Toomer’s Rumors and Boomers – 7.14.2008

The War Eagle Reader offers a roundup of interesting stories, questionable opinions and great comments from other team’s fans about the Auburn Tigers across the blogosphere. Also included is a roundup of news stories of interest for your afternoon reading and dissection.

News and Recruiting Roundup

Tide, Tigers battle for Georgia LB (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 14)

Mobile Press-Register releases its Elite 18 football recruits — five players are early Auburn commitments (Press-Register, July 14)

Preview of the West Virginia vs. Auburn game by W.Va. newspaper (Charleston Gazette, July 14)

Opinion: Looking into the eyes of Paul Rhoads (Cullman Times, July 12)

Let the Eagle Soar!

A collection of favorable comments and interesting articles from other blogs about the Tigers.

An undefeated 2008 for the Tigers? (Real Football 365, July 14)

A look at the West Virginia vs. Auburn game (Sunday Morning Quarterback, July 12)

Auburn will be the #1 “Biggest Surprise Team of 2008″ (Bleacher Report, July 11)

“Five Reasons Florida Won’t Win the National Championship.” #5 reason is Auburn will beat them in the SEC championship game. (Bleacher Report, July 11)

Tigers Roar!

A collection of questionable comments from other blogs about the Auburn Tigers

Picks Miss. St. upsetting Auburn (Bleacher Report, July 12)

Loser With Socks says Auburn will lose 5 games in 2008 (LWS, July 11)

The hoses! The hoses! Video clip of 1986 Auburn vs. Georgia game postgame hose down (Georgia Sports Blog, July 11)

“Nothings smells worse than a wet dawg.”

The Elephants’ Empty Bleat!

Tide Nation is talking loud and sayin’ nothing.

Nothing really interesting or worth noting on Tide blogs so far this week. We’ll keep a nose to the ground.

Toomer’s Rumors and Boomers – 2.1.08

*** The Powers that Be in the Auburn Athletic Dept. are apparently openly courting corporate sponsorship of the new basketball arena with the promise of “corporate naming rights.”

*** Of Chop Blocks and Hatchet Jobs: Auburn’s offensive line coach Hugh Nall has only seen his players commit three chop blocks in 23 years of coaching…

“Two of them happened to be this year on national TV. I think, had it not been Glenn Dorsey, it wouldn’t have been as big a deal. You have to throw that into the category of selective journalism,” Nall said. “It’s really disappointing, especially because the two young men involved are true freshmen. They are good kids really working hard to do a job. They wouldn’t try to hurt anybody.”

Read Phillip Marshall’s whole story. It’s worth it. I hope this is the end of this crap for Chaz. Props to the Dad (Key Ramsey – great name) for taking on ESPN. I doubt litigation would improve our querulous relationship with the Worldwide News Leader, but hey, what would, and I think his points are dead on.

[photo by Mike Carlson]

*** This year’s Auburn-West Virginia game has been rescheduled to an ESPN Thursday night game more than halfway through the season. Southern Miss has jumped into Sept. 6th slot.

Though I can appreciate the obvious flip-side of the argument — more time for the Tigers to break in Spread Eagle, the original date set up much better for Auburn, at least in my way of thinking. I quote myself upon first hearing of the Rich Rodriguez-to-Michigan saga, i.e. that West Virginia would be riding a new coach into ’08:

“… this can mean nothing but good things for Auburn, at least seemingly… the Tigers start a 2-game series with the Mountaineers next year; it is their first game of the season (our second!). Despite their New Coach Impotency, their ascendant BCS prestige sticks around through at least the first game. We destroy them, but the NCI fast disappears. They end the season 11-1 and the computers swoon for ol’ Auburn!”

Now, not only will West Virginia likewise be able to take advantage of the extra prep-time — the only obvious Auburn “pro” to speak of — but the number of Auburn fans able to make a Thursday night game is surely less than the number that would have been in Morgantown on an early season Saturday. Oh well, Riverboat knows best. And it’s not like we’re not going to win.

Country Road, Take Me to the NFL

Slaton took it to the Dawgs in the Sugar Bowl. Two touchdowns against the SEC team that day in 2006.

The game in Morgantown, W.Va., on Sept. 6 just got a little less daunting for the Auburn Tigers: West Virginia’s running back Steve Slaton has decided to enter the draft.

The War Eagle Reader would like to wipe its brow, go “Whew!” and wish Steve the best in the NFL.

Slaton ran for 3,923 yards and scored 55 touchdowns in three seasons at West Virginia. Slaton gained more than 1,000 yards on the ground in each of his years with the Mountaineers.

Update*** Ditto for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

Quote Of The Day: 12.19.07 – WBGV and the Terry Bowden Mystique

By J. Henderson

“HE WEARS A TIE!”

- Fellow WordPress blog’s West By God Virginia’s “nuff-said” endorsement of former Auburn coach Terry Bowden’s candidacy for WVU head coach. An overnight cyber-sensation, WBGV is the apparent source of Monday’s net-melting rumor of Nick Saban’s interest in the West Virginia job; on Monday, that particular item received 68, 530 hits and was the most viewed post of any WordPress blog.

Acknowledging his apparently very West Virginian background (and of course his early, but now altered, wiki-status as prime contender, which I linked to last week honestly thinking it was a joke) I’m still rather surprised at how taken the national sports media seem with the prospect of Bowden at the helm in Morgantown – 9 years rusty, a solid, proven, but by no means dynamite record at Auburn, despite his spectacular first 20-games winning streak… and Dennis Dodd, who says there is “no downside” to Bowden-WVU marriage, is essentially ridiculing WVU’s athletic director for even considering someone else (“[Hiring Bowden] is such a slam dunk that even Spud Webb could hang on the rim.”)

It’s just that, what with the current trending of the coaching carousel, I suppose I was expecting the Mountaineers, in order to sustain their millennial éclat, to limit their search exclusively to rising hot shots, not someone looking to return to coaching, regardless of how famously-fathered or alumni’d they are.

Not that anyone ever said Terry couldn’t coach (to this day the standard Auburn gripe revolves around the poor perception of Bowden’s recruiting abilities, not his play calling), and with seniors Pat White and Steve Slayton to ride from game to game, it’s easy to imagine a repeat first-year performance similar to his God-delivered precocious start at Auburn, were he to get the job. And he has, apparently, been interviewed, getting his foot in the door, according to Kevin Scarbinsky, by making and presenting WVU with a “professional video resume to help answer the biggest questions about him.”

In this “video resume,” which I’m still fuzzy on, Bowden, again according to Scarbinsky, receives glowing recommendations from former Auburn president Dr. William Muse, to whom I once offered a free sandwich while a Sandwich Artist (he was recently out of a job – actually, I same thing happened with Bowden, too, and Jim Fyffe!), and former Auburn AD Mike Lude (didn’t know him).

In fact, so intent does Bowden seem on the West Virginia gig, it is hard for me to wish it away from him. But, still, selfishly, I do.

I could be wrong, but I’m fairly certain that we haven’t played against a team (head) coached by a former Auburn head coach, nor perhaps even been faced with that possibility, since Mike Donahue’s LSU Tigers beat us in 1927 (and 1926), and John Heisman’s days at Georgia Tech. I often wonder how fans of teams like LSU (Saban), Florida (Spurrier), Ole Miss (Tuberville), Alabama (Curry’s Kentucky’s years, and Francione’s Aggies – again, just the potential) and now Arkansas (Nutt) deal with it and I don’t care to find out, not at all. Just seems like bad mojo, anyway you stir it.

So here’s to the Saban rumor again… go for it Nick! I mean, seriously… why not?

Saban to West Virginia?

It could happen…

Thanks to WardamnE…

Bowdenpedia

According to his entry in Wikipedia, former Auburn coach Terry Bowden is the leading candidate to replace Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia.

Rod Spares Himself Crimson Quicksand: Takes Michigan Job One Year Later

By J. Henderson

One year and one week after a midnight hour rejection of the Crimson Tide, Rich Rodriguez found a job worth leaving his alma-mater for.

“I received word this afternoon that Coach Rodriguez has chosen to remain the head football coach at West Virginia,” said Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore in a statement issued Dec. 8, 2006. “I fully respect his decision and wish him the best.”

The best, apparently for Rodriguez, is the University of Michigan.

There is little mention in the early reportage of the latest coaching rearrangement of Rodriguez’ 2006 drama with Alabama, perhaps because, though it does offer crystal clarity of the Crimson Tide’s has-been status, that status is old, old news outside of Tuscaloosa.

Despite SI’s pathetic, near-annual insistence, Bama, like, apparently, Arkansas, is a rebound job, at best; Rodriguez’ decision has to be nauseating for Bama fans, humiliating perhaps… if they can even feel anything anymore.

Meanwhile, this can mean nothing but good things for Auburn, at least seemingly, at least in my way of thinking.

The Tigers start a 2-game series with the Mountaineers next year; it is their first game of the season (our second!). Despite their New Coach Impotency, their ascendent BCS prestige sticks around through at least the first game. We destroy them, but the NCI fast disappears. They end the season 11-1 and the computers swoon for ol’ Auburn!

Thanks Rich! Beat Appy State!