Football times announced
Hey everyone. Auburn will play its first three football games on television, which is something of a surprise. Here are the dates and times:
9/1 Kansas State, 6:45 (ESPN)
9/8 South Florida, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
9/15 Miss. State, 11:30 a.m. (LFS)
The surprise, at least to me, is that the Auburn-USF game is big enough to draw a national audience. The Bulls made progress last year, finishing 9-4 with a win against East Carolina in the Birmingham (Papa John's.com) Bowl. USF won at West Virginia, too, which gave the program a major dose of credibility.
Still, I'm surprised Auburn-USF is that significant on the national scale. I'm not convinced that Auburn is going to be all that good this year -- we'll talk more about that as the season approaches -- yet it appears that broadcast executives don't agree with me. So it goes.
The MSU game is always in the morning. Just like death and taxes. At least this one is in Auburn, which keeps me from staying the night in some Columbus, Miss., rat trap and cutting my Friday night debauchery short because of the traffic situation in Starkville.
While I'm talking about how Auburn's schedule affects my life, let me add that 8 o'clock kickoffs are not my friend. Best-case scenario is this: Game ends at 11:15 for a deadline of 11:30-ish. I've written a lot of stories, deadline stories, but situations like this never get easier. I'll be thinking about this one beginning ... now.
I still have nightmares about the Auburn-Syracuse overtime game from 2002. 9/22/02 to be exact. I was convinced that slugging a fifth of mercury would have been an easier way out of that mess. And that was a 7:45 kickoff.
9/1 Kansas State, 6:45 (ESPN)
9/8 South Florida, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
9/15 Miss. State, 11:30 a.m. (LFS)
The surprise, at least to me, is that the Auburn-USF game is big enough to draw a national audience. The Bulls made progress last year, finishing 9-4 with a win against East Carolina in the Birmingham (Papa John's.com) Bowl. USF won at West Virginia, too, which gave the program a major dose of credibility.
Still, I'm surprised Auburn-USF is that significant on the national scale. I'm not convinced that Auburn is going to be all that good this year -- we'll talk more about that as the season approaches -- yet it appears that broadcast executives don't agree with me. So it goes.
The MSU game is always in the morning. Just like death and taxes. At least this one is in Auburn, which keeps me from staying the night in some Columbus, Miss., rat trap and cutting my Friday night debauchery short because of the traffic situation in Starkville.
While I'm talking about how Auburn's schedule affects my life, let me add that 8 o'clock kickoffs are not my friend. Best-case scenario is this: Game ends at 11:15 for a deadline of 11:30-ish. I've written a lot of stories, deadline stories, but situations like this never get easier. I'll be thinking about this one beginning ... now.
I still have nightmares about the Auburn-Syracuse overtime game from 2002. 9/22/02 to be exact. I was convinced that slugging a fifth of mercury would have been an easier way out of that mess. And that was a 7:45 kickoff.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
3:38 PM
9 Comments:
Your an idiot.
While I can appreciate that sportswriters don't like 8pm kickoffs, fans certainly like them better than those God-awful 11:30AM LF kickoff times. I'd rather get home at 2AM than sit and bake all afternoon.
Are you kidding me. You must not be watching what ive watched for the past half a decade. Auburn will always have talent unlike your ghetto campus down the road that should be in Conference USA. Ill take Tubs over a midget and a second year offensive coordinator any day.
How sad is Jay G. Tate? He writes his article and then sits back and responds to other people's comments. That's hilarious. Maybe he will respond to this....or will that show that you really have no life??
I can see where some skepticism is warranted. Afterall, we do need to rebuild our O-line, find some steady playmakers at receiver, find some steady performers at linebacker and cornerback, and replace our kickers. Also, lets not forget we may have the toughest road schedule in the SEC this year. Having said all that, This coaching staff has proven time and again about their ability to put a good group together. We still have great talent on hand, and we always seem to get newcomers that impact us every year. The O-line does have a great OT and an experienced center to build around, as well as guards that have played before. The receivers made great progress in the spring, and we still have Hawthorne that can add to that. Blackmon returning will help the linebackers, but losing Trahan hurt. McFadden, Lee, Clayton, etc. are talented DB's. Some newcomers that could impact us are Mario Fannin at TB, Hawthorne at Receiver, Eltorro Freeman at linebacker, and Lee Ziemba on the O-line. We have a chance to be very good, but it will take putting all the peices together before the meat of the SEC schedule.
I think we are going to reload and be fine.
QB,RB,and reciervers are all stable. Going to be a fun year with healty QB
I don't think our schedule should have anything to do with whether or not you think Auburn is going to be any good this year, kev. Losing games doesn't necessarily mean you don't have a good team. It could mean that you just played good teams in difficult locations.
The O-Line and kicking games are things that everyone should keep their eyes on this season. And South Florida is a scary team. I wouldn't be surprised if they came in and pulled in an upset. I hope it doesn't happen, but they have a great quarterback and a wonderful coach.
Tate,
Nothing personal, but you're just not that good. I don't care for you to be homer, but do you know anything about this Auburn Team?
If picking fly crap from pepper is going to be your niche then act like you have researched Auburn and give me something from a knowledgeable point of view.
Being a wise ass does not make your commentary worth the read.
Do I know anything about this Auburn team? Yea. I know a few things. This is Year 10 for me on the beat, so I've been around a while and have seen things a few times.
I'll blog more on this later in the summer when I I get a better feel for who actually will be playing. It's still not clear to me what Blackmon's role will be.
That makes a big difference.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home