Takin' on Sports -- Weekend Six Pack

Welcome once again to the Weekend Six Pack, six thoughts about the week that was and the weekend to come in the sports world.

Iron Bowl -- It's time for the annual matchup between Alabama and Auburn, AKA my least favorite game of the year. That has nothing to do with Auburn's prowess as a football program. It's that the game is the damn super Bowl for Auburn every year. It means more to Tiger fans than the National Championship. Unless of course they aren't good, then of course we beat them. It's living in Louisville for the 2013 season and not seeing a single damn Auburn fan until a whole ass group of them take over the bar at the restaurant where I worked for the Iron Bowl, which just so happened to end with the Kick Six. It's the fact that if anything is ever on the line for them, Auburn Jesus rears his damn head and that crazy Barn Voodoo goes to work. I mean, look at the Tiger victories in this rivalry over the past decade or so: The Cam-back, Kick Six, Mac Jones throwing a 100-yard pick six off of his receiver's ass. The one year they did just outright win the game by being the better team, 2017, it ended up not mattering at all because Bama went and won the National Championship via 2nd & 26. Maybe now that Gus Malzahn is gone, that wacky bullshit is gone with him. Maybe a Bo Nix-less team, with nothing to play for, actually is a 19.5-point underdog. Maybe Jordan Hare Stadium doesn't have any magic in it this season. Maybe their anti-vaxxer coach was actually a horrible hire and we can go back to Auburn being a mediocre program for a few years. Maybe I won't be comfortable until the clock hits zero and Bama is ahead on the scoreboard.

It's RIVALRY WEEK -- I've talked about my love of college football rivalries in the past on this site. It isn't just rivalry week in Alabama. Of course, the big one this week is The Game between Ohio State and Michigan. Is this the year Jim Harbaugh finally leads his Wolverines past the hated Buckeyes? Did you know that Michigan has only won 3 of the past 20 in this rivalry?!? Bedlam is a top ten matchup, where Oklahoma State looks to beat Oklahoma and clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game, and keep their CFP hopes alive. Even though Thursday's Egg Bowl was uncharacteristically tame, Friday night delivered. NC State was down nine to North Carolina with 95 seconds on the clock and ended up winning. In a battle of two rivals in search of new coaches, Washington hosted Washington State in the Apple Cup, and the Cougars won in a rout. Then the fun started: Washington State fans rushed the Washington field, and then a Washington State player planted a flag on the Washington logo. College football is the stupidest, most glorious sport in the world.

NFL Thanksgiving -- The NFL put out three incredibly bland games on Thanksgiving. It's a "tradition" that the Lions and Cowboys always host games on Turkey Day, and isn't it time to kill that one? The only reason it's tradition is because past owners of the franchises wanted to sell more tickets, and it stuck. Why not schedule some marquee games every year? Mix it up a bit.

Ole out at Man U -- Why can't one of the world's biggest sport franchises get it right in the eight years since Sir Alex left? Manchester United parted ways with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær last Sunday, making him the fifth coach to fail to bring the Red Devils back to their glory days. They're appointing Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis. But, the problems at Old Trafford go well beyond bad hires. The facilities need massive upgrades, and the fanbase absolutely hates the owners (the Glazers), who don't particularly seem to give a shit about the club. Not that you'll see any tears from this site's soccer fans.

CFB coaching madness -- Dan Stan Mullen is out at Florida, meaning the Florida, LSU and USC jobs will all be open this off-season. But that's not all, in addition to those three giants, the following schools will be looking for head coaches: Akron, FIU, Louisiana Tech, SMU (who lost HC Sonny Dykes to rival TCU on Friday), Troy, Virginia Tech, Washington, and Washington State. That's not to mention any jobs that become available when those schools make hires. In addition, a few hot candidates are getting PAID. Michigan State's Mel Tuckler just inked a 10-year, $95 million contract. Wake Forest's Dave Clawson got an extension. James Franklin got a new 10-year contract from Penn State. European football's summer transfer window is known as the silly season, and I can't think of a more apt moniker for this year's college football off-season.

The Braves still haven't signed Freddie Freeman -- Well, we're waiting...