The Tuscaloosa News is in the house. Myself, our online guru Chris Rattey, photog Michael Palmer and multimedia producer Sean Shore made the early-morning trip to Hoover, and we're sitting front row. ESE Tommy Deas, Cecil Hurt and Chris Walsh will also be in attendance. TideSports has got you covered on the madness that marks the three-day event.

I'll be blogging about interesting things and writing mini-stories for Tide Live so check there for content.

If you have any questions please feel free to fire away. Away we go....

Brief review of rule changes for this season.

Five-yard face mask foul eliminated - Foul is only for twisting, turning or pulling. (Personal foul, 15-yard penalty).

Horse-Collar Tackle - All players are prohibited from grabbing the inside of the shoulder pads or jersey, and immediately pulling the runner down. This does not apply to a runner whi is inside the tackle box or to a quarterback who is in the pocket. (Personal foul, 15-yard penalty).

Ball carrier/ball out of bounds - Clock stops when ball carrier, fumble, or backward pass goes out of bounds and starts on the referee's signal, except that in the last two minutes of each half, the clock starts on the snap.

2008 SEC Football Report Dates

First Day of practice
Alabama - Aug. 1
Arkansas - Aug. 4
Auburn - Aug. 2
Florida - Aug. 4
Georgia - Aug. 4
Kentucky - Aug. 5
LSU - Aug. 4
Ole Miss - Aug. 4
Miss. St. - Aug. 3
South Carolina - Aug. 1
Tennessee - Aug. 2
Vanderbilt - July 31

2008 Alabama College Football Preview

Sportsouth
Aug. 10 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 12 6 p.m.
Aug. 13 10 a.m.
Aug. 13 4 p.m.
Aug. 13 10 p.m.
Aug. 16 6 p.m.

FSN
Aug. 8 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 10 Noon

What time does ole Sly step up to the podium?? I want to know what he has to say..

Sly Croom bulldogs his way to the podium anywhere from 1:10-3:10. Each coach will spend different time in each room (writers, internet, television).

"bulldogs his way"....HAHAHA

I figured you would get a kick out of that.

Mike Slive will kick off the event with a state of the SEC speech.

There are a couple of hundred media folks milling around the Wynfrey. The commish is getting ready to take the podium.

Nick Saban's not here today, but you wouldn't know it wandering through the lobby.

The unofficial Tim Tebow reception committee is out in full force downstairs at the Wynfrey Hotel. Probably three dozen Gator fans waiting in a long line near the doorway -- the largest gathering of Florida fans in Jefferson County since the SEC Championship Game moved out of Legion Field.

hey, i am up here in Nashville, as usual I am excited about Bama and the upcoming football season.

Is there a live radio feed on the net for media days?

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive opened his remarks with a statement that he had promised five years ago that no league school would be on NCAA probation by this time, and pointed out that the SEC came close. He called out Arkansas for having its track and field program on probation as the only school currentl on the NCAA's list of transgressors.

quote:

Originally posted by ~~Roll Tide Roll~~ Bama Wins:
hey, i am up here in Nashville, as usual I am excited about Bama and the upcoming football season.

Is there a live radio feed on the net for media days?

As far as I know there is not -- the main media room here where we are sitting and where Slive is now talking is for print/internet.

There are TV cameras here and I'm assuming ESPN is carrying this live on one of its networks (anyone out there get The Ocho?).

I also think secsports.com may be providing some kind of streaming video. They have always posted transcripts in a timely fashion in the past.

Good luck finding it, but we'll be running this live blog thread throughout and TideLive on our home page will have quick, short updates after each head coach is finished.

Slive has ticked off a number of facts and figures -- including an all-time high attendance of 6.6 million at SEC football games last season -- touting the league's accomplishments and high points over the last year.

He said a decision on an SEC TV network will be made this fall.

He also updated on the status of a league-wide media policy aimed at getting more access to players and coaches. A workgroup has been assigned to hammer out a policy.

Speaking as a member of the print media, one of our main issues is that we want to be able to talk to any student-athlete who appears in a game, including freshmen. If a coach trusts a player (freshman or otherwise) enough to put him on the football field, he should be able to trust him enough to answer questions about it.

Ultimately, more access for us means more information for you. We can best serve our readers and patrons when we can talk to those who play and coach the game.

sec live video link

http://secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=2&url_...id=&change_well_id=2