Toomer’s Rumors and Boomers – 2.26.08

*** Highlights from the basketball win over Bama – my favorites being Quan Prowell’s tomahawk jam, Frank Tolbert’s Jedi pass to Rasheem Barrett after getting the ball stripped from him, and Lucas Hargrove’s suck-it bucket from 35 ft. out.

*** No Guarantee: Just prior to learning of an even more recent arrest of one of his football players, Alabama coach Nick Saban, in an interview with Kevin Scarbinsky, said that Tide player Jeremy Elder, accused of robbing two fellow Alabama students at gun-point, would be banned from any and all football related activity at the Capstone… for at least one year. Scarbinsky appears to be impressed with Saban’s pre-trial sentencing of Elder and seems to shape the piece so as to herald, 8 arrests after his arrival, Saban’s new zero-tolerance policy for criminality:

“No meetings, practices or games. No football-related activities at all. And no guarantee he’ll ever suit up for Alabama again.”

Only thing is, it seems unlikely any edict from Saban would have anything to with it.

This is not some victim-less DUI charge — Elder has been charged with, and reportedly confessed to committing, a Class A Felony, which, when committed with a firearm, carries a punishment in the state of Alabama of “not less than 20 years.”

If Saban is open to the possibility of Elder’s innocence, even in light of his confession — and judging from later quotes in Scarbinsky’s piece, I doubt that — but is preemptively giving him the “at least a year” treatment to look tough for the media, well, that’s kinda screwed up. Is he unaware of the magnitude of Elder’s situation? For 26 bucks, the kid will likely be locked up for several, several years and therefore quite unable to play college football next year, the year after that, and the year after that.

Or is it that Saban is counting on a far lesser punishment for Elder, who is only 19, if his attorney wins him youthful offender status? If so, does that mean that, by the sole virtue of a technicality in the legal language, someone like Elder, after all this, could still have a place on Nick Saban’s football team?

Am I missing something, or is Saban?

We shall hopefully find out at this afternoon – the Nicktator has called a press-conference.

*** More vigorous urging to vote for a certain someone from testosterone-rich TWER reader Michael Ingram (thanks Michael):

Gentlemen,

As any living-breathing digitally-aware testosterone-rich man-child knows, EA Sports owns the wildly successful “Madden NFL” game franchise. This game is played on just about every platform – from PS to XP. But for those of us southern-bred, hard-core college football fans who hold at least a moderate pustule of venom in our heart of hearts for professional football, we secretly prefer the “NCAA” version of this popular franchise which features college teams.

EA Sports moved carefully into the new platform arena of Nintendo Wii with only Madden NFL. The Wii features a dynamic motion-sensitive controller that favors user-action over frenetic button-mashing. The Wii console is made famous by the legendary reports of over-excited folks flinging their “Wii-motes” through their television screens during game play. Madden for Wii is played through motions which simulate passing, tackling, and spinning.

Alas, for the hard-core college fan, there is no NCAA-version featuring the opportunity to sack Tebow, or replay the 2007 AU-GA Black Death.

But hold on, sports fans! EA Sports has just announced plans to release the NCAA franchise on Wii. But the really exciting news is that they are looking for a mascot – one mascot – to feature on the cover of every single game. So, while the long-lasting NCAA franchise (reaching back to the late 90’s) has never featured an Auburn icon, now there is a chance to promote Auburn’s best-known: AUBIE.

Follow this link, and vote daily for AUBIE:

http://www.easports.com/ncaa09/

War Damn Eagle!!

Toomer’s Rumors and Boomers – 2.21.08

*** Time to vote for Aubie again, this time so the ol’ boy can be the cover boy of EA Sports NCAA ’09 Football for the Nintendo Wii. Only once a day, yeah, yeah…

*** What Not To Wear, Bama-style: So first, it’s reported that poor Jeremy Elder was wearing, yes, a houndstooth-style Bama baseball cap while allegedly robbing two fellow Alabama students, who identified him by viewing security camera footage from, yes, Bryant Hall… and then their Singing Day Trophy Wife, testifying in a murder trial, takes it up a notch of bizarre by showing up to court in an Oklahoma sweatshirt — as in Sooners (but it’s OK, say Bama fans – he reportedly had a Bama shirt on underneath).

Overall, a pretty ferosh week for the Tide…

*** Aww hell no, Tuberville to Arkansas!

Toomer’s Rumors and Boomers – 2.18.08

*** Toss an extra-tragic chunk of Sterno on the fire of the Saban Oversigning Saga (S.O.S.??) keeping so many so warm these days: Tide redshirt freshman Jeremy Elder was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree robbery. Best I figure, that’s scholarship-revoking level right there — it’s at least a first-half suspension.

*** But it’s not all bad news for all you Bama football fans out there, because apparently there’s more than just gymnastics these days…

*** That’s right, another dose of Jessica Trainham, call it your daily dose if you want because JT is what drives folks to Auburn blogs these days. This nice photo appears to have been taken on campus, which proves that it was all real. I like the hair.