Published Apr 28, 2023
STULTZ: Rambling on the NFL Draft, AMBUSH
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Brian Stultz  •  AuburnSports
Staff Writer
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@brianjstultz

There are crazy sports fans, and then there are the people who attend the NFL draft dressed up like their team is playing in the ultimate Super Bowl. Just last night on television, I saw a Chicago Bears fan wearing a full-on bear suit and plenty of other fans that might need to take it down a level or 15.

Of course, and this is just my theory, but there’s a slight chance that the NFL actually pays these people to attend these events. Would you put it past Roger Goodell and his staff to do that? Of course not. They want the draft to look like the most incredible time in everyone’s life, and getting these fans to come all decked out is an excellent way to do that.

Or maybe I’m wrong. It’s been known to happen before, so I digress. Let’s get into some ramblings.

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- There’s falling in the draft, and then there is what happened to Will Levis on Thursday night. The poor guy thought he would hear his name called early on, but it never came, and the cameras just stayed on him the whole night. That was worse than when it happened to Brady Quinn and Aaron Rodgers combined.

- I will immediately become a quasi-fan of whichever team drafts Derick Hall. Hopefully, it isn’t anyone in the AFC North besides Cincinnati.

- I’ve covered a lot of crazy sporting events, but Sunday’s baseball game against Mississippi State has to go up there with the weirdest. One, Cooper McMurray did something I think has never been done by hitting both foul poles on home runs. Chris Stanfield had a game in the outfield most nightmares are made of. Nate LaRue, one of the best defensive catchers in college baseball, let two straight pitches go right by him to let runs score. When it was over, the Tigers won on a walk-off double by Cole Foster, who admitted he looked abysmal in his first four at-bats. Baseball is weird sometimes.

- The fact Julia Stiles’ character at the end of “Save the Last Dance” gets admitted to Juilliard by doing this dance makes me second guess everyone that has gone to Juilliard and their actual skill. And yes, I understand it is a movie, but still.

- Bruce Pearl’s answer to a question about Wes Flanigan leaving for Ole Miss makes it sound like he didn’t leave on great terms. Also, was he throwing shade at some former players when saying, “I’m just so excited about coaching guys who are going to be in the gym every night, who are grateful for the scholarship and for the opportunity” when talking about Denver Jones and Chaney Johnson or am I reading too much into this?

- As I have made known, I grew up in northeastern Kentucky and went to Greenup County High School. And while I would like to think all of us got a good education, some things make me question that as in why did our biology teacher show us the Pauly Shore movie “Bio-Dome” as an “educational movie?” Also, did our history teacher really make us watch “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” as a history lesson? Yes. Yes, she did.

- You had to feel for Auburn golf coach Nick Clinard at the AMBUSH event in Atlanta on Tuesday night. While Hugh Freeze, John Cohen and Pearl signed autographs, he went primarily ignored despite the fact he had the Tigers at No. 1 for a large part of the season.

- The fact Arch Manning's family isn't going to let him have any of his NIL money until he is the starter at the University of Texas is a tad overblown. I mean, you've met the Manning family, correct? It's not like they are suffering financially. Also, if someone is willing to pay a kid a million dollars, he should be able to have it. Just ask Neil Patrick Harris what happens when parents get involved in your finances.

- Can you imagine how negative the headlines would be had Freeze pulled a Deion Sanders-like move at Auburn with all of the transfers leaving? I can think of a certain website in the state that would have been all over it.

- The AMBUSH events seem to be going well so far, and it helps that Auburn now has coaches in the top three sports that enjoy being around each other. I'm not so sure that was the case the previous two years.

- TikTok of the Week: From Maine, I bring you The Ground Round, seemingly a hopping place in the 1980s when this commercial was filmed. And sure, $3.99 for a sirloin steak seems like quite a deal, but I don't think I would enjoy it enough to appreciate the savings. I love the theme song, though.

- If you don't have an NHL team, I highly recommend cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Winning it all would mean more to Leafs' fans than every USA fan base combined. Just do it.

- I am still trying to understand why Cal Ripken Jr. was on campus this past weekend. Also, here's my hot take of the week: his consecutive games played record isn't that big of a deal.

- Finally, a big congratulations to the G.O.A.T., Greg Williams, on his retirement after building the Auburn equestrian program into a powerhouse.