We've been over the coaching changes. We've previewed the weekend's basketball game. We've talked about recruiting. I just don't have much to talk about right at the moment.
- I've been thinking a lot about some slightly more esoteric topics in sports, like how fans see their players are virtuous heroes and lash out at them when they fail to live up to their high standards. I think it has to do with people projecting their own ideals and their own mental images on their standard bearers. I think it is a tradition that dates back to mythological ages and has carried over into football and other sports, but more on that another day. That particular post will be my magnum opus.
- I like basketball season, in conference play. The games are relatively short. It's not as intense as football season because not every game is of colossal importance. If the team is doing well it's very entertaining. Tim Brando is on my TV. It's a lot of fun.
- As we all know, football season is officially closed until August. That does not mean there is not more football to talk about. We have national signing day coming up in less than 4 weeks. We have the NFL draft coming up in April, and the deadline for underclassmen to declare is fast-approaching. The rumor mill still has Ricky Jean-Francois likely headed to the draft, but there are no other really solid rumors, and no one has made any announcement official yet. Plus we have a couple of Junior Days at LSU, where the 2010 recruiting season will get started.
- I haven't given my thoughts on the much-discussed Ed Orgeron situation. That will be another post as well. Honestly, if he's not going to be coaching the defensive line at LSU, the best place in the world for him to be (from LSU's perspective) is at Tennessee. That's why I was happy when Pete Carroll bypassed him and promoted from within when looking for a defensive coordinator. Now USC will live the nightmare of having a position coach promoted to defensive coordinator and having another position coach listed as "Assistant Head Coach for the Defense" or whatever the hell it was. That's awfully close to "Co-Defensive Coordinators". We know how that works.
- Yesterday, I was pretty dismissive of Bama as a basketball team, and I stand by my statements that they are no great shakes and that there is a bad vibe about that program. Since writing that column, I have encountered a number of commentators who disagree with me and who think that Bama is the best team in the SEC West. Granted, Bama could be the best in the division and still be nothing special, as the SEC West is weak this year. Still, I guess if other people think they aren't that bad and will contend for the West, it wouldn't be that bad if we lost to them on the road. It sure would be nice to start off the SEC season with a win over a division rival though.
- We'll also be going into baseball a bit in a little while. Their season starts up in late February, and conference play starts in March. We're supposed to have a great team this year, so we're looking forward to that. Poseur will be the point man on baseball again this year.