Auburn update, 8/8

Hey everyone. Been a busy period for us sports people -- attending practices, writing daily stories, writing stuff that will appear in our preseason football sections. You won't see it until late in the month, but this is when all the writing happens.

Anyway, here are a few things that have caught my eye recently.

• Pat Sims has played hard. There's always been a question with his "motor", which coaches use to describe a player's motivation. Sims' motor wasn't running in 04 and 05, but it sure is now. He's been the most impressive defensive lineman so far this fall. Let's see if he can carry that into the season.
  
• Leon Hart, another major 2004 signee, has not looked very good. He got into some trouble the other day after a really aggressive outburst during a on-field squabble. I'm not sure what he said, but even his fellow linemen seemed taken aback by what happened. I'm surprised Hart hasn't emerged as a starter by now.
  
• I don't buy this talk that freshman Craig Stevens is going to be an opening-day starter. I think it's a motivational tactic to get seniors Karibi Dede and Will Herring playing at a higher level. Both seniors have misssed time lately with cramping or dehydration.