We know who the top dogs are. How’s life on the lower rungs?
As one coach says, it doesn’t matter. It’s obvious we ain’t that good.
“It’s great that these guys are getting recognized, and I think that’s the most important thing,” (UTC coach) Huesman said. “Where they picked us in the league, I think anywhere from three to nine you could throw them in a hat and pick them out and probably be close.”
To buttress that point, consensus pick for third-best team in the league is … Furman? Makes sense, since Furple finished third in the league last season at a pedestrian 6-5, with all but one win in league.
But still … Furman? What have they done for anyone lately?
We’d actually forgot how unimpressive the SoCon was last season from third place on down. Furple and ‘Nooga each finished one game above .500.
The rest of the league? 19-36. /holds nose
Wooford was hurt by injuries last year, so you gotta expect they’ll be much better. The Stink is going back to its original odor thanks to an experienced hand, so you’d like to think it’d be better.
The rest of the league? /shrug Crap shoot. /pun intended
Letting the praise go by – “App State is the consensus choice to win its sixth straight Southern Conference football championship.” No biggie there, but the shock is who’s picked last. Also, Clubber Lang picked as the, uh, baddest man in the league. Our prediction? Pain. (from laughing, of course)
As you may not know, the SoCon bball tourney hits the QC next week. Here’s the as-of-yet-still-blank bracket.
Please note the inscription along the bottom.
Regardless of seeding, Davidson will play in the Saturday afternoon 2:00 p.m. game if the Wildcats advance to the quarterfi nals. Their opening round game Friday would also be scheduled for 2:00 p.m. The rest of the bracket will remain intact.
We can’t find an official reason for the special pat on the head, but it juuussssttt so happens the Charlotte Bobcats have a home game Saturday night against his Skinnyness.
Thankfully Appfan Lyle “Oliver” Leonard sent along an updated seating chart for the big SoCon jig. /giggle
Guess which team provoked the coach – “Postgame ended with Terriers head coach Mike Young being boxed out by athletic director Richard Johnson to keep from crossing paths with a _______ staff member.” Even better? It all went down in front of the SoCon commish. You stay classy!
GaTech’s Paul Johnson lends the Stink an assistant – “Ga Southern announced Jeff Monken as its head football coach. Johnson-coached teams with Monken on staff have a 126-42 record and have been to 7 bowls, earned 5 playoff berths, won 2 FCS championships and 5 conference championships.”
We debated posting this. It’s not like we don’t have skeletons in our youtube closet. But, in the end, we couldn’t resist. The opening lines DEMAND an answer. Got one?
Sure, you were flattened by a Stone Curtain, and your so-called No. 1 defense shredded before the largest home crowd in your school’s history. And sure, you lost any chance at an outright league title in a game you were .. /wind blows, violins play .. d e s t i n e d .. /whisper … to win.
But check this out! Your consolation prize is a first-class ticket to Birmingham, Alabama!
A particularly pleasing piece of news came earlier in the week when Lembo announced that Elon’s plans for a marathon bus trip to Samford, located in Birmingham, Ala., had been scrapped in favor of a much more convenient charter flight.
By the bus route, Elon would have departed Samford after Saturday’s game and arrived back on campus around 4 or 5 a.m. Sunday.
But that fell by the wayside and now Elon’s players will be able to attend classes Friday morning before the team catches a flight of less than two hours out of Greensboro.
“That was big-time when we heard that,” White said. “Everybody was clapping, everybody was happy. It was definitely a great surprise. Nobody wants to ride on a bus eight or nine hours.”
We’re sure that’s news to SoCon headquarters. /shrugs
No matter how the Swag gets there, some hungry Dogs are waiting! And bonus! Since 2002, Elon is 1-6 in season finales. Their sole win? Mighty Stony Brook.
Even sweeter? Sometime yesterday the Swag’s swagger was so great, they actually went live – briefly – on their athletics website with a graphic they assumed inevitable. Nope. Thankfully, the MMB’s RankinApp improved upon it. Sweetest!
Five straight SoCon titles. Only been done once before in league history. Savor it.
Elon beat the ‘Whee easily, setting up for Saturday the second meeting evah! of two 6-0 SoCon teams since 1982. The Stink must have been bad, cause daddy spanked them, uh-gin! /giggle. Over in the CAA, the No. 1 ranked Spiders GO DOWN! And there was much cursing to be heard. Oh my!
The last time ‘Nooga coach Russ Huesman was in Boone, he wore different colors and left a winner. He also earned a new title – The Man Who Stole The Mojo.
It’s time to get it back.
Huesman was the defensive coordinator for the Richmond Spiders, who snatched five .. FIVE(!) .. AE passes along with any dreams of a four-peat during a cold, cold, day at The Rock.
“I knew we were going to win this game,” said Huesman, in his fifth season as Richmond’s defensive coordinator. “I just kind of had a good feeling about this one, and I think our kids did, too.”
A few weeks later, Huesman was standing in ‘Nooga a national champion. He loved the moment so much, he decided to stay. He took over his alma mater, and, well, he’s done a heck of a job.
The Mocs overcame a 20-9 second-half deficit to claim the fifth win of the season. UTC is now one win shy this season of equaling its win total from the previous three years combined.
That said, how confident are you coming to Boone this time, Bird Man?
All season the Stink has been promoting a True Blue website. It features “This week’s ‘Top 10′ Signs You’re True Blue!” Yet understandably, there hasn’t been a new Top 10 in more than a month. So we humbly submit our own.
The site gsueaglenation.com has posted a brief history of what it calls “college football’s most even rivalry.”
The teams have played 24 times. App State leads the series 12-11-1. Of the 18 games played since 1987, the series is an even 9-9.
gsueaglenation goes back to that 1987 game, and offers this amusing tidbit.
The first time Georgia Southern played ASU in the modern era, it was defending its back-to-back national titles in the quarterfinals of the 1987 playoffs.
Erk Russell brought his Eagles to Boone, N.C. on an icy, snowy bitter December day, and was shut out 19-0. It was the first time Erk’s Eagles had ever failed to score.
To add insult to injury, Appalachian fans spelled out, “Can you score?” in the snow behind the end zone.
They couldn’t.
For us, that “sign” ranks right up there with this one. /giggle
* Thanks to commenter GSU25+yrFan for posting the link
** Image stolen from this tremendous slideshow from App State-Stink ‘08
More astonishing comment? This – “What would have happened if GSU kept its offensive system – the triple option — in place with Armanti Edwards at quarterback?” Or this – AE would have been “a perfect backup to Jayson Foster at wide receiver.” Say whaaaaaa?
Yes, we Twitter (Tweet?). We’ve already passed along one twitter flash today. We can’t resist passing along three more. The App State volleyball team has almost reached it’s Dig Pink goal! Water safety king/WR CoCo Hillary is live on WASU tonight at 6. And we second this emotion.
One of the most common questions we get is why, oh why, do we affectionately refer to our rivals from Statesboro as the “Stink.”
You have to go back two years, back to the day … /DEEP SIGH .. that App State saw the nation’s longest home win streak end. Twas a great game. We said so at the time.
Being the naive App fans we are, we always assumed it was the defense, the playcalling, heck – the pure energy – of the Eagles that brought our House down. But later we learned twas no such thing.
According to the “Hatch Attack” himself, Georgia Southern beat App State thanks to nothing more than magical, stinky water.
He also talked about many of the big wins and how he got a coach to get some water from Eagle Creek before they went up to play Appalachian State.
“l checked with a priest about doing that and he said ‘Do whatever you need to do to win,’” Hatcher said. “We went out and won the game. We had some big wins. That was a great win.”
Quoting the great Erk Russell himself, “it is the most gnat-and mosquito-infested body of water per cubic centimeter in the world.”
Tell us that place doesn’t Stink!
So App fans be on the lookout! Beware any man or woman in blue carrying jugs of putrid puddles. If one drop again falls within our beloved Rock, we may just never get that smell out.
We know who the top dogs are. How’s life on the lower rungs?
Letting the praise 
As you may not know, the SoCon bball tourney hits the QC next week. Here’s the as-of-yet-still-blank 
Guess which team provoked the 
GaTech’s Paul Johnson lends the Stink an 
Hey, Elon! Turn that frown upside down!
Elon 
The last time ‘Nooga coach Russ Huesman was in Boone, he wore different colors and left a winner. He also earned a new title – The Man Who Stole The Mojo.
All season the Stink has been promoting a True Blue 
Time for more App State-Stink memories.
More astonishing comment? 
Yes, we 
One of the most common questions we get is why, oh why, do we affectionately refer to our rivals from Statesboro as the “Stink.”
