36 Days
Must Needed Preseason Speech Part 1 of 5
The newly awakened sun wipes it eye of the clouds that cover its view. Dew on the ground evaporates into the air. Sticky and thick. The young men struggle to take deep breaths. The weather is miserable heading into September.
“Take a knee,” Coach says.
He’s new. The players barely know who he is. They know what his workouts are like. They know his playbooks. They know what he sounds like when he yells. But they don’t love him yet.
One player – a big lineman – leans on his helmet. He slightly sways on the grass excited that practices are over. All that’s left is the team bus ride and the last of the meetings before kickoff. He can’t believe how tired he is after a month of training camp. He can’t believe how sweaty and grassy his orange and blue shoes are after what was supposed to be walkthroughs.
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By: Townhallsavoy
It never makes sense. Auburn blew out a team and Cam Newton didn’t rush for 1 yard. Alabama blew out a top ten SEC team and didn’t have a 100 yard rusher or a 100 yard passer. Stanford is claimed to have one of the top 5 head coaches in football, yet they let a 21-3 lead slip to a 10-42 finish. And finally, Michigan State needs a last second trick to defeat a mediocre Notre Dame team but doesn’t need a head coach to blow out a solid top 12 Wisconsin team.
Auburn…
- Biggest win of the year if you ask me. Name the last game that Auburn won without any real trouble on any side of the ball. Arkansas State? 26 points and miles of passing yards beg to differ. Auburn, without Cam’s running ability, was able to control this game from the first second.
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Photo: Todd Van Emst
DULUTH, Ga.—Nell Fortner likes to think she has a 3-point shooting team, even if the numbers don’t exactly back it up.
The Tigers entered their SEC tournament first-round game with Florida ranked at the bottom in the SEC in 3-pointers made and were just one away from having the fewest attempts. That’s because Auburn has just two active players, Alli Smalley and Blanche Alverson, who have the green light whenever a crevice of space opens on the perimeter – not exactly a frequent occurrence throughout the regular season.
The prologue was irrelevant to Fortner on Thursday, though, as the perimeter came open at the right time for the Tigers, allowing them to extend their season at least one more day.
Smalley and Alverson combined for eight 3-pointers, all of which seemingly came at the perfect time – backbreaking for the Gators—in Auburn’s 74-61 upset victory.
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Are the powers that be controlling more than the telecast?
by Kevin Strickland
When ESPN signed a blockbuster $2 billion, 15 year deal in August of 2008 with the Southeastern Conference for the rights to televise sporting events including football and basketball many wondered what impact the agreement might have on the future of sports.
Some, echoing the sentiment expressed by former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville, expressed concern at the amount of influence the network now commands and raised the question of where the line between broadcasting games and having a vested interest in their outcome begins to blur (http://www.tigersx.com/ks/espn-influence-is-also-its-curse/).
As the 2009 SEC season unfolds, many are wondering if the specter of tampering with the possible outcome of games might already have reared its ugly head.
In recent weeks a series of egregiously bad officiating calls have gone against opponents of both SEC front runners Alabama and Florida.
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