Link Gumbo-7/31/09

North and South endzone bleacher season tix owners can have seat backs (see pic) pre-installed for $40 for the season. It's a good deal if you usually destroy a portable one by the end of the season.

AD Joe Alleva and Sr Associate AD Herb Vincent are being given bigger roles as a result of budget cuts at LSU. Alleva will essentially represent the AD himself on the LSU board of supervisors, while Vincent will now be in charge of University Relations as a whole, instead of just the sports dept. Hopefully this means we get better LSU commercials during games.

Another unheralded commit this week from athlete Spencer Ware of Ohio. ATVS has unearthed some video of him.

The Summer ends for the tigers this weekend as they all report to camp on Wednesday. The Advoc has a good report on the last of the Tiger Tour stops in the PMAC last night. Jokes about Mainieri's singing and the Dreadlock of Doom abound.

Link Gumbo-7/29/09

It has been an extremely slow week for news. With all the other conferences holding media days this week, there is not much LSU news to talk about. Here are some things to keep you busy as we edge to the final month of waiting.

Dandy Don is giving a complete run down of his expectations for this year on all three sides of the ball.

ATVS is listing their keys to the season and is still doing great work reviewing this years freshmen.

A few short bits from the Times-Pic: the SEC champ game is locked to the georgia dome till 2015. The 2010 LSU-UNC game we talked about on Monday has not been finalized yet and there are some wondering out loud if this would put the final nail in the coffin for the tulane series. Good riddance.

Mainieri Sings at the Cubs game

Not the worst i've heard...

Link Gumbo-7/27/09

Sucks to be Tulane. This is a fact we know, but it is doubly true today as word from the ACC media days is that LSU will play UNC in the Georgia Dome next year in what is fast becoming a great way to open the season. Of course we will have to again cancel a Superdome Tulane game. I shed a single tear...

Another surprise commit last week, from DE Dexter Blackmon Jr. out of Selma, AL. He had no other offers, but impressed the coaching staff enough at last weeks camp that he was offered and he accepted on the spot. We seem to have gained a knack for finding diamonds in the rough for the 2010 class.

You can catch a replay of Les Miles's media day press conference here

A series of great off-season time waster threads on TigerForums started over the last week, discussing the all-time greatest tigers by position.

The Byrd-man continues to re-hab in Miami after being hit by a car a few days before last years draft. He is progressing well, but will likely not make it to the field until next season.

Link Gumbo-7/24/09

It's the final SEC Media Day and your closing act is Coach Miles with Ciron Black and Jacob Cutrera. You can listen here at 10:30am.

It looks like the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee will indeed place a ban on composite bats for next season. They say the bats are to blame for the offensive explosion this year. Coach Bertman cites the compacted schedule forcing teams to use their weaker pitchers to fill the rotation as the reason for the statistic jump.

In Tailgating News, a major section of the Union renovation has been finished. The bottom floor on the south end has been turned into a great looking lounge with lots of TV's and projectors and a good looking south entrance to the building (see todays pic). Should be a good place to hang out if you dont get tickets and it starts to rain. Also, the Oak Grove behind the union, which has been fenced off for 2 years now, should finally re-open sometime during the season.

In more student news, Away game ticket requests for students have been filled. Sellouts of the allotment for Bama, Ole Miss and Georgia, but some still available for UW and Miss St.

A Surprise commit from CB Tyrann Mathieu this week during camp. Tyrann was off of the radar until he had an amazing performance at a Tenn. camp earlier this year.

And just breaking this morning, the Tigers have been picked to finish 2nd in the west by the media, behind not Ole Miss, but Bama. The Gator, of course, are a lock for the East.