It’s a good thing Eli Manning won a first-team spot on the popular preseason All-SEC football squad, because making sure to finally get that honor will take a lot of doing by the rangy quarterbacking baby boy of former Ole Miss All-American Archie Manning. Football before the fact has a funny way of not turning out right.

This is not to say that I don’t believe the youngest Manning son will make All-SEC because I honestly believe he will. In fact, I believe it was said Eli was the only one of six who made preseason recognition to land first-team conference laurels. Eli’s under the gun, that’s all there is to it!

Both State and Ole Miss placed boys on the second All-SEC squad. They included Mississippi State linebacker T.J. Mawhinney, Ole Miss receiver Chris Collins and Ole Miss defensive lineman Stephen Peterman. Also, State place-kicker Brent Smith landed back-up team recognition. Ain’t bad.

I think I’ve scratched this earlier, but you know me &045; when it comes to SEC talk, I’m known as &8220;Just Talkin.’&8221;

Did I already write that Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State have been guessed (and I do mean guessed) to finish in that order in the SEC Western Division?

I’ll tell you something: The Western Division is for a fact loaded, but fans from Mississippi will tell you (most of ’em anyway) they believe the Rebels and Bulldogs both will do more than just scratch, that one or both will contend for a high position in the SEC West.

In the SEC poll I keep alluding to, Auburn received a whopping 60 votes for first place in the SEC West. I don’t want to say I don’t believe that, but I just have to say I don’t. True, Auburn or LSU deserve to be ranked first and second, but you gotta figure even they could falter, and remember that the rest don’t go to bat expecting to strike out.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are hiding all they can from the media, but it’s known that balance just might be the word for the SEC this fall. And there’s sure to be two or three teams that rear up and throw all pre-season stuff out of kilter.

Sure is fun, meantime, trying to out-guess cats like this one who make like experts in this field of seeing what’s coming in the greatest college football league in America &045; the Southeastern Conference.

Who is Shaun Micheel? I didn’t mean it, because when a man has it to hit a 7-iron 174 yards to within inches of the cup, he’s got something going for him that just might be more than luck. Ole &8220;Mike&8221; seemed to know something.

Micheel is actually known by golf writers as a PGA journeyman, and it was said by many of them he still had a ways to go. His 7-iron from the fairway settled all that.

Drinking coffee at McDonald’s Tracetown, you never know how some of the guys might feel about a sports subject. But you know something &045; I’ve learned that sports bring people together. That’s the good ol’ American way &045; disagree if you must, but listen to the other fella’s point of view, too.

Glenvall Estes is a longtime columnist for The Natchez Democrat.