Steve Eubanks

SEC: Oh yeah, It's Personal

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:38:16 GMT

SEC: Oh yeah, It’s Personal

Nick Saban insisted that it wasn’t personal. Try telling that to the families of dearly-departed Dennis and Donna Smith who found themselves on the wrong end of a shotgun after the Crimson Tide’s overtime victory in Baton Rouge. The couple, Alabama fans, had gone over to the home of Michael Williams, an LSU fan, after the game. A few minutes later both were dead. The AP, in their inimitable “Duh” style, reported that alcohol might have been a contributing factor.
    Meanwhile, Saban told anyone and everyone with a microphone that his departure from LSU was “not personal; nothing about it was personal, and if people take it personally, there is nothing we can do about that.”
    SEC football is always personal. But by now, Saban knows that.
    It is hard to believe, given how often college coaches change jobs these days, but Saban is the first Division I coach to beat a team he had previously led to a National Championship. This week, Steve Spurrier hopes to become the second when The Ole’ Ball Coach leads the Gamecocks against Florida. That game is now the focus of the SEC, not just because of the implications for the East, but because if Alabama and Florida can get through their remaining games without a hiccup, the SEC Championship game will, despite what BCS defenders say, determine the best college football team in the country.
    Saban’s team has already locked up the West, but as the No. 1 team in the country, they can’t afford any Penn-State-like letdowns against Mississippi State and Auburn in the last two weeks. Florida has South Carolina, the Citadel and Florida State, two of three of which pose potential upset threats.
    If everything works out the way the experts and prognosticators say it should, the national championship game will be played Dec. 5 at the Georgia Dome. And the farcical fraud that is the BCS will, once again, be placed on full display.

NASCAR Hit Hard by Shifting Economy

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:04:10 GMT

The old adage that luxury items are the first to go in a down economy couldn’t be further from the truth. Guys buying yachts will buy them whether the Dow is at 12,000 or 8,500. And you don’t park the G-V when jet fuel goes up a buck a gallon. The first things to go in a recession are middle-income extras like trips to Disney World, bass boats, new shotguns, golf junkets with the boys, and three-day trips to NASCAR races.

The Nightmare Scenario

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:31:59 GMT

Lee Corso outlined the nightmare scenario for every lover of college football. “With their schedule, and their reputation, I like Southern Cal to win the rest of their games and be in that BCS title game,” the outspoken former coach said last Saturday. “Look at how many national championships they’ve played and who they have left on their schedule. They will out; they’ll play for the title.”

That’s What I’m Talking About!

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:30:26 GMT

Before last week, nobody outside his former Kentucky teammates had ever heard of Wilber Hackett, Jr., and the current SEC ref wishes he could slip back into obscurity. That will take a few more days. For the time being Hackett is a YouTube sensation. The video of him tackling South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia has gotten more than 2 million hits and coverage on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ESPN…heck, he even got a shout-out on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Boo Weekley: Ryder Cup Hero!

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:02:44 GMT

Words I never thought I would utter: Boo Weekley is a Ryder Cup hero. That is the same Boo Weekley who had never played in a match-play event prior to this year’s Accenture Match Play Championship when his caddy had to tell that it was ok to concede a putt; the same Boo Weekley who had never been out of the country prior to last year’s British Open at Carnoustie where he asked Paul Laurie (1999 Champion, also at Carnoustie) how he qualified, and told the BBC that he thought Milton, Fla. was the birthplace of golf.

Indignation: Thy Name is Spurrier

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:45:33 GMT

Even with a win, Georgia fans couldn’t stop hating on the Ole Ball Coach. Somehow, in their minds, falling from 2nd to 3rd in the national polls was Spurrier’s fault. Georgia was supposed to win big in Columbia. For many, it wasn’t enough just to beat the 62-year-old visor-throwing coach, Bulldog Nation wanted to rip out his still-beating heart and cook it over an open flame. Just Google “I Hate Spurrier With a Hot, Hot Hate” and you will be flooded with Georgia sites calling the former Heisman trophy winner the spawn of Satan (one of the few printable descriptions to be found).

The Battle for the SEC: Their Own Worst Enemies

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:00:20 GMT

Saturday night proved one point: the third or fourth best team in the SEC might be the fifth or sixth best team in the country, and could certainly win almost any other conference. Alabama’s emphatic thumping of Clemson in the Georgia Dome put a fat exclamation point on what has finally become conventional wisdom among experts and even begrudging fans: The SEC is the strongest conference in college football. No other league comes close.

Basketball Redemption in the Wee Hours

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:49:50 GMT

You can be forgiven for not getting up at 2:30 on Sunday morning to watch the Olympic gold medal basketball game. It’s an unseemly hour no matter which side of it is devoted to beauty sleep. But, if you missed it, you missed one of the best events of the Beijing Games, and one of the most important events for professional basketball in decades.

Olympic Sports the IOC Should Ban (and it’s not Baseball)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:39:19 GMT

You want a real Olympic-worthy sport? Lets have a rhythmic gymnast jump off a platform, through a hoop, onto a trampoline, and throw a ball into a soccer goal while doing as many flips twists and turns as possible. Now that would be must see TV!

Harrington: An Emerald Champion

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:54:34 GMT

“It is the greatest sporting accomplishment by an Irishman in history, really.” Those were the words of Brian Shaw, a former college standout and one of the first Irishmen to try to play in America on a full-time basis. Shaw did reasonably well, making a meager living on the mini-tours before heading home to become the head professional at Doonbeg Golf Club, a 30-minute drive from Shannon and one of the better links courses on the golf-rich North Atlantic coast.