SEC Media Days, Cam Newton Street, Hold the Joe But More Kobe Please

We find ourselves in the middle of the beginning of the unofficial kickoff of college football. A little wordy, huh? It is easier to call them the Southeastern Conference Media Days, where coaches begin to make excuses for why their team will not live up to expectations (Steve Spurrier and Joker Phillips), respond with numerous wild card answers (John L. Smith and Les Miles), or simply fulfill an obligation to their conference (Nick Saban). 

No matter how your coach answers, the SEC Media Days are the biggest of their kind for the most competitive league in any sport so enjoy the make-believe camaraderie and hopefully we get a coach to drop gems like Missouri's T.J. Moe, "They say girls are prettier here, air's fresher, and the toilet paper is thicker."

Couldn't agree 'Moe', T.J.

This lonely student's sign reads: Protect the Paterno statue.

Some Students Ask for More Joe Please:
In more Joe Paterno news, students -- a population of two -- are camping out in order to protect the statue, which remains erect outside Beaver Stadium.

An anonymous flight from Ohio read "Take down the statue, or we'll take it down for you" (a hopeful me desires for this news to be true).

I wish I would have made note of this in my last post, but the chances of the statue being vandalized is somewhere around 100%. This is all the more reason to take the thing down from its current location and follow my instructions. Students from Penn State have tweeted that "these few students do not represent the entire campus population."

All the more reason for the "protesting" students to take advantage of their parent's investment -- because it does not last forever -- in room and board, and go back to their dorm and hold their own Paterno-crazed pity party.

Cam Newton Way Should be a toll road if plan comes to fruition:
He has NFL records. He was named the NFL Rookie of the Year. He has a statue at his alma mater (Can you even call it that when he only spent eight months there and did not receive a degree from there? Or Blynn Junior College? Or Florida? I digress.). But getting a road named after him? You must be out of your mind.

He is a 23-year-old admittedly "very immature" quarterback. And while -- speaking from experience-- this is to be expected for a man of his age, let's give him some time before we Georgians give him such an honor. For one, it would cost the residents of Scarborough Road in South Atlanta money, time and effort to change their address. Residents also report to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they are not ready to name a street after a person with a scandaled past.


A second hearing is still on the agenda where the proposition will likely be shot down. If the road does pass a second vote, can we all agree it should at least be a toll road?

Give me more Kobe
NBA Commissioner David Stern has come forward saying that at the next olympics it is possible we see the 23-and-under rule enforced. Within these parameters, USA basketball would still be able to use NBA professionals with onlythree players over the age of 23. This would help protect players in the NBA from participating in the Olympics and coming home injured a la Blake Griffin and Kyrie Irving.

If Stern gets his way, you won't see Kobe or LeBron in USA unis anymore.

Thirty-three-year-old Kobe Bryant thinks the same way I do about the Commissioner's proposal, "It's a stupid idea," Bryant said. I could not agree more with the Olympic gold medalist.

Whether or not to play should remain up to the players, who risk injury and fatigue in the next 82-game season. Some argue that NBAers in international play makes for a competitive disadvantage for the rest of the world.

Um... is that not the point of competition? To be the best? In addition to winning another gold this summer clips such as these will be recorded for all Americans to "Ohh" and "Ahh" over.

Kobe also told a Y! reporter earlier this week that it is "possible" he retires at age 35. Say it ain't so. Sure Bryant is made fun of for the number of shots he takes, but a 1 1/2 years ago he ranked as the ninth best player of all time (and his stock is only rising). Of course, he may be modeling his career even more so like his idol Michael Jordan by testing retirement and coming back as a player-manager down the road.

Spurrier helps State, Remeber Richardson's Run, How 'bout them Dogs?

South Carolina was leading by four points with less than ten seconds left in the game against Mississippi State on Saturday. Instead of pulling a New York Giant-sized mistake, Steve Spurrier told quarterback Connor Shaw to run out the clock and take the safety to ensure victory. Confident Gamecock fans, more specifically USC bettors, may have been a little more upset with the Ol' Ball Coach's decision. Why you ask? With the two extra points given to the Bulldogs, Mississippi State covered the +3-point line. An estimated $30 million dollars was lost because Spurrier's decision. So betting Mississippi State fans kind of won, right?

USC's Marcus Lattimore

The bigger loss for South Carolina fans was that sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore went down with a season-ending knee injury. He had been the engine for a struggling Gamecock offense, and had over 800 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns through seven games

Now there is no question Alabama's Trent Richardson is the best running back in the league and possibly player in the country. Don't believe it? Watch this juke and try to tell me differently. Ole Miss' Senquez Golson's ankles are officially broken. This will be Richardson's equivalent to Cam Newton's run versus LSU when T-Rich collects his Heisman.

Speaking of Newton... A team I pull for finally has defeated this tremendous athlete, as the Atlanta Falcons finally scored some second-half points and put the Carolina Panthers away 31-17 on Sunday. That guy was unreal in college and is not far off from it in the pros.

Newton's former team, the Auburn Tigers, have a date with my alma mater, the Samford Bulldogs on Nov. 19. Watch out Plainsmen. My beloved Dogs are on a roll. They collected their third consecutive win on Saturday as they beat Elon for the first time in school history 43-31 on Saturday. It moves the Red and Blue to 4-2 on the season and to 2-2 in the Southern Conference. Embarrassingly, it was Samford's first back-to-back wins as a member of the SoCon. However, it is good to see coach Pat Sullivan has the program headed in the right direction.

Let it be noted I correctly picked all but one game in my weekly "The Weekend That Will Be." It only took me a year, but I am finally getting the hang of this whole picking winners thing.

Breaking Down the Weekend

1. It is clear that I am not a professional. I know my grandmother said she wrote my picks down and was going to see how I did. I would not be offended if you lost that piece of paper. I mean really Graham. Could you have been more wrong? Yes I could have I nailed the Kentucky upset and the Alabama win. Steve Spurrier… Was imitating Les Miles and risking the game worth losing the game? Other than that it was a rough first week. I clearly need more practice. Kudos to those teams that I did not pick, especially a Mississippi State team that will have something to say about who wins the SEC West.

2. Watching the games this weekend was not as much fun as last week. Missed the family surrounding me as we cheered on one of the most boring Arkansas wins. Which leads me to my next point. Can Arkansas win an important game on the road. This Cam Newton character is legit. He does what he wants when he wants. I was very impressed and am now a believer in his abilities. Does Arkansas win the game if Mallet stays in? Not sure. Tyler Wilson looked as good as most any quarterback in the country in a back-up role, except his counterpart on the other team.

3. It is clear that Gary Daneilson and Vern Lundquist are still not over Tim Tebow. Their obsession is sickening and I had to mute them in the fourth quarter to stop hearing the comparisons of Cam Newton to Tebow. The only thing worse during that broadcast was the officiating from SEC officials. It's bad guys. Some of the calls that were made, on both sides of the ball mind you, were just poorly made. Both of the fumble calls against Arkansas and the pass interference call against Auburn were poor excuses for officiating.

4. I am pretty sure I could write another page about what happened in that game (cheap blocking, the Bobby Petrino-Gene Chizik relationship, or the lack of defense), but I digress... We now know that Nebraska is just not quite ready for the big stage and that showed in the shellacking they got from Texas. It was clear that Texas is used to the big game atmosphere and Nebraska simply has not been there enough. Maybe next year in the Big Ten when you can still recruit Texas speed and play the Ohio power.

5. Speaking of the Big Ten, there was a classic in Madison, Wisconsin. That looks like a fun place to watch a game and outside of the SEC and the classics (Michigan, Notre Dame, Rose Bowl, etc.) I am adding it to my "Stadiums To Go To" list that Pops and I will conquer when he doesn't have to work on Sundays and I am old and rich. Sounds like a dream...

6. Does anyone want to win the ACC? You still get a BCS payout to win the conference and your best team probably wouldn’t go .500 in the SEC West, where 5 of 6 teams are ranked in the AP top 25. Maybe the ACC and the Big East can get an all-star team together and play State.

7. It was worth being tired in church this morning to watch the overtime game between Washington and Oregon State. Gutsy, but understandable, call to go for two and the win.

8. Every game I watched there was mention made of the beautiful weather. Come to think of it every where in the country had perfect football weather.