fiver

anybody that roots for a major college program and thinks that the athletes on the team are students of the same caliber as the average student at that school is kidding themself. Maybe not but some schools prefer to have kids that are not students in any capacity. Winning and doing it "the right way" is almost impossible because of these schools. Do they really prefer to have kids on the team that aren't great students, or do they just do what they can to get the best football players/athletes that meet or exceed the minimum academic requirements? If the kids do meet or exceed the minimum NCAA academic requirements, then why would this not be considered winning the "right way"? Head coaches are under a lot of pressure to win and now. Most don't stay on the payroll because of how many of their wide receivers went on to medical school later in life. I somewhat understand your point. Schools such as Vanderbilt are at a disadvantage because they hold their athletes to a higher academic standard than the NCAA ...but the NCAA really needs to raise minimum requirements for any nationwide change to come into fruition.

I love in Bloomington, Indiana... we dont get WCIU but because I live in the cubs "market" the game is blacked out on mlb.tv. it's a lose-lose for people like me. In theory, one could use a proxy server to circumvent this.

I thought this was going to be another thread about hookers.

wasn't expecting this thread to be funny...but it is.

College football is dead to me this year, so I'm not sure how I made it into this thread. However, Auburn-Florida is a mismatch. Auburn's offensive line is is more inexperienced than Florida's defensive front...Florida will be able to pressure...wait who is this Brandon Cox of which you speak? The quarterback that is starting for Auburn this weekend is also dead to me....I'd rather watch the true frosh...Kodi Burns...Brad Lester is still serving a suspension and thus electrifying Mario Fannin will get many carries at RB...he will do very well until he fumbles..multiple times...bleh...thank Jeebus I still have the NFL. Edit - However, I would take Auburn and 18 points if I were a betting man....i believe Florida wins by 10 or 14.

Obviously, Bonds is still valuable as hitter. Does anyone want to debate that? LF and 1B are the easiest positions to play, so he will be playing one of the two if he signs with a National League team. I agree that he's likely to sign with an AL team, but I don't see why some believe the original post was so very outlandish. edit - yes, Soriano could play RF. Without seeing Lee out there, I have no idea whether moving him to RF is a viable option. The former is more likely to happen.

yes

Actually I don't even know what it means. I just saw it here, and Monkey See Monkey Do. It indeed sounds funny, if that validates the use of it here. Unless I'm a n00b to it too, It's not negative as far as I know. The thread in which "Cobs" originated several years ago is stickied in the Rants forum.

edit...errant post

rule of thumb: if woman is willing to cheat on her husband with you, then she will be willing to cheat on you with another man.

John Parker Wilson didn't throw the ball accurately against Vanderbilt, but he's generally a pretty good passer and DJ Hall is a solid receiver, so your secondary will probably get their test. It's really hard to judge what Alabama has this year, because they haven't exactly played quality teams in their first two games. If their freshman RB, Terry Grant, is able to run the ball as he has so far this year, then this is going to be a tight one. Alabama's o-line is improved. Sophomore OT Andre Smith is already one of the best in the nation, IMO. Both teams have excellent kick and punt returners...should be an exciting game. I'm pretty sure Arkansas wins though.

agree...I enjoy saying it. They also have a freshman at right guard, so Cox has to trust two freshmen over there to protect his blind side during a pass rush.... What are your thoughts on the Arkansas-Bama game? How is Arkansas's offensive line this year? Didn't they lose some starters there from last year?

Also..you asked about Ziemba. Because Auburn only returned one starter on the o-line from last year, Ziemba is STARTING at tackle. He's going to be great, but he's not great this year. Wow. The Hogs really missed out on those two. Ziemba looks to be a beast in a couple years with all that experience. He's not starting on the left, is he? That would be crazy. Ziemba starts at right tackle this year, but Cox is left handed, so that is his blind side. King Dunlap is the starting left tackle and was supposed to be making his case for first round draft status but has disappointed everyone in the first two games.

Also..you asked about Ziemba. Because Auburn only returned one starter on the o-line from last year, Ziemba is STARTING at tackle. He's going to be great, but he's not great this year.

Warp, I believe you posed a question about Kodi Burns in last weeks thread. It's taken me several days to care about football again after the Auburn loss this past weekend. Specifically, you asked whether Kodi was the #2 QB at Auburn presently. The short answer is "no". Tubberville would like to redshirt the freshman this year, and Blake Fields is presently the #2 QB. However, Kodi has been getting quite a few reps in practice, and there was an article in the Mobile paper today that suggested that we may see Kodi Burns against Mississippi State this weekend. They made mention of him being utilized for the remainder of this season similarly to how Tim Tebow was used by Florida last year. He definitely possesses far more talent than Cox or Fields.

Auburn is not a good football team. There's a reason they didn't get that much media attention to start the year. Brandon Cox is mediocre at best, Brad Lester has yet to impress and the offensive line isn't close to what it was in recent years. The defense is about the only bright spot for the Tigers, but even that will deteriorate if the offense can't put together any drives. I've been saying since late last year, Auburn is not one of the better teams in the SEC right now. No, Brad Lester hasn't impressed, but he hasn't set foot ont he field this year either because of suspension..so that makes it difficult. If one watched the game last night, they realized that Auburn does have a running game when and only when Mario Fannin is in the game. He's a freshmen, didn't carry the ball against K-State, but he waits on holes to open and then explodes through them. They put together several nice drives with Fannan at RB. Fannin and Ben Tate alternated drives in the first half and Auburn led the game at that point. Ben looked much better when he ran the ball only every other drive. Fannin opened the second half with two fumbles and both were lost. Tubberville didn't give him another drive for the remanider of the game. Ben Tate is big and strong, but he looked very slow last night..all that said, Auburn wasn't able to run the ball in the second half. BTW, Brad Lester may or may not play this year. Brandon Cox isn't mediocre. He is poor. After two years of being immoble in the pocket and taking A LOT of unnecessary sacks, he finally looks scared back there. He won't stand he ground, step into a pass if he sees he is about to get hit....He ducked about 4-5 times last night AS HE WAS THROWING THE BALL. No, I've said since the offseason that Auburn is quite a bit worse than LSU or Florida this year. I believe they are capable of beating all other SEC teams. They had more talent than South Florida last night. 5 turnovers in the second half will cause some problems. If 1) Mario Fannin gets more reps at RB and is able to hold on to the football or 2) Brad Lester is cleared to play in the next few weeks, then there will not be as much pressure on Cox and Auburn will have a chance against all teams other than Florida and LSU on their schedule. I really hope Tuberville just gives up on Cox and starts freshman Kodi Burns later this year. I'd like to get a head start on '08, and Tubberville must know that Brandon Cox lost Auburn the game last night and will be the primary factor in other losses this year if he continues to play. Edit - in case i didn't make it clear, Brad Lester again did not play last evening because of suspension. Trey Blackmon, Auburn's best linebacker, also missed this game because of injury but should be back next week.

beers..bears..whatever works.

I imagine South Florida is going to bring 7 or 8 in the box, stop the run, and see if the o-line and Brandon Cox can find the open receiver. Cox wasn't able to do that for the first 3 quarters against K-State. Auburn wins 19-13.

Agree...Auburn's offense in '05 was superior in almost every aspect. HB Kenny Irons (2nd round), WR Ben Obamanu (7th round), WR Devin Aromashadu - (7th round), WR Courtney Taylor (6th round), Cooper Wallace ('06 Titans), LT Marcus McNeil (2nd round), LG Ben Grubbs (1st round), RT Troy Reddick ('06 Giants). Cox absolutely benefited from that. Hey, i'm ready for the Kodi Burn era to begin at QB...promise. I will argue that Lester may be better than you think. He took a backseat to Kenny Irons with respect to playing time in '05 and '06, but he rushed for more yards per carry than Irons in both seasons, and he scored over twice as many touchdowns as Irons did last season. Sophomore Ben Tate played RB last night, and while he outweighs Lester by 15 pounds and is stronger, he is not as fast nor can cut as well Lester. Auburn would benefit from using two backs again. Bottom line...Florida and LSU may embarrass them. I like that you cheer for your conference though. I find it amazing how many Big Ten fans would rather Michigan and OSU lose in non-conference games. Not realizing this only make their school look even crappier. of course he said nothing about Florida. you think Tennessee and Georgia fans would not revel in Florida losing to one of the nonconference patsies they line up, you would be wrong. you think Oregon and UCLA fans wouldn't love it if USC lost to Idaho last night, you would be wrong. I personally rooted for every Big Ten team to win yesterday, except Michigan. it's about their over ratedness, the calls they routinely get, their fans sense of entitlement, AND the fact that if tied within the conference, the second tie breaker is overall record. I made no mention of Florida, because the winner of that game was predetermined. In the three I mentioned, SEC teams were playing fairly competetive non-conference games. No, I always root for SEC teams when they play non-conference games.

I like that you cheer for your conference though. I find it amazing how many Big Ten fans would rather Michigan and OSU lose in non-conference games. Not realizing this only make their school look even crappier. So who are some teams that impressed people in the first day of college football. Besides the obvious ones. I was really impressed by Georgie Tech. Could end up in the Top Ten I was really happy with Michigan St. I didnt know what to expect from us or UAB. MSU has the talent to be a bowl team. Hopefully they can change from their annual plunge once the Big Ten season starts. I think Auburn is obviously overrated but I was impressed with Kansas Sts defense. I've been very vocal the last couple of years in stating that Auburn's QB, Brandon Cox, isn't good. He is about as immobile of a QB as you will see. That coupled with an offensive line that only returned one starter caused a lot of problems for Auburn. How many times was Cox sacked? Another key factor is that Auburn's starting RB, Brad Lester, was suspended for this game. Sophomore Ben Tate rushed for 90 or so yards, but they could have used Lester's breakaway speed. Is Auburn really overrated? They're ranked #18 in the nation and behind 4 other SEC teams. Everyone knew this was going to be somewhat of a "rebuilding" year for them. Auburn plays weaker opponents for the next three weeks before traveling to Gainsville to play the Florida Gators. I'm hoping their offensive line has matured some by that time.

tipping my cap to Cal...they are going to be good this year. I was a bit of a homer in my three predictions..TN/Cal, Auburn/Kansas State, Georgia/Ok State. Georgia won easily. Auburn struggled and had to pull out the win in the 4th quarter.

How is Washington State this year, guys? Wisconsin is favored by two touchdowns, but I'm thinking it may not be that close.

East Carolina over VT 7-3 early....The concensus seemed to be that VT would score early and often, but East Carolina hasn't been a slouch for several years.

wind blowing in or out for the game today?

sorry..one more...Tennessee will beat Cal tomorrow and thus cover the spread.