Rebel Roundup - 8/30/10

Oh My Goodness, Football Is Almost Here
We have wandered together through the vast, tortuous, unforgiving desert of the college football offseason. We have trudged through the Winter Olympics, the NBA, the NHL, March Madness, College Baseball, and the MLB in order to finally arrive at this, our truest and strongest of passions. It approaches. It is palpable. And, soon, it will consume us all in the glorious conflagration of football pageantry. So temper your spirits and remain patient until this Saturday when we can peel back our season's first layer of red wax, fill our red cups with stout libation, and continue our enduring rebellion. Because once that first ball is kicked off in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, we are no longer the suffering refugees of seasons past, but rather the mad, insatiable kings of our own empires. We are fans, and the world will know this come September 4.

Fan Confidence Poll
SBNation is trying out a fan confidence poll widget on most of their blogs. It's simple (and it's right there to the top-left of this post). Simply rate how "confident" you are in the Rebels, however you may define that, and click submit. Once a week we'll have updates as to our overall fan confidence and, at the end of the season, we'll be able to generally track the vicious mood swings we Rebels are accustomed to. Does it sound masochistic? Well that's because it is!

Rebels Finalizing Roles on Special Teams | RebelGrove.com
Neal McReady's notes here focus on the development of the special teams, but also looks at Masoli, Lockett, the incoming freshmen defenders, Vincent Sanders, and others. It's a great read to catch up on how everything has been progressing in practice.

Extra work paying off for Rebels' Stanley | RebelGrove.com
More McCready, but this one focuses on Nathan Stanley's development. It also takes a good look at Brishen Matthews emergence in the wake of Fon Ingram's knee injury. Read, grow wool, get excited.

Year 2's 2010 Picks | Team Speed Kills
TSK is calling a 6-6 overall finish with a 2-5 SEC record which features a loss to Mississippi State in Oxford. Y'all disagree with that prediction? Yeah, I thought so.

SEC Deal or No Deal | Garnet and Black Attack
GaBA takes a similar approach, but supposes we win against State, end up 7-5, and make a trip to Nashville for the Music City Bowl. Then, Rebels, would you say "deal" or "no deal" to such an outcome?

Callaway's Bell Commits | Clarion Ledger
Justin Bell of Callaway High School joins his teammate Aaron Morris in committing to the Rebels recently. Both are big-bodied linemen who look the part of legitimate SEC prospects. This brings the Rebel's stunningly early and solid class to a whopping 18 commitments before the season's kickoff.

Wanna See a Cool Video of Rebel Committ Cody Prewitt Doing Something Badass?
Then click that link, lawya. He looks a bit too big to be on the same field as his teammmates.

And, for the Record...
We never hated David Brandt. The Enemy of the Cup stuff was all very much tongue-in-cheek. David Brandt did a great job of reporting on Ole Miss for the Clarion ledger. In fact, he's one of the best beat reports any school has had at that paper for a while. The "hate" was a fun way to poke fun at the Clarion Ledger readership base, namely paranoid old, white people who don't understand principal tenets of journalism. Congrats on the promotion, Brandt. I hope you can afford a few new Hawaiian shirts and White Sox caps with the pay bump.

Sleazy Kyle Veazy, on the other hand...