Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Most Exciting Game Ever

I was driving my son to school this morning in the pouring rain, listening to Bill King on the radio. Bill is a radio host for a show that deals exclusively with college athletics, primarily football. As we were creeping down Business-85 due to the Noahide deluge, my son posed a question. “Dad, what was the most exciting football game you have ever seen…whether in person or on T.V.?”

Wow. That question befuddled me. I pride myself in not being stumped by my 14 year old son, but this time, he had me. I have witnessed a number of exciting football games. The most exciting one?

I witnessed Auburn score 19 unanswered points to defeat #2 Florida 27-17 in 2006.

I was in the swamp in 2007 and saw Florida Auburn’d again 20-17 with not one, but two last second field goals.

In 1989 I was at Jordan-Hare to witness the first ever Iron Bowl played there. Auburn defeated the #2 Crimson Tide 30-20.

I was in Birmingham in 1982 to witness Bo Jackson dive over the goal-line pile with two minutes left as Auburn snapped a 9 game losing streak to the Tide, winning 23-22.

There are numerous others that I could recount.

Then there was Friday. Black Friday, the crimson crowd will forever call it. Down by 24, the Tigers came back and defeated the Crimson Tide IN Tuscaloosa AT Bryant Denny 28-27.

I was NOT at the game, but watched every gut wrenching yet glorious moment of it sitting in my 50 yard line living room chair.

Was this year’s Iron Bowl the most exciting football game I have ever witnessed? It is hard to say that. It might be. It certainly was/is at this moment in time.

Having contemplated my son’s question, it suddenly occurred to me. There is no right answer. For you see, each of the games I mentioned above have their OWN place in time/history as the most exciting.

This year’s Iron Bowl doesn’t take the place of those other games in terms of excitement; rather it has its own place. A place that will be remembered throughout the ages. A place I shall never forget.

Frankly, I believe that is what college football is about. It is what gives college football its passion and color. Those games, those comebacks, those wins when you least expect it, those never die, never quit drives that bring the sheer joy, drama and electricity of the game to fans like us. They give us those “high five” and “War Damn Eagle” moments. Moments we remember and cherish for a lifetime.

It’s what causes us to ponder, “was this the most exciting game I have ever seen?”

Perhaps it was.

28-27.

War Eagle.

How sweet it is!

WJLaneSr

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat

Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat. For those of you who didn’t study Latin, this phrase is the premise of the U.S. legal system. Translated literally, it means “the burden of proof rests on who asserts, no on who denies.” Our legal system, as well as most other nations that are republics or democracies, translate this into a doctrine which means “one is innocent until proven guilty.”

Under this doctrine, the burden of proof is on the one bringing the charge. The “charger” must bring enough compelling evidence to convince a diverse sampling of reasonable people that the evidence is factual, overwhelming and beyond any reasonable doubt as to its truth. In the case of remaining doubt, the accused must be acquitted....i.e. found innocent.

This right is in fact, so fundamental, that most democracies and republics explicitly include it in their constitutions. And lest one thinks that this doctrine only pertains to legal issues within a court of law, most journalistic codes of ethics state that journalists should refrain and desist from referring to persons under investigation as though their guilt is certain.

This brings me to a second point. Due Process: the principle that all legal rights are owed to a person according to the law. At a very basic level, “Due Process” is essentially the concept of “fundamental fairness”. For example, in 1934, the United States Supreme Court held that due process is violated "if a practice or rule offends some principle of justice so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be ranked as fundamental". A principle like “ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat.”

I have no information on the allegations begin brought against Cam Newton, his family or Auburn University. I don’t know if Urban Meyer is involved or not involved. I don’t know if Mr. Bond, Rogers or anyone else is telling the truth or fabricating the truth. I don’t know any facts, one way or the other. I don’t know if money was asked for, was not asked for, was received, not received. I don’t know any facts at all.

What I DO know is that there was/has been a rush to judgment on Cam. Large and supposedly credible media such as the Orlando Sentinal, FoxSports, ESPN and others have bandwagoned themselves to unprincipled journalism. And this rush to judgment violates everything we hold dear and near as a free people. It violates the very principles which we, ourselves, would want to be judged by were it us that was accused. And it violates journalistic integrity.

For this reason, not because Auburn is having a great year, not because Newton is a bona fide Heisman candidate, not because I am a fan; people should be outraged...disgusted....highly vocal. No one, regardless of how high profile, or low profile for that matter, should be presumed guilty and drug through the mud without regard for the principle of presumed innocent, and due process to find otherwise.

WJLaneSR

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Spooky

Maybe it is all the Halloween hoopla. When we arrived safely home from witnessing the “Taming of the Bengals” down on the Plains, Trunk ‘r Treat awaited us. Little goblins and ghosts, ninjas and pumpkins, and even “Thing 1 and Thing 2” paraded by our trunk.

Trick or Treat week had begun.

Now I don’t consider myself particularly superstitious, but I did find it a bit ironic that following the commencement of Halloween Week, the BCS weekly poll was announced with Auburn ranked #1. My son was thrilled, and immediately wanted to call his Granddaddy. We then called our daughter, who is in chiropractic school in Oregon to inform her that her alma mater had jumped the Waddling Ducks in the BCS poll. She was thrilled. She even sent me a copy of the Oregonean Paper stating that Auburn had stolen Oregon's thunder.

I began to ponder, contemplate, reflect, chew over, mull over, deliberate and think about what I would write. I read the newspapers, the fan internet boards and perused a magazine or two. I listened to the pundits on ESPN, Sports Sound-off, and others. I thought to myself, “What else can be said about Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers?” And besides, I didn’t want to jinx things. (O.K., so maybe I AM a little superstitious.) And yet, what better week to write in one’s blog that revolves around Auburn Football than this week? But I just haven’t been able to get my mind around what to write.

Ernest Hemingway’s words haunted me: “Writing is easy; you just sit at the typewriter and bleed.”

It is now Thursday morning, and I find myself sitting in the Delta Sky Club on the mezzanine level in the San Francisco International Airport. My flight to Atlanta has been delayed for two hours (no reason given) and the comments make me realize, “Auburn is relevant again.”

These comments stem from the fact that not only the expert analysts who write and speak college football for a living have Cam and the Tigers on their minds, lay people do as well. I am wearing an Auburn shirt, and have had several people remark how well Auburn is doing, and how Cam Newton is “the real deal”. What is most fascinating is that this is coming from people in PAC-10 country.

Last night, while sitting at the hotel bar watching the Giants make Texas Toast out of the Rangers in Game 1 of the World Series, one of the locals struck up a conversation with me. He was a Stanford fan, a PAC-10 fan, and felt as if his Cardinal(s) could hold their own with Auburn. He did admit that Cam Newton was something special, and he thought Cam would win the Heisman this year. He went on to say, “What was that guy’s name from Alabama who won the Heisman last year? Is he still playing, or did he go pro?”

Wow.

How quickly people forget or just move on. That which was relevant yesterday is irrelevant today. And that which was irrelevant yesterday is relevant today. Back in my part of the world, the Tide fans think no one will EVER forget Ingram’s name. Here in the Bay area, however, they know about Cam Newton, but couldn’t remember Mark Ingram.

I think the best thing about Auburn being ranked #1, with a front runner for the Heisman Trophy, is that it has put Auburn back on the map. It has made the Tigers relevant again. People all across the country are talking about them, writing about them and know who they are. The Crimson Tide is yesterday’s news. And there is nothing the cross-state rivals can do about that.

Spooky, isn’t it.

Monday, October 18, 2010

"Jambalaya, Craw Fish Pie, File' Gumbo"

What an exhausting game. After it was over, I felt as though I had sprinted down Pat Dye Field. (That would be a site for sore eyes!) My neck hurt from looking to the left as Cam ran down the field, then looking to the right as an Arkansas pass soared the other way.

I’ve never seen so much scoring in a football game during regulation.

Heck, Jeff Lebo's basketball teams never scored 65 points.

A few rows over from us, two Arkansans had removed their shoes, but it was no use. Not enough fingers and toes to count that high.

At the end of the day, 65-43 would make all the highlights, Cam Newton would be solidified as the front-runner for the Heisman, and Auburn would find itself ranked #4 in the first BCS poll. All this with a suspect-at-best defense.

And now we turn to my favorite food.

Louisiana creole cuisine is a unique style of cooking that originated in and around the bayous of the Mississippi River delta region. New Orleans became the city known for all things creole.

The holy trinity of Creole cuisine is chopped celery, bell pepper and onions. The two most famous Creole dishes are Gumbo and Jambalaya.

Gumbo is really a stew with whatever meat is available. In the bayou region of Louisiana, that would be shrimp, crab, oysters, crawfish, chicken and/or sausage. The stew often contains file’, which is nothing more than ground sassafras. It always has a roux base (thickening with fat and flour), and it isn’t true gumbo without okra. Why the okra? Because the name of the stew comes from the African word “gombo”, which means okra.

Jambalaya combines ham with sausage, rice and tomatoes. There is red jambalaya and brown jambalaya. The red jambalaya is native to New Orleans, and the color comes from a combination of tomato paste and shrimp stock. Brown jambalaya comes from rural Cajun areas, and gets its color from “tasso”; pork shoulder that hangs in the smokehouse.

Add to that a little "Bam! Kick it up a notch! Whooobaaa!" (meaning some Louisiana hot sauce for you non-creole connoisseurs) and it doesn’t get much better.

The Creoles are visiting the Plains this weekend, bringing their palate for wild things with them.

Gumbo, voodoo dolls, rougarou…all led by a carpet bagging mad hatter.

Les Miles coaches as if he’s been drinking Hank William's favorite from a big fruit jar while cooking up LSU’s football version of jambalaya, craw fish pie and file’ gumbo.

Auburn will have to bring their “A” game to beat LSU. The offense will need to eliminate the mistakes (holding penalties, fumbles and end of the half time management), and the defense will have to….well….kick it up a notch!

If they do, Auburn could be sitting at 8-0 after tangling with the Bayou Bengals.

If not, the Creoles will emerge undefeated.

I'm picking Auburn by a slim 3 points. Maybe that's going out on a limb, I don't know.

One thing is for certain, however. On Saturday afternoon, the northeast corner of Jordan-Hare will definately smell like corn dogs.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Killing hogs

My granddaddy raised hogs.

I still remember the last hogs he raised. I was maybe 12 years old. He let me name one of them, and I named him Tobey.

My mother still talks about how he raised and slaughtered hogs. She tells how, when it came to hog-killing time, my grandfather (actually my great-grandfather, but I knew him as my grandfather), after a hog had been killed and gutted, would immediately send the liver to the house. That delicacy would have his name on it, and would be eaten for supper after a long, hard day of slaughtering hogs.

Hogs were the prime source of meat for most families in the rural south, especially during the depression. There were a couple of reasons for this. Number one, it didn’t take a lot of land or resources to raise hogs. All that was needed was a place for a pen, some water for drinking and mud wallowing, and slop. Pig pens could be found anywhere, using most anything to keep the pig penned up; plywood, tin, fencing wire, barbed wire, whatever was available. Slop would be, well, slop. Grandaddy had a can on the back porch that "parts and leftovers" would be put in, and then carried down to the pigpen and tossed into the trough.

The second reason was even more important. There was almost no part of the hog that couldn’t be used….with the exception of the squeal. Every part of the hog had a food-use...the head, the meat, the guts, the feet, and yes, even the tail. Chitterlings, souse meat, scrapple, jowls, tounge, brain, ears, fat, and even the snout (sometimes called the "rooter") would be saved and eaten. One of my favorite "other parts of the hog" are the "cracklin's", that hard residue left in the bottom of the cast iron pot after the lard has been boiled all day and then poured into containers to harden. I love the cracklin's cooked into cornbread.

Nothing from the hog would be wasted.

My granddaddy used to say, on the first cold day of fall, that it was “cold enough to kill hogs!” That day was usually mid-October.

Come to think of it, October IS a good month for hog killing.

The way to kill hogs back then was to hit them in the head with the back of an axe or sledge hammer, or shoot them in the back of the head or between the eyes. As soon as the hog was knocked down or shot, a farmer who knew what he was doing would take a very sharp knife and pierce the jugular vein. This was called, “stickin’ him right in the goozle.”
The hog would then be scalded, scraped, cleaned, cut up, chopped, ground, cured, and smoked.

When the day was done, and the hog(s) had been slaughtered and dressed, there was always a celebration of sorts. It was a great day. Another autumn had come and there would be meat for the winter. The smokehouse was full again. All was right in the farmers world.

Saturday will be a good day to kill hogs. They will have to be hit hard and brought to their knees. There can be no mercy with the blood-letting. Auburn needs to hit them "right in the goozle".

Mid October. A touch of fall in the air. Hog killing time.

It won’t be easy, but killing hogs never is. It’s a messy job and a long day of hard work.

But the result will be worth it. Another win in the smokehouse. More meat to chew on. And at the end of the day, nothing left of the hogs except, maybe, a squeal or two.

Beat Arkansas.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Wilmore, Wesley and a Wild Turkey Win

We drove to Wilmore, Kentucky on Friday. Wilmore is the home to Asbury University (formerly Asbury College), and Asbury Theological Seminary. It is also home to some very dear friends. Bobby is a theological student in his final semester of seminary at Asbury, Phoebe, his wife, works in the Theological Seminary administrative office, and Tim is the president of Asbury Theological Seminary.

Julie, Will and I had a great visit and dinner with Bobby, Phoebe and their twin girls. Tim was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, preaching.

The purpose of our visit was two-fold. First, it allowed Julie a full weekend visit with Bobby and Phoebe, and second, it allowed Will and me to attend the Auburn-Kentucky football game.

While walking around the seminary, another couple drove up wearing burnt orange shirts very similar to the one I was wearing. They looked at us, smiled, and said “War Eagle!” Needless to say, this caused the statue of John Wesley, only a few feet away from us, to smile. The father of Methodism was holding his right hand up as though he wanted someone to put an orange and blue shaker in it.

Immediately I thought to myself, Notre Dame might have touchdown Jesus, but Asbury has “War Eagle Wesley!”

Our son was wearing an orange and blue striped Auburn toboggan. I’m sure he heard Wesley’s Auburn cry as well, for he stepped up to the statue and put the toboggan on Brother Wesley’s head. Old John was ready to go to the ballgame with us!

After walking around the campus, we decided to drive back toward Lexington to a restaurant. What should be parked out beside the Asbury campus? An R.V. with a big “War Eagle” across the side. Seeing Asbury dotted with Auburn orange and blue….along with my strong Wesleyan leanings……made me want to….well…shout "War Wesley Eagle!"

Will and I parked and tailgated with a large number of Auburn faithful who had made the pilgrimage to Kentucky. We met fans from Cullman, Opelika, Birmingham, Huntsville….I kept looking for the short man from Epworth, but I guess the head of the Methodist Movement decided not to attend the ballgame after all. Maybe he had a preaching engagement back in Wilmore. Go War Eagle Wesley!

We discovered something while tailgating. There isn’t a hamburger, chicken or taco joint within a couple of miles of the stadium. Being in Kentucky, I was certain that the Colonel would be on every corner….but NOOOO….not in Lexington. Will and I found a convenience store and purchased some 7-11 tuna sandwiches, a nuke-a-burger, and two slices of fake lemon cake.

I must admit however, prefab sandwiches taste really good while watching a bunch of chickens make the Tide roll away.

As for the tangle of two different cats….well, Auburn sure likes to make things interesting, don’t they.

Three of Kentucky’s finest were sitting beside us at the ballgame, and together they drained 750 ml of Wild Turkey. How they got the bottle into the stadium is still a mystery, but by the time Auburn got the ball with just over seven minutes to play, the amber liquid had taken its toll.
When I was in school, I learned that liquid could be changed into gas (steam), and it could be changed into solid (frozen). But what I was never taught was that liquid could be changed into language.

The now drunk Lexingtonians began cursing Cam Newton and the Auburn drive with every touch of the ball. And even though I was born in Alabama and didn’t fall off the tunip truck last night, they were using some words that even I hadn’t heard before. Must have been some sort of wild turkey call. Or maybe a wildcat’s whine when he’s cornered with no way out. Whatever it was, I told my 14 year old son to cover his ears.

I must say, though, that though they cursed with more gusto that a sailro, they had more faith in Auburn than I did.

They were certain that Auburn was going to drain the clock, drive the ball down the field, and kick the winning field goal with no time left on the clock. Maybe Wild Turkey makes one see visions of the future….I don’t know.

But every Wildcat fan around us predicted what would happen. And they did it with such colorful language that the October leaves were given a run for their money.

As for me, I kept waiting for a holding penalty.
Or an illegal motion.
Or a fumble.

But my well liquored neighbors sitting to my right had seen the vision. They had predicted the future. They had cursed their own Cat blue.

And in the end……they were right……right down to the last drop.

And as they quietly grumbled to themselves as they left the stadium, I looked up and thought to myself...."my heart is strangely warmed”.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Defense and Field Goals

One week earlier they were outmanned, outplayed and embarrassed. The Tom Osborne led Nebraska Cornhuskers took them to the woodshed, picked up a piece of split cordwood and put a whipping on them that was demoralizing and deflating. The visiting Huskers thrashed the Auburn Tigers 41-7 in front of a sellout crowd and national television audience, and the game wasn’t even that close.

Afterwards, Coach Pat Dye challenged the defense to pick themselves up and look in the mirror and have some Tiger Pride. There was an SEC game only 7 days away. Coach Wayne Hall and the rest of the defensive staff put the Tigers through torment and anguish that week. “Get Tough!” was the mantle.

The following Saturday, October 9, 1982 the defense was strong, hard hitting and tough, giving up only 72 yards rushing for the day. On the very first play, the Auburn defense dropped the Wildcats for a 4 yard loss, and that set the tone. The Kentucky Wildcats got inside the Auburn 20 yard line only once. A 51 yard pass from Randy Jenkins to Alan Watson with 35 seconds left to play, the Wildcats found themselves on the Auburn 10 yard line. On the very next play, Dennis Collier intercepted the ball for the Tigers. The defense didn’t give up a touchdown that day.

It was a good thing that the defense stood tall, because the offense, led by Bo Jackson and Randy Campbell, couldn’t put the ball in the endzone.

It became a day for the place kicker.

Through the first 4 games of the season, Al Del Greco was one of five in field goal attempts. In fact, Coach Dye considered benching Del Greco for another place kicker. Prior to the Kentucky game, Del Greco was quoted as saying “I read that if I missed one more attempt, they were going to find someone else.”

Al Del Greco set a Southeastern Conference record against the Kentucky Wildcats that day. He kicked six field goals in one game, which accounted for all of Auburn’s 18 points. In fact, had a 39 yarder not been 2 feet wide left, he would have had seven.

Up until that point, George Portela held the Auburn record with 5 set in 1977.

With successful kicks of 22, 28, 26, 23, 39 and 38 yards, Al Del Greco wrote his name in the record book.

After the Kentucky game, he said, “I just wanted one more opportunity. Maybe now, everybody will believe in me.”

Auburn won the game 18-3, giving them a 4-1 mark, while the Kentucky Wildcats went to 0-4-1.

The Tigers finish the season 9-3 that year. They would celebrate a tremendous victory in the Iron Bowl. The win would end the Tide’s Iron Bowl win streak at 9. “Bo over the top” would be Bear Bryant’s last game against Auburn. The Tigers would go on to defeat Doug Flutie and the Boston College Eagles in the Tangerine Bowl that year.

But those memorable feats would occur later that season. On this day, it was Al Del Greco who was the MVP.

Twenty-Eight years to the day from this Saturday, when the Auburn Tigers once again tangle with the Kentucky Wildcats.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Other Games

Driving from Atlanta to Spartanburg this afternoon, I listened to Sporting News Radio, ESPN, and one other satellite sports radio. Finally, I got tired of hearing the same regurgitated message over and over, albeit from different mouths. They were all drinking the same Kool-Aid, eating the same food, and salivating over the same game. You’d think there was no other ballgame on Saturday besides the Florida – Alabama game.

Rather than puking my own version of their shows and feeding it to you like a mommy bird does, let’s just say that the major news media are star-struck with Saban, Ingram and Richardson, and no one other than Mike Leach gives Florida a fighting chance.

But I digress.

There are, in fact, other games to be played on Saturday. Some of these “other” games have a great deal of significance. Because the national media refuses to seriously acknowledge the magnitude of them, I therefore take it upon myself to be the chief informer of the “other” games implications. Besides, I want to rid myself of that nauseating feeling one gets when too much syrup has been ingested with the pancakes. And might I say, sports radio was pouring the Aunt Jemimah on thick this afternoon.

The first “other” game of significance: Georgia at Colorado. Mark Richt cannot afford to lay a Rocky Mountain egg in Boulder. The death nail may already be in the executioner’s hand, but if the Dawgs get avalanched, the hammer will surely hit the nail.

“Other” game #2: Miami at Clemson. Although the ACC has taken it on the chin outside the conference, both of these teams still have a legitimate shot at their conference title. The winner has a huge leg up, and the loser goes home only dreaming about what might have been.

“Other” game #3: Oklahoma at Texas. The Red River Rivalry (too many “r’s” there…used to be the Red River Shootout, which was much easier to say) had some luster removed last week due to the surfing crowd’s invasion of Austin. However, the Big XII title is still reachable for both.

“Other” game #4: Tennessee at LSU. Although this one should be a no brainer with LSU winning easily, nothing is a “no brainer” when the mad hatter is involved. If Tennessee slips into the bayou and steals the stripes off the Mike the Tiger, the SEC west becomes a two team race.

“Other” game #5: Notre Dame at Boston College. O.K., who around here cares? However, I do respect the Pope and therefore the Catholic brawl makes my list.

FINALLY..”other” game #6: Stanford at Oregon. Two diametrically opposed philosophies clash in a PAC 10 showdown. Although no one east of the Mississippi cares about this game, an eyeball should stay on this one. Why? Because the winner might just slip into the BCS National Championship Game.

Well, there you have it. The other games that actually have some significance this week. Oh, and lest I forget, the Warhawks of Louisiana Monroe have breakfast at Auburn. This should be a non-event and hopefully the first team Tigers will get some well earned rest.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Living on a Prayer

It was midway through the 4th quarter on Saturday night. The Auburn University Marching Band struck up that world-famous 1986 single from Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” album. Most of the 15,000 students sitting in the southeast corner of the endzone weren’t even born when the quarter-century old song began. Yet that song, which has topped the Hot 100 pop list for more than a decade was sung loud and strong by the student section, and it caused me to stop and reflect.

“Whooah, we’re half way there…..whooah, living on a prayer”…….

Then it dawned on me….we ARE almost halfway there. We are entering week # 5 of the college football season. WEEK # 5!! Half the season is almost done! Can you believe it?!?

Maybe that’s why some of us love college football so much. Maybe it’s because, unlike the NFL, we only get a taste. Just enough to make us want more. And then the regular season is over. Just when we get started good, we're halfway there!

No pre-season. No 14-15 game season. No multi-game post season playoff (and no, don’t get started on the debate….that’s not the purpose of this blog. Maybe another one one day).

“Whooah, we’re half way there….”

And the song also made me ponder the season we are in the midst of. Let’s touch some key "halfway there" topics:

#1. The Georgia Bulldogs. Who would have thought that they would be 0-3 in the SEC at this point? Driving home yesterday, one station on Sirius Radio was predicting that because of the loss to Miss. State, followed by another late-night jail-cell phone call to Coach Richt, that his days were indeed numbered. They predicted that a loss out on Rocky Mountain High this weekend would send Richt down an avalanche in Colorado.

#2. Arkansas might have a great quarterback in Ryan Mallet, but they haven’t learned how to win. When you have the reigning national champions down 20-7, you don’t just try to hang on. If you do, you’re going to get a double dose of run over…which is what happened. What happens now to Petrino’s hawgs?

#3. The Gators are starting to come around. After figuring out how to take a snap (the Boiling Springs Pee-Wee league could have taught the mighty Gators something in this regard back a few weeks ago), they seem to be getting stronger and stronger. This week’s showdown with Bama might spell trouble for the pachyderms, because Florida is better than Arkansas.

#4. South Carolina’s defense isn’t as good as everyone thought. Is this because the teams they played prior to Auburn (Southern Miss., Georgia and Furman) weren’t very good offensive teams?

#5. Mississippi State would probably be 4-0 at this point had Cam Newton gone to the spotted bulldogs instead of Auburn. Instead, Miss. State is just a noisy gonging bell.

#6. Tennessee is worse than we thought. When a Vol celebration breaks out like it’s 1986 because UAB is defeated in overtime, something is BAD wrong. Does anybody fear the Vols anymore?

#7. Kentucky, with all it’s improvement, is still a basketball school. They will not contend for the SEC East.

#8. Vanderbilt may have gotten their signature win for the season against Ole Miss, but this year Ole Miss is the Old Maid of the conference.

#9. Speaking of Old Mrs., the Nutt-house seemed to put it together this past week against Fresno State. But that says nothing. The Rebels (or did they change their mascot to the Reb-less) are to the West what Georgia is trying to become in the East…..Irrelevant! Who would have thought on both accounts?

#10. Alabama’s running game may be better than it was last year, but their defense is not. They are a very good football team, but championships are won and lost on defense. I just don’t see a repeat.

#11. LSU continues to be schizophrenic and will be as long as a madman is at the helm. They have glimpses of greatness….glimpses of worse than mediocrity……great play calling…..poor play calling…..and the team just doesn’t seem to be in sync. In most cases, Less is More, but at LSU, Les is less. A loss to Bama, which will probably happen, to Auburn, which seems more than a 50% chance now, and to Arkanses, which I also think will happen, turns the heat up on Les….even More.

#12. Where would Auburn be without Cam Newton? I’m sure glad I don’t have to know. He is a one man wrecking machine. Having said that, Auburn has won 2 games late, coming from behind, and shown a resilience that I didn’t expect. This is the stuff that CAN separate a good team from a great team. Auburn is NOT a great team………yet. But they have a chance. They, like the Gators, seems to be getting better each week. Auburn is a little beaten up, and with La. Monroe this week, they should get a little rest before resuming conference play.

A few non-sec comments: NC State is a very good football team, Stanford is a team I wouldn’t want on my schedule this year, Michigan might just upset Ohio State this year, Arizona may be the pac-10 spoiler, and I guess a longhorn never met a Bruin it could hook. You think Muschamp slept well Saturday night after his defense was shredded?

Well….that’s it for the “almost” midpoint. We’re halfway there, and some teams are just living on a prayer.

“We’ve got to hold on, ready or not…..you live for the fight when it’s all that you got….whooah, living on a prayer…..”

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

#1 vs #1

The internet is full of “Dyer vs. Lattimore” game fodder this week. “The State” newspaper in Columbia, S.C. has an article by that title. Bleacher Report, ESPN’s SEC blog, and the Anniston Star feature articles with the same theme. The story lines wiggle between which running back was REALLY #1 coming out of high school, to what “might have been” had Lattimore chosen to team-up with Dyer at Auburn as opposed to choosing his home state Gamecocks. The buildup of these two kids facing off against one another is such a major theme for the Auburn-South Carolina football game this week that you’d think it was Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed…….but which one is which?

Simply looking at the statistics, through the first three games the two backs compare as follows:

Mike Dyer: 39 attempts / 212 yards / 5.4 Yard Average / 1 touchdown
Marcus Lattimore: 70 attempts / 333 yards / 4.8 Yard Average / 5 touchdowns

What do these statistics tell us? On the surface, not very much. But just beneath the surface, they tell us a lot.

First of all, on the surface these statistics tell us that Lattimore is getting, and will get, more touches of the ball than Dyer. One had only to watch Carolina’s game with Georgia to see how Lattimore is fed the ball. For old-fashioned SEC aficionados, it felt very pre-1990’s…
And then Steve Spurrier came on the scene and (virtually) single handedly changed the college football landscape. He brought the fun and gun offense to Florida, won and won big with it, and his passing attack bred the offshoots found all around the country: Run and Shoot, West Coast, Spread, Pistol….

Which is why the “beneath the surface” story is so fascinating. For you see, it is that same Steve Spurrier who is now running the football as though he were taking a page out of Vince Dooley or Pat Dye’s playbook.
What changed? Well….Spurrier has a very good running back in Lattimore. AND, Spurrier still doesn’t completely trust quarterback Steven Garcia.
Dyer, on the other hand, isn’t getting the number of touches Lattimore gets. But, rather than just under 5 yards per carry like Lattimore, Dyer is getting almost 5 ½ yards. For each touch he gets, he’s producing more yardage.

Auburn seems to be bringing Dyer along a little slower than Lattimore, but as the season rolls on that will certainly change. Also, unlike Lattimore for South Carolina, Dyer is not the leading rusher on his team. Big Cam Newton is.

So what can we glean from all this? Well, let’s just say that Spurrier is Spurrier.

I always liked the analogy that Tommy Tuberville used about Steve Spurrier. He and Spurrier were golfing buddies, and Tuberville would say “if you get Steve on your home course, and just kind of stay close to him…..when you get on the back nine and see that short 335 yard par 4……YOU know that you pull a 3 wood out and just lay it up. But Steve is going to pull out that driver. He can’t help it. He gets impatient. He feels the need to put you away. And many times, when he does, he pushes the ball way out of bounds and opens the door for you to beat him. And he does the same on the football field.”

Moral of the story? Spurrier will try to run the ball using Lattimore. Auburn needs to keep it close. Maybe even get a lead. Spurrier is going to get impatient and put pressure on Garcia to make something happen. And when that pressure comes, Garcia is prone to make mistakes. And THAT will be Auburn’s big opening.

My prediction: Dyer rushes 15 times for 105 yards, Lattimore rushes 25 times for 110 yards and Auburn wins: 21 – 17.

WJLaneSR

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Toilet Game

I am finally recovering from a looong weekend in Auburn. With the sweet aftertaste of a glorious come-from-behind overtime win against those South Carolina felines, I have finally taken a deep breath to clear my mind.

Now, what to blog???

Frankly, after this weekend I just couldn’t keep John Lennon out of my mind. After all, the weekend WAS a little Helter Skelter, especially there at the end.

But that isn’t the reason I have had the late Beatle singing in my ears.
No. Rather, it is because our regular tailgating spot has (at least temporarily) closed their bathrooms to the paying public. That’s right….although we pay to park in their lot and have been able to use their facilities for the past 8 years while doing so, with no warning, the bathrooms are now off limits. Closed, go away, this is a no wee-wee zone.

Where to go when nature calls? I mean….where to go when you gotta go??? Cross legged tailgating ain’t much fun! Not to mention that you don't really BUY adult cold beverages, you RENT them!

Did someone say Clemson has a lake and Auburn needs one?

After much fussing and debate, we were finally able to use the bathroom for a short period of time. I have to say, though, that a tailgate without a toilet is like a dam during a flood. Something's gotta give!

I’m sure the founding fathers meant for us to have Life, Liberty, Toilets and the pursuit of Happiness!

Heck, there was a time on Saturday afternoon that I was even willing to put down the seat without having to be reminded for just a little bit of relief…

Which brings me to John Lennon.

Lennon wrote a song entitled “Imagine”. As I was trying to figure out where I was going to use the bathroom, the song just kind of came to me, albeit with different words:

Imagine there’s no bathroom
It’s easy if you try
No stalls to hold us
Makes us want to cry
Imagine all the people
Peeing in the street
You may say just try and hold it
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday they’ll reopen
So our tailgating can return to fun!


‘til next time,

WJLaneSR

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Auburn with a lake?

It's Auburn-Clemson week. SEC vs. ACC. ESPN gameday crew coming to the Plains. National recognition for both schools. Similarities abundant. A renewed rivalry that ended in the early '70s. And it reminds me of one of my favorite writers.

The late Lewis Grizzard ranks alongside my all-time favorite southern writers. His genre was journalistic satire and humor. He was an award winning syndicated columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and was thrilled when he moved there from the Chicago Tribune. To use his words, he had been “held hostage as a prisoner of war” in the frozen north until Atlanta called him home.

Grizzard began his profession as a sports columnist, and is often credited with the description that “Clemson is just Auburn with a lake.”

Grizzard’s analysis would be correct if one only looked at the similarities. In fact, it is very difficult to describe the two schools WITHOUT looking at the similarities. Both are State Land Grant Institutions. The schools have comparable architectural design. The layout of each school is extremely similar. Then, to top it off, both schools use the Tiger as it’s mascot with orange as one of it’s predominant colors.

While it is true that both schools have these analagous commonalities, including counting John Heisman as one of their early coaches, Grizzard’s analysis is incorrect.

Clemson is NOT Auburn with a lake. Fact is, without Auburn, there would be no Clemson football.

In 1892 Walter M. Riggs graduated from A&M College of Alabama (later to become Auburn University) with bachelor of science degree in engineering. Being class president, director of the school glee club, and member of Phi Delta Theta, Riggs was a campus leader. He was also a member of the school’s first football team.

Riggs became a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater rather than pursuing a career in mechanical engineering. He was so competent and enthusiastic about coaching the Tigers from Auburn that in 1895, he was assigned the duty of finding a new head football coach. He found John W. Heisman (of the Heisman Trophy lore) growing tomatoes in Texas and brought him back to The Plains for a salary of $500 per year.

The following year, Riggs left the Auburn Football Team in the capable hands of Heisman, and accepted the job of beginning a football program in Clemson, South Carolina. The college had no mascot, they had no colors and they didn’t even have any uniforms. Auburn agreed to help out the upstarts from South Carolina, and they gave Riggs some practice jerseys (some orange and some navy) to take with him. The jerseys had been washed so many times using Number 2 washtubs full of lye soap and washboards that the navy jerseys looked more pale purple than blue. Because the orange didn’t fade as easily as the navy when washed, Riggs chose orange as the dominate color for his new team.

Riggs brought the Tiger name with him, and called his new football club “the Clemson Tigers”.

Without Auburn, the Clemson football club would never have been orange and purple. It never would have been the Tigers. It probably never would have begun a football program in 1896, and John W. Heisman would have never left Auburn to coach at Clemson.

Historians have noted that Walter Riggs is the “Father of Clemson Football”. If that be so, then Auburn is the grandfather of Clemson Football. And that’s a heck-of-a lot more than just Clemson without a lake!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Cowbells Tolling

Robert Jordan was assigned to blow up the bridge. He knows, when he receives his assignment, that he might not survive it. But he also knows there is camaraderie when facing an enemy in hostile territory. He knows the need to surrender oneself for the common good of his fellows. To do “as all good men should” means to be willing to sacrifice self. It means laying it all on the line. For Robert Jordan, it meant death over defeat.

I don’t know if Nick Fairley ever read Ernest Hemingway’s novel about Robert Jordan. He certainly played as if he did. After all, the junior defensive tackle had one interception, one fumble recovery, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. He played as if he were a cloned mixture of Reggie White and Darrelle Revis. While the offense was sputtering in a bell-acious hostile environment, Fairley’s assignment from defensive line coach Tracy Rocker was simple: sacrifice yourself for 60 minutes and don’t let the bell-hounds out your grasp. Do it for your team. They will be there to drag you off the field of battle when it’s over. Surrender self for the common good of the team. Rocker asked Fairley to be like Hemingway’s hero.

Hemingway borrowed a line from John Donne and used it as the title of his novel. Most people think the line came from a poem entitled “No Man is an Island”, but actually Donne wrote it as prose in a piece entitled “Meditation No. 17”. Those memorable first words of the Meditation are: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of a continent, a part of the main.”

Certainly Donne’s words were taken to heart by the men of the orange and blue on Thursday night. No one particular player was able to beat Mississippi State. It took a team. Not just the offense….in fact one might say “not the offense”, but also the defense. Not just Cameron Newton, but also the Nick Fairley led defense (here I insert a shade-of-memory shout-out to Wayne Hall, Auburn’s defensive coordinator during the Pat Dye era, as Scarbinsky did today in the Birmingham News) won the game in a manner reminiscent of his coach and mentor’s days on The Plains. No man was an island in Starkville.

Mississippi state circled September 9 as the turning point for their program. It was the first SEC game where the cowbells were legal. It was Thursday night on ESPN. It was against an SEC West opponent. It was their opportunity to gain respect. The cowbells would move them over the hump from that dreaded left side of the SEC bell curve. They had everything to win. Auburn had everything to lose. Even the prognosticators had pointed to this as a “trap game” for Auburn.

But State forgot one thing. They forgot to read Hemingway’s novel. Or even Donne’s Meditation.

The last line of Donne’s Meditation No. 17 reminds us of a bell. It reminds us of a bell we cannot escape. Certainly that is what every Stark-vegas Bulldog was thinking as they entered Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. They must have been thinking, "Auburn....this is a bell you cannot escape!!"

That famous and often quoted last line reads “…for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee”. Hemingway took part of this line for his novel: “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. Donne spoke of it as a death bell.

But as much as the maroon clad bulldogs rang their cowbells in an effort to confuse, frustrate and finally get the Auburn Tigers to roll over and die, it didn’t happen. Rather, Donne’s words came hauntingly back…..”For whom the bell tolls……it tolls for you.”

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Is it Christmas Eve?

It’s Christmas Eve.

Not really, but almost.

Although tomorrow isn’t Christmas Day, it does begin another season of NCAA college football. With the Thursday night kickoff, the Southeastern Conference jumps right in with South Carolina taking on Southern Mississippi.

Later this weekend, the rest of the conference joins in and it looks like this:

Alabama hosts San Jose State
Arkansas hosts Tennessee Tech
Auburn hosts Arkansas State
LSU and North Carolina meet at the Georgia Dome
Mississippi State hosts Memphis
Ole Miss hosts Jacksonville State
Florida hosts Miami of Ohio
Georgia hosts Louisiana Lafayette
Kentucky visits Louisville
Tennessee hosts UT Martin
Vanderbilt hosts Northwestern

With most of the SEC playing scrimmage games this week, rather than predict winners and losers, I will go out on a limb and give predictions regarding each team’s Head Coach. You can hold me accountable for my predictions at the end of the season. If you have any comments, concerns or questions, feel free to chime in.

MY PREDICTIONS

The NCAA will not reverse their decision that the only Jeremiah the Right Reverend Houston Nutt will be able to preach from this year is found in the Good book, not the Mug Shot Book.

During the heat of a game, Bobby Petrino will cuss out and then fire an opposing team’s ball boy for wearing a team logo hat.

Lawyer turned Coach Derek Dooley will invoke the attorney-client privilege during all Vol team meetings.

Joker Phillips will find that having no returning starters on the Kentucky offensive line is no joke.

The hot seat that finally gets Mark Richt is the bench his team uses at the Clark County Jail.

Urban Meyer will continue to suffer from Esophageal Reflux from eating too much crow and having no Tebow steaks in his diet.

The Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier will find that his name is the only thing with a “spur” in it, as his tame roosters cause him to finally move out of a Columbia hotel also.

Les Miles will…..well…..be Les Miles.

Robbie Caldwell will take over for Jeff Foxworthy on “who wants to be smarter than a turkey farmer?”

Nick Saban’s statue will have the “s” missing from his name, but it will have more charm and personality than the Rain Man himself.

The bells Dan Mullen will hear ringing at the end of the season won’t be from Starkville cows, but rather BellSouth….as bigger programs come knocking on his door.

Gene Chizik will find himself neck deep in a post season recruiting battle for one of college football’s most prized recruits……Gus Malzahn.

That’s how I see it. What about you?

WJLaneSR

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Ewww that smell!!

Although I am not anally ritualistic, one could call me a creature of habit. There are things about me that I tend to repeat over and over. Some of those are good and some not so good. For example, I like to be at the front of the line when boarding an airplane; therefore I am predictably early to the airport. I brush my teeth after brushing my hair. I eat street bagels for breakfast and “o-bento” Japanese lunchbox virtually every day (when in New York). I feel something is missing about a church service when there hasn’t been a congregational recitation of the Apostle’s Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. I only use Old Spice original scent stick deodorant. My comfort zone finds itself in the rituals of everyday life.

One ritual that I have maintained for the last two decades is the Wall Street Journal. Although I am not a professional market analyst, I find the paper interesting and stimulating. Some days, however, I just read it for the discipline, and this is where the ritual comes in. When I was in graduate school at Emory University, I had a professor who said “Read something every day, even if it’s the newspaper. Read it from cover to cover. Read the articles you are interested in. Read the ones you are not. Just read. It is the only way to stay current and informed.” I took that message to heart, and have as a ritualistic discipline read the Wall Street Journal as my first order of business every morning for the past 20 years. It is the “why” behind coming to work early every day. It is my time to read.

This morning, as I was reading the WSJ (and I no longer read the print version, I now read the online version), I came across an interesting article entitled “Why Do the British Stink at Basketball?” Hmmm. I never really thought about it. I guess I should have. I am married to a Brit. I eat shepherd’s pie and Yorkshire puddings. My son lives and breathes basketball. Once upon a time, I even had a subscription to the Wisdon Cricket magazine, which detailed the minutia of Cricket statistics for every team in the U.K. and the West Indies. But it never really occurred to me that the British stink at basketball.

The point of the article was to question the decision by the NBA that the New Jersey Nets and the Toronto Raptors would cross the pond next March to play a pair of regular season games --- the first ever --- in London. The move to play in Europe wasn’t a shock, as the league has players like Spain's Pau Gasol, Germany's Dirk Nowitzki and Serbia's Peja Stojakovic, who have become marquee names. In addition one of the NBA's newest owners is a Russian oligarch. The article goes on to say, “the only part of the spectacle that doesn't entirely add up is the league's choice of venue: London.” In the U.K., basketball not only isn’t one of the top 3 or 4 sports falling behind soccer, rugby and cricket. The popularity of basketball even falls behind snooker.

That being said, maybe the NBA sees the fertilizer potential behind that methane smell. Do the British stink at basketball? Yes. Do the Brits care about basketball? For those over the age of 16, not really. BUT, in a survey done by the United Kingdom Department for Culture, Media and Sport, children in London and Edinburgh ages 11 to 15 were asked what type of sports jersey they would like to own. 47% of these children responded “NBA jerseys”.

The NBA is not holding its nose. They are betting that “stink” you smell regarding the British and basketball is the smell of money.

Until next time,

WJLaneSR

Friday, August 27, 2010

Sponge Bob's Neighbor

Living in a house shaped like an Easter Island Moai Head, Squidward is the narcissistic neighbor of Sponge Bob. He works as a cashier at the Krusty Krab, a job he thoroughly dislikes. Squidward could be described as a malcontent, a delusional egotist who displays an unjustly air of superiority. Although Sponge Bob and Patrick (the pink starfish who lives under a rock) consider Squidward their friend, the feeling is anything but mutual. An ambiguous character, one is never sure if the six tentacled cephalopod is a squid or an octopus.

The voice for the clarinet playing Squidward is Rodger Bumpass. Bumpass, whose voice acting credits include “The Jetsons” ( a cartoon that is more MY generation than “SpongeBob SquarePants”), is the brother-in-law of Ben Stiller. Bumpass is married to Ben’s sister, Amy Stiller. Bumpass enjoys riding a recumbent bicycle when he visits Alma Mater which is located in his childhood hometown. As an in-joke by the producers of the “SpongeBob SquarePants Movie”, Squidward does too.

Bumpass is loyal supporter of his Alma Mater. Although the war cry was “Go Indians” when he was a student, in the fall of 2008 the mascot was changed to the “Red Wolves”. The “Indians” mascot was used to honor Osage Nation that inhabited the area in the 1800’s. However, due to outside pressure claiming that the usage of “Indians” was racist and bigoted, the school retired their mascot on February 28, 2008 during the last basketball game of the season. There was a groundswell of support amongst students to call themselves “The Squidwards” in honor of their famous alumnus. Never taking this seriously, the school officially became the “Red Wolves” of Arkansas State University.

The scarlet and black Arkansas State Red Wolves are in the Sun Belt Conference. Other schools in this conference include Troy, Louisiana Monroe, Western Kentucky, Louisiana Lafayette, and Florida Atlantic University. Not only do the Red Wolves have conference affiliation in common with these other schools, they also have opponents in common. Each of these Sun Belt Conference schools are scheduled to play at least one Southeastern Conference school during the 2010 football season. Arkansas State opens their season with Auburn.

The Red Wolves have a new offensive coordinator this year, and his name is Hugh Freeze. His is a name that may be familiar to Southeastern Conference fans as Freeze was the interim head coach at the University of Mississippi in 2007. Freeze, who was 20-5 over the last two years at Lambuth University, took the offensive helm at ASU on February 26, 2010. During the past half decade, Freeze’s offense averaged 465 yards per game, and over 40 points per game. He is both a student and teacher of “up-tempo, wide-open spread offense.” His teams have averaged 50 passing plays per game during the past 3 years. Opposing defensive coordinators have called his schemes “confusing and ambiguous, very hard to figure out”.

Sounds a bit like Squidward. Here’s hoping Auburn can get into his Moai Head.

‘Til next time,

WJLaneSr

Thursday, August 26, 2010

'Tis the Season.....

Chops and links sizzling over red hot charcoal. Cold pints wrapped in traditional crested mugs. Flags of battle hoisted high above decorated canopies of shade. Insulated coolers packed with provisions and potions. Occasional battle cries from fans intoxicated by libations and atmosphere. Children wearing jerseys of past and present heroes while tossing footballs and imagining glory. The orchestrated chaos of festive tailgation.

It’s football time again.

It has been some time since I last updated my blog. Like Brett Favre, I took a semi-retirement hiatus. Also like the mad Mississippian (and for my Tide fans, note how to spell “Mississippi”), I just can’t stay away. After all, the first game kicks off one week from tonight. I wonder if Favre will be watching as his Southern Miss Golden Eagles take on the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.

To prepare for this year’s season, I attended the New York City/Southeastern Conference Kick-off banquet last night. The featured speaker was Brad Edwards of ESPN radio. Mr. Edwards, a Bama graduate, talked about his #1 ranked Crimson Tide, and shockingly predicted that they would lose at least 2 SEC games this year. His prognostication was that Arkansas, in Fayetteville, would upset the Tide, and that South Carolina, in Columbia, would do the same. The reason: Florida is packed right between those two games.

Edwards also predicted that the winner of the SEC East would have at least 2 conference losses, and that it would come down to Georgia or Florida….the last drunk standing after the World’s Largest Cocktail Party. Interestingly, he predicted that Arkansas was poised to win the West, and might do it going away.

As for LSU, Edwards believes it is do or die for Les Miles, and in his opinion, Miles will be gone after this season. The Mad Hatter will take his nonsensical Tea Party somewhere else.

Edwards predicted that the Vols would struggle, Vandy may not win a conference game, and Mississippi State would upset someone they aren’t supposed to beat. He finished his speech by saying that the two real question marks in the conference were Ole Miss and Auburn. His take was that both had the schedules, excitement, quarterbacks and potential to run the table. He did NOT think they would, and said that both schools could also find themselves losing 3-4 conference games each.

Finally, Edwards predicted that there would not be an undefeated SEC team this year, and because of that, the BCS would put two teams from other conferences in the National Championship Game. His final prediction: Kellen Moore, QB of Boise State, would win the Heisman Trophy.

I found all of this very interesting, coming from an Alabama graduate. Will any of this come to pass? Who knows. After all, that’s why they play the game. And besides, today…..everyone’s guess could be right.

Until next time…

WJLaneSR