McKenzie Making the Right Moves

Check me out this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST as Auburn plays #1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa. Apparently, like Tom Cruise, I'm making all the right moves.

WAR EAGLE!!!

November 23, 2008

McKenzie making the right moves

Bryan Matthews
AuburnSports.com Publisher

Gabe McKenzie has changed positions twice this season. Both moves have turned out positive for him and Auburn.

The junior moved from tight end to defensive end just a couple of weeks before the season opener tallying 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and returning an interception 24 yards for a touchdown in 10 games as a backup.

McKenzie has four career TD's including an interception return against LSU this year.

He was back at tight end for the Georgia game, catching two passes for 27 yards.

"At the beginning of the season, because of the spread and all, the best way for me to help the team, because we were short on d-ends, was to go to the other side of the ball," McKenzie said. "With everybody coming back and getting healthy and Zach Clayton becoming big and now that Trott's gotten hurt, I'm on the other side of the ball.

"It's the best way I can help the team."

McKenzie moved back to tight end the Sunday before the Georgia game. He ended up playing a lot more snaps than expected after starter Tommy Trott was sidelined with a knee injury.

With Trott undergoing ACL surgery last week, McKenzie is set to start at tight end in the Iron Bowl this Saturday.

"That kind of worked out pretty good," AU head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "Gabe is doing good. He's still a little rusty, but he gives us a bigger guy blocking. We'd obviously love to have Tommy out there."

McKenzie said he learned a lot at defensive end including some insights that will help him at tight end.

"It helped me understand different stances," McKenzie explained. "Sometimes you can read if they're slanting and stuff like that and if they play a safety valve."

But even with 10 games on defense, McKenzie didn't have any trouble making the transition back to offense.

"I've been playing tight end five-plus years. That's why everything came back to me within a day," he said.

While McKenzie admits he loves the tight end position, he may find himself back at defensive end next year. It's a position that probably gives him the best chance to play at the next level.

For now, however, McKenzie is focusing on just one goal -- beating Alabama for the seventh-straight time.

"I'm excited because this is the biggest game of the year," he said.

After a couple of days off, Auburn returns to practice Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT.

Purchase of ther Year

I'm sure most of us don't reflect on and identify the best purchase we've made all year, but in the interest of helping my fellow man (particularly my fellow father), I thought I'd go ahead and forgo December and give the award out early.
Now the best purchase of the year does embody a certain criteria, and the individual consumer dictates that criteria for the most part.
For me, without question, the purchase of the year, for the value for money and the necessary purpose it serves in our household is...

The Black & Decker Dustbuster

This is an absolute must for families with kids. We use this everyday without fail. Our basic, affordable model cleans biscuit crumbs, cereal, raisins, crisps, dirt/pebbles, and of course... dust. If you have kids that leave a trail of snacks all over the house, do yourself a favor and pick one of these bad boys up ASAP. You'll appreciate it more than your iPod.

Dancing Fool

This is an amazing video about a guy named Matt who went to 42 countries in 14 months, dancing with locals from every country.

In Bruges

This is nearly the best DVD rental I've seen this year, second only to 'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.'
If you can withstand a little Irish swearing... ok, A LOT of Irish swearing (it must be near impossible to find any footage without swearing in it), then you will be in for a treat.
With a cast of homophobic, racist, sexist, sizeist, anti-American, anti-European, anti-Tottenham, disability-mocking characters, this film has something to offend just about everyone. And therein lies it's surprising charm.
Seems there'd be no characters to really connect or empathize with (unless you're a hitman/gangster), but that's the beauty... the characters are superb!
The first half of the film is a salty odd-couple comedy, as we're invited into the aftermath of a botched hit involving Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) as they're sent to Bruges (Belgium) to lie low for a while and sample the culture. The second half is a plunge into blood, doom and existential/spiritual metaphors (guilt, sin, redemption, the whole Christian bag of screams). And it's brilliant characterization that yokes the two together.

Admittedly, it's a sushi movie (you'll either love it or hate it). Absurdist, existential, ultraoffensive, ultraviolent comedies aren't everyone's bag, but in the saturated ghetto of gangster/caper films, In Bruges offers something completely unique.

Number of the Week

273,272 - my final ranking in the ESPN NCAA Basketball Tournament Challenge

Before the Final Four I was ranked in the millions, but fortunately I had three of the four final four teams in the FF, and I had Kansas winning the whole thing... though I had them beating UCLA in the final, not North Carolina.

Baseball's Unique Spectacle: Opening Day

SEAMS, BABY!

SEAMS!!!

RAMBO

Stallone revisits another of his iconic action heroes, ultimately to bring John Rambo full-circle and bid him good day... but not before he completely annihilates the Burmese army with a .50 caliber machine gun and a machete.
Motivated by the tug on hi...(read more)s last heart string by a sweet Christian missionary that he escorted into Burma with her team, Rambo is forced to accept himself for who he really is - the world's most perfect killing machine - as he returns upriver to rescue what remains of the missionary team after they are brutally captured and held prisoner.
After saving the day (there's really not much more to the story), Rambo returns to his home in Arizona, reminiscent of his initial stroll into the peaceful Oregon town in First Blood. As he approaches a beat-up, old, rusty mailbox the name on the side reads, R. Rambo - Rocky Rambo? Rambo Rambo? Who knows? We are left with the image of our noble, savage, battle-worn warrior returning to his roots as the peaceful theme of First Blood invites the credits to roll.
Bottom line: a LOT of killing; a LOT of blowing $#!+ up; and Stallone looks pretty stinkin' good for a senior citizen.
There is an underlying disturbing aspect to the film, however, and that's that the atrocities depicted in the film were not fabricated to develop the villain's character. Burma is one of the most war-torn, brutal environments on the planet, and nothing short of mass genocide is taking place there now. It gives this film (as opposed to the others' "Russians bad - Rambo Good; Vietnamese Bad - Killing Good) a sense of realistic relevance... something we haven't really engaged in the First Blood series until now.
If you have the stomach for it... meaning lots of exploding clouds of bloody red dust, and severed limbs, and innocent villagers being callously slaughtered... ok, if you have the stomach for that there is something wrong with you. The violence and one-sided domination of Rambo is actually almost humorous, bordering on the absurd... but what better way to say good-bye to our favorite ex-green beret-war vet-turned stick-fighting buddhist monk-repair man-rescuer?

LIVE FOR NOTHING or DIE FOR SOMETHING!

Immortalized on Canvas

About 10 months ago I met a great guy named David. He's a semi-pro skater and full-time missionary. David was part of the skate church here in Glasgow (Deeper), and is involved in planting other skate churches all over the world.

Two other friends (Dan & Carter) came over here to shoot some video footage of David's ministry, and we all got to spend some time together while they were here. Dan is a bit of an artist, and he painted this cool portrait of David and I sitting in Tinderbox enjoying some coffee and chat.

Isn't this cool? That's me on the right... I recognize the white cap and maroon sweatshirt. I don't think I've ever been the subject of painting before. I'm stoked! If it wasn't hanging in Carter's house right now I'd have Dan send it to me.

Imparting Wisdom... to Yourself

This is an entry that I'm hoping gets a lot of responses. If you're reading this from my Facebook page, come over to my barely evolved cavemen blog and leave your response (anonymously if you like) to this question:

What would you say to your 16-year-old-self if you could go back and impart some wisdom, or offer a warning, or give some advice... to you?

2008 Movie Preview

I know we're midway through month two of 2008, but it's not too late to mention some humdingers to watch out for. In no particular order and regardless of (UK) release dates:

1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May 22) - needs no commentary
   
2. Hellboy 2 (Aug 22)
3. Hancock (July 2)
4. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (June 27)
5. Rambo (Feb 22) - Rambo in Burma alongside Christian missionaries!!! Guaranteed to be the bloodiest First Blood yet.
   
6. Get Smart (Aug 15)
7. The Incredible Hulk (June 13) - this HAS to be better than the first dialogue-heavy dud.
8. Burn After Reading (Fall) - Two Coens brothers' movies in one year!!!
9. The Dark Knight (July 25) - will Heath Ledger's swan song as the Joker be his best???
10. The Happening (June 13) - M. Night Shyamalan returns... think there will be a twist?
11. Bond 22 (Nov 7) - rumor has it the Olsen twins are starring as Bond girls - ha!
12. Star Trek (Dec 26) - I'm not a Trekkie, but this is supposedly a return to the original storyline, and it's helmed by Alias/Lost creator J.J. Abrams.
13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Nov 21)
14. Where the Wild Things Are (Oct 24) - Spike Jonze directing; Dave Eggers (Author: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) writing - this should be an interesting children's adaptation of mad brilliance.
15. Vantage Point (Mar 7) - a presidential assassination seen from 8 different points of view, and a shootout scene to rival Heat's!
16. Sex and the City: The Movie - haha! Just kidding!

Also watch for:

1. In Bruges (Mar 7)
2. Pride and Glory (Mar 14)
3. Lars and the Real Girl (Mar 21)
4. 21 (Apr 11)
5. The X-Files 2 (Aug 11)
6. Eagle Eye (Sept 5)
7. Death Race (Sept 26)
8. Step Brothers (Sept 26)
9. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (Oct 3)
10. Body of Lies (Winter)
11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (to be confirmed)

Holy Betrayal: An Angry Letter to the Pope

Dear Mr. Josef Ratzinger:

You are the Pope now and according to La Civilta Cattolica you are the “upholder of justice, and the protector of the oppressed.”

As leader of your institution, what you are doing to bring the serial molesters in your churches to justice? What are you doing to protect their victims?

What justice will you impose on Marcial Maciel Degollado, who offered his young seminarians absolution for their youthful sins, and claimed to possess a papal dispensation for his sordid sex games? His victims wrote to you and begged you to act. What comfort will you offer them?

Your silence betrays them and betrays Jesus.

What justice will you recommend for the 63 pedophile priests and Cardinals Anthony Bevilacqua and John Krol in Philadelphia? What justice for those under your direction who covered up their crimes, and moved these molesters from parish to parish, to stalk new victims?

When Cardinal Bernard Law could no longer hide the pedophiles in his Boston archdiocese, you anointed him as archpriest at St. Mary Major Basilica in the Vatican. Is this your justice? What would dear Mary say? What will you do for the wounded casualties?

How will you compensate the victims of the Rev. Bruce Ritter in New York, military chaplain Robert Peebles in Texas, Archbishop Juliusz Paetz in Poland, Bishop Franziskus Eisenbach in Germany, and victims of sodomy rings run by the Christian Brothers in Canada and Australia?

Mr. Ratzinger, your flock awaits divine justice. You said you talked to God and he told you that people shouldn’t wear condoms when having sex. What did he say about your priests, bishops and Cardinals who have abused millions of innocents worldwide? Did God suggest recompense to the casualties? What justice for the perpetrators? What justice for those who covered up their crimes?

You haven’t said a word to comfort these victims, and your silence erodes the faith of your flock. Can you imagine the embarrassment to your faithful priests whose vocation is devastated? Will you apologize to the honest Catholics whose religion has been mocked? Can you see how these crimes tarnish the name of Jesus for all Christian believers? Are you not aware of the horror of every single human whose sense of common decency is shattered by these crimes?

Humanity longs for a spirituality of justice and common decency. Jesus healed people, shared food, comforted the poor and gave hope to society’s outcasts. This is spirituality in practice. Justice here and now. What can you offer the suffering of this world that truly honors the example of Jesus?

This is hilarious... especially if you're familiar with sports color commentating:

Heath Ledger Found Dead in US Apartment

Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a residence in downtown Manhattan.

"He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead," the New York Police Department said, adding that pills were found near the body.

Police are reportedly investigating if the Australian actor, who earned an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain, died of a drug overdose.

The 28-year-old was found dead in the flat at around 1530 (2030 GMT).

Police said they did not suspect foul play and that his body had been discovered surrounded by pills.

Tigers Roar

Auburn Beats Clemson 23-20 in OT with new Spread Offense in Chick-Fil-A Bowl

Despite the fact that Auburn was playing an entirely new offensive scheme behind new offensive coordinator, Tony Franklin, the Tigers looked impressive behind freshman quarterback, Kodi Burns.

In addition to throwing a 22-yard touchdown pass to freshman Mario Fannin, Burns scored the game winning touchdown in OT on a 7-yard run, earning him Player of the Game honors.

New offensive coordinator, Tony Franklin, brought his spread offense to Auburn from Troy University. The Tigers had only eight practices in 10 days to learn the new scheme. While senior starting quarterback, Brandon Cox, looked understandably out of sync, freshman back-up Kodi Burns looked very comfortable and gave Auburn fans a lot to look forward to next season.

Ins1de the Numb3rs: the victory made coach Tommy Tuberville one of the winningest active coaches in bowl games - tied for 4th with 7 bowl victories