Archive for February, 2008

Well, I’m not going to re-hash what everyone else has already said, but this weekend it’s on! The No 2 Tennessee Volunteers take on the No 1 Memphis Tigers at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. It’s guaranteed to be a fabulous game, and hopefully Bruce and the Barbarians will get the train going and show the Tigers who is boss.

For a little breakdown, info, and fun, check out these posts:

• Bruce Pearl’s Letter to John Calipari and a Stat Breakdown for Memphis and Tennessee — Rocky Top Talk
• The Break Down, Part I, Part II, and Part III — The Bruce Ball Blog

It’s going to be huge, and everyone in the nation is watching! Let’s get the Train Going!

Go Vols, Beat the Mem-puss-es!!!

– Go Figure …

Obviously, I have more than spoken my piece on the Britton Colquitt “incident.” In fairness to Phillip Fulmer, however, I wanted to point out the fact that Tennessee isn’t the only school having a rough time with discipline at present.

It appears that Bammer is having a hard time keeping their players from randomly committing armed robberies on campus.

Meanwhile Les “the Great Hat” Miles’ quarterback is in more trouble than I even know how to describe, and has managed to get himself, for all intents and purposes, kicked off the team.

Anyway, whatever it is that is causing all of the SEC’s football players to suddenly become public enemy number 1, it is widespread…

If college football is to continue to exist in the manner it has, then coaches across the country are going to have to impress upon their players the fact that they must abide by the rules and must obey the law.

I just hope the Tennessee Volunteers figure that out soon…

– Go Figure …

Links Courtesy of: “The Edge”

I’m sure that Phillip Fulmer knew that things were not going to be easy when he found out that rising-Senior Britton Colquitt was arrested for DUI and fleeing the scene of an accident on Sunday. I doubt even Fulmer thought they would be this difficult.

I, along with many others, have come out publicly to decry the fact that Colquitt was not dismissed from the team. I stopped just short of saying that Fulmer should resign or be fired as a result of the off-field incidents which have plagued the Tennessee Volunteers football program over the last five weeks.

The Knoxville News Sentinel’s John Adams did not stop short.

Read the rest of this entry »

BasketVols” align=”right” height=”77″ hspace=”5″ vspace=”5″ width=”85″ />Well, I was so pissed off about the Britton Colquitt situation yesterday that I was delayed in talking about the good news for the Tennessee Volunteers — namely the BasketVols earning a No 2 ranking for the first time in school history.

This is truly a remarkable team, one which has surpassed even the most enthusiastic expectations. This team is playing with more heart, more determination, and more fire than any Tennessee team in the modern era. They are not perfect, but they leave it all on the court, and they just keep winning. What’s more, they have managed to do so without letting their individual egos come before the team. This is unprecedented in the history of the Tennessee Men’s Basketball program.

Next up is, of course, the Auburn Tigers on Wednesday night. That is the next order of business for the team.

Of course the rest of us will be looking to the matchup against the No 1 Memphis Tigers in Memphis at 9:00 on Staurday. Who would have thought that the Tennessee-Memphis game would be a No 1 vs No 2 matchup — especially this late in the season. This game may be the game of the year.

Ignoring the Memphis game, however, the Vols need to focus on beating Auburn first — protecting their lead in the SEC — and then look to the Tigers. An SEC championship is much more important than bragging rights against the Tigers. As much as I’d love to see the BasketVols beat Memphis, more than anything I want Bruce and the Barbarians to hang another banner in the rafters of the Tommy Bowl.

One way or the other, with their No 2, ranking this BasketVols team continues To Boldly go Where No Vol Has Gone Before…

– Go Figure …

Once again, the Tennessee Volunteers are in the news for bad behavior, and once more it is a member of the Tennessee football team that is responsible for the bad press that the university and the athletic department is garnering.

govolsxtra.com/news/2008/feb/17/ut-punter-charged-dui-leaving-scene-accident/”> According to GoVolsXtra, Tennessee punter Britton Colquitt was arrested and charged with DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. According to the police, Colquitt was arrested near Knoxville’s Old City District after driving his SUV into a parked car and then leaving the scene of the accident. The arresting officer indicated that Colquitt smelled strongly of alcohol, failed a field sobriety test, but later refused a breathalyzer or blood test.

This represents Colquitt’s fifth alcohol-related incident …

In response to the arrest and charges, Coach Phillip Fulmer announced on Sunday that Colquitt will be suspended for the first five games of the 2008 football season, will lose his scholarship, and will be required to undergo alcohol counseling, along with other undisclosed “internal punishments.” Colquitt was previously suspended for an alcohol-related event in 2004.

Colquitt’s arrest is the most recent in a seemingly unending string of off-the-field incidents involving Tennessee Football players. Since 11 January, six members of the football team have been charged by police, one other player (Vince Faison) was also charged with DUI, less than two weeks ago.

Read the rest of this entry »

Not a lot of interest going on at present, other than the BasketVols beating the Georgia Bulldogs on the road at Athens 74-71. Despite allowing the Dawgs to stay in the game until the very end, Tennessee had four players in double figures, led by Chris Lofton who had 6 3-pointers and 22 points — 19 of which he scored in the second half. The Vols now sit with a record of 23-2, as they get ready for the Auburn Tigers on Wednesday at 7:30 at the Tommy Bowl, followed by Memphis at 9:00 on Saturday 23 February in Memphis.

With only 5 SEC games remaining, the Vols have a real chance to dominate the Conference if they can just take care of business. While the game against Memphis has the potential to be the game of the year considering that both teams will be ranked in the top four (and possibly the top 2) in the country, the Vols real focus needs to be winning a regular-season championship before the tournament begins. I’m sure Bruce and the Barbarians will do nothing less.

Ignoring what I just wrote, I sincerely hope the Vols go and beat the absolute hell out of Memphis. Back when I was in school at Tennessee, I remember having a sociology class with former BasketVol CJ Black. Once during the class the professor asked everyone in the room to identify some stereotypes that society often makes, and people who defy those stereotypes. CJ Black responded by yelling at the top of his lungs: “Everybody from Memphis got gold teeth! And it’s the truth!!!” Thus, in honor of CJ Black, Gate 21 reminds everyone to be on the lookout for gold teeth this week, if you see anyone with gold teeth, you should contact the authorities, or CJ Black.

This public service message is brought to you by the Elvis Presley House of Sideburns, just 3 blocks from Graceland…

In case you have nothing to do on Wednesday night, the University has announced there are still a few tickets available for the Auburn game. You can find more information on these over at UT Sports.com.

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: View Images

BasketVols” align=”middle” height=”77″ hspace=”15″ vspace=”5″ width=”85″ /> -VS-

Well, it appears that the Georgia Bulldogs are a little worried about the possibility of the Orange Nation descending on Athens when Bruce and the Barbarians come to town this Saturday. According to Paul Westerdawg over at the Georgia Sports Blog, the University has done everything it possibly can to make sure the butts in the seats at Stegeman Coliseum this Saturday are wearing Red, and not Orange. According to Westerdawg, UGA has out of its way to try and fill the 10,500 seat arena with Dawg fans:

We’ve sold close to 900 tickets to fraternities and sororities who are having their parents’ day at Saturday’s game, over 250 tickets are being used by former basketball lettermen as part of our annual reunion game and a lot of our endowment donors will be in town as part of donor appreciation day.

When you take into account that we sold 2,600 single game tickets for the UT game and you take out the 1,300 above sold to UGA groups, it really only leaves about 1,300 tickets that would be available for single game ticket sales. Out of the 1,300 remaining single game ticket sales, it is tough to say how many were bought by UT fans.

Also, UT got their contracted 100 tickets for their player/family allotment. Unless a lot of Georgia fans have given/sold their tickets to UT fans, then 1,300-1,500 is the max that UT could have in the house. Probably closer to 1,000 in the house as I don’t think all other 1,300 single game sales were sold exclusively to UT fans.

(Georgia Sports Blog)

Apparently Georgia Basketball is not exactly a “hot ticket”…

This is one of the few times that I am glad scalping tickets is legal in Tennessee. For any of you orange-blooded folks who would still like to go to the game (and benefit a good cause) visit BasketballRoadtrip.com and sign up for the bus trip to Athens. The trip includes round-trip transportation, lunch and dinner, and your ticket to the game. All proceeds from the trip go to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you don’t have plans for Saturday, this is a fun and inexpensive way to support the BasketVols, and it’s all for a very good cause.

For those of you staying here, the game is currently set to tipoff at 3:00 on Raycom Sports and the Vol Network

In light of the Vols dismantling of the Arkansas Razorbacks last night at the Tommy Bowl, a win at Georgia will help to cement the Vols place atop the SEC East, and help Tennessee as they approach tournament time.

Go Vols! Beat the Puppies!!!

– Go Figure …