Team Speed Kills Now. Then. Your humble correspondent was remiss in Wednesday's Sprints in not including the podcast version of this week's TSK Now, which focuses on the matchups with the ACC this weekend.
To the news.
IRON BOWL
Why even play the game?
25 of 25 Alabama media members agree: The Tide will defeat the Tigers today.
The mole must be found and destroyed
Information about the Tide's stay in Montgomery has found its way to Auburn Web sites. Most of the "scoop" seems relatively harmless; somehow it's not a surprise that one of the hotel's "GOLD KEYS" is that "Coach Saban is taken care of."
Then again, they might need as much rest as they can get
Alabama is currently in the middle of a four-year stretch in which fully half of their league opponents will have a bye week before playing the Tide -- including this year's Iron Bowl. This has caused some consternation in Tuscaloosa, which is not completely unreasonable.
OTHER NEWS
Hopefully it's not a stick-up
Eric Berry has a "surprise" planned for Tennessee fans, says Boy Wonder.
Maybe playing quarterback?
The Knoxville News-Sentinel speculates that the surprise might less than startling.
Or returning
Though it seems unlikely that Berry will come back for his senior season. He didn't take part in the "Last Tackle" drill for seniors.
Because your rivalry game probably should matter to someone other than you
One thing South Carolina and Clemson fans should be able to agree on: Making their annual rivalry game more important.
Until both programs can sustain consistent success, this game will have minimal national exposure. While Clemson has made it to the championship game this season, the Tigers have been incredibly inconsistent since the last championship. This is a team that, for the past 10 years, has either started fast and finished slow or vice-versa. South Carolina's program success can be lumped into this same category, with the Gamecocks opening strong the past few years only to falter down the stretch.
All true. And Clemson fans should be particularly proud that it took only 10 years of returning for prominence to, you know, return to prominence.
They could always just fight
The State looks back at one time that the game actually did draw national attention.
The Bills seem to be interested in the Golden Tebow
Jim Kelly on the draft:
Whether it's Tim Tebow, whether they'll have a shot at him when draft time comes ... you have to look at the top three quarterbacks in the draft, really study them. And you look for a guy with good character, good leadership ability and good arm strength.
This might not be that encouraging for Tebow. Buffalo is like Canada without the French or the free health care.