5 DEC 04: FIRST AND TENN.
Instant Message to Georgia Public Broadcasting: Shame on you. Gerald Riggs Junior played for Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference championship Saturday night -- yet you made his dad broadcast the Georgia AAAAA high school finals in Gwinnett County?! I guess that's why you're not called the "Family Channel."
Auburn blew an early 21-0 lead, then held on to top Tennessee 38-28 and win the Southeastern Conference title. Won't Tiger fans be upset while they watch TV today -- especially if one of "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" turns out to be the operator of a computer ranking service?
(Why do I have this feeling the Bowl Championship Series will treat Auburn football the way the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools will treat the university on Tuesday?!)
Tennessee mounted a comeback after two Auburn punts went bad - with one kick shanked, and another lost to a fumbled snap. I could almost hear the Alabama fans yelling at their TV sets, "Punt, Auburn, Punt!"
A key play in the second half was a touchdown pass from Auburn's Jason Campbell to receiver Devin Aromashodu. This was the first time I've ever seen a football team benefit from "Aroma-therapy."
The quote of the night at the S.E.C. Finals had to come from Jeff Van Note, talking about Tennessee on the conference radio network: "Sometimes a receiver has to make a quarterback look better than he really is." Talk about cursing with faint praise....
Ogletree Village in Auburn set up a large TV screen outside, so Tiger fans could watch the game tailgate-style. With temperatures falling into the 40's, you had to wonder why the university didn't open Beard-Eaves Coliseum. Did Ed Richardson cut the budget for popcorn and soda?
Auburn hoped to trample Tennessee with a lopsided win, then gain enough votes in polls to make the Bowl Championship Series title game. Instead, Auburn only won by ten while Oklahoma clobbered Colorado in the Big 12 Final. "Boomer Sooner" - Bummer Tiger.
I couldn't help noticing while Auburn was moving to 12-0 on the year, Louisville was winning its last two games by a combined score of 125-14. How about an Auburn-Louisville bowl game - and the losing team has to keep trustee Bobby Lowder?
I'm sure Auburn supporters will develop all sorts of reasons why the Tigers should be in the Bowl Championship Series title game - but to be fair, there are logical explanations for Auburn to be left out:
+ Auburn didn't hurry to score more points in the final two minutes, to make the win look more impressive. Steve Spurrier certainly would have done that.
+ The SEC title game didn't end until after 10:00 p.m. ET -- and as attorney Richard Hagler would tell you, the Tigers should have been at home with their children long before then.
+ Citadel on the schedule instead of Southern California. Need we say more?
By the way, did you notice AFLAC's new logo was missing from the trivia questions at Saturday's college football games? This may be the first time Columbus is ahead of Atlanta on something since -- well, since Glenn Davis and C.C. Sabathia played minor-league baseball at Golden Park.
Meanwhile, congratulations to LaGrange High School - which beat Washington County 17-6 Saturday night, and won the Georgia AAA title for the second year in a row. And LaGrange was "LG" long before that phone company was....
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