Monday, May 31, 2010
The Regional
It seems to me it's a tough regional. I don't know anybody's record, but I do know that Clemson is always a power in college baseball. Southern Miss went to the College World Series last year! I had forgotten that. We beat Jax St. earlier but they won the OVC conference and they will be dangerous.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
On to the Regional
So the Tigers blow the game last night with poor fielding and mental mistakes. Now it's on the regional, and let's hope it's at Auburn.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The SEC Tournament
I was at the game yesterday, and yes, I was disappointed in losing to Alabama, but you have to understand that's baseball. They had their best pitcher going, and he is obviously very good. In tournaments like this good pitching usually dominates good hitting and that was the case yesterday. I do not think our NCAA situation will be affected.
Still it was fun out there with big crowd roaring back and forth. One thing I don't like is the purple motif now at Regions Park. It's ugly!
I did not make it to the game today. It must have been quite a battle for the Tigers to win 3 to 1 in the 12th on a two-run single by Trent Mummey. These pitching duels are what you would expect. As teams move to their third starters we might get more scoring which I hope will benefit Auburn.
If Alabama loses today to Ole Miss, we get them again. I hope it happens.
Still it was fun out there with big crowd roaring back and forth. One thing I don't like is the purple motif now at Regions Park. It's ugly!
I did not make it to the game today. It must have been quite a battle for the Tigers to win 3 to 1 in the 12th on a two-run single by Trent Mummey. These pitching duels are what you would expect. As teams move to their third starters we might get more scoring which I hope will benefit Auburn.
If Alabama loses today to Ole Miss, we get them again. I hope it happens.
Monday, May 24, 2010
If elected, Auburn should serve as 2004 national champs
BY Kevin Scarbinsky
23 May 2010
The race for the 2004 national championship in college football is about to get interesting.
Say the NCAA hammers USC, and the BCS and the AP take away the national titles they awarded the Trojans and their semi-pro tailback, Reggie Bush.
Say the BCS revisits its policy on the subject and the AP re-votes, and one or both of those organizations decides to correct the greatest injustice of the BCS era by crowning, as the rightful champs, the Auburn Tigers.
What should Auburn do six years later? Please. That’s easy. Accept it. Celebrate it. And never, ever apologize for it.
In other words, Auburn should follow Alabama’s lead. After all, the Crimson Tide has a lot more experience with the national championship thing.
Alabama hasn’t filled a trophy case and built a statue for every national title that everyone from the Dunkel Index to Dunkin’ Donuts has tried to throw at it, but the school has said yes more often than not.
And why not?
These things are decided, to a greater or lesser degree, on the hard drives of computers and in the thick skulls of voters as much as they are on the field. Unless and until there’s a bona fide playoff, if someone wants to give you a national championship, say thank you, take it and run with it.
USA Today first noticed last week that three years ago, with the USC investigation gaining speed, the BCS instituted a policy for just this kind of eventuality. A quick read of the BCS website reveals that the policy contains the following provisions:
You win a BCS game.
The NCAA Infractions Committee later finds you guilty of violations that provided a competitive advantage or involved an ineligible player.
One of your sanctions forces you to forfeit or vacate victories.
Those victories include games that allowed you to reach the BCS game or the BCS game itself.
In that case, the BCS will vacate your participation in its bowl game. If that game was for the national championship, the BCS will take away your national championship.
But that’s only half the equation. The BCS policy does not say if or how a new champion will be crowned.
If the NCAA blasts USC – and a ruling should be imminent; shouldn’t it? – the BCS won’t act until the appeal process is complete. At that point, it’ll be an interesting dilemma, whether to leave that 2004 championship vacant or to choose between unbeaten Auburn and Oklahoma, which was unbeaten itself until getting undressed by the Trojans.
Yes, I know, Utah finished without a loss too, but only Orrin Hatch thinks the Utes belong in this conversation.
If the BCS decides to pick a winner, with the Orange Bowl wiped from the record books, OU could argue that it was ranked ahead of Auburn in the final BCS standings after the regular season.
Auburn could argue that you can’t erase its Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.
Advantage: Auburn.
Someone at the BCS would have to make the call. It probably wouldn’t be executive director Bill Hancock, since he’s an administrator and not a policy-maker, and lucky for Auburn.
Hancock is an Oklahoma native and a 1972 journalism graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where he later worked as an assistant sports information director.
If the decision gets kicked upstairs to the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, you’ll never guess who could have a voice in it.
Alabama president Robert Witt.
Something tells me Witt didn’t sign up for this kind of duty when he became one of the 12 members of that committee.
Of course, fairness would demand that he recuse himself. And then Oklahoma would demand that committee chairman Harvey Perlman recuse himself because he’s the chancellor at rival Nebraska.
Sooner or later, the title would have to be decided by a game of rock, paper, scissors between Bob Stoops and Tommy Tuberville.
Remember Tuberville’s defiant prediction after Jetgate, the year before ’04? ‘‘We are gonna win the national championship,” he vowed. ‘‘And you can write that.”
He might be right after all.
23 May 2010
The race for the 2004 national championship in college football is about to get interesting.
Say the NCAA hammers USC, and the BCS and the AP take away the national titles they awarded the Trojans and their semi-pro tailback, Reggie Bush.
Say the BCS revisits its policy on the subject and the AP re-votes, and one or both of those organizations decides to correct the greatest injustice of the BCS era by crowning, as the rightful champs, the Auburn Tigers.
What should Auburn do six years later? Please. That’s easy. Accept it. Celebrate it. And never, ever apologize for it.
In other words, Auburn should follow Alabama’s lead. After all, the Crimson Tide has a lot more experience with the national championship thing.
Alabama hasn’t filled a trophy case and built a statue for every national title that everyone from the Dunkel Index to Dunkin’ Donuts has tried to throw at it, but the school has said yes more often than not.
And why not?
These things are decided, to a greater or lesser degree, on the hard drives of computers and in the thick skulls of voters as much as they are on the field. Unless and until there’s a bona fide playoff, if someone wants to give you a national championship, say thank you, take it and run with it.
USA Today first noticed last week that three years ago, with the USC investigation gaining speed, the BCS instituted a policy for just this kind of eventuality. A quick read of the BCS website reveals that the policy contains the following provisions:
You win a BCS game.
The NCAA Infractions Committee later finds you guilty of violations that provided a competitive advantage or involved an ineligible player.
One of your sanctions forces you to forfeit or vacate victories.
Those victories include games that allowed you to reach the BCS game or the BCS game itself.
In that case, the BCS will vacate your participation in its bowl game. If that game was for the national championship, the BCS will take away your national championship.
But that’s only half the equation. The BCS policy does not say if or how a new champion will be crowned.
If the NCAA blasts USC – and a ruling should be imminent; shouldn’t it? – the BCS won’t act until the appeal process is complete. At that point, it’ll be an interesting dilemma, whether to leave that 2004 championship vacant or to choose between unbeaten Auburn and Oklahoma, which was unbeaten itself until getting undressed by the Trojans.
Yes, I know, Utah finished without a loss too, but only Orrin Hatch thinks the Utes belong in this conversation.
If the BCS decides to pick a winner, with the Orange Bowl wiped from the record books, OU could argue that it was ranked ahead of Auburn in the final BCS standings after the regular season.
Auburn could argue that you can’t erase its Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.
Advantage: Auburn.
Someone at the BCS would have to make the call. It probably wouldn’t be executive director Bill Hancock, since he’s an administrator and not a policy-maker, and lucky for Auburn.
Hancock is an Oklahoma native and a 1972 journalism graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where he later worked as an assistant sports information director.
If the decision gets kicked upstairs to the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, you’ll never guess who could have a voice in it.
Alabama president Robert Witt.
Something tells me Witt didn’t sign up for this kind of duty when he became one of the 12 members of that committee.
Of course, fairness would demand that he recuse himself. And then Oklahoma would demand that committee chairman Harvey Perlman recuse himself because he’s the chancellor at rival Nebraska.
Sooner or later, the title would have to be decided by a game of rock, paper, scissors between Bob Stoops and Tommy Tuberville.
Remember Tuberville’s defiant prediction after Jetgate, the year before ’04? ‘‘We are gonna win the national championship,” he vowed. ‘‘And you can write that.”
He might be right after all.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Tigers Win SEC West
I watch on the internet in amazement as Auburn batters Ole Miss 18 to 4 to claim the SEC West in style. This team rips off hit after hit and scores runs in bunches. I've never seen an Auburn team hit the ball like this one. It is truly astounding.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Barbee Interview
Evan Woodbery interviewed Barbee. Here is an interesting question:
Q: Rightly or wrongly, the perception among some fans is that the reason Auburn's recruiting suffered in the last several years is that the previous staff was squeaky clean and uninterested in getting involved in the some of the more unsavory aspects of recruiting in major college basketball.
A. I have no reaction to that.
The one thing that's going to happen here is that myself and my staff are going to work harder than any staff anywhere in the country. That's what recruiting comes down to. Are you going to be willing to put the time in to create the relationships, create the bonds, and then even if it doesn't work out, are you going to still continue to develop that relationship so when the next one comes through the pipeline, you'll still be in position? Recruiting comes down to one thing: relationships. And if you have relationships with people who want to help you, they're going to help you. If you don't, then somebody else has created that relationship, that connection. Just like I talked about with the fans, it's the same thing with recruiting. You want to create relationships with parents, with coaches, with advisers, with the kids, so it's easier to tell the other guy no than it is to tell you no.
Q: Rightly or wrongly, the perception among some fans is that the reason Auburn's recruiting suffered in the last several years is that the previous staff was squeaky clean and uninterested in getting involved in the some of the more unsavory aspects of recruiting in major college basketball.
A. I have no reaction to that.
The one thing that's going to happen here is that myself and my staff are going to work harder than any staff anywhere in the country. That's what recruiting comes down to. Are you going to be willing to put the time in to create the relationships, create the bonds, and then even if it doesn't work out, are you going to still continue to develop that relationship so when the next one comes through the pipeline, you'll still be in position? Recruiting comes down to one thing: relationships. And if you have relationships with people who want to help you, they're going to help you. If you don't, then somebody else has created that relationship, that connection. Just like I talked about with the fans, it's the same thing with recruiting. You want to create relationships with parents, with coaches, with advisers, with the kids, so it's easier to tell the other guy no than it is to tell you no.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Getting Ready for Ole Miss
The Tigers take care of business tonight by beating Jacksonville State 9 to 7. The Tigers break a 7-7 tie with two runs in the bottom of the 8th. Now it's on to Oxford.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Baseball Heights
There is Auburn at the top of the SEC West. When was the last time this happened?
If we beat Ole Miss and win the West, what does this mean? All I can think of is maybe a surefire regional host opportunity. Maybe a continuing strong run could lead to a super regional if we host and win a regional.
One thing I do know is that this team is peaking at the just the right time. The Tigers have scored runs all year. The problem has been the pitching. If the Tennessee series is any indication, then maybe the pitching is coming around. This would be big if it's true.
If we beat Ole Miss and win the West, what does this mean? All I can think of is maybe a surefire regional host opportunity. Maybe a continuing strong run could lead to a super regional if we host and win a regional.
One thing I do know is that this team is peaking at the just the right time. The Tigers have scored runs all year. The problem has been the pitching. If the Tennessee series is any indication, then maybe the pitching is coming around. This would be big if it's true.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Auburn in the SEC Tournament
The Tigers roll into the SEC tourney for the first time since 2003 with a resounding 18 to 0 victory over Tennessee. More amazing than the 18 runs was the 3-hit shutout by Cole Nelson. If he's back, that will help tremendously.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Baseball Looking Good
The Tigers beat State 11 to 8 to complete the sweep. At 15 & 9 Auburn seems a cinch to make the conference tournament for the first time since 2003.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Recruiting
We will be signing Luke Cothron, among the top basketball prospects in the country. I guess we should be excited at how Barbee is doing. He was even quoted recently as saying he wants a national championship for Auburn.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
In Fayetteville
It was an exciting baseball game. The Tigers won with the winning run for the Hogs on second base.
The first four innings were frustrating for the Auburn bats. In those first four innings, no Auburn batter struck out. Every batter put the bat on the ball, but Auburn got only one hit through those four innings. Four times an Auburn batter hit the ball to the fence. With how well we were connecting with the ball, I figured it was only a matter of time before we got hits and scored runs; I figured surely at least one ball would go over the fence.
What I did not expect was the eight run, four homerun explosion in the fifth. In that inning, I got to see two homeruns by the great Hunter Morris. Thankfully, those eight runs were somehow enough.
Auburn's defense and pitching about lost the game. Auburn had four wild pitches and three errors. At least one other routine grounder was misplayed. Auburn can surely hit, but I don't know that this team can play much defense or even pitch a lick.
Baum Stadium is really nice and spacious. Very little of the campus is visible from the stadium, so I drove through the campus after the game. I saw the football stadium and Bud Walton arena. The campus is fairly hilly.
Here are some pictures:
The first four innings were frustrating for the Auburn bats. In those first four innings, no Auburn batter struck out. Every batter put the bat on the ball, but Auburn got only one hit through those four innings. Four times an Auburn batter hit the ball to the fence. With how well we were connecting with the ball, I figured it was only a matter of time before we got hits and scored runs; I figured surely at least one ball would go over the fence.
What I did not expect was the eight run, four homerun explosion in the fifth. In that inning, I got to see two homeruns by the great Hunter Morris. Thankfully, those eight runs were somehow enough.
Auburn's defense and pitching about lost the game. Auburn had four wild pitches and three errors. At least one other routine grounder was misplayed. Auburn can surely hit, but I don't know that this team can play much defense or even pitch a lick.
Baum Stadium is really nice and spacious. Very little of the campus is visible from the stadium, so I drove through the campus after the game. I saw the football stadium and Bud Walton arena. The campus is fairly hilly.
Here are some pictures:
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