Auburn basketball update, 1/5

Hey everyone.

I'm doing something on the men's basketball team right now. I've seen them play several times this season, so I knew they weren't very good. Then I start going through the SEC stats today and I realized: They're really bad.



(among the 12 SEC teams, selected categories)
SCORING: 9th
OPP. SCORING: 10th
FG %: 9th
OPP. FG %: 11th
SCORING MARGIN: 11th
FREE THROWS: 12th ... by a wide margin
THREE-POINT SHOOTING: 11th
OPP. THREE-POINT SHOOTING: 12th

Unreal. The team is actually flourishing in terms of assists and steals. The guards have quick hands.

Still, this is coach Jeff Lebo's third season. These numbers don't preface success this season in SEC play, and another 4-12 is going to get some people talking. I know he has a long contract in place and everything. If the program doesn't start showing some signs of life, I'd think Lebo's status would need careful review. This isn't badminton. Basketball is a revenue generator at a lot of SEC schools. Auburn needs to field a more competitive team.

A couple things, 1/3

Hey everyone. I just returned home from the Cotton Bowl. What an experience. The people who run that bowl know how to handle business. The actual Cotton Bowl stadium ain't much, but everything else associated with that bowl is first-class, blow-you-away kind of stuff.

I hope they handle my funeral someday. I'll actually feel important.

To business:

• Nick Saban is in at Alabama for $32 million, which is nuts. This is the college football equivalent of Alex Rodriguez's $252-million deal signed in 2000. The Rangers offered $25 mil per year. The next highest bidder was around $18 mil. What Alabama accomplished Wednesday, much as Texas owner Tom Hicks did six years ago, came with a price tag that is financially irresponsible. Athletic directors everywhere are fuming; agents are smiling.
• With that said, it's a brilliant hire for Alabama. Saban is one of the elite college coaches in the country (only Pete Carroll and Jim Tressel are in that group right now) and the Tide needed someone special to get things moving. They overpaid, but this is the guy they needed.
• Auburn D.C. Will Muschamp is NOT going to Alabama with Saban. The end.
• Before everyone starts predicting championships from Saban, though, remember that these retread-coach stories don't always end with major success. Steve Spurrier is an excellent offensive coach. His teams at South Carolina are good but not great. I don't see that changing. He'll go 8-4 or 9-3 most of the time. Bill Walsh wasn't very good at Stanford in the 1990s. Joe Gibbs isn't excelling in the NFL. I'm not knocking Saban. I'm just saying success isn't guaranteed.
  
• Just for the record, I think Tuberville is in that second group of coaches on the national scale. He's joined by Urban Meyer, Lloyd Carr, Bob Stoops and Les Miles. I know. A lot of you don't think Miles is a star, but I believe it. Before you ask: I'm a graudate of U. Kentucky and Transylvania (Ky.) University.
• I was impressed with the game Auburn DT Pat Sims played in the Cotton Bowl. He hustled the whole time, which isn't something you always see out of him. If he could play with more consistency, Sims could be an All-SEC player next season. Having Sims and Sen'Derrick Marks together at tackle is a really nice 1-2 for the Tigers.
• WR commitment Chris Slaughter is going to be a star. Remember me saying this.
  
• While I'm making factually baseless guesses about people, let me add another. Muschamp is going to build a top-rated defense at Auburn during the next two years. As he gathers the linebackers and defensive linemen he really needs to run that defense, the Tigers will become one of the five best NCAA defenses. Book it. All this internet chatter about how Muschamp is in over his head is laughable. The team had some problems this season. He wasn't one of them.
  
• I hated hearing Finebaum trashing Bill Curry on the air today. Great coach? No. A complete and total loser? That's not true and it's the wrong thing to say about someone. Paul Finebaum is a gentleman in person. I don't understand what happens when the mic goes live.
• Hearing the Alabama fans chant at Tuscaloosa Regional Airport this afternoon was hilarious on so many levels. For the record: I'd say that about Washington State or Florida State or Maryland fans just the same. There are fans. There are die-hards. Then there are the people who go to airports to welcome coaches. God bless those people. They make sports fun.
  

Cotton Bowl update, 1/1

Hey everyone. Happy New Year to all the peeps. We're going to have a great year in Montgomery, I can just feel it, so it's time to get happy.

Early observations:

• Saw Terry Bowden this morning at the hotel. He looks old to me. I remember him being a young-looking guy with plenty of youthful enthusiasm. He has retained the personality and all. He's just gray. I know. It happens.
  
• We're here at the Cotton Bowl already. It's 8:12 a.m. It looks like a bigger Cramton Bowl. One major difference: The east-side scoreboard is a massive LCD contraption. It rivals the widescreen scoreboard at Arkansas' stadium, which is saying something.
• Be glad you're not in this traffic. The Cotton Bowl isn't a particularly accessible place in the first place. These days, though, there is massive construction in progress. The traffic pattern is a mess. A lot of those empty seats you'll see at kickoff are paying patrons stuck in traffic.
• I attended the Dallas-Detroit football game yesterday at Texas Stadium. We were hosted by the Irving C.V.B. and a lovely gal named Diana Pfaff. The place is OK inside. Outside? Really not much. Looks incredibly dated. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is building a billion-dollar stadium in Arlington that's supposed to be open for the 2009 season. You know what that means -- Texas Stadium has seen its final burst of financial investment.