Cam Newton Ready To Speak Out

Auburn, Ala, – Second-ranked Auburn's (10-0) head coach Gene Chizik was blunt and straight to the point in Wednesday's regularly scheduled SEC media teleconference.

"Cam Newton is eligible to play this Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs," said Chizik. Why is this big news outside of Auburn?

Two of the major odds makers in Vegas have pulled the betting line at this time, because ESPN stated that Chizik would be holding a news conference Wednesday afternoon at 12:45 p.m. EST.

That report is believed to be the motivations that lead the odd makers to drop the game. This is proof that ESPN's irresponsible reporting does impact perceptions in a negative light concerning their reporting of Cam Newton story lines almost hourly.

It should also be pointed out that in the announcement, ESPN misled its viewers. What the news conference actually turned out to be, was Chizik speaking about the Georgia game.

Chizik asked reporters listening in to keep their questions pertaining to the upcoming game with Georgia. He refused to answer questions concerning Cam Newton any further.

Come Saturday, Cam Newton will have his say on the playing field, that's where he can speak volumes as to why he deserves the Heisman Trophy, and all of the accolades that he and his team should be enjoying.

Unfortunately, some people are out there attacking him from the shadows, apparently bent on undermining Cam's and Auburn success, begging the question: Why?

That is what Cam and the rest of his Tiger teammates, as well as the Auburn family, will be asking about anyone attempting to keep them from achieving their ultimate goals.

One of the intriguing questions looming, how does seemingly what is a witch hunt, affect the Auburn team? Auburn is a team that has marched themselves closer to the National Championship game, barring a loss against Georgia, or Alabama and possibly the SEC championship game.

The Tigers are one game away from clinching the SEC Western Division title Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST. All eyes will be turned and tuned to the Cam show on The Plains.

The question is; how does the almost hourly barrage of negative reports affect the psyche of the Auburn players, more importantly Cam Newton? Many sports talk radio host and most of the Auburn family expect Cam and his team to rise above the fray.

Most believe the team will be so focused backing Cam Newton, it will be almost impossible for Georgia to win. However, on the flip side, Tigers fans realize that Auburn has lost four straight meetings against the Dawgs, two of which were in Jordan Hare Stadium.

I believe that the coaching staff has done a great job handling the distractions on the surface. But it's behind the scenes in the meeting rooms that really count.

I doubt any coach in the country has ever had to deal with the issues in a week that this Auburn staff has had to deal with. It will be an amazing job if they win against an improving Bulldogs squad that has lost only once in the last five games.

That loss was a high-scoring OT heartbreaker against Florida. As a coaching staff you can only insulate the team so much.

The players read, watch and listen to all of the reports, they know what's out there, that's the communication age we live in. I guess for a coach that's the unfortunate side of the coin.

When these types of events take place in the public domain, it seems easier for some to assume you are guilty until proven otherwise.

What Cam and his fellow team mates do Saturday will speak volumes about how they are perceived to have handled the distractions thus far.

Win and they can close out the week on a positive note. Lose and carry it with them on the road in the Iron Bowl in two weeks.

Fly high above the fray, you War Eagles!

Three Big SEC Games Saturday

Auburn 49 vs. Georgia 32 (Auburn Clinches West Championship)

Alabama 28 vs. Miss St. 17 (How many Auburn fans will be pulling for Bama in this one?)

South Carolina 24 @ Florida 28 (Florida Clinches East Championship)