SEC Media Days Preview

The SEC beat writers, columnists, coaches, and players will hit Hoover, Alabama this week to attend SEC Media Days. Media Days are the first budding of the baby college football season. It's the first palpable sign that our long, difficult wandering through the wilderness of the offseason is near an end and that the manna of reporting freshmen, then fall camp is only a few days away. Other than a signal of timing, Media Days is usually a woefully boring exercise. The coaches don't say anything interesting. They don't reveal anything you don't know already if you have read a decent preseason magazine. The players the coaches bring along are selected for their leadership and abilities no doubt, but I imagine that they go through a Clockwork Orange training camp that beats any originality out of anything they might say. Plus, all the writers have their stories canned and ready to go, all they need is just the right quote to stick in paragraph 4. Here are the stories every local paper will have a story on:

The most effeminate water drinker that can make d-linemen cry and chew you ass like a champion.

1. Nick Saban - Alabama's new savior will be the headliner, but it's hard to imagine why. The guy never says anything interesting. But, the way Saban says nothing is classic: tense, impatient, every syllable given up begrudgingly. The only good quote that has come out of a Saban presser was when he asked the press what The Weather Channel was and a reporter replied that it was "MTV for old people." Saban has reasons to say something interesting this year. You know someone will bring up how much credit he deserves for LSU's recent success, how the situation in Miami has affected him, and how he feels regarding Les Miles's comments about Bama. It should be fun to see Nick deftly dodge controversy, something he has continually courted since his final days at LSU.

2. Speaking of LSU ... Les Miles - The Pac-10 stinks. Bama is our new f%#*in' rival. SEC #1! Les is always good for at least one wacky quote every two months. With such a concentration of media in Hoover, I'm betting the next bizarre quote is coming Friday, 11ish while defending his prior statements

3. Rich Brooks - After years of coming to Media Days listed on everyone's group of coaches on the hot seat, Brooks can come in with a semblance of respect. Many prognosticators pick his quarterback as the SEC's best. He's widely thought to have the best Wildcat team of his tenure. We've seen Brooks with the "give it our best shot" presser. Now, let's see Rich when he has a little momentum to his program.

I also predict that the media will anoint LSU as the SEC champion this year. The media will pick Florida as the SEC East champ.

As a note of interest to all TiVo owners or Slingboxers, ESPNU will provide live coverage of SEC Media Days. Be sure to tune in.

I hope to have some continuing coverage as Media Days progresses.