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(10/18/14 12:00pm)
Generations of families have made Auburn University the home of many traditions. There are several students whose grandparents, parents and siblings have walked the same campus years before them.
It's something senior cheerleader Evans Carr has known for some time.
Evans' father, Gregg Carr, was an all-American linebacker for the Tigers in 1984, and his mother, Juli Ann Carr, was a cheerleader at Auburn during the same time.
The Carr family has been present at Auburn home football games for as long as Evans can remember, so, according to Evans, it's only natural he would find himself a student there 30 years after his parents.
Despite his family's strong ties to the University, Evans said he didn't feel any pressure to attend his parents' alma mater.
"They just wanted me to go where I wanted," Evans said, "but, naturally, this is the place I've been coming to, and it's the place where I thought I fit. It's a place I feel comfortable."
Evans said he remembers coming down for football games, and, although he grew up playing football, he knew that he had other interests.
"When I was younger, [cheerleading] was something that crossed my mind," Evans said. "I mean, I enjoyed football, but I knew it wasn't my passion. I'm not saying that cheerleading is my passion, but it's definitely something I'm more passionate about."
Evans said one of the best parts of being a cheerleader is the connection between himself and his mother.
"It's something that I can share with my mom that no one else can ever have in my family," Evans said. "My dad knows about it, but he doesn't understand, my brother doesn't understand, and my sisters don't understand. My mother and I are the only two that knows what it's like."
When asked about whether she wishes it could be her running onto the field on Saturdays instead of her son, Juli said she's more than happy to watch her son experience it for himself.
"There's no jealousy," Juli said. "I had my day and have awesome memories. The only thing better than that is knowing that Evans is having the time of his life, contributing and making great memories too."
As much as Evans enjoys cheering, he said it's the people who make it as much fun as it is.
"You know, I enjoy cheerleading for the sport part of it, but it's the friends," Evans said. "All the people are awesome, and you get know all of them on a very personal level."
In addition to a busy cheering schedule, Evans is majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in business. He said his interest in both subjects makes it manageable.
"I'm definitely enthusiastic about engineering," Evans said. It's something that I've known I really want to do."
Evans' father was also an engineering major, played in the NFL and became an orthopedic surgeon.
"To major in engineering and do any kind of extracurricular activity that takes the kind of time commitment that cheerleading does, really, it tells that you're focused and have good time management skills," Gregg said.
Auburn is a big part of the Carr household, but the football field is only a fraction of why Evans and his family keep coming back.
(10/13/14 1:30pm)
Auburn's football team has found great success in the last seven weeks. Few can complain about a 5-0 start, so I won't.
The program's recent success can be attributed to a fantastic coaching staff, among other things, but primarily it's the leadership and vision of head coach Gus Malzahn.
If you're an Auburn fan, right now is about as good as it gets as far as the regular season is concerned. Alabama lost to Ole Miss, and the Tigers beat down the No. 15 team in the country at Jordan-Hare.
However, something else that comes with success is that others start to take notice, and Malzahn has had arguably the best offense at every level at which he's been The NFL will have noticed by now.
The success of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, whose offense was ranked first last season, leads me to believe that next on the list of college coaches to be called on to make the jump to NFL is Malzhan.
Kelly and Malzahn's offense are different, but their hurry-up style of play is becoming more and more potent in the NFL, and there are almost always head coaching jobs available at the end of each season.
Nick Saban tried to make the jump, Pete Carroll has successfully made the jump and Jim Harbaugh, even with talks of disdain between him and the San Francisco front office, seems to have cemented a place in the NFL.
I'm not saying Gus Malzahn is the next Bill Walsh, but there are few people who turn down the NFL when it comes knocking, and Auburn needs to be prepared to lose Malzahn in the next few years.
The NFL is moving to a more spread attack with a quarterback who can run and throw.
Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton and possibly Andrew Luck could all fall into the category of quarterbacks who can run if need be.
The league is still dominated by pass-first quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, but with the constantly improving speed of pass rushers in the NFL, the need to escape the pocket is becoming more and more of a necessity.
It's unknown whether Malzahn wants to go to the NFL, but if he were to answer the bell, I'd look to San Francisco. He and quarterback Kaepernick could be lethal with a defense that's still top of the league.
I'd be watching for other college teams to swoop in and take Rhett Lashlee in the next couple years. Then where will Auburn be?
Patrick Lucas is a sports writer at The Plainsman. He can be reached at sports@theplainsman.com
(10/05/14 10:32pm)
The Auburn volleyball team headed into their Sunday match-up against the gamecocks of South Carolina looking to improve to 2-2 in SEC play.
South Carolina had different plans, however. The Gamecocks beat the Tigers by a score of 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 15-10).
Auburn's freshman setter, Alexa Filley, ended the game with 63 assists and an average of 12.6 assists per set. That's well above her season average of 9.8 assists per set.
After the match, Filley said that one of the biggest issues the tigers faced was a lack of enthusiasm.
"When we play with energy, we just play so much better and we play like much more of a team and everything just clicks," Filley said.
Sophomore Emily Klitzke, who ended the game with 18 kills, spoke about their lack of energy as well.
"Beginning to end, we were not playing to our full potential at all," Klitzke said, "Our energy was really lacking and I think that was what became the losing factor for us."
The low level of energy didn't go unnoticed by head coach Rick Nold either.
"We talked about it almost every timeout," Nold said, "I thought we were pretty sluggish in chasing the ball instead of being prepared for what they were doing."
Although his team lost, Nold did have a few words of encouragement.
"We went down two there but I thought it showed a lot of character to fight back and send it to five," Nold said.
The Tigers committed 16 service errors which was more than twice their per game average. Heading into the match, the team averaged 7.75 service errors a game. When compared to the four service errors from the Gamecocks, there were 12 free points given away on serves alone.
Auburn sits at 9-8 on the season and 1-3 in SEC play, and the next game takes place on October 10th against the Missouri tigers.
Auburn will be looking to get their first win on the road of the season before heading to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats.
(10/02/14 9:00pm)
The Auburn hockey team is one of the newest additions to the South Eastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (SECHC), and while most new teams are met with many firsts, this season is met with a new circumstance.
Alexa Wishard is one of four freshman arrivals for the Tigers. She's also the first female player for the Tigers since they joined the SECHC in 2010.
The Jacksonville, Florida, native said she's been skating since she was 11, but didn't pick up competitive hockey until 14.
Although she's played all kinds of sports, hockey had something different.
"I didn't think that I would like playing hockey," Wishard said. "There was this little clinic, and they said I could try (hockey) for free just to see if I'd like it ... I was out there about five minutes and I was like, yep, this is where I need to be."
The transition from traditional skating to hockey wasn't without a few bumps and bruises.
"I had been on figure skates, but I hadn't done any figure skating," Wishard said. "So I kind of had the skating down, but then trying to do that with the stick and the puck and all the pads was kind of weird. The first time I went out there in hockey pads, I fell eight times."
Wishard attributes her original love for hockey to her father, but said she and her parents don't completely see eye-to-eye on the matter.
"My parents didn't want me to play for Auburn because of checking," Wishard said. "I mean, I'm not naive. I know I can get hurt, but that's not going to stop me from going out there and playing."
Wishard said even though she's been on teams with men before, this is the first time she's ever been on a team where she's the only woman. Although she admits it would be nice to have another girl on the team, she said she doesn't mind too much.
"Obviously, I have to change in a different locker room and stay in a different hotel room for away games," Wishard said. "But it's not weird that they're all guys or anything."
On top of being the only girl on the team, Wishard said she realizes her second obstacle is her freshman status.
"It's going to be hard," Wishard said. "It's one of those things where the older guys kind of have their core group set, and me just coming in, and me being the only girl, it's just hard."
Her head coach, Mike Robinson, said one of the things he's trying to improve is her availability with the team in order to build camaraderie with her teammates.
"The biggest challenge that I can see right now is trying to incorporate her more with the team so that she's more a part of the team and not so segregated," Robinson said.
Fellow freshman Ryan Kellogg said he realizes the type of work it takes to play at their level, but he's confident Wishard's hard work will pay off to her advantage.
"She's got the heart to play," Kellogg said. "It's a lot of work to play at that next level, it's hard for me, but I think she can pull it off."
Hockey is known as a very physical game, but Wishard said she isn't worried about hitting. In fact, she said that's what she likes most about it because she wasn't allowed to check in women's hockey.
"It adds a level of intimidation," Wishard said. "I'm not out there looking for blood or anything, but I'm certainly not gonna try and shoo it away if it comes towards me."
In their first three games, two players have already been concussed. As far as her playing goes, Robinson said he could not have been more impressed with the dedication Wishard shows to the game.
"The thing with Alexa is that she does everything right," Robinson said. "She's the first one to practice, the last one to leave. She's just a good player, she's a good model, and at some point I would love to reward her with some playing time."
The Tigers' season hasn't exactly started the way that they'd like to, with an 0-6 start, but Wishard is confident that when she sees the ice, she can make an impact.
(10/02/14 4:30pm)
Racean "Roc" Thomas, a true freshman running back for the Auburn Tigers, comes into the 2014 season as the 23rd ranked overall recruit and the fifth best running back in the country according to 247sports.com. Thomas was named 2013 Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year in December of his senior season at Oxford (Ala.) High School.
The Oxford Yellow Jackets ended the 2013 season with a record of 8-2 and they saw their All-American Thomas finish with a trip to the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game.
Thomas's signature performance came Nov. 1, 2013, in which he rushed for 414 yards and five touchdowns. The five-star recruit amassed 2,211 yards, 32 touchdowns and averaged 9.8 yards per carry in his last season.
With senior backs Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant at the top of the depth chart, Thomas is not expected to start any games this season.
However, head coach Gus Malzahn said earlier this year, "We've had some success in the past with true freshmen running backs being successful in our offense."
According to Thomas, he has been learning from the experienced starters Artis-Payne and Grant at practice and during games.
"They have way more experience in the offense than I do," Thomas said. "I just try to listen to them and learn all I can from those guys."
Thomas said he is comfortable with his current role in the offense and understands his time will eventually come.
"I'm not trying to rush into anything," Thomas said. "I'm just trying to play my role and get involved in this offense."
When asked about how Thomas fits in, Lashlee said, "We'll see what Roc's role is. He will be an every-down back. He's not that small, he's still 5'11", close to 200 pounds, so he's a thick kid."
Artis-Payne has been impressed with Thomas' abilities at running back so far.
"He's really good," Artis-Payne said. "Explosive, he's quick, he has good speed, he's everything he's advertised to be. He'll be a real good player here, I know that."
Thomas has already received a chance to showcase his skills on the field, especially when he made a statement when his first college carry was a three-yard touchdown run in the San Jose State game, where he finished with 51 yards on nine carries in just one quarter.
"I was just being patient, you know, waiting for my name to be called," Thomas said. "I'm sitting back, watching other players, and seeing what Coach (Malzahn) wanted to be done."
Although Thomas is not a starter, he has already gotten more experience than the majority of true freshmen and now knows what it's like to play in front of capacity Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd, as he did in the win against San Jose State.
"Just butterflies, you know," Thomas said. "Just being anxious and going in with all the fans around you and all the loudness while trying not to mess up. I felt a lot of emotions going in, but I just tried not to let them overwhelm me."
(09/17/14 4:30pm)
Floyd "Money" Mayweather, also known as "Pretty Boy," remains unscathed after his Sept. 13 rematch against contender Marcos Maidana. The Argentinian lost the first meeting between the two with a round score of 9-3 on May 3. However, the score is misleading and doesn't show how close the fight was.
The spring contest, labeled as "The Moment," left Mayweather with a bloody forehead and an angry opponent.
Almost immediately after the first bout, Maidana's team asked for a rematch, and Mayweather didn't bat an eye before agreeing.
According to Forbes.com, Mayweather was guaranteed $32 million for the rematch, marking this his 10th straight fight with a payout of at least $25 million.
The fight itself could be considered a bit of a disappointment compared to the original, and Mayweather's made his game plan well known to viewers: keep moving, and stay off the ropes.
The first round was a feel out period for both fighters. Maidana came out swinging and was met with Mayweather jabs.
Through the first couple rounds, it was apparent that Maidana wanted to get the Champ to the ropes, but Mayweather's footwork was too much for the Argentinian.
Mayweather owned the opening three rounds, other than a big right hand at the end of the 3rd round from the contender.
Maidana's strong right seemed to give him confidence going into the 4th and 5th rounds.
Similarily to the first fight, Mayweather found himself on the ropes taking body shots.
Unfortunately for Maidana, after the 5th round, Mayweather started to impose his dominance in both technique and strategy.
The strangest turn of events came in the 8th round when Mayweather accused Maidana of biting his hand, through his glove and through a mouthpiece. Plausible or not, Maidana seemed amused when returning to his corner.
However, rounds 9-12 seemed rather uneventful, except for a point deduction against Maidana in the 10th. While embraced, Maidana seemingly ran Mayweather into the ground.
The fight ended in a unanimous decision in favor of the world No. 1.
This latest fight shows why, even at 37 years old, "Money" Mayweather is still the world's best boxer and it helps cement a 47-0 record (26 KO's).
It's safe to say when the veteran hangs up the gloves, boxing will lose one of its most dominant and controversial stars since Muhammed Ali.
(09/14/14 8:22pm)
Sunday's game against Milwaukee saw the Auburn Tigers win 2-0, following a loss to Samford on Friday night. The Tigers have now won five of their last six games.
The performance adds another win to an already strong start for Coach Karen Hoppa's team.
Despite the victory, Coach Hoppa was less than satisfied with the way her team came out.
"I thought we were out played the first half, and I told them," Hoppa said. "I thought they had the better play and we looked more sluggish than they did."
Hoppa went on to say that a formation adjustment was a critical change in the game.
"We made an adjustment to a four man midfield which helped us have more support," Hoppa said. "We were able to control the ball better and the girls responded great in the second half."
Much like her coach, sophomore goalie Alyse Scott commented on the change in the second half.
"We definitely, from first half to second half stepped it up a lot."
Seeing as the first goal of the game came only 3 minutes into the second half, the change was swift.
"As soon as we came out for the second half we were like, 'We need to play our style of soccer, we need to possess,' and then our defense just clicked," Scott said.
The first goal was considered to be an own goal after a cross from sophomore forward Samantha Solaru. With three minutes left, freshman midfielder Ellie Leek scored off of an assist from fellow freshman Kristen Dodson.
The win brings Auburn's soccer team to a record of 6-2, with their only losses coming to Samford and Clemson.