I was reading this column in USA Today Sports by Bob Nightengale, who’s a pretty decent baseball writer for the publication. He was writing about the Cubs trading three very good minor league prospects and a good pitcher on their staff to the Yankees for Aroldis Chapman, the closer who has thrown it 105 MPH this year, and is superb, almost un-hittable in the ninth inning and sure to give the Cubs a massive boost. He can help them win the World Series, but it’s the Cubs, and I still don’t trust them or Joe Maddon, and there are a lot of very good other teams that can win it.

Chapman committed domestic violence against his girlfriend last fall (2015). Chapman was accused of choking and pushing her in the garage at their house and shooting eight shots into the air with a gun. It’s a pretty controversial move by club president Theo Epstein and the Cubs and the Chicago media says if the Cubs win the World Series it should be tainted because they’ve done so at the expense of character, or lack thereof in this case on both the club’s and Chapman’s part. Nightengale said, “Look, major league teams are in the business of winning, no matter what it takes.” That’s where I draw a line and was thinking about something I said to my wife two nights ago about  about Jimbo Fisher and Art Briles and how they were in difficult positions. I thought better of it today and realized, you know what, what they did and what the Cubs have done doesn’t cut it. Soft discipline on guns and drugs should be unacceptable, too.

It goes back to the fact that these baseball players make a terrific living and all they’re asked today is work hard at their trade and be good citizens. How hard is that. And the same for college football players. They get a free ride to college, education, free lodging for four years, all the food they want to eat, and now a stipend that they can use at their own discretion. And if they use it wisely, they can enjoy college and still be good football players and have a chance to play at the next level if they are gifted enough and they work hard. Playing college football is not easy, but life isn’t easy, but overall, they’ve got a pretty good deal. It’s really a privilege and not a right. There are a lot of college students who take on student loans or their parents are financially stressed to get them through four years and they’d gladly take this deal. The players talent is God given. They are fortunate. Those are the facts of the matter.

When it comes to a critical issue like protecting women, there are standards and laws in society that must be followed. Chapman is a low character guy, and winning does not trump moral decency or the laws of the land. Treating women with abuse is unequivocally unacceptable. I think it happened in Miami and they didn’t press charges because they said the witnesses were not cooperative,  the girlfriend being one of them, and there wasn’t enough evidence. That always seems to be the case these days. Seems to be the standard line by DA’s offices.

I’m back to integrity in sports. Football coaches need to enforce what I’d call not just rules, but laws, that if you touch a women inappropriately, meaning using physicality, you’re  kicked off the team or you’re suspended for a year in the pros. Another incident in the pros and you’re banished for life. And the legal system should prosecute. Guns and drugs are issues that absolutely need to be punished also. I’m not going to be soft about that like some may be. Character matters and it matters a lot and that will be one of the paramount goals of this blog going forward along with analyzing, predicting and reviewing the great games,  and the athletes who not only excel on the playing field, but guys who do the right things, and there are a lot of them. But I will call out the minority who don’t. I’m not trying to be holier than thou, but doing the right thing, following the rules, will be a part of this blog along with the great sports that we write about here.

The Cubs acquired Chapman to win the World Series, and they didn’t care about the domestic violence case. That’s the extent of the Cubs’ character. Theo Epstein, their GM, and Maddon, said they thoroughly vetted him, but all Chapman, a Cuban,  remembers through an interpreter, is they talked about winning the World Series exclusively without any mention of his abuse against his girlfriend. I hope it doesn’t work out for the Cubs. I’m starting to think Maddon isn’t as great a guy as he’s perceived to be in the media and by the public, though there are some who question his decisions in games, like me, and see him as an overrated manager. 

They’re so desperate to win in Chicago, it’s been since 1908 since they’ve won the World Series, that they’ll do anything to get over that 108 year drought.

But I totally disagree with Nightengale’s comment that it’s all about winning. I’m not clueless; winning is important to every team and every athlete in sports, but not to the point where you ignore an assault on a woman just to win the World Series. Vince Lombardi’s famous quote that “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” is misquoted. What Coach Lombardi actually said is, “The will to win is everything, it’s the only thing.” He never said winning at all costs is the everything. That never crossed his mind. That was NOT his intention in that famous quote. 

The Yankees are at fault, too, for signing him in the first place. MLB did give him a 30 day suspension to start the season, but with all that has been happening to women at the hands of athletes, that wasn’t enough either. It should have been a year suspension. I  have little respect for Nightengale after his comments on the situation . I don’t have any respect for the Cubs, Epstein, Maddon and the owner, Tom Ricketts, either. Their arrogance will come back to haunt them if they don’t win it all. Predictions at the end of September. 

The 98th PGA Championship begins tomorrow at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, 20 miles outside of NYC. Looks epic.

The lower course of Baltusrol, opened in 1922, was designed by famed golf architect A. W. Tillinghast. The course measures 7,428 yards and plays as a Par 70. The slope is 147. That’s difficult considering anything 135 or over is tough. Phil Mickelson won here in 2005 in the only PGA that’s been played on the Lower Course. The Lower Course has hosted four U.S. Opens, two of them won by Jack Nicklaus, in 1967 and 1980. In 1967, Jack and Arnie were locked up in a duel. Arnie’s Army was out in full force and Nicklaus was feeling the heat from the majorly  Arnie crowd. There were Arnie patrons with signs 20 yards off the fairway that said, “Hit it here Jack.” On the par 5, 18th with a one shot lead, Jack drove the ball left into the rough. He hit a fat eight iron out of the rough, then had a 237 yard shot to reach the green and have a birdie putt which, if he sank it, would most likely win it for him. He pulled out a 1 iron and hit it to 22 feet of the hole. In typical Nicklaus fashion, he sank the putt and won the Open. In 1980, Jack was 40 years old and people were saying he was washed up. He hadn’t won a major in a while. But the phrase “Jack is back” was born at Baltusrol that year. He won in 1980 and went on to win the Masters at age 46 in 1986, and cement his place as the greatest golfer of all time, a distinction he still holds today. Interestingly, in 2005 when Phil pulled out a three wood to hit his second shot on 18, he took his three wood and tapped the plaque that was put on the course at the spot where Jack hit his 1 iron. Phil went on to hit his shot just short of the green and then hit a perfect chip to two feet that he  tapped in to capture his second of five majors. 

TV

Thursday-Friday

TNT: 1-7 PM ET/12-6 PM CT. 

Saturday-Sunday

TNT:11 AM-2 PM ET/10 AM-1 PM CT. 

CBS: 2-7 PM ET/1-6 PM CT. 

Weather

Thursday: 91 high 20% rain, minimal, wind 5-8 MPH

Friday: 83 high, 40% T-storm chance, wind 6-8 MPH

Saturday: 85 high, 20% rain, wind, 5-9 MPH

Sunday: 79 high, 40% chance of t-storms, wind 6-9 MPH.

Defending champion: Jason Day

Key holes:

There are a lot of them. I’ll start with the one that’s straight out of the blocks. 

No.1: 478 yards, Par 4

A long par 4 that off the tee gives the player a landing area between a road on the left side that is out of bounds, and bunkers and water on the right side. Tight driving area. The approach is uphill to a relatively small green that is guarded by bunkers on both sides. Birdie here is a real bonus.

No.3: 503 yards, Par 4

The second toughest hole in 2005. It’s a long downhill dogleg left that is framed by trees on both sides. A creek guards the entrance to the green, and a ridge runs through the green creating sharp breaks on either side of the hole when putting. 

No. 7: 506 yards, Par 4

The toughest hole on the course in 2005. Baltusrol has some massive par 4’s and this is the toughest of the group. The hole bends left to right with an out of bounds fence, a large group of trees and a bunker down the right side. The drive must both be long and accurate for the player to put himself in position to have a good shot at the green. A par here is an excellent score. Birdie is terrific.

No.9: 211 yards, Par 3

There are four par 3’s at Baltusrol and they’re all challenging. This hole features a long green with a narrow opening between two bunkers and a large bunker covering the backside of the green.

No.13: 462 yards, par 4

There is a fairway bunker off the tee that the players will go over for a premium drive on this hole. The approach is to a two level green with bunkers and mounds on both sides. There is a diagonal creek that runs along the entire right side hole. Bobby Jones hit his ball in the creek in the 1926 U.S. Amateur, costing him a shot at winning it. This hole made such an impression on him, that he used it as the model for No.13 at Augusta National.

No.16: 230 yards, par 3

It’s a long iron from the tee box to a sloping green surrounded by bunkers. The green is deceptively difficult, which makes it tough to read putts.

No.17: 649 yards, par 5

The first par 5 on the course, amazingly, and what a hole. Some experts consider it one of the best golf holes in the country. A long accurate drive and a solid second shot are required to cross the bunkers at 400 yards. If the player can keep the ball in the fairway, he has a wedge to the green and a good shot at birdie. It’s possible for guys like Dustin, Rory, Bubba and some others to reach the green in two John Daly was the first player to ever do it in 1993. Daly didn’t have this type of equipment the players have today. That’s impressive. 

No.18: 553 yards, Par 5

The players have to hit extremely accurate drives to reach the green in two. A safe second shot leaves a short pitch to a flat green. But there is water, thick rough and large trees that are pretty penalizing just off the fairway. Should be a classic finishing hole on Sunday. 

Guy who is not going to win

Jason Day

I’ve never heard this many excuses since Hillary’s traitor email debacle. First he caught a cold from Dash, then his wife Ellie goes to the hospital last night till 2 AM, he’s burnt out from all the golf he’s played, and the schedule is just too demanding this year. So I get it, you’re not going to win. I agree.

Contenders

Dustin

 Of course

Henrik

For sure

Zach Johnson

Doesn’t have the massive length that is a real asset on this course, but extremely accurate, excellent with his irons and his short game. That will keep him right in the thick of things come Sunday.

Phil

Shot a 65 on Sunday at Royal Troon, finished -17,  and still lost by three shots to Henrik, who shot a 63, and was -20 putting on a clinic in the process. But Phil’s game is outstanding right now, he’s putting better than ever and he’s in better physical shape than he’s been in his life. Phil looks primed to capture his sixth major.

Winner

Gary McCord of CBS is as goofy as Bill Clinton at a Tea Party gathering, but McCord did say something in CBS’s preview show that was accurate. He liked these first time winners at Majors this year and he says he sees another one at the PGA. First it was Danny Willett at the Masters. I see Willett as a Shaun Micheel, Ben Curtis-like major champion, who is one and done, and while Spieth handed the Masters to him on a silver platter, you’ve got to give him credit for winning at Augusta. Dustin won at the U.S. Open at Oakmont and that was legit, and Henrik was all world great at the Open. 

So I like a first time guy here too. McCord went with Sergio. I’m still not a buyer of Sergio. He seems to wilt in big moments. But I do like a bomber, who has all the tools to get the job done, and capture his first major at 34 years old. He’s won four times on tour, he’s had a solid 2016 campaign, and he finished third at the Open a week and a half ago. Going with the powerhouse from Campbellsville, Kentucky.

J. B. Holmes

Hugh Freeze is a total standup guy and a genuinely good man. He has a strong faith and it’s totally sincere. Ole Miss self imposed a reduction of 11 scholarships from 2015-2018, which is significant, and they’ll appear before the NCAA Infractions Committee at some point for somewhere around 18 violations, 11 in the football program. Six of them were Level 1, so that sounds serious. But Hugh’s handling it well and says it’s an extremely small minority of his staff and a player or two who were involved in it. One of them was Laremy Tunsil, who told Suzy Kolber of ESPN once he got drafted that he received $300 cash from an Ole Miss coach. I thought it was pretty obnoxious of Kolber to ask Tunsil a pointed question like that right after he shook Roger Goodell’s hand. Tunsil should have said no comment and let it go at that. Instead he didn’t think it through and made a not so smart decision to say that. His stepfather was a troublemaker. 

I know all of this stuff is against the rules, but it pales in comparison to what happened at Baylor. And Hugh Freeze did not have anything to do with it. I’m convinced of that. He’s a great guy and his players and the recruits love him. You can tell by hearing him talk that he’s a really terrific, salt of the earth man who a young high school football player would love to play for. He’s recruited outstandingly and it’s because the kids and their parents trust him to take care of them. I really, really like Hugh. He’s also a heckuva football coach. Honestly, I want it to go away because I like Hugh Freeze so much and I like Ole Miss, so hopefully the NCAA will decide that Ole Miss has done enough with their self imposed scholarship reductions and move on to more important issues like assaults on women, DUI’s, players having guns, drugs and encouraging players to promote people of all races to get along with each other.

Enough of that. I want to talk about Hugh Freeze, Will Muschamp and Les Miles’ and their respective football programs because that’s what this blog is about. Let’s talk football.

Ole Miss

Freeze has recruited exceptionally well at Ole Miss and while they lost some studs off their 10-3 team last year including Tunsil, a heckuva left tackle who will play and probably start for the Miami Dolphins this season, awesome wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, who was drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings like Tunsil, and super defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, who was drafted in the first round by the Arizona Cardinals, they still have a lot of very good football players on this 2016 team. Ole Miss had some big wins last year including beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 43-37, knocking off Auburn at Auburn, 27-19, and beating LSU and Mississippi State; LSU, 38-17, at home and State on the road, 38-27. And after getting crushed in the Sugar Bowl in 2015 by TCU, they came back and crushed Oklahoma State, 48-20, in the 2016 Sugar Bowl. Hugh Freeze is doing a tremendous job.

Chad Kelly is back for his senior season at quarterback. Kelly completed 298-of-458 passes, 65%, for 4,042 yards, 31 sevens, and 13 ints last year in his first year under center as a transfer from Clemson. Freeze said Kelly started slow the first three games, but the last seven games of the season he was spectacular. Kelly said in print that he wanted to be the best quarterback in college football. I just saw the headline on ESPN, and I thought at first, be careful Chad. But after I thought about it some more, I thought it was awesome. What  big time college quarterback doesn’t want to be considered the best QB1 in the country. I’m cool with that. I love his passion. He could be. Of course Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson will make a very strong argument with that. But go for it Chad. He sure finished fantastically last season and had some big victories at the beginning of the season. So I’m all for somebody wanting to be the best in the country at their position. Hugh likes his backups too, which includes super five star true freshman Shea Patterson, the quarterback of the future for Hugh Freeze. 

He’s got stud tight end Evan Engram back. Engram caught 38 passes for 464 yards and two TDs. And while those stats aren’t staggering, he’s made a lot of hugely clutch plays for the Rebs. Quincy Adeboyejo is back at wide receiver and he caught 38 passes for 604 yards and 7 TDs last year. Damore’ea Stringfellow is back too. Stringfellow caught 36 passes for 503 yards and 5 sevens and is another exceptional target. They’ve got some good other vets and young ones who’ve come into the program.

The line looks solid with three returning starters and good depth. Freeze reeled off a litany of linemen, so they look to be in good shape there. On defense, they lost some guys, and Freeze said his biggest concern is at linebacker and noted he needs to keep recruiting well there, but he likes the guys he has, the d line has good players but need to stay healthy, and the secondary looks pretty capable. 

Ole Miss gets a real warm welcome to the season with a trip to Orlando to play Florida State Monday night, September 5th, @7 PM CT/8PM ET on ESPN. And while it’s called a “neutral site,” Freeze said, “I don’t know how you can call it neutral if you have to run a silent cadence on offense.” But Freeze said the good news is that a game like this gets his players laser focused. They’ll be ready to play September 5th. FSU is loaded this year, probably a top 3 team in the country when the polls come out, so this should be a classic.

Then the Rebs play Wofford at home, Alabama at home, Saturday, September 17th, at 2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET on CBS. Wow, what a start those first two of three are, and Wofford is a pretty good FCS team. Ole Miss then plays Georgia @ home the week after Bama, Then Memphis @ home. The Rebels lost to Memphis in a shocker last year on the road, so the Tigers will have the Rebels’ attention this year. Then Ole Miss is @ Arkansas, @ LSU, vs. Auburn, vs. Georgia Southern, @ A&M, @ Vandy, and home against State on November 26th.

This will be a really good team. The schedule is brutal, but I’ve been saying that all week. Ole MIss can win 8 or 9 for sure, 10 if things really go well and they stay pretty healthy. Freeze is a super coach with an excellent staff, so I expect another good year in Oxford and a possible New Year’s Six Bowl. Hopefully, they’ve done enough to satisfy the NCAA. Nothing else needs to happen to Freeze and his program, they’ve suffered enough in the public arena. Let’em coach and play football, and keep this marquee program going and don’t ruin it. Baylor is a team that needs to be punished severely, not Ole Miss.

LSU

Les Miles started off his media days comments by talking about teaching his players to be good citizens and role models to get relations in Baton Rouge and everywhere better. It was a good message, a serious message, but he spent too much time on it. I have to admit I lost focus despite it being such a good message because he was so long winded about it. He could have said it in a lot fewer words. Then he talked about his family and the only interesting thing out of that soliloquy was he went to Cleveland with his son in June to see game 6 of the finals with the Cavs and the Warriors. That was interesting, but he kept going on and on about it. That’s when I thought, “the pressure’s gotten to Les,  he’s lost it.” But then he started talking about his 2016 team and he was excellent when he did that.

He’s got an outstanding football team this year though last year was disappointing as LSU finished 9-3 after starting the season 7-0. However they did blast Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl, 56-27, so they gained a lot of momentum from the bowl game and are loaded with talent for 2016-17. They have a pretty good chance to win the conference. Leonard Fournette ran for 1,953 yards and 22 TDs, but in his biggest game against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, he laid an egg as the Bengal Tigers got dominated by Alabama, 30-16.  Fournette’s Heisman Trophy aspirations seemed to go down the tubes after that game. But he’s back and he’s still awesome, and will be majorly focused to have a stellar year. Leonard may very well be in the Big Apple in December possibly accepting the Heisman Trophy though Deshaun and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey will have a big say in that too. Darrell Williams and Derrius Guice return to back up Fournette. They’re both studs. Les likes some of his young ones, too. Wide receiver is loaded led by the awesome pair of Travin Dural and Malachi Dupre. Both got hurt some last year, but Doral caught 28 passes for 533 and 3 sevens, and Dupre caught 43 for 698 and 6 sevens. Both struggled a little bit with injuries, but should have spectacular years with good quarterback play. John Diarse is another stud and there are some outstanding true freshmen. The line returns three of five starters with a lot of potential stars. The LSU o line is always physical and very good. Les spends a lot of time with them and he does a stellar job preparing them to play on Saturdays. Quarterback has to step up if the Bengal Tigers want to win the conference and be in the playoffs.  Brandon Jennings is back, and the junior has plenty of arm strength and talent, but hasn’t reached his full potential yet. He could do that this season. Brandon threw for 2,165 yards, 13 TDs and 6 ints last year. He’s mobile and has a chance to be special. But Purdue transfer Danny Elling is also in the mix. He played in 12 games at Purdue and threw for 2,400 yards and 16 TDs before transferring to LSU. Justin McMillan is another in the mix. So it looks like there will be good competition for the job in August with good options.

The defense looks pretty loaded. The marquee guys are outside linebacker Kendell Beckwith, who had 84 tackles last year, 10 for loss of 40 yards, and 3.5 sacks. Les expects Kendell to have a huge year. Cornerback Tre’Davious White who had 44 tackles, is the other stud leader on defense. White didn’t have any interceptions last year  but that was because nobody wanted to throw his way. He’s exceptional. There are a ton of stellar players for this team on defense. Dave Aranda comes to LSU from Wisconsin to take over the defense. He had massive success as defensive coordinator at Wisconsin with top 5 defenses nationally on a consistent basis. Don’t have this stat in front of me, but I’m 98 percent sure his defense was the number one scoring defense in the country last year. I know that’s not in the SEC, but still impressive. He’ll be really challenged this season. He takes over from  Kevin Steele’s who is now at Auburn as defensive coordinator. 

The specialists look fine.

This is an awesome team talent wise. LSU opens @ Lambeau Field in Green Bay to face the Wisconsin Badgers. This thing about LSU and Ole Miss playing at neutral sites to open the season is joke.  Not for Les, Hugh and their teams though. But it’s kind of a good thing. LSU will be ready. The Wisconsin game is Saturday, Sept. 3rd, at 2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET on ABC. The Bengal Tigers then host Jax State, they’re @home vs. Ms. State, @ Auburn, home vs,. Mizzou, @ Florida, home vs. Southern Miss, home vs Ole Miss, a week off, then the Crimson Tide comes to Death Valley for a Nov. 5th all but guaranteed night game, which will be more than a classic. Then they’re home vs. South Alabama, @ A&M, Thursday, Nov. 24th, to finish off the season, and then Atlanta’s next if they can survive and advance through that gauntlet. Nobody is feeling sorry for anybody in this conference though. Everybody in the conference has a gauntlet for a schedule. 

I like the Tigers of Baton Rouge to do really well this season. Fournette should have a huge year. If the quarterback comes through they could make it to Atlanta. The more I think about Alabama’s situation with a new QB and center, the more I think these Bengal Tigers have a real shot to beat Alabama and make it to Atlanta provided they can survive the rest of their incredibly difficult schedule. I’ll stick with the Crimson Tide, but it’s close. Heck the whole west is awesome. Like the Bengal Tigers to be a possible playoff team, and if not, certainly a New Year’s Six team. Like 10 to 11 wins with good health. 

South Carolina

I got mad at Will Muschamp when he left Auburn, but after hearing him talk yesterday,  Will’s forgiven. Will’s intense, but he’s also a good guy. He was giving the media some pretty funny barbs. Nothing critical, all funny. He’s got a lot of work to do, but you can say that for first year coaches Kirby Smart and Barry Odom, though Kirby has the most talent of the three.

Will is solid.  He hired Kurt Roper as his offensive coordinator. Roper didn’t have a lot of success at Florida with Muschamp, but I don’t think he got great quarterback play. He did outstanding things at Ole Miss and Duke with David Cutcliffe and had a really good season helping coach the offense for the Cleveland Browns last year. The awesome Connor Shaw, who was a heckuva quarterback for the Gamecocks when they were really playing well under Steve Spurrier, played for  the Browns last year and was effusive in his praise for the job Roper did there last year in his talk with Muschamp. In my opinion, Connor Shaw, Aaron Murray and A.J. McCarron are three guys who were total winners in college and still are, and these NFL teams are clueless if they don’t give these three guys a shot. But back to Roper. Good football coach.. Should do well at SC.

Travaris Robinson will coordinate the defense for Muschamp. T-Rob was at Auburn last year as secondary coach, and Muschamp is psyched for what T-Rob can do with the Gamecocks defense. Muschamp will put a huge stamp on the defense as well. He’s very good at that.

Another terrific move Will made was keeping Offensive line coach Shawn Elliott. Shawn took over as head coach  halfway through last year when Spurrier abruptly retired. Shawn held the team together, and is an outstanding offensive line coach. Will called him a good South Carolina man who loves it in Columbia and wants to coach at South Carolina.

 Will took his team to Fort Jackson, an army military base, to train and said it was an excellent experience for his players who really bonded at a base where 5 million army troops have trained through the years. Like that a lot.
 

He returned 42 scholarship players, 34 of whom are freshmen and sophomores. Returner Perry Orth,  four star true freshman Brandon McMillan, and four star true freshman Jake Bentley will compete for the starting quarterback job. Lorenzo Nunez, a talented athlete who played some quarterback last year, has moved mainly to wide receiver. There is some talent at the skilled positions, but not a ton yet, and some true freshmen will have to step up. Same with defense. There is talent, but some young guys will have to be ready to go on Thursday, Sept. 1st at Vandy. That’ll be a 7 PM CT/8 PM ET kickoff on ESPN.

Will said that he’s not waiting and using youth as an excuse on this team. Will said the goal is to “win now.” I like everything Will is saying. South Carolina has a chance to win six games. If Will does that, he’s done an outstanding job. If he does better than that, it  would be an exceptional coaching job. He’s recruiting well and I expect him to get the program back to where it was under Steve Spurrier from 2011-13, when the Gamecocks were winning 11 games routinely. Will’s the right man for the job. 

Sorry about getting Day 3  out a little later than most. Being a one man sports page has its challenges. But let’s get to it.

S

I really thought S was going to cold cock Finebaum off the air. Wouldn’t have been the first time a sportswriter has been punched by a coach or a player, it’s just been a while since that’s happened. Wow, that was intense off camera. Pretty intense on camera, too. I thought Paul asked the question that everybody wanted to know the answer to: “Are you going to suspend Cam Robinson for game 1?” Very testy exchange, but Paul was being a good reporter. It was really unbelievable of the 600 media members in the press conference not one asked that question. Nobody even got close to it. Glad Paul did. Saban may not have liked it, but it was the most relevant question posed to him by a long shot. 

But to his team. Alabama is very good. Again. I’m going to go ahead and pick Bama in the west and Florida in the east. Saban is totally trustable How can you not? He delivers every year. It’ll be tough in Baton Rouge in November, but I see the Tide getting by the Bengal Tigers in a massive war. Kiff will get the qb situation worked out. I like Cooper Bateman to start in the first game against USC and we’ll see what happens after the first series of two. 7 PM CT/8 PM ET on ABC. Cooper’s a talented player. He was a high four star recruit and is a great kid and hard worker. Two years ago, nobody had any faith in Blake Sims, and Blake really got it done. Same thing for Jake Coker last year. If you have a great kid with good talent, Kiff makes it work and work well. To me, neither Blake nor Jake were game managers. They were playmakers, explosive playmakers at that and outstanding football players. People said that about A.J. too, that he was a game manager. Maybe moreso his first year starting, but he was still pretty darn good when the Tide won the national championships in 2011 and 12, and in his third year, his senior season, he was exceptional even though the season ended with the KIck 6 at Auburn and the Oklahoma debacle. He did win it in 2011 and 2012, and he accomplished a ton at Alabama. To me, if Marvin Lewis was smart, he’d give A.J. a real shot to be the starting quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals. He was awesome late in the season and had the home playoff game against the Steelers won if it wasn’t for a couple of knucklehead plays by linebacker Vontaze Burfict and cornerback Adam “Pac Man” Jones. 

So A.J. was a terrific  player under Coach Mac and Nuss, and Kiff has done a super job with both Blake and Jake. I see it happening again with either Cooper or Blake Barnett. I don’t see Jalen Hurts as being ready to step in as a true freshman quarterback in the SEC. I don’t think S would do that. But you never know. There is all August to figure that out. My favorite for the job is Bateman right now. But can’t count out Barnett. Let’em compete and see what happens. Hurts too for that matter. He’s talented. 

But another issue that’s not as talked about, but was brought up by Greg McElroy and Marcus Spears on the SEC Network, is the center position. They both noted that this is the first year Bama has had to start a new quarterback AND a new center. So that’s challenging. But there are capable guys. S talked about Ross Pierschbacher, maybe Bradley Bozeman. The bottom line is there is a Fort Knox haul of talented, big, physical tough offensive linemen in Tuscaloosa, like there is at most positions down there, but they’ll have to figure the center out as well. Bateman and Barnett are both really good kids, Bateman’s from Utah, where there are mostly good people, and he was a high four star, and Barnett was a five star out of California who just got married, so they’re both high character, mature guys. Don’t know as much about Hurts, but I’m sure he’s a good kid, I just find it hard to believe that S and Kiff would start a true freshman at quarterback unless that player is through the roof good, and Hurts may be at some point, but not this year.

Another issue is running back. There are some good ones though led by Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough. They look like the two workhorses for the Tide this year, with some young depth. S likes to use two though, that’s been his pattern ever since he’s been in Tuscaloosa, and these are two good ones. Scarbrough looked awesome at the end of last season, and Damien had an awesome spring game, so if they stay healthy, which can be challenging for a running back sometimes, the Tide should be in good shape there. There are some younger highly rated players behind them, so if Harris or Scarbrough were to get hurt, the replacements could be plenty good to take over. The coaching is so good there, they’ll have five ready. Tight end is superb led of course by O.J. Howard. It’s incredible to me that O. J. came back. That’s an incredibly mature, smart decision. Same for Jonathan Allen and Eddie Jackson. They were really smart about their futures. Actually, Allen was projected to be the 20th pick in the draft in 2016, but he wanted to come back. He got his degree, which is really refreshing, and improve his stock even more and his financial situation even more next spring. If O.J, and Jonathan have super years, which they should, they’ll both be top 10 picks and maybe even top 5 picks and that is a serious financial windfall for both of them. Tight end is in good hands and wide receiver is really loaded with the awesome Calvin Ridley, Ardarius Stewart and the recovered Robert Foster, who is also an awesome player. Cam Sims too. He looked terrific in the spring game. 

It’s just a matter of getting the quarterback worked out, getting the center and the line settled, and then getting Bo and Damien in gear. I see all of that happening. By the way, I struggled picking Florida over Tennessee. They do play in Knoxvegas the third game of the season. I’m putting my faith in Coach Mac and the Gators, who have beaten the Vols 11 years in a row. See them doing it again. Just not totally trusting Butch still.

On defense, the Tide looks potentially outstanding again. Jonathan Allen, Da’Shawn Hand, Rashaan Evans, and the amazing Tim Williams whom Saban said of humorously at halftime of the A-Day game , “Tim Williams is ruining this game.”  Darron Payne looks like a good player inside. Huge. They’ll need to figure out some other guys, but S has the cupboard stacked with young studs, so that should happen.

Reuben Foster will be the leader at linebacker. Reuben is tremendous and there are plenty of others, Shaun Dion Hamilton being one of them, and plenty of other studs. They’ll need to develop though. Eddie Jackson made a mature move to come back, and it’s going to pay off when he has a big season. Minkah Fitzpatrick is superb at nickel or corner and special teams and Marlon Humphrey should have a huge year at corner. Plenty of talent everywhere on defense.

Adam Griffith will be back at kicker, and while he’s had his struggles at times, he’s also made some big kicks for the Crimson Tide. He’s trustable in big moments and will be even moreso this year. Bama may need him to be clutch on the road at Ole Miss, Arkansas and LSU. Those games are challenging. J.K. Scott returns to punt. He’s got it handled. He’s superb. I was blanking out there for a while on the punter and I thought I’d have to be like my high school football coach, who was also a U.S.  History teacher who would say when he got a question asked that he couldn’t answer, which was most all of the time, “Let me get back to you on that.” He never did, but it’s J.K. Scott. Can’t forget about this potential All-American game- changing punter. Specialists on punt returns and kicks could be Calvin, Ardarius, Robert, maybe Marlon.

This is another potential national champion. But you’ve got to get it done on the practice field and on Saturdays and nobody understands that better than S does. He’ll have’em ready for USC come Sept. 3rd at 7 PM CT/8PM ET on ABC. Western Kentucky is game two, and WKU is a pretty good football team, so no day off there. That’ll be 2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET on the Deuce. The next week will be another war, Saturday, Sept. 17th, @ Ole Miss at 2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET on CBS. Griff or somebody needs to step up. Either a Griff kick or somebody makes explosive plays on offense, or on special teams, or there is an explosive pick six on defense. I read where Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly said he’s the best QB in the country. Not a great move on his part. We’ll see how that turns out. Not so sure that’ll turn out well for Kelly when he plays a Crimson Tide team that is tired of losing to Ole Miss. Next comes Kentucky at home, then a huge game Saturday, Oct.8th, @ Arkansas. That’s large. Then @ Tennessee, another war. Wow, it’s a beast of a schedule for every team in the SEC. Then A&M @ home and they’re going to be good, so a big challenge once again. Nov. 5th @ Baaton Rouge, Louisiana, as Cosell used to say, for a Saturday night in Death Valley. Then State @ home, Chattanooga @home then the Tigers come in for the Iron Bowl, Saturday, Nov.26th, most likely the 2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET CBS game.

So winning the West is hard. No other way to describe it. Should be an epic season in the SEC and nationally. Like the Tide to still get the job done and be in the playoff and take it from there. I don’t see them going totally unscathed this season. It looks impossible for anybody to do that in the SEC. But Bama will be great again.

Arkansas

Brett Bielema has done a terrific job in Fayetteville, but suffers from the same problem as everybody else in the SEC outside of Hugh Freeze; he can’t beat S. But he’s developed a really solid football program at Arkansas. His offensive coordinator, Dan Enos, is superb. He took over last year and the offense took off halfway through the season as the Hogs won six of their last seven, and won their bowl game big. Austin Allen takes over at quarterback from his older brother Brandon, who had a good career with an excellent last two years. Brett said Austin is more vocal than his older brother and has a cannon, so QB1 should be good. The o line is a typical Bielema line, his specialty. They’re huge, tough and violent and I mean that in a positive football way, not any other way. The Hogs will always be good on the o line with Bielema there. Both Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams are in the NFL, and they were really good,  but there is talent taking over at running back. Rawleigh Williams is a bruising running back and there are some others. That’s what I love about Brett; he stays optimistic always even when you think he really needs to restock. He believes in his players and they respond to that. But he knows there is good talent in the backfield. The receiving corps is excellent led by Keon Hatcher and Alex Morgan, two outstanding players, and if it wasn’t for O.J. Howard, Hunter Henry would be the most talked about tight end in college football. He’s outstanding. The defense returns nine players, and Bielema likes that group. Interestingly, Kirby Smart tried to hire Enos as his offensive coordinator at Georgia, but Bielema told Kirby that he wouldn’t allow it per the “SEC Clause” which doesn’t allow a coach in the SEC from hiring another SEC assistant if they are under the guise of the SEC Clause. But Kirby did hire Bielema’s offensive line coach, Simmons, and he’s outstanding. He was hired and signed before the clause went into effect. But Bielema feels good about the guy he has hired in Simmons’ place. 

The Hogs will be a very good football team. I’m saying 8 to 9 wins for this team and Bielema keeps building a stellar football program. He’s hilarious too. He was at Russell Wilson’s wedding this summer, and he was talking about all the celebrities who were there, and Greg and Dari Nowkhah asked him what about his own celebrity status at the wedding, and he said, “I was just the guy on the seventh row, aisle seat.” He was pretty refreshing and quite a relief from the Saban-Paul debacle right before. He’s a really good coach and I like him. He’s good for the SEC. The Hogs open with La Tech, a team that won 10 games. That’ll be in Fayetteville.  Then they’re at TCU. Wow. Texas State comes to Fayetteville, then a huge one against A&M at Jerry World in Arlington.. Alcorn State, then the Tide @ home. Ole Miss at home, huge one there too, @ Auburn, big, Florida @ home, LSU @ home, State @ Starkvegas and @ Missouri. 

I like 8 to 9 wins for Brett and his team, and the recruiting keeps going extremely well. He does an awesome job academically, too. His APR rates at Wisconsin, where he excelled too, were 100. Can’t do any better than that. When he took over at Arkansas it was 915 or so, and now it’s  up to 975-980. He does a superb job with his program in all areas. Like the future of Razorbacks football under Brett Bielema. This year looks good. 

Kentucky

Mark Stoops has some really good running backs in Stanely “Boom” Williams and JoJo Kemp, They are both excellent. His quarterback will be Drew Barker, a highly rated player out of high school. His playmakers on the perimeter will have to step up. The whole offense will. See maybe five and possibly six for Stoops if he gets lucky. His offense must improve and so must his defense. They struggled on both sides of the ball last year. Would like to see Stoops turn it around at UK. He could have a decent year this year if Barker comes through and the defense steps up their game. Some of their defensive starters return and Stoops is a defensive guy, so they should be better. He hired former Auburn running backs coach Eddie Gran as his offensive coordinator. Gran has had good success as OC at Cincy under Tubby the last couple of years, so he should be an upgrade there. Like 4 to 6 wins for Kentucky.

Missouri

Thirty eight year old Barry Odom takes over from Gary Pinkel, who had some pretty good success at Missouri, but had a rough year last year with some societal stuff going on on campus and a team that imploded. Odom was the defensive coordinator last year and they were top 10 in the country in points allowed and yards per game, so he knows what he’s doing on defense. They have some excellent d linemen starting with Charles Harris, who is a beast as he recorded 18.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks in 2015. They have a loaded defensive line. His linebackers are good and the secondary looks pretty solid. Defense looks good.

Drew Lock, a high four star out of high school who started as a freshman last year is loaded with talent, will be the man under center this season. The skilled positions don’t look defined yet. The offense was disastrous last year, and they look pretty thin on playmakers at this point and not sure how great the o line will be. But they’ll be big up front so that will help. Odom may have made the worst move of his young career by hiring Josh Huepel as his offensive coordinator. Huepel couldn’t get it done at OU and Stoops fired him two years ago. Last year he was Utah State’s offensive coordinator and they played Toledo in the Idaho Potato Bowl. They were looking good, their running back Devante Mays was cookin in the first half running for 100 yards, and I thought at halftime just keep giving Mays the ball and you’ll win. I had picked the Aggies, so I thought it was looking good. For some inexplicable reason, Huepel stopped handing the ball off to Mays and instead started throwing it. I was totally losing it. Utah State lost, 23-21, and it was all Huepel’s fault and coach Matt Wells also for not giving he ball to Mays. It was major league stupidi Any way don’t like that hire. The defense will be good. If Lock is good, which he is capable of, and some playmakers step up, they could overcome Huepel’s ineptness. But like the Tigers to win about 5 at best. At West Virginia the first game of the season, 11 AM CT/Noon ET on Fox Sports 1, is a good matchup. They’re @ LSU, and @ Florda, but the rest of the east is at home, and Arkansas is @ home too, so that helps. Non conference games against Eastern Michigan and Delaware State look navigable, but Eastern Michigan is pretty good, so there’s no guarantee there. Like 3 to 4 wins for Odom in his first year on further review. And he’ll probably need a new offensive coordinator after the season.

Tomorrow: Les, Will, Hugh

Nick Saban is the best coach maybe ever in the game, and by the time he retires, and by the way he takes care of himself and how disciplined he is in everything he does, that may be another 10 years, and he should go down as the greatest football coach in the history of college football. He loves coaching football and does a better job than anyone has ever done at it in my personal opinion.

But his overreaction today to Paul Finebaum’s highly pertinent questions about not suspending Cam Robinson and Hootie Jones for the opener against Southern Cal, and really they should be suspended three games I believe, is beyond ridiculous and frankly incredibly arrogant. Paul asked the tough questions which were the number one questions that should have been asked in the Media Days press conference. This team’s going to be very good, it could win another national title possibly, Saban’s fifth at Alabama and sixth overall if the quarterback comes through and the offensive line gets its act together, but Alabama has a very good chance to be playing New Year’s Eve in the playoffs. There are no guarantees with a gauntlet of games to go through before they can even think about that starting with game one versus USC in Arlington, Texas. The SEC is a battlefield every Saturday and Bama has some question marks heading into the season. The cupboard is full but not yet refined. We’re just getting started. But they are always there at the end and I expect them to be again this year unless there is a rash of injuries to key players, which can happen some years. Saban also warns about complacency and he tries to never let his players get complacent. It’s happened before to Alabama teams that have won the national championship under Saban the following year, but he does a remarkable job of preparing his teams. Still LSU is very good, A&M is going to be very good, Auburn is going to b be good, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and State are all good. On the East side, Tennessee has an outstanding team, Florida is good, Georgia will be competitive, Vanderbilt it better and South Carolina, Missouri and Kentucky are all capable. And that doesn’t even include teams like Ohio State, Clemson, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas is better, teams in the PAC 12 like Stanford, Oregon, USC, UCLA and Utah. The list goes on and on. Nobody is entitled to this. Saban understands that as well or better than anybody in college football. No guarantees this year for sure. 

So the questions to me going into this press conference that needed to be asked were who’s the leader in the clubhouse for quarterback? How’s the offensive line shaping up, how are Bo Scarbrough and Damian Harris progressing this summer, who are freshmen who can make an impact this fall, who are your leaders on defense, and, most importantly, what are the consequences for Cam Robinson and Hootie Jones? Particularly Cam because he’s maybe the most important player on this team outside of Blake Barnett, Cooper Bateman or Jalen Hurts, whichever one of those guys who will be under center against USC Sept. 3rd.

The key question to me is about Cam Robinson and why he won’t be suspended. Paul showed the courage to ask Saban about that, and it takes courage because Saban goes ballistic if one if there is one question that gets in his way. As tough an exterior as he has and his attitude that I don’t give  a rip what you think, reading the “unauthorized” biography about him by super author Monte Burke, The Making of a Coach, he really is very sensitive about what people think about him. 

I applaud Paul for asking the question. In my opinion, the pot is what it is. Saban explained to Finebaum in his profanity-laced tirade against him that it was a minimal amount. College kids smoke pot. It’s been done since the ’60’s and the drug culture was probably a lot worse then. I don’t want my daughters to ever smoke pot, or drink at all for that matter, but I’m not clueless, I know smoking pot and drinking are all over college campuses. It’s been that way for a long time. But if I was a coach, I wouldn’t want my football players smoking pot. I know Saban doesn’t want his players doing that, but it’s tough to police particularly when they’re away from the program for a break. 

To me there is a different standard for college football players than regular college students. These guys are  trying to be top level players and most all of them  want to play in the National Football League and make an incredible living, so doing it is pretty ignorant for them. They’re taking a big risk. But they’re kids and a lot of them are are short sighted, both athletes and regular students. A lot don’t smoke pot or even drink though. A lot of college football players, and college athletes in general, do the right thing and aren’t going to jeopardize what could be a very lucrative career that could set them up for life financially if their health holds up. It’s a tough way to make a living with the dangers of concussions and other injuries, but it also pays major financial dividends for the guys who do make it to the top level.

So that’s not intelligent on those two players’ part for that reason. They are getting free room, board, a college education, which always seems to get swept under the rug by these ESPN people which is ludicrous because you can’t replace a college degree and less than 1% of college athletes play their sport professionally. So it’s quite a privilege to play in the NFL. The players now also get a stipend to live on and all the food they want to eat. That’s a pretty  good deal in my opinion. So there’s a responsibility that comes with that. It’s not hard. Just don’t put yourself in bad positions. You can still have fun. You can smoke pot if you choose to, though it’s illegal in most states. You can do it at a friend’s house or go to a bar and hang out with friends. if you’re serious about your sport maybe you shouldn’t imbibe.  if you want to do that with friends though, and you’re probably going to be fine. You shouldn’t do it, it’s illegal, but if you want to relax with friends and decompresses, as long as it’s not a problem, then i guess some people would think that’s OK. I personally wouldn’t want my son doing that, but some kids can handle it better than others. I knew many people who smoked pot at my college, made good grades, and never had a problem with it. They quit right after college and it was never an issue. I have to admit, I did it myself some, and while I regret it, I haven’t done it since college and NEVER want my two daughters to do it. I stopped drinking in 2009 because it got in the way of my sleep and my work, and as a lot of people who don’t drink say, it didn’t work for me. I had some great memories carousing with friends though. I told my college and high school daughter about a year ago about a trip I took to New Orleans the summer after my freshman year at Vanderbilt where, after a hard week of work in a summer job in a steel plant, I met a great friend of mine from high school who was working in Houston and had just finished up his freshman year at UVA. I told my daughters of that trip, “we had a blast. I don’t remember much of it though.” I do remember having one of the best times of my life with my friend, but we did a lot of carousing and some pot smoking. We didn’t drive when we drank, and I just remember laughing a ton and throwing the frisbee in a park in N’Awlins when there was a blackout in the city that afternoon, and really laughing hysterically at the bars we were at in the Quarter. We went at it pretty hard. It was fun. We had gone to boarding school together and it was like being in the military with how it was spartan rules at a strict, difficult school, that was about making good grades and being good at sports and being a leader, and so we liked the freedom to enjoy life a little bit particularly since we had been working hard that summer. But no harm, no foul. 

My group of friends seemed to handle the carousing fine and most all of them are good people now, both my high school and college friends. But some guys can’t handle it and can’t control themselves and it can cause them problems in college and later in life if they don’t have enough personal discipline. But I don’t begrudge people for having a drink or two or three. I have no problem with that as long as they don’t hurt people on the streets or in a bar or attack a woman. if they can control themselves I have no problem with it. They can knock themselves out. I know it’s fun, a relaxing thing for a lot of people. I have no problem with that at all.

With all that said, I get it, kids smoke pot, too. I don’t have a major problem with Saban’s discipline of Cam and Jones for the pot making them ride around with the police in Tuscaloosa and going  to counseling, and there are other stipulations, all of that is good. I hear ya S.

But the guns at 2:30 AM in a Louisiana park to me are a problem. I understand that Hootie had a gun in his lap, he told the cops who approached them  and he had a license for it. But there was a gun under the seat, too. As Saban and all the SEC coaches who have had discipline problems in this offseason have said and, constantly remind us, we don’t know the complete story, all the facts. I understand that. Dan Mullen’s situation with the Simmons player, who is a freshman, and was suspended for one game for hitting a girl who was harassing him and fighting him and saying negative, in his face things about his deceased nephews. So there is a lot more to these stories than meets the eye. Mullen suspended the player one game. With the assaults on women such a hot topic issue these days, he should have done more. I’m not sure that guy should have played this year, and it was a pretty lame disciplinary measure in my opinion.

With Cam and Hootie, they should be suspended for three games. I originally said six games, but with the disciplinary measures Saban took against them, their suspensions should be reduced to three games. But they should absolutely be suspended. Having guns in your possession at 2:30 in the morning in a park is a major problem. And while Saban told Finebaum that the cops were LSU fans targeting these players that sounds pretty lame to me too. Guns are a major problem in this country. Not really guns, but some of the people who use them. I’m not against the second amendment by any means, but we need some measure of gun control for people who don’t know how to handle it like the psychotic shooter who killed five cops a week ago in Dallas. There needs to be background checks on people before they can buy guns. I don’t care if it’s inconvenient for anybody or if it costs more to do it, it needs to be done. Guns are a problem because there are a lot of idiots who don’t know how to control themselves.

So there needs to be a message sent to these two players that that’s unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I don’t care what Coach Saban says about the way to discipline a player, keeping a player from playing football games, particularly a guy like Cam who could be a top five pick in the NFL draft, maybe even the first player selected in 2017, sends a serious message, and it’s doing the kid a good service. They need to learn about accountability, that there are consequences for a having guns at 2:30 in the morning in a park. What the hell are they trying to do with the guns at that time? It can lead to people getting seriously hurt or even losing their lives. So it’s very serious. The Louisiana DA had some idiotic response that these guys work hard in football as opposed to people who don’t work outdoors, so they are excused. Honestly, that’s unacceptable and he should be fired for neglecting his duty to at least investigate this case further. Maybe there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute. Could very well have been. But it  sounds like to me that the DA was lazy and  didn’t try at all to find any evidence. His answer was laughable if it had been a funny matter, but it’s so unethical it’s pathetic and he should be held accountable for that,

And Saban’s explosion at Finebaum is not acceptable either. Paul had every right to ask that question. It’s the most important question that Saban could have been asked today. Are we going to let athletes slide because, as that moron DA said, they work harder outside than people do inside, which to me is completely inaccurate. There are plenty of people who have very challenging professions in law, business, medicine, sales, many fields. There are a lot of hard working people whose jobs a lot of football players would have no clue how to do. My job is hard. Cam may be able to play football better than I do at 54 years old, though I was a pretty decent running back in my high school days. But he can’t do what I do for work at this point. And I know there is no way he could do what a lot of lawyers, doctors and businessmen do for a living at this point either. Maybe with training he could. So that rationale is idiotic.

There should be more consequences for Cam Robinson and Hootie Jones. They should be suspended for three games this season, regardless of how good they are. To me there is no gray area there, and for Nick Saban to lambaste Paul for asking the question is arrogant beyond belief and really delusional.

There should be harsher consequences for these guys. These are softball measures and Saban should be called out for it. I’m glad Paul did. I applaud him for that. Nick Saban should take some heat for this and for his major overreaction to Paul Finebaum highly relevant questioning.  

Here’s a look at the coaches from day 2 of media days

Kirby Smart, Georgia

Forty year old Kirby Smart, a former Georgia defensive back from 1995-98 and the best defensive coordinator in the country the last eight years, has made the well earned move from a stellar job as defensive coordinator under Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide to the head coaching position at the University of Georgia.

When Kirby got the job at Georgia, he elected to stay at Alabama and coach his defense throughout the playoffs. He said yesterday at media days he wouldn’t wish that workload on anybody. It was a monumental challenge as he was trying to get A’Shawn Robinson, Jonathan Allen, Reggie Ragland and company ready to win a national championship, and at the same time, recruit and do everything else for his new program, the Georgia Bulldogs. He did both extraordinarily well as he won his fourth national championship with S, while landing a top 10 recruiting class for the Dawgs, and now has the number two class in the country for 2017, with 15 commitments, two 5 stars, 10, 4 stars, and three, 3 stars.

One of Kirby’s prized signees for 2016, maybe the jewel of the entire 2016 national class, and the most important signing of his career so far, was five star quarterback Jason Eason, a 6’5″, 211 superstar out of Lake Stevens, Washington. Eason was an early enrollee and competed in the Georgia G-Day spring game doing incredibly well, and has now made this quarterback competition very interesting at Georgia heading into pre-season drills in August.

Eason, who has a cannon, will be battling for the starting position with 6’5″, 220 pound senior Greyson Lambert, who Kirby is quick to note, won 10 games for the Bulldogs in 2015. Kirby likes what Lambert has done to become a better quarterback, and likes his experience and leadership. Brice Ramsey, who Kirby says is the best runner of the three, will also be competing for the job. It’ll be an Eason-Lambert competition for the top job. I know Kirby likes Lambert’s experience, so Lambert could very well get the start in game one against North Carolina, but Eason will be ready to go if Lambert struggles in game one, or whenever he gets an opportunity. Eason is the future at quarterback for Georgia and that future looks exceptionally bright for Eason and the Dawgs.

But there are other question marks for the opener that are highly important for the Dawgs to answer as they get ready to take on the Tar Heels @ the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday, September 3rd, at 5:30 PM ET/4:30 PM CT on ESPN. The running back situation, always the strength of this football team through the years and one of the best, if not the best, in the country in the last two years, is facing some major hurdles. Nick Chubb is trying to return from a major knee injury he suffered in the seventh game of the 2015 season against Tennessee in which he tore ligaments and had cartilage damage in his left knee from a collision on the sidelines. Smart says that Chubb is progressing well in his rehab, but his status for the opener against UNC is questionable right now. Kirby and the Georgia faithful are very hopeful that Nick can come back and not have any more issues with that knee. It concerns me that this could be a Marcus Lattimore situation where his knee might not ever recover, but very hopeful for Nick that’s not the case and he can return to his All-American form that he’s shown the last year and a half. He’s a tremendously hard worker and a superb young man and tailback, so he’ll do everything he can to get back on this football team for game one. To complicate the running back situation even further, Sony Michel, another superb talent who’s battled injuries but has off the charts ability, fractured his left hand in an all terrain vehicle accident last weekend. Kirby says that Nick is a lot farther along than Sony as Sony’s injury just happened, so Sony is highly doubtful for UNC, and his status going forward after that is uncertain. He’ll get back, Kirby is just not sure when. So the Dawgs might be relying on some freshmen running backs in the opener, Tae Crowder, a 6’3″, 220 redshirt freshman, and Elijah Holyfield, a 5’10”, 204 pound four star true freshman, could be the guys. They’re talented I’m sure, so they may be enough, and Chubb could be back, but Kirby I’m sure will be careful with Nick. Sony is not promising for the opener, but he should be available by game four or so. The Dawgs might be able to get by without them. There is still a lot of talent on this football team, and young running backs have always seemed to step up for this football team through the years, so the Crowder-Holyfield tandem might be enough early in the season along with good quarterback, oline, and perimeter play. Along with some defensive stops.

The o line returns three of five starters, tight end Jeb Blazevich (6’5″, 248) is an excellent tight end, and Terry Godwin is a former five star playmaker at wide receiver, while Isaiah McKenzie, is lightning in a bottle on the outside can take kicks and punts back to the house any time he touches the football. So Kirby will have to find a way with his quarterback and his available playmakers to put enough points on the board to beat Carolina. And they’ll have to stop a pretty high octane UNC offense. He’s got good defensive players, but lost some really good ones in linebacker Leonard Floyd and others. So some of his talented freshmen will have to make their mark on defense early for the Dawgs. Look for freshmen high four star defensive tackles Julian Rochester (6’5″, 321)  and Michail Carter (6’4″, 302) and high four star defensive end Chauncey Manac (6’3″, 250) to play big roles early, probably against UNC. They and Kirby have no choice, and I’m sure all three guys will be chomping at the bit to play. There is still a lot of talent at Georgia, though they are pretty thin on the defensive line and not real experienced. Kirby said 63 % of his roster are either sophomores or less, so there will be a lot of accelerated development this summer as the Dawgs sprint for the Georgia Dome.

 This year could be a tougher year for the Dawgs, but they’ll be still be highly competitive under Smart. They have UNC in basically a home game in game one, Nichols State at Sanford Stadium in week 2, they’re at Missouri week 3, then go to Ole Miss week 4. If they can get through those first three games, maybe Chubb and Michel will be ready to go by Ole Miss, the defense will be more experienced, and quarterback play will be good by then. In week 5, UT comes to Athens in what will be a colossal game, the Dawgs go to South Carolina the next week, as Kirby squares off with his good friend Will Muschamp in what should be another classic rivalry game, Georgia then goes to a much improved Vanderbilt team, then have a week off Oct. 22nd, before they play Florida in Jacksonville, Saturday, October 29th at 3:30 PM ET/2:30 PM CT on CBS.  They’re then at Kentucky, they square off with a good Auburn team at home between the hedges in the oldest rivalry in college football on Saturday, Nov. 20th, La Lafayette comes to Athens, and the Dawgs finish off the regular season hosting Georgia Tech on Saturday, November 26th in an epic day in college football. By the way, that first weekend in the SEC with teams’ national games are tremendous. Will give the rundown on that at the bottom of this column.

So what kind of season can Georgia have? it’s going to be tough for Kirby to get to double digit wins with the handicaps he’s facing this year, but if Georgia fans can be patient, the future for the Dawgs looks riveting. Can Georgia win the SEC East? It’s not out of the question, but it’s going to be difficult without the services of Chubb and Michel for a while, unless Chubb can make it back for Ole Miss, and Michel, too. If they can come back healthy, you never know. The O line looks good with some depth, and there are some playmakers on the perimeter and a couple of these freshmen backs are talented and can step up. And the defense will be competitive under Smart and Mel Tucker, who came over to Athens with Kirby from Alabama where Tucker coached the secondary for S last year. I don’t like putting restrictions on teams that have good talent and good coaches, so the Dawgs can be very competitive this year. I don’t think they have as much experienced talent as Tennessee has, and Florida is under the radar good and will be tough for the Dawgs. But they can possibly win most of the others. Ole Miss will be tough, and at South Carolina and Auburn at home will be difficult. I’m looking at 7-5, 8-4 for the Dawgs this season, but the way Kirby is recruiting, both this past year (2016) and in 2017, expect the Dawgs to be a major factor in winning SEC championships and competing for national championships in the next two or three years. Georgia fans just need to be a little patient. Kirby Smart will get the job done at Georgia. This season could be challenging at times with 63% of the roster sophomores and younger.. But the future under Kirby, with Jacob Eason throwing it all over the yard, and with the recruiting through the roof good, is electric.

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M

Kevin Sumlin’s team, along with Florida in the East, looks like a darkhorse in this conference in 2016. Sumlin had some turmoil at the end of  last year with both of his top quarterbacks, Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray, transferring out of the program, Allen to Houston, and Murray to the Oklahoma. But there was a plan in place. Sumlin fired offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, who went to Cal as OC, and hired Noel Mazzone from UCLA to run the offense. He also made the most impactful move for his football team by bringing Trevor Knight, the former Oklahoma standout quarterback who lost his job to Baker Mayfield last year, as a graduate signal caller. Knight will run the offense this season for Sumlin. Knight is gunslinger, who has done a lot of great things in his career. He was tremendous against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in 2014 in leading the Sooners to victory over the Tide. He threw for 3,424 yards and 25 TDs against 19 interceptions in his career at Norman. He got in trouble with the turnovers at OU and lost his job because of his ints. But he’s a talent, he’s highly mature, he’s learned a lot in four years, and is geared up to take this football team back to the heights they reached four years ago with Johnny Football slinging it all over the field and running all over defenses. Knight is a passer, but he can run it too.

So the Aggies look to be in good shape under center and backup Jake Hubenak played in six games last year, and while he struggled some, he gained valuable experience, and is a competent backup. The running back situation looks much better. Sumlin says he has five guys he can count on rather than just Tre Carson, who ran for 1165 yards and seven TDs last year, but struggled breaking breaking tackles and making explosive plays. That problem has been solved. His line has a highly experienced left tackle, returning guards, a right tackle who’s played quite a bit, and a center, Erik McCoy, who’s new to the position, but is 6’4″, 310 and talented. The line will average 310-320 across the front and there is depth. The perimeter is loaded with playmakers in the electric Christian Kirk, who caught 80 passes for 1,009 yards and seven touchdowns in his freshman campaign. Kirk should be superb. Josh Reynolds and RIcky Seals-Jones are outstanding receivers, Reynolds caught 51 passes for 907 yards and 5 TDs, and Seals-Jones caught 45 passes for 560 yards and four TDs last year. And Speedy Noil, another electrically explosive player, who has really not lived up to his five star billing yet, has a lot to prove this season and needs to be a weapon.

The defense is loaded for stellar veteran defensive coordinator John Chavis, whom his teams have always called “Chief.” Chavis has the best bookends in the college football in the awesome Myles Garrett, who led the SEC in sacks with 12.5 and tackles for loss with 19.5 for a loss of 101 yards. Daeshon Hall, the other d end for the Aggies, posted seven sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss of 59 yards last year. Garrett is 6’5″, 262 and is a world class athlete, and Hall is 6’6″, 260. The interior of the defensive line looks loaded as well. The back four, five at times, looks superior with safety Armani Watts leading the way. 

Sumlin said yesterday that the keys for his team this year are running the football and stopping the run. He says if his linebacking corps can come through, and there is talent, his defense can be lockdown because the front four or three, depending on what package Chief puts in, is loaded, as is the back four. 

This team can be outstanding. They open up with a talented UCLA team on Saturday, September 3rd, @2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET @ College Station. CBS will televise. They then play Praire View A&M, go to Auburn in a huge game three matchup on Saturday, September 17th, for a 6 PM CT kickoff on ESPN or ESPN2. They play Arkansas in Arlington at Jerry World, they travel to South Carolina, they play Tennessee at home, October 8th, they have an off week Oct. 15th, then they go to Tuscaloosa, Oct. 22nd with game time and TV to be determined. They play New Mexico State next at home, travel to Starkvegas to play Mississippi State, host Ole Miss in back to back colossal weeks against the state of Mississippi, play Texas San Antonio November 19th, and host LSU on Thanksgiving Night, Thursday, November 24th, at 6:30 PM CT/7:30 PM ET on ESPN.

That’s pretty daunting. But this is a very good football team. I’ve always thought Kevin Sumlin is an excellent football coach and a class act. He’s got a chance with this football team. His superior talent he has recruited the last four years have finally reached the point where they can compete for SEC titles. His offense will be much better and his defense could be as good as anybody in the conference. That’s a recipe for success in this conference. The schedule is massively tough, but this team can make it to Atlanta if they step up big time in their big games. They’re my darkhorse in the West. If they can stay healthy, they have a chance for greatness.

Dan Mullen, Mississippi State

Dan Mullen has the tremendous challenge of replacing Dak Prescott, who was a superstar quarterback for State and led the Bulldogs to great success in the past four seasons, unprecedented success in Starkville actually. State has gone to six straight bowl games under Mullen and blew out N.C. State in the Belk Bowl last season, 51-28, with Dak just going off. Dak is now a quarterback on a little organization called the Dallas Cowboys, and I’m personally hopeful that Dak, a great ambassador for college football the past four years and a superb young man, has tremendous success in the Big D as Tony Romo’s successor when Tony decides to hang it up, which could be four or five years down the road, but Romo has had a lot of severe injuries and Dak could get the starting job sooner rather than later and hopefully really excel in the National Football League.

Mullen looks like he might have a guy who can fill the large void that Dak has left in Starkville. Nick Fitgerald is a 6’5″, 230 pound sophomore who came in last year some and completed 11-of-14 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns against 0 ints. He’s got a cannon, he can run, and looks to be a very confident leader for this football team. There are a couple of others who will compete, but SEC Network’s Greg McElroy, a very good quarterback for the Crimson Tide  four years ago, likes Fitzgerald and sees him as a high caliber signal caller for Mullen and the Bulldogs. There is talent at running back. Fred Ross, who caught 88 passes for 1,007 yards and five TDs is back at wide receiver, and there are other threats on the perimeter. Mullen likes his offensive line, they’re always big and physical at State and they’ll average 310-320 across the front, so the offense looks to be in good hands.

You can’t talk about the State defense without talking about their main man in the middle, middle linebacker Richie Brown. Brown, a 6’2″, 240 pound mountain of a man out of Long Beach, MS., will run this defense along with first year defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon, who comes to the Dogs from USC, and has had a highly decorated career, and is known as a super defensive mind and superior recruiter. He takes the talented Manny Diaz’s place. Diaz went home to Miami to be the DC for the Canes and Mark Richt. Brown led the team in tackles last season with 109, and added 6.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss. He’s also a ball hawk, a game changer for his team. He had only one int last year, but is a playmaker who has several ints in his career. He’s the mainstay of the defense. The rest of the defense looks talented, and big, so the Bulldogs defense, under the tutelage of Sirmon, should be a pretty good outfit. 

State opens with Joey Jones and South Alabama @ home at 11 AM CT/Noon ET on the SEC Network on Saturday, Sept. 3rd. They then host South Carolina, Saturday, Sept. 10th, at 8 PM CT/9PM ET on ESPN or the Deuce. State goes to LSU on Sept. 17th for an 8 PM CT/9 PM ET kickoff on ESPN or the Deuce, they’re at UMass, they’re open Oct. 1st, play Auburn at home Oct. 8th, they’re @ BYU Friday, Oct. 14th at 9:15 PM CT/10:15 PM ET on ESPN, @ Kentucky, Samford @ home, A&M @ home, @ Alabama, November 12th, Arkansas @ home Nov.19th, and @ Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl, Saturday, Nov. 26th.

Wow, these schedules are ballistically hard for these SEC teams. That’s life in this conference. It’s tough on coaches, players and fans. It’s a war every week. But they are scintillating wars. State can certainly win six or seven games with good quarterback play and solid defense and maybe even get to eight. Mulled has recruited well, he’s brought in a good defensive coordinator, and they’ve got good talent. The quality of teams in this conference is out of sight good. But I’m expecting another solid year for Mississippi State and Dan Mullen. He’s done an excellent job there. Ole Miss will be another classic once again. There’s no love lost between those two squads.

Butch Jones, Tennessee

Butch has quite a football team this season with what should be a good chance to make it to Atlanta in December. Starting quarterback Joshua Dobbs is back for his senior season. His numbers were good last year as UT kept matriculating as a program going 9-4 and 5-3 in the conference. The Vols have 18 starters back from that team and are the favorite to win the East. Dobbs completed 205-of-344 passes last season, 60%, for 2,291 yards and 15 TDs against just five ints. He also ran for 671 yards and 11 more sevens. He’s the complete package, though McElroy pointed out, and I agree, he has to prove he can really throw it down the field. UT lost games late in the early part of last year against Florida and Oklahoma, in games they looked like they had won, but picked it up at the end of the season and carried a lot of momentum heading into this season. Superstar running back Jalen Hurd returns for his junior campaign. Hurd has had a terrific two years for the Vols, and the 6’4″, 240 pound junior will try to build on a sophomore campaign in which he rushed for 1,288 yards and 12 TDs. He’ll get a blow from former Alabama running back Alvin Kamara, who is super talented, and ran for 698 yards last year and 7 TDs. The wide receiver position looks loaded led by Josh Malone, who caught 31 passes for 291 yards last year and 3 sevens, but is capable of doing a lot more if Dobbs can get him the ball downfield. Dobbs has to show he can throw it down the field because there are multiple weapons on the perimeter with Malone and a cast of others. Jones had two top five recruiting classes in 2014 and 2015 and these guys are ready to roll. Jones’ o line looks stellar with 315-320 pounders all over the front and tight end Ethan Wolf caught 23 passes last year and two TDs last year and can do also do a lot more if Dobbs can find him.

The defense will be pretty stellar as Bob Shoop, who takes over the defense after serving as the DC at Penn State for the last two years and Vandy before that, takes over. Shoop hasn’t seen a blitz he doesn’t like. He’s an aggressive coach who is outstanding. The Vols defensive front, led by 6’3″, 311 pound tackle Shy Tuttle, will be terrific and highly physical. The linebackers, along with the wide receivers, are the strength of this talented team. Jalen Reeves-Maybin, a 6’1″, 225 pound senior, led the team in tackles with 105, and added 14 tackles for loss of 71 yards to go along with six sacks. He’s a game changing hoss of a player. Defensive end Derek Barnett, who had 10 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss last year, will be back. He’s one of the best in the country. Barnett is 6’3″, 257. Cornerback Cameron Sutton, a 6’1″, 186 pound senior, is the leader in the secondary. He only had one int last year, but that should improve under Shoop. He’s a stud.

So this is a really good football team. Can they win the East and play in Atlanta? Absolutely. Will they win it? They’ve got to prove they can beat Florida and Alabama, which I’m not sure they can do. Both games are at home, but they’ve lost 11 in a row to Florida and haven’t beaten Alabama since 2006. So the Vols, as talented as they are, have not proven they can be elite. They aren’t winning the conference on paper. The cupboard is full without a doubt, it’s just seeing if this team can get over the hump under Butch Jones and win big games. I’ll have my final predictions for the East and West winner on Friday morning.

The Vols open @ home against Appalachian State, Thursday, Sept. 1st, at 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT on the SEC Network. They then play a really interesting game against Virginia Tech @ the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 10th, at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT on ABC. That should be a classic at the Speedway. New Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente ,who came to the Hokies after a successful stint at Memphis and takes over from the venerable Frank Beamer who had massive success in Blacksburg, will have a locked and loaded team ready to knock off the Vols at an extremely cool venue. Ohio comes to Knoxville on Sept. 17th for a Noon ET/ 11 AM CT kickoff on the Network, SEC. Then the Vols have a massive game as the Gators come to Neyland Stadium on Sept. 24th. The next week, the Vols are @ Georgia, another colossal tilt, then @ A&M. The Crimson Tide comes to Neyland Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 15th, the third Saturday in October, for another monumental epic. The Vols are off Oct. 22nd, before going to South Carolina, hosting Tennessee Tech, hosting Kentucky, hosting Missouri, and @ Vanderbilt November 26th.

This team can certainly win 10 games with health, and if Dobbs can prove he can throw the ball down the field, can even do better. The talent is there. Can Butch Jones and Joshua Dobbs get the job done and take Tennessee to championship levels? That is the $64,000 question. I see the Vols in the thick of things for the SEC East and winning close to double digits, but Florida, Alabama and @ Georgia, which will have revenge on their mind after last season, will be tough for this football team. They will have to have everything go their way and Dobbs will have to prove he’s a complete quarterback for this team to win the SEC and be in the national picture. I’m leaning towards it not happening. Predictions tomorrow. 

Tomorrow morning first thing: Day 3, the man, S, Brett Bielema, and a quick rundown on Kentucky and Missouri. 

SEC games Week 1

Thursday, Sept. 1st

App State @ Tennessee, 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT on the SEC Network

South Carolina @ Vanderbilt, 7 PM CT/8 PM ET, ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 3rd

South Alabama @ Mississippi State, 11 AM CT/Noon ET on SEC Network

Missouri @ West Virginia, 11 AM CT/Noon ET, Fox Sports 1

UCLA @ Texas A&M, 2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET, CBS

LSU @ Wisconsin, Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Whisky, 2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET, ABC

La Tech @ Arkansas, 3 PM CT/4 PM ET SEC Network

Georgia vs. North Carolina, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, 5:30 PM ET/4:30 PM CT, ESPN

Southern Miss @ Kentucky, 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT, ESPNU

Umass @ Florida, 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT, SEC Network

Alabama vs. USC, Arlington, Texas, 7 PM CT/8 PM ET, ABC

Clemson @ Auburn, 8 PM CT/9 PM ET, ESPN

Monday, Sept. 5th

Ole Miss vs. Florida State, Orlando, Florida, 7 PM CT/8 PM ET, ESPN

The 145th Open Championship

Sorry this is a little abbreviated as the SEC Media Days is taking precedence this week. But it’s a major championship and a classic one, this time at Royal Troon Golf Club, a 7,190 yard par 71 that has hosted eight previous Opens, so this is serious business obviously.

 The last winner at Troon was in 2004 when Todd Hamilton, who fell off the face of the PGA universe faster than Bob May did. May was the runner up to Eldrick in the 2000 PGA Championship and that was it. Never heard from again. Same with Hamilton. Hamilton was a serious blip on the radar of the tour, but he won a major, so there’s a lot to be said for that.

Arnie won here in 1962 as he also won the Masters that year, and Gary Player pulled off the same trick in 1974 here and at Augusta National. The King and the Black Knight won seven and nine majors respectively. Wow, what careers.

The major issue with the Open Championship always is the weather conditions. Tomorrow looks good for the first day with a high of 64, partly sunny, with winds 7-10. Friday has some showers, but nothing major, but the winds will be sterner at 14-18. Saturday there will be clouds and sun with a couple of showers, again nothing major, but winds 16-23 MPH. And Sunday it’ll be a high of 61, mostly sunny with winds 12-17. So not massively terrible winds like they experienced on Saturday last year at St. Andrews where Zach Johnson won and Dustin Johnson got destroyed by the 40 MPH winds on that Saturday. I was thinking then will this guy ever win a major? He  did emphatically in June at Oakmont with a scintillating display of ball striking and putting on Father’s Day Sunday for a three shot victory and his coveted first major.

The Golf Channel and NBC will televise. It’ll be awesome to have Johnny Miller, David Feherty and crew calling the Open Championship. Really like this group covering majors. They’re superb. CBS is also and does a tremendous job with the Masters and the PGA Championship, and FOX really improved at this year’s U.S.,  but something about Miller, Feherty, Dan Hicks and Gary Koch calling a major makes this one even more special. The Golf Channel will televise Thursday and Friday from 1:30 AM-4 PM ET/12:30 AM-5 PM CT. On Saturday and Sunday, the Golf Channel will televise from 4-7 AM ET/3-6 AM CT, and NBC will take over Saturday and Sunday. They will broadcast from on Saturday from 7 AM-2:30 PM ET/ 6 AM-1:30 PM CT, and on Sunday from 7 AM-2 PM ET/ 6 AM-1 PM CT.

Contenders, winner

Dustin is the odds on favorite with the British bookies. His length will be key, but this course demands accuracy as well. If Dustin’s accurate off the tee and he’s putting well, he can certainly go two in a row with majors. Of course, Jason Day and Rory are obvious favorites. My darkhorse is 28 year old Branden Grace from South Africa. He’s won on the European Tour this season, he finished fifth at Oakmont, and finished tied for fourth at the U.S. Open, tied for 20th at the Open Championship and was third at the PGA Championship all in 2015. 

For my winner, I’m going with an old faithful. He’s not old by any means, he’s still 22, but I love his way of stringing together lunch pale rounds on consecutive days, and this will be a grind it out tournament with some challenging wind conditions, though there should be some low scoring. I like Dustin, Day, Rory and this guy battling it out to the end with Grace right there. There are a host of others. But I’m going with my man from Dallas. He got the massively annoying Olympics monkey off his back on Sunday Night, and won’t play in Rio, which I don’t blame him a bit for. Dustin, Rory and Jason aren’t either. Who wants to risk their health when majors are where it’s at for professional golfers. The majors are their legacy. I see my young man from Dallas capturing his third major title at Royal Troon. He has to drive it well, which sometimes he struggles with, but I see him doing that this week, and  I love his mental game always. And I expect his putting proficiency to be off the charts good this weekend. Going with my main man from the Big D.

Jordan Spieth

A final interesting, really fascinating note

A pretty cool note from the All-Star game last night which the American League won over the National League 4-2, at Petco Field in San Diego.

The award for batting champion in the American League has been named the Rod Carew hitting title. Carew was the Hall of Famer for the Minnesota Twins,  a superb hitter in the 1960’s and 70’s. The National League award is now named after the late Tony Gwynn.

The interesting thing was the awesome John Smoltz, the stellar pitcher back in the 90’s for the Atlanta Braves, was the color commentator for FOX last night at the All Star game. Smoltzie said Gwynn was a once in a generation-like hitter.

A graphic came up on the screen that Gwynn hit against the famed, phenomenal threesome of Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in their heyday with the Braves in the ’90’s and was 30-of-65 against Smoltz for an average of .462, 39-of-91 against Maddux, for an average of .429, and 29-of-63 against Glavine, for an average of .312. That’s impossible, extraordinary. That man was a baseball player!   

There’s a lot of super stuff going on for our professional baseball players, First in the majors:

David Price threw a Van Gogh yesterday. It really was a thing of beauty to watch. Pitching against the Tampa Bay Rays, who have been hitting him hard this season, Curt Casali being one of the main culprits, and while I don’t mind Curt having big games at all, in fact I love it, I want David to do well as always, David really excelled.  DP was spectacular. David worked eight shutout innings, giving up only four hits, zero runs, with one walk and 10 K’s. David threw 113 pitches with 78 for strikes and 35 balls, an outstanding over 2:1 strike to ball ratio. That’s what you want out of your horse, and the Sox got that from their bell cow pitcher.

David’s fastball was hitting 95-96, which is David Price-like, and he was locating it so well, with low strikes, high strikes, hitting corners, just a perfect mixture of locations. He really had the Rays hitters on their heels. And his change up is a weapon. It comes in at 85-86, and has become his second go-to pitch and almost his most effective out pitch. It’s a real weapon in David’s arsenal. David used his curve well and his cutter was effective too, running away from hitters. David’s curve was very good yesterday and he employed it more frequently. Manager John Ferrell and the Sox players were very pleased with their ace’s outing. Great stuff from the man. Good momentum for the second half as the Sox swept the Rays over the weekend and won six of eight on their homestand. The Sox are now 49-38, two back of the O’s in the AL East. The O’s are 51-36. The Toronto Blue Jays are 51-40 and just .03 percentage points behind the Sox for second place. Going to be a horse race for the AL East title in a riveting second half of the season. Should be epic.

Big Papi hit his 22nd homer of the season in the first, a two run shot over the Green Monster in left central. It was also David’s 71st and 72nd Ribeyes of the season. He’s been sensational. Ortiz wants a World Series title in his last season at Boston, and the 40 year old, who is going on 25, is doing everything possible to enable his team to reach that ultimate goal. It’s been spectacular to watch this season. The Red Sox are fantastic and if Dave and the starting pitching can keep their momentum going in the second half, and they get solid bullpen work, they have a real shot to go deep in October. Of course, they’ve got some serious competition to overcome, starting with Pedro and the O’s and the Blue Jays.

DP is now 9-6 with a 4.34 ERA, that’s down from a 4.64 ERA before the game started yesterday. He has issued 27 walks and 140 K’s, a tremendous 5.1 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. His WHIP is down to 1.19, which is getting close to his 1.14 career number, and he can do even better. If David keeps pitching like yesterday, the Red Sox are going to a real happy team in the second half if the rest of the rotation and the bullpen hold up. 

Speaking of the Orioles and Pedro, they are playing stellar ball, too. Pedro was three for four yesterday with a couple of hard hit singles and a double that was a popup  that dropped into left field in the O’s 4-2 victory over the LA Angels at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Pedro is back from the bereavement list as he went to the Dominican Republic to be with his family after the passing of his grandfather last week. Proud of Pedro for coming back and performing so well after a tough week. Pedro is now hitting .249 with 9 homers and 26 Ribeyes. He’s had a good season for the  O’s. Love what Pedro is doing with the bat.  

Here are some stats on our minor league guys who are really excelling:

Tony Kemp has moved to second base for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Houston Astros triple A team, and Tony is really swinging the bat well. Tony is hitting .317. Wow, is the man ever making a case to make the big club again. As you probably remember, he got a shot with the Stros two months ago, and stayed for a while, but they do have a lot of really good players and they’re the hottest team in baseball right now, but Tony is really making a case to make the big club. Will be fun to see Tony keep matriculating. He’s a big league player for sure.

Dansby Swanson is playing excellent shortstop for the Mississippi Braves, the AA team for Atlanta, and is hitting .269 with five homers and 29 Ribeyes. Dans will be in the big leagues in the next year, I’m pretty sure of that. Hope Tony joins him.

Another guy stating his case for the big leagues is Tyler Beede. Tyler is 5-4 with a 2.57 ERA for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the San Francisco Giants AA team. Tyler has 25 walks and 74 strikeouts. He’s pitching terrifically. His fastball is lightning at 95-96, his curve is almost unhittable, it just drops from 12-6, and is such a deceptive pitch. His change up is solid, too, and his slider is clicking. Tyler looks great.

Carson Fulmer had a nice outing for the Birmingham Barons last Wednesday at Chattanooga. Carson went only five, but gave up only two runs on five hits with three walks and 10 K’s. Carson looks like he’s figuring it out. He’s 4-9 with a 4.78 ERA, but he’s starting to get into a zone, and he just needs to hone up his control. Carson is a pitcher who hits corners and gets guys to swing at pitches out of the strike zone. Like Sonny, he throws a lot of pitches, but is a total warrior, who will battle until his last pitch. Carson will get there and the White Sox really like him. Like Carson’s future as well.

Rhett Wiseman is the starting right fielder for the Hagerstown Suns, the Washington Nationals’ Class A team. Hagerstown is in Maryland, close to D.C. Rhett is hitting .249 with six homers and 44 Ribeyes. Rhett is playing well, and the Nationals like him, so his future is bright there.

I saw where Connor Harrell had a really outstanding game for the Erie SeaWolves the other night. The SeaWolves are the  AA team for the Detroit Tigers. Connor is hitting .267 with 8 long ones and 23 ribbies. The Tigers really like him and he could very well be their center fielder of the future. They really don’t have an established center fielder on the big league club, so Connor can very well get a shot in the next year and a half. His hitting has always been excellent with good power numbers and he plays stellar center field.

Will keep you posted on all these guys, and, of course, our major leaguers. By the way Sonny Gray had a good outing for the A’s last Wednesday, going six innings giving up just one run on six hits with four walks and five K’s. Sonny threw 113 pitches with 66 for strikes and 47 balls. Sonny really battled though the A’s lost to the Twins, 4-0, at Minnesota. There have been quite a few rumors about Sonny being traded before the July 31st trade deadline. The Cubs, Blue Jays, Cards and others are potential suitors for Sonny. Would love to see Sonny go to the Cubs and Joe Maddon. That would be a great place for him on a team that has a chance to win it all. Sonny would do well with Joe, who is the ultimate players manager, and a very good manager overall. Sonny will be a free agent after this season, and the A’s are a small market team that doesn’t spend a lot of cash, so we’ll see what develops the rest of this month.  Would love to see Sonny on a contender and sign a big deal after this year. He’s pitching a lot better and has struggled with his trapezius injury all year. Looking for a big second half out of the man. 

VU hitting coach and recruiting coordinator Travis Jewett has been hired as the new Tulane head baseball coach. Travis did a tremendous job with our hitters in his four years on the West End, and he will do a tremendous job at Tulane. We’ll miss him in recruiting, too. Will keep you posted on what Corbs does in hiring a new coach. We have a little time to hire a coach, but I know Corbs is on it, and there are a lot of quality coaches who want the job, as our program is the best in the nation in my opinion. So will keep you posted on what Corbs does.

Derek, Oren, Ralph, Zach

Coach Mason will speak at Hoover, Alabama today at the SEC Media Days. Derek will be speaking around 3 or 3:30 PM today. The Media Days are being televised by the SEC Network. Coach Mason will follow Gus Malzahn of Auburn, and Jim McElwain of Florida, so this will be a good day at Media Days, and an epic week for SEC football fans. Will be very interesting to see what Coach says about his 2016 team. Recruiting has been through the roof good this summer as Coach Mason and the staff have secured 10 excellent commitments, and there are quite a few promising prospects who are highly interested in our program, and the complete package we have to offer with a world class university, a great coaching staff, a super group of players, a tremendous city, and the chance to play in the best conference in college football is very enticing to young men in the Southeast and throughout the country. The prospects like what we have to offer and want to play for us. So the future is extremely exciting in recruiting and the guys we have in the fold look exceptional. 

As for the 2016 team, Coach Mason has brought down three superior players on our 2016 team. Zach Cunningham is coming off a first team All SEC selection last year as our middle linebacker. Zach finished last season with 103 tackles, 16.5 for loss, four forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. Zach is going to have a tremendous junior year for us and his future in the game is through the roof exciting. Zach will  be a major leader on our defense and has a chance to be a first team All American.

Ralph Webb rushed for 1,152 yards for us last year. Ralph’s become a complete back for us, and has an exceptional work ethic. Nobody outworks Ralph in college football. Ralph is another tremendous leader on our team which will have a massive amount of leadership, which is critical to a team having a tremendous football season.

Oren Burks had 58 tackles last year at safety and added three interceptions, one for a pick six against Kentucky. Oren is superb and has played quite a bit at the “Star” position in our defense over the spring. Will be interesting to see what Coach Mason and Oren say about his move to more of a linebacker-safety hybrid role. He’s one of the best athletes on the team, a superior person and leader, and a playmaker and great tackler on defense. Love to see what Oren can do in 2016.

Love the representation we’re getting at Hoover today. Pumped for South Carolina September 1st, a Thursday Night, at 7 PM CT/8 PM ET at Vanderbilt Stadium on ESPN. There is a lot of work to do before that to get ready for the Gamecocks, and Coach James Dobson and his strength staff are doing terrific work getting the guys ready for August and going forward into the season opener against the Gamecocks. The guys are working extremely hard and there is a tremendous energy on this football team and an electric atmosphere around this football program. We have a new recruiting staff with excellent additions to our recruiting efforts. Will have more about that later. But first things first. Time to start getting geared up for 2016. Will have a full report of Coach Mason’s comments early tomorrow.

Kyle Shurmur has been named our starting quarterback for 2016. Not a big surprise, but glad Coach Mason and Coach Ludwig went ahead and made the decision. Awesome move. Kyle’s going to have a great career at Vanderbilt University. It’ll start this season. Thanks. 

Final Note

Festus Ezeli signed a two year deal with the Portland Trailblazers last week. Good to see Fes get another opportunity. John Jenkins still trying to make his way and Damian will be a Golden State Warrior player this upcoming season. Excited to see what the two Big Fellas can do with their respective teams, and what Wade Baldwin IV can do at the Memphis Grizzlies. Good stuff for bball. And extremely excited for what Coach Bryce Drew can do with the Vanderbilt basketball team in 2016-17. 

Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason added his 10th commitment to the 2017 class and he is 84, three-star Randall Haynie from Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Haynie is one of the top players in the talented Broward County area in South Florida.

In Randall’s junior year at Cardinal Gibbons, he posted 42 tackles and eight interceptions. Randall is 6’0″, 180, and he is a hard hitting, solid  tackler, and a ball hawk whom I saw return an int 90 yards all the way to the house. Randall possesses superior athletic ability and a knack for laying the lumber on running backs and wide outs. Love this pickup. Randall’s film is exceptional.

Randall chose us over 20 other offers including Michigan, Arkansas, Kentucky, Iowa, West Virginia and Wisconsin. He said he loved the coaches, the players and the environment of Vanderbilt University and Nashville.

Randall joins Louisiana three star corner Adam Sparks and Georgia three star safety Tae Daley as our 3 secondary commitments. Coach Mason and the coaches may add another player in the secondary if they see a really good player like these other three, but the coaches could start concentrating their efforts now on linemen on both sides of the ball along offensive skill players. 

This class is shaping up well with some solid players heavily on ours and their radars as we are in a dead period right now in recruiting but will certainly take more targets. We have quite a few outstanding running backs who are very interested, along with several talented wide receivers and o linemen. Exciting times.

SEC Media Days starts a week from Monday, July 11th, and Coach Mason will be speaking on Monday, so I will have a report on what our coach has to say Monday afternoon, July 11th.

Getting pretty pumped for the 2016 season opener versus the guys from Columbia. I have a feeling we’re going to really like the team that Coach Mason and his staff put on the field on Sept. 1, 2016, a Thursday night in Vanderbilt Stadium, with a 7 PM CT/8 PM ET kickoff on ESPN. Will have more on the current team after Coach Mason speaks in Birmingham next Monday. Recruiting going exceptionally well. 

David Price pitched Wednesday at Tampa Bay for a noon ET first pitch and struggled in the third inning as the Red Sox lost to the Rays, 4-0. The Sox couldn’t get their bats going. Playing in a noon game after a late game the night before is tough, particularly on the visiting team, and it showed with the Sox. David pitched pretty well overall though except for the third. He threw 6.1 innings, gave up nine hits, four earned, with one walk and 10 K’s. He had the fastball clicking after the third and was hitting 94-95. Not David’s best, but I thought he pitched pretty well outside of the third. David dropped to 8-5 and now has a 4.74 ERA. He still has a super strikeout to walk ration with 120 K’s against 25 walks almost a 5:1 ratio. David threw 103 pitches Wednesday with 67 for strikes and 36 balls.  His next outing is against the Texas Rangers, whom he had trouble with at Texas a week ago. Really got pounded there, but he’ll be at Fenway, so hoping for better result. David will pitch this coming Tuesday, July 5th, @ 7:10 PM ET/6:10 PM CT. He’ll go against A.J. Griffin of the Rangers. Griffin is 3-0 with a 2.93 ERA. Will have a report Wednesday.

Quick note: Dansby was 4 for 5 last night for the Mississippi Braves against the 49-28 Jackson Generals in a Braves’ 6-5 victory. Dans had a triple and an Ribeye.

Philip Pfeifer was traded from the Dodgers to the Braves yesterday. Great to see Pfeif in a Braves uniform.

. Have a great fourth and I’ll be in touch.