While I was there, I went to a football game. Let's chat about it, shall we?

Happey Veteran's Day to all of you out there who have served, or who currently are serving, in our nation's military.

The Alabama football team had its final "open" practice of the week on Wednesday afternoon, and the weather in Tuscaloosa cooperated enough to allow the team to practice outside. Once again in full pads, the practice continued to be high intensity.

Here's what you need to know:

I could go into a deep analysis of the game in an attempt to explain why Alabama didn't look particularly good against Augusta State on Tuesday night. But really, it's easier to just let Coach Grant sum it up...

Despite the fact that the state media appears as though they would prefer to continue talking about the "interception" in the LSU game, the Alabama football team has moved on to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Practice #2 of the week was held today, and

Here's what you need to know:

The SEC Western Division Champion Alabama football team hit the practice field in Tuscaloosa this afternoon in preparation for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. As is the custom on Monday, the squad practiced in shells.

Here's what you need to know;

I'd like to take a few pot-shots at the lazy, unprincipled media by way of a follow-up on nxojkt's excellent post on the phantom interception replay in the LSU game.

What was so excellent about nxojkt's post?  Simply that he adhered to the journalistic ethic by gathering a clue of what he was talking about before throwing his ideas out to the wind.  Apparently he's the only one.

There's been entirely too much talk in the hours since Alabama finished off LSU 24-15 about a potential interception for LSU that was ruled an incomplete pass.

I'll admit that on the first replay, I also thought it was an interception. And you know what? I was wrong.

We'll have more coverage later, but for now, celebrate the following:

• Alabama is the 2009 SEC Western Division Champions!
• Alabama is 9-0 and still controls its destiny for the National Championship.
• The Tide beat LSU at home for the first time since 1999.
• Mark Ingram bolstered his Heisman campaign with 144 yards rushing and 30 yards receiving.
• Julio Jones had a 100 yard receiving day for the first time this season.

Yes, we picked last week. What - you didn't see the post? Must be something wrong with your eyes...

OK, maybe I took a bye week on posting them too. But, we're back this week. And, if you need something to get you fired up for today's game, I have two suggestions for you. First, check your pulse. It's Alabama-LSU, and this game is effectively a national championship quarterfinal. Mark Ingram has a chance to be Alabama's first Heisman Trophy winner, and a big game on a national stage could make all the difference. Also, it's LSU - and they smell like corn dogs.

But if all that's not enough, check out this highlight from last year's game. Especially the opening seconds. If Saban telling the players to go out and "make their ass quit" doesn't spark something, you sir/madam are a corpse. See a doctor.

One last housekeeping note - it seems only appropriate that we have a new Bloguin sibling today, and it's a blog called SEC Rivals. These guys are doing good stuff - check them out when you can.

On to the results and picks:

There is every reason to suspect that Alabama’s decent offense is going to grind out a moderate amount of yardage against LSU’s good-but-not-great defense. So the part of the game I am most interested in seeing is the part where the Bayouxiacs have the ball.