As far as the sports season goes, it doesn't get any quieter than this time of year. It's certainly the calm before the football storm, which will go into full effect when the SEC media days begin July 21 in Birmingham.But we at the blog will try to build up to that momentous moment when coaches stand at a dais for an hour trying not to say anything too substantive with a few different things. Let's count them off, shall we:
- For the newspaper, I'll be counting down 10 games to watch in the SEC this year (to clarify, those are only games involving two SEC teams, not non-conference games). This will start Sunday, doing one a day up until the start of media days.
- For the blog, I'll be counting down Auburn's 10 most integral players for this season, factoring in several things: how important their success is to Auburn's, how important their health is to Auburn's (meaning, if that player goes down with an injury, are the Tigers in a tough spot) and how good the player is overall. I believe I'll start this tomorrow, doing one a day (except Sundays) leading up to SEC media days. And while I'm doing it, I ask you, the reader, to chime in with your thoughts of who Auburn's MIP (Most Integral Player) is this season. Count them down or simply opine if you'd like. That's why we have a comments section.
- I've been quite happy with the number of responses I've gotten with questions for athletics director Jay Jacobs. My interview with the man in charge is July 15, so there's still time to submit a question. Don't be shy and don't hold back. That's what this is for.
- As you might have noticed, the blog has a slightly different look. I'm tinkering with the design template. I think the current one is easier to read than before and is a bit tighter in its design. For the time being, I stretched the flag logo at the top, but it's quite pixelated and I'm working to replace it. I've enlisted the help of a graphics buddy of mine, who you might know from such Twitter background designs as this one. (Hey, you should follow the blog on there and try to bump me up over 700 followers!) I won't put up any orange cones on the site, but be advised that it's under construction.
- Next week, I plan to revive the daily links, which seemed to go over pretty well last fall. Any suggestions of how you'd like me to do them this year? Stuff you'd like to see more of? Less of? Frank comments are welcome.
- And lastly, I'm trying to make the blog more interactive this year, so I'm encouraging readers to write in with any questions, comments, etc., that you might have about Auburn athletics. What I'd like to do is lead off the daily links with a Q&A portion throughout the season. I realize it might be slow going early in the process, but hopefully things will pick up as readers realize this is an option. And hey, it's a good way to get recognized on the blog. I'll certainly put the proper attribution for any questions/insightful comments. So send e-mails to abitter@ledger-enquirer.com (this e-mail will be in the upper right-hand corner of the blog from now on) with any questions you might have.
4 comments:
.....I'm going to say Lee Ziemba is the most integral player. From what I saw on A-Day, we don't have any other left tackles ready to play at an SEC level. Ziemba got called for five false starts, and no holds whatsoever last year. I don't think he gave up a sack at all. If we were to lose him, I think we'd be radically different up front.
.....There are other critical positions, of course. Losing Bynes or Stevens would be bad, as would losing a starting corner. There are a few backup options on those. Tight ends/running backs/h-backs are another area of concern, if anyone goes down. I think we're deep at wide receiver and at least three deep at quarterback. D-line's another area of concern, especially at ends.
MIP: Ziemba, agree with Acid.
MIP1A: Fannin. Our offense leans heavily on the featured RB, and we don't have another RB likely to be as super this season (assuming he is super).
Andy, whats going on down there? Why are so many players transfering? Whats Chizik doing differently than Tubberville did? We've had two transfer in the past three days. And thats just this week, let alone this year.
I don't think it's too unusual. Attrition happens in programs. And while these two have been in the news lately, they happened a while ago. (Hood's been at Alabama State for a month; Aycock was kicked out/left the program on his own several weeks ago.)
I don't think Hood thought he was going to get much playing time. And Aycock, from the sounds of it, never really felt comfortable here. Remember, he came to Auburn only after Georgia Tech pulled his scholarship offer.
Compared to last year, when several players left the program, through their own choice or not, there has been relatively little turnover.
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