Culture

http://www.rockytoptalk.com/2008/6/2/543855/are-the-georgia-bulldogs-o College football pundits, emerging sliggishly from their hibernation and with their pupils still adjusting to the sun, are already uttering bold predictions for the coming season. What are they saying? Woof! Woof! Woof! According to Lindy's, the Georgia Bulldogs are preseason No. 1. Georgia appears to be the first team that SMQ addressed in his excellent Contenders series. Athlon and Football Time have the Dawgs ranked No. 5, and even my local paper is mentioning the Red and Black as a preseason favorite to win the national championship. Really? Well, with apologies to my friends in the Bulldog football blogosphere, I'm just not seeing it. Most-Cited Reasons for Georgia's Preseason National Championship Hype Momentum The argument goes . . . no team finished the 2007 season on a more convincing run than did Georgia. The Bulldogs, after losing two of their first six (to South Carolina and Tennessee), and after barely beating Vanderbilt 20-17, rode the much-publicized entire-team-on-the-field celebration penalty against Florida not only to a convincing win over the Gators but to a seven game winning streak. During that time, they averaged almost 38 points per game, including absolute thumpers against Auburn in their black jerseys and Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. rockytoptalk.com 6/2/08

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080601/SPORTS030103/80601010 CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Ole Miss baseball season came to an end on Sunday night, with an 11-2 loss to No. 1-ranked Miami in the NCAA Coral Gables Regional. It’s the first time since 2004 that the Rebels did not make it to the Super Regionals. The Miami hitters jumped all over Ole Miss left-handed starter Nathan Baker at the start of game, taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Ole Miss (39-26) responded with a two-run homer from Cody Overbeck, his 17th of the season, to make it 3-2, but that’s as close as the Rebels would get against a Hurricanes team that dominated the regional tournament with three straight wins. ClarionLedger.com 6/2/08

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080601/SPORTS030104/806010382/1177 BATON ROUGE — It's an ominous sign for opposing teams when the wind is blowing out at Alex Box Stadium, and LSU's powerful hitters took full advantage of the breeze Saturday night. LSU hit five homers to beat Southern Miss 13-4 Saturday before an an-nounced 8,012 to take control of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. USM (41-21) now must win three games to win the regional, starting with an elimination game against New Orleans at 1 p.m. today. "We're in a hole right now," said James Ewing, USM junior second baseman. "We've got our work cut out for us. Teams that go deep into the postseason have to overcome challenges." LSU (45-16-1) tied the SEC record with its 22nd consecutive victory. "I thought tonight was a great ball game by our team," said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. "I thought we played about the same caliber game against South Carolina (in the SEC Tournament) and that was the best game of the year. I think the game tonight rivaled it." Clarionledger.com 6/1/08