At this moment, Nick Saban is being introduced as Alabama's new head football coach. He's making introductory remarks, about what he expects to accomplish with the program and what it means to hold a position like this. Soon, to be sure, he will answer questions about, among other things, why we're hearing from him for the first time nearly 24 hours after his acceptance from the job was confirmed. And why Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga was the one to make the announcement, in Miami, and why no one - like him or any Alabama official - had any comment until today, even though Saban flew to Alabama yesterday afternoon and was swarmed by a crowd upon landing as if he was the Beatles, as many observed at the time, and as was captured in the Birmingham News and the Tuscaloosa News. And why his Dolphins players heard their coach was leaving from TV.

Here's what I wrote in this morning's Sun.

Meanwhile ...

* It's a lot easier to call up the Miami Herald's sports website this morning than it was yesterday afternoon; for a couple of hours in midafternoon, it was impossible. It surely had to do with the high traffic as events unfolded, and with it being constantly updated, not only because of Saban's departure, but later in the day, Pat Riley's leave of absence from coaching the Heat.

* It was worth it, though, to see columnist Dan leBatard, frequent guest host on various ESPN shows, who, in his initial column yesterday afternoon, called Saban a loser, a gasbag, a weasel, a quitter, a hypocrite - all in the first three paragraphs. Then, in the version that ran in this morning's paper, he had Don Shula (ex-Dolphins coach, father of the Alabama coach Saban replaces) chime in, also calling him a loser, a quitter and a fraud.

* Saban, by the way, just told us that while he "likes the pro game'' and admires Huizenga "as much as any man besides my own father,'' he prefers college ball because of "the ability it gives you to affect young people, their character, their attitudes, work ethic, perseverance, dealing with adversity.'' No, he didn't mention influencing their honest or integrity. And, full disclosure, he didn't say "he'' prefers it; he said "we'' prefer it, meaning him, his wife and kids, seemingly. Now, three questions in, he has not been asked about the way we slithered out of Miami.

* Here's how the Sun-Sentinel, the Sun's sister paper in Fort Lauderdale (owned also by the Tribune company), handled it. This includes columnist Charles Bricker taking Huizenga up on his request for help from the media with suggestions - seriously, not tongue-in-cheek, which had to be tempting.

* Now Saban is patting himself on the back for the job he did with the Dolphins, saying he left the team in better shape than when he got there. Impressive, considering he went from 9-7 his first year to 6-10 the second and brought in two quarterbacks who both got replaced by season's end, then left. He also acknowledged that he 'fessed up to Huizenga on Dec. 23 that he no longer could stand coaching there and wanted to go back to college. That's two days after his now-constantly-replayed "denial'' of any contact or interest with the Alabama job.

* One of the better shots at Saban, from ESPN.com college sports columnist Pat Forde. The headline says it all: "Saban only lied when his lips were moving.'' Also pretty direct: CBS Sportsline NFL writer Clark Judge, CBS Sportsline columnist Mike Freeman,

* The glee in Alabama isn't unanimous. Saban's contract is too much, and says that with football at the university, the tail is wagging the dog, says a former university trustee.

* The questions have gotten a little softball-ly now - and, now, it's wrapped up, after about a half-hour. Looks like the whole lying angle to this story is almost dead. Now it's about looking forward to what he might do at 'Bama, instead of what he did and didn't do with the Dolphins, at least from the standpoint of people down there, particularly him.

More later on everything else going on right now - such as, staying in the college vein, the shellacking LSU handed Notre Dame last night.