Read Steve’s post to get a flavor of how I feel about the Tigers and Tide doling out free Iron Bowl (and other) tickets and parking passes to legislators and other government officials throughout the state.

I was half joking when the story first broke about auditing the tax returns of recipients of the tickets, but I’m thinking that may be just what the public needs to call for.  I would bet a Tide-y amount of money that a large portion of the various politicians and bureaucrats didn’t list the tickets or parking passes as income, which they are since they have value.  I also wonder how the federal and state income tax auditors would value the tickets since they can’t be purchased by us common folk without first contributing hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to the school’s athletic fundraising group.

For the record, the chairman of the utterly useless Alabama Ethics Commission says the ticket give aways don’t violate ethics laws.

Ethics Commission Director Jim Sumner said under the law universities and other organizations may give away tickets to sporting and other entertainment events without penalty and without reporting it.

“As long as it’s not of continuous nature such as giving season passes, they’re at liberty to invite members of the State Legislature to these events,” he said.

Maybe Sumner and I have differing definitions of “continuous nature.”  If the universities give all those tickets and parking passes away every year it seems quite continuous in nature to me.  I wonder if Sumner gets tickets?

Sumner was quoted in the Birmingham News sounding a little more critical of the gifts.

The Ethics Commission says there’s nothing illegal about the free tickets. “I’m not saying it’s the right thing,” said Jim Sumner, the commission’s director and a former lobbyist for the University of Alabama. “But it’s the way it’s always been done.”

Seriously.  Sumner justifies the bribes by saying that “it’s always been done” that way.  He admits it’s not the “right thing,” which I presume means it’s the “wrong thing.”  So Sumner is saying that doing the wrong thing is OK because that is how we’ve always done it.  And he’s leading our ethics commission.

From AL.com:

The longest serving member of the Alabama Legislature said today he will take the president of Auburn University to court because he didn’t receive his customary pair of tickets to the Auburn-Alabama football game.

Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, also suggested politics may have played a role.
Holmes said he would file court papers to compel Auburn President Jay Gogue to testify in Montgomery Circuit Court.

Holmes said Gogue and his staff have been unresponsive to his questions about why he did not receive his tickets before Saturday’s game at Auburn.

“I think it’s very unprofessional that a president of a state-supported university would not respond to an inquiry made by the senior member of the House of Representatives or any member of the House of Representatives,” said Holmes. “In light of that fact, I plan to put him under oath and let him testify.”

In a long-standing custom, each legislator receives two tickets to the Auburn-Alabama game each year, along with parking passes. When the game is played in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama provides the tickets and parking passes.

“I did a survey with other members of Legislature to determine whether they got their tickets, and they did,” said Holmes.

First of all, just why do legislators get free tickets and parking to the Iron Bowl, the most coveted sporting event ticket in the state?  I wonder how many of them list this form of income on their tax returns (hint, hint Mr. IRS auditor).

War Eagle!

(AP Photo/Rob Carr)

I’m sorry, but I can’t help but take a large degree of joy seeing the vaunted (and expensive) Nick Saban utterly fail in his first year in T-town.  He came in walking on water and the hapless, hungry Alabama fan base set him on a pedestal.  A few months later the season is over and Bama doesn’t even have a winning record.  Six wins.  Six losses.  Six straight to AU.

There’s really no way to pardon the team’s performance.  You can’t say, “Well, he was playing with Shula’s boys.”  Shula coached with most of the same players last year and also won six games - and didn’t lose to the Louisiana Monroe WarHawks.  Saban has bought the Tide absolutely no improvement.  It looks like the long term investment is going to be slow to mature.

And I gotta say I’m glad Saban wasn’t president during 9/11 or Pearl Harbor.  His foolish evocation of those events in a press conference after the ULM loss may have been intended to fire up his troops, but it didn’t seem to work.

Enough of that…

One item of note from the game itself.  Just why the hell are there police with attack dogs on the field during the game?  Is that really what the school plans on using if some overly excited kids rush the field?  They’re going to sic friggin’ dogs on students?!?!  I only ask because in the fourth quarter of the game Auburn DB Jerraud Powers made a play in the back of the end zone and as he was walking away a police dog lunged at him and bit his hand.  Powers wasn’t threatening the dog in any way and the handler had the dog positioned just a couple of feet out of bounds.  According to Powers in an interview after the game, the bite drew blood.

I think it is time for the university to review their policy and get those animals off the field.  What if a player dove out of the end zone to make a play and landed on or near the dog and the animal started to maul the player?  There is absolutely no reason to have dogs trained to attack sitting on the field of a sporting event.

In honor of the upcoming Iron Bowl…

Final score: Alabama 14 - University of Louisiana Monroe 21

As I remember it Mike Shula was run out of T-Town after a season where he lost to Mississippi State (among others) and Auburn for the 5th time in a row.  The Tide rolled out the big bucks for Nick Saban for what?  A 6-5 record (with the Iron Bowl left to play) which includes losses to Mississippi State and the ULM Warharks - a Sunbelt school.  Great return on investment.  What will be the response from the trailer park folks if their beloved Tide loses to Auburn for a 6th time in a row?

I don’t follow the sports rumors that closely, but I have heard the one about Tuberville going to Texas A&M.  I have two words in response: Jimmy Sexton.  Sexton is Tuberville’s agent and is always the first to push his client’s name for any opening - real or not.  All we’re seeing is some very public negotiating with the Auburn trustees.

Quick hits:

• Poor, poor Michigan.  I almost feel sorry for the folks in maize and blue.  Almost.
• Clemson’s backfield is good.  Very good.
• Charlie Weis is not a football god.  He is in fact a human.  And his team got absolutely throttled by a Georgia Tech team with a great D.
• Attention Bama fans: you beat a cupcake - don’t get big(er) heads already.  Tough road ahead.
• Auburn has some serious weaknesses and better fix them in a hurry or else it will be a very long year.
• Ditto for Va Tech.

Armchair quarterback:

As expected, the inexperience on Auburn’s O-line caused major problems for the Tigers.  The Wildcats seemed to have defenders in the back field on every down.  The ground game couldn’t get going because the runners were getting wrapped up before they made their second step.  Cox didn’t have his finest game, but he was under constant pressure.  The defense was stout, with only a handful of lapses.  K State was picking Auburn apart early with little slant passes, but Muschamp took those away after the second drive.  That was good news because I’ve never been impressed with his ability to adjust his schemes mid game.

Getting Lester back will help out the ground game a good bit, but until the O-line stiffens up the Tigers are going to struggle to put points on the board.

The results:

I went 5-3 this week.  Not too shabby.

Wins

 Western Carolina @ Alabama (NL)

• My pick: UAT
• Reality: UAT 52 - Western Carolina 6

Kansas St. @ Auburn (-13.5)

• My pick: Aub*
• Reality: Auburn 23 - Kansas State 13

Florida St. @ Clemson (+1.5)

• My pick: Clemson
• Reality: Clemson 24 - FSU 18

Georgia Tech @ Notre Dame (-2)

• My pick: GT
• Reality: Georgia Tech 33 - Notre Dame 3

Washington State at Wisconsin (-14)

• My pick: Wisc.
• Reality: Wisconsin 42 - Washington State 21

Losses

Troy @ Arkansas (-24)

• My pick: Ark
• Reality: Arkansas 46 - Troy 26

Oklahoma St. @ Georgia (-6.5)

• My pick: OK St.
• Reality: Georgia 35 - Oklahoma State 14

Tennessee @ Cal (-5.5)

• My pick: UT
• Reality: California 45 - Tennessee 31

Last year I tried to give my predictions on about 10 college football games each week.  I made it through most of the season, but fell off the proverbial wagon near the end.  I’m going to give it another go this year, but I’ll probably pare back the number of games some weeks in order to finish out the season.  I already missed the Thursday night games, which is a bad harbinger.  The LSU game was a gimmie.

I typically will give the line on the game and pick both the winner and whether or not that team will cover.  After all the games have been played I’ll summarize my results.  A star beside my pick means that the team will win, but will not cover.  I don’t personally gamble - I work too hard to place my money at risk on college kids - and I hope none of you are foolish enough to wager your own money based on what I type here.

So without any further hesitation…

Troy @ Arkansas (-24): Ark

Arkansas gets McFadden’s Heisman campaign under way by pounding Troy.

Western Carolina @ Alabama (NL): UAT

The Tide will take care of business today, giving fans false hope for the season.  Get ready for at least five losses.

Kansas St. @ Auburn (-13.5): Aub*

I’m the classic dour, pessimistic Auburn fan.  Here are some factors that don’t bode well:

• Starting AU tailback Brad Lester has been suspended for this game.  That will leave Ben Tate as the starter.  Tate is talented, but he doesn’t as much game experience as Lester to help Brandon Cox identify blitzes.
• Kansas St. is returning 8 starters on defense - including their sack leader.
• Auburn’s O line is almost completely new.
• Cox often resembles a planted tree in the pocket.

Auburn wins, but they have to do so by hammering the ball on the ground and grinding out the Wildcats.

Oklahoma St. @ Georgia (-6.5): OK St.

Just a hunch.

Tennessee @ Cal (-5.5): UT

Tennessee will have to put some points on the board, but I think they’ll be able to get past the Bears.

Florida St. @ Clemson (+1.5):  Clemson

Baby Bowden always seems to do pretty well against papa.  Plus, Clemson has to start building up its fans so that Bowden can blow some games near the end of the season and leave them dejected.

Georgia Tech @ Notre Dame (-2): GT

Tech wins because of their defense.  Plus I hate Notre Dame.

Washington State at Wisconsin (-14): Wisc.

Good early test for a stout Badger team.  Expect them to meet the challenge.

Well, just about.

Aggravated assault charges have been filed against a church deacon and University of Oklahoma Sooners fan after officials say he grabbed a University of Texas fan between the legs during a scuffle in an Oklahoma bar.

A couple of months before the annual Red River Shootout between the Sooners and Longhorns, words were exchanged at Henry Hudson’s Pub between Allen Beckett, 53, and Brian Thomas. Witnesses said it was because Thomas was wearing a UT T-shirt.

Neither Thomas or Beckett chose to comment, but the police report described what happened to the victim, including graphic details about his injuries that included a torn scrotal sack with partially exposed testicles.

Beckett’s lawyer says his client is “not necessarily an overboard die-hard OU fan.”

Just for all you Bama fans:

“Bear” by Chance Jones and Mike Lantrip

Performed by Roger Hallmark