Auburn’s Tiger Prowl made a stop in Pelham Wednesday night at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. Several hundred Auburn fans congregated in the amphitheatre parking lot to meet with a variety of the coaches, including Trooper Taylor, Jeff Grimes, Curtis Luper, Phillip Lolley, and Tommy Thigpen. Also making an appearance was new Men’s Basketball coach Tony Barbee, plus a number of 2010 football commits (Jake Holland, LaDarius Owens, and Chad Slade). Here are a few pictures from the event:

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Auburn opened the new Auburn Arena to fans on the Saturday of its spring A-Day game. Officials estimated that some 30,000 fans made their way inside to check out the future home of Auburn’s basketball Tigers. The new arena will house both the Men’s and Women’s Basketball programs, as well as the Gymnastics team. The stated capacity for the new arena is approximately 9,600 people. A “Fan Day Open House”  will be held in August (date still to be announced). The first basketball games will tip off in November.

SEASON TICKETS

For the most detailed explanation of season-ticket sales, visit AuburnArena.com, where fans can fill out a Seat Request Form. For first-priority tickets, the site recommends visiting TigersUnlimited.com and joining Tigers Unlimited.

According to the site, “Seat selections in the Auburn Arena will be based on the Tigers Unlimited Basketball (TUF) Priority System. Once all TUF orders have been filled, any remaining seats will be sold to the general public.”

ARENA PHOTOS

The new arena — as one might expect of a brand new, $90 million athletic facility — looks fantastic. And because of its compact size, there doesn’t appear to be a bad seat in the house. Here are a few shots to whet the appetite. War Eagle!

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Around seven o’clock last night, multiple media outlets started reporting that Auburn had hired UTEP Head Coach Tony Barbee as its new head basketball coach.

Barbee, whose name was mentioned frequently on various wish lists for the job, has coached at the University of Texas-El Paso for the past four seasons. This year, he led the Miners to a 15-1 conference record and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

During the coaching search, a handful of other candidates surfaced, including former Auburn standout and current LA Lakers assistant Chuck Person, Sam Houston State Coach Bob Marlin, and North Texas Coach Johnny Jones. Tubby Smith, of Minnesota, was also mentioned early in the process.

Prior to becoming the head coach at UTEP, Barbee, 38, served as an assistant to John Calipari at the University of Memphis. There, he established his reputation as one of the top recruiters in the nation.

Barbee also played for Coach Calipari at UMass, from 1989 to 1993.

As a player, Barbee was part of two teams that won the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament championships, including one that reached the Sweet 16 in 1992. For his career, he scored 1,643 points.

In his four years as head coach at UTEP, Barbee improved the team’s standing each year, ranking 10th, 6th, 4th, and ultimately 1st in Conference USA.

This past year, UTEP finished 26-7, including victories over New Mexico State, Oklahoma, Houston, Memphis, and UAB.

Welcome to Auburn, Coach Barbee, and War Eagle!

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When I was on Twitter Saturday night (@WarEagleTales), I noticed a ton of feedback to Charles Barkley’s hosting appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” Much of it was negative (okay, who am I  kidding? MOST of it was negative) — focusing mainly on Charles’s less-than-polished acting style – though some of it was actually wildly positive (“hilarious” … “frickin’ funny” … “best host of the season,” etc.).

So some pretty different opinions, huh? 

Anyway, for those who missed the show, you can see it for yourself on Hulu.com. They’ve got the episode broken down into clips, so you can just check out the best ones if you want. (It’s Season 35, Episode 11.) Here’s a link:

Saturday Night Live on Hulu.com 

Personally, I recommend the Reel Talk skit at the beginning and the MacGruber segments, which were very funny.

Charles Barkley in MacGruber 

And as for Barkley’s admittedly stiff delivery, well … I actually didn’t think it was all that bad. Athletes typically don’t do as well as actors or comedians (naturally) on SNL, so I cut him some slack there.

And also I give him credit for the enthusiastic way he delivers his lines (“If you build it … we will knock it down!”) … even if (as Steve Nash said) it was obvious he was reading from a cue card.

From @the_real_nash : “does anyone see charles barkley blatanly reading cue cards during his saturday night live skit?”

War Eagle!

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WarEagleTales.com is proud to announce the launch of its brand new message board, The Locker. The Locker gives visitors another opportunity for sharing their opinions, particularly on topics not covered in our articles — whether it be on the latest game or the hottest tailgate.

Consider this the Auburn fan’s ultimate catchall. And like the rest of WarEagleTales.com, it’s completely free!

What to expect

Kudos, commentary, questions, criticisms — they’re all welcome inside The Locker. This is a place where users will find it all, from breaking news and recruiting talk to player updates and sports opinions. So, if you’ve got a comment or a question but don’t know where to put it … just toss it in The Locker!

Guidelines

Like other message boards, The Locker does have some general rules of decorum that users will need to abide. Vulgarity is not welcome. Nor is slander, obscenity, abusive language, or anything remotely approaching libel. Users should also be at least 13 years of age.

Getting started

Participation is simple. All you need is a username and a valid email address. Beyond that, you just need to agree to the terms of service, and that’s pretty much it. Click here or on the button to the right and you’ll be inside The Locker before you know it.

When you come back in the future, just look for The Locker button at the top of the page and it’ll open up in a separate window.

Have fun, and War Eagle!

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