Friday, July 24, 2009

Sweet! Only one Commodore makes writers' All-SEC team and Vandy keeps flying under the radar


A couple of days ago, Bobby Johnson said he didn't want respect.

"I'm not that motivated by people patting you on the back and saying you're doing real well," he said. "I like going back and talking to our team after we win games."

Same for fans. I live in Auburn country, where for the last couple of years Auburn fans have been telling me what a competitive team Bobby Johnson is building and how nice it is to see smart boys play so well and sometimes even win. Well, it's a lot better to have Auburn fans avoid you in the hallway at church because your team beat them the night before.

Anyway, it was announced today that Vanderbilt again got no respect and had only one player on the All-SEC team, which was comprised of a first and second team. He was senior corner Myron Lewis, who made second team but who would be an All-Fashion first team. (Look at those rims!)

On the coaches team, released last week, senior linebacker Patrick Benoist and senior punter Brett Upson joined Lewis on the second team, and sophomore backer Chris Marve and senior safety Ryan Hamilton made third team.

But the writers love Florida and actually voted half the Gators' starting lineup, including special teamers, to All-SEC team.

For what it's worth, South Carolina was the only other teams with no All-SEC offensive players. Miss State actually had a player on the offensive second team. That would be running back Anthony Dixon, who's been fine-tuning his game in the offseason.

Click here for the whole list, including preseason rankings, which place Vandy at No. 5 in the East and No. 10 in the SEC.

Hey, who cares? By the end of the season, maybe the Dores will have snuck up the rankings. Maybe a bunch more players, including Benoist, Upson, Marve, Hamilton and even other guys like sophomore tight end Brandon Barden, senior center Bradley Vierling, senior tackle Thomas Welch and senior defensive linemen Greg Billinger, Broderick Stewart and Steven Stone can sneak onto the team.

In 43 days, we play Western Carolina in 43 days. And then we play LSU in 50 days and Miss State in 57 days. (WC at VU at 6:30 p.m. CST Sept 5, VU at LSU at 6 p.m. Sept. 12, MSU at VU at 6 p.m. Sept. 19.)

In the meantime, let the Bayou Bengals worry about Alabama and Florida. Let the Starkville Bulldogs wish they could grab some of the spotlight from those Rebels in Oxford.

We don't want more respect. We want to win.

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