Suggest Team Slogan War Eagle Is Going Spread Eagle

What we learned in 2007 We learned that Brandon Cox had eight years of eligibility? Seriously, I'll still be surprised if we don't see him under center next Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe. Cox was a tough guy, but the offense just never seemed to hit stride with him under center. A slow, prodding offense that finished 98th in the country will now be replaced.

Part of last year's problem was the Tigers top tailback Brad Lester was suspended five games for academic reasons. Ben Tate performed well in his absence, but Lester needs to be the man in all 12 games as they adjust to the spread. One misconception with the spread is that running the football remains incredibly important, but it's just not so smash mouth.

Despite all of the last year's troubles, Auburn got their deck in order and finished with two strong wins against Alabama and Clemson to give the '08 Tigers some much needed momentum.

Expectations in '08 A whole new Auburn. Gone is the run, run, play action, run, run offense that has been terribly painful, yet effective, at times. Tuberville has brought in offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, formerly the OC at Troy, to install a spread offense attack. It's going to take some adjusting to be sure, especially with the quarterback job up in air as well, but with so many others using forms of the spread, this was a good move.

Auburn fans would obviously like an SEC championship, and team begins very highly ranked in both preseason polls, but I think that's a bit high. Having to make trips to West Virginia, Mississippi State and Alabama to end the season, I'd be stunned if they went 3-0 there. The good news is that LSU, Tennessee and Georgia all make the trip to Auburn.

Sophomore Kodi Burns may be the QB for now, but junior college transfer Chris Todd will get his opportunities. How well these two adjust to the spread will be the different between an SEC West title and another trip to the Gator Bowl. I expect something closer to the latter.

What could hold them back Aside from the questions at quarterbacks, the other continual question mark for Tuberville is his wide receivers. Whether is was Brandon Cox arm, or lack thereof, you couldn't watch Auburn for more than a minute without seeing a dropped pass. Fortunately, the offensive line will be strong and give Todd or Burn enough time, but can Tim Hawthorne, Robert Dunn, Rodgeriqus Smith make the big plays?

Big Men on Campus Going with the full defense here would be the appropriate thing to do, but if we're to narrow it down to just two, it's will be hard to miss Antonio Coleman and Sen'Derrick Marks (awesome name). Just look in the opposing backfield, and you'll likely find these two beastly ends. Both will make a lot of money on Sundays. Auburn's defense is good enough to make up for any errors at QB and always plays that tough, physical style that's fun to watch.

Cheerleader Grade



A. Like you expected anything different from an SEC school.

Schedule and Predictions

Aug. 30	Louisiana-Monroe W
Sept. 6	Southern Miss W
Sept. 13	at Mississippi State W
Sept. 20	LSU L
Sept. 27	Tennessee W
Oct. 4	at Vanderbilt W
Oct. 11	Arkansas W
Oct. 23	at West Virginia L
Nov. 1	at Ole Miss W
Nov. 8	UT-Martin W
Nov. 15	Georgia L
Nov. 29	at Alabama W

9-3 (6-2 SEC) -- While I'm tempted to pick an upset over LSU or Georgia, but equally convinced they'll blow one game to Miss State or Arkansas, so I think 9 wins is right on the spot.

Your thoughts and predictions?

I know Usain Bolt already won the gold in the 100m dash a few days ago, but late yesterday Deadspin dug up a fact that I found rather stunning.

It turns out that during this year's 100m dash, 6 guys did something no white guy has ever done - run a sub 10-second 100 meters.

What's even more stunning about this is that normally in sports, through training, advancements in equipment, etc., people of all races begin to improve upon their results.

Not so with white guys. The only white guy to ever run a flat 10-second 100m dash was the not so famous Polish sprinter Marian Woronin (who you see on the right). And he did that 40 YEARS AGO. That's ridiculous that some other white guy out there couldn't beat that time in the past 40 years.

So, what does this mean? I'm not sure, other than that this pretty much proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that white people lack the fast-twitch muscles necessary to win sprinting competitions.

But then again, as you start to get out to slightly longer distances, white guys can be pretty good. Jeremy Wariner, who won gold in the 400m in Athens and silver this year in Beijing, was once considered to be the potential candidate to break Michael Johnson's 400m world record. Plus, Roger Bannister, who was about as white as white guys get, was the first guy to break the 4-minute mile, something everyone once thought was impossible.

Anyway, I think I agree with Deadspin as to what the problem is.


Hey, he dunked from the free throw line. And I'll be honest, I thought that was more impossible for a white guy to do than run a  sub 10-second 100m dash. 

I guess we could always send a white guy to China. I have a feeling they could train him to run a sub 10-second 100m dash. Or at least pump him up with enough drugs to do it. Either way, I'll take it.

No white person has ever broken 10 seconds in the 100 meters. [Deadspin]

I first read about John Challis online.  It was the first weekend in May and I was looking for a story to share with my own baseball players.  They had just lost a tough game and I wanted them to put their misery in perspective.  It was before ESPN and the national media got on board.  Even then, it was a pretty inspiring story.

Of course, soon after that article, ESPN came calling.  And even though I hate to admit it, I was in tears after watching their story on Challis.  After all he had gone through with illness, to still be so committed to something like baseball and his teammates.  His story truly inspired me and apparently I'm not the only one.  To remind him of the important tings, he wrote the following phrase on the inside of his hat:  COURAGE + BELIEVE = LIFE.  Joe Maddon became so impressed and inspired by Challis that he began writing it on the daily lineup card for the Rays.

In the months after the story broke on the national scene, Challis has met with many groups to help inspire them.  In addition to the "normal citizens" he touched with his story, he also got to rub elbows with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins, Alex Rodriquez and the New York Yankees, and (the before-mentioned, Joe) Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays.  He even helped establish the John Challis Courage for Life Foundation.  I'm pretty sure that by my 18th birthday I had accomplished nothing significant.  I'm also pretty sure that a majority of you are in the same boat I was in.

John Challis died Tuesday, finally losing the battle he waged against cancer for over two years.  When I saw the story again on ESPN that night, there were a few more tears.  It's so unfair that someone so in love with life and committed to making things better for others had to experience what he did.

Many people have told me that the truest measure of a life is the impact you have on others.  If this is true, then John Challis lived an extraordinary life, even if it was cruelly ended prematurely.

Hope Solo promised a victory over Brazil. She got it.

A great, great soccer match ended in thrilling fashion to determine the gold medal. Outplayed for the most of the match, Hope Solo was outstanding in goal and the Brazilians were just inches off on many strikes. Team USA needed to just one perfectly executed goal.

Carli Lloyd split through the Brazilian defense and curved a sweet strike around goalkeeper Barbara - yes, that's her name - and into the right netting.



1-0, United States.

Brazil was close, for too close for anyone's comfort, during the remaining 24 minutes of extra time but couldn't get the tying goal.

Team USA has now won three of the last four gold medals in women's soccer, and their second straight after winning in Athens. A feat the women's softball team, um, badly failed to follow suit.

I'm not sure anyone has had a bigger fall from grace than Tiki Barber of late. After trashing his Giants teammates last year repeatedly, they showed him up by winning the Super Bowl. And even better, Eli Manning, long the direct recipient of Tiki's scorn, won MVP.

Now, for some reason, Tiki's been put on Olympic Update detail for MSNBC. Thank God I haven't watched a minute of their Olympic coverage, because it's apparently been a complete nightmare. Tiki got teamed up with Jenna Wolfe, and for some reason the two hate each other. Or as The Grand Rapids Press so notably put it: MSNBC's live Olympic update features retired NFLer Tiki Barber with Jenna Wolfe. The two seem to have worse chemistry than Barber and Eli Manning.

Zing! Although that's totally true. How true? Well, this video, courtesy of Awful Announcing makes it pretty clear. In the first clip, Wolfe dogs Tiki for not having a Super Bowl ring. Then, in the second clip, we get to listen to Tiki drop a bomb while the two are having a disagreement on live TV. Yes, I said live TV.

You don't have to listen real hard, that is indeed Tiki saying medal c**t, and if you think that was a slip of the tongue, let me tell you, it definitely wasn't. Wolfe sure doesn't think it was a slip of the tongue judging by her reaction.

And it's not like people haven't noticed this horrible pair on TV. They've been getting ripped by people left and right.

I'm not sure how much worse it can get for Tiki at this point. By next year he'll probably be a janitor. And even that might be too good for him.

[HT: Awful Announcing]