The dog days of July are almost over. Soon, pads will be popping all over the country, both at the collegiate and professional levels. My thoughts on Ole Miss’ fall camp, recruiting, Steve Spurrier, the NFC West, baseball’s Hall of Fame induction class, Cole Hamels, Steve Patterson and more follow here, thanks to Oxford-based RE/MAX agent Harry Alexander.
1. In just over a week or so, fall camp begins at Ole Miss. The Rebels’ Media Day is Aug. 6, and the season begins some four-plus weeks later when Ole Miss entertains UT-Martin. Just like at every campus, there are plenty of story lines to follow during fall camp. Here are five big ones, at least in my opinion, for Ole Miss:
A. Who’s the quarterback? Do you like quarterback stories? Well, this is the camp for you. Chad Kelly, Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade will all, presumably, get long looks in August. Hugh Freeze said all three would likely get game snaps in the first couple of weeks of the season. Ole Miss travels to Alabama on Sept. 19. Freeze admitted recently he would like to settle on a starter by then.
B. Are Laquon Treadwell and Laremy Tunsil healthy? Both stars saw their seasons end with gruesome lower leg injuries. Both have, according to every possible source, resumed full-speed drills for some time now. For the Rebels to compete for a championship, both Treadwell and Tunsil have to have dominant seasons.
C. Can the offensive line develop some quality depth? How will Aaron Morris hold up physically? Can Fahn Cooper take the next step in his second season at Ole Miss? Can Rod Taylor pick up some of the intricacies of line play? Can Javon Patterson have an impact as a freshman? Can Christian Morris provide depth at tackle? Will Jeremy Liggins be forced to move away from tight end and back to tackle? Is Daronte Bouldin ready to help? Yes, I know those are a lot of questions. That was sort of the point.
D. Can someone step up at linebacker? D.T. Shackelford is gone. So are Keith Lewis and Serderius Bryant. No, those guys aren’t going to tear up the NFL, but they were quality SEC linebackers. Who steps in to replace them? There are quality candidates, ranging from C.J. Johnson to Christian Russell to DeMarquis Gates to Shawn Curtis. Denzel Nkemdiche is back from injury. Terry Caldwell should help as well. Again, there are lots of options for Dave Wommack and Co., but it’s simply imperative that August is productive at the linebacker position.
E. Can this team handle heightened expectations? There will be talk of championship contention in camp. The Rebels will open the season in the Associated Press Top 25, likely in the top 15. There are multiple NFL prospects on the roster, many of whom are in their junior seasons with high spots in most major mock drafts. It’s unchartered waters for the Rebels, and it’s new for Hugh Freeze. Personally, I don’t think this will be a major issue, but I expect a different air around the program. Those pressures can be suffocating.
2. You’re not supposed to have favorites in this business. You’re supposed to cover every team, every player and every coach the same way. Of course, sports writers are humans, too. I say that to say this: It’s really difficult not to cheer for Tee Shepard.
The Ole Miss cornerback, who has battled severe hearing loss his entire life, was the special guest at the Donuts for Dads Celebration at the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf this past Friday. Shepard was treated with a special hearing aid when he arrived in Oxford last summer, and he told his story about hearing a whistle for the first time last August.
Shepard’s is a story of perseverance and of overcoming incredible obstacles. The Fox affiliate in Memphis uploaded a media session Shepard held after his speech to the kids. I’ve linked it here.
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/Clip/11707956/tee-shepard-interview-7-24#.VbL13IEjAks.twitter
3. Ole Miss continued its late-summer run of verbal commitments Friday, landing a pledge from Brentwood, Tenn., Rivals250 offensive tackle Bryce Mathews. The run on commitments should continue this week, as Ole Miss could get good news from Marvel, Texas, Rivals250 safety Jaylon Jones on Tuesday and should get good news Sunday from Lawrenceville, Ga., three-star safety Donta Evans.
As of Sunday, Ole Miss had worked its way up to No. 7 on the Rivals.com team rankings, trailing only Ohio State, LSU, Florida State, Southern Cal, Alabama and Michigan State. Miami, Michigan and Penn State rounded out the top 10 as of Sunday. That’s heady territory.
There’s a long time between now and the first Wednesday of February, and rankings can and will change. What’s interesting about Ole Miss’ spot as of today is many of the Rebels’ highly-ranked targets _ Willie Allen, Deontay Anderson, Rashard Lawrence, Jeffrey Simmons, Nigel Knott, Drake Davis, Greg Little, among others _ remain uncommitted as of now.
Ole Miss won’t land all of the aforementioned players, but the Rebels won’t get shut out of that list either. A top-five finish isn’t out of the question.
4. Steve Spurrier made a lot of his fans happy when he called an impromptu press conference last week to urge Gamecock fans to not listen to the “enemy.” The enemy, Spurrier said, was the media, specifically The State newspaper for giving a voice to Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradley.
It’s just my opinion, but it wasn’t Spurrier’s finest hour. Anyone who knows Bradley and has followed his work knows he’s pretty tame and very responsible by any standards. In a field full of guys looking for clicks and seeking to inflame the masses, Bradley is an old-school columnist who just does his job.
At SEC Football Media Days, Bradley had the audacity to seek Spurrier out, ask him an on-the-record question about his age and then print said answer in a well thought-out column that heaped praise on the South Carolina football coach. Later in Hoover, The State beat writer, Josh Kendall, approached Bradley and asked about his thoughts on the state of the Gamecocks’ program. Bradley said it was a program on the decline and explained why. It was one guy’s opinion, but it was hardly the opinion of just one guy.
Spurrier took exception, I guess. More than likely, he’s noticing that it’s getting tougher to land elite recruits in Columbia. I don’t know. I just thought his rant _ and yeah, it was a rant _ against The State and against Bradley was a bit of a reach.
5. NFL teams report to training camp this week, but 10 Thoughts is way ahead of them. We wrapped up the AFC divisional predictions last week, and this week we switch to the NFC.
We start with the NFC West, home of the Seattle Seahawks, who likely spent the offseason thinking about what could have been _ and almost certainly should have been _ back-to-back Super Bowl titles. Instead, the Seahawks got cute on third-and-goal from the 1-yard-line, and Russell Wilson was intercepted, giving New England a championship.
Russell wants to become the league’s highest-paid quarterback, and Seattle wants to give him a more conservative deal. Will that be a distraction? The Seahawks added tight end Jimmy Graham from New Orleans in the offseason and gave Marshawn Lynch a deal to make him happy. However, Max Unger was sent to the Saints in the Graham trade, and the interior of Seattle’s offensive line could be an issue.
Arizona was cruising when Carson Palmer went down with an ACL injury in Week 10. With Palmer out, the Cardinals’ offense averaged just 14.5 points per game down the stretch, and Arizona lost in the wildcard game. Palmer is back now and the Cardinals say he’s completely healthy. Defensive tackle Corey Peters and linebacker Sean Weatherspoon should bolster an already sound defense.
San Francisco enters Year 1 of the post-Jim Harbaugh era. New coach Jim Tomsula must re-tool a team that lost Harbaugh, offensive guard Mike Iupati (Arizona), running back Frank Gore (Indianapolis) and linebacker Patrick Willis (retirement) in the offseason. Of the 22 starters who played in Super Bowl 47, only seven remain on the 49ers’ roster.
The Rams, meanwhile, enter what could be their final season in St. Louis with a new quarterback (Nick Foles), a rookie running back (Todd Gurley) and a ton of questions on the offensive side of the ball. Nick Fairley should help a very good Rams defense, but the top of the division should prevent any sort of magic in St. Louis. Besides, the baseball Cardinals have a monopoly on that anyway.
My prediction: Seattle wins the division at 12-4. Arizona earns a wildcard at 10-6.
6. Randy Johnson thanked his parents for going to all of his games in high school. Craig Biggio thanked one of his coaches with the Astros, Matt Galante, for the countless hours of work that enabled his switch from catcher to second base early in his major league career. Martinez spoke about hoping he provides a source of hopes for kids from third-world countries.
My favorite speech, however, was John Smoltz’s. The former Atlanta Braves starter-turned-closer gave a moving tribute to his parents, neither of whom were sports fans.
“You didn’t know much about sports or baseball,” Smoltz said during his time on the dais in Cooperstown, N.Y. “You pretty much knew about what you knew, and that was playing the accordion because that’s how you guys met. You were accordion teachers, and I thank you for the opportunity that you started me in my quest to be the next Lawrence Welk at the age of four. I played until the age of seven and then I hit you with the ultimate whopper of all whoppers. At the age of seven, I said, ‘I know what I’m gonna be in life and I’m gonna be a Major League Baseball player.’ You loved me enough to give me room to go after my dream.”
For all of us who are parents, there’s a lesson there. It’s one I try to practice. Love them. Support them. Pray. Hope. Don’t force. It’s their life, their dreams.
7. Cole Hamels, likely pitching his final game in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform, no-hit the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Hamels’ stuff was filthy. He was throwing in the mid-90s throughout the day. His change-up, always his bread and butter pitch, was electric. He was throwing curves for strikes. The strike zone was a liberal one, and the young Cubs, showing signs of fatigue and the pressures of a wildcard chase, were not exactly disciplined at the plate. Add in a wind that made Wrigley Field bigger than its actual dimensions, and all the ingredients for a no-hitter were in place.
I actually tweeted congratulations to Hamels on his no-no after the fourth inning; one could see it coming very early.
It reminded me, for some reason, of one of my favorite movies, “For Love of the Game.” In the movie, Billy Chapel is making his final start for the Tigers against the Yankees in New York, and with Vin Scully narrating the events, Chapel throws a perfect game.
If Hamels is still wearing a Phillies uniform this time next week, the front office should be summarily dismissed. He has value to a contender _ the Dodgers and Rangers are believed to be serious suitors _ and should bring a return that aids the Phillies’ rebuilding efforts.
If, as it should be, that was Hamels’ last start for the Phillies, it was awfully special.
8. I love making fun of the University of Texas. I’m not sure why, but I do. Maybe it’s the Longhorns’ arrogance. Perhaps it’s my belief that they severely screwed up not going to the Pac 12 or the SEC five years ago. Whatever. I just find their mediocrity amusing. Bret Bielema finds it “borderline erotic,” so I won’t be concerned with my feelings until I reach that threshold.
However, I really question athletic director Steve Patterson’s competence. If you believe this piece in the New York Times (and I do), Patterson basically had Nick Saban waiting on an invitation to come to Austin to save the Longhorns. Patterson, in a stunning display of stupidity, not only screwed it up but also offended one of the most powerful men in college athletics in the process.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/2...ck-saban-alabama-vs-texas.html?referrer=&_r=0
9. As many of you know, the staff at RebelGrove.com _ Chase Parham, Jeffrey Wright and myself _ produce a daily podcast each morning called the Oxford Exxon Podcast. Chase and I started it on a bit of a whim, but it appears we were onto something.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/..."['twitter']"]&utm_source=["['twitterfeed']"]
To everyone who listens, thanks. It’s still hard to believe that the show has grown into what it is today.
10. As you know, football season is upon us, and we’re looking for sponsors for some of our weekly staples. If your business is interested in advertising on RebelGrove.com and the Oxford Exxon Podcast, drop an email to me at nealmccready@gmail.com or to Chase at chase.parham@gmail.com and we’ll get information to you.
Have a great week. Here are some links of interest to me (and hopefully to you as well) for your reading pleasure:
David Haugh opined that the Cubs are following a bit of a blueprint forged in a different sport but the same city.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...cubs-core-haugh-spt-0726-20150725-column.html
While teams try to figure out a way to trade for Cole Hamels, his wife, Heidi, is saving lives in Africa.
http://www.phillymag.com/articles/heidi-hamels-just-mrs-cole-hamels/
In case you were wondering, Esquire.com has a list of every major city’s most popular song. I haven’t heard of at least half of them.
http://www.esquire.com/entertainmen...0001&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
CBS has great news about efforts to catch Alzheimer’s earlier.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/advances-in-alzheimers-research-early-detection-treatment/
Oh, God, no. Not another NBA lockout. Please. I’m on bended knee here.
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/2758877-155/nba-lockout-talk-already-building
Madison Bumgarner and Kris Bryant are selling the most MLB jerseys.
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...id=624303370224795648&adbpl=tw&adbpr=22819823
Sometimes, a bear just needs to have some time alone just to blow off some steam. And so what if he has a case and a half of beer? Stop judging.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5756809/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/bear-downs-beers-passes-out-campground/#.VbTuh0tZzwI
I’ve always had a suspicion about those damn Canadians. Turns out I was right. It’s go time, ‘Merica.
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-tiny-islands-where-canada-and-america-are-at-war/
I always feel guilty soliciting, but the cause is so incredibly worthy. As you know, I’m running the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct. 11 and raising money for St. Jude in the process. If you have a few dollars _ or a lot of dollars _ looking for a home, there’s no better tax-deductible charitable contribution than this one. St. Jude is saving lives and changing lives. Every single cent goes to St. Jude. Your donation goes straight to St. Jude. Here’s the link, if you’re so inclined:
http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=2598686&pg=personal&fr_id=32520
