Easy....

“This will be our turnaround season.” - Coach Croom

Croom, what are ya thinkin'?

Please let those words be true. I hope as much or more than anyone that they will be.

However, in the court of public opinion, there are two keys to always coming up on the right side.

1. Under promise.

2. Over deliver.

Croom has taken away his ability to over deliver. If we win ten games (over delivering) - he said it would be a turn-around and it was. If we win six games (delivering) - he said it would be a turn-around and it was. If we win five or less(undeliver), not so much of a turn-around - but he said it would be, so he becomes a liar.

Never a hero in this equation (short of winning the conference). Only a man who meets expectations or a goat.

Why paint yourself into that type of corner?

Note: I like Croom. I'm on the record as being in the "Croom Camp." As a fan, I enjoy his honesty and his outlook. But I want him to succeed. And to truly be successful, I think he needs 5-7 years - and he won't get the time if he is constantly disappointing the fanbase. I wish we had strong enough personalities in our AD's media department to help him temper expectations - not heighten them. Don't get me wrong, I feel that we should win 5 games this year. But is that a turn-around?

Buddha

There is a good read on Mississippi State DL commit, Jonathan Williams, in today's Augusta Chronicle.

"Mississippi State's head coach asked me this spring why couldn't I just come to Starkville now," Williams said. "Coach (Sylvester) Croom said he wished I was already lining up for his defense."

He recently added an offer from South Carolina (to go along with State, Bama, Auburn and Mississippi) that he is considering as well. However he says that he remains committed to State.

"Everyone calls me Buddha," Williams said. "That's what I've gone by since I was born."

Early Commits

An interesting, if not somewhat obvious, column in the Birmingham News today discusses the high numbers of early commits this year.

That puts the SEC champs at 10 commitments, which puts them behind Alabama (12), Ole Miss (16) and SEC leader Mississippi State (18).

I'm going out on a limb here, but it's nice to see State leading in something.

Of course the end of the column sums up the number counting nicely.

"If we're full by Sept. 1 and we didn't get the right kids to win a national championship," Ross said, "we didn't do the right thing in recruiting."

I'm not going to even think about national titles and simply hope that Croom has been able to corral a group capable of moving up from that number 68 preseason ranking.

We're 68!!! We're 68!!!

Hmm...that doesn't have quite the right ring to it.

College Football News has ranked Mississippi State number 68 in D1 college football.

CFN writes:

"There's no way possible a D-I offense can average 276 yards and fewer than 14 points per game two years in a row. It just can't. The offensive line is sure to be better after struggling through injuries and inexperience last year, and the receiving corps should be much stronger with Omarr Conner's full-time switch from quarterback to receiver and the addition of receiver Tony Burks. Fine, so the running back situation is a bit dicey with the loss of Jerious Norwood and quarterback Michael Henig has to prove he can complete a pass on a regular basis, but there's hope for all the lumps taken last year to pay off. Nine starters return from a group that more than held its own last year finishing 29th in the nation in total defense."

CFN predicts a 4-9 season for the Dogs.

Google - Trends

I'm breaking my long run of no posts with inspiration from Sports Illustrated's Steve Rushin. His column in last week's issue was about "Google Trends" and what information the sports world was searching for online. I thought it would be interesting to see which college football coaches drum up respect around the Southeast.

We'll start with Croom. Believe it or not, Croom is searched for more in Limerick, Ireland, than anywhere else on the planet. Followed by Jackson and Tampa Bay and then Dublin. Apparently there is a hot tourist destination named Croom Mills, just outside of Limerick. Who knew?

Spurrier leads the way in Columbia, but is still closely followed in Gainesville, with Knoxville coming in sixth. Apparently the Vols are still keeping tabs on the evil one. While Tuberville doesn't have much interest outside of Alabama. Fulmer gets very little interest outside of Tennessee, a little from Columbia and a little from Birmingham (UT transplants and Bama Haters).

I was interested in whether Beamer would be number one in Blacksburg, however Germany fills all ten slots, driven by the BMW I assume.

And it's very dissapointing to see that Starkville doesn't even rank on the list of cities searching for cowbells. Those tree-huggers in Seattle actually lead the way. Why in the hell are you searching for cowbells in Seattle?