Culture

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/35074-sec-envy I've never been a part of the "in" crowd. I've never been hated "because I'm beautiful." But being a fan of the SEC these days is starting to feel just that way. It seems that jealousy abounds among fans of the other conferences, and the potshots are coming faster and harder than ever before. For a while, Big-10 fans thought that they were the ones that were the SEC's top rival for the mantle of college football's (and arguably college athletics as a whole) top conference. Then, with two consecutive drubbings of their top team in the national championship game, they have gotten much quieter. And it didn't help the matter that Florida beat Ohio State for the NCAA basketball tournament (on their way to a second straight title) either. Yes, the rumblings from the Big 10 have fallen to a hush. The Big-12 fans flexed their muscle a couple of years ago when Oklahoma, and then Texas, had won the BCS championship within a couple of years of each other. The problem now is that Oklahoma is the not-so-proud owner of a four-game (and counting) bowl-losing streak, and Texas hasn't been the same since Vince Young left. Yes, Missouri is an up-and-coming program, but it can be argued that their rise is partially due to the vacuum that has been caused by Nebraska's fall, so, from a conference standpoint, that is a wash. And Kansas didn't played anybody last year and then lost to the only decent team they played (Missouri). Big-East fans seem more obsessed with trying to convince the Big 10 (their closest neighbors) that they are their equals instead of trying to make any convincing arguments that they are better than the SEC. Bleacherreport 7//5/08

http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080704/SPORTS/80703059/1006 Will the New Orleans Saints look more like the club that fall just one measly victory shy of playing in the Super Bowl in 2006? Or will they languish as the frustrating epitome of mediocrity, as they did in 2007? As training camp looms, you have to wonder. It has been said that 2006 was a fluke. That the Saints, no matter how talented, always have been and always will be a team that simply struggles on a regular basis. That they will continue to give their fan base fits with erratic play. But what if, in fact, 2007 was the fluke? What if the day Sean Payton was named the new head coach signaled a new era in New Orleans for a franchise that had only one playoff victory to its credit prior to the 2006 season? What if there is something to what is called the "sophomore slump?" Monroe news Star 7/4/08

http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080704/SPORTS/80703059/1006 Will the New Orleans Saints look more like the club that fall just one measly victory shy of playing in the Super Bowl in 2006? Or will they languish as the frustrating epitome of mediocrity, as they did in 2007? As training camp looms, you have to wonder. It has been said that 2006 was a fluke. That the Saints, no matter how talented, always have been and always will be a team that simply struggles on a regular basis. That they will continue to give their fan base fits with erratic play. But what if, in fact, 2007 was the fluke? What if the day Sean Payton was named the new head coach signaled a new era in New Orleans for a franchise that had only one playoff victory to its credit prior to the 2006 season? What if there is something to what is called the "sophomore slump?" Monroe news Star 7/4/08