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SEC projections
I have mentioned that I have high hopes for Auburn this season.
I have also mentioned that I think Tennessee has a legit path to the playoff.
But then this list of All-SEC projections hit the interwebs, and it gave me great pause about both of those theories.
Between them UT and Auburn have exactly one player — Vols WR Bru McCoy — among the first- or second-team selections.
Now know that between them, UT and Auburn have exactly one player listed among the first three teams of defensive selections.
If those two teams do not have the star power — man, tons of Bama, Georgia and LSU names there, as you would expect — how can any of us expect them to excel in a league driven by star power?
I'll wait for your response.
Why don't you sit the next few plays out
So, there are so many great lines from "Anchorman" including the above reference when Brian Fontana not-so-subtly tells Champ to shush.
"That escalated in a hurry. Brick killed a guy."
Well, can someone please tell Jay Monahan to sit the next few years out?
Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner who put the crisy in hypocrisy, spoke on the state of the Tour and golf Tuesday as the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings head to East Lake to play for more money than the GDP of most third-world nations.
Monahan claims the merger with LIV and the hundreds of billions of the PIF that funds Saudi Arabia is still a go.
Monahan said the PGA Tour will emerge stronger because of the LIV divide, the merger and the infusion of the oil money.
He had fewer details than Clinton being asked about Lewinsky however.
And the double talk — agree to disagree, right Ron; and when in Rome — was over the top.
Monahan's blurry sound bites were so cloudy even a famous quote deflector like Bill Belichick would have to be thinking, "Wow, that's brilliant."
Check this quote out and tell me if we're talking about golf or whether it's Chuck Fleischmann saying for the umpteenth time that the Chick Lock is a chief goal.
"I appreciate your question, and as I just said earlier, these are the kind of topics and discussions that we're having right now ... So to be able to project what's going to happen, I don't have an answer today and when we complete our discussions, we'll have an answer for that question. So that's a non-answer, but that's my position."
Egad.
And all of this as we wonder — yet Monahan was not asked about it — whether Zach Johnson will even consider qualified LIV players like Brooks Koepka for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Seems like ol' Jay may be in a glass case of emotion.
Mean man punted Baxter.
Speaking of the Tour Championship at East Lake
Jon Rahm was the opposite of Jay Monahan, meaning he was thoughtful, interesting and insightful.
As well as open.
"Aqua Lung."
Rahm riffed on some possible changes to the scoring system used this week at the Tour Championship.
I get the reasoning. No one wants to have a scenario like we did several years ago when Justin Rose was winning the big title but Tiger was winning the tournament and the confusion that ensued.
So the season-long points race gets folded into a tiered scoring system heading to this weekend's event.
But it does feel rather convoluted in several ways, too.
Rahm's most fair criticism centers with his personal scenario. At No. 5 in points, he's five shots off pre-tournament leader Scottie Scheffler. But Rahm at fifth is also only five shots ahead of 30th as well.
But maybe the most interesting wrinkle of Rahm's all-encompassing interview was his riffs on how golf gamblers impact every round the players play.
Here's more, and here is his soliloquy on the topic:
"I feel like we hear it every single round. That happens way more often than you guys may hear. I mean, it's very, very present," the Masters champion said.
"In golf, spectators are very close, and even if they're not directly talking to you, they're close enough to where if they say to their buddy, 'I bet you 10 bucks he's going to miss it,' you hear it.
"Luckily golf fans are pretty good for the most part, and you're hearing the positive, 'I got 20 bucks you make birdie here,' things like that. But no, it's more often than you think.
"I think the tour maybe should look into it, because you don't want it to get out of hand, right?
"It's very easy, very, very easy in golf if you want to affect somebody. You're so close, you can yell at the wrong time, and it's very easy for that to happen.
"So I think they could look into it, but at the same time, it would be extremely difficult for the tour to somehow control the 50,000 people scattered around the golf course, right?
"So it's a complicated subject. You don't want it to get out of control, but you also want to have the fans to have the experience they want to have."
Yeah, buddies betting beers on Max Homa making a 5-foot putt is one thing.
But what if you are in-game betting on apps, is there a sport a fan/bettor could have more of a direct impact on than golf?
Yelling at a player during his back swing is one thing. But what if you have Rahm to win this weekend and have a ticket to Sunday's final round. You follow Rahm and he pulls his tee shot on No. 16 and you throw it back into the fairway.
Thoughts?
This and that
— Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond" is gold. If you know, you know. If you don't, here you go.
— You know the rules. Here's Paschall on some UT news and notes.
— Braves played. Braves won. Side note: Marcel Ozuna is crushing. That he's hitting close to .260 after getting to May 1 going 5-for-59 is staggering. So since the end of April, Marcel is 96-for-334.
— This may be the best political news I've seen in a handful of months. Donald Trump finished third among GOP hopefuls in this Iowa poll.
— So Megan Rapinoe is criticizing her critics because they are anti-women or are far right politically. First, her performance at the World Cup was dreadful, and that has nothing to with her hair color or her politics. But she can boycott the anthem and demand that transgender women get to compete against cisgender women, and that's freedom of speech? But opinions opposite of hers are hate speech? Yep, cue Mr. Burgundy. Let's agree to disagree, Megan.
Today's questions
Hey, which way Wednesday starts this way:
Which NFL team — other than your personal fav — has you the most intrigued?
Which player are you rooting for this week at East Lake?
Which sports exec is the least likable, Jay Monahan, former NCAA chief Mark Emmertt or Rob Manfred?
Which song — if either — is more offensive, "Fat Bottomed Girls" or "Baby Got Back" in your opinion?
Which will be the best team in the SEC, Alabama, Georgia, LSU?
You know the drill. Answer some, ask some.
As for today, Aug. 23, let's review.
On this day in 1994, Jeff Buckley released his album that included his cover of "Hallelujah." It's one of the best covers of all time.
I am sure we've done the Rushmore of covers, though.
Two true all-timers who died too soon were born this day. River Phoenix would have been 53. Kobe Bryant would have been 45.
If Phoenix's all-time great "Stand By Me" is to be considered, what's the Rushmore of movies that the majority of the main characters are under 16?
Go.