When it's Chizik, it's bad. When it's Saban it's right and brilliant.

[Buzz Killington]

Thanks for clearing that up, Scarbo.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/08/nick_saban_tells_the_truth_sta.html

If Nick Saban were any more secretive about stats, he'd be Gene Chizik
Published: Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 5:30 AM
By Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News al.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Nick Saban could tell you exactly how many passes AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims threw at Saturday's scrimmage and how many they completed.

But then he'd have to kill you. Or at least wound you with a really cutting remark.

If Saban were a Seinfeld character, he'd be the Stats Nazi.

"No stats for you! Come back, one year!"

Actually, if Saban were any more secretive on the subject of quarterbacks and numbers during fall camp, when there's a serious competition for the starting job, he wouldn't be a fictional character.

He'd be Gene Chizik.

The more the head coaches at Alabama and Auburn differ, in tone, approach and choice of wardrobe the day after winning the BCS Championship, the more they resemble that remark.

Saban, who chose a sweater the day after undressing Texas, and Chizik, who went with the leather jacket the morning after distressing Oregon, find themselves in almost exactly the same position at the most important position on the field.

Both coaches are still trying to find a starting quarterback with the opening game less than three weeks away. Toward that end, both of them staged scrimmages Saturday.

Neither of them released the scrimmage stats from their quarterbacks.

Saban handed out a few token numbers from players at other positions - hey, Marquis Maze caught five passes and C.J. Mosley made six tackles - but Chizik didn't even go that far. He didn't give anyone credit in public for making a single tackle or rushing for yard No. 1.

Saban tends to catch all the flak when it comes to keeping it down home, cuz, whatever it is, but that's unfair on this subject in two important ways. First, he's not alone, and second, he's right.

There's an old and famous saying that seems appropriate here. Noted sportswriter Mark Twain may not have coined the phrase, but he made it popular when he said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, darn lies and statistics."

Add a fourth category of falsehood: scrimmage statistics.

Saban made perfect sense Saturday when he explained the reasoning behind keeping his quarterbacks' stats for the day under wraps. He pointed out that those numbers weren't generated under identical circumstances. Sometimes the quarterbacks played behind the starting offensive line. Sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they played against the first-team defense. Other times they didn't.

The scrimmage itself covered everything from 11-on-11 work to 7-on-7, from goal-line situations to the two-minute drill.

Release the numbers, Saban knew, and the media and fans would compare and contrast them because, not being allowed to watch the scrimmage, that's all we'd have to dissect and discuss. And comparison without context is foolish at best.

"I don't want to make this a public controversy," Saban said. "This is something that we're going to handle internally. We're going to handle it internally with the players. They're doing a great job of handling it, and I don't think we need anyone to add to the confusion."

There will be plenty of time for that starting Sept. 3.

The first time McCarron or Sims makes a mistake against Kent State, some people are going to think the coaches made a mistake in choosing the starter. Chizik and his Auburn staff will face the same kind of second-guessing during their opener against Utah State, and it doesn't matter whether Barrett Trotter, Clint Moseley or Kiehl Frazier takes the first shotgun snap.

No coach can stop a quarterback controversy. Unless he chooses the right man for the job.

It's just a little easier to make that decision without the help of armchair sabermetricians during fall camp.

 

Drop a public comment below. Write Kevin at kscarbinsky@bhamnews.com. Follow him at www.Twitter.com/KevinScarbinsky.

[djsimp]

Scarbo sounds bored.

[Snaggletiger]

During my obligatory 5 minutes of Finebung yesterday, some caller asked him if he heard Scarbo on some other radio show, dissin' Sheridan and why he would go on a show like Finedung's.  PF said twice, just as serious as he could be, that Scarbinsky didn't understand how important his show really is.

Important?  It's a damn circus.

[Saniflush]

It is important.  If not for his 3-4 hours a day of on the air antics his show consumes, the women's abuse shelters would be that much more overcrowded.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

with the opening game less than three weeks away.

The best part of the article.