May has arrived, and all of the spring sports are winding down to their postseasons. Auburn baseball has proven to be a big contender for a deep run while showing that preseason votes mean nothing. Mickey Dean has the softball Tigers playing quite well. Overall, it’s been a pretty successful first five months of the year for Auburn athletics.
It’s certainly been fun to cover; I know that. Yes, fun! I love covering sports. In fact, I love it so much that I have a deal with my close friends that if I ever complain about my job, they are welcome to punch me right in the face. Well, not too hard. I still have that modeling career to consider, right? Okay, no.
It’s been a couple of months since I let my random thoughts about Auburn sports, the SEC and other bizarre things come out, so I thought there was no day but today (Rent reference for the win) to let them all flood out my fingers. So please sit back, enjoy a nice Fresca and let’s get deep into the groove of what I’ve been vibing on lately.
- As we said on Tuesday’s Rundown, Auburn has another huge series this weekend, this time at home against the Arkansas Razorbacks and Butch Thompson is pleading with fans to show up and be loud. While the weather for Friday looks a bit iffy, Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be perfect. And, as I said before, there is nothing better than a sunny day at the ballpark. Come out and support this team. They deserve it.
- I have a few reasons why I’m against Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC, but I have one very specific one that I’m guessing no one has: the damn guns/cannons those teams shoot off. I may have mentioned this before, but I hate loud noises so much that my friend Tate Parker loves it when his 17-year-old son, Blye, scares the crap out of me by yelling. It’s not fun for me. So, with that said, I propose a ban on cannon/fireworks/guns to go into effect starting now in the conference. Cool? Cool.
- My Twitter notifications were an absolute mess full of Tennessee fans taking up for their hothead of a manager in Tony Vitello. How you can view his and his team’s actions and not see a problem means you have bright orange-colored sunglasses on because he’s a bad incident waiting to happen. He’s Bobby Knight in a baseball uniform.
- While I haven’t been able to attend any of the AMBUSH events yet, the story in my mind has been Bryan Harsin attaching himself to the hip of Bruce Pearl and learning how to win this fan base over. It’s a smart move, and if I were a public relations guru, I would have advised him to do one. Being around Pearl and seeing how he has crowds in his hand will be good for the coach.
- If you don’t listen to The Rundown (and if not, what is wrong with you?), I’m going to Scotland at the beginning of June to see two of my friends get married. Let me know if you know of any Auburn fans/students/alumni who live in the Glasgow/Edinburgh area. That would be a fun story to write. I’ll even buy them a beer or five.
- I thought about this a lot over the years, but especially this spring, as Sonny DiChiara’s walk-up song has become popular about what my song would be. I’ve concluded that it would be the theme song to Murder, She Wrote for two reasons: I’m about to murder the pitch, and I’m a writer. Also, Angela Lansbury is a world treasure.
- The addition of Johni Broome is enormous for next year’s basketball team because he is someone who will provide an immediate impact both on the court and as a leader. From all I have heard from people at Morehead State, he’s a great kid. I’m looking forward to covering him.
- Speaking of covering an athlete, I have yet to start the French version of Rosetta Stone. Therefore my promise to interview Yohan Traore in his native language has gotten off to a slow start.
- Does anyone want to start a petition to get seats on the top of the left-field wall at Plainsman Park? If so, I will write a 5,000-word thesis on why they should build it. Oh, and make it a beer section. Everybody wins.
- Speaking of Harsin and Pearl being together, you can’t tell me that there is a better combination of coaches in the conference who look like they could kick your ass in a street fight than them. Pearl might be old, but he’s pretty darn ripped.
- Our softball/recruiting guru Caleb Jones has pitched a company event where we all go whitewater rafting. I’m not totally giddy about that idea, as you can see here.
- It was nice to see AU Helmet Guy (I should know his real name by now) back in action a couple of weeks ago as Auburn swept South Carolina. The fact he drowns out Section 111 makes him my favorite.
- Why are the hot dogs at baseball games so superior to those at basketball games? Same brand, but plumper and tastier. Maybe the guys at MythBusters can figure this one out.
- In an upcoming video series, I will attempt my hand at several sports, including kicking a field goal, hitting a softball pitch, walking the balance beam and other such achievements. Do you know what I think I would be best at? That would be heading a soccer ball. This giant melon should be useful for something.
- Trace Bright warms up on the mound to Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.” That is why he is the coolest player in college baseball history.
- Lastly, how does Butch Thompson and seemingly every coach wear those jackets when it is so hot outside? I’m pretty sure a heat stroke would come calling for me. It’d also be hilarious if football coaches had to wear uniforms.
