1. Let's start with football. IT'S DEPTH CHART AND MEDIA GUIDE SEASON.
Now, I'm gonna be honest. I could care less about the media guide. I'm not sure why they do them anymore. It's all online. I can't tell you the last time I opened a media guide. It's fun to see who will be the first to do a stupid "ranking the SEC football programs by their media guide cover" story today though.
But the depth chart holds some intrigue. Here are things that jumped out:
-Lindsey Scott Jr. as the co-backup at QB. It will shock some on this board who convinced themselves it was going to be Taylor Powell after the spring game, but we've told you all along that wasn't going to happen. Scott doesn't shock me. You don't sign a juco guy to have him not compete to play right away. The goal is for Scott to take over when Lock leaves. Might as well find out if he's capable.
-At receiver Dominic Gicinto and Alex Ofodile are already on the two deep. There are more freshmen who might be in due time. That means the writing's pretty much on the wall for Justin Smith. Some will be surprised to not see Harry Ballard on the two-deep. I'm really not.
-Defensively, I'm mildly surprised that Walter Palmore is ahead of Jordan Elliott. Not sure if that's more about Palmore being great or Elliott not quite being ready. Also, Akial Byers and Caleb Sampson listed at defensive end. That could allow the Tigers to redshirt a guy or two they didn't plan to, or those two could swing back to DE if guys like Jatorian Hansford and Trajan Jeffcoat play (and I expect them to).
-In this edition of position roulette, Ronnell Perkins is back at linebacker and Josh Bledsoe back at safety. I mentioned in the article I wrote this morning to keep an eye on Terry Petry. He, Bledsoe and Tyree Gillespie could join with Adam Sparks to give this secondary a real makeover of youth.
2. I'm glad we can talk about football cause sometimes recruiting is dumb. I ranted about it two weeks ago. Now, what we've got is one prospect (Charles Njoku) who three weeks ago said he was going to commit between July 10-15 and then decided he wasn't ready. No problem at all with not being ready. But why name a date in advance if you don't KNOW you're ready? And then another prospect, Glover Cook, who is committed, except on the very day he committed is saying he's going to visit at least four other schools. Look, I don't really blame the kids. The process is what it is. It's make believe. It's like a male soap opera. Follow it for entertainment. But if you allow your moods to swing daily based on recruiting, you're going to end up in a rubber room.
3. Speaking of recruiting, Mitchell killed it at Peach Jam/Under Armour this week. He wrote a lot of things. You can find them on the front page. We'll summarize them in an updated recruiting board later this week.
4. SEC Media Days started this morning. Mitchell is there. I'll get there tomorrow. Missouri goes Wednesday. Media Days are an outdated thing. They used to be useful for newspapers who were putting out special preview sections and wanted information on every team. Now, we all have all that at the tips of our fingers at any given time. Media days really offer nothing more than a chance to remind everyone football is coming kind of soon. And somebody will say something stupid that we will then get mad at them for for a while. My least favorite thing about media days is the coaches competing to see who can make the longest opening statement and therefore answer the fewest questions. My second least favorite thing about media day is just about everything else.
5. The World Cup happened. It appears France won. That is the extent of my knowledge on the subject. It seems like the World Cup lasts approximately as long as the NHL playoffs.
6. Josh Rosen for college football commissioner? He has some ideas. And I can't say I think they're terrible.
7. It seems people are universally happy that the Cardinals fired Mike Matheny. He may be a horrible manager. I really don't know. I don't watch the Cardinals play enough to have an opinion. But I've legitimately not seen anyone say it was undeserved (fan or media). I know they seem to have trended downward over the last few years under him. I also know that he's won a fair number of games and has never finished below .500. Trust me, I understand that being decent isn't the goal of the Cardinals. But I would also say, be careful for what you wish. No team has a birthright to make the playoffs every year. In pro sports, anybody can stumble. I know the Cards have been good for a long time. But there have been down periods too. Firing Matheny is fine...as long as you find a guy who's better. Hey, how about Ned Yost? Any takers?
8. Bitching about the weather is one of my favorite things to do.
This is effing ridiculous. Spring didn't happen this year. We went from winter to summer. It's never raining again. I'm moving North.
9. What to watch:
Last night, I watched "Only in Hollywood," the MLB Network doc on the 1988 Dodgers. It was really good. I enjoyed it. Sad to see Tommy Lasorda at 90 and Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson in their 60s, but a fun watch. I really loved that World Series. First sports moment I distinctly remember watching and thinking "Oh my God, this is amazing." Only World Series that was ever decided in Game One (well, Alex Gordon in 2015 was close). The documentary wasn't groundbreaking, but it was a cool look behind the scenes and if you do a show about that Gibson home run, I will watch it. Every time.
10. What to read:
The Story of the Thailand Cave Rescue. Whatever comes of how they got in there (we talked about that last week), the people that got them out are heroes.
Now, I'm gonna be honest. I could care less about the media guide. I'm not sure why they do them anymore. It's all online. I can't tell you the last time I opened a media guide. It's fun to see who will be the first to do a stupid "ranking the SEC football programs by their media guide cover" story today though.
But the depth chart holds some intrigue. Here are things that jumped out:
-Lindsey Scott Jr. as the co-backup at QB. It will shock some on this board who convinced themselves it was going to be Taylor Powell after the spring game, but we've told you all along that wasn't going to happen. Scott doesn't shock me. You don't sign a juco guy to have him not compete to play right away. The goal is for Scott to take over when Lock leaves. Might as well find out if he's capable.
-At receiver Dominic Gicinto and Alex Ofodile are already on the two deep. There are more freshmen who might be in due time. That means the writing's pretty much on the wall for Justin Smith. Some will be surprised to not see Harry Ballard on the two-deep. I'm really not.
-Defensively, I'm mildly surprised that Walter Palmore is ahead of Jordan Elliott. Not sure if that's more about Palmore being great or Elliott not quite being ready. Also, Akial Byers and Caleb Sampson listed at defensive end. That could allow the Tigers to redshirt a guy or two they didn't plan to, or those two could swing back to DE if guys like Jatorian Hansford and Trajan Jeffcoat play (and I expect them to).
-In this edition of position roulette, Ronnell Perkins is back at linebacker and Josh Bledsoe back at safety. I mentioned in the article I wrote this morning to keep an eye on Terry Petry. He, Bledsoe and Tyree Gillespie could join with Adam Sparks to give this secondary a real makeover of youth.
2. I'm glad we can talk about football cause sometimes recruiting is dumb. I ranted about it two weeks ago. Now, what we've got is one prospect (Charles Njoku) who three weeks ago said he was going to commit between July 10-15 and then decided he wasn't ready. No problem at all with not being ready. But why name a date in advance if you don't KNOW you're ready? And then another prospect, Glover Cook, who is committed, except on the very day he committed is saying he's going to visit at least four other schools. Look, I don't really blame the kids. The process is what it is. It's make believe. It's like a male soap opera. Follow it for entertainment. But if you allow your moods to swing daily based on recruiting, you're going to end up in a rubber room.
3. Speaking of recruiting, Mitchell killed it at Peach Jam/Under Armour this week. He wrote a lot of things. You can find them on the front page. We'll summarize them in an updated recruiting board later this week.
4. SEC Media Days started this morning. Mitchell is there. I'll get there tomorrow. Missouri goes Wednesday. Media Days are an outdated thing. They used to be useful for newspapers who were putting out special preview sections and wanted information on every team. Now, we all have all that at the tips of our fingers at any given time. Media days really offer nothing more than a chance to remind everyone football is coming kind of soon. And somebody will say something stupid that we will then get mad at them for for a while. My least favorite thing about media days is the coaches competing to see who can make the longest opening statement and therefore answer the fewest questions. My second least favorite thing about media day is just about everything else.
5. The World Cup happened. It appears France won. That is the extent of my knowledge on the subject. It seems like the World Cup lasts approximately as long as the NHL playoffs.
6. Josh Rosen for college football commissioner? He has some ideas. And I can't say I think they're terrible.
7. It seems people are universally happy that the Cardinals fired Mike Matheny. He may be a horrible manager. I really don't know. I don't watch the Cardinals play enough to have an opinion. But I've legitimately not seen anyone say it was undeserved (fan or media). I know they seem to have trended downward over the last few years under him. I also know that he's won a fair number of games and has never finished below .500. Trust me, I understand that being decent isn't the goal of the Cardinals. But I would also say, be careful for what you wish. No team has a birthright to make the playoffs every year. In pro sports, anybody can stumble. I know the Cards have been good for a long time. But there have been down periods too. Firing Matheny is fine...as long as you find a guy who's better. Hey, how about Ned Yost? Any takers?
8. Bitching about the weather is one of my favorite things to do.
This is effing ridiculous. Spring didn't happen this year. We went from winter to summer. It's never raining again. I'm moving North.
9. What to watch:
Last night, I watched "Only in Hollywood," the MLB Network doc on the 1988 Dodgers. It was really good. I enjoyed it. Sad to see Tommy Lasorda at 90 and Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson in their 60s, but a fun watch. I really loved that World Series. First sports moment I distinctly remember watching and thinking "Oh my God, this is amazing." Only World Series that was ever decided in Game One (well, Alex Gordon in 2015 was close). The documentary wasn't groundbreaking, but it was a cool look behind the scenes and if you do a show about that Gibson home run, I will watch it. Every time.
10. What to read:
The Story of the Thailand Cave Rescue. Whatever comes of how they got in there (we talked about that last week), the people that got them out are heroes.
