AURex

We also have a flock of wild turkeys who live in the woods behind our home. They roam my property and the neighborhood below us. These photos were taken out our sunroom window. At last count, there were 13 Toms and almost 50 hens. No, we don't eat them. They came with the property and are neighborhood "pets."

Just kidding. I'm gonna post a few pictures. These pictures are all taken at my home, which rests on a park-like hillside that backs up to the woods. These are not exactly "pets." They just hang around my house. The first is our resident peacock, named Percy. Here he stands at the edge of our koi pond. Second, Percy likes to perch on the railing of our front porch to survey his domain.

Unfortunately, I'm concerned that the AUFamily criteria for family friendly doesn't mesh with my family. So, no pictures from me. hahaha

We can say that Stidham certainly looked good on Saturday. However, let's remain aware that he was running a different sort of offense than Auburn has run in recent years. SW might have looked just as impressive in this new offense. Fact is, Auburn now has two really good QBs going into fall camp, and even more importantly IMO, Auburn now has an offensive playbook and play caller that can really pressure a defense from 1st down thru 4th down. Gotta feel pretty good about where we are at the moment.

Twin Peaks will also reappear beginning in May, again directed by Lynch and starring McLaughlin, so I'm expecting some really dark weird stuff.

Still liking Taboo. Gritty, dark, tense, with enough complexity to keep me coming back. Emerald City not so much. Terrible casting for this series. I really liked D'Onofrio in Daredevil and Law & Order (two other series I never cared for despite his good acting in them), but frankly, he totally sux as the wizard in Emerald City. And the girl who plays the Wicked Witch is just not sinister, evil or even remotely convincing in the role. Very poor casting, crappy dialog and scripting. I'm no longer watching that one. So, I am still not lured into watching much TV. I still read a lot and listen to music a lot during my off hours. The whole Emerald City thing did affect my reading choices. I went back and re-read McGuire's "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." Still one of the most fun fiction books ever. Now reading its sequel "Son of a Witch" told from the perspective of the wicked witch Elphaba's son. A fun read, if not as compelling as the first. His "Confessions if an Ugly Stepsister" (from the Cinderella tale) and "Mirror Mirror" (from the Snow White tale) are also great reads. I had high hopes for Emerald City, hoping it would have the kind of creativity and imagination McGuire created for Oz, and characters who were complex and convincing. Too bad they didn't hire him or buy the rights to his books. McGuire is not "great literature." Just fun reading. I mix entertainment reading like that in with my more serious reading interests. Hard to pull me away from reading to watch TV.

The OA -- meh, boring Stranger Things - Meh, kids Emerald City - might turn out okay, but kinda chinzy so far. Taboo -- definitely worth watching. Best since Penny Dreadful.

Sigh. If I ever really want to read page after page after page after page after page of pointless arguing about pointless points, I know exactly where to come. The coaches obviously saw enough talent here to make the offer. Welcome to Auburn and WDE, Malik!

All but the last season is available on DVD, and that season will be released on DVD before the new season begins. If you don't want to buy it (it's a great series and a worthy investment), your public library will probably have the DVDs. You probably will not get through all of the seasons before the next season begins. Wifey and I subscribe to HBO just for the period Game of Thrones is being shown, then drop it. Well, except now, Westworld too, but that won't be back until 2018.

Although I personally don't see JS as a lock for starting next fall, I'm certainly more optimistic about the QB position with him in the mix. And I'm hoping JS can be active recruiting for us going into signing day.

I'm considering three possibilities. A Netflix series called Medici: Masters of Florence, which is set in 15th century Florence. Wifey watched a couple of episodes and she likes it. It stars Dustin Hoffman (remember him?) and Richard Madden (the guy who played Rob Stark on Game of Thrones). It is not intended as historically accurate. It is more of a political drama/mystery/thriller, because the head of the family actually died under mysterious circumstances, so the basic plot of the series revolves around trying to figure out if he was murdered, and if so by whom? Wifey says it is not as good as The Borgias, but better than 99% of the programming out there in TVland. I think maybe we'll look at a couple of episodes of The Americans to see if that works. And also The Fall, which has received a lot of positives from both critics and viewers.

I watched the first two episodes of Black Mirror. That was enough for me. Actually, the first episode was enough, but I thought it couldn't possibly be that bad. Well, it wasn't, but still not enough to keep me. I allocate very little time to television.

As far as I'm concerned, JS is a fine prospect who can *compete* for the starting QB position next year at Auburn. Everyone everywhere thought Coker would step in as the new QB at Bama when he arrived. It didn't happen. I'm eager to see what WB can do. But frankly, I think it has got to be between those two guys. I appreciate all that SW has done for Auburn, but he's fragile as granny's china. Let's go with a DT guy with some resilience.

I watch very little TV, so I'm very picky about what I watch more than an episode or two of. The best program other than GoT, as far as I'm concerned, is Westworld. Excellent cast and well acted. Surprising new reveals every episode. Waiting waiting waiting. Now that Westworld's season is complete and we now have to wait until 2018 for more episodes, and 6+ months for the next episodes of the upcoming abbreviates season of GoT, what is there? Even Marco Polo is done for the year. I sure wish some network could come up with a really savvy, intelligent Sci-Fi series. Maybe a take-off on Ex Machina -- taking off with the escape of the AI infiltrating the general public. Or a semi-realistic space-based kind of thing -- something that is intelligent and complex with human beings and technology, and actual plots with emotions and puzzles, unlike the kind of superficial drek we currently get.

It's been a mystery to me why Auburn has not thrown to the TE more. Razzle-dazzle trickeration is not necessarily required to have a TE catch a football. However, it certainly worked in this case, and I jumped to my feet hollering when I saw the play unfolding.

We should also remember that every defensive coordinator makes defensive adjustments at halftime to try to counter what the opponent's offense is having success with. And any offensive coordinator *should* be anticipating the defensive adjustments and plan for attacking the weaknesses that the defensive adjustments open up. CGM seems to just run the same plays in the 3rd quarter that he ran in the first half, so it doesn't really surprise me when there is a "lull" in the 3rd. He can be really obstinate sometimes in adjusting his offense to counter defensive adjustments. But reality bites. I haven't really analyzed the Miss State game. The second half was boring, but a win is a win. I too wish he had put JFIII in the game sooner. The Auburn D was not going to let Mooo U score 35+ points.

I have always admired MSU in that they do more with less than any team in the SEC. They are never an easy out. They may not have the most talent in terms of stars, but they have filled their tanks with "want to" and always seem to bring their A game against Auburn. Auburn really needs this game. Early starting time or not, deafening cowbells or not, I'm going with the Tigers. WDE!

Maybe if the OL could give him better protection, he'd have a little more time for the longer routes to open up. Or do you think the receivers are just not getting open? Or does SW just not have the arm? Or does he not trust the WRs to be able to out-muscle the DBs? Or is it a product of the play-calling and instructions from the coaching staff to take the shorter passes, drive the field, and play ball possession football? Personally, I think this is likely on the OL.

Thanks for the numbers, Stat. I'm wondering about your calc of 9 yards per completion. SW completed 19 passes for 234 yards. That's 12.3 yards per completion. Where am I going wrong? Those big plays by LSU -- ugh! What would have happened if Fournette had not sat with an ankle injury? 6.9 yards per rush is pretty ugly, with Fournette, Guice and Clark all ripping off big runs. I'm not dissing the defense. They played a good game. But not exactly shutting down thew LSU runners. In comparison, KJ and KP averaged 3 yards per carry. This is on the OL. And this weakness up front also explains (IMO) why Auburn is having so much trouble in the red zone. SW got Auburn into scoring position repeatedly. But if you can't get push against the defense and have defensive guys in your backfield, scoring TDs is kinda hard.

That was a good read. I'm looking forward to analyses like this before all of our other games this year. Thanks!

Well, ya know, Bama had a pretty decent defense last year. Clemson racked up 600+ in yardage on the Tide. In fact, if Clemson had not given up both a 50 yard run by Henry and a 95 yard kickoff return, Clemson would have won that game. Just one breakdown, Clemson still would have won. If Watson can toss for 400+ yards and run for another 70+ on Bama, you just gotta respect that offense. IMO, you do the best you can to minimize the damage and not totally bleed out on defense. But the only way to beat Clemson is to outscore them. I know Clemson lost some real talent on defense. I also know they recruit well. The question is not. "how does Auburn stop Clemson?" I don't think you do. The question is, "Can Auburn slow down Clemson enough to outscore them?" I don't know what kind if magic CGM can conjure offensively, but here's hoping our guys are explosive in all aspects if the game, don't put the ball on the ground, and catch Clemson in a few lapses the way Bama did. If the Auburn O can control the ball, putting together actual drives, thus keeping it out of the hands of Watson, and finish drives with TDs rather than FGs, that would be an effective defensive strategy too. Possible? Yes, of course it is. It's the first game of the season, at night, in Jordan-Hare.

I want him to be smiling AFTER the game!

Okay, so JJ hurt his throwing hand in practice earlier in the week. He was held out today. Was it the injury, or was it because CGM and CRL have already decided he's going to be the starter and they wanted to see the other two in action without risking further injury to JJ ??? I don't know the answer to that. I'm asking. Kerryon Johnson also doesn't play much (did he play at all?). Mostly Pettway bulldozing. Is this because KJ has been decided on as the starter and they don't want to risk him getting injured? Or is it because they wanted to test the defensive front with some power running? Or are they wanting to get some experience for his backup? Or are they looking at Pettway as the starter with KJ in a different role? I don't know the answer. I'm asking. SW throws 2 picks. Franklin throws a pick and fumbles. The offensive play calling looks like last year retread. Is that what I'm reading here in this thread? This is all we got? Somehow, I'm hoping that CGM and CRL are going to step up and give us a wide open offense with some real dynamic and innovative play calling this year. I haven't given up yet ...... but I'm crossing my fingers and clutching my rabbits foot.

Glad to know he's on campus and getting a head start on academics and the playbook. Hodgkin's is very beatable if they caught it early. And as always, I'm proud that Auburn stands by these recruits who develop serious illnesses.

According to 247, he had 19 offers, including Bama, Louisville and a smattering of bottom dwellers in Big 5 conferences like Illinois and Kentucky. The thing is, I don't remember seeing his name on any of the visitor lists for recruiting weekends like Big Cat. Maybe he did some camps to get those offers. The young man has real potential.