Sports
Birmingham News columnist Ray Melick talks about voting in the Harris Poll. Our weekly Birmingham News Sports Podcast, Edition 5, is now available to listen and download. This week Birmingham News sports reporters Ray Melick and Jon Solomon discuss: No. 3 Alabama, which opens the SEC against an Arkansas team that ranks second nationally in pass efficiency. Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said this week, "They’re a good offense and they score a lot of points, but they haven’t played us." We have seen Alabama’s secondary struggle at times against passing offenses, such as Utah in the Sugar Bowl a year ago. Could this be a case of Rolando getting ahead of himself? Auburn, which had a come-from-behind shootout win over West Virginia last week, plays a bad Ball State team this week. We've got to be impressed first with Auburn’s ability to come back for two different reasons: 1) A year ago, Auburn probably would have quit down 14-0. And, 2) A year ago, Chris Todd wouldn’t have been able to pass like that when a defense stacked against the run. Polls. Ray Melick is a Harris Poll voter. The first poll comes out after this week’s games. Does Ray believe the preseason poll has too great an influence on the season? We want your questions to read on the air (keep them clean and smart). Got a question about your favorite team, or why we wrote in the paper what we wrote? Send your questions to jsolomon@bhamnews.com. Download: Birmingham News Sports Podcast 092409.mp3