Archive for April, 2008

Continuing with my non-sports posts during the off-season, here’s another little flashback … to 1982.

26 years ago this week, the Volunteer City was counting down to its big debut on the international stage — the opening of the 1982 World’s Fair.

Yeah baby, the World’s Fair had arrived!

Ahh, Ronnie Reagan — a man of few words…

Before it was all said and done, more than 11 million people would visit and — for the briefest of periods — Knoxville became known as more than simply “a drinking town with a football problem.“

The fair was a success by most benchmarks. The Fair was profitable, albeit to the tune of a whopping $57.00. This was a rare feat for World’s Fairs — the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans actually declared bankruptcy before the that fair was even over. It was one of the highest attended Fairs in history. It also boasted having pavillions from some countries which were hardly best friends with the United States at the time (several of the participating countries were already on George W. Bush’s nascent “List of Un-nice Weirdo Meanies” — later to be known as the “Axis of Evil”).

Here’s a little more information about the World’s Fair than you probably could ever want…

Man those are some snazzy graphics … makes me wish I still had a Commodore 64…

I have limited memories of the actual Fair itself even though I did attend (I was 6 years old at the time, and still have my World’s Fair Activity Book to prove it), but remember much of the pomp and fanfare that accompanied it — such as the rockin’ television ads which played all across the country.

So, just where exactly were they proposing to land the Space Shuttle — on Kingston Pike?

There were so many things to see and do: talking robots, the first Petro’s Stand (yum), the Imax Theater, have a swig of World’s Fair Beer, and even watch some guy making … Moonshine!!!

World’s Fair Map — Click to Enlarge

The World’s Fair also included what was then the World’s Largest Ferris Wheel, an NFL exhibition game, and near constant entertainment. The high water mark for the Fair — or more importantly for Knoxville — came on the Third Saturday in October, when less than two weeks before the Fair ended, Knoxville hosted not only visitors from around the world at the Fair, but also the Alabama vs. Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium. On that day — 16 October 1982 — it is estimated there were more people in the downtown area of Knoxville than at any other time in history. When the game ended, and the Tennessee Volunteers had defeated the No. 2-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide 35 – 28, the goalposts came down, and all hell broke loose. (See, I managed to get something in here about sports…)

Despite these successes, however, the momentum of the Fair ultimately flamed-out — just like the Fair’s Logo.

Actually, it would be more appropriate to say that the Fair, and the City of Knoxville, both abruptly hit a brick wall while travelling at the safe and prudent speed of 150 mph one day after the Fair ended. That was the day that FDIC agents marched past the Sunsphere, up Main Street, and through the front door of the United American Bank Building (now First Tennessee) for the sole purpose of commencing their audit of the bank’s assets and uncovering the fraud that had been going on behind the scenes for several years. This would lead to “Stinky Jake” Butcher spending 10 years in prision, and precipitated the 4th largest bank failure in US history.

With that, all of the work, effort, planning, and money that had gone into ensuring the World’s Fair helped Knoxville propel itself into the future pretty much up and vanished like the Tennessee offense under Col. Dandy Sanders.

Still, the subsequent bust aside, the Fair was Knoxville’s moment in the sun (no pun intended).

Now — more than a quarter century later — some of the re-re-development intended to follow closely on the heels of the World’s Fair is finally occurring. World’s Fair Park now looks like something other than a gravel parking lot. The Convention Center has given people a reason to return to the downtown area. The Sunsphere (despite my claims to the contrary) has been shored up, and has re-opened for visitors. Most importantly, however, the City of Knoxville has finally acknowledged one important thing…

“Malfunction Junction” on I-40 was never a good idea …

Huh-huh, watch ‘er go BOOOM!!

Of course, it would have been nice if they had figured this out a little earlier, and made the process of improving the roads beyond the status quo ala’ 1982, a little more gradually. I suppose a little progress is better than none, but apparently “Tennesssee Smart Fix” is the one perpetual legacy of the World’s Fair.

If anyone has any idea whatsoever exactly what the hell this map purports to show, please let me know…

God help us all when we face traffic this football season with half of the roads into downtown Knoxville closed. I guess we’ll all just have to look up, pray for patience, …

… and let the Sunsphere be our guide.

– Go Figure …

Images Courtesy of: ExpoMuseum.com • 1982WorldsFair.com • ThemeParkBrochures.net • Knoxville Chamber • BabyBoomerBob • City of Knoxville • Knoxville News Sentinel • Tennessee Dept of Transportation

One of the drawbacks of success is that everyone wants a piece…

Over the years, Pat Summitt’s assistant coaches have routinely been courted by others. This year, however, is appears that the Lady Vols are getting raided. First, UCLA came seeking Nikki Caldwell to take over as their head coach. Now, the South Carolina Gamecocks — in the wake of player conduct issues which would make even Nick Saban wince — are talking to Associate Head Coach Holly Warlick.

Warlick played for Summitt from 1976-1980, was a three time All-American, was the first Tennessee athlete (male or female) to have her jersey retired, and has been inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Warlick has been on Summit’s staff for an amazing 23 years, most recently being promoted to her current position as second in command after Mickie DeMoss left to take the reins for the Kentucky Wildcats in 2003.

At the time, the loss of DeMoss — who had been with Summitt since the 1980’s — was viewed as a huge loss for the Lady Vols. Some even felt it signaled the end of the Lady Vols era of dominance.

Of course, since that time the Lady Vols had recorded two more national championships…

Warlick, however, is the only member of the Tennessee coaching staff other than Summitt to play a role in all right of the Lady Vols championships. While there can be no question that the Lady Vols are still at the top of the world of women’s basketball, the prospect of potentially filling two coaching vacancies while trying to recruit the next crop of superstars is daunting to say the least. If Warlick were to leave, Pat Summitt would once again have to dig deep into her bag of magic and call on her bevy of talents to maintain the momentum of the program.

Be that as it may, if I were a betting man, I’d take that action…

Either way, I wish the best to Warlick and the Lady Vols, and while I wish Warlick nothing but success, I sincerely hope she stays in Knoxville.

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: UTLadyVols.com

Now that the NFL Draft has come and gone, we have truly enter the deepest, darkest, dankest, despicable, and moany other words starting with “d” time of the year. This is the lowest point of the off-season, and the point which pains my heart so.

More importantly, it is the time of the year during which I have a particularly difficult time coming up with things to say here on Gate 21 for all of you to ignore.

Thus, I plan on rolling out a little something new here in the next few days, and doing a few “retrospectives” until something of interest begins to come along.

Oh, the angst of not having anything to write about, it’s enough to make you … edgy

In the meantime, however, I am pleased to say that the Wise and All-knowing MoonDog and I have been working on a little something over at his joint, which will hopefully come screaming into existence shortly. In the meantime, feel free to slid on over to his world and sample the wares, if for no other reason than to say “Ahh, I remember back when…” like my parents, grandparents, and pretty much anyone more than two years older than me always did.

Uh, oh yeah, and congratulations to govolsxtra.com/news/2008/apr/26/patriots-go-mayo-no-10/” target=”_blank”>Jerrod Mayo, Brad Cottam, and Erik Ainge on being drafted by the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and the New York Jets respectively. Godspeed gentlemen. As for the rest of the 2007-08 Tennessee Vols, thank you for all that you gave to Orange Nation during your time around the Hill, and best wishes for the future.

Hopefully, something substantive in the near future…

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: LOL Jocks

Since I have been sucking at actually posting anything recently, I will pontificate vicariously! So, here’s a few links from around the web worth giving a look…

• It’s official, Tyler Smith is Staying at Tennessee – UTSports.com • BruceBall Blog • Go VolsXtra • VolNation

• A Look at Erik Ainge’s NFL Prospects (along with neato charts, numbers and a bunch ‘o videos) – Rocky Top Talk

• An excellent ranking of Isiah Thomas’ Greatest Life Achievements and a Look at the Personal Lives of StormTroopers – BugeHoobs

• Crimson Daddy asks “Who will be CBS’ Other Love Interest this season?” — 3rd Saturday in Blogtober

• A quick look at the 22 Worst Dunks Ever. I personally like this one:

• A poignant photo essay on Rosa Blasi (a/k/a eye candy), and The Pac Man is Heading to Dallas – World According to MoonDog

• John Adams and Tom Mattingly get all misty eyed and reminiscent over the 10th Anniversary of the Vols last football National Championship (damn, has it been that long?) — Go VolsXtra

• A Lesson on why no one wants to be the second pick in the NFL Draft – Cake Rocks the Party

• That little red light on top of the camera, it means your on the air and Gus Johnson Just Singing the Night Away

– NESW Sports

• A recruit breaks Florida’s 2006 BCS Championship Trophy the BCS Trophy, that’s so sad (snicker…) — Go VolsXtra
• Yes, just what we need, more Bowl Games – Get the Picture

• Finally, a few classic ESPN Bloopers … going all the way back to 1979:

Damn, I’m a gettin’ lazy …

– Go Figure …

Lead Image Courtesy of: The Fail Blog

Despite the fact that basketball season has been over for nearly a month now, Geno Auriemma just can’t let it go…

Apparently, Geno simply couldn’t fight the urge to run his mouth one last time. At a press conference wrapping up the 2007-08 season, Geno jumped on the chance to get in a dig on Pat Summitt over the cancellation of the regular season Tennessee vs. Connecticut series and “Tour-gate.” Nevermind the fact that — since the season is over and the UConn Huskies weren’t around as one of the last two teams standing — no one gives two shits about his opinion at this point. Geno, being his usual blowhard self, went straight ahead and got those gums a-flappin’

I don’t have to say anything. Pat knows. She knows why we’re not playing. There’s nothing for me to say. I’m not the one that made the decision not to play. So she should just tell you why instead of saying, ‘Geno knows.’ I do know. I already told you. She accused us of cheating at recruiting. She doesn’t have the courage to say it publicly. So yeah, Geno does know. And I’ve said it.

. . .

There’s a lot of things I know about a lot of people. That doesn’t mean I cancel the series. This is the same person who said if the Duke fans didn’t treat her players right, she was going to cancel that series.

Auriemma went on to add that he would only resume the series under favorable circumstances:

It would have to be eight games here, one in Nashville and one in Memphis; that would be my proposal to them. That’s the only way I would do it.

Sounds to me as if Geno is simply trying to grab a little bit of publicity for his team — perhaps in hopes that the hype will prevent some poor recruit from realizing what an arrogant tool he is. The fact remains, however, that the gap between he and Pat Summit is only getting wider, and each dumb comment on his part only serves to make him look like more of a sour-grapes jackass than he already does.

I mean, really, Geno, who gives a damn right now? What relevance does this have to anything other than stroking your ego?

To her credit, Pat Summitt’s response was as appropriate as it was direct. Summitt simply stated:

It’s absolutely not worth a comment.

I imagine that if she had been responding directly to Geno — face to face — her words might have been more … pointed.

Don Imus, on the other hand chimed right in stating:

Auriemma’s tirade sounded like some whacked-out ghetto crack whore looking for a trick and some smack… **

Shortly thereafter, Imus followed-up this comment by indicating that he would be changing his name, undergoing plastic surgery, and moving to Paraguay. **

One way or the other, Auriemma is already cementing his position as the early front runner for the “2008-09 Women’s College Basketball Massengill Douchebag of the Year Award.”

Way to go Geno, once again you’ve outdone yourself…

In other Basketball news, the folks over at Hugging Harold Reynolds have made a breakthrough in the battle to combat global warming and environmental degradation, which links these problems directly to the NBA.

Who knew?

– Go Figure …

Quotes Courtesy of: GoVolsXtra • Images Courtesy of: SI.com & The Phoenix

**Disclaimer: As if it were not completely obvious, the quote from Don Imus is complete crap and is purely a creation of the unbalanced mind of the author. That quote is a fictional humorous depiction (a/k/a “Fark”), intended as satire, of Don Imus and his prior statements about “Nappy-Headed-Hos,” and does not reflect the views or position of Mr. Imus. Neither this posting, those who created it, nor this blog are in anyway affiliated with the Don Imus. So please don’t have your lawyers send me a bunch of nasty letters…

All other quotes in this article are — to the best of the author’s knowledge — accurate

A little blast from the past for those of you out there who were in East Tennessee from 1954-1971. If you were around during that time, then you remember Cas Walker’s Home and Farm Hour on WBIR. Cas Walker — the proprietor of Cas Walker’s Supermarkets — was a genius when it came to promotion, and was tireless in getting the name of his store into the public eye.

Cas was a flamboyant as he was successful and he grew to be a giant in the political arena of East Tennessee. In fact, once he got into a fistfight at a Knoxville City Council meeting.

Serving up a little High Quality Farm-Fresh Cas Walker Whup Ass

Cas passed away in 1998, but I am convinced that, if it came down to it, Cas would still whip the ass of anybody who’d take him on — even though he has been dead for 10 years. Here’s a little flashback of Cas for those of you who remember him:

Just to think Cas was going to jail all that time, just to get the publicity.

But after all, as Cas always said:

You tell ‘em Cas!

– Go Figure …

Images Courtesy of: The Ole Coon Hunter – Cas Walker

For those of you who care (which is probably nobody …) Gate 21 Graphics now has its own page here at Gate 21 — The Cultural Center of the Universe. So if you need any graphic design help, want to leave a comment to tell me how much you hate the color orange, or want to threaten me with a lawsuit because Gate 21 is so ugly that you puked on your keyboard, slide on over to the new page for Gate 21 Graphics.

– Go Figure …

A little mindless YouTube action this morning courtesy of NESW Sports, and the Ethanator.

I grew up watching Larry Bird as a kid. I always remember how amazing it was that this geeky looking white guy, who seemed to have a perpetual wedgy while on the floor, could seemingly run circles around the competition and light up the basket like no other. The other thing about Bird was that he never seemed to get frazzled, always played with composure, and never seemed to get into any shoving matches with other players.

All except for this one day …

Nothing like a nice brawl to get the crowd into the game…

Meanwhile, Michael Jordan decides to throwdown on the backboard with authority:

Guess MJ was ticked about the silly uniform…

Finally, this is a good example of why you should never fall asleep in public — especially at a stadium …

By the way, if you’re looking for some good sports videos, make sure to check out NESW Sports, and tell ’em Lawvol sent you…

– Go Figure …

Videos Courtesy of: NESW Sports

Yeah, I admit it, I’m having a hard time getting inspired to write lately …

I have never looked forward to the off-season following the end of football and basketball season (especially when it’s “Spring” but still cold as whizz in the mornings) but now it has taken on a whole new dimension. This is my first off-season as a blogger, and it pretty much stinks. I have always tried to offer up posts with at least a little bit of substance, or — at a minimum — some poorly done graphics. Now, I find myself struggling to come up with articles worth writing. Part of this, I suppose stems from my general lack of interest in the fortunes of Major League Baseball. It’s not as if I dislike the sport — after all, I do coach Little League — it’s just not the sort of thing I have ever been very interested in writing about.

Furthermore, I can write all I want to about spring football practice, but considering I live over 6 1/2 hours from Knoxville, anything I could possibly say has already been said since my thoughts would be based upon what I read on other blogs.

I suppose I could write about politics, but that would require me to take a position on issues which are likely to alienate at least half of the 4 people who regularly read my blog — in short, I ain’t going there (at least not while my little creation is so very new…).

Thus, while I am working on a few new ideas, and creating graphics for a few other sites (my most recent being Uncoached), I am not doing a very good job of delivering much in the way of real content.

I was actually getting a bit discouraged until today when the Knoxville Snooze Slantinel made me feel a lot better by running a story on a lawsuit between the owners of a company trying to sell orange blazers like those worn by Bruce Pearl. The KNS felt this was important sports news.

You know that was awfully nice of John Adams — after all the ugly things I’ve said about him — to try and make me feel better about my ineptitude, by showing that the KNS is as clueless as I am.

Thus, I want to openly decry the ugliness of the off-season. It is a hideous thing which should be abolished.

Oh yeah, I also want to thank the Snooze Slantinel for making me feel better about my inability to say anything meaningful as of late.

So, I guess, now that I have complained about not having anything to complain about and I still can’t think of any “real” stories to write I’ll just have to return to fabricating stories out of the thinnest and most unreliable rumors (many of which are only rumors among the community of voices living in my head).

In the meantime, if you liked my article on the Voice of College Sports back in February (which is unlikely) then you are likely to enjoy Spencer Hall’s article on Larry Munson over at the Sporting News (HT to Joel at RTT for the find). Otherwise, I guess you’ll just have to wait for my 8-part investigative piece on how Tennessee is facing allegations of misconduct over the use of doughnuts as a human growth hormone.

Ugh…

– Go Figure …

UPDATE:

• See, I’m not the only one – Fulmer’s Belly and Pigskin Pathos hate the offesason too.

Even Tiger Couldn’t Get it In…

A few random story lines worth exploring:

Apparently, NBC’s Mike Milbury doesn’t think much of the Washington Crapi … oops … Capitals.

Damn Brother! Don’t believe I’da told that one…

Note to self, don’t ever do anything to piss off Penn State … er … former Penn State Wide Receiver Chris Bell, unless you want to get stabbed – The Daily Collegian

I know my friends over at Bears Necessity are going to be loving these new photos of pole vaulter Allison Stokke. Now I see why everyone likes Berkeley so much – My Chill Pill

Sadly, the Horseshoe in Little Havana is no more … what’s sad about it? The place was a dump. – Busted Coverage

In the wake of her 8th Championship, the guys over at SEC Sports Fan conclude that Pat Summitt is the greatest basketball coach ever, and use statisti-fi-cation to prove it — SEC Sports Fan

The wise and all-knowing MoonDog speaks on Derrick Rose’s Departure (sports news), Why our Economy is Going Down the Crapper (real news), and Discusses the Merits of Adriana Lima (ummm … eye candy) – World According to MoonDog

The eponymous “Sports Fan” has declared intifada it open season for a contest to determine the best blog focusing on the Tennessee Volunteers, and was even kind enough to nominate Gate 21 (I just hope I do better this time than I did during the NCAA Tournament) – UT Vols Football Blog

ESPN and Harold Reynolds settle their differences and decide they can in fact “just get along” – Hugging Harold Reynolds

A rundown on all the great things happening within the University of Tennessee Athletic Department & an invitation to all for a little blogger get-together at the Orange & White Game (sadly, I won’t be able to attend … much to Joel’s delight) – Rocky Top Talk

LSU Freak goes nuts on Tim Tebow — Doogie Howser style – Sunday Morning Quarterback

Finally, from Hollywood comes Ocean’s Fourteen … and this one is guaranteed to be quite different than the first three. Check it out, not what you’d expect:

– Go Figure …

Lead-off Image Courtesy of: Sports Frog