AURex

My underdogs are North Dakota State, Wyoming. Vermont, and Montana State. Just sayin'.

Okay, this is going to be a very unpopular post. I am going to be chopped up and fed to lizards. Remember way back to last summer? There were articles about how CBP was taking a completely different approach to summer workouts and coaching? Basically the articles were saying that, instead of coaching up the players, he was just letting them play each other, unstructured, letting them figure out themselves how best to play as a team. Anyone other than me remember that? So here we are now with two sure fire NBA draft choices and a group of very good players surrounding them. And they look like a bunch of guys just showed up in a city park for a pickup game, just aimlessly doing their own thing out there. No coordination, no cohesive, systematic organized play. Yes, we've all beat into the ground -- Auburn can't shoot from outside, they turn it over too much, offensive rebounding is a killer, blah, blah, blah. But what is the root of that? As the season progresses, other teams with less talent improve with game to game, day to day, practicing of the systematic, coordinated, cohesive play as a team. Auburn has not. Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, have all gotten better as the season has progressed. Auburn, with just as much more more talent .... well, nope. So, my question is, does CBP return to a more rigorously practiced summer schedule for the next year? Or will he just continue this year's experiment of letting them train themselves?

I said it before the SEC tourney started and no one wanted to hear it. So I hate to say "I told ya so," but ya know, I told ya so. As for the NCAA tourney -- well, our early opponent(s) will not have on-court experience playing Auburn. They will not have the talent either. However, they WILL have motivation and they WILL have tape and they WILL know how to frustrate Auburn technically. In the NCAA tournament, Auburn will have a 2 seed -- maybe a 3 based on the recent list of doodoo-crap losses. But the first up in the NCAA may not have the personnel to deal with Jabari and Kessler. (Of course, neither did A&M.) But I don't expect Auburn to get far in the NCAA tourney for the same reason Auburn could not beat Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida and now A&M. The reality is, Auburn has some really great individual players -- Jabari, Kessler, Green, Johnson -- but Auburn does not play a cohesive style of ball, instead relying on a free-for-all game. It works when it works, but it doesn't against disciplined teams with some strength inside and some speed on offense and tenacity defense. Pack the paint and force Auburn to shoot 3s, force Auburn turnovers, rebound on the offensive glass -- bingo. I am very sorry about this. I LOVE my Tigers. I WANT them to go deep in the NCAA. But, despite having 2 sure bet NBA picks and some really good (if sporadic) supporting cast, Auburn just doesn't have the *TEAM* cohesiveness to go far this season in the NCAA. I sincerely hope I am wrong and that the team gets their sheeeeet together for the dance.

Some mighty beautiful thinking here. I'm definitely not a negative nelly. I'm 100% tiger. HOWEVER .... 1. Auburn has not played well lately on the road, and all these tournament games will be on the road. 2. Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas beat Auburn on the road, AND Kentucky is playing really good ball now. Realistically, I don't expect Auburn to reach the championship game UNLESS they solve the problems that have plagued them of late on the road .... 1. Turnovers 2. Three point shooting 3. Rebounding Of course, this is a team that can actually do that! And my concerns are just trying to be objective. Does Auburn get eliminated in the SEC Championship semi finals? Personally, I'll be screaming Orange & Blue at the TV every game. How wonderful it would be to win the SEC Championship tourney and then go really deep in the NCAAs. WDE! Auburn Forever!

How much longer will this drag on? The allegations have been in arbitration for years. During that time, Will Wade has earned around $10 Million and Orgeron left with a major bounty in his pocket. Even if LSU fires Wade with cause -- at some point -- their years of holding off, plus fines and future loss of income, wqill be a heavy price. And this does not include the court cases against Orgeron and his enablers at the university that the university will end up paying. But ya know what? This is going to drag out another year or two. Wade will sign his 5 star recruits and have a great season next year, because just like someone else we know, the answer is always delay, delay, delay.

Three observations -- not criticisms, just observations: 1. I don't think anyone would disagree with the observation that Auburn is playing really good at home and pretty crappy of late on the road. There is a lot of arguing about why, but it doesn't change the facts. Losses to Arkansas and Florida on the road, and now Arkansas clobbering Florida, and UKy healthy and playing well, illustrate the challenge facing Auburn in the coming month. 2. All of the SEC championship games and the NCAA tournament games will not be at home. Yes, seeding will assure Auburn of an early advantage. Nuff said. 3. The team (not just individual players -- the TEAM) needs to become more cohesive as a unit. Number one on the list is eliminating turnovers, which has been a plague. Number two on the list is eliminating hero ball.

They will be competing with USCw in the high-bidder stakes. I suspect to two top targets will be Cristobal and Franklin. But I'd be surprised if either wants to leave their current position. And why would they want to step into that Baton Rouge cesspool? Money ain't everything and they both get plenty. Given the problems at LSU right now with court cases and investigations related to sexual assault cover-ups, I don't think they'd go after Urban Baggage. And with his history, no matter his religious school penance, would Freeze be hire they'd risk? I kinda think their best bet would be Luke Fickell. Cincinnati cannot come even close to the money LSU would throw at him. And LSU woukd definitely be a step up in recruiting, talent, fan craziness, and conference respect. The real question is, no matter how much money is involved, who would stoop so low as to take the LSU job?

Do we see him on Saturday? YES. We will. Why? Not because he is the best QB or because he is better than Bo. He performed reasonably well vs GSU, plus Harsin understands that it is important to have a #2 ready to go. So, just like last week, I expect to see TJ getting a series in the first half. And YES! I'm perfectly OK with that!

I agree, but it is not just OL. Fact is, the AU current recruiting will DEFINITELY not be competitive in the SEC at this point. I see nothing in our Harsin recruiting list that will prepare Auburn too compete with UGA, Bama, or even teams that we usually beat like OM, A&M, etc. Nothing against the guys on the list, but honestly, a truckload oof 2 and 3 star guys will not be competitive against any team (like bamqw, UGA, etc) with a truckload f 5 star players. Thing is, this year performance counts a LOT as far as recruiting for this season. So far, Auburn looked competitive against Penn State, but looked like a steaming pile of poo-poo vs Ga State. That's not going to attract anyone. We will need to step up and play Real SEC Man football against LSU or ........... Harsin is used to going after 3 star guys and coaching them up. Problem is, SEC teams recruit 5 star guys and coach them up. You cannot win with a roster of a bunch of 3 star guys, even if you can coach up a couple to SEC level.

Okay, LSU is not the powerhouse that they have been in the past. Miss State out-played them the entire game and really deserved to win. Unfortunately, MSU had some broken plays and gave up 3 TDs as a result. But ya know, that is a part of thew game of football, and successful teams make those kinds of plays happen. Can Auburn avoid big plays like that? I dunno. I thought the Auburn secondary was going to be a strong point of the defense. But they looked like s*it against Georgia State. And the DL is getting no pressure on the opponent's QB at all. LSU doesn't have much of a running game. Auburn is going to have to shut down their run, and get in the face of their QB, and actually cover the LSU receivers. In other words, keep LSU out of the end zone. Because with our QBs and WRs, I have no confidence at all that Auburn can win a scoring battle against ANY team this year, including LSU. Defense needs to step up! Hope I am VERY WRONG, but I'm expecting LSU by 10

hahahaha ---- Auburn has no legit competitive QB. We got Bo, who is proven mediocre. And we got TJ, who is unproven against decent opponents. Personally, I'm all for letting DD our 3rd string guy go live and get prepared for next season ------ because this season is already down the tubes.

I donated but I still cannot read this "Things I Think I Saw" post. How many times do I need to donate? How much do I need to donate? Is AUF now a pay site?

Not exactly new, but wifey and I just watched the entire first 2 seasons of an Aussie political/spy thriller called Secret City. Really intense. Excellent acting, topped by Anna Torv (who was nominated for best actress for 13 seasons of Fringe and now both seasons of this series). If you haven't seen it -- 2 seasons of 6 episodes each -- on Netflix.

Wifey and I subscribe and like it Crime procedurals that never make it to PBS or other American channels. One series we really like is Digging for Britain, which really digs into British archaeological efforts -- lots of very interesting historical stuff. Some of everything, really. Hey, the Brits love to garden! It's not expensive and you might get a free month trial to check it out.

Update -- Wifey was feeling much better on Sunday. By Monday, zero side effects. In fact, she was out working in our flower gardens later in the day. I think the only reason she had such a reaction initially was because she has a chronic disorder similar to Lupus. It affects her joints and other body systems. So I think that's why she was experiencing so much pain in her joints. Now that I am vaccinated, I've begun making appointments with doctors -- which I've put off for a year, not wanting to expose myself to COVID-infested environments. Time to catch up with my GP, my dermatologist, my dentist, and my ophthalmologist. Hope you guys are all doing great!

Wifey and I got our second shot of Moderna on Friday. Saturday, wifey was laid out flat. I even had to help her to the bathroom to pee. All of her joints were aching and body muscles. All I experienced was a little soreness in the shoulder. Wifey much Better today, I think, for SOME people, the Moderna has greater after effects, but not like terrible. I had nothing to note. My brother had Pfizer. No after effects.

Okay, all the way back to the OP, the guy has a hundred options for top teams. I WANT to believe he will actually come to AU. BUT there's a long way to go and ya know, and as the old saying goes -- "If Candy & Nuts were and and & nuts ....

Did this affect your golf swing?😆

Well, wifey and I got our first jab last Friday. The shot itself was absolutely painless. I didn't even feel it. Much different from a flu shot. I experienced a little soreness in my arm that night for a few hours, but then nothing. Wifey developed COVID arm -- entire arm painful to use, but it went away in a couple of days. But she still has some tenderness at the spot of the injection. My brother got his jab the day before we did. He said he felt a little fuzzy-headed that evening, but no other effect. He had the Pfizer. We got the Moderna.

What are your thoughts on getting vaccinated ASAP? This is not a political question. It's a personal question. Wifey and I have finally gotten scheduled for our jabs next Friday. We are ready. But my brother has been putting it off, and getting shots in Alabama is not so easy. What are your thoughts on this? Please not political. What do you prefer to do?

Okay, the final season 1 episode of WandaVision is out. After you watch it, having watched the entire series, what is your take? No Marvel hundred-movie background take, because my interest in the whole Marvwel Universe hundred movie thing waned long ago. Just the series by itself. was it as engrossing as the first year of Westworld? Was it as good as the first year of Altered Carbon? To me, those were both great first seasons. Characters I was really trying to figure out. Storylines that were complex and kept me engaged. Can WandaVision do that for me?

I've been around a loooong time (hey, I'm not as old as Golf, but still old). LSU has **ALWAYS** been the dirtiest athletics program in the SEC. I'm not sure why they always seem to fly under the radar of NCAA and the feds, but they seem to never get penalized. I mean, even Bama got penalized, but LSU has been above/below/behind the rules for some reason. It's like, fdor decades, the rules/laws just don't apply to them. Here we are now -- the BB program with undeniable blatant recruiting violations, the football program with endless recruiting and sexual assault violations. Years in process. And still MORE years in process. Crickets! Nothing! LSU should be the second school to receive the DEATH PENALTY. Yet here it is, years and years and years ... with NOTHING from the NCAA or the Feds. Hey, if LSU can do all this stuff and not get hammered for it, WHY AREN'T WE DOING IT ??!!!!!??? Because hey ----- No Consequences! Not to mention Kansas BB. Just don't get me going on that!

Typos happen, Golf. Just sayin ...... And hey, at your age, you should understand. I'm not there yet, but I'm workin' on it. hahaha

The Auburn ladies OBLITERATE the 32rd ranked UGA team. Now 5-0 in SEC and 8-0 vs UGA. I have not counted the numbvers, but Auburn has not lost a meet in a long time, and is on track for yet another National Championship.

Equestrian competition begins again on February 12 against SMU. Six events in a month, followed by the SEC championship. Here is the schedule -- https://auburntigers.com/sports/equestrian/schedule/2020-21