Now this hurts ...

If you don't live in Tuscaloosa you'll probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but I've been told that Strip Teas & Coffee on The Strip will be closing this weekend.

This news was almost as upsetting to me as the way my Vikings lost to the Saints on Sunday (FYI, I'm very happy for Roman Harper and Darren Sharper, though).

Basically, ST&C is where I wrote all of my daily practice reports, a lot of my features, and well, a significant part of my books. When I used to work for another organization in town I affectionately called this both the Downtown Bureau, and my "hiding spot."

I love everything about it, including the atmosphere, coffee and food (but not the parking - that's been awful). So this week I'll be saying goodbye to old friend, and some of you will probably be doing the same.

The perils of covering a championship run

It's been roughly a week since I returned from Pasadena, and I still have yet to recover. Not only was it one of most exhausting experiences of my life, but things haven't let up yet (coaching comings and goings, etc.) and there have been some extremely late nights to revamp and update all the software on my computers.

Yeah, that upgrade software for Windows 7 worked so well I had to buy the total package version for roughly $200. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

So while Alabama is holding its championship celebration at Bryant-Denny Stadium today, I have another example of how seriously people in the South take college football: While the rest of the nation was focused and horrified by the Haiti earthquake this week, everyone I know has been talking almost non-stop about Lane Kiffin leaving Tennessee and what a *expletive* he is.

On the hopefully good news front, I'll be having some interesting discussions next week about the potential future of the Huddle Up series. Yes, it still has a pulse.