In a shocking turn of events due to unprecedented economic difficulties and increased production costs, the Los Angeles Times has resorted to recycling old articles and editing the names to keep up with current events.   A friend of mine sent me a preview of tomorrow's central sports analysis article.  It seemed a little alarmist, but I thought you all might be interested in a quick peek.  The changes from the original article, found here, are in italics.

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL

SEC football takes a beating

Conference teams won only no games against out-of-conference foes with a winning record last weekend and in-conference favorites were 2-2 (0-4 against the spread).

By David Wharton
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

September 29, 2008

In the aftermath of a nightmarish weekend, coaches around the SEC have circled the wagons with a common refrain.

Keyword: parity.

"There are a lot of good players and good coaches in our conference," said Georgia Coach Mark Richt, whose team lost to Alabama. "But there are a lot of good players and good coaches in other conferences."

Tennessee Coach Philip Fulmer, whose Volunteers were swamped by Auburn, called it "one of those days."

"Black Saturday" stretched from Little Rock to Athens to Gainesville, fields strewn with lopsided scores as only four favorites managed victories. Particularly galling, the vaunted SEC East went 2-3, including wins against Western Kentucky and  University of Alabama - Birmingham.  

Two coaches who emerged victorious were slightly more blunt in their evaluations.

"The conference did get hammered last week," USC's Steve Spurrier said. "That's the first time I can remember that happening."

Florida Coach Urban Meyer wondered about the long-range effects, not so much in the polls but in the living rooms of recruits who might be wooed to other parts of the nation.

"There's not a lot to say," he mused. "The only way we can answer is on the field."