tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59897746795471310162024-03-19T00:12:12.831-04:00Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare StadiumAll rights reserved. Copying prohibited without permissionwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-81948471640662194052010-11-30T15:29:00.000-05:002010-11-30T15:29:10.843-05:00The Most Exciting Game EverI 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.?”<br />
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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?<br />
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I witnessed Auburn score 19 unanswered points to defeat #2 Florida 27-17 in 2006.<br />
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I was in the swamp in 2007 and saw Florida Auburn’d again 20-17 with not one, but two last second field goals.<br />
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In 1989 I was at Jordan-Hare to witness the first ever Iron Bowl played there. Auburn defeated the #2 Crimson Tide 30-20.<br />
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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.<br />
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There are numerous others that I could recount.<br />
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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. <br />
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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.<br />
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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. <br />
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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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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It’s what causes us to ponder, “was this the most exciting game I have ever seen?”<br />
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Perhaps it was.<br />
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28-27.<br />
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War Eagle.<br />
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How sweet it is!<br />
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WJLaneSrwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-51863102215199899062010-11-09T09:58:00.000-05:002010-11-09T09:58:11.056-05:00Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negatEi 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.” <br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.”<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-6868111067136609252010-10-28T10:54:00.000-04:002010-10-28T10:54:50.443-04:00SpookyMaybe 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.<br />
<br />
Trick or Treat week had begun.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
<br />
Ernest Hemingway’s words haunted me: “Writing is easy; you just sit at the typewriter and bleed.”<br />
<br />
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.”<br />
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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.<br />
<br />
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?”<br />
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Wow.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Spooky, isn’t it.wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-3828510889290001152010-10-18T12:07:00.005-04:002010-10-18T12:17:23.114-04:00"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.<br />
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I’ve never seen so much scoring in a football game during regulation. <br />
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Heck, Jeff Lebo's basketball teams never scored 65 points.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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And now we turn to my favorite food.<br />
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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.<br />
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The holy trinity of Creole cuisine is chopped celery, bell pepper and onions. The two most famous Creole dishes are Gumbo and Jambalaya.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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The Creoles are visiting the Plains this weekend, bringing their palate for wild things with them.<br />
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Gumbo, voodoo dolls, rougarou…all led by a carpet bagging mad hatter.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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If they do, Auburn could be sitting at 8-0 after tangling with the Bayou Bengals. <br />
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If not, the Creoles will emerge undefeated. <br />
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I'm picking Auburn by a slim 3 points. Maybe that's going out on a limb, I don't know.<br />
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One thing is for certain, however. On Saturday afternoon, the northeast corner of Jordan-Hare will definately smell like corn dogs.wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-63493526503980063442010-10-14T15:51:00.004-04:002010-10-14T16:00:07.713-04:00Killing hogsMy granddaddy raised hogs.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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. <br />
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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.<br />
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Nothing from the hog would be wasted.<br />
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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. <br />
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Come to think of it, October IS a good month for hog killing.<br />
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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.”<br />
The hog would then be scalded, scraped, cleaned, cut up, chopped, ground, cured, and smoked.<br />
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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.<br />
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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".<br />
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Mid October. A touch of fall in the air. Hog killing time.<br />
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It won’t be easy, but killing hogs never is. It’s a messy job and a long day of hard work.<br />
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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.<br />
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Beat Arkansas.wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-13378140909856203582010-10-10T18:24:00.001-04:002010-10-10T18:26:44.478-04:00Wilmore, Wesley and a Wild Turkey WinWe 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.<br />
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Julie, Will and I had a great visit and dinner with Bobby, Phoebe and their twin girls. Tim was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, preaching.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Immediately I thought to myself, Notre Dame might have touchdown Jesus, but Asbury has “War Eagle Wesley!”<br />
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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!<br />
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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!"<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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I must admit however, prefab sandwiches taste really good while watching a bunch of chickens make the Tide roll away.<br />
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As for the tangle of two different cats….well, Auburn sure likes to make things interesting, don’t they.<br />
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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. <br />
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.<br />
<br />
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. <br />
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I must say, though, that though they cursed with more gusto that a sailro, they had more faith in Auburn than I did.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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As for me, I kept waiting for a holding penalty.<br />
Or an illegal motion.<br />
Or a fumble.<br />
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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.<br />
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And in the end……they were right……right down to the last drop.<br />
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And as they quietly grumbled to themselves as they left the stadium, I looked up and thought to myself...."my heart is strangely warmed”.wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-2377349881039380112010-10-05T10:05:00.002-04:002010-10-05T10:15:03.724-04:00Defense and Field GoalsOne 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
<br />
It became a day for the place kicker.<br />
<br />
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.” <br />
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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.<br />
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Up until that point, George Portela held the Auburn record with 5 set in 1977.<br />
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With successful kicks of 22, 28, 26, 23, 39 and 38 yards, Al Del Greco wrote his name in the record book.<br />
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After the Kentucky game, he said, “I just wanted one more opportunity. Maybe now, everybody will believe in me.”<br />
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Auburn won the game 18-3, giving them a 4-1 mark, while the Kentucky Wildcats went to 0-4-1.<br />
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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.<br />
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But those memorable feats would occur later that season. On this day, it was Al Del Greco who was the MVP. <br />
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Twenty-Eight years to the day from this Saturday, when the Auburn Tigers once again tangle with the Kentucky Wildcats.wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-15619685584048744262010-09-30T20:35:00.000-04:002010-09-30T20:35:30.312-04:00The Other GamesDriving 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
But I digress.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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“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.<br />
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“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.<br />
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“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.<br />
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“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.<br />
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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.<br />
<br />
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.wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-18924287014716798472010-09-27T11:13:00.001-04:002010-09-27T20:22:39.827-04:00Living on a PrayerIt 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.<br />
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“Whooah, we’re half way there…..whooah, living on a prayer”…….<br />
<br />
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?!?<br />
<br />
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!<br />
<br />
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).<br />
<br />
“Whooah, we’re half way there….”<br />
<br />
And the song also made me ponder the season we are in the midst of. Let’s touch some key "halfway there" topics:<br />
<br />
#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.<br />
<br />
#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?<br />
<br />
#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.<br />
<br />
#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?<br />
<br />
#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.<br />
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#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?<br />
<br />
#7. Kentucky, with all it’s improvement, is still a basketball school. They will not contend for the SEC East.<br />
<br />
#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.<br />
<br />
#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?<br />
<br />
#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.<br />
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#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.<br />
<br />
#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.<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
Well….that’s it for the “almost” midpoint. We’re halfway there, and some teams are just living on a prayer.<br />
<br />
“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…..”wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-35618535241613440892010-09-21T09:57:00.001-04:002010-09-21T09:59:24.905-04:00#1 vs #1The 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?<br />
<br />
Simply looking at the statistics, through the first three games the two backs compare as follows:<br />
<br />
Mike Dyer: 39 attempts / 212 yards / 5.4 Yard Average / 1 touchdown<br />
Marcus Lattimore: 70 attempts / 333 yards / 4.8 Yard Average / 5 touchdowns<br />
<br />
What do these statistics tell us? On the surface, not very much. But just beneath the surface, they tell us a lot.<br />
<br />
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…<br />
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….<br />
<br />
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. <br />
What changed? Well….Spurrier has a very good running back in Lattimore. AND, Spurrier still doesn’t completely trust quarterback Steven Garcia.<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
So what can we glean from all this? Well, let’s just say that Spurrier is Spurrier.<br />
<br />
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.”<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
My prediction: Dyer rushes 15 times for 105 yards, Lattimore rushes 25 times for 110 yards and Auburn wins: 21 – 17.<br />
<br />
WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-35362471850807127632010-09-20T19:07:00.001-04:002010-09-20T19:08:27.955-04:00The Toilet GameI 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.<br />
<br />
Now, what to blog???<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
But that isn’t the reason I have had the late Beatle singing in my ears.<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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!<br />
<br />
Did someone say Clemson has a lake and Auburn needs one? <br />
<br />
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!<br />
<br />
I’m sure the founding fathers meant for us to have Life, Liberty, Toilets and the pursuit of Happiness!<br />
<br />
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…<br />
<br />
Which brings me to John Lennon.<br />
<br />
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:<br />
<br />
<i>Imagine there’s no bathroom<br />
It’s easy if you try<br />
No stalls to hold us<br />
Makes us want to cry<br />
Imagine all the people<br />
Peeing in the street<br />
You may say just try and hold it<br />
But I’m not the only one<br />
I hope someday they’ll reopen<br />
So our tailgating can return to fun!<br />
</i><br />
<br />
‘til next time,<br />
<br />
WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-71379336002087032762010-09-12T16:12:00.000-04:002010-09-12T16:12:15.280-04:00Auburn 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.<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
Grizzard began his profession as a sports columnist, and is often credited with the description that “Clemson is just Auburn with a lake.”<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Clemson is NOT Auburn with a lake. Fact is, without Auburn, there would be no Clemson football.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Riggs brought the Tiger name with him, and called his new football club “the Clemson Tigers”.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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!wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-55623250985545693652010-09-10T12:21:00.001-04:002010-09-10T13:34:26.969-04:00Cowbells TollingRobert 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.” <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
But State forgot one thing. They forgot to read Hemingway’s novel. Or even Donne’s Meditation.<br />
<br />
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!!" <br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.”wjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-89575953722373697352010-09-01T08:25:00.000-04:002010-09-01T08:25:05.199-04:00Is it Christmas Eve?It’s Christmas Eve.<br />
<br />
Not really, but almost. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
Later this weekend, the rest of the conference joins in and it looks like this:<br />
<br />
Alabama hosts San Jose State<br />
Arkansas hosts Tennessee Tech<br />
Auburn hosts Arkansas State<br />
LSU and North Carolina meet at the Georgia Dome<br />
Mississippi State hosts Memphis<br />
Ole Miss hosts Jacksonville State<br />
Florida hosts Miami of Ohio<br />
Georgia hosts Louisiana Lafayette<br />
Kentucky visits Louisville<br />
Tennessee hosts UT Martin<br />
Vanderbilt hosts Northwestern<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>MY PREDICTIONS</b><br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
<br />
Lawyer turned Coach Derek Dooley will invoke the attorney-client privilege during all Vol team meetings.<br />
<br />
Joker Phillips will find that having no returning starters on the Kentucky offensive line is no joke.<br />
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The hot seat that finally gets Mark Richt is the bench his team uses at the Clark County Jail.<br />
<br />
Urban Meyer will continue to suffer from Esophageal Reflux from eating too much crow and having no Tebow steaks in his diet.<br />
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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.<br />
<br />
Les Miles will…..well…..be Les Miles.<br />
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Robbie Caldwell will take over for Jeff Foxworthy on “who wants to be smarter than a turkey farmer?”<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
<br />
Gene Chizik will find himself neck deep in a post season recruiting battle for one of college football’s most prized recruits……Gus Malzahn.<br />
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That’s how I see it. What about you?<br />
<br />
WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-27349649164673717932010-08-31T10:44:00.000-04:002010-08-31T10:44:22.375-04:00Ewww 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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”.<br />
<br />
The NBA is not holding its nose. They are betting that “stink” you smell regarding the British and basketball is the smell of money.<br />
<br />
Until next time,<br />
<br />
WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-81368323771830479442010-08-27T11:28:00.000-04:002010-08-27T11:28:17.849-04:00Sponge Bob's NeighborLiving 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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”.<br />
<br />
Sounds a bit like Squidward. Here’s hoping Auburn can get into his Moai Head.<br />
<br />
‘Til next time,<br />
<br />
WJLaneSrwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-91306788985548354642010-08-26T08:45:00.000-04:002010-08-26T08:47:22.044-04:00'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.<br /> <br />It’s football time again.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /> <br />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.<br /> <br />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.<br /><br />Until next time…<br /><br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-69072933292236790022009-11-03T09:00:00.002-05:002009-11-03T09:18:08.453-05:00A True PaladinNeedless to say, I could write an entire entry into my blog on the sweetness of Auburn’s victory over Ole Miss. Yet, no matter how much I articulate and memorialize the victory while sitting around the blogging campfire, it is not the subject for today.<br /><br />Today, I want to discuss Auburn’s upcoming game with the Furman Paladins. Yes, that same Furman from Greenville, South Carolina. From my home, the drive to their beautiful campus is just over half an hour. It is a great school with high academic standards, and one of my wife’s best friends (as well as work colleague) graduated from there. Her name is Kim.<br /><br />Kim is one of the dearest Christian women I have ever met. Her faith is real. Her opinions are well thought out. She is smart. She has an almost dry sense of wit and humor that I find not only funny, but also refreshing. The things she loves, she loves with passion. She is a great mother to her two children, one who is at Presbyterian College and the other at The Citadel. And her husband, Jeff, couldn’t have asked for a better wife.<br /><br />Kim is a cancer survivor. Unfortunately, her husband Jeff was not. The two of them suffered through more physical difficulties, virtually at the same time, than any family should ever have to. This past July 20, Kim’s soul-mate Jeff passed from this life to the next after a long battle with colon cancer. She had undergone her own surgery and therapy for breast cancer. (By the way, whenever I wear a pink bow, I wear it not just for women in general, I wear it for Kim). <br /><br />Frankly, this blog could have been about Kim’s husband, for you see, Jeff was an All-American at Furman, who went on to coach there and at N.C. State. He eventually was the athletic director at Boiling Springs High School when three of my daughters were there. In fact, one day, while it was POURING rain, he went to my second daughter’s car and turned off the lights….getting drenched in the process. That was just the kind of guy Jeff was. <br /><br />But this is about Kim. Although she tells me that she is o.k. and plowing through, I can’t imagine how difficult the last three months have been. I’m sure there are times when she would say that she isn’t much of a fighter OR survivor, but that just isn’t the case. Kim is both. My wife has witnessed it much closer than I, but even from my distance I have seen it. I am proud to say that she is my friend. I am proud to say that she is one of my wife’s closest friends. I am proud to see her faith in action. And if Kim Snipes is anything like what a Paladin supposed to be, then she is the truest Paladin. And because of Kim, I can’t help but be a fan of the Paladins….even if I will be rooting for my Tigers this weekend.<br /><br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-50610671139938038552009-10-30T13:11:00.002-04:002009-10-30T13:19:09.981-04:00Drugs and KeysI have been on some really good drugs this week. After spending the better part of a day in the emergency room with a kidney stone, and trying to get some relief with lesser drugs, the E.R. Doc finally had the nurse give me morphine. After that, I didn't feel the pain of the stone any longer, the pain of getting taken to the woodshed by LSU, or any other pain. In fact, I felt no pain at all. Morphine was the key to giving me some much needed relief. And thank God for that key.<br /><br />Speaking of keys, there must be hundreds of books, pamphlets and DVD’s on the subject “Keys to Success.” I did a google search and came up with “Keys to success in marriage”, “Keys to success in business”, “Keys to success in life.” There were keys to success in dieting, financial management, attitude, career, motivation….the list goes on and on. Whenever I hear a phrase beginning “here are the keys to success in….” I think to myself, “does this mean that the answers were always in the box we carry around? Do we already have the answers and someone else just needs to open them up for us?” Sounds kinda metaphysical to me.<br /><br />Rather than opening up a box today, I want to look around the box. Maybe it's the remnants of the morphine keeping my head a little fuzzy, but rather than giving you what I think are the keys necessary for Auburn to be successful against Ole Sis on Saturday, I am going to give you some non-essential skeleton keys that MIGHT just make the difference. Here are my skeleton keys for success:<br /><br />Ole Miss is known for their cheer “Hotty Toddy”. A hotty toddy, according to Exquecher Rolls of Scotland, is a mixed drink of Scotch and water served hot so that it is more palatable to women. The word “toddy” comes from the Scottish “Tod’s Well”, which supplies Edinburgh with water. <br />Auburn, on the other hand, has “Bodda Getta”. Let’s be honest, here. You can’t really shout “bodda getta” without a belly full of Blue Ribbon Beer or Jack Daniels. There ain’t any “hottie toddy….hootsie tootsie” at Auburn. And at the end of the day, which one would you rather bring with you to a bar fight?<br /><br />Next, Auburn has the champion mascot, “Aubie”. Aubie has been the College National Mascot Champion six (6) times since 1980. He has finished in the top five another seventeen (17) times. Aubie has made appearances on every major television channel, and is an ambassador for Auburn University.<br /><br />Colonel Reb, on the other hand, died an ungraceful death. Ole Miss doesn’t use him anymore. He was bringing disgrace to their hallowed school for learned Mississippians. You might remember him: the white bearded old man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a cane. He was the mascot that caused websites to pop up everywhere calling for a boycott of “everything Ole Miss” because he was too much like a plantation owner. Unlike James Dean, Colonel Reb became “a rebel without a cause” and he became “Ole Dis-Missed”. <br /><br />Finally, isn’t it interesting that the University of Mississippi is found in a town called “Oxford”? Somehow, those two words just don’t seem to go together….Oxford…Mississippi. As I recall from my grade school education I received in Alabama, this would be called an oxymoron. Two words of contradictory meaning used together for a special effect, such as “wise fool”, or “legal murder”. Another would be “Oxford, Mississippi”. Of course, it would probably be safe to say that most people in Mississippi wouldn’t know an oxymoron if it hit them, and in fact, probably think it is a stupid beast of burden who needs to be yoked and plowed. <br /><br />Again, you just don’t have that with “Auburn, Alabama”. <br /><br />And which one would you rather take to a bar fight. Someone from "Oxford", or someone from "Auburn"??<br /><br />Call it drug induced dillusions, or call it guessing, I am tossing these skeleton keys on the floor. <br /><br />I am boldly predicting an upset on the early afternoon Plains. The keys, when scattered on the floor, say “Auburn 27 – Ole Miss 24”. <br /><br />And that’s as scientific as I can get it.<br /><br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-52060523964659519822009-10-21T16:55:00.000-04:002009-10-21T16:56:12.222-04:00Gonna Have Big Fun....“Thibodeaux, fountainbleau, the place is a buzzin’, Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen, Dress in style, go hog wild, me oh my oh, Son of a gun we’ll have big fun down on the bayou…..well jambalaya, crawfish pie and-a fillet gumbo, cause tonight I’m gonna see my mon cher amio, Pick guitar, fill fruit jar, and be gay-o, Son of a gun we’ll have big fun down on the bayou.”<br /><br />Hank Williams first released this song back in 1952, and it reached number one on the country charts almost immediately. It remained number one for 14 straight weeks. The song is clearly Cajun in theme, and encapsulates the fun and excitement on a Saturday night in the Louisiana bayou. <br /><br />Saturday night on the bayou. It’s that time again. Auburn and LSU. Strange things happen when these two old rivals come together. Allow me, for a moment, to stroll with you down memory lane.<br /><br />It was 1988. Auburn’s national championship hopes were on the line. Auburn was leading 6-0 with less than two minutes left in the game. LSU quarterback Tommy Hodson threw a touchdown pass to Eddie Fuller which caused the crowd to roar so loud that it registered on the campus seismograph as an earthquake. LSU won, 7-6.<br /><br />In 1994, LSU led 23-9 going into the fourth quarter. Auburn had a 13 game winning streak going on at the time. Auburn intercepted 5 Jamie Howard passes in the fourth quarter, returning 3 for touchdowns, giving Auburn a 30-26 victory.<br /><br />The next year, down in the bayou, Patrick Nix dropped back to pass out of the Auburn endzone. He thought he heard a whistle blow, stopped where he was, and sacked for a safety. Auburn lost the 1995 game, 12-6.<br /><br />The following year, in 1996, while the two sets of Tigers were playing at Jordan-Hare stadium, the old Sports Arena was burning to the ground. The flames were so high that they could be seen from inside Jordan-Hare. Jarrett Holmes missed three field goals that day, and LSU won 19-15.<br /><br />In 1999, Auburn went into Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Tommy Tuberville’s birthday and showed no mercy. Not only did they beat the Bengal Tigers of LSU 41-7, they celebrated the win and the birthday by smoking cigars while standing in the endzone.<br /><br />In 2001, the game was moved to December because of 9-11 and the World Trade Center tragedy. LSU won at home that night, 27-14. Tommy Tuberville had to get security to escort him to the team bus.<br /><br />In 2004, Hurricane Ivan almost forced the game to be delayed until later in the season. However, on Friday morning it was announced the two teams would play as scheduled. The defending national champion Bengal Tigers came into Auburn and took a 9-3 lead. Because of a failed extra point, the Auburn Tigers were in striking distance. With 1:14 left to play, Jason Campbell hit Courtney Taylor for a 16 yard touchdown pass. Auburn missed the extra point, but a personal foul was called on LSU’s Ronnie Prude. The second time was a charm, and Auburn won, 10-9.<br /><br />The winner of the 2004 game, John Vaughn, became the goat in 2005. He missed 5 field goals in Baton Rouge and LSU won 20-17. <br /><br />In 2006, the pair of Tigers entered the game at Jordan Hare Stadium with their highest head-to-head ranking ever. Both teams were early season national title contenders. LSU led 3-0 at halftime. Auburn took the lead with a third quarter touchdown, and held on to win, 7-3. It was the lowest scoring game between the two Tiger teams since 1935, when LSU won 6-0.<br /><br />The 2007 game was played down in the bayou , and will be remembered for the winning field goal kick that never happened. Down 24-23, LSU was driving the ball. They were within field goal range with the clock running. LSU had one time out left. In one of the most discussed plays of 2007, the Les Miles led Tigers decided to try a long pass to the endzone before a possible fieldgoal attempt. The pass was caught and LSU won 30-24.<br /><br />Last year the College Gameday crew came to Auburn for the matchup between Auburn and LSU. Auburn took a 14-3 lead at halftime, only to come out and squander it. LSU changed quarterbacks, and ended up winning 26-21. It was LSU’s first victory at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 10 years.<br /><br />Which bring us to 2009. Saturday night. A renewal of the rivalry between two foes. Strange things can happen down on the bayou on Saturday night. Does Auburn have one up its sleeve? What will Les Miles do? We’ll have to see……Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun down on the bayou. <br /><br /><br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-38995534967259525572009-10-19T12:35:00.000-04:002009-10-19T12:36:25.191-04:00Kentucky FriedHe was doing what any decent father would do. Protect his children. Is there a more noble duty? And in this case, they weren’t even HIS children. They were just children, and they shouldn’t be subjected to it. He was just doing what was right.<br /><br />It happened last week in Norwell, Massachusetts. Jared Garfagna and his girlfriend, Sara Mohn, were waiting for their order. Not “patiently” waiting, mind you. After all, it takes a while to deep fry chicken. <br /><br />According to the authorities, they started shouting vile profanities at the counter clerk, as well as toward the person cooking. There were children waiting in the order line, and a bystander, waiting for his order, told the couple to stop using profanity. He said, “There are children in line….watch your mouths.” <br /><br />According to witnesses, this just made the couple curse even more. The man again said, “Please…don’t use that kind of language in front of these children. It isn’t appropriate!”<br /><br />What happened next can only be described as foolish and stupid. The couple proceeded to hit and kick the man until he was on the floor of the local Kentucky Fried Chicken. He had lacerations on his head, under his eye, and across his cheek. By standing up for those children in line, he subjected himself to a Kentucky Fried Beating. Unbelievable.<br /><br />Which reminds me of Saturday night, when the Auburn Tigers, of their own accord, subjected themselves to a Kentucky Fried Beating. Unbelievable.<br /><br />Rather than standing up for innocent children, however, they were just standing up before the snap count. (Can anyone say, “Another illegal motion penalty”?)<br /><br />Instead of putting the Wildcats of Kentucky away when they had multiple chances, Auburn was showing it’s undisciplined self by having, on one drive alone, six…count them…penalties. And when the defense had the chance to legally stand up and be counted…during the last six minutes of the game, it fell down on the floor and gave up two touchdowns AND a victory. A Kentucky Fried Beating. <br /><br />The Tigers are now in a precarious situation. They must go on the road this week to Death Valley. Baton Rouge. The Tiger Den. LSU awaits on Saturday night.<br />If the Tigers don’t find an answer to their sudden impotence on offense, they won’t be Kentucky Fried this week. They’ll be filleted and gumboed.<br /><br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-15801129040688105832009-10-12T11:27:00.002-04:002009-10-12T11:37:32.734-04:00LosingMaybe it is apropos that I quote Mr. October. Although he was never a hero of mine, I can’t disregard his impact when post-season play began. I have some very good friends who are Red Sox fans, and to them I apologize for quoting a former nemesis from the Yankees. However, when the shoe fits, wear it.<br /><br />Reggie Jackson once said, “I don’t mind getting beat; but I hate to lose”. <br /><br />As I sat with a stoic stare at my old fashioned, non-plasma non-flatscreen television set on Saturday afternoon, that quote oozed from the depths of my memory. I had done all the screaming, fussing, cussing and discussing that was in me. I had no words left. <br /><br />After watching a wide-open would-be touchdown pass float well beyond the receiver; after multiple fumbles causing multiple Arkansas touchdowns; after watching the Tigers sleep through the wakeup call until midway through the third quarter; after watching the first half offense look like it needed a dose of geritol; the quote hung in my craw.<br /><br />“I don’t mind getting beat; but I hate to lose.”<br /><br />But lose Auburn did. The Tigers lost in every facet of the game. They didn’t just get beat, because getting beat implies that both teams showed up and did their best and one team just got beat by a better team. Big Blue didn’t show up. Auburn had no fire in the gut. Sometimes it looked like the Tigers had no guts at all. For more than half of the game, the Auburn Tigers weren't just getting beat. They were losing. And losing it. Defeated. Manhandled. Overpowered. Outsmarted. Outcoached. Outscored. Taken to the outhouse. Or in this case, taken to the Pig Pen.<br /><br />I hate to lose. <br /><br />Finally, after getting a little bit of respect in the media….after getting a little positive press for the head coaching hire….the good guys from the Plains of Alabama reverted back to that same old condition they had WAY too many times under Tuberville: they couldn’t handle the success. Arkansas, with the worst defense in the SEC going into the game, looked like a pros. Auburn’s offense looked like The Tony Franklin System reincarnated. Somebody, PLEASE, throw out the trash and make sure those three ring binders with that dadburn system gets tossed with it!!! <br /><br />For every sickening minute --- and yes, I watched EVERY sickening minute --- I said over and over to myself: “I hate to lose.”<br /><br />I don’ t have anything to say about gut-check time, getting back on the right track, overcoming adversity, moving on, playing better, being shorthanded, being young, not having many scholorship players, or any other cliché about the future of Auburn Football. Right now I just have a pit in my stomach. I hate to lose.<br /><br />I guess I should say something positive to Arkansas and Coach Bobby Petrino, especially after the blog I wrote a few days ago. O.K…….here goes. I’ll quote another great sports philosopher, the great Yogi Berra. Here’s the quote for you, Coach Petrino, and for your Hogs: “You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.”<br /><br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-61856617589913695182009-10-09T09:43:00.004-04:002009-10-09T09:51:12.272-04:00Can you smell that smell??I don’t know when grunge became cool. They say it has something to do with Seattle and a dead guy named Cobain. I don’t know when it became acceptable to use horrendously bad language in public….especially in front of women. I don’t know when hearing “F-bombs” dropped no longer brought embarrassment. I DO know this; call me old-fashioned, but my ears still turn red and I still duck my head when I hear that bomb dropped.<br /><br />The behavior of some people is analogous to walking around in a cloud of dust, sprinkling dirt on all they come in contact with. They seem to be happily dirty. They don’t try to explain it. They don’t try to hide it. They don’t try to fight it. For them, it is a part of their character, and a fact of their life. In many ways, their behavior is as slovenly filthy as Pigpen from the Snoopy comic strip. But whereas Pigpen was kind of cute in his dirty ways, other people are not. They're just nasty.<br /><br />Maybe that’s why Bobby Petrino is a good fit for Arkansas. They are Pigpen central. Home of the Razorbacks. Chitterling country. Can you smell the Pig Sty? <br /><br />You certainly can when you observe Petrino’s behavior. This past week the Southeastern Conference has been debating the “Excessive Celebration” rule. Really, it is an “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” rule. And if you look up the words “unsportsmanlike conduct” in the dictionary, you will find a picture of Bobby Petrino. Oh, he may have a great offensive mind, but his demeaner is simply offensive.<br /><br />Not only is he a sojourner coach looking for his next gig, he has one of the filthiest mouths in all of football. When ESPN or CBS has a Hogs game, they cannot show Petrino more than a couple of seconds without showing, in glaring and colorful clarity, F-Bombs, the Lord's name in vain, and other words being mouthed out toward coaches, referees, players and the camera. Cover your kids eyes and ears when he is being shown and turn down the volume. Mama, you don’t wanna hear this!<br /><br />My mother would have taken a bar of Dial soap and a fingernail brush to his tongue. That smell in Razorback stadium isn’t from the Boar Hog they have down by the endzone, it is the stench that comes from Petrino’s mouth over on the sideline. As Jack, who worked in the Machine Shop at Columbus Mill, used to say about a Plant Engineer: “That man sho’ can cuss!”<br /><br />Tomorrow, Auburn plays the Hogs in Fayett-nam. I hope they packed a lot of soap for the trip, because even though there is an artificial rug for the turf, there will be plenty of filth flying around that will need to be scrubbed off.<br /><br />War Eagle!<br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-87980884976551742552009-10-06T10:11:00.002-04:002009-10-06T10:14:19.247-04:00Vol-In-Tears“I have a perfect horror of words that are not backed up by deeds.”<br /> <br />Those were the words of Teddy Roosevelt spoken at Oyster Bay, New York in July, 1915. Roosevelt didn’t like people who “talked big”. In fact, during his term as the governor of the state of New York, he fought privately with Tom Platt, the party chairman, over a political appointment. Platt came out publicly in the paper and said, “I’m going to ruin Roosevelt!”<br /><br />Of course, that didn’t happen, Roosevelt went on to run for the Presidency, and eventually won. Platt was basically never heard from again.<br /><br />Over the last 6-8 months, a lot of noise has come from Old Rocky Top. “We’re going to sing Rocky Top all night long in Gainesville after we beat Florida in the Swamp.” “We’ve closed the recruiting gates to Memphis.” In fact, Lane Kiffen has become the Mouth of the South.<br /><br />The Volunteer Nation bought into the boy with a golden tongue. They ate the orange jello he was selling. They were infused with a dose of the citrus vitamin.<br /><br />Then came the disease which seemed to permeate Neyland Drive. <br /><br />Hoof and Mouth Disease. This disease causes painful blisters in the mouth and on the palms of the hands. It can, and often is, passed from one person to another. The blisters begin in the mouth, causing lesions that get on the hands. Much like spewing venom from the mouth and settles on the hands.<br /><br />You could also call it “The Lane Kiffen Disease”. For all his venom spewing, it seemed to settle on the hands of his receivers. I am sure that is why they couldn’t catch a ball that was thrown to them. Maybe they should have stayed away from the orange kool-aid.<br /><br />While all of that citronic clutter was being heaved from the rocky summit, down on the Plains all was quiet. Just work. Hard work.<br /><br />When asked what was going on down there, the response was only: “We’re just doing what we do.” Do What We Do. DWWD. The Gene Chizic motif.<br /><br />The showdown in Knoxtown was the tale of two programs. Hype, hoopla, Big Orange. Low key, quiet, flying under the radar Big Blue. I was there. <br /><br />The final score was Auburn 26 – Tennessee 22. The game wasn’t that close. The Vols were dying from Hoof and Mouth disease. And Auburn was taking a page out of Teddy Roosevelt’s bag of quotes. <br /><br />When asked about the incident with Tom Platt, his response was: “I have always been fond of the West African proverb: Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”<br /><br />Under Chizic, that’s what Auburn does. Kiffen, on the other hand, continues the truth of the old Southeastern Conference proverb: “No fruit sucks like the Big Orange.”<br /><br />War Eagle!<br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989774679547131016.post-69554494799327761742009-09-21T14:25:00.003-04:002009-09-21T16:18:26.767-04:00Have you ever seen the Rain?Bosco and Tanner were in the front yard barking. Neither seemed overly upset, just excited. Something clearly had their attention. I thought it was because they didn’t recognize my son and me. Perhaps that was correct, but I think there was another explanation. Although unrecognizable to me at the time, it was a foreshadowing event.<br /><br />My mother decided to stay home. My son, my dad and I packed up my full-sized gas guzzler SUV with the ice chest, fat-saturated snacks, portable table and stadium seats. With totem window flags in place and magnetic helmet stickers on the doors, we were ready to leave. At that moment, there was no thought of the carbon footprint we were leaving; only the Tiger Paw print we were hoping to leave on the stomach of some Mountaineers.<br /><br />We took the westerly trek down Interstate 85, and there were momentary glimpses of the sun playing hide and seek from behind the clouds. I began to think to myself that the weather was going to hold off, and it was going to be a good night. One of those songs that just kind of sticks in your mind…you know, the ones that you can’t get out of your mind when it finds itself buried within the gray matter….began to hum around in my cranium. Not that I really KNOW the song, just that my son likes to play it. It’s by The Black Eyed Peas and the words are something like: “I’ve got a feeling….that tonight’s gonna be a good night…that tonight’s gonna be a good good night…..”<br /><br />We tailgated, libated and belly sated ourselves before heading to hallowed grounds. It was a little humid, but otherwise pleasant. The band was circling the playing field as we found our traditional seats. The stands were a sea of orange speckled with navy, with a smattering of yellow in one endzone corner and two upper deck corners. Just over my right shoulder, it was purple.<br /><br />The rain began as a few drops, which soon turned to buckets. Just as the two teams were fininshing their warmups, the purple behind my right shoulder gave birth to a thunderbolt. The delay was begun. <br /><br />It was then that I realized why Bosco and Tanner, who don’t live with the same families, were together in my parents’ front yard barking. They were gathering two by two. It’s the only explanation, because the next hour the rains came in diluvial proportion. I was expecting Noah to come floating out of the locker room tunnel, because Jordan-Hare Stadium was quickly becoming a lake. <br /><br />The students never left. They sang. They shouted. They partied. One student was overheard shouting, “I love a little water with my bourbon”. The stadium sound system belted out Dan Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival singing “I wanna know...have you ever seen the rain?” And even after the watershed delay, the students were revved up to a level I haven’t seen in a couple of years. It carried over.<br /><br />The eagle didn’t fly Saturday night. He couldn’t because of the weather. Instead, I heard that a dove was released to see if he would bring back an olive branch. I'm sure that happened, because Auburn handed that peace gift to West Virginia in the first two series of the game. It was as if Auburn said, “Welcome to Auburn, sorry about the rain, here….take a couple of touchdowns on us. It’s a southern hospitality thang.”<br /><br />And still…the students never let up. They never sat down. They never quietened down. They were too loose, too wet and too happy to stop the enthusiasm over a couple of hand delivered touchdowns. After all, the night was young, and a coupple of gift wrapped TD's ain't gonna stop the rain that had become their party.<br /><br />Auburn seemed to get stronger as the night wore on…the crowd seemed to get louder as the clock ticked on….the mountaineers seemed to make more mistakes as the Alabama evening beckoned on….and an orange and blue rainbow seemed to appear on the horizon as evening turned to late night. (O.K., it was a blimp of some sort behind a few lingering clouds, but let’s not mess up a good story). <br /><br />A game that started out as a continuation of the last time Auburn and West Virginia met, spun on a wet and muddy dime, and became something altogether different. It was as if all those lingering doubts and concerns and leftover feelings of 2008 were washed away. Literally. Auburn’s defense rose up from the mud that was the stadium floor, and sealed a victory with an interception run back for a touchdown. <br /><br />Oh, sure, Auburn has a long way to go. But this all has a new feel to it. And West Virginia was a pretty good football team. <br /><br />One of the first things Gene Chizik said after he was introduced as the new Head Football Coach of the Auburn Tigers was, “we’re going to get Auburn back to where it was, to where it should be. But we’re going to build our program the right way, and we’re not going to take any shortcuts.”<br /><br />Kind of reminds me of what Noah had to say about building the ark. And THAT’S something a couple of dogs can bark to.<br /><br />WJLaneSRwjlanesrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06542068869577988244noreply@blogger.com0