Hobbs Here 
Subscribe today and enjoy this section of our site and more!
See a sample story
| Next Page |
| Scooter Hobbs Archive |
| 7/24 | Miles Took Hard Look At 2009 Season |
| | HOOVER, Ala. — It was NOT Les Miles’ fault. Honestly. Not this time. An interview with ESPNU ran a tad long. But when the clock ticked a minute or two past the start of LSU coach’s scheduled session with newpaper types at Southeastern Conference Media Days, the jokes began. “You know Les,” one wit said. “Time management issues.” Just outside the massive ballroom, the continuous loop on the conference’s video screen seemed to be forever playing the madcap finish to last year’s hectic Ole Miss game ... when the clock infamously ran out on Miles and the Tigers. But if Miles is on the coaching hot seat this year — which had been generally agreed upon by the media horde here in the two active days before his arrival — he wasn’t letting on. “I’m very fortunate to have a good contract,” Miles said diplomatically. “I don’t think that’s the issue. I think the issue is preparing my football team.” Continue... |
| 7/24 | Column: Can anybody catch the Gators and Tide? |
| | HOOVER, Ala. — The Southeastern Conference’s second most favorite trash-talking factoid to toss around these days is that three different teams from its brood have won the last four football national championships. The most favorite, apparently, is that Little Lord Lane Kiffin is now in the Pac 10 — and not in SEC Commissioner Mike Slive’s hair — though they rarely mention the former Tennessee coach by exact name anymore. But the diversity involved in the four straight BCS championships, now that’s one they like to shout out as loud as they possibly can. Hoping, perhaps, nobody looks behind the curtain — where Nick Saban and Urban Meyer seem to be pulling all the levers. By quirk of the draw, both Florida and Alabama were up on the first session of this year’s Media Days excess, and there were a good many in the congregation who checked out shortly after Meyer and Saban had left the building. Continue... |
| 7/23 | Column: Vanderbilt Finds Itself A Comedian |
| | HOOVER, Ala. - Just when the SEC media days was about to turn into a way-too-serious pulpit for eradicating pimps and predators and agents from college football by the end of the week ...
Along comes Vanderbilt.
For a breath of fresh air.
Vandy - stodgy, old tweed-coat, upper-crust, one-day-you'll-work-for-us Vanderbilt - done gone and hired Jerry Clower as its head ball coach.
Suddenly - I'm telling you - the Commodores have a coach even funnier than their traditional football follies.
Robbie Caldwell, I think he said his name actually was. Continue... |
| 7/23 | Agent-Gate Dominating SEC Media Days |
| | HOOVER, Ala. - Oh, for more innocent times. A year ago here at the Southeastern Conference's Media Days, the hot topic for coach-grilling was who among them kept Tim Tebow from being the unanimous choice as the league's preseason all-conference quarterback. South Carolina's Steve Spurrier eventually confessed to that crime. This year's gala is dominated by the SEC's Agent-Gate, with far more serious questions centering around who was and who wasn't at a posh, allegedly agent-sponsored South Beach party in Miami last May. The NCAA is investigating the gathering, reportedly focusing on Alabama defensive end Marcel Dareus, South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, along with at least two North Carolina players. Continue... |
| 7/22 | Column: Saban Mania Over The Top In Alabama |
| | HOOVER, Ala. — Admittedly it’s not a scientific poll. But a random sampling of the Crimson mob in the Wynfrey Hotel lobby, down at the foot of the SEC’s most famous escalator, makes it pretty clear. They were mostly straining for a glimpse of college football’s rock star, Nick Saban, but were not one bit hesitant to announce the new rules in effect. Mainly, Roll Tide. And also, All Hail Nick. But mostly the Alabama program, they tell you, with St. Nick as the infallible boss, has already lost its last football game, and anybody who doesn’t like it can go straight to the Motor City Bowl. Continue... |
| 7/22 | Saban, Meyer Take Aim At Agents And "Pimps" |
| | HOOVER, Ala. — Alabama coach Nick Saban is madder than an Urban Meyer, and neither one of them seems willing to take it much longer. There’s trouble right here in the Southeastern Conference, and much of it, to judge by Wednesday’s opening session of media days, centers around unsavory agents. Or “pimps,” as Saban, the Alabama coach, called them. “It’s an epidemic right now,” said Meyer, adding that he spends a lot of futile time trying to keep unscrupulous agents away from his Florida players. The latest outbreak came to light just before this high-profile event with allegations that Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus, South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders and several North Carolina players had attended an agent’s party in Miami’s ultra-trendy South Beach. Continue... |
| 7/16 | Column: What A Difference A Year Makes |
| | WESTLAKE — Les Miles really needs for the LSU football season to get here. The summer banquet circuit isn’t what it used to be. Miles’ “Tiger Tour” is winding down for this season, and not a moment too soon either. LSU fans aren’t expecting much from football this year, but apparently they’re demanding it anyway. The annual affair made its local stop at the Isle of Capri Thursday, with ticket sales down and cynicism up and theories all over the map. For most of the last decade these LSU whistle stops have been little more than a good, mid-summer excuse for a pep rally to tide fans over until September. Those who attended Thursday seemed to be there more from obligation than in excited anticipation. The coach’s words seemed a little less likely to spark standing ovations and spontaneous hosanas. Never mind that most of college football would lie, barter, cheat and steal for even the LSU records of the last two “down” seasons. Continue... |
| 6/15 | Column: College Football May Survive After All |
| | College football can now step back and take a deep breath. Thank you, Texas, it’s nice to see some responsible adults finally show up at the playground. Frankly, given the way the Egos of Texas are always upon us, the Longhorns would not have been my first choice for sanity in this summer mosh pit. But you take it where you can get it, I suppose, even if it’s from the pretty girl who seemingly never tires of the attention and flirtation. Basically, it was encouraging to hear Pac 10 Commissioner Larry Scott, probably not believing what he was saying, nevertheless bite his lip and announce that Texas had turned down his conference’s generous offer to join them, which was a “done deal” as recently as his lunch break. That’s the latest. If the last week has taught us anything, it’s that that could change again in the next minute or the next time the wind shifts. Apparently “done deal” rumors aren’t what they used to be these days, hardly worth the cyberspace they’re born in. Continue... |
| 6/4 | Tigers Confident For Regional |
| | And now for something totally different ... LSU is in the NCAA baseball tournament again — duh — but the Tigers will be on foreign turf this afternoon when they open against Cal Irvine in the Los Angeles regional. The game will be televised by Cox Sports, as will the regional’s 8 p.m. game between top-seeded UCLA and No. 4 seed Kent State. It’s LSU’s first road trip for a regional since 1989, but the Tigers aren’t complaining after teetering on the brink of missing the tournament completely with a late swoon to finish the regular season. Revitalized by 4-0 run to win the Southeastern Conference tournament last week, the defending national champions have vowed to pick up where they left off last year. “It gave us a ton of confidence,” said catcher Micah Gibbs of winning the conference tournament in Hoover, Ala. “We have always been a really good tournament and postseason team. Rankings don’t mean anything anymore.” Continue... |
| 6/3 | Column: Wee, Doggie, Tigers Headed For Culture Shock |
| | No doubt you’ve heard tell ’bout the story about man named Jed. That poor mountaineer, the one what barely kept his family fed. Then there was that day he was shooting at some food, remember? And up through the ground came a-bubbling crude? Oil, that is. Probably not a good time to bring it up, but at the time it was considered a good thing, no lawsuits or finger-pointing or FEMA or very gooey fish floating around. Texas Tea, they called it back in the day, Black Gold, and nobody much worried about getting it plugged up. It made ol’ Jed a mighty rich man, is all it did, and the kinfolk said, Jed, move away from there. Said Californ-ie was the place he ought to be, and danged if he didn’t load up that truck and move to Beverly. Hills, that is. You know the drill, swimming pools, movie stars ... Entertainment Tonight. Continue... |
| 6/1 | Column: Nothing To Dogpile About — Yet |
| | Odd team, this LSU is. The Tigers finally got Anthony Ranaudo looking again like one of college baseball’s best pitchers with a dominating relief performance in the SEC tournament final to beat Alabama in 11 innings. It shines a whole new light on the Tigers’ suddenly rejuvenated postseason is all it does. And their reaction? Their appreciation? Nothing much, really. They just slammed Ranaudo to the ground and had 24 of his best friends jump on top of him, at least two of whom stepped on his hand on their way up the human pyramid, a haphazard mound of juvenile humanity that crushed down on him with the weight of simulated exuberance. Fortunately for their born-again NCAA tournament chances, it was his left hand both times and not the right one, the one that figures to be worth millions of dollars someday soon, the one that will likely point the Tigers in whatever direction they head from here. Continue... |
| 6/1 | Tigers Shipped Out West For Tough Regional |
| | LSU catcher Micah Gibbs has never been to California. But he hopes his first trip is a long visit. The once-slumping Tigers, 40-20 but rejuvenated by a Southeastern Conference tournament championship, were shipped out west Monday for the NCAA baseball tournament and will open play at 4 p.m. Friday against No. 3 seed UC Irvine. LSU is the No. 2 seed in the Los Angeles regional hosted by UCLA, the No. 1 seed. The Bruins (43-13), the No. 6 national seed, play No. 4 seed Kent State at 8 p.m. Friday. The eventual winner of the regional will likely stay out west for next week’s super regionals as it’s paired against the regional hosted by Cal State Fullerton, just a short distance away in Orange County. “I think it will be fun,” Gibbs said. “I’ve never been to California before so I am looking forward to it.” Continue... |
| 5/26 | Tigers Ready To Put Regular Season Behind Them |
| | It’s not the absolute last chance for LSU to start resembling the defending national champions. But today would be as good a time as any to start when the Tigers open play in the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover, Ala. “It’s been a strange season, that’s for sure,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. The Tigers (36-20) didn’t secure their bid — as the No. 8 seed — until the next to last day of the conference season, limp in at 4-14 over their last 18 games and draw No. 1 seed Florida, the regular season champion, for openers today at 4:30 p.m. But Mainieri, whose Tigers have won the last two SEC tournaments, says the late-season swoon is all in the past now. LSU expects its early season success was enough to secure a spot in next week’s NCAA tournament. But Mainieri would like to see his team build up some confidence this week. Continue... |
| 5/25 | Column: Not As Simple As Flipping The Switch |
| | Historians, the more hopeful ones at least, will duly note that it has been done before by LSU, this business of “flipping the switch” now that postseason has arrived. That fails to take into consideration that LSU baseball as we know it, which wasn’t really invented until Skip Bertman’s arrival in 1984, has never in that glorious era sent off such a dysfunctional train wreck into the postseason. What is it, 4-14 over the last 18 games? It begins Wednesday with the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala., a glorified exhibition most years and probably nothing more than that again this time. The eight coaches who punched tickets for this affair — and the Tigers were uncharacteristically late in tending to that chore — were pretty much in agreement that all eight have nothing left to prove toward reaching the real postseason, the NCAA tournament. LSU is normally the league bell cow but, the Tigers’ travails notwithstanding, this is as strong a field top to bottom that the SEC has produced in recent memory. Continue... |
| 5/20 | Tigers Still Control Their Own Destiny |
| | On the surface it looks like a pretty sweet deal, even if it’s not the kind of bargaining LSU baseball is real familiar with. But the Tigers, locked in a four-way tie in the battle for the final two spots in next week’s Southeastern Conference tournament, finish the season at home beginning tonight against Mississippi State — one of two league teams that knows its season is over when the series ends Saturday. The Bulldogs, 21-31 overall, are 5-22 in the SEC and are at or next to the bottom of virtually every team statistic in the conference. The defending national champion Tigers’ version of scoreboard watching more often concerns the SEC regular season title than begging for scraps just to make the conference tournament. But they’ll be keeping an eye on three other teams also with 12-15 SEC records — Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky — for those final two spots. LSU could simplify things with a sweep of the lowly Bulldogs, which would guarantee them a spot in Hoover, Ala., for the tournament. Continue... |
| 5/18 | Column: From Slump To Collapse |
| | So, about those reservations in Omaha ... as a general rule, 48 hours is usually plenty enough time to get off the hook for the hotel. But you might want to avoid the rush. It’s a shame, really. This year, of all years, the last for the College World Series’ historic old Rosenblatt Stadium — with much of that history having been orchestrated by LSU — really needs the Tigers on hand for the swan song. It’s not going to happen, though. And I know what you’re thinking, or perhaps hoping against hope. Things have looked bleak before over the last 25 years, yet the Tigers would somehow be there when the roll was called in Omaha, having staged this or that miracle and arriving ready to put their “Omaha” face on. But this isn’t one of those years. Trust me on this. This isn’t one of those teams. Continue... |
| 5/14 | Tigers Travel To Kentucky With Down-Sized Goals |
| | This time of year, LSU is usually jockeying for position to land one of the coveted “national seeds” for the NCAA baseball tournament. Those goals have been down-sized. This year the Tigers, having lost three straight Southeastern Conference series and eight of their last nine conferences games, are just trying to make sure they’re in the tournament. The SEC tournament, that is, which takes the top eight conference teams to Hoover, Ala., for the affair in two weeks. “It seemed inevitable a while ago, but we’ve had three tough weekends in a row,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. The Tigers (34-15, 12-12 SEC) will try to right the ship this weekend with a three-game series at Kentucky that could have postseason implications. LSU has not been mathematically eliminated from the SEC West race but, as Mainieri admitted “We’d need an awful lot of help. “Let’s take first things first.” Continue... |
| 5/11 | Column: Tigers Keep Mainieri Guessing |
| | One of the truly refreshing unwritten rules of college baseball is that, unlike the more coddled football and basketball varsities, players get thrown under the bus by their coaches all the time. Maybe it’s because it is so much clearer to the naked, layman’s eye who’s producing and who’s flubbing up, but baseball coaches — most all of them — toss players around left and right with public floggings that would get football coaches sued for child abuse. Skip Bertman did once blame himself for an LSU loss after a particularly flammable performance on the mound. “Blame me,” Bertman said. “I’m the guy who made the decision to start him.” Well, kind of blamed himself. So it was a little surprising to see Paul Mainieri step up Sunday and take the blame for the Tigers latest Southeastern Conference setback, which are becoming more and more creative as a frustrating stretch of season wanders haphazardly into its fourth week. Continue... |
| 5/10 | Tigers Get Creative In Latest Loss |
| | BATON ROUGE — LSU is suddenly getting pretty good pitching. Fat lot of good it’s doing them. Vanderbilt’s Brian Harris led off Sunday’s game with a home run, but the Commodores had to conspire with LSU player and fan blunder alike to manufacture three more odd-ball runs in a 4-3 victory over the Tigers. In taking two of three, Vanderbilt put a third straight Southeastern Conference series loss on the Tigers, who have lost eight of their last nine in the SEC to fall to 34-15, 12-12. “Little things came back to bite us today,” said LSU starter Austin Ross in one of the season’s great understatements. Harris’ leadoff home run — on a 3-2 pitch — was the only Commodore run that didn’t get on base via walk or hit batter, including both of the decisive runs in the top of the eighth. “You’ve got to make the other team earn what they get,” Mainieri said. “We just didn’t do enough of that this weekend, even though we pitched pretty well.” The two walks in the eighth inning was only half of that story. Continue... |
| 5/9 | Vandy Shuts Down Error-Prone Tigers |
| | BATON ROUGE — LSU finally got the elusive passable starting pitching performance it had been desperately searching for Saturday night. And then the rest of the game promptly swirled down to the Commodores. Vanderbilt starter Taylor Hill came within an out of shutting out the Tigers and still shut them down on seven hits as the 18th ranked Commodores evened the Southeastern Conference series with a 6-2 victory. “Baseball is a unique game like that,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Last night we get 19 hits and 16 runs. Tonight … that kid shuts us down. You have to give him a lot of credit.” The disappointing performance came less than 24 hours after the struggling Tigers rallied Friday night from deficits of 6-0 and 11-4 to beat the Commodores 16-15 in 10 innings in the opener. Sunday’s 1 p.m. rubber match leaves the Tigers (34-14, 12-11 SEC) in danger of losing their third consecutive conference series after losing seven of their last eight SEC games. Continue... |
Next Page |
|
