Good Tuesday morning update

It’s that time again to take a daily look at what is making news in the Alabama athletic universe.

• Don’t forget to watch the Golden Spikes Award ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Alabama’s Kent Matthes is a finalist, but I wouldn’t place your bets on him. Stephen Strasburg is a shoe-in with his 100+ mph fastball. You can watch the award show on the official Web site.
• Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Tony Barnhart has faith in Alabama returning to his home city for the SEC Championship game. He picks the Crimson Tide to win the West Division in his blog.
• I guess Florida coach Urban Meyer is tired of all the Notre Dame rumors. His statement about the possibilities were made clear. Read this to see what he said. On a side note, Meyer will be in Huntsville this week to give a talk at the All-Star Sports Week. We’ll see if he’s up to speak with the media.

Golden Spikes to be awarded Tuesday

Alabama’s Kent Matthes is one of five finalists for the Heisman Trophy of college baseball, the Golden Spikes Award. It will be presented at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in St. Louis as part of the MLB All-Star festivities, but Matthes faces long odds.

Sure he led college baseball with his 28 home runs and he had a deadly arm in right field. But he would have to beat out the pitcher considered one of the best to ever play the college game.

If this were the 1984 presidential election, Stephen Strasburg is Ronald Raegan and everyone else is Walter Mondale.

To learn more about the Golden Spikes Award, check out this interesting story in the Wall Street Journal.