Archive for December, 2011


Looks like the nation will still be on holiday until a week from today. I went into the office yesterday but there was no one at work at any of the places I could see. With Christmas and New Year’s falling on a Sunday and with only a week in between them, never under-estimate most Americans desire to meld them together into a whole fortnight of celebration, cheer and football. However, our Auburn Tigers went to work yesterday, practicing at the Georgia Dome in preparation for Saturday’s Chick fil A Bowl against Virginia. Watching the empty seats in the Liberty Bowl Independence Bowl THAT GAME THAT WAS ON last night, I’m thankful that we’re going to a game that will be sold out and have some modicum of interest to it. SEC teams are always a good draw, both as travelers and in TV ratings. This week will feature 15 Bowl games from yesterday through Saturday. New Year’s Day will belong to the NFL this year since it falls on a Sunday. The big bowl games start next Monday night. Even with Auburn in a rebuilding year and having already lost it’s luster as the returning national champion, I’ll go on record now and say that our bowl game will have the highest ratings this week. Virginia is certainly a wild card this year, coming out of nowhere and challenging for the ACC Coastal division. They didn’t play Clemson, so we can’t get a comparison of how we stack up there. We don’t have much shared history between us, other than a UVA alumnus named George Petrie birthed our program back in 1892 and we had a home and home series back in the late 1990s. As a matter of fact, we don’t have any significant history with any founding ACC team other than Clemson, assuming you already know that Georgia Tech used to be in the SEC and spent a few decades in the Independent wilderness before joining their current conference. Regardless, it’s no secret that most in our conference consider the Atlantic Coast to be a ‘little brother’ and we absolutely cannot lose another game to a ACC team this year. Auburn doesn’t have much to lose with this game so I think we should air it all out. And I think we will. With two open coordinator slots, it’s apparent now that Gene Chizik is trying to land some pretty big fishes who still have bowl games to be played, otherwise he’d gone ahead and made a move by now. With recruiting season about to go into overdrive, Chizik must be looking to make impact hires that will appease recruits, current players, fans and management. That’s quite the task. I’m glad he’s putting careful thought into it. His first batch turned out to be pretty good and he didn’t have half the time. I think one day we’ll look back at Chizik’s tenure at Auburn and see it as a multiple act play, with the curtain having just closed on the first act. Whether or not we’ll have a long intermission next depends heavily on what will transpire in the next two to three weeks. With more teams joining the conference next season and with the SEC west already top-heavy with national title caliber teams, we can’t afford to stay flat-footed. I think Gus Malzahn goes out in style and throws the kitchen sink at Virginia. With his offense seeming overly conservative this season because of personnel shortages, it’s time to release the trickery in the playbook and try any and everything to get this offense moving for one last hurrah. Will we see something reminiscent of the 2007 Chick fil A bowl, minus of course another half-season of Tony Franklin? Let it all air out. Gene Chizik is taking direct control of the defense for this game. While some may believe this move to lead to a tsunami of direct-infused fire, I have my doubts that we’ll see anything substantive, otherwise we might have seem his fine tuning earlier in the year. We’re going to need some wholesale change in that department, but that doesn’t mean the D can’t let it all hang out for this game either. I’m sure the Georgia Dome will be packed with the familiar blue and orange this weekend in the very home of the SEC. The site of our last game of 2011 will be the very same place as our first one of 2012. I think in between them, we’re going to see some big changes as we get our team back on track. War Eagle and Happy New Year!

By Posted on: December 19th, 2011 in Football Comments Off
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Hey, you’ll watch ANYTHING if you’re desperate enough.   Anyone else underwhelmed by the coaching market so far this month? Yea, Auburn needs coordinators, but I feel sorry for the rest of college football trying to rebuild a program on this withering crop of talent. No existing coach is the hottest name out there and Continue Story…

Yeldon Decommitment Raises Questions

By Posted on: December 19th, 2011 in Football Comments Off
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I don’t know T.J. Yeldon. To be honest, I’ve followed very little of his prep career. I’m not someone that follows closely the ups and downs of recruiting. I’ve never bought into the hype of unproven 18 year-old kids. The Daphne, Alabama running back is obviously a very good high school football player. Whether he’s Continue Story…

Tigers In The NFL- Heading In To Week 15

By Posted on: December 17th, 2011 in Football Comments Off

While Auburn fans have to wait for the BCS National Championship Game, it may be a good time to check on Tigers that are playing on Sundays in the NFL. After what the Redskins pulled on former Auburn Quarterback Jason Campbell last spring, I have to say that it sets well with me to see the Skins struggle this season; especially Continue Story…

New Auburn Coordinators? Rumors and Gossip Continue

By Posted on: December 17th, 2011 in Football Comments Off
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It’s been 10 days since the announcement that Auburn Defensive Coordinator, Ted Roof would be leaving Auburn to join his mentor George O’Leary at Central Florida. In the interim, Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn has taken the head coaching job at Arkansas State and the search for two new Auburn Coordinators has given much fodder to message board rumors and gossip. A Continue Story…

Team Awards Banquet Held Friday Evening

By Posted on: December 17th, 2011 in Football Comments Off

The Auburn Tigers held their annual football banquet Friday evening. Awards were given to the players for their contributions this season. The MVP awards were voted on by the players themselves while others were chosen by the coaches.   Awards Voted on by Players Team MVP - Philip Lutzenkirchen Offensive MVP - Emory Blake Defensive MVP - Neiko Thorpe Special Continue Story…

“Family Is Family No Matter How Far You Live”

By Posted on: December 15th, 2011 in News Comments Off

The 24 year old law student was shivering standing behind the police barricades on a chilly New York night. She had been there for over an hour (wearing her number two Auburn Jersey) holding up her IPod and blasting the Auburn fight song. Mary Kathryn Papaioannou was waiting along with hundreds of other members of Continue Story…

Changes.

By Posted on: December 15th, 2011 in Football Comments Off

  War Eagle, everybody! It’s a scary week on the plains. It’s been nearly ten years since Auburn football has lost both coordinators in the same month. This time a year ago, we had hit the jackpot with a national championship coaching staff. This Christmas, the stocking’s stuffed with coal and folks are abandoning ship Continue Story…

Auburn Men and Women Sweep Basketball Doubleheader

By Posted on: December 15th, 2011 in Basketball Comments Off

Auburn hosted a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader last night against South Florida. The Tigers swept the Big East teams in action at the Auburn Arena. The women won the first game downing the Bulls (6-4) 62-45. Auburn (6-2) never trailed in the game, jumping out to an 8-0 start and never looking back. Sophomore Camille Continue Story…