Cash money rolling into the AU athletic department courtesy of the SEC

The Auburn athletic department will receive approximately $11.1 million from the SEC this year, as the conference announced its 2008-09 revenue sharing plan Friday.

The league will divvy up $132.5 million – the highest total ever distributed in SEC history – equally among the 12 schools. The lump sum represents a 4 percent increase from the $127.6 million doled out in 2007-08.

The bulk of the funds ($52 million) was derived from revenue generated through football on television.

Other sources included: bowl games ($25.4 million), NCAA Championships ($23.1 million), SEC Football Championship ($14.3 million), basketball television ($13.6 million) and the SEC men’s basketball tournament ($4.1 million).

Not included was the $11.6 million retained by the eight schools that made postseason bowl games this past season and the $744,000 divided among all 12 schools for “academic enhancement.”

Auburn did not make a bowl game for the first time in eight years this past season.

The money should continue to roll in for the next 15 years, as the conference is set to commence its newly signed television deals with ESPN and CBS.

In a letter on the Auburn athletics’ Web site Friday, athletic director Jay Jacobs lauded the new deal.

“The agreements will make the SEC the most widely televised conference in the country,” Jacobs wrote. “The revenue generated will ensure the financial strength of Auburn Athletics and all schools in the conference for the next 15 years.”

Jacobs outlined a few of the deal’s highlights for clarity’s sake.

- All but one of Auburn’s games, presumably Nov. 7’s Homecoming game against Furman, will be televised. The 12th game will be available on pay-per-view.

- Aside from the “SEC game of the week” that will continue to air on CBS, ESPN will have exclusive rights to all other SEC home games. Those games will be seen on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. ESPN and ESPN2 will air the “premier” games. ESPN will also air two Thursday night games. ESPNU’s game of the week will primarily air during primetime.

- ESPN Regional Television replaces Raycom for syndicated games and those games will continue to air around 11:30 a.m. CST.

The deal, which when combined totals more than $3 billion over the 15-year period, essentially puts the determination of kickoff times in the networks’ hands. But that’s OK, Jacobs wrote.

“The new contracts will impact all of our sports and give us unprecedented exposure,” Jacobs wrote.

The SEC also announced the makeup of its Executive Committee on Friday from the final day of the conference’s spring meetings in Destin, Fla.

Jacobs was one of seven administrators from seven different schools elected. He is the only athletic director among the group.

(Photo credit: Geico)

Auburn’s hitting coach steps down

Auburn hitting coach Matt Heath, who followed coach John Pawlowski from the College of Charleston, resigned today, Pawlowski announced.

“Matt felt it was in his best interests to resign from his position with our club,” Pawlowski said in a university release. “I am very grateful for all of his hard work and dedication to not only this program this past season but also for the years we spent together at the College of Charleston. Matt had tremendous success and his contributions will be missed.”

The Tigers smashed a program record 103 home runs this season, but also obliterated the team’s strikeout record with 484. Tigers’ hitters constantly over-swung in clutch situations, particularly in conference play. Auburn hit just .262 in conference play and scored a league-low 141 runs.

The search for a new hitting coach, of course, will begin immediately, Pawlowski said.

“I want to thank JP (John Pawlowski) for giving me the opportunity to be a hitting coach in the SEC,” Heath said. “I will miss the players and the coaching staff but I feel like personally this is the right move for me. I wish nothing but success to the Auburn baseball team going forward.”

Lowder to retire from day job

Influential Auburn trustee Bobby Lowder will retire from Colonial BancGroup—the company he founded—the bank announced Thursday.

He will remain a member of the Auburn Board of Trustees. His second term as the District 2 representative on the AU board will complete April 2011.

Here’s the full story from the fine news folks at the Opelika-Auburn News.

Colonial BancGroup, Inc. founder and Auburn University trustee Bobby Lowder will retire from the company after completion of a $300 million equity deal with Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp and other investors, according to a release from the company Thursday.

“He decided it’s time to retire,” Lisa Free, director of investor relations, said. “It’s his decision to go ahead and retire.”

Lowder, who founded the company in 1981, will continue to serve as chairman, director, CEO and president of the company and its subsidiary Colonial Bank until the deal is completed or a replacement is appointed, the release states.

The capital infusion deal needs bank regulatory approval, something regulators haven’t given a time frame for, Free said.

Lowder, the District 2 representative on the AU board, did not return phone calls for comment Thursday.

Lowder, first appointed to the board in 1983, will complete his second term in April 2011.

(Photo credit: Cliff Williams)

Thigpen speaks…some more!

So safeties coach Tommy Thigpen was kind enough to sit down with the blog yesterday for a 30-minute chat inside his office at the Auburn Athletic Complex. And we, in return, were kind enough to provide a football story in the thick of spring, just because we know it’s what you like.

We do what we do for you.

Anyways, there was plenty that Thigpen had to say that didn’t make that there story. We’ll be using plenty in stories to come, but here are some excerpts to hold you over during your Thursday lunch. Or brunch if that’s how you roll.

How’s the move gone?
When you work with good people, it’s always a good transition. I knew Ted (Roof), I knew Tracy (Rocker) and I heard so many stories about (Phillip) Lolley. I knew (Trooper Taylor). So when I came it wasn’t anything dramatic. It was an easy adjustment because of the people I’m working with.

It’s right in the middle of recruiting. You don’t have time to think about it.

What’s your experience with in-state recruiting?
In the beginning, I was out-of-state. I was in Atlanta. I didn’t recruit in the state. In my last year, (Butch Davis) wanted to get in Charlotte. We never controlled Charlotte.

Every coach in the state wants their kids to play at Alabama or Auburn. It’s either one or the other. When the coaches come around, they love the fact we’re recruiting the players and coming on the road to see their players. For those guys, they’d rather have their kids here than anywhere else.

What have your first impressions been like?
It’s a fanatical state. It’s different than any other place I’ve been. When you’re born here, you’re either Alabama or Auburn. When I go outside the state in an Auburn shirt, I’ve never seen anything like It where people are so passionate about their football. Women, children, pastors, they love their football in this state.

Thoughts on your co-workers?
(Gene Chizik) really picked this staff carefully. Guys that you know, guys that you trust. He did a lot of background checks. It’s not by accident. I don’t think it’s by accident at all. Head coach did his homework for who he wanted to be apart of this system.

What do you say to the people that said you made a lateral move in coming to Auburn?
If you’re on the outside looking on and not in the football profession, everyone wonders why you go from linebackers from safeties. Nobody has ever told me that because everybody that I’ve spoken to said that’s a pretty good move. I don’t see it as a lateral move. In the end, if you coach at Auburn University, you’ve recruited against the best, you coached against the best players in the country and get the chance to recruit the best players in the country. What else could you want?

(Photo credit: Vasha Hunt)

A day late, but not a dollar short ...

... more like $2.

We took off from the LBWC on Monday because of the Memorial Day holiday. Big, big ups to all the Armed Service men and women, present and past.

We celebrated their heroism with barbecue pork and beans like any red-blooded American should. And it was good.

So, without further adieu, here’s the God Bless America LBWC ...

5) Sunday-Monday. Rain, rain go away.
Because the Busy Girl was out of town last weekend, I didn’t get a chance to cut the grass. I planned on doing it this weekend. But the rain had different plans.
Because of the mass quantities of liquid drops falling from the sky, I couldn’t fire up my Craftsman 24-inch walk-behind Saturday or Sunday.
The plan was to do it Monday morning. It was overcast, and the grass was really, really wet. But I had to cut the jungle that had sprouted in my front yard before a panther came out and ate the Lazy Dog. It was that bad.
So taking advantage of a break in the weather, I headed out to the yard on a mission. I didn’t make one pass before it started raining again.
But I persevered. This needed to get done, and by the looks of it, it was going to rain all day.
So I mowed and mowed in the driving rain. Fun stuff, let me tell you.
Soaked, muddy and not so happy, I finished the front yard, tried to clean off the 100 pounds of grass that had gathered on my mower and tennis shoes and headed inside.
As soon as I shut the door, the rain stopped and the sun came out.
Yep.

4) Friday night. Screaming like school girls.
So it’s me and Auburn University beat writer Andrew P. Gribble in the office Friday night, working and watching Game 2 of the Magic-Cavs series. Gribble’s a huge fan of anything Cleveland. Especially the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA).
So here we are watching the game, pretending to work, when LeBron James hit the game-winner at the buzzer. We screamed. Gribble danced. It was pandemonium.
It looked a little bit like this.

3) Monday morning. Clean bill of health.
Took Little Tornado to her 18-month checkup. She’s healthy. I know you guys all wanted to know. She passed all the tests with flying colors.
Then, when it was all done, she had to get her shots. It’s common practice for infants and toddlers to get shots during well visits. Or so I’m told.
But it’s not the doctor who gives the shots. It’s the nurse. Which made me think, the “shot nurse” has got to be one of the toughest jobs ever.
Think about it, it’s your job to make kids cry.
Here you come, down the hall with needles like Darth Vader. You walk in, have the mom (and in most cases the dad) hold the kid down while you jab their leg with two or three shots. How can you sleep at night? I couldn’t.

2) Saturday. No, that’s not white, it’s bone.
I don’t know if you guys have heard, but it’s impossible to find white (actual white ... like snow) shoes for kids. There’s offwhite. Light white. Cream. Ivory. Cosmic Latte. And even bone. Yes, bone. But just plain, old fashion white? Ha!
It’s like coffee-flavored coffee. It just doesn’t exist.
My sister is getting married next weekend and Busy Baby is in the wedding. (See: Flower Girl). So she needs white shoes. WHITE. And there are none. The entire Auburn/Opelika area doesn’t have a single white shoe. Seriously.
There’s “really, really, really close to white” shoes, but none that are actually white.
Wait, there was one pair, but they were something like a million dollars. Is the color white on the endangered species list and no one told me? Really.

1) Monday. Thanks.
Memorial Day is a special day in the Lazy House. Both of my grandfather’s fought in WWII, with my dad’s father actually landing on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 (D-DAY). He was also captured by the Germans and was a POW for six months. My father was ... excuse me, is, a Marine. (Like he says, “once a Marine, always a Marine.“ Sorry, Pops.) And my middle brother is a captain in the U.S. Army. He flies Apaches. Yes, like the movie.
It won’t be long before my brother heads to the Middle East for his tour. So, Memorial Day definitely has a special meaning to me and my family.
Here’s to all who have served/are serving our great country. God Bless you and your families.