Preseason SEC Rankings

Well its a little over 3 weeks till football kicks off so here is our initial pre season SEC ranking. This could be a year where the SEC champion has two loses.

Note: Tennessee’s rankings might change due to injuries, arrests or other karma related problems.

1. Alabama: Strong on offense but they lost a lot of players on defense. Until they show otherwise I’m going to rank them at the top.

2. Florida: John Brantley has a cannon for a arm and should have no problem filling in for Friar Tebow. With good play by the receivers and running backs this team could be better than in the previous two years offensively. Meetings with SC, Alabama and Georgia is going to make it hard for them to go undefeated.

3. Georgia: If Aaron Murray can ignore having never started in the SEC the Dawgs can challenge for the east. This is Georgia though so expect a loss to SC, Tennessee or Kentucky to blunt their run to the top.

4. Arkansas: The defense will hold down the offense again but they will score enough points to keep them in the hunt for best in the west.

5. Auburn: Auburn will be better this year but are still a year or so from challenging Alabama for bragging rights in the west.

6. LSU: If Miles can light a fire under the team they could be in a fight for the top. The quarterback position will keep them from the top again this year.

7. South Carolina: The talent is there to rank them higher but so to is Steve Spurrier.

8. Ole Miss: The defense will keep them ranked this high for the year. If Jeremiah Masoli and the offense jell they could move higher.

9. Kentucky: The speed is there and the playmakers are there. How high they go is going to depend on the quarterback again this year.

10. Mississippi State: They look like they are heading up but looks can be deceiving.

11. Tennessee: We keep hearing that Dooley is doing it the right way. Its going to take more than doing it the right way since its looking like karma is striving to bring them down to the bottom.

12. Vanderbilt: Vandy is Vandy.

If this was a cheerleader rankings LSU would be at the bottom.

How The SEC Became The Man

I didn’t realize until I started reading about PCC slush funds that I actually knew nothing about football history other than the big things like how the Cat’s did, who won a bowl or who was #1. I didn’t know that scholarships weren’t universally offered by conferences till the late 50′s. The SEC, the SWC and other southern schools offered scholarships but the Big 10 and PCC provided jobs, with limits on pay and the Ivy was the Ivy.

The SEC began to become the football giant they are now after WWII, when returning veterans found it financially profitable to enroll in southern schools, since the government was paying for school and they got to keep the scholarship money. I could be wrong on exactly this worked but it did work.

In 1948, the northern schools found themselves at such a recruiting disadvantage to the southern schools that they had to do something. Because regional conferences set their own standards what they did was to have the NCAA, then a relatively powerless body as far as regulation went, assume a role as national regulator of recruiting. At the 1948 NCAA convention, the “Sanity Code” was instituted. This set a policy that no athletic scholarships were allowed, but off-season jobs were allowed, as long as the pay was limited to NCAA standards.

Then, a curious thing happened. Seven schools, on a follow-up questionnaire, noted that they were continuing to offer scholarships.

The issue of these schools, dubbed the “Sinful Seven” (Virginia, Maryland, V.M.I., V.P.I., The Citadel, Boston College and Villanova) was brought to the 1952 NCAA convention (per the rules at the time, the convention addressed violations, not the current committee). In a 130 – 60 vote, the NCAA decided to not punish them. At that point, the “Sanity Code” was dead and schools resumed offering scholarships. It wasn’t till 1957 that the now-familiar athletic grant-in-aid was finally adopted in 1957.

What happened then was that the PCC who was against scholarships ran into major problems with slush funds, became the Athletic Association of Western Universities (how’s that for a name) then the PAC 8 and began to offer scholarships.

The Big 10 also began offering scholarships but tied them in with higher academic standards for recruits. This led to a period in the late 1950′s where the Big 10 went from maybe the country’s toughest conference (the SEC of its day) to being no better than any other conference. Today you can really see the results with their ponderous style of play.

Amazing isn’t it how one little thing can lead to another. By first offering scholarships then getting great players and coaches the SEC began the climb up the ladder to what it is today.

SEC Media Days

The media days are off to a good start. One thing we know already is the SEC is going to be awesome in blocking wifi judging from the fact that it took forever for them to get it working. Those poor media people had to sit sadly refreshing their laptops over and over while we poor blogers could drink cheap beer and pound away on ours one finger at a time.

Perry Stevenson is shown with his awesome dunk on one of the videos they are showing during breaks. Way to go Perry!!!!!!!!

Alabama’s Nick Saban was his normal self starting politely and being led by questions into turning into a agent crunching demon. Other than saying “How are they any better than a pimp?” he reiterated what he said the other day about baning them from SEC campuses.

Well thats done but the questions were almost impossible to hear. Maybe we can ban Radio Shack for not working with the league.

Dan Mullen was as usual a entertaining talker and got the best quote of the day so far when ask a question with the word Alabama and or Saban in it. “Well, I’ve had a lot more first-round quarterbacks drafted than he’s ever had in his career.”

Urban Meyer handled the $100,000 question easily he said he went directly to Pouncey and ask if he did it and he said no. He agrees with Nick Saben on what to do with agents. He feels that there will be some sort of reaction by the NFL. Florida is going to pass mostly and run it from under center, by direct snaps and with the wildcat much like they did with Chris Leake. Nothing new there.

Joker was very upbeat about his coaches and wanted to get out in Kentucky get the Kentucky brand out for all to see. He talked about hitching himself to the basketball team during the spring. He also mentioned that the new coaching hires were already paying dividends in recruiting.

As fas as who will start at quarterback he said that we have two quarterbacks who have won in the league and three who can win and the position is still wide open. Derick Locke on the other hand said Hartline had a great spring and stepped up when it was needed.

Joker also said wanted his quarterback to “win” the game this year, rather than managing it”. You could feel the BBN stand up and run to the fridge for a cold one when that was said.

Defensive tackle Myron Walker and linebacker Will Johnson will transfer according to Joker and Paul Warford is ineligible. Warford is not really news since it was reported that he wasn’t doing to well in school. Mister Cobble’s status is up in the air right now.

Over all Joker cracked a few jokes and managed his first media days like a veteran.

Cheerleaders Gone Wild

Can you feel it? Strong winds are starting to blow across the SEC. After last years multitude of blown calls by SEC officials the SEC is going with digital replay.

As I write thousands of feet of fiber-optic cables are being run in stadiums that don’t already have them. Replay officials are getting their eyes checked so they can clearly see the new equipment being installed. SEC officials are celebrating their referee problem as being solved. ESPN is nervously awaiting the call asking for more money for the conference because the games are longer because of more replays.

Each new HD system being installed comes with three monitors. Two that show video and one that is a touch-screen computer. This will allow the replay official and replay technician to mark every angle of a play and toggle between different views.

In case your wondering if this will work the high-definition picture available in the replay booth will be much better than what we see on the tube since the picture is 25 times clearer than Blu-Ray CD’s.

In fact the picture is so clear that replay officials are already considering releasing cheerleaders gone wild CD’s to supplement their pay.

Will this make a difference in overturning calls? Of course not but fans might get lucky and get a CGW CD featuring the Louisville cheerleaders out of this system.

Respect The Bell

Six years ago this fall Thomas “Mule” Henderson Jr was a average freshman at Ole Miss. Considered brayingly funny by many of his friends he looked forward to getting his degree in radio communications and becoming a salsa DJ.

Mule and a group of friends showed up with cowbells for his first football game. Some how during the game he was struck repeatedly by cowbells. This is not a uncommon occurrence at Vaught Hemingway Stadium according to unname sources, although it seldom requires more than a dozen stitches and wearing hearing aids for the rest of their life.

In Mules case the injuries went much deeper. He spent 83 days in a coma and has been slow to recover his braying since of humor said his mother Shannon “Clover” Henderson. In fact she said, “Mule is a totally different person since his injury.” He has lost his desire to be a Salsa DJ and now is planning on being a lawyer and is a Alabama fan. These changes have been heartbreaking to his family said Shannon. His father Thomas ” Big Mule” Henderson said “to see your only son not follow in your bell ringing footsteps and give up his life long dream and settle on being a lawyer is gut wrenching.”

Shannon and mothers who have had similar experiences with loved ones started MFRCR Mothers For Responsible Cowbell Ringing five years ago. Although they faced overwhelming odds they managed to convince the SEC to force Mississippi to either control the cowbell ringing or cowbells would be banned.

Ole Miss has responded to the SEC by setting up Respectthebell.com. Which promises to bring about total chaos in the stands as Mississippi fans are the rudest in the SEC and would rather quit spitting than quit banging their cowbells.

Both the ACLU (The American Civil Liberties Union) which says using a cowbell at a football game is as American as owning a gun and the NACBM (National Association Of Cowbell Banging Musicians) which says beating a cowbell while playing music is part of their culture have filed law suits against the SEC.

Unlike most years fall promises to be an exciting time in Mississippi.

Media Dayze

The SEC media days kick off the football season on July 21 and all of us here at BigBlueRules are stoked. This year fans can watch the media days at The SEC Sports site.

Joker Phillips will be staring in his first media days on Wednesday along with a supporting cast of Kentucky players Randall Cobb, DeQuin Evans and Derrick Locke.

Some thoughts on the media days.

With no Lane Kiffin to provide the fodder this year, Tennessee will still be the star for the second year in a row. This year most eyes will be on Derrek Dooley to see if he in nimble enough to face a media that will have few questions not related to bar room brawls or how bare the cupboards are.

Will there ever be a player better with words than Dicky Lyons representing a team again.
Watch Dicky Lyons here?

Will a coach not show up like Fulmer did when he was a no-show so he couldn’t be served court papers?

Will Spurrier be the only coach not to vote Garcia as the top QB in the league?

Will a player admit that he’s not a virgin.

If any of this happens count on us to bring the news to you.

SEC West Looking Better

The SEC West is looking better thanks to Auburn forking out $92.5 million for a new basketball arena. Its not bad looking at all and when you watch the slide show and read the inspirational wording on the walls you know Auburn players will find themselves wanting to climb tall buildings, stop falling asteroids with a single hand and wish they could have gotten a scholarship to Kentucky.

With an approximately capacity of 9,600 its not hard to tell Auburn doesn’t seem to worried about winning the SEC west much less the national championship.

Blessed Slippers

Sometimes its easy to tell when you have been blessed. Just knowing I’m a Kentucky fan is knowing I’ve been blessed.

Lately I feel like I have been really blessed. I get to live in Hawaii, have a wonderful daughter and a lot of great friends. There is another reason I’ve been blessed, I get to wear slippers every day winter or summer.

Normally I wouldn’t even think about it but after following a link I read http://www.solecollector.com/niketraining/?p=1614 and I realized that slippers are a blessing and Nike is a curse I’m forced to live with.

Tim Tebow shoes are down right ugly. Please forgive me if I laugh when thinking about him trying to walk on water in these shoes. If they were any uglier they would be a Tennessee shoe and issued along with their jump suits.

Bobby Johnson Resigns

We are not, I repeat not in the shock jock business. But any way you look at it what is being reported is shocking and we might just have crossed over to the other side by writing this.

According to 104.5 the zone Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson has resigned. Shocking news people, just plain shocking news. Could it be he has Fulmeritis. When the dust settles on this one it will be interesting to see why a well respected coach would resign at this time of the year.

Read the breaking news. Johnson resigns. More here on whats going on. Bobby Johnson retires for personal reasons.

Look out Darth there is a new guy on the block.

Four hundred years we have waited.

Tennessee fans got a rude awakening again today as two football players were arrested with more to come I’m sure after a late night brawl in a bar when witnesses say at least 7 and possibly as many as 10 players pounded on one customer. After security managed to push things outside they proceeded to knock out a off duty police officer and kick him in the head after he was out. They could have seen it live last night on Crime Scene Knoxville but needed their sleep so they could dream about a basketball championship.

“Four hundred years we have waited”, said Joshua in the Ten Commandments in 1956. It seems like its been much longer than that for Tennessee fans waiting for their athletics department to be brought under control by the administration who has backed them for years no matter what their athletes did.

This incident is probably the proverbial straw that broke the camels back as far as the athletic department is concerned. If they don’t step down hard on this group of young men who didn’t even have the balls to go one on one man to man style there won’t be a person left in the country except for those who figure that they are being racially mistreated.

Derek Dooley worked quick. Sophomore safety Darren Myles has been dismissed from the program after his second arrest in three months and sophomore defensive tackle Marlon Walls and sophomore linebacker Greg King were both suspended indefinitely by Dooley, who backed up his dedication to discipline with swift action less than 24 hours after two players were arrested outside Bar Knoxville on Cumberland Avenue.

The Bar of Knoxville is going to feel a lot of heat over the lack of surveillance video and the owners saying that things like this don’t happen there. A quick search on you tube found a video out front of it from 2008.

Throw in the fact that one of the students arrested was only a freshman and another a sophomore and unless they spent a few years in the 5th grade they weren’t old enough to play in front of the bar at that time of night much less than be in the bar. OK, OK I know they could be out front but kids as immature as they acted should be put to bed at 8pm.

Tennessee fans are upset, ashamed and defiantly angry from what I have read so far on twitter and at various forums. I would feel sorry for them except for the fact that it was their university who really let them down by ignoring forgiving multiple offenses by the same player and covering up things for years. As Popeye once said you’s is who you’s is or something along those words.

My biggest regret about this is that this didn’t happen on Lane Kiffins tour of duty.

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