Monday, November 22, 2010

What we think we know -- Week 12

1. The SEC is the most entertaining subset of football anywhere, at any level. Exhibits 1 and 1A: The Ole Miss-LSU and Arkansas-Mississippi State games on Saturday. I have always loved the former, and more often than not it turns out to be one of the most enjoyable -- and overlooked -- games of the season. The Hogs-Bulldogs OT thriller is another case in point. Dead ahead: Mississippi State/Ole Miss, LSU/Arkansas and the most pathological rivalry in all of sports, Auburn/Alabama (which now carries all the charm of that old Star Trek episode in which those weirdly clothed mirror twins spend centuries trying to kill each other.)

2. Why I hate the BCS: Arkansas, which could end up 10-2, turned almost invisible after the Alabama loss in the fourth week. That's ridiculous. But if you aren't in the conversation for The One and Only Game, you're ignored. The same fate would have befallen two-loss Alabama if its Battle for the Future of Mankind with Auburn weren't dead ahead.

3. The Gratuitous End Zone Dive: the most compelling proof yet that if there is a God, He body paints on game day. This is the starkest choice between right and wrong since the Apple, and yet college kids would rather go all Mary Lou Retton than hand the ball to the ref. Nice form, Markeith Summers. Hope that ESPN replay of your TD swan dive becomes a lifelong memory. You still lost.

4. BCS collateral damage, Take II: Florida-Florida State. Clemson-South Carolina. Georgia-Georgia Tech. Yawn.

5. Alabama giving 3 against Auburn? On the blackboard of what assylum? (There will be plenty more on Auburn-Alabama in the days ahead.)

MG

6 comments:

Brandon said...

The Clemson/SC may not been jack to you, but it means a heck of a lot to most people reading your pathetic article about the SEC, which only showed how ignorant you are. That, or you are still bitter that SC beat your team--by two scores.

I have another reason now that I hope Auburn clobbers Bama.

Seriously--Charlotte Observer Sports, could you not find a writer who isn't so obsessed with the SEC West?

Michael said...

Hey Brandon, thanks for the note.

1. With the exception of SC's thumping of Alabama, the SEC West has dominated the East. Besides, go back and read or other posts; the SEC East has been fairly represented. Now be honest: Would you rather I have waxed poetic about Carolina/Troy or Florida/App State?

2. I love rivalries, but you have to admit that South Carolina is in a bit of a pickle (the same one Clemson faced last year): its big rivalry game trumped by a conference championship.

I think that's a sad but inevitable byproduct of the BCS system. Too often, the once-great games between rivals from different conferences have been clearly diminished.

Thanks for visiting, and I appreciate you taking time to write.

tommy tomlinson said...

Brandon. Dude. I'm a Georgia guy, and even I know the West is where it's at this year. SC would be the fourth-best team in the West this year, and you could make a case to drop them below Bama at this point. SC-Clemson ALWAYS means something to the fans; not so much this year to the bowls or the BCS. LSU-Arkansas and Alabama-Auburn matter.

We in the East are just in one of those fallow years, except for the Cocks. I'll be rooting for y'all the rest of the way. But this week the news is on the other side of the slate.

Coastal Detour said...

Okay I am in love. How did I not know about you guys before? Also lifelong UA fan living in NC. My WHOLE family is going to the game -except me. Great blog. I was there for the SC game and Brandon, no one cares about the game with Clemson outside the State of SC. I am a female so take it as you will but there is just something pathologically wrong with a fb tradition where a bunch of people yell Cocks as a rallying cry. Made the loss all the more painful but I don't want to be too mean. SEC West is where it is at this week.

Coulwoodwarlord said...

I think the column is dead on, LSU and Arkansas is a big deal, as well as the Iron bowl. I dare say Auburn, Ala, LSU, and Arkansas, are Top 5 teams period. Someone is gonna get squeezed.
As for South Carolina, Clemson game, there's rumbilings all across Gamecock country as to which is more important, Clemson or SEC title game.
Thing is, you can make a case that the viability of the BCS, will be determined by the SEC, in the next two weeks.

Michael said...

Coastal Detour: Welcome home, darlin'.

Now that you've found us, please spread the word.

Was at a wine tasting last night, wearing my crimson hat and a waitress swooshed by with a "War Eagle."

She's from Oneonta (north-central Alabama hill country for those of you cut off from Google Earth).

I asked her: How in the world do you pull for Auburn There are no Auburn fans in north Alabama.

Her reply: "Yeah, it was pretty awful."

Made me howl in recognition.