Archive for February, 2009

Here’s an interesting and long (27 minute) clip of Lane Kiffin speaking to the Big Orange Tip-Off Club from — of all places — USA Today.com.  He discusses recruiting, commitment, and where the program is going, among many other things.

Video:  Lane Kiffin Speaks to Tipoff Club

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According to Basilio and  GVX, Lane Kiffin has named former-Vol Inquoris “Inky” Johnson as a graduate assistant.  Johnson was a key member of the Vols’ defensive backfield prior to his career ending injury in 2006.  Johnson will be coaching the defensive backs.

Inky Johnson in 2006

It was also announced that Kiffin has named Leonidas of Sparta as the Vols new Kicking and Hurling of Sharp Objects Coach.**

(click to enlarge)

As you can see from the press conference, Leonidas is pumped!

Hmm… wonder how long I can keep this Sparta thing going?

– So it goes …

Image Courtesy of: UTVol.com

** Disclaimer:  As if it were not completely obvious, the discussion of Leonidas of Sparta is a humorous depiction (a/k/a “Fark”) and is a complete fabrication of the mind of the author (e.g. it is complete bullshit).  Some parts of this post do not reflect the views of the University of Tennessee.  Furthermore, neither the author of this post nor this blog are in anyway affiliated with the University of Tennessee, and all discussion of adding a “Hurling of Sharp Objects” coach is intended solely as humor.  So please don’t have your lawyers send me a bunch of nasty letters…

Well, I do believe that the whole “Kiffin-Gate” thing is getting a little out of hand now, not that I am really all that surprised.  I still stand by my comments of the other day, that while the Blackjack General may have been wrong about the rule, his comments have had the desired effect.

Take for instance the fact that Gregg Doyel (who attended Florida, is known for loving to tick people off, looks remarkably like Anthony Edwards from ER, and apparently cannot spell either of his names correctly) who probably could have given damn about the Tennessee Volunteers at this point in time, is ventilating at full tilt.  This has led Doyel to conclude, among other things, that:   1) Kiffin should be fired immediately; 2)  Tennessee fans are “stupid people” (especially VASF donors); and 3) Kiffin is an “idiot,” “bufoon,” and “dumb.”  Doyel also concludes that, as the opposite of “Urban” Meyer everyone should refer to Tennessee’s head coach as “Rural” Kiffin.  That has to be one of the dumbest plays on words I’ve heard in a while.  Others, have been more complimentary, including  Bruce Feldman and the guys at PTI.

What, John Adams supporting the Vols?

At any rate, it seems that this thing refuses to die.  Which, considering it is keeping Tennessee in the public eye and on the lips of every sports commentator across the country, is probably a good thing.  Oh, and for the record, it hasn’t seemed to hurt prospects with recruits out there, such as Joe Montana’s son, Nick.  As an aside, I found the thoughts of some of the “common fans” of Southern Cal’s take on all of this enlightening — they think it is great and have, almost uniformly, nice things to say about Kiffin.  I am also beginning to make me wonder if hell has frozen over considering that the KNS’ John Adams has actually been saying nice things about the Tennessee Football Program lately.

Not to be outdone, and in the hopes of spreading the venom even farther — sticking with my “This is Sparta” theme — here’s my little addition to the whole thing:

Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater! (click to enlarge)

Oh, and feel free to copy this and spread it to the four-winds (although I would appreciate a link back if you don’t mind).

At any rate, the current course of the football program at Tennessee is easy to assess:  1) after the pain of the Season of Constant Sorrow (2008) things are finally moving forward;  2) people are talking; and 3) at present the 2009 season comes down to two games:  Western Kentucky (first home game) and the 19 September meeting with the Florida Gators.

And you thought the offseason was supposed to be boring…

– So it goes …

HT to: 3SIB • Vol Junkies (for the idea) • VolNation

A fabulously extreme response to the imbalances in college football. Seriously, if you even “kinda, sorta” like football, you should give this a look.

One of the most creative concepts I’ve seen in a while…

•  A Total College Football Reorganization | California Golden Blogs

Bet you never thought you’d see Tennessee in the same conference as the boys of Tobacco Road again…

Seeing as I am currently loaded up with more projects than I can keep up with (more on that in the near future), I thought now would be as good a time as any to send out a few “messages of love” to those across the web who are deserving.

Thus, I bring you a few points of interest worth exploring (along with a few links sandwiched in between):

First of all, there are a few new additions to the Vol-logosphere which require a quick mention:

Vol Junkies

Vol Junkies has been around for a while now, and has a great looking site which does a fine job commenting on the exact same thing the rest of us orange-wearing bloggers do, except—unlike yours truly—the man in charge over there actually has some idea of what he is about.  Furthermore, half of the site appears to be on fire (just go visit, you’ll see what I mean) Be it football, basketball, or politics, if it’s orange, VJ has it.  You can check it all out at: http://VolJunkies.com

Bleeding Orange

Bleeding Orange is another new Vol-log led by the eponymous Tennessy Vol who speaks from within the confines of the University of Tennessee (yeah, he’s a student).  He has only been around a short while, but has nonetheless put together some really good stuff which is worth giving a look, take for instance his recent breakdown on the Vols recruiting class.   You can check it all out at: http://bleedingorange.wordpress.com.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, given the success of the CBS Sports College Football BlogPoll this past fall, the powers that be have decreed that the fun should continue.  Thus, once again Gate 21 has been given the opportunity to pretend like our opinions matter, this time, however, it’s basketball.  Yes, it is our pleasure to be voting in the CBS Sports College BasketBlog Poll, hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 1

Through 08 February 2009

Well, we’re already fairly far along with the season, so there really isn’t a whole lot to say in terms of how the teams in my ballot for this week arrived at their present ranking.  In the future, however, I plan on trying to offer a few comments on why I voted the way that I did.  Furthermore, all of the voting blogs — including Gate 21 — encourage those of you out there who read to tell us where we get it right, and where we get it wrong.  You can do that via the comments box at the bottom.  I promise that I’ll consider any and all rude remarks.

Either way, here’s my ballot for the week:

Rank	Team
1	Connecticut
2	Oklahoma
3	Pittsburgh
4	North Carolina
5	Wake Forest
6	Marquette
7	Duke
8	Louisville
9	Michigan St.
10	Xavier
11	UCLA
12	Clemson
13	Memphis
14	Butler
15	Villanova
16	Gonzaga
17	Missouri
18	Purdue
19	Syracuse
20	Illinois
	Kansas
22	Arizona St.
23	Minnesota
24	Ohio St.
25	Utah

The Rest of the BlogPoll

Having taken the time to consider my feeble attempt at ranking the powers in college football, feel free to try and convince me that I am wrong — which is part of the way the BlogPoll is supposed to work.  I promise that I will consider all comments.

As for the rest of the BlogPoll, well, you can check out how other bloggers voted, how your team fared across the blogosphere, and view the weekly results each week over at CBS Sports (at least that’s how I think it’s supposed to work…)

– So it goes…

This is a bit of an unusual post in that it is a reference to a comment I posted elsewhere on the web, but it seemed fitting…

Rusty over at RTT has offered up 5 theories for Lane Kiffin‘s (a/k/a the Blackjack General) barb to Urban Meyer yesterday.  They are worth a read.  Rusty’s theories started a rather interesting discussion on the subject.

Anyway, here are my two cents worth, which I originally posted over on RTT as a comment (with the addition of the video and image):

The comment on Meyer is simply a comment made to a closed group being taken out of context.  That is, Kiffin said “cheating” in the sense of “man, that’s some slimy stuff” but is was taken as “violation of codified NCAA and SEC rules and regulations.” In other words, he was speaking like a normal person and not like some degenerate lawyer (I can say that, I are one).

In the big picture, I think that there is a method to Kiff’s madness.  I think he realizes that the Tennessee fans need something to help rally them to “the flag,” which a little controversy will accomplish.

Furthermore, I think — rightly or wrongly — he perceives a belief among the fans that Tennessee has been the “nice guy fuddy-duddy” type for a long time and have never really stood its ground the way it could (See Charlie Brown).  I think that there is a definite feeling of this sort among many in the Big Orange fanbase.

I also think he believes that the opposite it true — that other coaches (especially Urban Meyer) have gotten used to walking on Tennessee and now feel an entitlement of sorts.  I think this is also true.  I think Kiff realizes that he has to stop that, and that the fans will gladly support him in this.

I also think — given who he has attacked and who he hasn’t (See Mark Richt, Houston Nutt, Rich Brooks, Les Miles, etc.) — that it is a calculated move to agitate those who simply cannot stand being agitated and love to agitate constantly.  Steve Spurrier was the master of this in the 1990s — and it was very effective.  Kiffin wants to try and begin to get in the heads of others who believe themselves to be mighty, but has notably spared the friendly sorts. (Oh, and for the record, Spurrier can take being agitated. In fact it often seems to make him respect others more. Plus, he was pretty affable in response to the whole recruiting test discourse.)

I think Kiff probably understands that the team might not fare well at first, but he is showing that he’s not willing to be pushed around now.  It’s the proverbial “knock me down, and I’ll get back up and say it again, so you can knock me down, so I can get up and say it again, till I get strong enough that you can no longer knock me down” approach (man what a run-on).

I also think that Kiffin is simply not the kind of guy who shirks from a challenge, and the staff he has assembled bears that out. (Compare Mr. Edward Orgeron and … the World)  Call me crazy, but he almost has me believing that he can pull it off as well.

To be able to win, you have to first believe that you can win.  To take on the invincible, you have to believe you are invincible. (See This is Sparta)

Video:  300 – “This is Sparta“

Of course, I also believe that Elvis Presley is living in Vonore, Tennessee under the assumed name “Leyland T. Vegas” and that Plate Tectonics is all part of some nefarious Communist conspiracy…

Viva, Baby... Viva!

At its basic level, however, Kiffin is accomplishing something — getting the fans and team ready for a fight and getting the media interested enough to show up and document it all.

•  HT to / via:  Five theories about Lane Kiffin’s jab at Urban Meyer | Rocky Top Talk

I suppose it all comes down to Jules Winnfield / Samuel L. Jackson’s statement: “Oh, well allow me to retort…“

At any rate, the conversation has been interesting over there, and is worth a look (and perhaps a comment).

Image Courtesy of:  Elvis Impersonators Blog