Around The Plains...

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

I would wish you a happy Monday, but I’ve always thought that people who do that are stupid. It’s like those who tell you to have a safe flight. Is there really anything we can do to ensure the flight will be safe?

Sitting in row 42 next to the fat woman, there’s little that I can contribute to the safety of the passengers.

With that, we’ll get right to it...

If you haven’t heard, South Alabama hired former Alabama wide receiver Joey Jones as its first head football coach. Auburn running back coach Eddie Gran interviewed for the job back in December.

From the looks of the interview list, it appears that one in three Alabamians interviewed with USA Athletic Director Joe Gottfried.

I’m not sure I would have gone that direction. Jones was hired for his ability to start up a college football program.

He’s spent the last two years reviving the football program at Birmingham Southern where it was dormant for close to 80 years.

Surprisingly, there were a number of high profile candidates for the job, including former Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower. I can’t see the school passing on Bower or Gran for the coach at Birmingham Southern.

Jones said the first thing he’s going to do is "lock down" recruiting in the Mobile area. "When they leave the Mobile area, it's going to be tough on them," Jones said.

Do what?

Lock it down? Considering they are fielding a club team in 2009 and a Division I-AA school in 2010 that comment is ridiculous. We’ll chalk it up to that Capstone education he received.

Congrats to Auburn’s basketball team and its win over Ole Miss on Saturday. Playing with six scholarship players, the Tigers handles the Rebels for the second time this season. The 90-78 win snapped a five game losing streak for Auburn.

Auburn faces a stiff test Wednesday when it plays Tennessee in Knoxville. But the big prize awaits next Sunday when they welcome Alabama to Beard-Eaves Coliseum.

Don’t forget that the Alabama Student Government Association will be there to present the Iron Bowl Trophy to the Auburn football team.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Bama SGA president will be singing the Auburn fight song to the capacity crowd. I hope to see you there.

Can you believe baseball season is already here? Auburn kicks off its 2008 baseball season next Friday when it hosts a weekend series with East Tennessee State.

Tom Slater’s team was picked to finish second in the SEC West on Friday by Baseball America. Ole Miss is picked to win the division. We’ll have more on the upcoming baseball season later this week.