5-at-10: Friday mailbag on Tennessee, playoff baseball, kids movies and SEC QB Draft board

Friday, October 4, 2013

Before we get started the overwhelming question - we got about 50 from social media, e-mail, phone calls, what have you - has been about Press Row, our radio endeavor with David Paschall on 105.1 FM. We are currently in a brief hiatus that could be temporary or it could be permanent. We'll update when we know more, which could be as soon as today. Either way, it was a lot of fun doing the show because of the people - Paschall, Wells and the ESPN folks, and especially the callers - and we hope it works out.

And thanks to everyone for the support and the kind words.

On to the mailbag, where we hope to connect more than the Braves, who despite leaving Danny Struggla off the postseason roster struck out 15 times in a 6-1 Game 1 loss to the Dodgers. Hey, the Braves made a habit of Uggla-ing (striking out swinging) and Upton-ing (striking out looking) throughout the regular season and were tied with the Mets for the most U's (K's) in the league. But in the playoffs, not really that effective.

From the "Talks too much" studios, a karate man bruises on the the inside - they don't show their weakness.

photo Tennessee coach Butch Jones tries to motivate his team during pre-game warm-ups.

From Todd

I follow your picks pretty close and I have to say that you are flat on fire for the last couple of years. It's been pretty amazing -- and thanks, the extra entertainment is nice.

But something scares me about UGA-UT this week. Aren't you a little scared that everybody and their brother loves UGA?

I know you picked Georgia, but how can the Vols keep this one close?

Thanks and thanks for the 5-at-10

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From Chas9

If the nationwide line is 10.5 and locally it's 14, does that mean our locals have lost more confidence in UT than reality would dictate? (I'd take Gawga minus 14, for what it's worth.)

Todd and 9er -

Let's take the second part first. 9er, a bloated line does not mean lost confidence. It means too money on one side or the other. As of now there has been little movement of the UGA-UT line nationally - it's staying at the 10.5- to 11-point range - but we're hearing local entertainment entrepreneurs have it closer to 13 and rising.

Todd, we're going to need a minute - we have a slew of meetings this morning - but we'll be back with a couple of scenarios of how the Vols can make this can tight. Didn't want to short-change this one because of the possibilities.

To the rest of the mailbag, and back with Todd's answer in a few moments.

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From SS

You mention the little 5@10s every now and then. I have two kids about the same age.

What's yours favorite TV show or movie? Better yet, what's your favorite show of theirs. Man some of this stuff is bad.

Thanks for the 5@10 and hope to hear you on the radio again.

SS -

Excellent question, and our all-time favorite Disney movie is still more than likely The Lion King.

But man, how far has the Disney stuff come. From Lion King to Toy Story to Cars to Despicable Me, the stuff is nuts.

The 5-at-10 tots are more iPad nuts than TV nuts, which is good. And bad. Who knows, right?

And they shuffle through TV show pretty quickly, whether it's Curious George or Paw Patrol or Clifford or what ever is the cartoon du jour (hmmm sounds good, think I'll have that).

As for our favorites of theirs, well, Phineas and Ferb on Disney is excellent. It was created by two cats who met working on The Simpsons and hatched a plan to have a Family Guy-type show for the entire family. It's well done. There are some others, and the Cars movie is top-shelf and popular as well.

As for the least favorite, it's without question Caillou. (We have been blessed to avoid the purple dinosaur and a slew of other signing and dancing halloween characters. Knock on wood.)

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From A fan

I love playoff baseball. It's awesome.

What's your Rushmore of favorite playoff baseball moments?

Thanks and you talk too much. I always wanted to say that.

A fan -

Playoff baseball is awesome, and it is because of the intensity and the drama.

Those emotions are magnified in large part by the fact that we have just watched the six-month slow dance that is the baseball regular season. Now, it's time to tango.

Our Rushmore of favorite playoff baseball moments has a clear and distinct No. 1 - Gibson going deep off Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. (Funny thing, knowing the regulars on this board, there will be a slew of Sid Slides and the Red Sox finally winning as those people's clear No. 1s.)

Our others are Sid's slide when the Braves beat the Pirates in Game 7 of the NLCS in '92, Wohlers giving up the homer to Jim Leyritz in '96 and W throwing out the first pitch of Game 3 of the World Series in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks and piping a strike down the middle.

Strange list, no? What's on yours?

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From Patrick

I can't remember a time when there were this many excellent SEC QBs, can you?

Also, I heard you like the draft, so if you had to draft the SEC quarterbacks of the last 20 years, what's your draft board look like?

Thanks.

Patrick -

Excellent question, and you have heard correctly, we love the draft - you know this.

This group of current SEC QBs is extraordinary, and that fact magnifies the hole some teams have at quarterback. (Talking about you Tennessee and you too Kentucky.)

Look around the league right now, and South Carolina (Shaw and Thompson), Florida (the injured Driskel and Murphy) and Mississippi State (Prescott and Russell) for sure have two quarterbacks on their roster that would be starting in Knoxville. And that's not even counting the M-and-M boys of Manziel, Murray, Mettenberger and McCarron. Good times.

As for the draft board, well, we're going to give you three top-five draft boards since there are three styles of offenses that have been littered about the league since the early 1990s. These lists are based on combination of college skill set and college success. Peyton Manning will be undervalued in some of your eyes. So it goes.

Pro-style offense

1) AJ McCarron (say what you want, but dude is about to win his third national title as a starter)

2) David Greene

photo NFL quarterback Peyton Manning

3) Peyton Manning

4) Aaron Murray

5) Jay Barker

Passing spread

1) Danny Wuerffel

2) Rex Grossman

3) Tim Couch

4) Eli Manning

5) Chris Leak

True spread

1) Cam Newton

2) Tim Tebow

3) Johnny Football

4) Heath Shuler

5) Dameyune Craig

We're sure we're missing some. Thoughts?

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From the 5-at-10 to our loyal readers

We asked this late Thursday, but thought it was worth a re-run if you are so inclined: Which SEC coach would be the best drinking buddy other than Spurrier? We say Franklin followed closely by Jones and Bielema. And the all-time leaders would be Johnny Majors and Pat Dye.

Which would be the worst other than Saban?

Which would be the best DD? Easy - Richt.

Discuss - and is it possible Les Miles could be on all three lists?