Scoring expected to be at a premium in SEC West duel
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It will be sunny with the temperature around 74 when Alabama kicks off at 2:30 p.m. CDT today against LSU in a game at Bryant-Denny Stadium that will be televised nationally by CBS.
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This wasn’t how Trevard Lindley’s senior season was supposed to go.

Lindley bypassed the NFL Draft, where he was projected to be a second-round pick, to return to Kentucky in 2009. He received pre-season accolades as an All-Southeastern Conference and All-America candidate.

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Northern Arizona takes on an added sense of urgency
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ATHENS — Mark Richt is a man of faith. It’s a source of pride and inspiration that he believes strongly in things he can’t completely understand. The important thing is that he believes.
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AUBURN — When Auburn snapped its three-game losing streak a week ago against Ole Miss, it transformed today’s homecoming game from a gloomy interruption in a sinking season to an important day of preparation. The Tigers (6-3) would love…
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FAYETTEVILLE — The Weather Channel doesn’t have a more accurate Arkansas barometer than the Arkansas-South Carolina game.

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Injury report; five game storylines; five questions with wide receiver Tori Gurley; and more.

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Injuries

USC – DE Cliff Matthews (shoulder), FS Chris Culliver (shoulder), FS Jarrett Burns (finger) and OT Jarriel King (concussion) are out.

Arkansas – CB Ramon Broadway (hamstring) is questionable; RB Michael Smith (hamstring) is probable.
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Tennessee isn’t getting rid of the traditional one-at-a-time approach.
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The more I think about it, the more I’m astounded that Florida coach Urban Meyer was fined $30,000 for innocuously answering a reporter’s question earlier this week about a perceived late hit on Tim Tebow during last week’s Georgia game.
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Mackenzi Adams takes his happy-go-lucky approach to Gainesville for his first start of the year as Vanderbilt faces No. 1 Florida.
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Rap star Lil Wayne continues to talk up Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin… or Lil Lane as he calls him in his latest UStream video.

Kiffin was mentioned in a new Lil Wayne rap two weeks ago that featured the line, “Smokin’ weed, talking sh*t like Lane Kiffin.”

Kiffin came out afterward and said “We’re Lil Wayne fans” and also joked that the rapper’s comments gave UT’s program “street cred.”  The song has since been played at practice.

Well, apparently, Lil Wayne — who has made appearances on ESPN shows in the past — didn’t get that message.

You can click here to go to a video he’s posted at UStream.tv.  In it, click forward to the 15:00 mark of the clip.

At that point, you’ll see Lil Wayne sparking up a blunt.  (That would be a marijuana cigarette or reefer to you old timers, a joint to my generation.)

Below is a transcription of what he says about Kiffin and Tennessee:



“Shout out, Lane Kiffin… and the whole Tennessee Volunteers team.  I heard they say they only doggin’ the things that I said.  Because I said, ‘Smoke weed, talk sh*t like Lane Kiffin.’  But Lane, what you don’t know is you gonna be sittin’ in some recruit’s living room and his mother’s gonna call him from the back room, and he’s gonna come up front listening to a iPod.  And on his iPod he’s gonna be listenin’ to, ‘Smoke week, talk sh*t like Lane Kiffin,” and you’ll be able to say, ‘Hi, son, I’m Lane Kiffin, I’m who he’s talkin’ about.”  And you just may get a recruit because of that.  Don’t thank me, just apologize for not thanking me.

“Now, the for real though, I rock wit you Lil Lane.  I heard that’s your new name, they call you Lil Lane.  And all dem boys over there at Tennessee, I rock wit y’all.  Y’all stomped, um, I watched y’all stomp South Carolina tonight.  Y’all did y’all thing.  I am a big fan of the Ol’ Ballcoach, but y’all did y’all thing tonight.  And I rocks wit y’all and I love the black and orange jerseys.  You killed ‘em.”



Not sure what to add here.  Perhaps “Congratulations to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina” for also being on Lil Wayne’s list of faves?

It’s surprising that the rapper hadn’t heard about Kiffin’s public comments about the “Smoke weed, talk sh*t like Lane Kiffin” line, but then again, maybe he did.  Judging from the weed he’s smoking, he might’ve just forgotten about it.

There’s no question, though, being repeatedly mentioned by the world’s hottest rap star is boost for Tennessee’s recruiting.  What kind of guys they might land because of this… well, let’s just say the UT athletic department might run out of cups to pee in.

This isn’t a first, of course.  While not mentioned in his raps (to my knowledge), Snoop Dogg has still cozied up to Pete Carroll and Les Miles in the past.

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Just a few quickie thoughts on the SEC’s decision to fine Urban Meyer $30,000 for his comments about an officiating call earlier this week:

1.  Will Pat Dooley of The Gainesville Sun have to chip in some of that cash?  He’s the man who specifically asked Meyer about the call during the SEC’s weekly teleconference.

2.  In my view, the fine is best summed up as “a proportional response.”  Meyer didn’t question the integrity of officials (as Lane Kiffin and Bobby Petrino had) and he didn’t call out a specific official (as Dan Mullen had).  However, when you’re going to have a suspension/fine policy rather than a reprimand policy, any talk at all has to result in a suspension/fine. 

3.  Yeah, yeah, “What’s $30,000 to Meyer?”  I know.  That’s already popping up on the internet.  I can tell you this — I know of no more penny-pinching group of people than coaches.  They pay attention to what other coaches make.  They always want raises and extensions regardless of their record.  I know of one who even negotiated free cell phone usage as part of his buyout.  Like a millionaire can’t cover his own Verizon bill?  This fine is steep, even if it is being dumped on a millionaire.  It’s not a $10,000 fine.  It’s $30,000.  And it isn’t a fine for Florida, it’s a fine for Florida’s coach.

4.  There’s nothing wrong with the SEC having a “don’t publicly criticize the officials” rule.  Every league and conference does.  It’s a way to protect the integrity of the game.  That’s why it’s in place.  A coach criticizing officials has more influence than some fan doing likewise on a call-in show or in a chatroom.  Leagues can’t have their own members making accusations in the press.  There is a behind-the-scenes process available for schools and coaches to make complaints.  In private, they can scream all they like.  But to do so publicly creates doubt about the legitimacy of games in the minds of rabid fans.  Can you name me one league where coaches are allowed to rip referees each week?  There’s not one.

5.  That said, the commissioner still needs to put out a clear memo explaining what types of comments will draw what types of penalties.  Bad mouth an official — a suspension.  Question a call — a fine.  Bad mouth another coach — a suspension.  There needs to be a clear understanding by both the coaches AND the fans as to what the commissioner (and the 12 presidents and athletic directors) have in mind.

6.  In a day when sports passions have risen to never-before-seen levels, officials get more negative feedback, hate mail, prank calls and threats than ever before.  When these men — who work to get in shape, work to know the rules, and work for not-that-much cash — can be subjected to so much guff in their private lives, it is absolutely essential that the league handle officiating issues behind closed doors.

7.  If not for a “don’t criticize the officials” rule, every losing coach speaking after a game would point to every missed call in that game and insinuate that “this one was stolen.”  A coach — who’s making millions of dollars — would much rather have fans screaming for officials’ heads than his own.

To sum up…

A fair penalty. 

A necessary rule. 

But the league needs to clarify the rule further.

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1.  You know that line in the trailer for “The Blind Side” where Sandra Bullock’s character says she finds Nick Saban to be handsome?  Saban says that really happened.

2.  Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Georgia and South Carolina are starting more young players than any other teams in the conference.

3.  Tony Barnhart of The AJC has posted his weekend predictions.

4.  Barnhart’s AJC mate Jeff Schultz makes his predictions, too.

5.  There’s nothing normal about Les Miles’ football decisions.

6.  Tommy Hicks of The Mobile Press-Register is the latest writer to tackle Urban Meyer’s initial half-game suspension of Brandon Spikes.

7.  Charles Hollis of The Birmingham News has made his weekend picks.

8.  Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com writes that this year’s Alabama-LSU game has a lot more at stake than just bragging rights.

9.  The name of the game in the SEC?  Defense.

10.  Pat Dooley of The Gainesville Sun makes his predictions for this weekends games AND the SEC’s bowl bids.

11.  Jon Solomon of The Birmingham News has as in-depth one-on-one with excellent CBS analyst Gary Danielson.  (Seriously, name me another announcer who so routinely predicts game action before it occurs.  The guy is good.)

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The SEC has fined Urban Meyer $30,000 by the SEC for his public comments about a missed call in last week’s Florida-Georgia game.

Meyer released a statement after receiving the fine:

“As I stated last week, I have great respect for Commissioner Mike Slive and the Southeastern Conference and I respect this decision.  There was no intent to criticize an official after being asked about a situation that occurred last Saturday and I apologize for my remarks.”

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1.  Still zip, zilch, nada on the Urban Meyer punishment front.

2.  Linebacker AJ Jones is having a breakout year for the Gator defense.

3.  Robbie Andreu of The Gainesville Sun expects to see a rout of Vanderbilt tomorrow.

4.  Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel isn’t buying the fact that Florida has somehow turned Brandon Spikes from a villain into a martyr.

5.  Of course, it was Mr. Bianchi himself who first suggested on Wednesday that Spikes was merely the victim of YouTube.

6.  The biggest worry for Gator fans tomorrow should be Warren Norman, not the absence of Spikes.

7.  Vandy has been absolutely destroyed by injuries this season.

8.  In basketball news, Georgetown-transfer Vernon Macklin had to shake off some jitters in his first game as a Gator on Monday.

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1.  Mississippi State’s players are happy to finally be hitting their bye week.

2.  Senior linebacker Jamar Chaney believes the Dogs should have “the best offensive line in the SEC” next season.

3.  Here’s a look at where Anthony Dixon might stand in State’s recordbook once the season ends.

4.  On the basketball front, Renaldo Sidney’s attorney says the NCAA indicated to him that the bank deposit records they’ve been shown are sufficient to rule Sidney eligible.  We shall see.

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1.  It sounds as if Kent Austin will be at the controls of a simplified offense this week against Northern Arizona.

2.  Backup right guard Rishaw Johnson has been suspended for the rest of the season.  Johnson started four games for UM before taking up residence in Houston Nutt’s doghouse.

3.  Whether it’s drive or injuries that have been holding him back, Ole Miss needs a consistent Greg Hardy down the homestretch.

4.  In basketball news, Andy Kennedy’s team plays its one and only exhibition game tonight against Auburn-Montgomery.

5.  Here’s a profile of juco transfer DeAngelo Riley.

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1.  Vandy will have to stop Tim Tebow tomorrow… who’s still barely in the lead in most Heisman Trophy polls.

2.  Bobby Johnson knows that will be tough.  “You see people try to tackle him, it’s tough to get him on the ground, and then he’s deceptively fast.”

3.  On the hardwood, Kevin Stallings wants Jermaine Beal to start being a vocal leader for the Commodores.

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1.  The lack of depth at Auburn this year will lead to very few redshirts being handed out.

2.  Auburn’s defensive ends are getting healthier, which might help them become even more aggressive.

3.  Terrell Zachary is turning into big play receiver.

4.  Suddenly, freshman Darren Bates is the Tigers’ most experienced safety.

5.  Gus Malzahn breaks down the Tigers’ backup quarterbacks in this notes column.

6.  In basketball news, there will be a lot of new faces on the floor when Auburn takes on Miles College in their exhibition opener tonight.

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1.  Experience and accountability are key to Alabama’s defense.

2.  Nick Saban is promising some changes in how Bama will attack offensively in the red zone.

3.  Alabama’s offense might have slowed recently, but the Tide’s offensive numbers are still up over last year’s unbeaten team.

4.  This writer believes Heisman voters should listen to Mark Ingram and vote for Rolando McClain.

5.  Alabama should keep an eye on playmaking, two-sport star Chad Jones tomorrow.

6.  The Tide defense has noticed Jordan Jefferson’s improvement at quarterback.

7.  Saban may be a great football coach, but he’s a salesman first.

8.  Here’s more on Nick Saban’s role in “The Blind Side.”

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1.  Kentucky’s defensive line wants to redeem itself for a shoddy performance against Mississippi State last weekend.  No offense, but I don’t think beating Eastern Kentucky will do the trick.

2.  An EKU receiver will have extra motivation going against the Cats.

That’s it for football…

3.  In basketball news, John Calipari is challenging his Wildcats to improve.

4.  “I got on Patrick (Patterson).  You took seven shots.  You kidding me?”

5.  Former walk-on Mark Krebs is drawing praise for driving to the basket aggressively.

6.  DeMarcus Cousins says Calipari is through playing games.  “Intense and focused.  It’s a whole new Cal.  He’s not the laid-back, chill Cal anymore.  You’ve got to get with the program.”

7.  John Wall will make his Kentucky debut in tonight’s exhibition against Clarion, but Eric Bledsoe may be out with a sprained ankle.

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I’m not a conspiracy theorist.  I think the idea that the SEC favors Florida is silly. 

For one, the other 11 equal partners in the league probably wouldn’t stand for that, ya know?

And there’s always that kind of fan backlash against winning teams.  Refs take care of them, the league takes care of them, etc.  “They can’t be that good on their own.”

In NFL terms, I’ve heard it regarding my Patriots.  And I’ve said it about the Colts.  (Of course, the league DID change the interference rules because Bill Polian cried about… wait, there I go again.)

But I don’t really buy that stuff.

That said, a lot of fans DO buy that stuff.  A lot of fans do more than say these types of things, a lot of fans BELIEVE these types of things.

So it doesn’t look good that the commissioner of the SEC has taken nearly 48 hours to comment on or deliver a reprimand to Urban Meyer.

I believe Mike Slive worked himself into a corner with last week’s “tough guy” policy and now he’s having to come up with a fair penalty for someone who didn’t cross the line as much as the three coaches who ticked him off in the first place.

But that doesn’t matter.  The perception — to some fans — is that Slive does not want to punish Meyer at all.

And the longer he takes to deliver some form of punishment, the more conspiracy theorists will begin to buy into the idea that the league is favoring Florida.

So again… we wait.

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Bill King, who does an excellent job with his Junkyard Blawg for The AJC, has had quite enough of media guys (like me) talking about Mark Richt being on the hot seat.

In his view, there’s no way Richt will be fired this year, “So let’s can all this ‘hot seat’ talk.”

Fair enough.  Saying someone is on the hot seat can mean a couple of different things:

a)  The man on the hot seat is about to be fired

b)  The man on the hot seat is facing a whole lot of pressure, more than anyone else.

I, for one, don’t think there’s any way that Richt will be fired, either.  In fact, I think the amount of panic going on inside the state of Georgia over a 4-4 team that lost two mega-stars early to the pros is downright amazing.

However, there are some ways to tell if your coach is on the hot seat:

a)  If you do a Google search of your coach’s name and the words “hot seat” and “fire” appear in numerous entries… your coach might be on the hot seat.

b)  If something as silly as your coach’s demeanor is becoming a major negative for him… your coach might be on the hot seat.

c)  If the athletic director of your school has to make TWO statements of support for your coach during the season… your coach might be on the hot seat.

d)  If fans and media believe the coach will HAVE to fire one or more assistants from his staff in the offseason… your coach might be on the hot seat.

e)  If your coach has to remind angry fans on his radio show of his excellent resume and record… your coach might be on the hot seat.

So let’s see… a, b, c, d, e… yep, Richt is on the hot seat.

Or put it another way: What SEC coach is taking more guff and facing more fan anger than Richt right now?

That would be no one.

Richt won’t be fired this year.  (He shouldn’t even be in trouble, if you ask me.)  But he’ll need to have a good year next year.

And that’s the definition of a hot seat.

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1.  Georgia’s defense has managed to collect just six takeaways this year… the lowest total of all 120 FBS schools.

2.  The Bulldogs’ strength and conditioning coach is hot over TV analyst Randy Cross’ decision to say Georgia players look “weak.”  Indeed, Dave Van Halanger has been in Athens since 2001 and no one has complained about their strength until now.

3.  Mark Richt says Georgia works hard to keep up to date on the latest strength and conditioning techniques.

4.  Richt is happy to be back between the hedges this week…

5.  But that doesn’t mean he’ll see a full house of happy faces for UGA’s homecoming game with Tennessee Tech.

6.  In basketball news, the Mark Fox era tips off tonight in an exhibition game against North Georgia.

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