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You know what's awesome about Larry Smith's twitter account? It's protected so that only subscribers can see his posts. That way, if he gets hacked, his personal business doesn't get exposed to millions of college football fans. Denard Robinson, quarterback at Michigan, does not share Smith's philosophy on privacy:

Because it was requested yesterday, here's an open gamethread for the other SECT semifinal game.

I'll say it again; Zombie Nation is played out. The thumping techno song that Vanderbilt plays in Memorial Gym before the tip at basketball games is done. Hell, at least 100 other schools across the country use it in some respect to hype fans up before a game. What was once a tradition at Penn State is now cliche in Nashville; it's time for the Commodores to own their own tradition.

We covered this last year, and here's what we had to say:

What I'm about to suggest may be controversial, but Zombie Nation, the team's current pre-tip song, is played out. You hear it everywhere - Penn State, South Carolina, Florida, and Clemson come to mind - and while it's a recognizable song for the crowd, there's nothing about it unique to Vanderbilt. For the 3+ minutes the song is playing, you could be in any college arena. This connection is what really generates that fan (and player) buy-in. Can you say that Zombie Nation gets you more excited for a home basketball game vs. Florida than this video? I can't. And that's because the Memorial Magic video has a direct connection to Vandy tradition - something you won't see anywhere else.

Memorial Gym is a completely unique place to play - shouldn't every aspect of Vanderbilt basketball reflect that?

So let Penn State have Zombie Nation. Let's get something else for the Commodores - something that will pump fans up, but you'll only hear at Memorial Gym. Wisconsin has their 3rd quarter Jump Around (which is awesome), Liverpool FC has You'll Never Walk Alone, the Red Sox have Neil Diamond, and the Seattle Seahawks have Verve's Bittersweet Symphony (they can't all be winners). Vandy fans need something to call their own, that will get them pumped up at games and reverberate from the court all the way up to section 3F. 

Running off the popularity of last year's pre-game post, we decided to try again in hopes of swaying the Vanderbilt brass away from generic techno music to get a greater fan buy-in at home. Here are some of last year's popular suggestions along with a few choice staff picks for the Commodores to use before sending Festus up to get the tip. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments - if they're good, we'll add them to the poll, then send the results off to David Williams, who will never read them.

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I'd like to point out a few new additions to the sidebars. Firstly, on the right-hand side, you'll notice beneath the FanShots section two new recruiting areas that showcase our latest commitments/signings. I'm planning to keep this current with each and every announcement.

At the bottom of each recruiting widget, you'll notice a link that takes you to a static link that will contain the same recruiting info, only embiggened. Feel free to bookmark that link, if you're that type of fellow. Or gal.

Links:

Vanderbilt Commodores 2011 Basketball Recruiting Roundup
Vanderbilt Commodores 2011 Football Recruiting Roundup

Are you ready for your life to change? If not, DO NOT CLICK TO JUMP PAST THE BREAK!

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Vanderbilt is off this week, getting some deserved rest after a win against Mississippi and preparing for a trip to Connecticut to take on the Huskies next Saturday. As a result, things around AoG will be pretty quiet as we bask in the warm afterglow of Robbie Caldwell's first win. It will be the only Saturday that fans have off until late November, as the 'Dores will reel off nine straight games to end the season - barring a surprise SEC Championship or bowl game appearance.

Instead of predictions, let's delve into the psyche of the AoG cadre and see what our faithful staff is up to without having Larry Smith streaming live on ESPN3. Feel free to add your weekend plans in the comments as well, so we can compare lives and then all have a good laugh about how pathetic we are.

Train Island - My Larry-withdrawal aside, the bye week couldn't have come at a better time, especially coupled with a lame Wisconsin game (ed. note - I moved to Madison, WI this summer and have been filling the void of Dudley Field in my heart with Badger games. This week they host the pride of Clarksville, Austin Peay...). Rather than enjoy a relaxing weekend at home I think I'll be making the drive down to Indianapolis to attend UFC 119. Why? Aside from my (apocryphal) love of the Circle City (ugh), the Ultimate Fighting Championship just so happened to hold their first ever Indiana event with my favorite fighter as the headliner...three months after I moved away.

Nonetheless, with ticket prices being 1/3rd of the UFC average (ed. note - I don't have tickets yet - anyone selling? Anyone?) and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic fighting in what may very well be his final headlining event, the stars seem to have aligned for me to make the 5-7 hour drive back to Naptown. Throw in a Purdue game (vs. Toledo, ensuring some $10 seats and a possibly hilarious upset) and a bar shuffleboard championship that I need to maintain, and I am leaning very heavily towards a couple days back in standard time. Besides, how badass will it be to see this:

in person? One of the most badass men on the planet, steeling himself for war, all to the 80s beats of Duran Duran. If I see this live, I might wet myself.

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You're welcome. Thanks to Peter Bean at BON for the htmlz. It's big so enjoy the jump (that's what she said).

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