It's about that time

I'm totally prepared.

BReaking down Bama vs Clemson

Okay, in the upcoming three weeks, the Bama-Clemson matchup in the Ga Dome will be hyped, hyper-analyzed and overhyped, but I thought it would be nice to analyze another side of the matchup, and that would be the level of humanitarianism possessed by both teams. First, look at the obvious underdog in this matchup, Alabama and the Tide's treatment of Tyrone Prothro post-injury. Many cynical SEC fans wondered whether Bama's hallowed receiver would be stripped of his scholarship once Nick Saban became head coach. Prothro remained with the team and graduated last week. He is reportedly working for the school, though my sources were unclear as to what his role at the university entails.

On the flipside, Clemson had a feel-good situation turn sour when the school notified surrogate parent, student-athlete amazing big bro Ray Ray Mcelrathbey was informed that his athletic scholarship was needed after graduation, though he has eligibility left. Clemson did establish a fund for Rey Rey's little brother, but needed to make space for more talent. Any way you look at it, Clemson comes out looking mediocre in the long haul, after delivering the feel-good story of two season ago.

The clear winner here is Bama, though Prothro and Ray Ray come out ahead having graduated.


Congrats, No. 4! This is the amazing catch people will remember for generations.

R.I.P. Skip

And the Heisman Most Likely Goes To...

Barring injury, Chris "Beanie"Wells has this shit locked down. All he needs is a decent performance against USC and the remainder remains simplistic. Yep, this trophy ain't staying in the Sec for two years in a row.

Hated on Mostly

ESPN.com posted a conference by conference list of the team in each conference hated most by the other teams and fans in the conference. In the PAC 10, USC was the team most hated, The Big 10 (and everyone else) loathes Ohio State, and the SEC hates Alabama. I wasn't surprised by ESPN posting that Bama was the most hated team, because ESPN loves to hate upon Alabama and revel in Bama's recent mediocrity which is due mostly to probation combined with a string of average to below-average coaches (Saban not included). However, I really wonder which SEC teams other than Auburn, LSU and Tennessee really hate Bama.
Here is my SEC ranking of hatred for other teams with one being most hated and 13 being most loved (UGA gets ranked twice).
1: Tennessee- Phil Fulmer is the biggest contributor to Bama's misery. But I watched The Wire, so I know what happens to snitches.
2:(tie) LSU- LSU has really only been good since the Saban era. I hated Saban when he was at LSU because his teams were so good. Now, I gotta hope he brings the same talent to Bama.
3: Florida- Florida is super fucking obnoxious, and really good, obviously. Bama actually has performed decently against Florida since the SEC began hosting a championship game, but UF definitely holds the advantage. It also seems that UF is here to stay, the team is some defacto team for people from places like New Jersey and the Midwest and some Florida fans scare the shit outta me.
4: Over-zealous, fair-weather UGA fans: UGA has been consistently good since Mark Richt has been head coach. However, this particular group of UGA fans is quick to proclaim that a team is a "national title contender," talks tons of shit, has no sense of UGA football history and never sees players from other teams as being as valuable as UGA players and always declare players Heisman worthy, even if they aren't (hey, hey DJ Shockley). This group of fans always deserts the team when the Dawgs lose two games for the remainder of the season. However, many UGA fans fall into a cool, realistically loyal category that I love and respect from any college program. Also, every SEC team possesses this type of fan. I fucking hate this particular breed of fan, regardless of the team. However, I live in Athens, so I deal with this shit on a regular basis.
5: Auburn: The days are over when I hated Auburn more than any other aspect of life. Many of the Auburn players, like myself, are from the state of Alabama, so it makes it impossible for me to hate the players. However, like every other Bama fan, I recognize the Iron Bowl as the most important game each season. Six years of losing is a really long time, ya know?
6: Six is tough, but I guess I need to list Arkansas here. Arkansas is a West rival and a team to always fear, even though the Razorbacks will probably suck this year. Okay, I don't hate Arkansas
7: South Carolina: Why is South Carolina in the SEC again?
8: Ole Miss: I dunno, I love the uniforms, but Ole Miss is just, well, Ole Miss.
9: Mississippi State: Despite back-to-back wins over Bama, it's easy to get behind Sly Croom's recent triumphs. This year, the Bulldogs will re-enter reality
10: Kentucky: I dislike Kentucky basketball sometimes, but how do you hate the semi-hapless Wildcats?
11: Vanderbilt: If you hate vandy, you fucking suck.
12: UGA (in actuality): Most of UGA's players rule and it's fucking fun to go to Georgia games. Also, living in a college town like Athens just enhances the energetic feeling I associate with waking up on football Saturdays in the fall each year. By far, home football Saturdays in Athens are the best days of the year. However, the fans I mention in #4 can almost ruin the greatness at times.
13: Roll Tide!!!!!

Post No. 101 is about junior tennis

Since I will embark upon my first season as a girls' high school tennis coach next spring, I found the following article to be of extremely high interest:
Girl ejected as dad tries to coach her through earpiece




Wellington, New Zealand — An 8-year-old girl was ejected from a junior tennis tournament on New Zealand's South Island when officials discovered she was wearing a radio earpiece to receive instructions from her father.

Tournament referee Rob Wilkinson said officials became suspicious because the match involving Ukranian-born Anastasiya Korzh featured a "heightened number of questioned calls."

Officials found the earpiece hidden under the girl's headband, linked by a cord to a receiver under her shirt, The Press newspaper reported.

Korzh's father said the earpiece was only being used to help the girl keep score in the under-10 tournament.

She was playing in her first tournament.

All Hail JPW

So, John Parker Wilson's mediocrity to this point finally earned him Preseason All-SEC Honors as Third Team QB. Although, he hasn't played like an All-SEC qb, his stats are not too far behind Second-Teamer Matthew Stafford, who some people think is a dark horse in the Heisman Trophy sweepstakes. So, go figure. I think this could be John Parker's Chris Leak year, meaning he can make all Bama fans think twice about bad-mouthing him for the past two years. On the other hand, it could be his Reggie Ball year, meaning that he could finish his career at Bama having never beaten his major rival. Hopefully, he'll manage the game and win a few more games this season, rather than toss costly picks or commit fumbles that result in losses.

Other Bama players making the Preseason All-SEC team were gargantuan left tackle and future top-five draft pick Andre Smith ( 1st team, duh), underrated db Rashad Johnson (2nd team), speedy rb Terry Grant (3rd team), linebacker Rolando McClain (2nd team), senior center Antoine Caldwell (2nd team),return specialist, db Javier Arenas (2nd team, though I would take him over Brandon James any day), and kicker Leigh Tiffin (3rd team).