Hello all. As you've noticed, it's been a slow week on the War Eagle Extra. Most of Auburn's events were on the road and I spent most of my weekend dealing with weather conditions in Montgomery to cover the Glenwood High baseball team's march through the AISA state playoffs. ANYWAY, here's getting you caught up on some stuff that occurred during that time ...
BO KNOWS COMMENCEMENTS
Bo Jackson, who you might know as the greatest video game athlete of all time (he was also a pretty good actual football player too from what I gather), was the speaker at Auburn's commencement speech. There are several good accounts of the speech by my colleagues that you can read here and here.BASEBALL MISSES SEC TOURNAMENT ... AGAIN
That's six years and counting for the Tigers, who lost two games of a doubleheader Saturday at Kentucky while Vanderbilt won the first two games of a series against Georgia. Auburn (28-24, 9-14 SEC) has lost 12 of its last 14 conference games. While that seems like it would knock the Tigers out of any NCAA tournament contention, amazingly that might not be the case. Auburn had an RPI of 34 heading into the last weekend, with a game against Georgia Southern (RPI of 30) and three against Alabama (RPI of 32) still to go. It's not unprecedented for a team to make the tournament despite missing the SEC tournament. Auburn did it in 2005, with a 32-24 overall record and a 13-17 record in the SEC. It would take a strong finish to the season, though, which I'm not sure this group is capable of.URBAN MEYER NOT A FAN OF AUBURN'S LIMO TACTIC
Again, this is old news, but Florida coach Urban Meyer isn't crazy about Auburn's decision to shuttle its coaches around Alabama in various stretch limos. Here's his comment to the Gainesville Sun (via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) about whether or not the NCAA should look into the practice: “I think it should. We’re trying to sell graduation rates and academics…..The Florida coaching staff will not be riding around in limos and ripping off our shirts.” That, by the way, is a great two-for-one shot at Auburn and the bare-chest thumping coaches at Tennessee. Honestly, the more Meyer talks about it, the more attention Auburn is going to get, which was the point in the first place. My opinion: coaches will stop at nothing to get recruits if they will help their football program. Is the limo tactic legal under NCAA rules? Yes. Are the Tigers pushing the boundaries of what is allowed by the NCAA? Probably. But those boundary pushers are the ones that stand out in recruiting, which is exactly what Auburn needs to do to compete for some of this elite talent (although this would seem to run contrary to Gene Chizik's statement that Auburn recruits itself).WOMEN'S GOLF FINISHES DISAPPOINTING 10TH AT NCAA REGIONALS
That should read "very disappointing" 10th-place finish at the NCAA Regionals. The Tigers were ranked No. 5 in the country, the second-highest seed that headed to Florida. But they struggled out of the gate and never recovered in the three-day event, failing to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Central High alum and Fort Mitchell, Ala., native Haley Wilson finished in a tie for 23rd with a 10-over-par 220. She carded a final round score of 2-under to move up 36 places in the rankings.SOFTBALL HEADS TO NCAA TOURNAMENT
The third-seeded Tigers are in the NCAAs for the sixth time, heading to Atlanta to play second-seeded Iowa in the NCAA Regional. Auburn (29-27) plays Friday at 5 p.m. ET. The other teams in the regional include top-seeded Georgia Tech (41-13) and fourth-seeded Boston College (41-16).
3 comments:
How are the coaches pushing the boundaries of the NCAA by riding in limos?
I say that because the NCAA generally likes to clamp down on the pomp and circumstance of the recruiting process (ie. simulating game-day introductions on official visits). And despite the Auburn coaches' contention that this was simply a way to have seven coaches travel to the same city at the same time, there is a glitz factor to it that I think the NCAA frowns upon
It's not a violation, but it wouldn't surprise me if the NCAA looks into the practice.
Meyer saying something about it gave us that much more publicity. I think it's gotten the attention of a lot of out of state recruits also.
Bo Jackson was good in baseball and track & field also. But boy he sure was great in Tecmo Bowl & Bill Walsh College Football.
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