Well sports fans we are just 24 hours from the kickoff of the 2007 Season! STATE and LSU from the friendly confines of Davis Wade Stadium on the campus in Starkville!

We'll be there LIVE tomorrow night at 5 and 6 PM so tune in and check it out as we profile the biggest game in the nation!

Couple of Predictions for you before we go - and keep me honest people!

SEC WEST Champion - LSU
SEC EAST Champion - FLorida
SEC Champ - LSU
I know - way to go out on a limb there right?!

Southern Miss will roll in C-USA play... I'm saying give them the conference title this year. USM goes 9 and 3 and gives Head Coach Jeff Bower his 15th consecutive winning season.

And J-State... give the Tigers the SWAC Title. They deserve it. JSU goes 8 and 3, wins the conference, and proves to people Rick Comegy is a great coach!

National Championship Game - Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA
USC vs. LSU (the game we should have seen in the Rose Bowl last year)

Your National Champion - USC (go ahead, call me a West Coast Homer!)

Enjoy the Season - we'll do our best to bring you the very best in Coverage!

Christian

SO it's official... irony is a part of life and we are all going to have to deal with it. What could possibly have been worse for Michael Vick than pleading guilty to federal charges and staring jail time in the face? How about pleading guilty to federal dog-fighting charges on the same night that your team play on national TV as a part of Pre-Season Monday Night Football? As if things weren't bad enough, right?

Lots of Falcons fans wore number 7 jerseys at the Georgia Dome tonight. They got a chance to cheer for Michael Vick's replacement. After throwing 2 TD passes in their 24-19 preseason win over Cincinnati, quarterback Joey Fumble, I mean Harrington said.. and I quote here... Vick's situation is "not something we can sweep under the rug." He went on to say Vick is "still a member of this team, still a member of this family." What family is that? The Shawshank Redemption intramural flag football boys? Or better yet, the recently banned members of the NFL? What up Pac-Man... I mean Tank Johnson. Pretty soon they'll be able to fill their own roster.

VIck apologized after his plea and told his fans, again quoting here... "I need to grow up... and I will redeem myself." He isn't being cut from the team. Owner Arthur Blank says that wouldn't be in the team's long-term best interests. Meaning we aren't very good with Vick, without him, we are 4 and 12 cellar-dwellers. But rejoice PEDA fans... Atlanta will pursue the 22 million dollars in bonus money Vick already received in a 130 million dollar contract he signed in 2004.

There is justice in this world after all! Until Vick is sentenced to house arrest for 6 months and is back in OTA's next spring.

That's just one man's opinion... what's yours?

Christian

What’s up Mississippi, Zach the Intern here. Hope everyone had a great Friday. But I know someone who is wishing it was still Thursday. His name is Michael Vick. I could think of a much better way to spend a Friday than in a court room filing a plea for operating a dog fighting ring, and losing your job at the same time. Like going out and watching high school football. Where a lot of teams opened the season today. But Mike didn’t have that luxury. He watched his career spiral down and finally hit the bottom on this beautiful Friday, and I mean it hit the bottom, for only two years.

We all know he will be back after his jail time and playing in the NFL again. Like it or not, he is just too talented not to get back into the league. If no one else the RRRaiders will take him. (They still won’t have Jamarcus Russell signed). The weird thing about this situation is I am pulling for Vick to make a comeback and have a wonderful rest of his career. You just have to watch the play he made against the Vikings when he split the two defenders in the playoffs to not want to watch this guy again.

But that’s just one Interns opinion tell me what you think about the Vick saga and whether or not you believe he should play in the NFL again.

Much Love,

Zach The Intern

It's that time of year... as the high school football season kicks off with MRA and JA going at it in the heat! And I mean crazy hot and humid conditions, as temps at game time will be all over 100 degrees and the humidity will be thick!

Last year MRA went 9 and 3, losing to PREP in the AAA Championship game. JA had a down year, finishing 5 and 5. Tonight there will be 34 players in uniform for the Patriots, and more than 60 for the Raiders. But don't be surprised if MRA gives them a fight...

Blitz 16 is back a week from Friday... August 31st at 11:05 PM. Get it fired up for high school football... and your home for the best coverage - 16 WAPT SPORTS

Drink up ladies and gentleman

Christian

What’s up Mississippi... Zach the intern here, and with State hosting LSU on the 30th and then the college football season kicking off September 1st I started to ponder what the best conferences in college football are.

This is tough for me to say, but the SEC is going to be the best conference this season. With Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Arkansas (also known as Darren McFadden), Auburn, and Bama.. the depth of this conference is unbelievable and these teams can all compete for the National Title.

Second best, I’m going to show my Ohio bias and pick the Big Ten, but I can back it up. Three teams ranked in the top ten, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State are all legitimate BCS contenders. And Penn State, ranked 18th, could be the sleeper team of '07. And speaking of sleeping, you can’t rest on the Fighting Illini and Ron Zook.

Third would be the Big 12. Not as much depth as the first two, but Texas and Oklahoma are both on the verge of playing in Glendale, and the winner of the Red River Shootout will determine which of these two will be there at the end.

Fourth and fifth are tough... ACC or PAC 10? I’m going to have to go with the PAC 10(Also known as USC). The Trojans are going to play for the ADT Trophy come January. But that is all that conference has.... Cal and UCLA are legit, but their not going to be competing for the national title. With Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State rounding it out... like I said, USC is the PAC 10.

Finally, I'll take the ACC sixth. The conference has depth, with Florida State, Miami, Boston College, and Virginia Tech. But no team screams out at you and says this is the year we make a run for the title. VA Tech is the conference’s only hope but Frank Beamer and company always choke down the stretch. The teams in the ACC will all end up in the middle of the road playing bowls like the Liberty and Motor City. No real Title Game contenders there.

But that is just one intern’s opinion, and it is still August. Many things can change through the course of the season. Tell me what your best conferences for 2007 are, and if you don’t like how I picked them prove me wrong.

Much Love

Zach The Intern

Saints can't has come and gone. And if you missed, it's too bad, because you might have missed your shot at seeing a Super Bowl Champion club go thru the first step of the journey where it all begins.

A fan stopped me and asked the other day if the Saints hype was out of control and if this team was really built to make a run at a World Championship! My answer was very simple... they have a quarterback who is a natural leader who commands the team's respect, they have more team speed than any club in the NFL, and most importantly every single one of their "superstars" are self-less. Not selfish.

So yes, this is a team that can win it all. Fly to Vegas and place your bet, or better yet, don't be a fool and save your money and plan a trip to Glendale, Arizona and Super Bowl XLII. The desert is perfect in the winter time... and the Saints just might have a season to remember forever. Remember you read it here on August 15, 2007.

Don't forget to pack your golf clubs!

Christian

Hard to believe but Saints Camp packs up and the team heads out of town on Wednesday afternoon! It's been a quick three weeks... but a great one nonetheless. If you have not had the chance to get out and check the WHO DATS now is your chance. Take advantage - you never know if they'll be back next year!

This morning the Saints held a spirited workout session. The team went thru multiple situational settings - meaning they worked on: two-minute offense, getting out of bounds to stop the clock and set up a field goal late in a game, rushing a field goal unit onto the field as time expired to kick the game winner, and finally fake kick and fake punt scenarios. All were done with precision and more than adequate concentration... you can never be too prepared and Sean Payton is on top of things.

The heat was once again intense. After practice Hollis Thomas was questioned for the 100th time about his weight and whether or not he will lose his starting job. He responded by saying the team has him "Eating like a Rabbit" but that he's still 10 to 15 pounds from his target weight. Watching him sweat like he did during the interview with us, he lost at least 5 lbs. in that 10 minutes! DUDE was drenched.

The Saints have there final two-a-day tomorrow at 8:50 in the morning and 3:40 in the afternoon. And then call it quits at Millsaps after a Wednesday morning session!

Get out there and see the Black and Gold before it's too late!

They just might win the Super Bowl... and then you won't have to lie when you say you saw them train for their greatest season ever!

Christian

What’s up Mississippi, I’m Zach Collins and I am the sports intern here at WAPT 16. I'll be a junior at THE Ohio State University this September and I am a communications major. Coming down from Ohio, all I heard was that Mississippi is hot, but this is ridiculous. I go out and watch the Saint’s practice, and I just stand there and think I am about to pass out. I can’t even fathom actually being a player and practicing in it, but that is why I am the sports intern…

Speaking of the heat, it is that time for Pre-Season football and the Saints play host to the Bills tonight in the Dome. And with the pre-season comes the age-old debate. How long should the pre-season schedule be? There is nothing better than the fourth quarter when Tyler Palko and my boy Antonio Pittman look like they could lead the Saints to the promise land, but it is just way to long. The risk of injury is unbelievable, and every time a team takes the field their season is hanging in the balance. For instance, take last nights Bengals-Lions game. Chad Johnson got laid out coming over the middle. If he goes, the Bengal’s go. I think they need to shorten the schedule down to two games. That’s all you need. Your starters get the reps and the guys battling it out get two games to earn their spot. Still a risk of injury, but the Saints play 5 preseason games this year... and what happens if Reggie goes down in game number 5??

I know every Saint’s fan will agree with me... But that is just one interns opinion... let me know what you think about the preseason.

Much Love

Zach the Intern

Editors Note: Zach will be blogging every Friday until he returns to Ohio State at the beginning of September. There is no doubt he has a bright future in the world of sports broadcasting. Check back next week for his latest entry.

Hope you're staying cool these days... it's a billion degrees out. Now I know what people mean by August in Mississippi... good night.

My bottom line today... Sean Payton is a great football coach. We've all seen his creative and go-for-broke style pay dividends last season, and the way he has run training camp thus far in 2007 is exceptional. The team works efficiently, they get in and out of the periods quickly, they stress fundamentals even as the heat is bearing down, and they rest and rehydrate the way they need to because of the extreme humidity. He has it all covered.

Today he made a great call, cancelling the morning practice to take his team to the Rapids on the Reservoir. Team chemistry is not overrated, and a little time bonding as they go flying down the water slides in Brandon goes much further than people realize come January. In the end, if you don't trust and like your teammates... and really feel like you know them, you will never sell yourself out for their cause. Just ask anyone who's ever played with T.O.

Football is a team sport, and Sean Payton is writing his own chapter in its history.

Christian

After a week away from the Blog, Christi and I are excited to be back and continue our blogs on Saints Training Camp. We hope that we get a chance to hear from you on your thoughts about the upcoming football season!

Well the Saints spent the weekend in Canton, Ohio and left with more questions then they arrived with... most notably on the defensive side of the ball. Granted it's only one pre-season game and the starters barely played a quarter, but for a team that signed several defensive players for depth and up-grades in the secondary and at linebacker, they sure looked like they weren't on the same page. On their first possession the Steelers went right down the field for a touchdown, highlighted by a 50-plus yard play-action pass. Once again Fred Thomas looked a step-slow and a step-behind, but he plays with great effort and I'm not counting him out. I'm sure the coaches and players will learn a good deal from their film-study of the game and work hard at improving, but things sure looked similar to last season.

Don't worry though... it's only the first week of August, and Gary Gibbs and his defensive staff are doing a great job with their unit. It takes time for players to find chemistry and effectively communicate on defense, and one game (or drive for that matter) doesn't mean anything this time of year!

The team returns to the practice fields tomorrow for two practices, the first at 8:50 in Veterans Memorial Stadium and then in the afternoon at 3:40 PM on the Millsaps Fields. Again, the practice times are subject to change by 15 to 20 minutes (and so can the fields they use based upon condition.)

Don't forget... the home pre-season opener comes on Friday night in the Superdome against Buffalo - expect to see more playing time for the starters on both sides of the ball! It should be a blast!

Christian