The Alabama softball team has been picked to win the West this season. No surprise since the ladies have dominated the West and the SEC over the past few years.

The Alabama gymnast have a 3-0 record and are ranked 6th in the country, but they are No. 1 in the vault. Leading the way is junior Ashley Sledge who is the No. 1 gymnast in the country on the vault. Senior Geralen Stack-Eaton is second in the country behind Sledge.

Homecoming on the Capstone is October 27th against Mississippi State.

“They really came hard after him the last 48 hours,” said Stanley Pritchett, Taylor’s high school coach. “

“Kentucky really put the full court press on him. He can play early there because they need running backs. Kentucky runs a pro-style offense and he feels very comfortable there with those coaches, especially Tee Martin.”

Taylor and his family were reportedly were not happy that he would be gray shirted because he thought he’d be part of this year’s class, so it’s not that surprising that he changed his commitment, but according to a story on ESPN.com, he thought long and hard before he changed his mind.

But first the coach had these opening remarks: "We started out w/ a goal of explosive players on offense and felt good about the guys we were able to attract."

Then Saban went off for a few minutes about the new SEC over signing rule.

“We took away some opportunities from players who wanted to come here because of the 25 limit.”

“It was more difficult to manage, to hit the exact number, said Saban." "We couldn't send out too many scholarships on a maybe because of the new rule.”

The coach also said he resents people thinking that coaches don’t have the best interest of the player and he basically ended his press conference speaking briefly on the Ladon Collins signing saying he hopes everyone around him will support his decision.

I don’t blame the coach for being a little upset, the media has seem to have made him the poster child for over siging players, but despite that, it hasn’t hurt him at all which tells you what kind of coach he is and the type of program he runs.

RTR!

In the Izzy Gould article, we find out that the "job" that was alleged was actually a hostess position.

"There's accusations saying (Annette's) going to hand feed Landon to Saban and that basically my son is following her daughter, which is a lie," Justin said. "Since his junior year, when we first visited, we fell in love with the (Alabama) campus.

"Furthermore, there was an accusation saying she has a job for an internship. It's not a job. It's an intern in his office."

Annette is Annette Jackson-Lowery which is Collins' girlfriend momma who use to work at LSU.

It sounds like there is a power struggle between Collins' mom and his girlfriend. Momma wants him at LSU for some reason which we'll never know and he wants to attend Bama with his girlfriend.

Landon Collins has said he has been interested in Bama for the last two years way before his girlfriend or her mother became involved in this process. It's his mother who has been pushing LSU down his throat.

But isn't it interesting how Collins' mother all of sudden has a change of heart and will support her son tomorrow. Wonder if she got a call from someone in Baton Rouge telling her to let this situation go before she screws it up for herself and her son.

I know fans are excited as you should be, I am because a top recruiting class equals success. Nick Saban’s 2008 class included Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Courtney Upshaw just to name a few and I’m not mistaken, the 2008 class was No. 1 in the country too.

That class won 45 games, two national championships and one SEC championship. To say that was one of the best recruiting classes ever, would be an understatement.

But the thing that worries me is sometimes the fans reaction when they don’t get the player they wanted and the young men themselves who take their recruitment too seriously.

Fans that “stalk” and harass kids on social networks are the worst. I remember last year when Brent Calloway decided to switch back to Alabama after he had chosen Auburn. The nasty comments he received from AU fans were pitiful; this was an 18-year old who just changed his mind.

I also remember the controversy surrounding his recruitment and how an AU blogger tried to say Alabama had cheated to get him which was never proven and the blogger never apologized either.

Then there are the kids themselves who at times get over exposed. No wonder some of these kids get the big head when ESPN puts pressure on them to sign on national TV so they make a show out of it and in some cases, so do their parents.

This is a big day and should be a big day, but at times it seems like we lose prospective on what it’s really all about; schools taking chances on a bunch of 17 and 18-year olds.

What do you think? Comment below!

ESPN, Rivals, Maxpreps had the Tide No. 1 and Scout had the Tide at No. 2. While Bama lost out on running back Justin Taylor who decided not to grey shirt and go to Kentucky, they did land names like Cyrus Jones, Geno Smith, and as expected Landon Collins who also signed his letter of intent.

Unlike when he made his announcement to attend Bama a few months ago, his mother sat next to him and actually hug him after he signed the papers.

Other SEC teams that finished in the top 10 behind Bama were Georgia, Florida and LSU.

Auburn finished somewhere near the middle or bottom of their the top 25 if you believe most experts.

Here is a list of Tide commitments:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/alabama/football/recruiting/commitments/2012

This weekend, HBO presented their new documentary "Namath" about the life of former Tide quarterback and NFL icon Joe Namath.

The story follows Namath as he gets ready for a celebration his hometown of Beaver Falls, PA. is having in his honor.

The documentary examines Namath's humble beginnings back in Beaver Falls and how athletics became his life. Namath started out as a great baseball player, but of course as we all know, he would turn to football later in his high school career.

Namath was going to play football at Maryland, but because he didn't score high enough on his college examines, the Maryland coaching staff called Coach Bryant and told him about Namath and that's how he ended up in Tuscaloosa.

Later of course, he would be drafted by the New York Jets and lead them to the 1969 Super Bowl. The documentary also looks at Namath's personal life including his father leaving his family when he was young, the break up of his marriage and his drinking problems over the years.

It's a touching and at times sad portrait of the man we still all know and love as Broadway Joe. Check your local listings for show times.

How bad does April Justin want her son to attend LSU? So much so that apparently she is saying that Nick Saban violated an NCAA rule.

Justin, who is the mother of Tide recruit Landon Collins, says that Saban offer Collin's girlfriend Victoria Lowery a job in his office which would be an NCAA violation.

Apparently, Lowery and Justin got into a fight over Collins' selection to attend Alabama. Another thing to keep in mind, Collins stays with his dad and step mom and not his mother.

Brooke de Lench who wrote this story for Momsteam.com said she was unable to confirm the allegations and cited University of Alabama Associate Athletics Director Doug Walker, who said in an email to de Lench that Alabama "would not comment on anything relating to the recruitment of a prospective student-athlete." Asked if Collins' girlfriend had been offered a job, Walker stated, "I have no information regarding that."

Ok, so you have to ask yourself what is in it for Justin if her son goes to LSU? This sounds more then just love of LSU and you have to wonder if LSU is offering Justin something if her son goes to LSU.

Not only has she been insistant that her son attend LSU, but has fought his girlfriend over his decision. It just sounds fishy all around and wouldn't be shocked me if Justin has a deal on the table herself for her son's services. We'll keep you posted.

As mentioned last this week, junior wide receiver Raheem Falkins out of Louisiana committed to the Tide this weekend and so did two other juniors as well. North Little Rock (Ark.) running back Altee Tenpenny and Fultondale (Ala.) athlete ArDarius Stewart.

According to Tide beat reporter Izzy Gould, all three visited the campus this weekend and decided to go ahead and make their committment to next year's class.

Falkins caught 53 passes for nearly 900 yards, Tenpenny had 15 touchdowns and 1200 yards last year and Stewart ran for 2,188 yards and 30 touchdowns. He also passed for more than 1,400 yards. Defensively, he had 48 tackles and three interceptions including one returned for a touchdown.

Stewart, who has always been a Bama fan, told the Birmingham News when he was offered a scholarship Saturday night, he jumped at the chance.

The Tide so far has 7 committments for the 2013 class.

It was do or die for the Tide Saturday as they faced their nemsis the Arkansas Razorbacks and this time, the Tide came through. Bama defeated the Hogs 72-66 to end their four game losing streak.

Trevor Releford (18 points), JaMychal Green (14 points) and Tony Mitchell (11 points) all came through for the Tide yesterday. Mitchell still struggled at times from the floor, but came up big defensively throughout the game. Despite shooting poorly from the three-point line, the Tide did shoot 50 percent for the game.

Another factor in the game was the play of Andrew Steele who also added 11 points.

"I think we took advantage of the way they wanted to guard us a lot of things," Steele said. "I think our will to win was a lot greater than it has been in the past. You can tell in our eyes that we were not going to give up because we needed that one."

The Tide also converted on 80 percent of their free throws (20-25) when they needed to shut the door on a Hogs comeback.

Bama coach Anthony Grant who was highly critical of his players after their loss to South Carolina, was pleased that his players played with a little bit more intensity.

"We had guys who really stepped up and really brought the fight," he said. "They were intent on getting stops and understood from an offensive standpoint we needed to be aggressive and attack and handled the pressure well. That's ultimately what you want to see."

Unlike the last few games when it seems like only the underclassman came to play, the Tide's seniors and juniors finally came to play and showed why they will be factor down the stretch in the SEC.

The Tide's next game will be next Saturday at home against Ole Miss.