Covering Dixie: Alabama-Texas A&M on CBS, LSU, Georgia, and more.

Covering Dixie Like Mildew - The SEC: All your crystal football are belong to us. 

Starting out with a bang. 
CBS' SEC football coverage will begin with Alabama vs. Texas A&M on September 14. (SB*Nation)

Believe It...Or Not! 
There are currently 54 former LSU players in the NFL. ironically, none of them are on the roster of the New Orleans Saints. (The New Orleans Times-Picayune)

The Downward Spiral?
Bill Connelly looks at Mississippi State's prospects for 2013 after two seasons of diminishing returns. (SB*Nation)

Goodbye Says It All.
Georgia tight end Ty Flournoy-Smith is transferring to another school. He was arrested in February for filing a false report of a crime. (The Athens Banner-Herald)

All we need is just a little patience.
Bill Connelly asks Auburn fans to be patient as first-year Tiger head football coach Gus Malzahn tries to rebuild the football program. (SB*Nation)

All hope is lost.
Missouri is the SEC representative on an EDSBS list of teams that in all probability will not play for a BCS title in the 2013 season, even if the Tigers go undefeated. Blame a weak strength of schedule (even with Texas A&M at the end of the season), and being in the precieved weaker of the SEC's two divisions.

Pat Fitzgerald shows off Northwestern's Gator Bowl champion's ring.

It took sixty-four years or so, but Northwestern finally won its first bowl game since 1948 when it beat Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl this past New year's Day. Now, the Wildcats' coach Pat Fitzgerald has tweeted out a picture of the team's Gator Bowl champions ring.

The 2013 Gator Bowl Champion Ring! GO CATS! twitter.com/coachfitz51/st…
— Pat Fitzgerald (@coachfitz51) May 22, 2013

Nice. I wonder if Michael Wilbon gets one?

(via @coachfitz51. HT: No 2-Minute Warning.)

Covering Dixie: Paul Finebaum, Alabama, recruiting, and more.

Covering Dixie Like Mildew - The SEC. All your crystal football are belong to us. 

Charlotte Sometimes. 
SEC media gadfly Paul Finebaumis ditching Birmingham for  Charlotte for a new radio and television gig with ESPN. Because Charlotte is the heart of Southern college football. (al.com)

Alabama Getaway.
Former Alabama wide receiver Danny Woodson transfers to South Alabama. (CBS Sports)

Seven and the Ragged Tiger.
Seven members of Auburn's 2013 recruiting class enroll for summer classes. (The Opelika-Auburn News)


Let's bury the hatchet. Wipe out the past.
Matt Hayes argues that the SEC should get rid of protected cross-division rivalry games like Georgia-Auburn and Alabama-Tennessee. Les Miles just found a new best friend. (The Sporting News)

Recruiting

He's Just Not That Into You. 
Florida high school junior receiver Ryeshene Bronson has decommitted from Florida's 2014 recruiting class. (The Gainesvile Sun)

Ahead of the curve.
South Carolina receives commitments for its 2015 recruiting class from Georgia high school sophomore WR Dexter Neal and South Carolina HC sophomore defensive end Shameik Blackshear. (Garnet and Black Attack)

 

Insanity

PAWWWWLL-etry in motion.
EDSBS's Run Home Jack (a.k.a. @CelebrityHotTub) drops a few rhymes about Finebaum's deal with ESPN.

VIDEO: Johnny Manziel makes 27-29 passes blindfolded.

Need a reason to hate Texas A&M starting quarterback Johnny Manziel that involves something he actually does on the field? Check this Vine clip of Manziel working out with noted quarterback trainer, George Whitfield Jr. (a.k.a  the "Quarterback Whisperer." Sadly, I'm not making that up). Whitfield had Manziel throwing passes blindfolded in what's apparently called a "Zorro drill." As for the results, just see for yourself.



And Manziel made 27-29 of these passes, only missing two.

We'll have to see how this works out on the football field in an actual football game, but if Whitfield manages to improve on Manziel's skills, a second Heisman Trophy, and mabye a crystal football might not be out of the question this season.

(via Gamedayr)

The Detroit Lions wish to destroy the Little Caesar's Bowl (and show its hatred of America) with a bowl game of its own.

The Detroit Lions hate America. This was proven when Nickelback was the halftime show a few Thanksgiving Day games ago. To really nail out the idea home, the team has decided to kill that most American of traditions, The Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl, in order to create a college bowl game of its own at Ford Field.

ESPN reports that the Lions are planning to start up and run its own bowl game at Ford Field starting in 2014. This would replace the beloved Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl, and give a great American company headquartered in Detroit the finger. What a disgusting thing to do to a company that boldly remained in the Motor City while other companies have left it for dead.

The new bowl would reportedly have tie-ins with the Big Ten and ACC, leaving the MAC out in the cold. Again, the Lions hate America by ending the proud tradition of a matchup between a worthy  MAC team and team from the Big Ten/Sun Belt if there isn't a bowl eligible B1G team, worthy at-large team.

Of course, the Lions could just continue using Little Caesar's as its bowls title sponsor, thus showing some respect for tradition in a country so proud of tradition. But it would only cloak the Lions' hatred for America and its desire for quality football.

There is no word yet if the Lions understand that an NFL team, they would be ineligible to play in their own bowl game, but this would surprise no one.

(via ESPN)