Articles written by Katie Beasley

August is finally here, and the Plains are becoming packed as students move back to sweet home Auburn.

Football season is just a couple of weeks away, classes are about to begin, and I could not be happier!

I love fall in Auburn. All of my friends are back in town, the anticipation of the first football game of the season is high, and parties are going on everywhere.

Although summer is my favorite season, this town just appears to be a little dead.

Football players, cheerleaders, a marching band and hundreds of fans coming together on a Saturday afternoon sounds like a football game. Only, it’s not quite football season yet. It’s Fan Day!

Saturday, Aug. 2, from 3-5 p.m. Auburn will be hosting its annual Fan Day at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.

This event is free of charge to all Tiger fans and is presented by Golden Flake Snack Foods.

I have grown up watching NASCAR, and I still enjoy watching the races every Sunday, especially if Dale Jr. is winning. However, I have come to enjoy another form of racing lately, thanks to my boyfriend.

Formula 1 racing is a form of open wheeled auto racing that has been around for more than 60 years. This is more of a worldwide race style, unlike NASCAR, but there are still many F1 fans around the United States.

They used to race in the U.S., but now the closest they race is in Canada.

Brandon McMath: takes a picture as he crosses the Maine state line on the Appalachian Trail. This is the final state along the trail. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Appalachian Trail continues to be the current home of senior Brandon McMath who has been hiking the trail since March.

McMath has finally reached the homestretch of his journey as he crossed the state line into Maine the other day.

He has walked almost 1,900 miles from the beginning of the trail in Georgia.

McMath spent his Fourth of July above tree line in the White Mountains a few miles away from the Maine state line.

“There were no fireworks, but someone did have some apple pie for all of us, so that was kind of American, I guess,” McMath said about his holiday.

Throughout the journey, he has made new friends and kept up with them along the way; however, the friends he had been hiking with for quite a while now have had to get off the trail due to Lyme disease and other infections.

“I’ve kind of been left solo, but I have met some cool new people,” McMath said.

However, McMath’s brother plans to join him for a few days on the trail this upcoming week.

Kodi Burns: avoids a tackle from a Vanderbilt player in the October 6 game. Burns and the rest of the Tigers will have to step up their game against LSU and West Virginia in what Sports Illustrated says will be two of the top-ten "season-defining" games. PLAINSMAN AR

According to Sports Illustrated, the Tigers will be playing in two of the top-10 “season-defining games” for the 2008 football season.

The two games that are expected to be major games are LSU and West Virginia.

“All of our games are big, but it’s interesting to see that we’re always picked to be in a lot of the biggest games every year,” said head coach Tommy Tuberville. “That just shows you how tough our schedule is.”

Auburn was one of two teams selected to play in more than one top-10 game this year. Georgia was the only other team playing in multiple top games this season.

“I think it says great things about our football program to have two games mentioned as top-10 season-defining games this upcoming season,” said Blake Smalley, a senior in physical education.

LSU has become a fierce rivalry for the SEC-West. This game was placed as sixth in SI’s rankings.

“The LSU game is always a big one because the past few years, the team that has won that game has gone on to the SEC championship,” said Jason Bosley, the Tigers’ senior starting center. “They are going to be highly ranked, and hopefully we will be too. It’s just a big-time match-up, just like it is every year.”

Louisville, Ky., is known to many as the home of Churchill Downs, the location for the Kentucky Derby. However, it is also the home of Louisville Slugger, the company which makes baseball bats for many minor and professional baseball teams.

This Fourth of July, I spent the weekend visiting Louisville with my boyfriend and his family. The highlight of this trip for me was going to the Louisville Slugger Museum.

The tour takes you through the workshop to see first hand how each bat is made.

Sundays are dedicated to two things: God and Nascar.

Now, go ahead and consider me a redneck because I said Nascar; however, I would like to view that opinion differently.

The first couple of years of my life, my family lived in Charlotte, N.C. This also happens to be the home of the late Dale Earnhardt and one of Nascar’s most loved drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

From that moment on, my family was devoted to the sport of Nascar.

Auburn graduate Ricky Dean and College of Business senior, Brandon McMath, began a journey March 1 to hike the Appalachian Trail. The AT starts at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ends at Katalin Mountain in Maine.

These young men made a practice hike up part of the Bartman trail in north Georgia Feb. 19-20.

The purpose of this hike was to test their equipment and make sure they were ready for the trip. The practice trip was about eight miles both ways.

PAWLOWSKI

For those who were worried about what would happen to Auburn’s baseball team, do not fear.

Friday, Jay Jacobs, Auburn athletics director, announced the athletic department had hired John Pawlowski as the new head baseball coach.

“It is certainly a wonderful opportunity, and I am just excited to be on board at Auburn University,” Pawlowski said. “I knew I was looking for a challenge, and this certainly is a challenge and one that I am looking forward to.”

Do not be alarmed if it seems Auburn has been taken over by cheerleaders.

The Universal Cheerleaders Association and the National Cheerleaders Association are hosting camps all summer long for schools around the country to attend.

UCA held its second camp of the season at Auburn June 10-13.