Hello, Computer. How's the Internet today?

Morning Linkage, etc.

Mullen, Dak, Diaz, the press, and a big maroon wall - Here are Mullen's, Dak's, and Diaz' Alabama-week press conferences:

I don't watch a lot of SEC coordinators' press conferences, so I'm not sure what constitutes "normal." But I must say that I enjoy most of the ones Diaz gives. Not too much coach-speak and plenty of substantive opinions and insight. (Click here if you'd prefer to read Diaz instead of hear him, and here for a transcript of Mullen's and Dak's press conferences.)

Speaking of coach-speak - You know, I'd always heard about how, um, reserved Coach Saban is during press conferences. But man, seeing is believing:

Doug Gottlieb asks Dak about being awesome - Gottlieb interviewed Dak this week on his radio show. Lots of Alabama talk, as you can imagine.

John Hevesy talks about the young 'uns on O-Line - Want a break from reading about the biggest game of the year? Well here you go, then. Read about the guys that will be filling out our O-Line in the future. More? Chris Jones was named the SEC Defensive Linemen of the Week, so that's cool. Not enough? I guess you could go ahead and look past Alabama to Arkansas, if you're, you know, weird like that. That game has been set for an evening kickoff, so I suppose that's something.

Honoring the Josephs - There will be a memorial service for the Josephs on Thursday afternoon at the Hump. It is open to the public. And here is an SEC Network interview Mullen gave earlier this week about, among other things, how he and the team are dealing with the loss:

Happy Veterans Day

I suspect like many other children of suburbia whose only connections to the military were the vague WWII stories of their grandparents, my first and most vivid exposures to the armed forces were, for better or worse, through the mediums of film and literature. This meant that what I knew about war and soldiers and combat came in the form of incredibly told stories, like The Longest Day, Bridge on the River Kwai, Slaughterhouse Five, Stalag 17, The Naked and the Dead, The Caine Mutiny, and The Great Escape.

It's that last one that I want to give special mention to here. The cast was great, it had action, drama, and humor, and the movie's look and feel doesn't seem to have aged much. But the real kicker, of course, was that the story was true. These soldiers were captured but refused to submit. They conceived of what seems retrospectively to have been the most outlandish of plans all in the name of contributing in whatever way they could to their respective countries' efforts. And, by God, it worked.

So, as my tip of the cap to all the men and women who have ever donned a service uniform, here's a great look at the true story behind The Great Escape, which includes interviews with surviving escapees and an exploration of the site of the original prison camp. It's an amazing tale, and well worth your time, if for no other reason than to see these vets talk about doing something so incredible.

And, while we're at it, why not watch a vet play a guitar better than anyone else ever?