11:55 p.m. edit - The lizard I saw crawling on my wall is without most of its tail now, but hopefully it will grow back in its normal habitat, the bushes, instead of in my room.
Let me give you a word of advice if you’re staying in Monroe, La., this weekend, or ever. DO NOT STAY AT THE HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES. If you haven’t gotten here yet, find SOMEWHERE ELSE and take your money. Trust me. I’ve got to gut it out because I need some more points for a free mini-vacation at a Holiday Inn in Destin that’s quite nice in December.
I get here and they give me room keys for room 291. I go up there, swipe the keys, they don’t work. I open the door with the handle and it opens, but it’s locked at the top. It’s dark in the room, so I quickly think “oh poo, someone’s in there” and scurry back to the front desk.
Woman there, dressed in her Halloween costume, says she’s sure no one is in that room and arranges for maintenance to meet me there. As I’m walking away, a shirtless dude who looked like he had been awoke from a deep sleep. Wouldn’t you guess it, he was coming from 291. The idiots here thought he had checked out.
Woman: “Maintenance said there was nothing in the room, so we checked you out”
Dude: “The room’s full of stuff”
Thankfully, he got a good laugh out of it. That, or he was putting on a good front. Then, they give me the keys to my current room, which don’t work from the outside but works from the inside. It’s a smoking room, so it smells like an ash tray. No offense to those who smoke, but I don’t.
I change, go to the front desk to get a snack, tell a different woman to put it on my room charge. She asks for ID, which I don’t have, as if I’d just make up the last name Champlin. She interrupted some other guy trying to negotiate a cheap rate to tend to me, and he got a little pissy, so she just told me to go on.
The team is here, and I think they got here late last night. I ran into linebacker Bear Woods, who was icing his left foot. He’s hoping to play, but he’s got nagging pain down there that he’s probably going to have to play through the rest of the year.
Meanwhile, my prediction is TROY 31, ULM 20. I’ll post some links tomorrow, and when I get to the stadium, will check internet access and try to host a GAME CHAT. Not a live play-by-play update, but a GAME CHAT where we can talk about what’s going on.
BUT DO NOT STAY IN THIS HOTEL!
Posted by Drew Champlin on 10/31 at 09:27 PM
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I’ll be on the road to Monroe, La., all day, stopping by in Jackson, Miss., for a few hours to visit family. ETA in Monroe, 10 p.m. All-day travel. I’m actually staying at the team hotel this time, the Holiday Inn Conference Center. Got to get enough Holiday Inn points this weekend and at LSU in order to get a free stay in Destin in December after the regular season ends.
Last week in my Sun Belt picks, I was 2-1, missing the MTSU non-upset of Mississippi State. I am 40-9 overall. I think. Here’s my picks for the weekend
Alabama 35, Arkansas State 14
Western Kentucky 31, North Texas 17
UL-Lafayette 38, FIU 24
And right now I’m thinking Troy over ULM with Andrew Davis as the surprise pick to click. He was once a starter at the H-receiver spot, where Jerrel Jernigan won’t be Saturday, so I’m guessing he got some practice time there again this week.
But, if QB Levi Brown can make plays like this one, then all should be well.
Posted by Drew Champlin on 10/31 at 12:15 AM
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Defensive tackle Riley Flowers, who is 6-feet, 295 pounds, is expected to sign with Troy. He graduated from Geneva, which is nearby, and has played the last two years at Jones County Comm. College in Mississippi.
Flowers saw his stock rise, as North Carolina State, UAB and Middle Tennessee had offered him scholarships. It’s clear that Troy is focused on building depth on its offensive and defensive lines.
Flowers is expected to enroll in January 2009 and go through spring practice.
OFFENSIVE COMMITMENTS
Jay Stansberry, OT, Bremen, Ga. Nate Newland, OT, Hutchinson, Kan. CC Jimbo Arnold, OG, Belle Glade, Fla. (2008 GRAYSHIRT) Felton Payton, WR, Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (2008 GRAYSHIRT) Gavin Ellis, WR/TE, Cullman, Ala. (2008 GRAYSHIRT) Corey Robinson, QB, Lone Oak, Ky., (2008 GRAYSHIRT)
DEFENSIVE COMMITMENTS
Eugene Kinlaw, DT, Hutchinson, Kan. CC Immanuel Dudley, DT, Northeast Miss., CC Montavious Williams, DT, Cairo, Ga. Riley Flowers, DT, Jones County Miss. CC Shermane Teart, DE, Orlando, Fla. Demarcus Robertson, CB, Garden City, CC (2008 RESIGN) Michael Ricks, DB, NE Mississippi (2008 RESIGN) Johnny Thompson, LB, Valley, Ala. (2008 GRAYSHIRT)
**Bear in mind that these commitments are verbal and are non-binding until National Signing Day, the first Wednesday in February.
**You will see DE Jonathan Massaquoi listed on some recruiting services, but he isn’t slated to arrive until 2010 barring academic miracles
Posted by Drew Champlin on 10/30 at 04:33 PM
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Jerrel Jernigan, who had his knee scoped Tuesday, won’t travel to ULM. The target date for his return is the Nov. 22 game against UL-Lafayette, but he might be able to return as early as next week. There was nothing major found in the surgery, and I bet he’s back by LSU. Problem is, no way of knowing how long it takes to recover from a knee scope.
LB Bear Woods and C Danny Franks are still questionable. They’re trying to practice and both hope to play after battling foot/ankle injuries. Franks has missed the last two games and Woods the last one.
CB Chris Bowens (foot) should play. DT Rashad Roussell (foot) will play. WR Patrick Cherry (foot) will play. Cornerbacks Jorrick Calvin and Trevor Ford missed practice time earlier this week because they were sick, but both are expected to play.
Posted by Drew Champlin on 10/30 at 01:29 PM
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