News of the day, 1/24
Hey everyone. Sorry for my relative lack of bloggage during the past 48 hours. I had the previously discussed in-touch-with-the-people enterprise where I spoke with 15 of Montgomery's finest citizens about politics. This wonderful piece will run one of these Sundays.I'm currently at the AU-LSU women's game, which is a bludgeoning.
I know there are plenty of items to discuss. Chief among them, gauging from my inbox, is the situation facing tailback recruit Enrique Davis. I believe Auburn still has a legitimate shot with him. I'll have to elaborate on this later because this fine game awaits.
LSU won, 79-59. Yuck.
OK. On to other matters.
On the subject of Enrique Davis: Auburn definitely is back in this thing. Tony Franklin and Eddie Gran met with Davis, the nation's top prep-school tailback, at school in Virginia on Wednesday. The kid was pretty impressed with the things Franklin wants to do with him. When it's all said and done, I predict Davis again will sign with Auburn. All that time he spent betrothed to Auburn will make his decision straightforward.One other item to consider: He isn't yet qualified. Don't assume he's a sure thing.
I've put some thought into the Jeff Lebo quandary that we had around the HABOTN last week. In the comments section, we had a pretty protracted bitch session about Lebo's value as a coach.I think we all can agree that he's a good tactician hampered by a roster that probably isn't up to SEC standards as a whole. That's obviously his fault, I know, but good coaching can make up for a lot of things. I firmly believe Lebo's team would be good right now if Josh Dollard and Vot Barber were on the floor.
As for Dollard's alleged medical problem, I saw him today. He works out with the team and everything. Weird.
Anyway, if I was the athletic director, I'd be more tempted to replace Nell Fortner or Tom Slater before Lebo. I mean, I like Nell. She projects a classy and sophisticated aura which surely benefits Auburn at some level, yet I often have this feeling that she's getting outcoached.
As far as Slater goes ... I think Auburn baseball should be very good given its facilities, weather, recruiting area, tradition and interest. If the Tigers again fall short of an SEC Tournament bid, I'd have to think Slater would be dismissed.
One small story from the LSU>AU women's game. LSU center Sylvia Fowles is my favorite player in all of women's ball. I just like her style -- very aggressive and good yet rarely out of control. Anyway, LSU coach Van Chancellor is talking after the game ... going on and on in his old-school way (he's a 64-year-old Mississippi native) about his team. Fowles keeps looking over at him with this weird face.So we're leaving the room a few minutes later. Fowles turns to me and Columbus Ledger-Enquirer ace Christa Turner and says: "Did you all understand anything he said?"
Christa and I laughed.
"He's my coach and I maybe get half of it."
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GEEK ZONE
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Big day for me yesterday: New downloadable content for Guitar Hero 3. It was NONE OTHER than one of my favorite songs of all time ... Boston's "Peace of Mind."Boston owns. Well, I should day Boston owned. The singer, Brad Delp, offed himself last year. There goes the reunion tour.
Of course, someone already has posted the song to YouTube. Kid is playing expert, hit 292k. Sick.
My best (so far) is 185k on hard. (UPDATED)
The song pack (only for the 360 right now) also comes with Foreigner's "Jukebox Hero" and Journey's "Wheel In The Sky."
Questions? Comments? You can email me at: jgtate@gannett.com
Photo credit: Todd van Emst, Auburn University photography ace
posted by Jay G. Tate at
6:50 PM
47 Comments:
Sorry, dnatl, I had to take that one down. I thought it was funny ... just a little over the line.
Synopsis: Dissing Pokey Chatman.
Who is Pokey Chatman?
ex-LSU women's coach wasn't she?
I think I just remembered. She played a whole different kind of one on one.
Well said. And yes, she was LSU's coach until last March or so. There were allegations of an improper relationship with a former player.
I never got the dirt on that. It never came out, so to speak.
As far as ole Enrique goes, I thought it was kinda strange when he was adamantly against the spread yet is going to visit oregon. Either other school's coaches have got in his head, or he just wants a little attention.
I know an opposing coach is not "supposed" to talk bad about another school, but i wonder where that line really lies. I am guessing it is one of those enormous gray areas in which some coaches push the limit (Saban and Urban Meyer) more than others.
Of course other teams introduce these ideas into Enrique's head. Wouldn't you?
There's a difference between pointing out some possibly negative elements of Auburn's offensive system (ie the tailback's role in Franklin's spread) and what we'll call "negative recruiting."
I don't think it's wrong for Tennessee or Ole Miss or whoever to criticize Franklin's system. That's how the world works.
Yeah i guess it's all about the way you spin it. It just sucks Enrique looks to be quite impressionable.
I thought Dollard had gone home. That does seem very strange.
I'm not quite the hater this week that I was last week. Maybe I got a little carried away. I JUST HATE TO LOSE. Here's hoping that we beat Bama. Heard a rumor that our boy from France might be ready to play this weekend. Think Dollard's medical condition has been rehabilitated?
So, could I at least say that Pokey is no Timex?
This is coming from "anonymous guy on the internet" so take it for what it's worth. But I have heard from a few folks (some reliable, some not) that Dollard's "medical condition" was a matter of too many nights listening to Bob Marley if you catch my drift. Lebo gave him the year off to get out of that lifestyle and get his stuff back in order.
Again, just what I heard. But it sounds kind of legit. I mean, what kind of condition keeps you out of playing but allows you to practice with the team?
The kind of medical condition that can cause his team's season to go "Up in Smoke".
If that was the case, if Dollard was partaking, why would Auburn describe that as a "medical condition"? Just say he's been suspended and leave it at that.
Dollard has been practicing all season.
dnatl: Much better.
Well said with Slater. This is a make or break year for him in my opinion. Absolutely no reason you can't be successful in baseball at Auburn. Didn't he lose 14 sec games in a row last year or the year before?? I think he had his best recruiting class this year too.
If Davis is visiting Oregon this weekend, all he will see is a low hung cloud cover. The place is beautiful much of the year, but depressing now, especially with the rain front moving in. I would go visit if I were him, why not see the west?
Bob Marley smoked weed as part of his religion. Dollard wasn't exactly following the principles believed by Bob Marley...and he wasn't trying to save the world either.
I give tons of credit and have admiration for Lebo taking care of Josh like he has. Addiction is a medical condition. It's treatable, too.
I look forward to seeing Josh get another chance at life. He's really a good guy.
I like Josh Dollard, for the record.
11:54, it was just a clever (or maybe not so clever) way to say "smoking dope". Lighten up. I could care less about Marley's ethical reasons for firing it up, and certainly wasnt passing judgement on Dollard. Believe me, when I was in college my reasons were much less, how shall I say,...honorable.
Sincerely,
7:33 a.m.
Also Jay, maybe they had to throw out the "medical condition" so he wouldnt lose eligibility and could still redshirt. Not sure on the rules, just a guess.
7:33am, I don't think anybody's in a tizzy?
I wonder if his "medical condition" whatever it may be caused him to become academically ineligible. Just a thought.
It's water under the bridge now, regardless of circumstance.
Has anyone bought this 360 DLC pack from GH3? Surely someone has! Peace f Mind is a bad, bad boy ...
That was too funny with that bitching comment Jay. Well, I like Josh also. I've been around him at several parties and I've never seen him do that. I feel like anyone who posts under the name anonymous should not make baseless incriminating comments like that about a student athlete. WDE!
AUQno4:
Get real.
And are you not anonymous? Post yiour first and last name here, big guy.
Auqno4 ... apparently you are an idiot. I don't know if these were Sunday School parties or what, but you need to know this ... people don't usually stand out in the middle of a big party suckin' on a big ol' doobie. What kind of parties have you been going to anyway?
All that being said, if that were the issue with Josh, I fully support him and the Auburn coaching staff for handling it the way they have, and that is, with a lot of class. Good luck Josh, whatever the problem is.
Somebody needs to explain all this air guitar stuff to me. I don't get it and I don't know what in the world you are talking about. I play the real guitar, so I am a little lost. Tell me what this is all about.
It's a video game geared toward people who can't play the real guitar.
Players use a toy guitar that has a strum button, a whammy bar and five color-coded fret buttons. The game requires you to strum and coordinate fret combinations along with the song ... as if you were "playing."
So there's your GH primer.
I'd much rather play the real guitar. It would take years for me to play Boston's "Peace of Mind" that way, if ever, so I'd prefer to just do it this way.
In an unrelated note, let's get away from the Dollard stuff. There's really not much more to be said about it ...
I agree.
Auburnmath,
Nice point and quite humorous. I'll be damned.
A better play would have been:
"I concur."
i heard mr. smooth just committed. That's kind of commit i like. I am all about the linemen.
yea, ron mexico doesn't hate me anymore!
Is the AU vs. UA on the local tube tomorrow? Local being Montgomery.
Freddie Smooth is pronounced which way?
Smooth as in the texture
or
Smooth as in fred smoot with a "th"
on the end
I'm thinking the latter
regardless the "boooo" sound will be made if he ever makes a play
Jay have you played Rock Band yet? It's fantastic. It is a whole lot easier for someone who isn't very into games to pick up and play. Plus the multiplayer interactivity is great. For a second you almost feel like a band, till you realize you don't actually have any talent and are simply pressing the button patterns as they appear on screen. The GH series is great and I play it as well, but for my money i prefer rock band.
G money, I am assuming you'll be in T-Town today? How about a little running feed on the experience? Just wondering.
Let's knock out a few of these.
a.) I don't have Rock Band. I'd like to have it, but I don't have anyone to play with. My friends live in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Dubai. No online multiplayer means it's a solo show for me ... and I have no need for that.
b.) I will NOT be in Tuscaloosa tonight. I WILL be at the Capital City Showdown between AUM and Faulkner. I'm surprised, too.
What the? I can't believe it. Oh well, have fun at the showdown.
I've been told it's important to be a team player, so I'm going to help out with the AUM-Faulkner game.
That's how we roll baby! We're looking good in T-Town.
hey. a little love for my aum senators. i'm class of '84.
97-77? I didn't see that coming.
If Alabama could shoot free throws it would have been 107. Embarrassing.
AuburnMath and anonymous whoever you are, no I'm no idiot. I don't appreciate the fact that a couple of internet nerds would attempt to incriminate a young man with baseless bull. Anonymous,whichever one you are, is a Bammer. Apparently you guys have never partied in college before. I wonder would any of you geeks call Dollard a criminal offender to his face. I doubt it! Go back to your internet p--- nerds!
auqno4 ... it appears that a nerve has been struck.
My answer ...
1) I have called not called anyone anything, except for you. And I called you an idiot, a point which you are proving for me.
2) I have barely enough computer skills to use the internet so I don't think I qualify as a geek. I have spent to much time PLAYING sports to learn how to use the computer.
3) When I went to Auburn, if there was a party going on, I was there. I didn't miss a single one, ever.
4) When I was there, and I am certain that it is still true, people didn't do things like we have been talking about in plain site because people like you might see them and tell somebody.
5) Our previous comments were not original. They were inferred by every sports show in the state at the time of the announcement.
6) Lastly, I ended my previous comments on the matter congratulating the person in question and the coaching staff for the way the situation has been handled, IF ... I SAID IF ... that is what the situation was.
Now go back and cry to your mama some more and maybe she will give you the encouragement you need to respond again in a few days.
That's cool. Whatever buddy. I just felt like it was an inappropriate thing to say. I'm sorry I didn't hear that report all over the state. I thought it was a 'medical condition.' If you were a true Auburn person you would see that I am simply defending the integrity of Auburn, a student, and our coaching staff.
Well I am so proud of you. I know we all appreciate it.
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