Auburn Baseball

Not surprisingly, Auburn is swept at home by Vanderbilt.  Auburn next plays at LSU.  Both opponents are highly ranked.  I can only expect that LSU will sweep us too.  We will start conference play 0 and 6.  What another bummer of a baseball season.

Spring Tuneup

Thank goodness Auburn's basketball season is over.  The Tigers lose to Texas A & M in opening night of the SEC tournament.  That's a 3 & 16 conclusion to the worst roundball season in my memory.  I wish Barbee would be terminated, but I doubt it will happen.

The baseball team is 10 & 3 after a light pre-conference schedule.  Conference play begins with second ranked Vanderbilt.  I do not expect anything better than possibly playing in the conference tournament.

Spring football begins week after next.  There will be talk of players, of position changes, this and that, but I have learned that we cannot make anything of spring training unless someone gets hurt.

About Barbee

Auburn finishes 3 and 15 in the conference in the third year of Tony Barbee's tenure.  I say be gone with him!

No Hope

I conclude that there is no hope for Auburn basketball.  This team was humiliated today 83-52 by Florida, the worst home loss in Auburn Arena history.  This is the ninth loss in ten games.  I watched most of it, more than I could stomach, before leaving.  Florida may be the best team in the SEC, and may make a run toward the Final Four.  The disparity between good basketball, which Florida plays, and bad basketball, which Auburn plays, was never more apparent than today.  Chubb missed an open putback, Wallace missed an open layup, and the Tigers were turning the ball over faster than they were making baskets.  Florida plays with confidence and is more athletic and quicker.  Auburn is slow, unsure, and incompetent.  Auburn is suppose to have its most talented and deepest roster in a while, but it ain't showing at all.  There is no hope for Auburn basketball this season or beyond.

Hall of Fame Vote

For the first time in years, nobody was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.  My immediate reaction was satisfaction, as I felt that those connected to PEDs do not deserve a spot in this shrine.  However, as I digest more of the debate surrounding this issue, I am reconsidering my position.  The best point I have heard is the question, what do we want our Hall of Fame to be: a cathedral or a museum?  If a museum, then the purpose is to capture and document the history of the sport.  In that case, those affiliated with PEDs should be included because they represent the tumultous steroid period in baseball.  If a cathedral, then the purpose is to honor those who achieved notable success in the sport.  In that case, those affiliated with PEDs should not be included.

There is also the possibility of including the likes of Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds in the Hall of Fame, but with a note indicating their connection to PEDs.  That might be a worthwhile compromise... If any of the steroid era players are elected, then how do we choose which?  All of them?  Can the baseball writers fairly cherry-pick which deserve inclusion and which do not?  What about those players only rumored to be connected with PEDs versus those players who are known users?  Are all players from this era to be tainted by steroids?

These are the questions to ponder...

Relatedly, next year will be the first year that Frank Thomas is eligible.  Does Auburn have a player in the Baseball Hall of Fame or would he be the first?

Friday Sports Musings...

Although N.C. State is the only winning team that Vanderbilt beat, they finished the football season at 9-4.  I am amazed that Vanderbilt won 9 games.  That is unprecedent success in recent memory.  James Franklin ought to be coach of the year...

I may have posted this before, but I am sick of hearing about the pompous Rose Bowl. I cannot take anymore of Brent Musburger calling it the "granddaddy of them all." Having lived in the South, as a fan of the SEC, I could not care less about the Rose Bowl. I cannot relate to the Pac-12 and Big 10 playing each other.   Who cares?  When you are the SEC, at least in this current era of dominance, the likes of Wisconsin, Ohio State, USC, or Oregon are jokes...

I always want the SEC to win its bowl games and flex its power.  Shame on LSU for losing, although that was a fun game.  Mississippi State lost, but I also am tickled with satisfaction anytime Mullen and his overhyped program lose.  You cannot rely on or expect a team like Mississippi State to win a bowl game.

Basketball

The basketball team is off to another horrible start.  We lost last night to Winthrop 71 to 67.  This is Barbee's third year and it is obvious this is a poorly coached team.  Auburn is not supposed to lose to Winthrop ever.  I have a feeling we will suffer with Barbee this year and one more year before the next change is made.