the rain if it comes. “I kind of enjoy it actually. you know, it’s battling the elements,” Rice said. “I have seen the rain go sideways, and, yeah, it can be scary, but I have an old house here in Rehoboth, so it’s probably more important that I am here during a storm than anywhere.” in the Florida Panhandle, which has struggled all summer to lure back tourists scared away by the Gulf oil spill, bookings were up 12 percent over last year at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. The resort is nowhere near Earl’s projected path, and spokeswoman Laurie Hobbs said she suspects the increase in reservations was partly because of a discount the hotel is offering and partly because of the hurricane. “Weather drives business,” she said. “They go to where the weather is best.” If

Earl brings rain farther inland, it could affect the U.S. Open tennis tournament, being played now through Sept. 12 in new York City. “We’re keeping our eye on it very closely,” said United States Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier. “It’s still a little early to tell how it will track and we’re hoping it will stay off the coast.” on the coast of southern Maine, about 15 people have already canceled Labor Day reservations at Burnette’s Campground in York because of concerns about Earl, said owner David Woods. but a Labor Day weekend washout won’t have the impact it would have had a decade ago. “Labor Days have changed in the past 10 years,” he said. “It used to be the big bang end to summer, but now from the 15th of August until the first of September, it sort of dwindles off.”  

Copyright 2010 The associated Press. all rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jill is stateside again and this summer is so yesterday.

Check out the official junk on our Chicago show and SEND YOUR FRIENDS.

Aloft Dance is so proud and excited to present ticktock no. 1 on 9/11 and 9/12 at 9 PM at the Aloft Loft.

ticktock will rock you face off! Seriously.

ticktockno.1the experiment: deconstructed circus meets post-modern dance.

no.1 is a conceptual fantasy, told through dance and aerial circus, in which three bodies are compelled to explore their physical and parapsycholgical relationship to one another. While fighting gravity and spinning spectacle, each body must find a place in the order of things –their own no.1.

tix: brownpapertickets.com/event/123712

What people are saying:

“a sharp, teasing character study…Beautiful in the plain light of day”–Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times

“somehow imbued… with a graceful sensuality that was both soothing and titillating.”–Warren Etheridge, The Warren Report

“…always thoughtful, always professional… The level of your craft is incredible …ethereal beauty that is difficult to describe… Thank you.” –Clayton Hibbert, Artistic Director, Seattle Erotic Art Festival

“The most creative aerial dance we’ve ever seen!” –Shayna Swanson, Aloft Aerial Dance

tix again: brownpapertickets.com/event/123712

I graduated high school with a 3.3 GPA, and made a 22 on the ACT. I got a D in a math class i took first semester at MTSU, but still managed to keep my GPA above a 2.0. This semester, I'm doing really well and have good grades in every class, which will definetely raise my GPA. I REALLY wanna get in to utk! Do you think i have a chance?

One of my players keeps getting his lunch stolen! We got a picture of the theif from the security cameras.

Apparently this guy is hiding in the bushes outside my player's house too. Anyone with information leading to the capture of this tyrant will be rewarded heavily.

Do you know where he is?

blogs.menupages.com/sanfrancisco/…

That guy is very brave stealing food from JaMarcus.

I'd say avoid the situation and cut the players and get better ones. Maybe they could be talented, just maybe.

That's the Hamburglar and this joke cracks me up.

The Hamburglar knows where to look.

Be careful Al. you don't know who you're messing with. this guy is hardcore OG. Check it out:

media.photobucket.com/image/hambu…

He just wants a big Mac and since Jamarcus moved west they have been out of stock at the local McDonalds. Give him one and he will go away quietly.

Supporters of same-sex marriage have a new and unexpectedadvocate: Ken Mehlman, a former chairman of the Republican NationalCommittee and manager of President George W. Bush’s 2004re-election campaign.

Mehlman, now a private citizen and businessman, disclosed that heis gay in an article published online Wednesday in the Atlantic. Hesaid he plans to participate in a fundraiser next month for theAmerican Foundation for Equal Rights, which supports legalizingsame-sex marriage.

“It’s something I wish I had come to terms with earlier,” Mehlmansaid by phone Thursday. “It has made me a happier and betterperson. But I wish I had had the courage to have spoken outearlier.”

Mehlman, who enjoyed a remarkable rise in Republican politics, isamong the most prominent officials in the party to say that he isgay. His is an announcement of the most personal nature and yet onewith potential political implications – and one that is drawingcharges of hypocrisy from his critics.

Mehlman said he only recently accepted that he is gay. Askedwhether he would have been able to accomplish what he did in theparty had he come out then, he demurred. “I’m not going tospeculate on that,” he said. “I don’t know the answer tothat.”

The disclosure comes at a time of heightened debate about same-sexmarriage, resulting in part from a federal court decision thatoverturned California’s voter-approved ban on such unions, and amidevidence of shifting attitudes that over time could put theRepublican Party on the wrong side of public opinion.

Views on the issue have changed dramatically in the past fiveyears, and although there is majority support for same-sex marriagein only a handful of states, attitudes nationwide continue to shiftin the direction of greater tolerance on matters of sexualorientation and same-sex marriage. There is also a sizablegeneration gap on the topic, with younger voters far more likely toaccept and endorse same-sex marriage than older voters.

As party chairman, Mehlman worked to broaden the base of theRepublican Party, particularly by trying to attract more AfricanAmericans. He went so far as to condemn the party’s infamous“Southern strategy” under Richard M. Nixon, an explicit effort touse racial divisions to peel white voters from the Democratic Partyin the South.

“I tried hard to expand the party into new neighborhoods,” Mehlmansaid. He now wishes the gay community had been among them, hesaid.

The immediate reaction to Mehlman’s announcement was generallysympathetic. He said Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, whom hetold before he went public with the news, responded in a“wonderful” way. Other Republican friends have been similarlyunderstanding, even those who disagree with his position onsame-sex marriage, he said.

Mehlman was the target of criticism on some gay-related blogsThursday, but gay rights organizations generally welcomed hisstatement. “What’s important is that Ken has joined the fight andis willing to lend his considerable talent and influence to advanceequality,” Michael Cole, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign,said in a statement. “While the past cannot be overlooked, ourfuture is far more important and with more and more people like Kenjoining our movement that future holds great promise.”

After graduating from Harvard Law School, where he was a classmateof Barack Obama’s, Mehlman joined Bush’s 2000 presidential campaignand was dispatched to Iowa. There he quickly proved his mettle asone of the sharpest and most energetic political talents in theBush orbit – and one well-liked by his colleagues.

When Bush entered the White House, Mehlman followed as politicaldirector. Because of his political smarts and leadership skills, hewas tapped to run the reelection campaign, part of a seniormanagement team led by Karl Rove. the campaign adopted a strategyof seizing on state ballot initiatives opposing same-sex marriageto help mobilize and turn out conservative voters.

After Bush’s re-election, Mehlman became RNC chairman. He was 38.He left after the 2006 midterms, in which his party took a beating,to join a law firm and later moved to his current job, the privateequity firm KKR.

For the past two years, he has stayed out of politics and out ofthe public eye. Unlike many who leave high-level political jobs, hehas avoided becoming a pundit. in that time and with that space, hesaid, he began to accept his sexual orientation. a friend said thatuntil Mehlman left politics, he was so focused on his work, onsupporting the Bush agenda and on leading the party that he “neverstopped for self-reflection.”

One person close to Mehlman who spoke on the condition of anonymityto talk candidly said the former party leader knows that somecritics will accuse him of hypocrisy for what happened on hiswatch. “It’s something he’s not comfortable with or happy about,”the friend said. “As he said, he can’t rewrite history at thispoint. It’s something he has regret about.”

Vin Weber, a Republican former congressman from Minnesota, saidthere is a reasonable response to the suggestion that Mehlman hasbeen hypocritical: He worked for a president who had a view on theissue of same-sex marriage, and Mehlman’s job was to implement thepolicies and strategies of the president he served, “regardless ofhis own views.”

Republican strategists said Mehlman’s disclosure is unlikely toprompt the GOP to rethink its platform. “I don’t think there’sgoing to be a rush to change the views of the party on thoseissues,” Weber said. But he added that it should remind Republicansthat there is a constituency of gay Americans who hold conservativeviews on many issues.

GOP leaders have been muted in their response to the Proposition 8decision in California, showing little interest in injectingsame-sex marriage into the midterm elections this fall. the legalbattle is now making its way toward a possible Supreme Courtconfrontation, perhaps in the middle of the 2012 presidentialcampaign. Some strategists think that, depending on how the highcourt rules, the issue could once again become a political flashpoint with uncertain effects.

Some prominent Republicans have broken with their party on theissue, among them Laura Bush; former vice president Richard B.Cheney; strategist Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain’s 2008presidential campaign; and McCain’s daughter Meghan.

But the issue conflicts both parties, said Ed Gillespie, whopreceded Mehlman as RNC chairman and who opposes same-sex marriage.“Interestingly enough,” he said, “I’m aligned with President Obamaand his position, and Ken is aligned with Vice President Cheney andhis position. it doesn’t break cleanly along party lines.”

Mehlman was asked whether he thinks his statement this week willchange views in the Republican Party. He said he will leave thatquestion to others. “I’m not a political prognosticator anymore,”he said.

I am a member on Quizilla (SendItOn, if it matters) and I turned on the function that allows people to comment on your creations. but no one knows how to do it! Does anyone here know how to?

The International Bank of Commerce (IBC Bank) is a state chartered bank that has its headquarters in Laredo, Texas. It is one of the largest banks in the state of Texas and it is also one of the leading financial holding companies in the country. this bank got its start in 1966 and has been going strong ever since. It is the 98th largest bank in the United States according to asset size. It is also the largest minority-owned bank in the U.S. the IBC has a motto which is, “We do more.”

The IBC Bank was originally started in order to help small businesses. It has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. Today it is the flagship bank of International Bancshares Corporation. Since it first opened its doors in 1966, the assets of the bank have grown from one million to over $10.9 billion. the IBC now serves over 90 communities scattered throughout the states of Texas and Oklahoma. It boasts over 250 branches and has more than 380 ATM’s strategically placed for customers to use at their convenience.

This bank has its share of accounts. let us take a look at a few of the IBC accounts that await you when you decide to bank with this financial establishment.

There are selections of personal banking accounts that are suitable for current customers of IBC. These accounts would also be appropriate for potential customers as well. the bank has both the needs and the wants of customers in mind. some examples of IBC personal banking accounts include the personal checking account, the savings and investing accounts, the loans and credit account and the personal insurance facility.

The personal checking account option at the IBC Bank can be further subdivided into a variety of categories. These include the personal free checking account, the personal great value checking account and the personal interest checking account. Take a close look at what each one of these checking accounts has to offer you before making your selection.

If you decide to start an IBC personal free checking account then you must have at least $50 in order to start the account. You can apply to have overdraft protection with this account if you feel it would be beneficial to you. As an introductory offer you will be sent 50 checks without having to pay any extra amount of money. Another feature you receive without being charged an extra fee is an unlimited amount of transactions. however an inquiry about your account by way of the telephone will cost you a small nominal fee.

just like the fantasy football draft is better than fantasy football itself, the announcement of the cast of Dancing with the Stars is the highlight of the Dancing with the Stars season. Each year producers tinker with their participants to formulate a well-rounded cast and this year’s stable of dancers is being called its best yet.

Indeed, there are less “no names” on this year’s roster and a good combination of fading stars and up-and-coming pseudo celebs. Producers also realized that hiring contestants with professional dance training is probably a bad idea (exhibit A: last year’s champ Nicole Scherzinger). Gee, ya think?

without further ado, here’s your cast of this year’s edition of Dancing with the Stars, and some stupid commentary on each contestant.

Michael Bolton, singer. who would you rather have dinner with: Michael Bolton or Kenny G.? Kenny G. all the way.

Brandy, R&B singer and actress. not quite as dance-y as previous R&B singers on DWTS. Once killed someone with her car.

Margaret Cho, Korean-American comedienne. She’s lost a lot of weight. According to Wikipedia, she is active in the BDSM lifestyle, which means I need to scrub my brain with a Brillo pad in order to get that image out of my head.

Rick Fox, former NBA player. Fox is somehow dating Eliza Dushku. Dated Vanessa Williams in her prime. If the horizontal lambada is featured in the show this year, my money is on him.

Jennifer Grey, star of Dirty Dancing. She may seem like a frontrunner in the competition based on her movie role, but she had a much different center of balance back then when she had her real nose.

David Hasselhoff, star of Baywatch. loves cheeseburgers.

Florence Henderson, Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch. She had sex with her TV son.

Kyle Massey, star of Disney’s Cory in the House. I have no dirt on this guy, but give it some time. I’m sure he’s done something shady.

Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin and teen-abstinence hypocrite. There’s nothing I can say that would be any worse for her than anything she would say herself.

Audrina Patridge, star of The Hills. She’s 50 percent plastic and 50 percent robot.

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, star of Jersey Shore. I don’t know why, but I am totally rooting for him. He’s got ABS OF DEATH!

Kurt Warner, former NFL MVP quarterback. loves to leave himself open to the blindside sack. His wife had a much-needed makeover and he has seven children. Seven! Is Jesus’ number-one fan.

Who do you think will win, and who do you want to win?

Dancing with the Stars premieres September 20 on ABC.

Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom

Alabama is on top of the college football world… until September 4 when the 2010 season kicks off. that is exactly how Nick Saban wants it, having a hungry team ready to not defend, but win again. How has the focus been for the Tide in the off season?

Can Mark Ingram become just the 2nd back-to-back Heisman winner?

Could the defense possibly be better after losing so many starters from last season? to find out the answers to these and other questions, I contacted Roll ‘Bama Roll for their insight on the Crimson Tide. Q: take out the great players. what do you think makes Nick Saban such a good coach?A: first, we probably ought to define the term “great players” as it pertains to Saban. We’ve all crowed about all the flashy stars next to the names of the most recent recruiting classes, but a lot of them have yet to even see the field despite being arguably better, at least on paper, than the guys getting the snaps.take Eryk Anders and Corey Reamer, two starters on a truly dominant defense last season. Saban himself said he never thought either one of them would have a place on the team, but there they were, and they did it because they worked their butts off to know the schemes and their roles in it.There are guys all over last year’s team with the same story, players who worked hard, bought in, and gave everything they had on every snap, and most of them didn’t even get a sniff from any other major BCS programs coming out of high school. So when we are talking about “great players” where Saban is involved, great has more to do with their character and work ethic than their 40 times and what they can bench.that being said, I don’t know that you can take out the great players and we’d still be talking about how great of a coach Saban is. All the attention to detail, organization, game planning, and just flat immense knowledge of X’s and O’s in the world (which are the things I’m sure you were expecting me to say) won’t do you a lot of good if you don’t have the right kind of players to pull it off. Saban knows this. That’s why he’s so focused on recruiting, and specifically recruiting the kinds of players that fit his schemes and his style of football.A lot of that is measurables. He’s also very aware that whoever he offers a scholarship to has to have the right kind of work ethic, be it at practice or in the film room, and the desire to get better every day so that they can be successful on the field.Q: Will Saban and OC Jim McElwain give QB Greg McElroy more freedom at QB this year to sling the ball around?A: I think they’ll honestly just go with what’s working. Both have expressed a desire to generate more “explosive” plays on offense. Opening up the passing game will be key to that, but both coaches are pretty pragmatic when it comes to the offense and if it’s not there, they aren’t going to force it.I do believe that the passing game has the potential to be more wide open than it was, though, so in that regard I can say that I believe McElroy will be slinging the ball around more this season. He’s got a year under his belt, he showed massive improvement towards the end of the season after a terrible slump. the WR position is getting deeper each year (and that’s not mentioning the RBs out of the backfield and the TEs) so all the ingredients are there.Q: I think Mark Ingram will not win the Heisman again because he will have to split more carries with Trent Richardson. Am I right or wrong?A: You’re probably right that Ingram won’t win it again, but not necessarily because of splitting carries with Richardson. Richardson is going to be a big part of the offense this year, no doubt about it, but if the passing game takes off like we think it will then that takes even more focus off of Ingram.

And let’s face it, if he hadn’t been pretty much the entire offense during an important part of last year’s run, Ingram probably wouldn’t have even sniffed Manhattan/ However, because of his heroics against South Carolina (and then Florida), he was propelled into the Heisman race despite having zero hype at the start of the season and no orchestrated campaign from the university.I mean, Greg McElroy was being talked about as a dark horse candidate before Ingram’s name was even mentioned, so that ought to tell you a little something about how out of left field his winning it was.Q: How healthy is Julio Jones and is there another guy who can step up and replace him if he gets hurt again?A: He’s at 100 percent now and hopefully can stay that way, though he’s had a bit of a hard luck streak on the injury front for the past two years. you wouldn’t have known it by watching him, but in 2008 he managed to play through both a sports hernia and a wrist injury (both were revealed after offseason surgeries). Then last year he was clearly bothered by a nagging knee injury suffered early on against FIU.During that stretch he still played reasonably well, but was clearly not himself, and both Darius Hanks and Marquis Maze stepped up their games to take some of the burden off of him.

Of course, that was also a pretty frustrating stretch for McElroy as well, so we really don’t know what might have been with a seasoned QB spreading the ball around. Hanks and Maze are going to be significant contributors again this year, but I would also think Earl Alexander, Kevin Norwood and Brandon Gibson all have a good chance of getting into the rotation a good bit as well.Q: Alabama lost alot on the o-line after 2008, but played even better in 2009. Which players are going to step up to keep the tradition going?A: James Carpenter (LT), William Vlachos (C), and Barrett Jones (RG) are all back and all had great seasons last year. I’ll single Carpenter out for praise because his ability to come right in from JUCO and fill Andre Smith’s shoes at LT was probably the biggest single key to the o-line’s success last year.

He had his faults (took him a few games to get settled after a string of frustrating holding and false start penalties), but he was a serviceable SEC caliber tackle to begin with and fortunately developed over the course of the season into a more than solid player for us.As for the vacated spots, mammoth recruit D.J. Fluker is getting a look at RT (though there’s been some interesting shuffling the past few days) and by all accounts will likely wind up starting there, and Chance Warmack has effectively locked down the LG spot vacated by All-American Mike Johnson.Warmack is an interesting case since he looked like a monster at RG during spring camp last year before being supplanted by Barrett Jones in the middle of fall camp. that took a lot of people by surprise, but he’s a natural guard and has pretty well been the clear cut front runner at LG since spring camp.Q: who steps up in the NT spot vacated by Mt. [Terrance] Cody and how effective can they be in replacement?A: You’re going to see several players rotating in at NT this season, but the top two are going to be Josh Chapman and Kerry Murphy. Chapman has been Cody’s backup the last two years and he’s a fine NT on his own merits, often replacing Cody in passing situations and just generally providing a little more speed and athleticism from the inside.

I would look for him to be the preferred guy this year against the run, though, and he’ll probably see the most action. Murphy really brings a pass rushing presence in the middle of the line that we just haven’t had without having to move our ends inside and I think gives the coaches a little bit more versatility in their groupings.You’ll also probably see Darrington Sentimore getting in as well. There hasn’t been a lot of talk of him this fall, but he looked good in the spring and is another high motor player like Murphy, so look for him on 3rd and longs.Q: who steps into the departed Rolando McClain’s shoes as the captain of the defense?A: Dont’a Hightower is the signal caller this year after missing most of last season thanks to a horrific knee injury against Arkansas. he was already well on his way to being a dominant force after starting every game as a true freshman, but I think what really speaks most about his leadership and the faith the staff is putting in him was the simple fact he was still learning and trying to help even on crutches.Go back and look at the games from last year, and anytime the camera shows the defense huddled on the sideline he’s right there with the linebackers telling them what he’s seeing from the sidelines.

He’s moved over to Mike from his Will position, and will also put his hand down some as a DE, so he knows the defense. now all we need is for him to show he has the same smarts and ability to get the defense into the right call as quickly as McClain.Q: Where could the potential weak link be on this defense?A: the secondary is giving us nightmares right now. we lost so much to graduation and the NFL. Adding insult to injury (or injury to insult, as it were) we’ve got guys getting banged up left and right all through fall camp. B.J. Scott and Dre Kirkpatrick pretty well have the starting corner spots locked down, and both have all the talent and athleticism in the world.

Unfortunately, neither has any significant game experience.behind them DeMarcus Milliner and John Fulton are highly touted true freshmen, DeQuan Menzie was a coveted JUCO corner, and LSU transfer Phelon Jones is now eligible after sitting a year.

Milliner is already looking like he’s going to be in the mix after enrolling early, but he’s missed the last several practices with an ankle sprain. Menzie injured his hamstring before spring practice even started and wasn’t expected to play this year, but he’s miraculously out on the practice field and by all accounts looking good, even if still a little bothered by the injury. For the most part, the corner situation is at least reasonably manned with significant talent even if it does lack experience.

Safety, on the other hand, is too depressing to even think about. Mark Barron is a super star, but opposite him we have no one.Robby Green is ineligible after a mysterious violation of NCAA rules.

Robert Lester has shown some talent but is far from being as consistent as we’d like.

Kendall Kelly, who moved over to DB from WR in the spring and did a pretty good job of it, just today returned to practice after suffering from dizziness and other “heat related” issues the very first day of fall camp. Even though he could contribute later in the season, he’s missed so much practice that there’s no way he’ll be up to speed enough by the first game.We’re down to walk on Will Lowery getting a lot of quality snaps and Saban saying he’s going to probably play a significant role this season, so if there’s a “potential” weak link, look at the safety position and pray with me that there aren’t any injuries there this season.Q: who are some of the freshman that are likely to contribute?A: I already talked about DeMarcus Milliner at corner, and beyond him a couple of guys that are definitely going to see action are true freshman kickers Cade Foster, Cody Mandell, and Jay Williams.we graduated multi-year starters Leigh Tiffin and P.J. Fitzgerald last year, so we’re looking at platooning our kickers depending on what essentially boils down to Saban’s game time gut feelings. Maybe I should have put that in the ‘weak link’ answer, too. on offense, red-shirt freshman Eddie Lacy is fighting hard to be the no. 3 running back behind Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson.RB coach Burton Burns remarked that he’s a blend of those two. Watching him at A-Day you could see the scary blend of strength and speed that those guys possess. He’s going to be good when he gets a chance, so whenever he does get into the game keep an eye on him.There’s also been some talk that true freshman receivers DeAndrew White and Corey Grant have been turning heads this fall with their speed, but WR is so loaded with experience right now that I just don’t see the staff burning red-shirts on them unless they manage to work their way onto special teams.Q: Describe a successful season. Describe a disappointing one.A: As you know, we are Alabama fans, and Alabama fans can’t consider a season successful unless we win it all. That’s not to say that we will, but as long as I can remember the stated goal of the Crimson Tide is to win championships, both of the league and national variety, and when you have a top program that should always be your aim.So I honestly feel like, for teams like Alabama or Texas or Ohio State or Florida, a season’s success needs to be measured by that standard. Even though nine or 10 wins and a New Year’s Bowl would be considered “successful” by most standards, if it doesn’t include at least a conference title then somewhere along the way the season went off the rails.For us specifically, I would consider, at the least, winning the SEC a successful season (and winning whatever bowl would be nice, too). A disappointing one would be losing more than one regular season game and/or not making it back to Atlanta.Q: what is your prediction for this season?A: I can’t make predictions when it comes to Alabama because I simply cannot pick against the Tide. I do believe we’ll lose a regular season game, though, but I also believe we’ll win the SEC West and play in the championship game again, though.My take on Alabama… I think Nick Saban has a better chance to repeat with this program than he did at LSU. Even a control freak like Saban couldn’t keep the Tigers hungry (much less Les Miles), but in Tuscaloosa I think he has a shot. Offensively, as long as the offensive line is as physical as it has been the last two years they will be fine. having Jones healthy for a season is just a bonus. one concern could be if Greg McElroy gets hurt. Saban has not had a starting QB miss a start due to injury since he got there and that luck has to run out some time.on the defensive side of the ball, the talent level is higher than it was last year, but there will be more of a learning curve. I can see some bumps this year, early on especially, but in the next few years this unit has a chance to be Miami Hurricanes of the 1980s-esque. much has been made of the schedule and the opponents bye weeks. I think more important is the fact Alabama has gone two seasons undefeated in the regular season. Three is very tough in a league as deep as the SEC. I think the Tide will slip up somewhere and it may be before the ‘bye week palooza’ hits. Prediction: 11-1, 1st in SEC West Thanks again to Roll ‘Bama Roll for their insight.

This article is also featured on The ACC and SEC Blog

I bought kronos gyros today and the box said pre-cooked so how do I make them? is the best way to grill them? are there other methods?