The Works, thing with feathers-style

I'm carrying a grudge against your back. Nothing personal.

Again? It was just a few days ago that Tubby was answering questions about Raven Gray mulling over a transfer, and now apparently it's the offensive line's turn. The rumblings that Chaz Ramsey (!) could transfer (?!?!) have apparently grown loud enough that the beat reporters felt it necessary to have Tubby address them. It would have been quite nice, thank you, if Tubby had responded with "Charles Ramsey, Esquire, transfer? Poppycock! Balderdash! Hogwash! Claptrap!" (Apparently, it would also have been nice if he'd worn a monocle and been British.) But he didn't; instead he said

I don't know what to tell you about it. He hasn't practiced with us. Nobody's told me anything (about transferring). I've heard rumors, too. I checked. He's still in school, and we hope he stays.

Well, we hope, too. I would say, based on nothing but blind optimism and Tubby's having "checked," that things should work out; it's just rumor, as Tubby points out, and it's not like Ramsey's in any danger of losing his job once he's healthy, I wouldn't think. So why would he bolt?

Of course, I was optimistic about the DeRon Furr situation, too, and we all saw how that one turned out. We've seen one player transfer out as soon as camp opened, another leave not long after, and consistent talk that others might follow it seems like almost ever since. I'm not blaming anyone--if Raven Gray has to redshirt and what the mill starts churning is that he's on his way out, I'm not sure what Tubby can do about it--but it's not fall camp anymore, where this sort of thing happens and you shrug your shoulders. It's Week 2. Auburn hosts Southern Miss on Saturday, and if they are not prepared, they will lose. This kind of tumult and discord cannot help Auburn be prepared.

More QB chatter. Jay G. Tate:

I believe Burns is going to emerge soon. He's the more dynamic player. He has a stronger arm. He knows the offense. If Chris Slaughter catches that long pass and Rod Smith is in bounds on that almost touchdown last weekend, Burns finishes the game 6-of-9 for 100+ yards and two touchdowns.

I'm supposed to believe Todd still would be this weekend's starter?

Co-sign.

The Band is out on the Field! Cool beans from Auburntron: a link in which you may arrange the Auburn U. Marching Band (recipient of the 2004 Sudler Intercollegiate Marching Band Trophy ... man, that was a good year all the way around, wasn't it?) on Pat Dye Field however you may please. Though there's a bit of confusion, it looks like, in getting the digital band members to line up for a bottom-row "E" properly:



War Blog Fagle, everyone!

Even cooler beans. Joel of Rocky Top Talk is now bringing the glory of their animated drive charts to the masses. See below, with full-screen goodness also available:
Full Screen Version Dude, sweet.

Upshot? In the wake of the postponement of LSU's game with Troy, I have to ask: will this benefit Auburn? With the Trojans off of LSU's schedule until November and seriously hapless North Texas the only remaining Bayou Bengal opponent between now and the Decider, all three teams Auburn will have faced will have been more challenging than any LSU will have played. Will that make Auburn more, for lack of a better word, battle tested? Who really knows, and I would--obviously--prefer that Gustav had gone back to Bulgaria and that LSU and Troy had played their game as scheduled. But it's something to consider.

Headline o' the Week. Mark McCarter's Huntsville Times column is titled:

Auburn can still bounce back from its 34-0 victory

Mmmmmm, that's good sarcasm.

Huh. This is probably one of those things all the kids at the cool table of the cafeteria already know and that admitting I just found out about it only proves what an out-of-touch dork I am, but ... this is a houndstooth hat:



and Old School Nasty would like to know if you've ever spotted one atop the head of a certain iconic football coach--

I'm begging anyone to find a picture of Bear Bryant wearing houndstooth and send it to me.

--since, he says, all the photographs he's found of said coach show him sporting a plaid hat of similar design. To which I say: huh. (And not OMG BURRRRRRNNNNN!!1!!!11one! Still just a hat. But The More You Know ...)

Elsewhere, Orson shrewdly debunks the "Atlanta is a bad sports town" slander I, too, have grown weary of over the years ... Tennessee fans and Tennessee parents go at it in a rare MSM look inside the world of the message board ... and while I don't think anyone's about to label Gump for Heisman's views on women or various other topics "progressive" [insert stereotypical dig at 'Bama fans here], I quite literally could not stop laughing at his diary of the Clemson game. Highly recommended if you are not my mother or under the age of 13.