Bye Week News...

In other news not concerning our beloved Tide:

*In Ann Arbor, there seems to be a mass exodus out of the University of Michigan.  Not good news if you cheer for the Wolverines.  This leaving trend includes the leading rusher thus far this season, and a linebacker out of their already thin LB corps.

There will be significant attrition this offseason. The first to fall:

In today’s weekly Big Ten teleconference, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said sophomore Zion Babb was no longer with the team. Rodriguez said the wide receiver hasn’t been with the team since Sunday.

So… yeah. I was sitting on this until I had some outside confirmation and this serves as outside confirmation since three guys were mentioned as a group of players who had already made their decisions. The other two who have told the coaches they are out: sophomore LB/S Artis Chambers and Sam McGuffie.

EVERYBODY PANIC.

Okay. Done panicking? Some context for this information:

How solid is it? Very solid. Three sources very close to the situation.

How official is it? It is not official until it is official. Earlier this year I said freshman RB Mike Cox was transferring based on equally solid info, but Cox reversed course and decided to stick out the year. Until someone actually enrolls somewhere else there is always the chance for a reconciliation.

Is this the end of it? No. The rumors are flying fast and furious about a couple guys buried on the depth chart; I don't have confirmation on anyone else and at this point I think they're still on the fence.

*In College Station, they are receiving pointers on how to accept being the worst team in the Big XII South.  This coming from people who would know: Baylor Fans (I realize it's long, but it's pretty funny):

I wanted to share some thoughts from the hit book "How to Handle Being The Worst Team in the Big XII South". This book, originally authored by fans of Baylor University, with foreword by Oklahoma State, has been a work in progress for 25 something years now.


Now that we have handed that prestigious torch off to your school, and it looks like it will stay that way for quite some time, you and your Aggie friends may want to really get into this material. Here are some highlights:


Chapter 1 - Bring up past records when discussing your program with friends. The best way to do this is to start from the present and go back through the past until you can find where you have more wins than "x" team. Inconsistencies in time frame does not matter - it can be 5 years for one team and 45 for another.


Chapter 3 - Find other parts of your athletic program that you can be proud of and meticulously learn and promote their accomplishments, no matter how embarrassing the sport. Baylor has done this recently with women's basketball, tennis, and most notably, track and field (Olympic gold medalist anyone?). Rumor has it that your men's club lacrosse team is pretty awesome. Just throwing that out there.


Chapter 5 - Find a couple of solid scapegoats and complain tirelessly about them. Your fan base has already advanced far in this area, with "Shermione" and "$Bill" taking the brunt of this effective relaxation technique.


Chapter 10 - Pick a team to hate and root for their failure. For Baylor fans, this has been you, and look how well it's worked! It's like The Secret - the power of positive thinking. It's very refreshing to change the channel from a frustrating loss and watch your sworn enemy fail. You may have to really dig deep here - you want a team that is average to pretty bad. You losing and them winning is a double whammy, so don't set your sites too high (UT/Tech). Arkansas is a good start, they're down this year.


Chapter 11 (THIS IS A BIG ONE) - Focus on moral victories. This chapter has a lot of content, so really pay attention to it. Within the umbrella of the moral victories chapter you'll find subsections such as: a) Don't pin your hopes on winning the game, pin your hopes on covering the spread. The spread is key, and beating the spread will bring you years and years of joy. b) Get excited about first downs. These may be harder to come by than you think, so really cherish them. c) Find remote stats that can highlight your improvement. Really dig into improvement. This should be a buzzword to use in the coming years.


Chapter 12 - Talk about the other redeeming qualities of your school. This is tricky, because it's actually really dorky to engage in academic smack talk, but, if done correctly, can deflect the focus of a conversation away from your school's crappy football program and onto other areas where the playing field is more level. Now, I'm tailor making this to A&M a little here, but I would recommend you focus on your strong engineering and business school reputation, and don't forget to bring up your various traditions! People never get tired of hearing about this.


Chapter 14** - Find another school to support on the side. This chapter is very controversial and was only added in later editions. I myself never went down this road, but several of my friends found a great deal of relaxation and comfort in finding a side school. While immediate family connections are the best (father graduated from Penn State or mom and dad met at Florida), it is also valid to dig deep into your family's history to find that great aunt that went to Alabama or that second cousin who got a masters at USC. The further away the school, the better. Claim that you have been watching them for years, especially as a little kid growing up. This helps ward off eye rolls and front-runner accusations from your friends. **Note: though highly successful, this chapter can be very dangerous, and is probably the only method that will incur hatred from fellow alumni and students. Use Chapter 14 at your own risk. Advanced students only. I'd say you'll be there en mass around 2013, although seeing how your fan base is bailing after 3 losing seasons out of the past 24, you may be there as early as 2010. Talk about advanced students!


That's it folks. I'll send you a copy for free - we're so excited to share this with a team not named Baylor. And you may read this and think: "Wow, Baylor is pathetic. This is really sad stuff." No, no! This is you! This WAS Baylor and now IS your school! I'm talking about what you and your fan base will be and have already started saying and doing.


I want to leave you with this. This can be your chance to practice, right now. Skim some of the material above, and go ahead and start using it on me. I would say the record route is the obvious way to go, but don't be afraid to be creative. Angry phrases like "F off" and total dismissal of my thread also work. Have fun, and I'll critique some of your responses as we go . . .

*In the ACC, there are 8 teams (if my math is correct, but I didn't put a whole lot of time into it) that are mathematically still in the hunt for the ACC Championship.  Some dub it a result of the ACC being the most competative conference, I say they all just suck that bad.

*In Nashville, the Commodores are getting ready for a bowl game.  They realized soon after preparations began that they had no idea how to do that...

It is not the apocalypse. It is not the end of days. It may have something to do with the global recession, but that probably just a coincidence. Vanderbilt got that elusive sixth win with a 31-24 win over Kentucky to become bowl eligible.

For the first time since 1982, Vandy will finish with a .500 or better record. They will finish no worse than 4-4 in the SEC this year. They will have their first crack at going to a a bowl game since the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl (the Commodores lost to Air Force).

Vanderbilt did it much like they did when they started the season 5-0. They ran the ball (44 carries for 228 yards) and controlled the clock (almost 40 minutes on offense). When they did throw, it was short and not particularly pretty (15-27, 156 yards). It worked well enough, and Vandy held on for the win.

*On the Plains, Auburn's best receiving threat has his season cut short:

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Auburn tight end Tommy Trott has sustained a torn knee ligament.

Coach Tommy Tuberville said Trott will have surgery Thursday, becoming the latest casualty for the hard-hit Tigers.

Trott is Auburn's third-leading receiver with 20 catches for 201 yards. He sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament against Georgia.

Gabe McKenzie moved back from defensive end to replace him. McKenzie had spent the past two seasons at tight end.