With the news of Milton Talbert and Taylor Pharr having been placed on a medical hardship scholarship, it is time to take a look at where Bama stands in regards to the NCAA limit of 85 football scholarships.

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Seniors Taylor Pharr and Milton Talbert have been placed on medical hardship scholarships, effectively ending their football careers at Alabama. Pharr has suffered from concussions, while Talbert spent all of the spring in a black no contact jersey due to an undisclosed injury.

We'll have a full scholarship numbers update coming soon, but by my current count, Bama is currently two or three scholarships over the limit. We'll go into more details in the upcoming post.

If you are a veteran here at the BSR, then you'll know that my knowledge of offensive line play leaves a lot to be desired. At least I'll admit it. What I do know is that many smart football people will tell you that the second most important position on any offense - behind the quarterback - is the left tackle. As Coach Saban's movie told us, protecting the quarterback's "blindside" is a rather important thing. All kidding aside, the contracts signed by guys like Jake Long, Andre Smith, and Michael Oher tells me all I need to know... an offense is only going to go as far as its left tackle will take it. And last time I checked, Alabama won the 2009 National Championship. That must meen something good about Bama's left tackle.

James Carpenter - 6-5 - 300 lbs - Augusta, GA - Hephzibah High School

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University of Alabama freshman Kirani James won the NCAA Championship in the men's 400-meter dash. James, a 17 year old from Grenada, is the first Alabama track athlete to ever win the 400-meter dash. His time of 45.05 was just .04 off of his personal best and the UA record. He is currently ranked among the world's five fastest 400-meter runners, and at just 17 years old, looks to be a strong medal contender for the 2012 Olympics in London. He also has three more years to compete for the Tide, and there might be another national title or two in his future at Bama.

Congratulations Kirani James!

In the next 48 hours, the landscape of college football will change forever.

Obviously, conference expansion/contraction/implosion is first and foremost on every fan's mind. But the USC sanctions offer nearly as giant a change. Let's look at both these huge seismic events and how they'll change the future for the Tide in detail.

First, and most obviously, the face (and names) of the other major conferences are about to change radically. Colorado cranked it up this morning, and Nebraska will finish off the old Big 12 tomorrow. Yes, folks, the Big 12 is officially dead. Colorado will move to the Pac-10 (ostensibly to be renamed), and Nebraska will bolt for the Big 10 (ditto, but since they're already 11, who knows). None of this happens for next season - we're talking 2011 at the earliest - but it obviously starts the dominoes falling. And once they start falling, there's no telling what will happen. But it's gonna be interesting... no comments

It's time to start taking a look at Bama's football players again. As has been the case in past years, I'll start with the seniors, and gradually make my way down through the classes. That will culminate with a look at the incoming guys after they've had a practice or two at the Capstone.

Up first in the senior class:

Earl Alexander - WR - 6-4 - 212 - Phenix City, AL - Central High School

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Well, sort of. I've been short of time of late, but I did manage to pound out a few words for the guys a Linebacker U. They're a really good Penn State blog that we'll be pestering with questions in the fall.

We really haven't abandoned you guys here - it's just been crazy busy. But there's been plenty going on around the Capstone as well. The crushing Hawaii loss for the softball team was, well, crushing. It was a serious gut punch. Just took all the wind out of the sails immediately. Pat Murphy and the ladies had a great season though - just run headlong into a bit of a juggernaut in Hawaii.

And the men's baseball team has a chance to advance to the super-regional with a win at Georgia Tech tonight. The first pitch tonight is at 6:00, and we'll be watching closely rooting for our boys in Crimson who have put together a fantastic late season run. Hopefully, they can win another to survive and advance.

Roll Tide!

It's been a little while since we had an all-sports wrap-up on the BSR, but I'll try my best to catch up on all of Bama's teams.

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In a move that surprised absolutely no one, quarterback Star Jackson has left the Alabama football team. He's leaving under good terms, and Nick Saban has said that he and the Bama staff are attempting to help Star find the right place to go. The simple fact is that he is, at best third on the Tide depth chart at quarterback. And one of the guys ahead of him is a redshirt freshman (A.J. McCarron). Star is a smart guy, and he's probably aware that the guy nipping at his heels for the third spot is a true freshman (Phillip Sims).

While there might be a tendancy to shrug off the loss of a reserve quarterback, what this move does is limit the possibility that Bama can redshirt Phillip Sims. There's no guarantee that the staff had plans to redshirt him anyway, nor is there any guarantee that he'll have to play now. If the Tide can avoid major injuries at the quarterback position, then Sims should be able to redshirt. If Bama isn't able to avoid injury, he might have to play.

The other effect that this could have is on the Tide's ability to prepare for its opponents. With McCarron now running with the second team, Jackson would have likely spent some time running the scout team. Between Sims, Morgan Ogilvie, and a bevy of other walk-on quarterbacks, Bama will still have enough guys to prepare. But Jackson's overall talent would have benefited the team more in prep work than a walk-on. And that will be a tangible loss for the team that they will see much moreso than any of us.

Sorry for the long lay off. Work has been a bit of a bear for all of us recently, but we're hoping to be up and going again here very soon.

It was, as you probably know by now, a great NFL Draft weekend for members of the National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide. Seven Tiders were taken over the three day event. Everyone here at the BSR hopes the best for the guys, and we're sure all the Bama fans out there reading feel the same.

But how about the teams that drafted our former favorites? How do the seven (and Alabama's undrafted free agents) fit into what these teams are doing? We take a closer look by looking around the Internet at the reaction to the picks.

Let's get after it.

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