ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- So that's a wrap from the Golden Isle.
Great time. Great family. Great seafood.
The water was more brown than Downtown Leroy or Buster's shoes, but hey, we've seen two hurricanes in the last month.
Our family truly enjoys this place.
For those of you with kids, what was/is your go-to beach spot?
Mine growing up was always Panama City because, well, I was raised with a neck as red as Foxx.
(And yes, this is a simile-infested Friday. Do I sense a theme show? Yes, yes I do.)
First, let's Rushmore.
> Rushmore of songs with a body part in the title. One of the sneaky hardest ones ever. Can you truly leave off "Fat Bottom Girls" or the litany of songs with eyes or hearts in the name? And there are a number of rap songs -- clean and completely filthy -- with a whole lot of anatomy lessons in the title. But as stated before, this is our business, so we are going with "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," because it's Willie. "Eye of the Tiger" because it is the sound track to one of the greatest sports movie montages ever. "Bette Davis Eyes" and "Brown Eyed Girl" because the Mrs. 5-at-10 reads this and well, she's my brown-eyed girl. (And that's leaving off "In Your Eyes," "Private Eyes," "Blue Eyes" and all the hearts.) We will also offer a non-eyes-hearts-obvious-ones Rushmore of, "Fat Bottomed Girls," "Legs" by ZZ Top, "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" by several and "Slow Hand" by Conway Twitty.
> Rushmore of nicknames for sports movie characters. Another impossible one. We will pick Crash over Nuke, Gotta go Tin Cup because of the back story, although the movie is one of my least favorite sports movies ever. Wild Thing Vaughn and Shooter from 'Hoosiers."
› Rushmore of sports stars and the "odd" products they advertised. Jim Palmer selling underwear, Joe D itching Mr. Coffee, Ali pitching roach killers and Frank Thomas pitching low-T solutions.
› Rushmore of current national sports TV personalities, in no order and offering no personal ranking for sure. Stephen A. Smith, Mike Greenberg, Mike Tirico and likely Chuck Barkley narrowly over a slew of folks like Peyton, PFT and Big Cat. Bill Simmons, at one time, was assuredly on this list. Herbstreit is close; as is McAfee.
More business: Here's Hargis with the story du jour on McCallie's olive branch about boarding schools and athletic transfers. (Side note here: Notice how no one cared about the boarding students Baylor got when it won every gold title from Augusta to Bethpage Black over a decade-plus under King Oehmig? But start dominating football and let's overhaul the rule book.)
Here's Paschall on star UT pass rusher James Pearce. He better have a game Saturday afternoon if the Vols are going to handle the Tide.
To the bag, and yes, we are going to be as quick as possible today.
From Chas
(Who referenced some preseason ranking by Matt Norlander in which Bruce Pearl and AU basketball was ranked 27th in the preseason among other SEC teams ranked lower than the AP poll comparisons.)
Jay, does this dim your excitement for Pearl's peons hitting the hardwood? You mad about this slight?
Chas
Not in the least. Preseason basketball polls are as worthless as (blanks) on a bull.
And speaking of my alma mater, I'm not super jazzed that KenPom has AU 3 in his computer polls or the AP has AU 11 in the preseason. So I'm assuredly not going to give two rips about one dude's ballot.
Still, if he thinks that, doesn't that mean he thinks AU is a bubble team come March? Does that seem accurate, or is Matt looking for clickbait?
From Patrick
Is Shohei the best story in sports right now? Is there something I'm missing because he is must-see TV, right?
Patrick
I got out of bed earlier this week for the AB that became the Game 3 homer that still has not landed.
It's that amazing. It's like McGwire and Sosa in '98 and Bonds in the early 2000s in terms of gripping sports TV. (Minus the steroids, of course.)
And this is baseball, which is about the whole landscape rather than the must-see moments, and Shohei delivers.
Now imagine if he was pitching. That's like -- unfair.
As for something you're missing, well, I can't answer that.
Parity in college football? AFC dominating the QB rankings? NBA starting? (Wouldn't say I was missing that, Bob.)
Here's one.
That's the story of the San Jose State volleyball having opponents forfeit matches this season because of, well, read it.
No one claims anything but the lines are clearly divided here.
The most recent headline is that University of Nevada administrators have made it clear the volleyball team at that school will not forfeit against SJSU, even though the volleyball team released a statement to the media that read they "would refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes."
There have been four canceled games against SJSU, with none of the four saying explicitly why the games were canceled.
But the four schools are either in Idaho, Utah or Wyoming, and those states' governors have supported those decisions.
The Nevada-SJSU match is Oct. 26, and Nevada athletic officials told the AP that most of their players said they will not take the court.
Keep an eye on that one.
From Vader
Here is a fun wrinkle in your bubble watch. Let's say Army or Navy win out going to the matchup. One or both of them could be selected to the playoff on Dec. 8th. The Army/Navy game isn't until the following weekend on Dec 14. Is there any way the 12th spot could be announced to be granted to the winner of the Army/Navy game as sort of play in game?
Would that make for the highest TV ratings ever, or what?
Fat Vader
Great question, but doing a little research -- I know, shocker, right -- this is only the tip off the iceberg on the unforeseen wrinkles.
Your dates are correct, but know this:
The title game of the AAC -- the conference Army and Navy joined -- is Dec. 6.
So if each is 11-0 or even 10-1, they could be playing for a conference title and a potential playoff spot before their rivalry game. And how will the rest of the league feel if those two have taken losses from Army and Navy, but those two are in the title game without playing each other?
SOOOO .... The Army-Navy game could theoretically be the second meeting between the two in eight days, and the game with all the pomp and circumstance would be 100% meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
And moreover, even the conversation of this likely will impact the schedule moving forward right?
Great question.
From Mr. Lookout
"Did Vandy win the weekend or did UK lose it?"
Vandy would have been forgiven for a letdown following its colossal upset of ALA. But they went to a tough opponent's place and won! Why begrudge them? Worry about Auburn and "strip joint" Hugh Freeze if you must, but let Vandy bask in a little glow.
Mr. Lookout
You are 100% correct, but know that my question this weekend was not intended as a Vandy slight as much as a question about the struggles of a UK team that has somehow all-but-beat Georgia at home and now has a loss to Vandy and a waxing setback from South Carolina in the same facility.
Vandy -- along with Texas doing this in Year 1 of its SEC existence -- ranks as the top story of the first half of the SEC for me.
In fact, if I had a vote for SEC postseason accolades, my player of the year is Diego Pavia; my coach of the year is Clark Lea.
And I'll go a step further: Vandy legitimately should be 6-0 this morning.
Crazy like a fox. In fact, here's this week's "Bets and Ballgames" discussing that very thing with my man Brian Edwards:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaqZw1kLGe4
Have a great weekend, friends.