Eli Manning's homecoming was spoiled today by the New Orleans Saints offense.  The Saints racked up five touchdowns in the first half on Sunday, and Drew Brees looked like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady put together.  Brees checked off at the line and played the cerebral game like Manning, and he was deadly accurate down field and showed some of Brady's killer instinct. 

Maybe it's time to stop saying Brees looks like or plays like someone else, maybe it's time to recognize that he is, in his own right, an elite NFL quarterback.  Brady and Manning get all the buzz, but Brees' has been every bit as consistent since he arrived in New Orleans, and this year he may start getting the national respect that he deserves.

In the newsroom tonight there was a lot of discussion about the need for a playoff in college football.  I'm not saying that I agree with the current system, but I really don't want to see a true playoff in college football.  As it stands, every game is a playoff game for college football teams, that's what makes the regular season the great spectacle that it is. 

The only way I would be in support of a playoff is if they kept the bowl system as is, and simply seeded the top 4 teams at the end of the regular season, and played a semi final and championship game. 

The college football regular season is too exciting to allow it to be watered down by too many playoff spots.

The SEC has arguably the best collection of gridiron talent in the country, and that talent will be on display all day this coming Saturday, as two matchups headline an extremely interesting schedule.

2:30 PM --- (3)Alabama at (20)Ole Miss

       It's amazing how much difference a week makes, Ole Miss rebounded from their loss to South Carolina with a win at Vanderbilt, and now the Rebs confidence should be renewed as they welcome the Tide to Vaught-Hemmingway on Saturday.  Alabama has been one of the most impressive top five teams this season, but they will be up against a game Ole Miss team and a raucous crowd as the Rebs look to get payback for several close losses in the series.

7 PM --- (1)Florida at (4)LSU

      Again, what a difference a week makes, many were doubting LSU's top 5 credentials after the Tigers struggled in Starkville, but LSU answered the critics by winning a thriller in Athens against Georgia, and they return home with renewed confidence as well.  Florida has not been tested much this season, and Baton Rouge at night can weaken anyones knees.  Tim Tebow's will may be tested once again this weekend (which may be a good thing for Florida, because Tebow tends to respond to adversity pretty well), but if their star cannot play, LSU may play their way to the top of the rankings.

It was a great weekend to be a prep, college, or pro football fan in our area.  Here are some of the biggest storylines that developed on every level of football over the weekend...

PREP FOOTBALL

     - Steve Nelson proved once again why he is one of the premier coaches in the area, the Northeast Lauderdale Trojans took a long road trip to the Gulf Coast and took down a much improved Gulfport team on Friday night.  It was a relatively light schedule for football on Friday with several teams taking a bye week, but the Trojans upset win was one of the biggest surprises of the week.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

      - Mississippi State picked up their first SEC win in the Dan Mullen era and Ole Miss cruised as expected in their home opener, but the biggest story from Saturday had to be Southern Miss coming back from a 17 point defecit to survive at home against struggling Virginia.  The Golden Eagles now have a chance to make some real national noise as they face unbeaten Kansas this coming week in Lawrence

PRO FOOTBALL

      The Saints can score points, we knew that, but on Sunday New Orleans' defense showed up and held up their end of the bargain in Philadelphia.  With their blowout of the Eagles the Saints are starting to gain traction as they prepare for another tough season in the NFC South.  As for Brett Favre, it looks like the Vikings knew what they were doing when they pursued the future hall of famer this offseason, the Vikes once again looked like a Super Bowl contender Sunday with their win over the Lions (granted it was againts the Lions)

From Thursday through Sunday we saw some incredible football on every level, here's a rundown of this past week on the gridiron ---

Thursday --- #2 EMCC proves that they deserve to have their highest ranking in school history as Scooba Tech dismantles Holmes in their North division opener

Friday --- Meridian High comes out on top in a tough game with Quitman as Panthers head coach John Douglass returns to his alma mater. 

Saturday --- Mississippi State shows some promise in the first half against Auburn, but the Tigers flex their muscles in the second half to cruise on the Plains

Sunday --- Brett Favre returns to the NFL...again, throwing for a touchdown in his first game with the Minnesota Vikings.  Drew Brees tosses a career high 6 touchdown passes as the New Orleans Saints offense picks up where it left off last season

Another wild Football Friday is in the books, here are some of the things that jumped out to me in Week 2:

Meridian defying the skeptics

        - I'll admit, I was one of the people saying that Wayne County would go into Ray Stadium and get yet another win over the Cats, but Larry Weems knows how to pull the strings, and when Antoinee Atkins checked in to play quarterback in the second quarter, the tide turned within minutes.  What a win for MHS, they got the Wayne County monkey off their back, and now they can focus on getting ready for division play to begin in a few weeks

Lauderdale County Success

          - For a time last night, every county school that was playing was winning last night, and by night's end, Northeast, West, Southeast, and Lamar all came away winners.  I was at the NE Lauderdale game, congratulations to Steve Nelson and the Trojans on getting their first win of the season, and also congrats to Boo Smith and Southeast (Smith grabbed his first win as Tigers head coach last night).

Tune in this coming Friday we'll have plenty more prep football coverage, and our Friday Night Tailgate will originate from Philadelphia High as the Tornadoes host arch rival Neshoba Central.

It may have been week one, but there was some amazing football played Friday night, here are some the things that jumped out to me from last night's action...

MERIDIAN WINNING CLOSE

               - the Cats had some trouble pulling away from West Lauderdale last night, that's in part to great play from the Knights, but it also shows that MHS will have to be a very fundamentally sound team this season without the offensive weapons they had a year ago, but Larry Weems is one of the best at making adjustments, and I think he'll enjoy the challenge that his revamped offense presents

BIG WEEK ONE WINS

                  - how about Clarkdale and Quitman? The Bulldogs came back from a two touchdown deficit last night to beat Richton, and that's a huge confidence builder considering C-Dale won just one game a year ago.  Quitman came out of the gates in Pearl Friday night and let the state know that they once again mean business this season, the Panthers have a tough slate this year, but a week one win is a great start.

FRIDAY NIGHT TAILGATE

                 - I would like to take a second to thank everyone at West Lauderdale for their participation in our first Friday Night Tailgate of the season.  I had a blast and I hope more and more fans will get involved as the season goes along.

What a week!  I can't wait for next Friday!

It has been an busy couple of weeks in the newsroom as we try and preview as many area prep teams as possible.  It's hard to believe we're less than a week away from the first Football Friday of the season, but I can't wait!  Here are some of my observations from preseason camp.

Biggest Topics of Conversation

1 - Shortened preseason

     - I went into our preseason preview series ready to hear coaches complain that they did not have enough time to get their teams prepared after the MHSAA added a classic game to start the season a week early, but the majority of coaches I spoke to were happy with the change.  Newton County head coach Jeff Breland said he thinks the shortened preseason helped his team stay focused at the start of camp because there is no time to be bored with practices. 

2 - Classification Shakeup

   - Most of the coaches I asked aren't worried about their restructured divisions, but I think one of the most interesting new divisions is Division 5 Class 4-A, which includes West Lauderdale, Quitman, and Northeast Lauderdale.  There are also a few teams that will have unique schedules thanks to the addition of Class 6-A.  Neshoba Central is now a 5-A team, and they share a division with several Jackson area teams, making for some long road trips for the Rockets this season.

Be sure and tune in for Football Friday August 21st to get your first peek at your favorite prep team.

I'm ready for football season to kick off, here's a rundown of how we'll be covering it.

Next week (Monday, August 3rd) prep football teams can hit the practice field and start getting ready for the season (we're going to 6 classifications this year, sweet!).  Starting that week we'll have team by team previews up until the start of the regular season.

As far as college football goes, we've got to wait a little longer, but camps open soon as well, and of course we all know about the preseason attention Ole Miss is garnering.  Lindsey Hall was at SEC Media Days last week, and in the coming days we'll have more from the coaches and players that spoke, including an in depth look at Alabama in 2009.

Around this time of year many sports fans in Mississippi and around the country are longing for the days of constant football talk.  Well folks, just keep in mind that we are almost there!  SEC media days kick off two weeks from today (July 22nd), and prep football teams will be kicking off fall practice soon after, so have no fear, football is coming!

The midsummer months provide a great chance to cover some sports that don't get as much run as football.  This week we'll be previewing a big triathalon that is coming to Bonita Lakes this weekend.  Also in the works we  have stories about a local AAU track team that is prepping for a national meet and about a local sports academy that is getting off the ground.

By the way, if you still have a hankering for football news, tonight we've got the Birmingham News consensus top 10 for the upcoming season, and Ole Miss is number 5.  We'll see if they can back up the preseason hype in a few short months!

It's been another busy midsummer week here at the station, to finish off the week and heading into the weekend, I'm going to talk to some of the staff at Okatibbee Lake and hopefully learn some things about boat safety to pass along to folks before the 4th of July Saturday. 

I'm also going to check in at Whynot Motorsports Park and talk to owner Rodney Wing, they are planning on having a big fireworks show during the program on Saturday night.

So far that's what I am planning, but things always change, post a comment on the blog, follow me on twitter (nadamwtok), or email me (nick.adam@wtok.com) if you have a story idea!

State Games 2009 was a big success according to officials, and from my point of view, I couldn't agree more.  Every event I covered seemed very well run, and plenty of volunteers were on call at each venue ready to help. 

One of my favorite events of the Games was the Mountain Bike race at Bonita Lakes.  I have run up and down the trails at Bonita, but I never realized how great a bike race could be at the park.  It was so much fun getting into the "wild" and waiting on bikers to fly by. 

I think the '09 Games can serve as a great standard to judge future festivals, and it was clear that 18 years into the State Games experiment, they are still running strong.

As wild as last weekend was, there are even more events scheduled for this weekend of State Games.  The high school basketball and baseball competitions highlight the weekend.  Lindsey made a great point the other day, he said you can really see some great hoops matchups at State Games that you wouldn't see otherwise, because the usual classes and divisions don't apply. 

I've said it on air this week but I just want to reiterate how great it has been covering the '09 games.  Everyone, from the athletes to the parents to the State Games staff, has had such a great attitude.  The heat could have been a factor for the Games this year, but everyone's positive outlook has made this year's festival great!

We plan on covering all eight local competitions over the weekend.  For scoring updates check out www.wtok.com/sports, also, follow our coverage at www.twitter.com/wtok, I'll be posting updates each day and let you know what events will be covered before each sportscast.

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