adam feldman blog

BAMA 2009 football season forecast

For the record, I had it wrong last year. BAMA didn't finish the regular season 10-2, but 12-0! What a nice surprise considering the only two losses BAMA had were to the BCS National Champion (Florida) and to the only undefeated team in the league (Utah), finishing 12-2.

Without further ado, my 2009 BAMA football season forecast:

• 9.5 @ Virginia Tech (neutral ground) (W): BAMA (preseason #5) starts off the year with a bang playing V-Tech, preseason #7. The game is on neutral ground--at least, that's what you think. BAMA played two games in the Georgia Dome last year, and lest we forget, Clemson didn't fare so well.
• 9.12 Florida International (W): Back to playing high school teams again. *sigh* At least our "new" quarterback gets some kinks out of his system.
• 9.17 North Texas (W): While its fun to see BAMA rack up the points and get some W's on their score card, it is also frustrating when players get injured playing against lesser known teams. Look for an injury in this game.
• 9.24 Arkansas (W): Ahh... a conference game! This one is close in the first half, but BAMA pulls away in the second half as our defense wears down the Razorbacks.
• 10.3 @ Kentucky (W): Another conference game. This time BAMA is in danger for most of the game. But the Tide rolls in!
• 10.10 @ Ole Miss (W): Okay, okay. What's up with SI and ESPN both saying Ole Miss is going to win the SEC West? They clearly don't watch football. What are they being paid for anyway!?
• 10.17 South Carolina (W): The Gamecocks try their hardest. And, really, this game is closer than the Ole Miss game. But, the Tide prevails.
• 10.24 Tennessee (W): Capitalizing on new coaching in Knoxville, BAMA sticks it to the VOLs once again. *sigh* And I'm officiating a wedding that night. TiVo!?
• 10.31 BI-WEEK
• 11.7 LSU (L): WHAT!? BAMA was supposed to be rested over their bi-week! Must've eaten too much candy on Halloween night. This takes BAMA out of the running for BCS Championship... BAMA's only hope is to beat Flordia in the SEC Championship.
• 11.14 @ Mississippi State (W): Injured players return, giving fresh life to the offensive and defensive lines. This game is won as easy as a hot knife through butter.
• 11.21 Chattanooga (W): Bring on the high schoolers again! At least Homecoming is fun.
  
• 11.27 @ Auburn (W): It feels soooooo good to see BAMA take home the Iron Bowl trophy for another year. Maybe its just me, but doesn't it feel weird for the Iron Bowl to be on a Friday afternoon this year!? Its gonna throw off both teams.

So, BAMA finishes the regular season 11-1. The critical loss late in the season knocks them out of the running for the BCS Championship (thanks, BCS). BAMA wins the SEC West and goes to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta again. Who will it be? Most likely, Florida. I'm hoping UGA sticks it to Florida and meets BAMA in the Championship, but as much as I want to see that happen, it probably won't. BAMA looses to Florida, but wins against UGA. BAMA looses: Sugar Bowl again! BAMA wins: BCS Championship.

Season record: 12-2 (again)!

ROLL TIDE, ROLL!!

5 years TODAY!

Today my beautiful wife and I celebrate our fifth anniversary! Yesterday we had a little date while Bubbie and Papa watched Abby. It was fun to reminisce on what we were doing "this day 5 years ago" (the day before our wedding). We talked about the stressful things getting ready for the rehearsal and wedding, as well as the funny stories of our bachelorette and bachelor parties. Then, in the quiet afternoon, I spent some time alone thanking Jesus for the amazing gift of marriage and asked his blessing on many more years with Kim.

I love you, babe!

5 years!

I'm sitting next to my wife in a coffee shop. We both have our laptops out and are working. I love being in coffee shops with Kim--we met in one six years ago! This Friday we celebrate our fifth anniversary. My, my, my... time flies!

final roasting day

Its over! My final day roasting coffee for the Bean Hollow was today. Pictured is my final batch of coffee: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. (For a previous post describing my feelings about my final day, follow this link.)

A HUGE thank you to all of you who made it a point to visit me today: Kim, Earl, John S., John B., Gary, Wayne, Jesse, Katie, Cadence and the countless "regulars" who gave me great parting wishes. I truly felt loved by such a great, big community!

I know some of you couldn't come due to work or because you live out of state. Thank you for your support and love through my three-and-a-half years working @ the Hollow. You are greatly appreciated.

A special "thank you" goes to Gretchen who entrusted me with this important task for the coffee shop. I was greatly honored to serve you and our community in this way.

the end of an era: my last day roasting coffee

Thursday, February 26 will be the end of a personal era: my last day on the job as the Bean Hollow's coffee roaster. I started working for the Hollow in August 2005 as a barista and have been the coffee roaster since April of the following year. This February will culminate 34 months of coffee roasting and exactly three-and-a-half years in the coffee business.

Why will it be my last day? A couple of events have intersected this winter to signal "the end." One reason is the economic slump our global economy is facing and which our beloved Main Street is struggling through. Don't worry, the Hollow is doing fine. Nonetheless, I am a "luxury" employee (my word) in the sense that the owner of the shop can roast coffee and by doing so can save the shop money each month. The other is a more personal reason and perhaps the more important of the two. I'll tell you about that in a later post. (We are NOT pregnant again, so you can relax on that one.)

I am sad, of course. I began working for the Hollow within two months after Kim and I moved to Maryland, so the Hollow and Metanoia Church have been wedded together in my weekly routine for almost four years now.

I am also at peace with it and look forward to transitioning from "roaster" to "regular" in March. (Perhaps this post could serve as my pitch for an article in the Tiber Tribune on the subject?)

I hope you'll join me on February 26 sometime between 8:30am and 1:30pm if you can. Around 1:00pm that afternoon I will drop my last batch of raw coffee into the hopper of the Bean Hollow's Probat coffee roaster. Roughly 15 minutes later I will stand in an aromatic swirl of smokey coffee goodness as the freshly roasted coffee pours out of the machine into the cooling tray. 5 minutes after that I will weigh out a cooled batch of organic, fair trade Arabic coffee beans. 45 minutes after that I will turn off the coffee roaster. 2 minutes after that I will walk out the front door and head home. Then I'll cry.

I'm kidding about the last part. I won't cry, but my stride will probably be a little slow for the rest of the day.

arctic blast

Temps are supposed to drop into the single digits tonight and continue that way until Sunday. From what I understand these sustained temp drops are a "once in a lifetime" event for us here in Maryland. We're getting that cold front that has wrecked havoc throughout the midwest. I say, "bring it on!" I'm definitely a cold weather person--I love putting on layers of clothing and cuddling up next to my wife & little girl on the couch.

Tomorrow I'll don my long johns and my big 'ole jacket and enjoy the weather... from this side of my window

happy new year!

On this New Year's eve, please accept my hearty "Happy New Year!" wishes. (I'm currently gulping down some dark roasted coffee @ Starbucks whilst using their quasi-free WiFi--limited to 2 hours access, of course.) May your day be safe and spent in the company of friends and family! God's blessings on you all...

merry christmas! (despite a stomach bug)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

We started the morning with Abigail opening her gifts (last Christmas she pretty much just laid around since she was only 2 months old) inside of our family Christmas gift: a 5 person tent! Today is pretty low-key for us--just the three of us and some Battlestar Gallactica. We were going to have some friends over later this evening, but that is precluded by a stomach bug that has emerged in our household. It has been going around in our neighborhood for the past week-or-so and we've managed to dodge it until now. Praying Abigail & I don't catch it before we journey southward...

Grace and peace to you!

36-0 the photo says it all!

You may be wondering why I've been radio silent as of late--especially considering BAMA's notable victories over LSU and Auburn. Been busy. And, now, I've got a nasty bug-with-fever so I'm bed bound, which gives me great opportunity to post this photo! It says it all...

Coming into this season of BAMA football I was really only concerned about one game and one game only: "Please, please, please don't loose to Auburn again!" 6 years in a row has been rough to deal with as a Tide fan, so it was really great to see a complete shutout and the first BAMA win in Tuscaloosa ever (the rivarly began in 1895!). So, for BAMA to go 12-0 is quite the welcomed surprise!

This weekend BAMA faces Florida in the SEC Championship. I'm not sure that BAMA can pull off the win, but if they do there will be no doubt about their place in the BCS Championship. Hey, we can all hope for a miracle every now and then, eh?

BAMA is #1, but can they keep it up?

I must say, as an Alabama Crimson Tide football fan, this has been quite the dream season so far. After watching the team get the stuff beat out of them consistently for the past decade, to see BAMA at the top of the BCS with a 9-0 record is something to relish. But...

...this weekend BAMA faces #16 LSU away. For all intents and purposes, this is the last serious opponent BAMA will face until they meet up with Florida at the SEC Championship game in December. With rumors that Terence Cody (#62) is on the mends and will be back on the field this weekend, I may have to happily admit that my preseason guess that LSU would beat BAMA was wrong. (For the record, I also conceded that BAMA just might beat LSU.)

My friend, Lauren, has similar thoughts on BAMA's amazing rise in the polls and the gravity of this weekend's game in her post "Enjoy it while we can."

Let's hope that I was wrong and that the Tide can roll over the Bulldogs, Tigers (or are they Eagles?) and Gators all the way to the BCS Championship game!

ROLL TIDE, ROLL! RAMMER JAMMER YELLER HAMMER!