Just Vote, People

The kids are asleep, and I've got about an hour til bedtime. If this note strikes a chord with one person, it will be worth it.

Just vote tomorrow. This year we've heard plenty from both sides. God, am I ready for it to be over. If we have to do one more day of pre-election coverage I think I'm going to go nuts. It has been an ugly election season, with candidates taking jabs at each other and going for very low blows.

I'll definitely vote tomorrow. I always vote - I'm 32 and have voted in every election since I registered in college. I even vote at the low-turnout runoffs.

So, that gives me a right to complain, since I vote. I try not to complain too much, though, because we have it pretty darn good, living in America. We enjoy more freedoms here than people in many other countries can imagine.

I don't care who you vote for tomorrow. Just vote. America will survive no matter who wins. And yes, your vote does matter. Alabama's electoral votes may already be all but promised to the red side, but your vote does matter in the local races.

And, we can't wait to take the calls in the newsroom tomorrow -

"Where's my polling precinct?"

"I went to vote, but my name wasn't on the list. I'm outraged! Give me the number for the voter fraud hotline!"

"They said I wasn't registered. I didn't know I had to be registered to vote!"

"Who's running again?"

Yep. We get these over and over on election day! What an interesting day it will be.

See you on the web tomorrow night! Check out WHNT.com for full coverage of Tuesday's races.

I Was Worried...

I am a journalist by trade, so I can't come out and say "I'm a Democrat" or "I'm a Republican" or whatever I am -- so I like to keep people guessing about my political leanings.

This story from the Associated Press today...

Officials say a new fence erected on the Alabama coast appears to be protecting the endangered Alabama red-bellied turtle.

Read more on WHNT.com. According to the experts who keep up with the turtle population, only 19 of these have been born so far this year. I could fit that many in my purse.

The Alabama Department of Transportation put up the low-barrier fence along about three miles of the highway.


Cute little guy... but how much did that fence cost us?


At any rate, I'd rather save him than the ancient Alabama Sturgeon.

Bama is #2, and That's OKAY!

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm not one of those Bama fans who gets caught up in the AP poll ranking. I'm glad we are still at #2 - the #1 thing is a curse. And, yes, I fully expect we'll get screwed out of the national championship game because of the BCS thing.

So, I'm enjoying the Tide's undefeated ride while it lasts. (Setting my expectations low, so that I enjoy the surprises that are still to come.)

All that said, check out this video montage one of our sports guys at WHNT put together this weekend. It aired on our college football show, "The Game". The Saban clips are what make it for me.

ROLL TIDE!

Bama Gets Ugly Win, But Cute New Cheerleader

Joey and I took Elena to her first Alabama game this past weekend. The Tide played Kentucky, and thank goodness, got the win, 17-14. Not a pretty game, and super hot - but look at Alabama's newest cheerleader!

Here we are with the famous Denny Chimes in the background. Do you like her cheerleader uniform? I got it just for this occasion. I was never a cheerleader myself (big shock there) but I think she looks pretty adorable.

Here we are at the game.. early on, before she got fed up with sitting down for several hours. The second half was long, hot and brutal, but we made it. I don't know the lady who sat in front of us, but I thanked her repeatedly for not getting too mad when Elena kicked her, (repeatedly).

Here's Elena enjoying the inflatable games on the Quad before kickoff.

And Joey with his little princess.

My aunt Nancy and uncle Gary kept Nick for us while we took Elena on this special outing. It took alot of energy -- Joey said this morning we may not do it again for 4 or 5 more years. :)

This Election is Stressing Me Out

Man, am I ready for October 7 to come and go (municipal election day). Moreso, though, November 4 can't get here fast enough (or, should I say, November 5).

I'm not going to be one of those journalists who tells you who I'm going to vote for - that's not my job, and it's unprofessional. Too many media people do that these days.

I'll leave it at this -- my mind is made up, and it's an easy choice for me on each of the races (presidential, congressional, and mayoral).

I will say all the news coverage is stressing me out. Campaigns are nasty this year. Candidates may say they're going to keep on the "high road" but that went out the window months ago for a few of them. They'll do anything it takes to win these days.

Whoever you vote for - just vote. Get registered now. Don't put it off. And don't whine when you have to wait in line for a few minutes (or more) on election day. Don't let that discourage you from voting, either. It's a beautiful thing to see the polls packed on election day. It means people want change, and they're willing to do something about it.

And no, I didn't give away my presidential choice there. Aren't both candidates preaching that these days?

New Picture of Nick

Here's a new picture of our son, Nicholas Joseph Aiello ("Nick"). He's almost 4 months old now!
No, he's not named after Nick Saban. Joey and I just both like the name. More pics soon.. I've got my digital camera back, thank God.

Who's the Man? Saban's the Man!

Today, another post about why I love Nick Saban. No, not because he led the Crimson Tide to victory this past weekend over Clemson. That was nice, by the way.

I love that Saban speaks his mind. Namely, he's not afraid to bring fans, alumni and others in the UA establishment back down from Cloud 9 and tell them to chill out.

"It's one game. You know, confidence can screw you up, confidence can be a good thing, but what our players need to understand, what our fans need to understand, what everybody needs to understand, it's one game. It's one game. Alright? And we need to keep playing better, and we need to improve, and our players need to have the focus to improve, and remember how they got where they got, rather than think we can just show up now and think we can beat whoever we play, because we have a tendency to think that way around here, instead of just kicking people's a** like you're supposed to, and working to do it. Alright?"

Then, the clincher... "So when you ask me those kind of questions, it really pi**es me off."

Saban then told the reporter he wasn't ticked off at him for asking it, just the mentality of it.

Watch all of Saban's post-game comments here.

So... did the media listen? Hell no. Look what hits the newstands a few days later:

This isn't going to help one bit. I wish the national sports media would just ignore us till about game 5 or 6 in the season. If we're doing well by then, GREAT.. give us some good coverage.. bring the ESPN College Gameday crew.. but doing this stuff early in the season just sets us up for failure.

Our football fan base has been drooling for another national championship since 1992. And every year, they get their hopes up when we beat a big team early on, and then wonder what happened to our golden run when we lose to a team like Louisiana-Monroe.

I quit getting my hopes up in the late 90s, and ever since then, I've been a realist. It's good to enjoy an Alabama win, but if we don't win every weekend, my life will still go on. We'll live to see another day. The world won't fall apart.

I tell you, though, I don't envy the sports reporters who have to ask Saban questions after the game. That takes courage.

Off the subject, I finally saw "The Dark Knight" this weekend. It rocked.

Peace!