5 at 10: Friday mailbag

It's Friday and that means four things: EC is making plans as to where he's going to watch two guys beat the tar out of each other this weekend; Oso is figuring out a way to get Kemba Walker to coach the Georgia Bulldogs; by the end of the evening the city's Bud Light population will be reduced by at least six; and the 5-at-10 mailbag hits the intertubes.

As always, from the "7-UP Stinks Studios" here we go...

Hey Mr. "Gotta do the internet thingee,"

Don't forget Friday's your mother's birthday. You have to call her.

Mrs. 5-at-10

P.S. Where did you finish in the British Open contest? Thought so, he-he-he-he.

Mrs. 5-at-10

Thanks for the reminder. Consider it done and done. Quick sports story about the Madre 5-at-10: During the evaluation process of one of the 1,000 leagues or teams the 5-at-10 participated in as a tot, a new kid caught our eye because he had batting gloves and new cleats.

Little 5-at-10: "That kid has to be able to play. He's got batting gloves and shiny cleats."

Madre 5-at-10: "The equipment is the easiest part of any game to obtain."

Little 5-at-10: "OK. I want a cheeseburger."

While our short attention span turned that lesson into a snack, that phrase has stuck with us. And proved to be so true so many times that it's definitely bona fide. So in short, Happy Birthday Mom, and thanks for all you did for us.

(Sidenote: Yes, the Mrs. 5-at-10 has dominated the major golf contests with a win and a second- and a third-place finish. And yes, this is not the first we're hearing about her Jack Nicklaus circa-1968-level dominance.)

From CelticVol

Hey Coach 5@10,

I’m starting to get a little concerned about the Tennessee Vols 2012 football recruiting class. The last I checked we only had 2 commitments. Is it too early to be worried about this?

C-Vol,

Apparently, all we need to do to solve the national budget crisis or the NFL lockout is to get C-Vol to write a letter questioning what is taking those folks so long.

C-Vol expressed his concern about UT's 2012 class last Monday, and C-Vol's concerns were both real and true since the Vols had two commitments and the rest of the SEC was approaching double figures. Since Monday, though, Derek Dooley and Co. are averaging better than a commitment a day.

In the additions this week, the Vols added commitments from a much-needed quarterback (Nathan Peterman), a four-star play-maker (Drae Bowles) and a 220-pound linebacker from Louisiana (Otha Peters).

The 5-at-10 refuses to discuss how the recruiting sites rank these kids before the high school starts; it's an exercise in futility. Rather, a much better gauge for determining whether your school's commitments are potential stars, look at the other schools that have offered him a scholarship. If Johnny Hot Shot picked your school over Alabama, Texas, LSU and/or USC, then consider Johnny Hot Shot a keeper. If Johnny Long Shot picked your school over Troy and UAB, well, we're sure his mother thinks he's great.

Anyhoo, since C-Vol asked about the Vols' recruiting class, let's look at the eight UT commits and the top two other teams that offered them scholarships:

WR Drae Bowls picked UT over Auburn and Notre Dame

RB Imani Cross picked UT over South Carolina and Georgia Tech

LB Khalid Henderson picked UT over Air Force and UConn

RB Alden Hill picked UT over Iowa and Michigan

ATH Justin King picked UT over Arkansas and Syracuse

DE LaTroy Lewis picked UT over Michigan and Ohio State

QB Nathan Peterman picked UT over Southern Miss and Vandy

LB Otha Peters picked UT over Arkansas and Nebraska

So there you go.

From Weena

Hey loser, who are your winners and losers from the SEC media days. I'm a winner.

Weena,

As always it's good to hear from you, and yes sir, you are a winner. As for the SEC days, the overall winners are the fans, plain and simple, because we now have football stuff to discuss.

Sure a lot of the sour story lines through the offseason — the NCAA continuing its investigation at Auburn, Will Lyles and his nuclear tentacles, Tressel, UNC's mess, etc. — will continue and should continue to be issues, but it was good to hear about actual football stuff, too.

As for the losers, well, that's tougher since we haven't played a game yet. We'll go with Houston Nutt, because, well, he's Houston Nutt and there is no hotter seat in the league than his. But, we're sure his mother loves him. (Sidenote: Loved the note TFP SEC ace David Paschall had about the billboards Miss. State has across Mississippi declaring ownership of the state. Tip of the visor to Dan Mullen.)

From Worried

Didn't you say the NFL lockout would end last week? Didn't everyone think the lockout would be officially over yesterday? What's up? Are we going to have NFL Sundays?

Worried,

We're going to have NFL Sundays, there's too much money at stake.

And yes, the 5-at-10 thought we'd already have a deal and be watching the free-agent frenzy that is going to follow immediately after the deal is approved.

That said, there were two troubling developments this week — Vincent Jackson and Logan Mankins reportedly wanting big bucks to settle the Brady suit, and the players' claim that the deal that owners approved 31-0 (our man Al Davis abstained, and as we all know abstinence is the best practice) that had a couple of items added at the 11th hour.

The owners' ratifying of this deal is an obvious power play to put the pressure on the players. Will it work? Likely, but if there's not a deal by the time you read the next 5-at-10, then Worried will be the word for all of us who love NFL Sundays.

From Golf fan

There are not a lot of big-timed, experienced quarterbacks in the SEC this year, but there are some stud running backs. If you had first pick in the SEC football fantasy draft, which running back do you take first.

Thanks, and I enjoy the 5@10.

Golf fan,

Thanks for the kind words and the question. Our man P-Davi asked something similar in the comments section earlier this week, but we thought we'd answer it here.

The first pick is a no-brainer to us — Alabama running back Trent Richardson is a beast, and with the recent injury to his top back-up Richardson will get a monster load of carries (and in turn stats). In fact, after Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, we've got Richardson as the No. 2 favorite for the Heisman.

From there, the question of fantasy-type stats and actual "stud-ness" of the next tier of SEC backs produce different lists.

SEC fantasy stats running back rankings

Trent Richardson, Alabama

Knile Davis, Arkansas

Marcus Lattimore, So. Carolina

Isaiah Crowell, Georgia

Tauren Poole, Tennessee

Actual stud-ness

Trent Richardson, Alabama

Marcus Lattimore, So. Carolina

Michael Dyer, Auburn

Knile Davis, Arkansas

Michael Ford, LSU