Auburn update, 8/11

Hey everyone. I'm blogging early today. I've got a few things on my mind before I head out for the morning workout. Oh, how I love me some workout time.

• Not really impressed with what I heard from Dr. Richardson on Thursday morning. He didn't have firm answers on WHY Drs. Petee and Witte would go so far and above the call of duty with these directed-reading courses. I found it odd that two tenured professors needed to be removed from their administrative posts without a clear explanation of what they did wrong. Richardson made repeated references to "poor judgment" but never explained what that entailed. Remember that teaching 5,000,000 directed-reading courses wasn't against any official guidelines until this week. There's more to the story here.
  
• I am more skeptical of the university's investigation now than I was two days ago.
  
• The press conference itself was a hilarious scene. Not an education reporter in sight. All sports writers. When faced with shady answers, sports writers get pretty aggressive. Even after Auburn PR ace David Granger made the "last question" edict, reporters kept flooding Richardson with questions. He obliged -- for 10 minutes. It was a tense scene. Funny and enjoyable from a journalistic standpoint, but tense nonetheless.
  
• Unrelated note: I use Wire Road as my access point to Auburn. Last year, Lee County spent a significant amount of money to resurface its portion of the Wire. Now Macon County has done its part, repaving from Torch 85 to the Lee County line. It's a plush drive now all the way through. If you take that route for home games, you'll be delighted with the new road. Also, Macon County did a better job than Lee County.
  
• Another unrelated note: We had a story in the Advertiser this morning about how Israel has seized control of the important high ground in southern Lebanon. I found that funny. Israel could have seized the entire country in 5 days if it had chosen to do so. Now, the AP celebrates Israel's strategic achievements -- though Israel is going at quarter speed. If that.
  

Auburn update, 8/10

Hey everyone.

Here's the link to my complete report on the academic investigation at Auburn:
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AUBURN -- Auburn University's investigation into academic problems in its sociology and adult education programs revealed irregularities, though the school's athletic department was not implicated, the university's interim president said Thursday.

Ed Richardson said that investigators found evidence of professors in the two departments offering excessive numbers of directed-reading courses. Also, Richardson indicated that some students passed those courses with minimal academic investment.

"Poor judgment is the real thing going on," he said. "I want to emphasize to each of you that this is clearly an academic problem for Auburn University. I believe that athletics was infused into this discussion to provide a sufficient traction to make it newsworthy."

AU clears athletic program

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.