Watching practice

Back when practice was open in these parts (which was about three coaches ago), those of us on the beat had a standing rule that said basically "what happens at practice stays at practice until you ask the coach about it."

If you start reporting on stuff like every fight between teammates without asking the coach about it, all that's going to do is get practice closed permanently. But if you see a guy working with the third team when he's been a starter, you might get an answer along the lines of "we've demoted him for disciplinary reasons, but if he does what he's supposed to do, he's got a chance to be the starter again when the season starts."

The internet (where trainers, players' parents and even players can post practice info anonymously) has made it more difficult to operate that way nowadays, but I still think it's the right way to go about things. Am I wrong?

 

Yeah. Because the Internet, where space is infinite and blogs are thrust upon us, is where those morsels of information belong.

 

Yeah, you've really got to be careful with perspective in spring practice. And injuries, unless they're season-threatening, just aren't a big deal. So the senior safety sprained his ankle and will miss four practices? So what? Will he be ready for the opener? That's all that matters.

 

Don't you hate it when the practice uniforms don't have the same numbers as the game jerseys. Like the OT who wears #75 on game day wears #49 at practice.

And with the helmets on, it's darn near impossible to tell who is who out there.

 

That's one of the great things about covering Alabama. Numbers on the helmets (though, as you said, they don't always match).