Maligned former trainer lands on his feet

Hey everyone. I was surprised today to learn that Tommy Tuberville, now of Texas Tech fame, has hired Arnold Gamber to be his head athletic trainer.

You may recall that Gamber worked at Auburn from 1999-2009. His image was tarnished after allegations surfaced that he played a key role in Chaz Ramsey's physical problems -- or the lack of attention paid to them. That lawsuit remains on track for a February trial.

Evan Woodbery slyly learned in late June that former offensive line coach Hugh Nall has been dropped from the suit. Gamber has not.

Odd choice? I'd say so.

The Five I'm Watching: Part I

Hey everyone. With the World Cup all but completed, I'm back to the HABOTN where I belong.

Thanks for your patience.

We're starting a new series today we like to call The Five I'm Watching, which highlights ... exactly what you think it highlights. Media Days, the unofficial start to college football in my world, begins on July 21.

That's only 13 days.

So let's start assessing what the Auburn Tigers have in store for the 2010 season. We'll begin by examining Cameron Newton.

CAMERON NEWTON
Quarterback

• Age: 21
  
• Class: Junior
  
• Size: 6-foot-6, approximately 250 pounds
  
• Previous role: Starting JUCO quarterback
  
• Theme song: ``I Am The Highway," Audioslave
  
• Relevant lyric: "I am not your rolling wheels; I am the highway."

THE GOOD: The scouting reports we've all heard on Newton is that he's big and fast and commandeering. I haven't seen much of him because of Auburn's semi-restrictive access guidelines. I have seen enough to know he's faster than you'd expect from someone of his size. I know he has plus arm strength. I know he's bright and has the kind of fire one would expect from a top-tier college quarterback. He's in an offense that made a (compromised) Chris Todd pretty doggone effective. Imagine the kinds of numbers a healthy, thoughtful quarterback could amass. I don't say this often about athletes' parents, but Newton's father is a huge plus in my mind. He knows the game. He provides a certain thrust, I guess you'd say, that gives Newton proper large-scale vision.

THE BAD: His performance in the A-Day game did little to soothe questions about accuracy. To be fair, coaches asked almost nothing Newton in that game. It's a smart decision. A great game would have stoked expectations beyond where they are right now. I'm also wary of hype here. I'm not saying he's Greg Smith or even Eltoro Freeman, but the expectations being heaped upon Newton seem out of proportion given his lack of top-level experience. Was he good in junior college? Absolutely. Two rival JUCO coaches who spoke with me earlier this year made it clear, though, that Newton thrived primarily because of overwhelming play-making ability. Defenders at that level couldn't handle that. The Southeastern Conference is home to the best college defenders, pound for pound, in the world. Look at NFL rosters and tell me I'm wrong.

THE REALITY: He's going to be 80% of what you think he'll be -- at least initially. I expect his play-making ability to work well in this league. He'll create on the fly. He'll run away from some good linebackers, which will make you think: Damn, he's good. He'll improvise more often -- and more effectively -- than you think. I just get this sense that Newton's accuracy will wane beyond 20 yards. Gus Malzahn craves those long passes, too, so Newton will be forced to improve dramatically. My guess is that he will. It may take some time.

What do you think? Speak your mind!

ACC taps into the ESPN stash

Hey everyone. The Atlantic Coast Conference today announced a new, lucrative television deal with The Worldwide Leader.

Basics:

• It's for 12 years.
  
• It begins in 2011-12.
  
• It's worth a reported $1.86 billion.
  
• Each school is expected to net approximately $12.9 million/year.
  
• They currently net approximately $6.5.
  
• Football games will be broadcast on Saturday afternoons (when the SEC is on CBS) and nights (when the SEC is on ESPN and ESPN2). I'm assuming the ACC will see several games telecast to ESPNU. I don't know that.

Aycock finds a new home

Hey everyone. We've been talking about this in the other thread, but I think this deserves its own home.

Former Auburn tailback Dontae Aycock, who left the team earlier this season, will attempt to walk on at South Florida this fall. We know this because Greg Auman of the St. Petersburg Times says so.

Commence jokes involving "Aycock" in the punchline.

ps: Sweet logo.

He likes Auburn

Hey everyone. Courtesy of Jet, who linked us, we have this fine photo of Leo DiCaprio.

This was taken on July 3 in the Cape Town, South Africa, airport.

Photo credit: INFdaily.com

Damon Evans out at Georgia

Hey everyone. Happy 4th of July to all you American HOTTIES and your families.

We're very lucky to live in a country where people can say what they think in an honest manner. You know who made that happen, who makes that happen right now.

Thank you.

To the business at hand ...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is parroting a report made by WSB-TV that Georgia athletic director Damon Evans will be employed for only a few more hours. The school reportedly will announce Evans' resignation on Monday.

You probably know that Evans recently was pulled over for DUI -- hours before his new contract (which called for a $110,000 raise) went into effect. Evans himself says drunken driving is a bad idea.

You probably know that some other, embarrassing things occurred during that traffic stop.

He'll soon be unemployed. And that sucks.

I like Evans. He's good for Georgia. He's good for the Southeastern Conference. He's a younger guy, a competent guy, whose voice among the league's power players stood out for its lack of stodginess.

Can Evans realistically remain athletic director? No. He's become a punchline. A leader can be a punchline, but the jokes must center around professional decisions. When personal decisions elicit the laughter, it's a totally different deal. Now he's the drunk AD with red panties in his lap.

That won't work.

So we'll soon hear how The New Guy is better. I won't believe it. Georgia already was making progress.