Culture

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/35730-lsus-50th-anniversary-championship-present-national-champ-appalachian-state In a rare meeting of the two current national champions in their divisions, the Louisiana State Tigers challenge the Mountaineers of Appalachian State in the opening game of the 2008 season. One year ago, App. State went into the alma mater of LSU coach Les Miles, the University of Michigan, and defeated the Wolverines on their own field. Four months later, Michigan beat defending national champion Florida in the Citrus Bowl. Fifty years ago this season, Ohio native Paul Dietzel brought the National Championship to LSU, defeating Clemson 7-0 in the Sugar Bowl to finish 11-0. Dietzel left LSU after the 1961 season to coach at West Point. Following a stint as coach at South Carolina, Dietzel left the field, and eventually retired to the mountain resort town of Blowing Rock, N.C. Blowing Rock. Five miles from Boone, N.C. The same Boone, N.C. that is home to Appalachian State University. Adding to this strange confluence of events is the fact that Dietzel is publishing an auto-biography, "They Call Me Coach", due to hit the shelves the same week as App St takes on LSU. In Dietzel's last four years at LSU he went 36-7 with one national title and two other seasons with Top 10 rankings; #3 in '59 and #4 in '61. In Miles' three seasons at LSU he has one national title and a #3 in '06 and a #6 in '05. bleacherreport 7/7/08

http://www.northeastledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/NEWS/807090307 The New Orleans Saints will be rolling into town in two weeks to begin their third year of training camp at Millsaps College. The Saints, who advanced to the National Football Conference championship game in 2006 after their first stay in Jackson, are looking to reach that level of success again. How is Jackson preparing for the team's arrival, and how will gas prices affect those looking on during camp? "The people from New Orleans who are taking vacation at that time - school's getting ready to start, so it's the last chance to do it - so instead of driving, say, to Florida and going that extra mileage, they may decide 'I'll only drive three hours and visit Jackson for the Saints camp," said Gina Aswell, the manager of communications and public relations for the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The crowds may not be affected as much (by the gas prices) because people are discontinuing those longer drives and flights and starting to drive in the region more. So it may help us. We won't know until it gets here, but we expect the crowds to be as large as they've ever been." At Sal and Mookie's, just up the road from camp, discussions are just getting under way as to how to best approach the visitors who will be looking for places to dine. Things will also be a bit less hectic this year as opposed to last year. "We were very new this time last year, so obviously we were busy with the opening, but we did see a lot of business (because of the camp)," said Jon Pixler, the chef at Sal and Mookie's. "We saw a lot of players too, and also did some catering over there with the team." Possibly one of the biggest beneficiaries of the camp are the nearby hotels, such as Cabot Lodge Millsaps, just off of campus. Northeast Ledger 7/9/08

http://deadspin.com/5023095/brett-favres-text+messaging-habits-under-intense-scrutiny ESPN is once again pushing its "Brett Favre's itchy" story out front, grasping at any and all tenuous confirmations that Brett is strongly considering un-retiring. The top story on ESPN.com for the past six hours has been "Report: Favre sends text message to Packers GM Thompson", which gives a little credence to Favre's alleged itchiness that the network reported with all of the subtlety of an elephant fart late last week. The story credits several other outlets with breaking the text- messaging news, citing WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee's report that Favre sent a text to Packers GM Ted Thompson on Saturday and that Thompson kindly brushed him off until after he finished his vacation. This isn't going to end anytime soon, until somebody fesses up in a live press conference. Will Brett Favre actually have to retire again in the span of six months in order to keep these "rumors" from circulating? It appears that's the only thing that ESPN will take as a definitive "no" at this point. Deadspin 7/8/08

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=432426 If Brett Favre wants to pitch his services to the Green Bay Packers, it looks as if he's going to have to wait. According to WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, the quarterback's request to speak with general manager Ted Thompson was rebuffed via text message over the weekend. Thompson reportedly responded that he was on vacation and would speak with Favre later. On Monday, Sports Illustrated reported on its website that Thompson had been ignoring phone calls from Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook. Teammate Al Harris said on ESPN on Monday that Favre told him he has "the itch." Multiple media outlets in Wisconsin have reported that Favre recently asked for his release after contentious conversation about a possible return to football. The league's all-time leader passing yards, touchdown passes, completions, attempts, interceptions and wins by a quarterback, Favre retired from the NFL in March after 17 seasons, the final 16 with Green Bay. The Packers spent the offseason readying for life without Favre, positioning 2005 first-round pick Aaron Rodgers as the starter and selecting Louisville's Brian Brohm in the second round and LSU's Matt Flynn in the seventh round of the April draft. Sportingnews 7/8/08