I'M BACK, BABY!

FINALLY....the ROCK has come BACK TO THE BLOGOSPHERE!!!!

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Yeah, that was lame. Sorry, I'm really rusty, considering that yesterday marked the ONE MONTH anniversary of my last post. I appreciate all the cards and letters commemorating that momentous occasion.

Real life has severely limited my blogging time...business planning season at work, and a remodeling extravaganza going on at my house.

I'll be back later (PROMISE!!!) with my thoughts on the last three games, as well as my preview of the LSU slobberknocker that will take place tomorrow in Baton Rouge.

In the meantime, here are some random thoughts that I have had over the last month:

- Mad Men is the second best show on TV, behind only Lost. (Quick note: when football season is over and the new TV season starts in January, you're going to think you wondered into a Techie blog due to all of the GeekTV posts you're going to see...all Lost/BSG, all the time, baby!). Mad Men contains some of the best writing and acting out there, and the art direction is just perfect. Both the writing and the acting are subtle, so it may take a few episodes to grab you, but do yourself a favor and pick up season 1 on DVD. Season 2 is wrapping up Sunday night, but I'm sure it will be replayed on AMC...I'll try to post the times when it starts.

- The schadenfreude factor of watching Auburn's struggles has been almost overcome by pity. The whole Tony Franklin situation was just a disaster from the beginning, and it all falls at the feet of Tommy Tuberville. I never understood the hire in the first place...Auburn has always been a rugged, hit you in the mouth, old school SEC team, and they have had a good bit of success doing so. Why, why, WHY would you decide to switch from that to some frou-frou pansy spread? My heart went out to Auburn fans as I watched their offense pull that crap where they all line up on offense, and then everybody stands up and looks at the sideline. They looked like a MAC team with that little act. THEN, after you hire Tony Franklin, who only knows one offensive philosophy, you tie his hands by not allowing him to hire his own staff, and leave a staff under him that has only known smash-mouth football. This was a recipe for disaster, and that's exactly what they got. The coaching staff never bought in to what Franklin was trying to do, which means the team never did, either. THEN, when the inevitable happens and the offense falls apart, you fire the coordinator in the middle of the season, and you're left with a mish-mash of players and scheme that keep you from running ANYTHING with any degree of effectiveness.

Bravo, Tuberville...Bra-freakin-vo.

Tell me if ANYBODY enjoyed watching Auburn get their lunch handed to them by West Virginia last night more than Tony Franklin...not only did the team/coach who may have cost you a career go down in flames, but they did so at the hands of the spread offense. I wouldn't have been surprised if the camera had panned up to the WVU coach's box, only to hear Jim Ross scream, "Wait a minute...that's TONY FRANKLIN'S MUSIC? Who let him up there? What a SHOCKING turn of events!"

- Tennessee, on the other hand...I'm TOTALLY enjoying watching Phat Phil's downfall. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. It's certainly turned the Phil Fulmer Show on SportSouth into Must-See TV for me. Few things in life bring more joy than watching Fulmer squirm as he says things like, "Yeah, we really didn't block anybody on that play...Another poor decision by Nick, he's gotta be better than that...looks like a blown assignment there in the secondary...." BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

- How about those Falcons? Regardless of what happens from here on out, you have to be excited about the future of this team. Let me be one of many to say that I was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG about drafting Matt Ryan. This guy is a future star in this league, and only the moron Vick apologists can possibly find anything to complain about in regards to his performance so far. It would be hard to have a better off season than what the Falcons pulled off this past year, which is AMAZING considering the shape they were in when the season ended. The Dimitroff hire looks great so far...a nearly PERFECT draft (first 4 picks: Ryan, Baker, Lofton, Douglas, all MAJOR contributors), possibly the best free agent signing of the offseason (Michael Turner). Love what Mike Smith and his coaching staff are doing right now...to be honest, it reminds me a lot of what Dan Reeves had going on, which is fine by me. We'll know more about the possibilities for this year after the next couple of weeks, but you can tell the foundation is being built, and I honestly believe the playoffs could be a possibility as early as next year.

More to come later...I've got a lot of stuff that's built up over the last month!