Feedback, 10/23

Here on the Blogger digs the JCCW doesn't have all the fancy reader-related bells and whistles some of the other guys do, which is fine. But it also makes me wonder how many people wind up reading the often-thought provoking stuff we get here in our comments section, and the conclusion I've reached is "not enough." So occasionally, starting ... now, I'm going to start spotlighting and responding to various comments and e-mails here on the "main page." It'll be like Stewart Mandel's famous Mailbag columns, but with less barking stupidity. Hopefully.

In response to Tez Doolittle's second-hand tale of Tyronne Green's displeasure with trying to "get push" out of a two-point stance, tiger7_88 writes:

I hope Tyrone and all his mates on the OL that want to one day play at the next level make sure to cry to the NFL scouts that they get to meet and interview with about the two-point stance and how they "can't get push and stuff like that".

Then we'll sit back and see how it improves their draft prospects.

Anyone wanna lay a bet that if it improves their chances to make a team in the NFL that somehow, someway they'd learn how to block out of the two-point stance and "get push and stuff"?

Yeah... me too.

This might be a tad harsh--a senior who's spent his entire career in a three-point stance is probably going to have some adjustment problems to lining up in a two-point stance the whole game, as opposed to, say, a Missouri lineman who's done it from Day 1--but yeah, I'm not buying it as an out-and-out excuse, either, especially after we all heard over and over again in the preseason about how firing off from a two-point stance wasn't going to be an issue. I'm not blaming Green or his linemates, mind you; the obvious offensive coaching discord did them no favors in the switch into a two-point stance. But I seriously doubt it's impossible to run-block successfully from a two-point stance and find it more than a little disingenuous to say it's not the issue right up until the moment the guy who implemented the switch is gone, then say it is. (Though to be fair, Green didn't actually tell the media that; Doolittle did it for him.)

After I cited the consistency of Tubby's desire to beat 'Bama as something that marked him as "an Auburn man" Tuesday, an anonymous commenter left the following:

Tuberville cares first and foremost about beating Bama because he knows that's all it takes for Auburn fans to let him pocket their 3M each year. AU could be 6-6 every season but as long as they get that one win, they couldn't care less about losing to Vandy or Arkansas or never sniffing the Georgia Dome. This theory will get the litmus test this year if he finishes with 5 or 6 losses but manages to pull off #7.

Hey, I can admit there might be something to this, but I think there are two quality counterarguments:

1. Tubby hasn't just been "happy" to beat 'Bama; he's taken an almost perverse joy in it, with the raised fingers and donning the "Fear the Thumb" shirt and even the brusque "No comment" reaction to the implication 'Bama might have passed him by already. In short, Tubby sure seems to feel the same way about the Iron Bowl the fans do, and I'm not sure that's something he could successfully project for this long if it's not genuine.

2. We don't really know how Auburn fans would react to having a string of 7-5, 6-6 season with Iron Bowl wins because that's not what's happened. The only season of his entire tenure that fits that description is 2003, and whatever honest reaction Auburn fans might have had was irreparably distorted by Jetgate. My guess is that Auburn fans wouldn't actually be all that pleased; in the "litmus test" event of an Iron Bowl win to cap a 6-6 season this year, I'll frankly say that a carbon-copy "litmus test" season in 2009 would probably be enough for me to expect Tubby to move on. But again, this is all hypothetical; accusing Auburn fans of being happy with mediocrity when we haven't had the chance to experience mediocrity (until now) is, quite honestly, hogwash.

A friend of mine named Rick who attended Troy briefly but grew up a lifelong Alabama fan e-mailed me this brief but potentially cogent point about Tony Franklin:

When the only two people that speak out for you are Larry Blakeney and Rush Propst, you're probably a scumbag.

To be fair, Tubby kinda sorta spoke up for him too in absolving him of blame. But yeah, you'd have expected some of those other high school coaches or old college coaching colleagues to have stood up for him, too. The bottom line is that in the great Assistants vs. Franklin meltdown of 2008, it's just not reasonable to assign all the blame to one side or the other. Everyone here failed.

Two worthwhile comments to this recent Works post bemoaning the influx of JUCOs on the men's hoops team and and Tray Blackmon's 2008 demise. The first, from jdinmacon in regards to Lebo's strategy:

Don't knock Lebo bringing in JUCO players. Auburn's best basketball player since Charles Barkley was a JUCO transfer...Chris Porter anyone?

I think Lebo's strategy is to get some success in the SEC and to do that he needed some big guys to bang away down on the blocks - help rest Barber. If we can show some SEC success + a fancy new arena, this will help with recruiting.

Vot, Robertson and Barrett will form the core of this years team. All 3 have loads of experience. Vot was dominating until he broke his hand last year. Q is one of the more underrated guards in the league IMO. Barrett has had his moments, but would ride the bench on most SEC teams.

I responded in that thread and won't repeat myself here, but suffice it to say the JUCO route is, indeed, about the only thing Lebo could do to save his job this year; it's much more a symptom of Lebo's prior failures than a cause of whatever might befall the team this season. That alone is reason enough to grumble about it, but that it also hampers the potential next head coach's potential rebuilding job makes it worse.

And lastly, frequent commenter Sullivan013 responded to the Blackmon news with the following trip down Auburn's memory lane, which you might enjoy:

Your post on Tray Blackmon's Auburn career of half-seasons brought back memories of other fan-favorite players who either had games but not seasons or incredible Auburn seasons, but short or non-existent pro careers.

Maybe it's my love of the underdog, but I always look back with great affection for these players. They will never be known outside of a few diehard fans like me, but they once thrilled the crowd at Jordan Hare if only for a few moments over the years.

Pat Sullivan - While well known in the state, he never really got a chance in the NFL to show what made him great at Auburn: the ability to roll out of the pocket and find the receiver who slipped past his man into the open field. He played for Norm van Brocklin at Atlanta, who never let Sullivan leave the pocket. With Atlanta's laughably porous line at the time, it meant that Sullivan was destined to get sacked time and again.

Terry Beasley - Sullivan's favorite target. His elusiveness and ability to eventually shed his cover, given time dovetailed perfectly with Sullivan's rollout skills. It was nearly an unbeatable combination, and the statistics show it.

Joe Sullivan - lesser know little brother of Pat Sullivan, I remember seeing him engineer an 80 yard drive to clinch a win over LSU in 1981, our first over the Bengals since 1942.

Tre Smith - who could forget the hero of the 2002 Iron Bowl and the touchdown after the blocked punt against Florida in 2006? Yet for all his ability, he was a good back behind two great ones: Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams.

Aundray Bruce - The terror of the conference, the first of a series of blistering fast defensive ends that seem to gravitate into Auburn's orbit.

Brandon Johnson - How can you not like a guy who played fullback and mike linebacker with equally brutal intensity? Undersized in body but never in heart, he played every down at Auburn like it was the Super Bowl. That intensity may be why he never played in the NFL - a series of self inflicted concussions ended his career.

Dameyune Craig - one of the best broken play quarterbacks I ever saw. When Auburn absolutely positively needed a first down or a touchdown in a game, he was the man. In game after game, he would engineer a late drive that would catch your breath, and whether he made it or not, he always gave you hope that he could pull it off by shear will. More often than not, he did.

Brandon Cox - Should have been nicknamed 'Iceman' for his unflappability. Even being benched during a game in his senior season didn't faze this kid. He would quietly win his way back into the lineup, and our hearts with his gutsy, gritty play, and his uncanny ability to make 1 or two yards on a qb sneak, every time, no matter how many opposing players were 'in the box'. One word describes his career at Auburn: Toughness.

Carl Stewart - One of the best blocking fullbacks I ever remember watching at Auburn (and I've seen quite a few). I don't think I ever saw him miss a block, or fail in his assignment. Slightly undersized, he made up for it by his uncanny precision.

Tray Blackmon - When he gets a chance to play? Breathtaking. But half-seasons of achievement and undersized, it is doubtful he will ever make it in the NFL, no matter how hard he hits. But he will live on in our memory for hits like the one in the clip. Let's hope his senior season is complete and he is able to leave Jordan Hare with the roar of the crowd still echoing in his memory.

There are many, many more, some of whom I barely remember, who once carried my hope on their shoulders through nailbiter games in the past. War Damn Eagle, fellas. It was fun watching you play.

West Virginia preview coming soon.