More bold, red lettering from the AHSAA

The AHSAA has pasted a tentative new schedule for all of this weekend’s events that were displaced by the swine flu announcement yesterday.

Some highlights:

- The 1A-3A track meet will be joining the 4A-6A one at Gulf Shores next Thursday through Saturday, with 1A-3A taking up Thursday and half of Friday and 4A-6A taking up the other half of Friday and Saturday. That’s on the same weekend that the South regional softball tournament descends on Gulf Shores. Probably won’t be much room at the inns.

- The third round of the baseball playoffs are being pushed back to Tuesday and Wednesday, with the semifinals still going on as planned Friday and Saturday. This will obviously favor teams with deeeeeeeeep pitching staffs.

- Softball area tournaments are being pushed back to Tuesday, and teams may play a single-elimination format if they all agree. The regional tournaments will go on as planned Friday and Saturday.

- The golf sub-state rounds that were scheduled for Monday will be pushed back to Tuesday. This does not affect Auburn High’s boys and girls, who were both already scheduled to play Tuesday. The state tournament will go on as planned May 11-12.

That is, of course, depending on the fact that no more cases of the swine flu are reported and the AHSAA gets the “all clear” from the Department of Health and its Medical Advisory Board. A final decision on this tentative schedule will be made Monday morning.

HALT! Swine flu!

So, the AHSAA very recently announced that all sporting events are postponed until at least Monday because of suspected cases of swine flu that have been reported in three school districts around Huntsville.

Here’s what’s running in tomorrow’s paper:

AHSAA executive director Steve Savarese announced Wednesday night that all state athletics will shut down immediately due to “probable cases of swine flu that have shut down three school systems in the Huntsville area.”
This ruling applies to all AHSAA athletics, including the 1A-3A and 4A-6A track meets scheduled for this weekend at Troy and Gulf Shores, as well as planned playoff events in baseball, softball, soccer and golf through Monday.
“Right now, we are being advised by our Medical Advisory Committee to shut down all activities until further notice,” Savarese said on AHSAA.com. “We hope to be able to resume activities by next Tuesday, but right now we must study the situation and take it one day at a time.
“This is not something we want to do. Right now, we want to be cautious.”
The association’s Web site says they hope to have everything that is being postponed by the shutdown re-scheduled by early next week, pending information from the “state Department of Health and our Medical Advisory Committee.”

So that means no track meets. No baseball playoffs, Auburn, Beauregard and Dadeville. No sub-state golf tournaments, Auburn boys and girls and other area individuals. No area softball tournaments, everyone. At least not until at least Tuesday.

Something tells me this isn’t over yet…

Here comes the Tiger Prowl…Rawrrrrr

Just think, ladies. If you woo one of these men strong enough, you might be able to catch a ride on this wagon for your upcoming prom.

We’re now three days into this grandiose recruiting experiment known simply as the “Tiger Prowl.“ Today’s stops had a more local flavor to them, as the seven-man crew rolled into Smiths Station, Central High, Auburn High and—as seen above—Opelika High.

The fine folks at AuburnSports.com have been all over this slowed-down Gumball Rally of sorts since it began Monday. This time of the year is known as the spring evaluation period, where college coaches can watch prospective players and talk to their high school coaches, but can’t say more than a “hello” to the player.

Instead of divvying up the seven members of the staff allowed out at one time—per NCAA rules—recruiting coordinator Curtis Luper decided to make it a team effort—with a limo. 

“We want to concentrate all of our energy in one area at a time,“ Luper told AuburnSports.com.

As you can see in the photo above—and as has been the case all week—the crew, which excludes Gene Chizik because he is not permitted on the road at this time, has been wearing matching outfits. We think that’s a bit much.

But hey, that’s why we’re not tackle football coaches and why we usually don’t talk to high school kids—unless, of course, we need some lunch money.
(Photo credit: Cliff Williams)

Why, Wal-Mart? Why?

The sun shone brightly this weekend.

What happened to spring?

Seriously.

It was cold then, all of a sudden, it was Cayenne pepper hot.
And trust me. That’s hot. Caliente, if you will.

But just throw a box fan on us here at the LBWC and we’ll be good to go. That, and maybe a couple Fla-Vor-Ice pops.

Now that takes me back ... Here read this week’s LBWC while I reminisce about being 5 years old. Ahh, those were the days.

5) Saturday morning. What is this?

You all know my love for everything Wal-Mart.

Well, I’ve got a complaint. I know ... blasphemy. But just hear me out.

The Busy Family took our weekly trip to the Greatest Place on Earth early Saturday morning and we got lost. No, not on our way to Wal-Mart. (Can anyone get lost going to Wal-Mart? Really? It’s impossible. You could drop me off in the middle of nowhere, and I’d be at the local Wal-Mart in five minutes. It’s a sixth sense. Don’t be jealous.) But we got lost inside the store.

The Opelika Wal-Mart is renovating its entire store, and everything is in different places. I guess it’s to open up more room and to put things like dog food closer to the regular food—or something like that.

But this caused a Major Pain. No, not this one.

But close.

I’m about to draft a letter to my congressman.

The Busy Girl and I had our local Wal-Mart mapped out like a beach head in WWII. We had a plan of attack, knew where everything was, who was going to get it and even what cart to put it in. (We have two girls, so we need two carts ... for crowd control).

But not this week. Nope. We were as lost as vegetarians in a butcher shop.

Normally, it takes us less than an hour to get in, get what we need and get out (with only minor injuries). Saturday, it took us two hours.

I was deflated. Derailed. Decimated. Deterred. But not defeated.

Nope. Wal-Mart’s renovation might have won the battle, but it will not win the war. I’m spending the next five days doing recon, taking photos, drawing maps and gathering intel before our next trip. I will not be beaten.

4) Friday night. Two!
I took in Beauregard’s second-round playoff baseball doubleheader against Tallassee on Friday afternoon. It was basically the same game twice, just with each team taking turns dominating.
Beauregard and Tallassee split on Friday, setting up a must-win Game 3 on Saturday.

I was not there to cover that game. (Wal-Mart had me in a headlock). But prep ace David Morrison was there ... for all five hours, 12 innings and 502 pitches. Yep, he counted. Don’t believe me? Here’s his story to prove it.

Beauregard won in 12, advancing to the third round.

It’s a shame someone had to lose that game. Congrats to both teams for just being able to stand after all that. Bravo.

3) Friday afternoon. Sunscreen? Sissy.
Yeah, that’s what I thought on my way to Beauregard on Friday for the baseball doubleheader. It wasn’t long after that I wish I hadn’t listened to my inflated and badly sunburned ego.

There’s getting burnt, and then there’s this.

Yep, my arms got torched. But, hey, at least I remembered to wear a hat.

2) Saturday and Sunday. Is it over yet?
The NFL Draft was this past weekend. Wait, you didn’t know? Wow. How’s the weather under that rock?

Of course you knew it was draft weekend. ESPN had it on for 1,298 hours ... and those were just the commercials. Two days of wall-to-wall draft coverage. And you watched it. Maybe not all of it, but you watched some ... OK, a lot.

Why?

Is it really that run to see college kids get selected by your favorite pro team? Maybe.

But I know why you watched for so long ... Because it took you 10 hours of viewing just to catch the perfect time to read the crawl at the bottom of the screen to see who your favorite team drafted.

Every time you flipped on the draft, you just missed your team on the crawl. And every time you flipped back, you just missed it. So you decided to leave it on ESPN so it would scroll back through and you could see who was drafted. But then you’d get up for a second to get a drink or use the bathroom and miss it again.

I know I’m not the only one this happened to.

But instead of just getting online and looking it up, you kept watching the TV, because ESPN and it’s Bottom Line were not going to beat you. Nope, you weren’t going to have a Wal-Mart moment. You were going to see who the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked in the fourth round if it killed you.

1) Saturday mid-morning. John Deere Green.
(You know you like that song. Admit it. It’s OK. I won’t tell.)

Anyway. I worked out in the yard Saturday after getting back from Wal-Mart.

I had to take out my frustration on something, so the weeds I call grass got the business end of my John Deere. (OK, well, I don’t really have a John Deere, but Craftsman doesn’t really sound as good.)

Cutting grass is therapeutic. Really. It give you time to think.

It also gives you time to get more sunburn.

Yep, forgot the hat.

Doolittle headed to Seattle

Less than two years after he was faced with the prospect of never playing football again, Tez Doolittle is on his way to the NFL.

Doolittle, an Opelika native and six-year defensive tackle at Auburn, went undrafted Saturday and Sunday, but was quickly scooped up by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent. He will fly to Seattle on Thursday to go through mini camp.

“I’m going to be like a blind dog in a meathouse,” Doolittle said.

Doolittle missed the entire 2007 season after he tore his Achilles tendon in fall practice. He redshirted his first year with the Tigers, so an end to a largely uneventful Auburn career was certainly in the realm of possibility.

But Doolittle was awarded an extra year of eligibility and he made the most of it. He emerged as a leader in the middle of Auburn’s defensive line alongside best friend and current roommate Sen’Derrick Marks, as he amassed 28 tackles, eight of which were for a loss.

Doolittle garnered more interest than may have been expected when he showed up to Auburn’s Pro Day with a noticeable amount of added muscle and a more toned physique.

“I’m just happy to be in the situation I’m in,” Doolittle said. “I wasn’t supposed to be playing ball after ‘07. It’s been six years and I just fought through it.”

Doolittle said the New York Jets called him shortly before Sunday’s seventh round, expressed interest in him, but didn’t have any picks left. He never heard from them again, but was more than happy to hear from the Seahawks shortly thereafter.

“I’ve been around here and I went to Opelika and then went to Auburn,” Doolittle said. “So I need to get away from here for a little bit.”

Doolittle will join former Opelika product and Auburn linebacker Will Herring, who has been with the Seahawks since 2007.

Wide receiver Rod Smith will be joining former Auburn offensive lineman Tyronne Green with the San Diego Chargers, Doolittle said. Smith went undrafted, but was signed by the Chargers shortly after the final pick, according to AuburnSports.com.

Smith led the Tigers with 30 catches for 332 yards in 2008. He came to Auburn as a walk-on before earning a scholarship in 2007.

(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)