Rebel Roundup: Thursday Victories and Professional Rebels

Congratulations Chris Coghlan - The former Rebel hit his very first Major League home run this week.  Unfortunately, the excitement of the shot was shortly lifted thereafter as his Marlins were swept by the opposing Milwaukee Brewers and Coghlan had to negotiate with a baseball fan with an unusual hobby.  Nick Yohanek, the fan who caught Coughlan's ball, apparently travels the nation with aims of catching homerun balls and using them as bargaining chips for all sorts of things.  From The St. Petersburg Times:

"It took some negotiation, but I did get it back," said Coghlan, who gave Yohanek a bat and took a photo with him. "He wanted other things. He wanted tickets to the Yankees games. He wanted a Hanley [Ramirez autographed] ball, a Hanley bat. I was just trying to be as polite as I could and be respectful. You only get one, so I wanted to get it and give it to my mom."

[...]

"(He) wasn't the most polite or respectful guy about the whole process. He told me he does this a lot. He goes around and catches these balls and holds them for ransom, even though he doesn't say that's what he does, but that's what it seemed like to me."

Well, Cogs, thank you for, at the very least, being polite to a guy who, in all honesty, has a stupid hobby.  I know there's a video of the homer floating around the internet but my good friend Google couldn't find it for me right away.  If anybody's got it, upload it as a fanshot.

Peria Jerry Injures Knee, Again - Commander of the Legion of Doom, Peria Jerry, had two knocks against him during the hoopla leading up to last month's draft: his size and his durability.  Unfortunately, one of those has reared its ugly head early in the All-American's professional career.  He's hurt.  While it's only a mild knee sprain, Falcons fans are certainly worried and rightfully so.  But, after having seen him liquify offensive lines with his strength, quickness, and radiant heat only a couple of months removed from having the same knee scoped, I ain't too worried.  Here's to a speedy recovery, Peria. 

Speaking of Jerries - Football.com (that's a website?) has an article on John "Baby J" Jerry which labels him as--you ready for this?--a Rebel with a cause.  Honestly, how often has that been done?  *sighs audibly, rolls eyes*  Stupid cliches aside, it's a decent piece on the Rebel right tackle who will be a major key to our success on the ground this upcoming season. 

Please no...  Or, maybe, please yes? - Jevan Snead has been tabbed as the number one overall draft prospect for the 2010 draft by Mike Detillier, according to ESPN.com's Chris Low.  While I would obviously love for the Rebel quarterback to stick around and beat LSU's ass for as many seasons as possible, I could never fault him for leaving if he were projected anywhere in the top-10.  The good news from all of this is that, for Snead to go anywhere near that high in the draft, our Rebels will have to put up some crazy-impressive offensive numbers which, all things considered, is well within the realm of possibility.  Oh, and as with all ESPN.com threads involving the SEC, the article comments provide plenty of time-wasting entertainment; that is, if you find poor grammar and trite insults entertaining.

Wins! - The Rebel Netters have advanced to the Elite Eight in tennis and the Diamond Rebs bested the Arkansas Razorbacks due to errors caused by Houston Nutt.  FoTC 25 Days a Week once again fanposted about tennis, and Cupper Brian Walker's Elbow (poorly) recapped the baseball game.  Look out below for those.  Also, the Clarion Ledger's David Brandt, who Ivory Tower feels hates us, is liveblogging the series from the only SEC town which cannot really be described as being "south" or "east," Fayetteville.  Check it out here.