Sorry we’re late. Here’s your placeholder for tonight’s big game, during which someone will go off tangent about the spotted owl or misery index or Watergate. /shrugs. This game is a .. say it with us .. “must win” … as is every SoCon game here out. Two other league games tonight.

Journaling of course, kinda.

I did some pool exercises for the first time yesterday. I am working out at receiver as well as quarterback now. I have to do both at the combine. My agent said while he was at the Senior Bowl that teams wanted me to work out at both.

I won’t know until I get my physical at the combine whether I am going to be full go but right now I am so I won’t see why I won’t be.

NFL Combine starts in three weeks.

This just may be our first softball post ever, but you need to know the SoCon preseason picks are out – “Preseason Player of the Year, Katie Boyd, C/3B, Appalachian State.” And she’s only a junior. Seems like yesterday she was just another face in the crowd. App State is picked to finish fourth in the league. Season starts February 19 in Memphis.

Meet Chris Aiken.

Aiken joined the Army on his 18th birthday and served two tours in Iraq. He spent five years in the Army as part of the military police and lived in Samarra, one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq, before finding himself starting at Blinn College as a sophomore.

Aiken said the military made him more disciplined and the military mind set is almost the same as being on the football field.

“My best friend James Hale was considering reinlisting and I told him to get out of the military and become a police officer at home. He decided to reinlist and we were talking about how he had to come and watch my football games at Blinn. He was like ‘Yeah, yeah I’ll be there.’ Then, on August 13 of last year, I got a phone call from his wife saying that his humvee was blown up by an improvised explosive device (IED), and he was killed.

“I didn’t talk to anyone that entire day. I didn’t laugh at the jokes, I didn’t play around with the players, I was just in shock. I talked to this guy last week. He couldn’t be dead.”

Hale’s wife gave Aiken one of Hale’s dog tags that Aiken wears around his neck, along with the cross his mother gave him before being deployed to Iraq.

“She told me never to take it off and I never have,” Aiken said.

We have no real passion for this game, at least as far as who wins. The Saints are the universal sentimental favorite. And there is an App State link. Throw in that their QB is all of 6 feet tall and one time universally doubted, and we’re all in. If Drew Breeeeeees can do it, then why not the Greatest App Ever?

Since there’s nothing else to rant about, have at it – “The UN panel on climate change is facing fresh criticism today as The Sunday Telegraph reveals new factual errors and poor sources of evidence in its influential report to government leaders.” Cause historically climate never changes. Never.

John Holt is a 3-time national champ, App State assistant and now, hall of famer – “The youngest of the inductees, holds the record for QB sacks and is the second leading tackler in the school’s history. He’s back at ASU as an assistant coach and the youngest Division I recruiter in the nation.”

AND APP STATE WON A BIG ONE HERE IN CULLOWHEE, 89-77! THE APPS ARE NOW IN A VIRTUAL TIE FOR FIRST PLACE IN THE NORTH DIVISION!

/stops, closes eyes, types again

Sorry. Still hearing two straight hours of App State play-by-play in our heads. Can’t quite shake the echo.

Thanks to a strong second half and some clutch shots, it’s a whole new season .. again.

The Mountaineers used a zone defense to weather a second-half stretch when post players Ike Butts and Josh Hunter picked up their fourth fouls, and wound up with solid production inside. Butts totaled 14 points and nine rebounds. Hunter scored 10 points, and the Mountaineers were able to overcome 19 turnovers by shooting 60 percent.

“We were trying to go inside and get them I in foul trouble as much as we could,” Peterson said. “I think the offensive efficiency in the second half was good, we got the ball in the right people’s hands.”

Of course the win is nice, but there is bound to be some head scratching over how a team can go from Monday’s unpleasantness to Saturday’s awesomeness. Apparently it’s as easy as one, two, GET THE HECK OUTTA HERE!

He said he wasn’t in a good mood for Wednesday morning’s practice. “I was a complete jerk, and kicked a couple of them out,” Peterson said. “The head coach didn’t need to be talked back to, I didn’t need an answer for anything at that time. I think that got some attention, and struck a nerve. They came back at 4 o’clock and went hard. We went back to work on fundamental and basics.”

Another story says it was just one player, a senior.

“I kicked a kid out of practice. The head coach wasn’t looking for anybody to talk back at 6 a.m. or share his thoughts with me.”

If that story sounds familiar, it’s not far away from Peterson’s first day on the job in Boone more than a dozen years ago when a player nodding off during a team meeting received a wake-up call that consisted of a Spalding chest pass delivered up side his head.

/Mangino, Leach nod approvingly

Apps remain on the road Monday at the home of the SPA!-tons.

Soooooooo … here we are. Unlike that unpleasantness Monday, this game matters. Division title still up for grabs. Today’s the day for these Apps to show the world of what they are made. Also, a personal undefeated mark is on the line. It’s a busy day all around the league.

Last month former App State assistant George Edwards got a gig with Florida. Today, he instead headed north – “Buffalo Bills coach Chan Gailey has hired George Edwards as the Bills defensive coordinator.” Butch baby, then ECU, now the Bills. App State defensive experience must be contagious.

Harvard – “Oldest sons Corey and Calan played for App State. The Mountaineers had hoped for a third Lynch brother, but with a 4.02 grade-point average, the Crimson seemed like a better fit for Colton. “It was always a sort of dream to go there, so when they contacted me I was really blown away.”

Our line in the turf got a whole lot bigger.

The Mountaineers added five offensive linemen, four defensive linemen — including Chris Aiken, who signed last month and has already enrolled — as well as three tight ends. The bonus was getting big linemen, and Moore said that his staff didn’t have to compromise speed to get them.

“We looked for the same ingredients in those guys, the same kind of motor that we’ve always looked for, and it happens that we got some guys this year that are just bigger, heavier and taller,” Moore said.

The Mountaineers also signed two quarterbacks, Elijah Adamiak and Kalik Barnes, with hopes that one will provide depth if needed this season.

Moore said he thinks that some of the freshmen could play right away.

“I think this is an elite class,” he said. “There are several of those guys who have potential to help us early in the season. I don’t know if they will the first ballgame, it just depends on the summer and two-a-days and if we can put them in one position and leave them there.”

Just how good is this class? We should know in, oh, about two seasons, maybe three.

The full list of commitments is to be announced and discussed tonight during a special online broadcast by … buffering .. buffering … buffering .. goasu. /couldn’t resist. The SoCon already has a list of most league recruits online. The Stink, Stink Sr. and El Cid are all bringing in 20-plus.

Mandates! No preexisting bias! Access for all! – “The Obama administration is willing to explore several options, asking the Federal Trade Commission to examine the BCS and pushing legislation that could “target universities’ tax-exempt status if a playoff system is not implemented.”

Another obscure App State coaching link – “On the anniversary of that life-changing decision, Travis Jones will stand on the biggest football stage in the world. He serves as assistant defensive line coach for the Saints, who will play the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.” He coached LBs in Boone 98-00.

That old App State poster on the signing day post features the son for former App assistant coach Stan Hixon, who got a new job this week – “Stan Hixon brings 30 years of college and pro coaching experience to Buffalo, having spent the previous six seasons as the Washington Redskins wide receivers coach.”