Thursday papers

Here's what's online today around the OVC:

The (Claksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle has two Austin Peay stories today. One looks at the Gov's conditioning and their preparation for a scrimmage today at 4 p.m. The other compares Chris Fletchers rapping ability with his running ability - he has 2,018 yards in two seasons with the Govs.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier syas Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo may be back at practice today or Friday. An undisclosed medical procedure in St. Louis appears to have gone well, offensive coordinator Mark Hutson told the paper. The story also says the defense stymied the offense throughout a Wednesday scrimmage, yielding only a single field goal.Despite that, coaches singled out wide receiver Micah Rucker for praise. Defensive coordinator Ric Bellantoni said "I'm glad he's on our team. I know if we can't cover him nobody else in the OVC will."

There's also an Associated Press story out on AP today, available at The Sporting News' web site. It chornicles the return of scholarship ball to Clarksville. Nice read.

The Southeast Missourian takes a look at two players, Stevelan Harper and Clinton Jones, who followed coach Tony Samuel from New Mexico State to Southeast Missouri. Sportswriter Marty Mishow gets special mention for using the I-A and I-AA terms correctly throughout the piece. Similar stories have tripped up other sportswriters at bigger papers since I started my daily review of the OVC press.

There's a Tennessee State item in The (Nashville) Tennesean today, and not a single I-A transfer was mentioned. Instead, the paper highlights a true freshman from a Nashville-area high school, Pearl-Cohn's Robert Nevels, who is in contention for a starting spot as an offensive tackle for the Tigers. There's also a few short roundup-type items. Surely, the folks at The Tennessean can't be reading my commentary on their coverage and adjusting, can they? No, I didn't think so either. Whatever the reason, this is an improvement. Please keep it up.

The (Nashville) City Paper, meanwhile, has an excellent team overview of TSU as part of its fall football preview. Just one bothersome item in the piece - it refers to "Division I transfers." I believe "I-A" transfers would have been more specific, but it's technically correct the way it's written, so Nate Rau gets a pass today.

And, from the teams' Web sites:

Eastern Illinois has a roundup on recent practice info.

Eastern Kentucky has a fan's guide for the Colonels' season-opener at Cincinatti.

Jacksonville State has a report from Wednesday's two workouts, with another video interview with coach Jack Crowe. The Gamecocks scrimmage this morning at 10:30 (as I'm typing this, no less).

Two items up at Murray State's site: the first is a scrimmage report, with another photo album. The other is a Q&A with coach Matt Griffin from the June 25 edition of the Paducah Sun.

Samford held media day Wednesday. The team unveiled new uniforms (which you can see in a photo album), announced plans for a new Daktronics scoreboard and a marketing plan to get Bulldogs merchandise in Birmingham sotres. There are quotes from Coach Bill Gray and several players.

Tennessee Tech has a report on Wednesday's practice that features the one-two tailback punch of Derek White and Anthony Ash. There's a great photo of White doing his best Superman impersonation.