Truly One of the Greats

The University of South Alabama received some sad news Tuesday afternoon in that head baseball coach Steve Kittrell is retiring at the end of the 2011 baseball season. Kittrell has given over 30 years of service to the Jaguar baseball program. He has over 1000 wins and since 1984 South Alabama has made 18 regionals which is top 20 in the nation and is more than Alabama or Auburn. He has coached the likes of Jon Lieber, Juan Pierre, Luis Gonzalez, Adam Lind among many other talented players who have gone on to play at the professional level. Coach Kittrell will surely be missed by many Jaguar fans who have come to watch him coach his favorite school.Kittrell has this to say at his press conference about his time at USA:
"It was a dream come true just to get this job.  Coach [Eddie] Stanky built this program from scratch, and I was fortunate to play for him on his first team," he said.  "To be able to come back and coach after him has been quite a thrill, quite a responsibility and an honor.  The relationships you build with the players - and not just the ones who start and make it to the big leagues, but also those who have gone on to become lawyers, doctors, engineers and business people - have been rewarding." * courtesy of usajaguars.com

NBA Finals Wrap-up

There is two things we have learned from this year's finals: 1. Kobe Bryant is the best player in the league with everyone else three steps below him, yes that includes Lebron James. 2. Boston Celtics need to start getting young and quick cause the big three a barely a shell of them old selves.

The NBA put on a great finals series and us viewers got to watch the only 17th NBA Finals to ever go the full seven games. The NBA needed this since all the other series were snoozers and over usually finished with after the fourth game. Im not a Lakers fan nor Boston fan so to me it did not matter who won but yet i was still intrigued in the mystic of the "rivalry" of Celtics Lakers. Which is still a one sided rivalry with the Celtics winning pretty handily.

There is one problem I have and that was Pau Gasol for the Lakers. This guy did more whining then I have ever seen a grown man ever do in my life. I dont know if thats how they do it in Europe but this is America and we dont complain, whine, or beg for every call or every call that goes against us. I dont know if yall saw how many times he would pull his pacifier out each game but I counted fifteen times in th first half alone and I just wish that the referee's would just give him a Technical so he would shut his mouth up. He has a decent game because he is a seven footer, not to mention that if it was not for Kobe he would have never sniffed the NBA Finals in his career. I have heard that Tyler Hansbrough whined a lot his senior year at North Carolina and that could be true but he is still in college and has not fully grown yet physically nor mentally, still not an excuse though. Anyway back to the Spainard, I think the NBA should install a ghost Technical or something a long those lines that the ref can give the player a Technical for whining but it only counts as a personal foul for that player. Do yall feel the same way I do? or yall might not even care.

Outlook for the offseason: This is the biggest free agent market the NBA has seen in some time. Lebron, D-wade, and Bosh are just a couple of players that are on the market. But dont really expect there to be too much movement cause as much money as this players want they can only get it if they go to different teams.

South Alabama 2010 Schedule with times

The University of South Alabama has released its time for their upcoming games for the 2010 season. All home games are at 4 pm except for the last game which is on a Thursday night at 6pm. All three road games are at different times; Edward Waters 3pm, Lamar 6pm, and UC Davis 4pm. South Alabama is coming off its first season where they went undefeated.

Date Opponent Location Time (CT) Results Media   Sat, Sep 04  Pikeville (Ky.) Mobile   4 pm   Sat, Sep 18  Nicholls State Mobile   4 pm   Sat, Sep 25  vs. Edward Waters (Fla.) at Dothan, Ala.   3 pm   Sat, Oct 02  Kentucky Wesleyan Mobile   4 pm   Sat, Oct 09  Missouri S&T (Parents' Weekend) Mobile   4 pm   Sat, Oct 16  at Lamar at Beaumont, Texas   6 pm   Sat, Oct 23  at UC Davis at Davis, Calif.   4 pm   Sat, Oct 30  Georgia State Mobile   4 pm   Sat, Nov 06  Henderson (Ark.) State (Homecoming) Mobile   4 pm   Thu, Nov 11  Arkansas-Monticello Mobile   6 pm

* Conference Games *courtesy of usajaguars.com

Houston and Tulsa to the MWC or Big 12?

Now most of us all know that the Pac-10 could not lure six teams away from the Big 12 and had to settle for just Colorado. In the past few days the story that is catching some steam is Utah going to the Pac 10. Utah is expected to join as soon as early as Friday, and believe me Utah will be going to the Pac 10 to leave the Mountain West Conference (MWC), who has just added Boise State to their conference. You catch all that?

 Now, I wonder if the MWC knew that the whole six teams from Big 12 to the Pac 10 was not going to work out and in turn figured out that Utah was going to be the next team that the Pac 10 would ask. I bet they did but now somehow the MWC must find another big team to add to their conference if they want to be a BCS automatic qualifier. If the MWC wants to really help out their conference why don't they just add up to twelve teams like everyone else? As of right now they have nine teams in the MWC and would need three more teams to be eligible to have a conference championship game. The teams that would peek my interest the most would be Houston Cougars (C-USA), Fresno State Bulldogs (WAC), and Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (C-USA). Not only would that give them twelve but also give them three more respectable teams. Houston and Tulsa both have been two of the top four teams in the C-USA year in and year out and you know they would like to be able to attain an automatic BCS bowl berth chance. Fresno State was the darlings of college football from the west coast before Boise State was. Fresno State literally would play anyone anytime and anywhere and they would make sure that the other team would know they came to play whether they won or lost.

As for the Big 12 current situation of only have ten teams looking to add two more so they could have the championship game again. Arkansas as declined an invitation to join them and who could blame the Razorbacks? But teams they might possibly be looking at would be Houston, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech, BYU, among others but whoever they get the team or teams could never replace a Nebraska.
It is going to be interesting to see where teams will land and eventually how long all this is going to take place, in another five years there might not be a Big 12 if the Pac 10 comes calling again wanting a 16 team league again. But all we can do right now is wait and see what the next move is going to be.

The pawn has been moved, waiting for the queen

University of Nebraska is the first school from the Big 12 to declare they are switching conferences as they accepted an invitation on Wednesday to join the Big 10. The Big 12 gave Nebraska and Missouri until Friday to decide whether they were staying or leaving, Missouri is expected to follow suit and go to the Big 10. College football expansion could be considered something like a chess match, only its two against one, Big 12 vs Pac 10 and Big 10. This has been a slowly developing process but Big 12 lost one of their pawns early in Nebraska. The other pawn Missouri is expected to trade sides as well when they get a formal invitation to join the Big 10. The Pac 10 is ready to kill the whole other side with one fell swoop and to capture the queen in the process. Texas is the queen piece and when the longhorns decide to leave then what we know as the Big 12 would be of no more. According to sources on Wednesday that seems very likely with a quote coming from Texas athletics department telling their players and coaches "We tried to save the Big 12." Looks like the queen gave its all but in the end it was not enough and  college football sooner rather than later is going to be going under a major change.

Mountain West has put itself on hold/Texas independence?

The Mountain Wast conference Monday had a chance to acquire Boise State Broncos. Boise State was willing to accept the offer, only problem the MWC was not fully ready to expand. The commissioner of the MWC said "We are not expanding at this time", In other words they are waiting to see what happens with the PAC-10 and BIG 12. If the Big 12 were to loose the eight teams reportly being courted by the other two conferences then the MWC might have a chance to boost their conference with left over Big 12 cause i don't see how a league as good as the Big 12 will survive with Kansas as its major headline in football. Big 12 could not survive IMO but i think the Big 12 and MWC could come together and build a bigger conference as well with the four left-over teams. If the Big 12 was able to keep Nebraska and Missouri somehow then they could pick up teams like Houston, BYU, Utah, and TCU and be find but there would still be a serious drop off in talented teams.

The major player will be Texas but Texas could just say we are going to go Independent and support ourselves. They are about the only other team besides Notre Dame in the nation who could pull this feat off. Texas is about to have their own TV network, and they got most of their money from the BCS games they played the past seasons, so why not if your Texas go Independent cause after the Big 12 there is no way to but down unless you end up with an invitation from the SEC. But if your Texas would you really want to face brutal competition year in and year out after only having one major test every year in the Big 12 in Oklahoma? Independence makes sense for Texas, them and Notre Dame could make a nice rivalry as well in the Independent leagues. College Football is waiting PAC-10 and Big 10 (11) for you to make your moves...make them quick please.

Big 12 sets a time table

The Big 12 has told Missouri and Nebraska that they must tell them by 5 pm Friday on whether or not they are deciding to stay in the Big 12 or moving on to the Big 10. The deadline could be extended until June 15.  There is also rumors that the PAC-10 is trying to get Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State to join its conference. If these eight teams move on to other conferences where would Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State go? Would they try and keep the Big 12 together by adding other members such as TCU, Houston, BYU, Utah, among others. Nobody knows what is going to happen if or when the Big 12 splits up but one thing is for certain college football is about to change whether we are ready or not.

Arkansas Team Preview: 2010 Season

The University of Arkansas is poised to have a big year and seriously contend for a SEC west division crown. They return top-flight quarterback Ryan Mallet. The 6'7 signal caller has the deepest receiving core in the nation led by Greg Childs but there best pass catcher could be their tight-end D.J. Williams, who should be first team all-american. The defense still has a multitude of question marks surrounding them. The offense could average thirty-five a game but if the defense can not stop anyone then it will not matter. The secondary needs to be able to pace man to man more so the linebackers can blitz and not have to be in coverage on third downs. If the defense can find a way to stop opponents once or twice a game then the razorbacks should be fine but if they done expect another sub-par season and a return trip to the Liberty Bowl.

2010 Schedule and Predictions
September 4 Tennessee Tech- W 56-0
September 11 Louisiana Monroe- W 42-0
September 18 @ Georgia- W 35-24
September 25 Alabama- W 38-35
October 9 Texas A&M- W 35-14
October 16 Auburn- W 28-7
October 23 Ole Miss- L 24-28
October 30 Vanderbilt- W 35-28
November 6 South Carolina- W 49-42
November 13 UTEP- W 42-7
November 20 Mississippi State- W 28-24
November 27 LSU- 7-35

Predicted Results 10-2 Overall, 6-2 SEC T-2nd in West

2010 Projected Depth Chart

Offense

QB- Ryan Mallet (pictured left)
RB- Ronnie Wingo
WR- Greg Childs
WR- Jarius Wright
WR- Joe Adams
TE- D.J. Williams
OT- Ray Dominguez
OT- Demarcus Love
OG- Wade Grayson
OG- Grant Cook
C- Seth Oxner
K- Alex Tejada

Defense
DE- Jake Bequette
DE- Tenarius Wright
DT- Zach Stadner
DT- Patrick Jones
LB- Jerico Nelson (pictured right)
LB- Jerry Franklin
LB- Jermaine Love
CB- Rudell Crimm
CB- Ramon Broadway
SS- Anthony Leon
FS- Tramain Thomas
P- Dylan Breeding

2009 Stat Leaders
QB- Ryan Mallet 225-404 cmp-att, 3627-yds, 55.8 cmp%, 30-7 td-int
RB- Broaderick Green 104 car, 442-yds, 4.3-ypc, 11-td
RB- Michael Smith 71-car, 396-yds, 5.6-ypc, 2-td
WR- Greg Childs 48-rec, 897-yds, 18.7-ypr, 7-td
WR- Jarius Wright 41-rec, 681-yds, 16.6-ypr, 5-td

2010 Recruiting Recap

Top 3 Recruits
Calvin Burnett DT ****
Cam Feldt OL ****
Byron Jones DT ****

Auburn Team Preview: 2010 Season

Gene Chizik's first year was a successful one. Auburn started out 5-0 but things quickly took a turn for the worst and ended the season 8-5 with a victory over Northwestern Wildcats in the Outback Bowl. Year two under Chizik plans to be even better. Auburn could easily win 9 games on their schedule, if they don't slip up like they did last year to Kentucky. Before they can talk about winning it all starts and ends with incoming transfer Cameron Newton at Quarterback. The JUCO transfer might have more mobility than Chris Todd did but his smarts and accuracy are not as good as Todd's. Gus Malzahn has plenty of weapons to plan his offense around starting with runningback Mario Fannin, but the Tigers also have one of the best kept secrets in the SEC, wide receiver Darvin Adams. The defense will need Josh Bynes to led them but expect plenty of incoming freshman to receive plenty of meaningful minutes due to lack of depth.

2010 Schedule and Predictions
September 4 Arkansas State W- 42-0
September 9 @ Mississippi State W- 35-14
September 18 Clemson W- 28-27
September 25 South Carolina L- 20-21
October 2 Louisiana Monroe W- 42-14
October 9 @ Kentucky W- 28-24
October 16 Arkansas L- 7-28
October 23 LSU L- 14-21
October 30 @ Ole Miss W- 38-24
November 6 UT-Chattanooga W- 56-0
November 13 Georgia W- 35-28
November 26 @ Alabama L 24-33

2010 Predicted Results- 8-4 Overall, 4-4 SEC Fourth Place in SEC West

2010 Projected Depth Chart

Offense
QB- Cameron Newton
RB- Mario Fannin (pictured right)
RB- Onterio McCalebb
WR- Terrell Zachery
WR- Darvin Adams
TE- Philip Lutzkirchen
OT- Lee Ziemba
OT- Shon Coleman
OG- Mike Berry
OG- Byron Isom
C- Ryan Pugh
K- Wes Byrum

Defense
DE- Antoine Carter
DT- Mike Blanc
DT- Nick Fairly
DE- Michael Goggans
LB- Craig Stevens
LB- Josh Bynes (pictured left)
LB- Eltoro Freeman
CB- Demond Washington
CB- Nieko Thorpe
FS- Mike Slade
SS- Darren Bates
P- Ryan Shoemaker

2009 Stat Leaders
QB- Chris Todd 198-328 cmp-att, 2612-yds, 60.4 comp%, 22-6 td-int
RB- Ben Tate 263-car, 1362-yds, 5.2-ypc, 10-td
RB- Onterio McCalebb 105-car, 565-yds, 5.4-ypc, 4-td
WR- Darvin Adams 60-rec, 997-yards, 16.6-ypr, 10-td
WR- Terrell Zachery 26-rec, 477-yds, 18.3-ypr, 5-td

2010 Recruiting Recap

Top 3 Recruits
Shon Coleman OL *****
Michael Dyer RB *****
Camercon Newton QB *****

South Alabama Releases 2011 Schedule

The University of South Alabama released its schedule for the 2011 season Thursday. The schedule features two FBS (Div 1) teams. The Jaguars will be playing North Carolina State and Kent State for their FBS opponents. They open up play with West Alabama on a Thursday night, September 1. Lamar and UC Davis comes to Mobile after the Jags played at their home sites in 2010. Other notables on the schedule is Tennessee-Martin and Cal Poly.

2011 South Alabama Football Schedule 

Date Opponent Location Time 

Sept. 1 (Thu.) West Alabama Mobile 

Sept. 10 (Sat.) Lamar Mobile 

Sept. 17 (Sat.) at North Carolina State Raleigh, N.C. 

Sept. 24 (Sat.) at Kent State Kent, Ohio 

Oct. 1 (Sat.) UC Davis Mobile 

Oct. 8 (Sat.) at Texas-San Antonio San Antonio, Texas 

Oct. 15 (Sat.) Tennessee-Martin Mobile  

Oct. 22 (Sat.) at Georgia State Atlanta, Ga. 

Oct. 29 (Sat.) Edward Waters (Fla.) Mobile 

Nov. 5 (Sat.) Henderson (Ark.) State Mobile 

Nov. 19 (Sat.) Cal Poly Mobile 

The Sweetest Swing Has Decided To Walk Away

Former Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffy Jr. has decided to call it a career at the age of 40. Griffey played 22 MLB seasons, mostly with the Mariners. He was the 1997 AL MVP and finished his career with 630 homeruns. But the thing that most people will remember about Griffey is his swing. He has been dubbed to have the sweetest swing ever in baseball. He was always a fan favorite as well as a great club house guy. Griffey was on pace to break the all-time homerun record but injury plagued seasons in Cincinnati never gave him the chance. Griffey will be a first ballot hall of famer.

Ole Miss Team Preview: 2010 Season

The Ole Miss Rebels are coming off a disappointing 2010 season in which they were suppose to contend for the National Championship but all that was taken away after a loss to South Carolina in the third week of the season. 2010 presents a different challenge, how does Ole Miss plan to replace Jevan Snead and Dexter McCluster? Nathan Stanley was chosen as the successor to Jevan Snead and Brandon Bolden becomes the top runningback. Ole Miss won't be as explosive on offense as last year, but should not be too much concerned for the Rebels. If the runningbacks Brandon Bolden and Enrique Davis are running the ball effectively then Ole Miss will have a great chance of winning. However the defense is not one to look past. The unit is led by All-SEC defensive end Kentrell Lockett. Lockett is a stud and a great senior leader for the defense. Two guys to look out for, Jerrell Powe, defensive tackle, and linebacker Allen Walker. Both should get plenty of votes to be on All-SEC first team. The secondary is the weak spot on the team and will need to play well if Ole Miss plans on making it back to the Cotton Bowl.

2010 Schedule and Predicted Results
September 4 Jacksonville State W 42-0
September 11 @ Tulane W 28-7
September 18 Vanderbilt W 28-24
September 25 Fresno State W 14-0
October 2 Kentucky W 17-10
October 16 @ Alabama L 7-28
October 23 Arkansas W 28-24
October 30 Auburn L 24-38
November 6 Louisiana-Lafayette W 56-0
November 13 @ Tennessee L 14-21
November 20 @ LSU W 28-38
November 27 @ Mississippi State W 21-14

Predicted Finish 8-4 Overall, 4-4 SEC 5th place in Western Division

2010 Projected Depth Chart

Offense
QB- Nathan Stanley
RB- Brandon Bolden (pictured right)
FB- E.J. Epperman
WR- Markeith Summers
WR- Jesse Grandy
TE- Ferbia Allen
OT- Bradley Sowell
OT- Bobby Massie
OG- Alex Washington
OG- Rishaw Johnson
C- A.J. Hawkins
K- Bryan Rose

Defense
DE- Wayne Dorsey
DE- Kentrell Lockett (pictured left)
DT- Jerrel Powe
DT- Lawon Scott
LB- Joel Kight
LB- Jonathan Cornell
LB- Allen Walker
CB- Marcus Temple
CB- Jeremy McGee
FS- Damien Jackson
SS- Johnny Brown
P- Tyler Campbell

2009 Stat Leaders
QB- Jevan Snead 191-351 cmp/att, 2632-yds, 54.4 cmp%, 20-20 td-int
RB- Dexter McCluster 181-car, 1169-yds, 6.5 ypc, 8-td
RB- Brandon Bolden 129- car, 614-yds, 4.8-ypc, 4-td
WR- Shay Hodge 70-rec, 1135-yds, 16.2-ypr, 8-td
WR- Markeith Summers 17-rec, 394-yards, 23.2-ypr, 4-td

Recruiting Recap

Top 3 Recruits
DE-Wayne Dorsey ****
ATH- Randall Mackey ****
WR- Vincent Sanders ****

Recruiting Rankings: The Rivals 100

Rivals.com released its initial rankings for the 2011 recruiting class. The class initially has eleven five-star rated players. Four of the eleven have committed to schools, two of them committed to SEC schools (LSU and Alabama). LSU leads all the SEC schools with four committed with Alabama and Florida following with three respectively. The SEC had a total of fourteen verbally committed players in the rankings. While on the other hand the ACC had only four prospects total that had verbally committed. Clemson leads the way with two. The University of Texas leds the nation with five prospects. Here is the list of athletes in the SEC and ACC that were ranked in the Rivals 100, also the five-star prospects are ranked in order.

SEC Rivals 100 Prospects

Alabama
Brent Calloway LB 5-star
Hasean Clinton-Dix ATH 4-star
Danny Woodson WR 4-star

Auburn
Kheri Frazier QB 4-star

Georgia
Sterling Bailey DE 4-star
Christian LeMay QB 4-star

Florida
Jeff Driskel QB 4-star
A.C. Leonard TE 4-star
Jeffery Pagan DE 4-star

LSU
La'El Collins OL 5-star
Kenny Hilliard RB 4-star
Anthony Johnson DT 4-star
Jarvis Landry WR 4-star

Kentucky
Glenn Faulkner 4-star

ACC Rivals 100 Prospects

Clemson
Marlin Lane RB 4-star
Eric MacLain TE 4-star

Florida State
Karlos Williams ATH 4-star

North Carolina
T.J. Thorpe CB 4-star

The Rivals Five Star Players (ranked in order)
1. Jadeveon Clowney DE
2. Tony Steward LB
3. James Wilder Jr. ATH
4. George Farmer WR
5. De'Anthony Thomas RB- committed to USC
6. La'El Collins OL- committed to LSU
7. Cyrus Kouandjio OL
8. Curtis Grant LB
9. Brent Calloway LB- committed to Alabama
10. Malcolm Brown RB
11. Lawerence Thomas LB- committed to Michigan State