For followers of the SEC, and SEC football in particular, the summer’s most significant event has just wrapped: SEC Media Days in Hoover.

The event is more or less considered the ceremonial party that let’s football fans know that SEC football is right around the corner. The media casts votes for all-conference teams. The coaches stand at podiums and spread their various messages of hope. And radio hosts sit in a dark hallway, waiting for the arrival of someone — anyone — other than another radio host.

And as usual, there were one or two “controversial” story-lines to feed the media frenzy. (Two years ago, it was Phil Fulmer and the subpoena. Last year, it was Tim Tebow’s chastity. This year it was agentgate.)

And as usual, there were a couple of new faces on the agenda, one of whom was still an assistant up until just a couple of weeks ago.

New Vandy coach Robbie Caldwell (Andy Bitter)

***

As far as Auburn goes, this summer has been about as good as it gets. Which is to say, there haven’t been too many headlines. (Compare that with, say, news out of Knoxville or Athens or … Miami.) And heading into the season, there’s plenty of reason for optimism. (In fact, Auburn received the 3rd highest number of 1st place votes from the media, behind only Alabama and Florida.)

At SEC Media Days, Auburn players Lee Ziemba, Aairon Savage, and Josh Bynes all acquitted themselves well. (Had there been an award for Best Dressed, Savage definitely would’ve been in the running.) And Coach Chizik continued to be the steadying presence that the program needs.

Aairon Savage (photo, AP)

Aairon Savage (video, CBS 42)

Josh Bynes (audio, WJOX FM)

Gene Chizik (article, Birmingham News)

SEC Media Days (video, al.com)

All-SEC Tigers (auburntigers.com)

But to put things in the big picture, now that SEC Media Days are behind us, we can really start looking forward to the new season. Fan Day is scheduled for Aug. 15, and the first game is Sep. 4.

Until then … feel free to revisit this classic WarEagleTales post from Media Days ’08, in which I try to ease myself into the various SEC proceedings. And true to my word, I haven’t been back since!

John goes to Hoover (WarEagleTales)

War Eagle!

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Ah, yes. The Dog Days of Summer. Those glorious summer days when family pets laze about on the lawns, temperatures reach sub-Saharan highs, and the SEC’s beat writers attempt to concoct meaningful sports stories out of thin air.

Are we in them? That’s hard to say, since I don’t technically know what they are, but it certainly feels that way, what with the football season some eight weeks away and the college baseball season now a fading memory. And also that dog incessantly barking outside my window. Excuse me one second …

EXIT Stage Left.

Sound FX (offstage): Slam! (Sound of window SHUTTING.)

RE-ENTER Stage Left.

(Grumbling): “Dadburn dog. Interrupting my special ‘War Eagle’ time.”

And moving on …

***

So what exactly have we been up to here at WarEagleTales, in the midst of this typically hot and humid July? Great question. Glad you asked.

1) New-look website!

That’s right! You thought I wasn’t going to mention it, didn’t you? Well, I am. Thanks to the man with the digital thumb, Sir Perry Balian, WarEagleTales is now operating more quickly and efficiently than ever. Gone are the days of slow-load times; here are the days of quick-load times. And also cool new flash animation!

2) Tweets!

Yep. You got it. Twitter. You can find us pretty much every day over at Twitter.com/wareagletales, tweeting away with the best of them. And if you’re not already on there, I would highly encourage you to check it out. (Unless you have an addictive personality, in which case, I would encourage you to forget that I mentioned it. Don’t even go there.)

3) Making friends!

Are you on Facebook? Well, guess what? So are we! Wanna be our friend? (Facebook.com/wareagletales) … You DO love Auburn, don’t you?

***

As a student at Auburn, I personally loved summer quarter. It was probably my favorite time of the year, aside from the fall, which for obvious reasons was my No. 1 favorite quarter. (Intramural football, anyone!)

As a football fan, however, summer can really be a drag. There’s just not really much going on — or at least that the beat writers can write about.

So to alleviate some of your pain, we’ll leave you with a little something to help pass the time until Sept. 4, when Auburn 2010 gets cranked up.

Until next time. War Eagle!

Auburn Football Pump-Up Video 2010

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“It would be impractical to revote. It’s been six years. Memories have faded and the poll board from that year is no longer intact.” — AP Sports Editor Terry Taylor, June 11, 2010

As luck would have it, the poll board here at WarEagleTales is very much intact. So intact, in fact, that it was never out of tact. Not even during that ugly Nallsminger episode of ’03. But I digress …

In light of recent actions taken by the NCAA, we’ve decided to revisit our poll results from the 2004 football season. As many of you may recall, we cast our ballots that year in anonymous fashion. Highly anonymous, in fact, as they cannot be found anywhere. Published or otherwise.

So to rectify that little difficulty, we’ve decided to hold a re-vote. Yes, I know, such re-voting can cause all sorts of difficulties, stemming from faded memories and what not, but thanks to Al Gore, and a little thing called the Internet, an amazing amount of information still remains. Even from as far back as 2004.

To wit:

•  The Auburn University Tigers, at that time coached by one Tommy Tuberville, went undefeated. Yep, that’s right – nary a single defeat in some 13 games including a conference championship, the Sugar Bowl, and five different games against Top-15 opponents (the most of any team in the country).

•  At that time, Auburn played in a 12-team league known as the SEC. Say it with me now: “Esss-eee-seaa.” Sends a shiver down your spine, dudn’t it? Well, it should. The SEC is considered the roughest, toughest, and bestest football conference in all the land. Doubt me? Just look at its record in BCS title games: 6-0. Not too shabby, eh?

•  Under the guidance of a certain defensive coordinator by the name of Gene Chizik, the 2004 Auburn defense held opponents to a nation’s best 11.3 points per game. Forgot about that didn’t ya? Well, don’t worry, because many have, what with future NFL stars Jason Campbell, Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, Ronnie Brown, and Marcus McNeil all playing on offense. (Once again, thank you, Internet!)

•  And best of all, as it turns out Auburn had zero players who were later ruled ineligible by the NCAA. A nice, clean immaculate number that.

***

Now, in light of all this new-found information, let the 2004 WarEagleTales Football Re-vote commence! We officially call this poll board meeting to order. When I say your name, say here.

You there!

“Here.”

Me!

“Present.”

And you over there, sitting on that tree limb inside that rather large aviary.

“Squawk.”

Okay, so now that we’ve taken roll, let’s cast our votes. Up for consideration is the No. 1 team in the land. He who shall be named …… champion.

When I call your name, please cast your vote for who you believe the best team in the country was that year …  that did not utilize an ineligible player or get beaten unmercifully in its bowl game.

Okay. I’ll go first.

“Auburn!”

Now you.

“Auburn!”

And finally, you over there, with the glorious white feathers growing from your scalp.

“Squawk!”

Okay, so, let me just tally this up here … (tap-tap-tap) … (tap-tap-tap) … that’s one for … (tap-tap-tap) … and another for … (tap-tap-tap) … and carry the … (tap-tap-tap) …

Okay, folks we have a winner! And what’s that? It’s unanimous!

***

See? Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? And what’s more, we’ll even post the results below, for the sake of transparency and what not.

Final WET Poll (first-place votes)

1)      Auburn (3)

2)      (Somebody else.)

3)      (Does it really matter?)

4)      (Are you still reading?)

5)       …

War Eagle!

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WarEagleTales made it out to a couple of the SEC Baseball Tournament games this past week in Hoover. Our beloved Tigers only managed one win, which predictably was not the game we managed to attend. But in any case, it was a fun time and we came away with a handful of snapshots to share with you, our loyal readers. Specifically, these are from the first-round game versus Alabama on Wednesday and the Friday Elimination Game versus Ole Miss.

But just because we didn’t win the tournament doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road. There’s NCAA Tournament action coming up this weekend, so be sure to get your tickets for that. In the meantime, enjoy the pics. War Eagle!

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For someone who doesn’t consider himself the most avid baseball fan, I certainly dodged an obstacle or two this past week trying to take in Auburn’s SEC Baseball games in Hoover. First there was Wednesday’s episode with the traffic (Read Here), and Friday, there was the small matter of a two-hour electrical storm, which nearly sent this WarEagleTales reporter right back from whence he came.

After arriving at Regions Park around 3 p.m., and finding a nice, convenient parking spot (which unlike Wednesday’s spot was actually within a binocular’s view of the stadium), the weather took an immediate turn for the worse. The skies went dark, the wind kicked up, and oh, what’s that? Lightning? Guess we’d better hurry inside then! And find our seats among the metal bleachers!

Then, as we were actually scurrying across the parking lot toward the ticket booth, a passing fan — heading, oddly, in the opposite direction — informed us that play had been suspended due to the weather and that it wouldn’t resume before 3:45.

Undaunted — or unthinking one — we bought our tickets anyway and decided to use the weather delay as an opportunity to partake of the park’s various culinary delights, like its healthy Grilled Chicken Sandwich! (Note to self: You’re at a baseball game. Not a health spa. Next time, go for the hot dog!)

Everyone else more or less did the same thing (though presumably without having made the error of selecting that wimpy lettuce sandwich), milling about inside the corridors until the skies eventually cleared and that ubiquitous Sports-Stadium-Voice-Guy informed us that the game would be starting at 4:55 p.m. Which, in fact, it did.

Of course, the game itself didn’t exactly turn out the way we Auburn fans would’ve liked, but as one optimistic fan pointed out, the early exit should at least have granted the team some extra time to recuperate before the NCAA Regionals. And speaking for myself, after two days of battling traffic and lightning, I was ready for a break as well.

In any case, the NCAA Baseball Championship is now on deck! First-round match-ups will be announced on Monday, May 31, at 11:30 a.m.

War Eagle!

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