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HOME ON THE PLAINS
There's stuff in Auburn this weekend that you should check out!
In general Auburn news I'm placing under here, Auburn's horticulturalists are telling people not to count out the new Magnolia oak just yet. If you've been through Toomer's Corner lately, you've seen that the College Street oak is thriving, but the Magnolia oak is struggling and has yet to put forth any leaves. Live oaks are hardy organisms, and Auburn has some of the best horticultural minds in the world, so I have every confidence that if the tree can be nursed to full health, then it will be. The process of transplanting a fully grown tree is always traumatizing to the tree itself.
GYMNASTICS
It was a record setting year for the Tigers. Literally. They set a LOT of records. What an amazing squad Coach Jeff Graba has put together and program he's building.
BASEBALL
Tuco evaluated Auburn's chances at the post-season. This weekend will be a key cog in determining that, but the opportunities are definitely there.
The official site profile Damon Haecker, who has been playing a bit of everything for the Tigers this season.
BASKETBALL
I don't know how I missed this yesterday, but Trayvon Reed was sentenced for his incident in Maryland. He received a 15 day sentence to begin on May 11th. I don't think I ever realized it was a plain clothes officer that he scuffled with. It doesn't make the stealing any better, but it changes the assault on an officer charge just a BIT, since he didn't know it was a cop. A very small bit. It was still dumb and stupid to steal something and then resist someone calling him out on it. Whatever punishment results is warranted.
FOOTBALL
We're fast approaching the NFL Draft next week, so we're starting to put together some profiles of former Tigers who are likely to be drafted. Sammie Coates was first in the shoot, as he's most likely to be the highest picked Tiger.
Bruce Feldman with FoxSports expects Jeremy Johnson to have a big year and tries to clear what he sees as misconceptions in Auburn's offense. It's essentially what I've said for a while: it's a style, not a system. The offense is very adaptable to the quarterback.
There's no separation among the running backs, and there's nothing wrong with that. I keep going back to Lashlee saying none of the RBs fumbled during the spring at all. Ever. Not once. PLEASE CONTINUE THIS TREND.
Comparisons of Jeremy Johnson to Cam Newton are popping up all over the place, and Phillip Marshall is here to tell us all why it's incredibly unfair.
We don't have a depth chart (other than Johnson is the starting QB), and we're not getting one any time soon. According to Auburn coaches, spring depth charts are "like preseason polls." There's a lot that will change between now and the Louisville game. Not least of which is the incoming freshman who will have a chance to contribute early.
ESPN.com's Greg Ostendorf reviews the five players that stood out the most to him for Auburn this spring. They're pretty much the ones you would expect. It is very heartening to see Shon Coleman listed as a key performer in the spring. Having Shon playing at a top level will go a long way to making the offense work efficiently.
In facility news, Chadd Scott takes you through some pictures of Auburn's newly renovated "every day" locker room that is used for practices at the football facility.