Friday, November 04, 2005
AU Preview: Kentucky
Boy, a real classic matchup here this Saturday, at 12PM CST (not televised anywhere). Auburn goes for it's 15th consecutive win over Kentucky (last loss was in 1966) in Lexington. Auburn (6-2, 4-1 SEC) comes in trailing Alabama by 1 game in the SEC West, and 1/2 game behind LSU. Kentucky (2-5, 1-3 SEC) proved that they do not suck quite as badly as Mississippi State last weekend, snapping a 4-game losing streak. Kentucky does enter the game with one star player, RB Rafael Little, who leads the entire SEC in all-purpose yards with 158.6 per game.
Really, this game should not be a contest at all, so I could just stop here, but Auburn has played pretty badly on the road so far this season (1st half against Arkansas, LSU game), and one of ESPN.com's matchups is so amusing that it must be shared. Here are their "matchups to watch":
1. Kentucky ROT Hayden Lane vs. Auburn DE Marquies Gunn
Lane is a technician (now there's a football label that inspires...well, laughter)that rarely makes mistakes and he has good athletic ability, but he doesn't have great bulk or initial quickness and it will cost him working against Gunn. The biggest knock on Gunn is he lacks ideal lower body strength, so he has problems anchoring working against bigger offensive tackles. At just 280 pounds, Lane isn't big enough to truly exploit that vulnerability. In addition, Gunn has the explosive first step to beat Lane to the point of attack, which will make it difficult for Lane to get into a sound blocking position.
2. Kentucky WR Scott Mitchell vs. Auburn CB David Irons
Although Mitchell is strong and big enough to shield Irons from the ball, look for Irons to limit his production. Irons has good quickness, can change directions quickly and most importantly, plays with a mean streak, so he won't back down going up against Mitchell. In addition, he can afford to be aggressive because he knows that Mitchell isn't fast enough to beat him over the top. (A big WR with no speed can be a factor on 3rd-and-short situations, when he just needs to get open for a split second for the 1st down throw)
3. Auburn TE Cooper Wallace vs. Kentucky SLB Joe Schuler
Schuler possesses a good blend of size and athletic ability, but look for Wallace to get the better of this matchup. While he isn't a great in-line blocker, Wallace has the athletic ability to adjust to moving targets at the second level and he will fight to sustain the block once he gets into Schuler's frame. He's also quick enough to separate from Schuler when running short to intermediate routes and he rarely drops passes that he should catch.
Yes, that last sentence was actually written by somebody who gets paid to do this for a living. Consider it your reward for reading this far!
There really shouldn't be much to this game. Auburn's stellar defense against the 107th best offense in the NCAA by yardage (96th in points scored, figure special teams help out there). The only question is whether or not Auburn's offense can finally play a complete game on the road.
Auburn 24, Kentucky 3
Really, this game should not be a contest at all, so I could just stop here, but Auburn has played pretty badly on the road so far this season (1st half against Arkansas, LSU game), and one of ESPN.com's matchups is so amusing that it must be shared. Here are their "matchups to watch":
1. Kentucky ROT Hayden Lane vs. Auburn DE Marquies Gunn
Lane is a technician (now there's a football label that inspires...well, laughter)that rarely makes mistakes and he has good athletic ability, but he doesn't have great bulk or initial quickness and it will cost him working against Gunn. The biggest knock on Gunn is he lacks ideal lower body strength, so he has problems anchoring working against bigger offensive tackles. At just 280 pounds, Lane isn't big enough to truly exploit that vulnerability. In addition, Gunn has the explosive first step to beat Lane to the point of attack, which will make it difficult for Lane to get into a sound blocking position.
2. Kentucky WR Scott Mitchell vs. Auburn CB David Irons
Although Mitchell is strong and big enough to shield Irons from the ball, look for Irons to limit his production. Irons has good quickness, can change directions quickly and most importantly, plays with a mean streak, so he won't back down going up against Mitchell. In addition, he can afford to be aggressive because he knows that Mitchell isn't fast enough to beat him over the top. (A big WR with no speed can be a factor on 3rd-and-short situations, when he just needs to get open for a split second for the 1st down throw)
3. Auburn TE Cooper Wallace vs. Kentucky SLB Joe Schuler
Schuler possesses a good blend of size and athletic ability, but look for Wallace to get the better of this matchup. While he isn't a great in-line blocker, Wallace has the athletic ability to adjust to moving targets at the second level and he will fight to sustain the block once he gets into Schuler's frame. He's also quick enough to separate from Schuler when running short to intermediate routes and he rarely drops passes that he should catch.
Yes, that last sentence was actually written by somebody who gets paid to do this for a living. Consider it your reward for reading this far!
There really shouldn't be much to this game. Auburn's stellar defense against the 107th best offense in the NCAA by yardage (96th in points scored, figure special teams help out there). The only question is whether or not Auburn's offense can finally play a complete game on the road.
Auburn 24, Kentucky 3
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Bubba Beasley, Software Engineering Consultant.
(Also in this entry: DVD News! Keep reading.)
Since you can read more at my blog, this is just a quick note to let y'all know that I now (finally) have my first real job in the career of software engineering. I start this upcoming Monday, and -- with any luck -- the contract position will become permanent around the end of the year. Regardless, I hope I will (finally) get my master's degree by the end of next year.
Note that I said "get my master's degree" and not "finish graduate school." For a long time to come, I hope to leave the door open to getting a doctorate and perhaps eventually teaching at Auburn in my old age. I hear the faculty discount for football tickets is pretty good.
(And don't think I'm joking about the last bit, either.)
As a side note, the DVD for Revenge of the Sith came out today, and I got it pretty much as soon as the nearest Wal-Mart opened this morning. There's something quite cool in one of the featurettes, "The Chosen One." In it, we see Yoda's famous line from The Phantom Menace, about fear leading to anger, anger to hate, hate to suffering.
And. It's. Not. The. Puppet.
It's "digital Yoda," from Episodes II and III, perhaps because Episode I used a physical puppet that, despite (or perhaps because of) its being technically advanced, didn't look quite right.
Does this mean that they're definitely still working on the movies for another extra-special edition? Maybe: after all, why change a scene for a featurette?
(In a related matter, I've finally come to terms with Revenge of the Sith, specifically with one line before "The Duel" that didn't seem to make much sense. But I don't want to be too redundant: I hope to post my analysis of Star Wars dialogue on my blog by the week's end.
And, in other DVD news, I noticed yesterday that December 5th will be a very, very good day for TV buffs.
Look at the December listing for upcoming TV shows on DVD.
There are plenty of live action dramas, including new seasons of 24, M*A*S*H, and MacGyver. There are also quite a few old-school cartoons, including Thundercats, the old TMNT, and Garfield and Friends.
There's goodness from the world of Adult Swim: Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Season Four.
(Spacecataz!)
And there are new volumes for three of the greatest action cartoons in the history of animation.
Batman. Superman. Clone Wars.
Damn skippy.
Since you can read more at my blog, this is just a quick note to let y'all know that I now (finally) have my first real job in the career of software engineering. I start this upcoming Monday, and -- with any luck -- the contract position will become permanent around the end of the year. Regardless, I hope I will (finally) get my master's degree by the end of next year.
Note that I said "get my master's degree" and not "finish graduate school." For a long time to come, I hope to leave the door open to getting a doctorate and perhaps eventually teaching at Auburn in my old age. I hear the faculty discount for football tickets is pretty good.
(And don't think I'm joking about the last bit, either.)
As a side note, the DVD for Revenge of the Sith came out today, and I got it pretty much as soon as the nearest Wal-Mart opened this morning. There's something quite cool in one of the featurettes, "The Chosen One." In it, we see Yoda's famous line from The Phantom Menace, about fear leading to anger, anger to hate, hate to suffering.
And. It's. Not. The. Puppet.
It's "digital Yoda," from Episodes II and III, perhaps because Episode I used a physical puppet that, despite (or perhaps because of) its being technically advanced, didn't look quite right.
Does this mean that they're definitely still working on the movies for another extra-special edition? Maybe: after all, why change a scene for a featurette?
(In a related matter, I've finally come to terms with Revenge of the Sith, specifically with one line before "The Duel" that didn't seem to make much sense. But I don't want to be too redundant: I hope to post my analysis of Star Wars dialogue on my blog by the week's end.
And, in other DVD news, I noticed yesterday that December 5th will be a very, very good day for TV buffs.
Look at the December listing for upcoming TV shows on DVD.
There are plenty of live action dramas, including new seasons of 24, M*A*S*H, and MacGyver. There are also quite a few old-school cartoons, including Thundercats, the old TMNT, and Garfield and Friends.
There's goodness from the world of Adult Swim: Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Season Four.
(Spacecataz!)
And there are new volumes for three of the greatest action cartoons in the history of animation.
Batman. Superman. Clone Wars.
Damn skippy.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
still alive
Hey guys,
While for the last three months in I have been in techno neverland, I haven't quite dropped away from the face of the planet yet. I haven't been able to keep up with the blog (you blocks the blogspot blogs but lets you get to the blogger site anyways?) so I have no clue to whats been happening. As most of you have probably noticed, my site has kind of dropped away as well, the problem of not being able to get to it. So I have created a new site that I can actually get to and will hopefully have more updates about what I have actually been doing.
peace
www.xanga.com/travelingdragon
While for the last three months in I have been in techno neverland, I haven't quite dropped away from the face of the planet yet. I haven't been able to keep up with the blog (you blocks the blogspot blogs but lets you get to the blogger site anyways?) so I have no clue to whats been happening. As most of you have probably noticed, my site has kind of dropped away as well, the problem of not being able to get to it. So I have created a new site that I can actually get to and will hopefully have more updates about what I have actually been doing.
peace
www.xanga.com/travelingdragon
