Archive for October, 2009

Unlike Stewart Mandel at SI.com, apparently some of the national media agrees with Tennessee fans (and Lil’ Wayne) that Lane Kiffin is doing a pretty good job of righting the ship.

Ten deserving candidates for coach of the year

Every conference needs an Eddie Haskell, right?

HT / via: Fox Sports

Nice to see a little cred for the Blackjack General…

I am sure that many feel his pain — myself included — but it makes you wonder: why is it again that we love football so much?

Video: Vol Fan Reacts to Blocked Field Goal

** Note: NSFW (language) due to some serious ranting and raving.

HT / via: Vol Nation

At least he’s not too upset over the loss to Alabama…

– So it goes

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 9

Through 25 October 2009

Things stabilized a bit this week in the world of college football, but there was still a little shuffling as a few teams took it in the teeth and others managed to hang on when it looked like all was lost.   Thus, below are the changes to my BlogPoll Top 25 ballot for Week 9.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here it is:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	–
2	Texas	–
3	Florida	–
4	Southern Cal	–
5	TCU	–
6	Iowa	2
7	Penn State	1
8	LSU	1
9	Cincinnati	–
10	Boise State	–
11	Oklahoma State	1
12	Mississippi	1
13	Georgia Tech	1
14	Oregon	1
15	Pittsburgh	1
16	Ohio State	2
17	Virginia Tech	–
18	Houston	2
19	Miami (Florida)	8
20	Oklahoma	1
21	Utah	1
22	South Carolina	3
23	Notre Dame	–
24	Arizona	NR
25	West Virginia	NR
Last week’s ballot

Explanations after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

Losing is never fun.

I think that must be an axiom.  If not, then it should be.  Still, there are degrees of losing — certain nuances to the old black and white world of one team wins and one team loses.  The Tennessee Volunteers, their coaches, their fans, and yours truly have become increasingly more familiar with the details of these degrees of losing this season.

That is not necessarily a bad thing…

On the one hand they lost two games — against the UCLA Bruins and the Auburn Tigers — which, by most measuring sticks, they should have won.  Each of those contests were marked by an anemic passing game and a defense which was exhausted at the end of the game.

In each of these games, the Vols offense floundered early in the game — spotting their opponent a substantial (though not insurmountable) lead lead, only to rebound too late in the game to have enough time to mount a complete comeback.

That is the darker side of defeat.

Then there was the “moral victory” of a ten-point loss to the Florida Gators.  Most folks had the Vols written off as dead before the opening kickoff — near 30-point underdogs.  Yet, when the final whistle sounded, the men in orange had defended their honor and managed to show the Gators that they would not go quietly.  Though they lost by 10, Tennessee left everything on the field and left Urban Meyer answering questions about why the vaunted Gators had not annihilated the out-manned Volunteers.  It was a loss — no question about it — but it was respectable.  It marked a small step forward.

The reality in that game was, however, that though the Vols were never truly “out of it,” they were likewise never truly in a position to win.  They hung around till the end, but really never had what it took to get the victory.  I suppose that is the sort of loss where you simply say, “well, they gave it their best.“

Then there is the Alabama game…

Make no mistake about it, the Alabama Crimson Tide won the game and won it honestly.  Alabama did what they had to do to win…

…but so did the Vols.

Unlike the Florida game, Tennessee was very much in a position to win and, with only a little bit of luck, everyone in Big Orange Country would be smiling right now.  The Vols did not win, but they were there at the end of the game fighting for the chance to bring it home.

This represents an amazing leap forward for this program, for this team, and for this staff.  This shows — clearly in my mind — that with a little time there are very special things to come for the Tennessee Volunteers.  The future looks even brighter than it did after the Vols victory over the Georgia Bulldogs.

Are the Vols “back“?  No.

…but they are getting closer.

– So it goes…

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 8

Through 18 October 2009

After all the craziness of the past week in the world of college football, here’s my preliminary CBS BlogPoll Top 25 ballot for the week without comment.  Most of these should be fairly obvious (perhaps with the exception of Boise State dropping like a stone).  Either way, here it is:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	–
2	Texas	1
3	Florida	1
4	Southern Cal	–
5	TCU	2
6	Penn State	3
7	LSU	1
8	Iowa	2
9	Cincinnati	4
10	Boise State	5
11	Miami (Florida)	1
12	Oklahoma State	5
13	Mississippi	7
14	Georgia Tech	9
15	Oregon	6
16	Pittsburgh	6
17	Virginia Tech	6
18	Ohio State	10
19	Texas Tech	NR
20	Houston	4
21	Oklahoma	5
22	Utah	NR
23	Notre Dame	8
24	Kansas	10
25	South Carolina	6
Last week’s ballot

Hopefully, I’ll have something additional later in the day…

– So it goes…

Check out my amazing ability to makes stuff up about SEC Football and the Tennessee Volunteers as a guest on Team Speed Kills NOW!

Podcast: Team Speed Kills NOW!: Midseason Reports

Special thanks to the guys over at Team Speed Kills for having me on, and for not hitting the kill switch in the middle of things.

– So it goes …

Check out the Full Poll Results at

Team Speed Kills!

Week 6

Through 11 October 2009

Here’s my ballot for this week in the SEC Power Poll, along with a feeble attempt at explaining why I’m such a moron.  Not a whole lot of ways to separate between some of the teams in the middle of the pack, but at least I thought up some excuses for my decisions.

Here they are, my darlins:

Rk.	Team	Comments
1.		The Alabama Crimson Tide is playing better than anyone in the country right now. Their defense is brutal, their offense effective. Now, if they could just figure out how to defend a kick return. Fortunately for Alabama, Tennessee is actually worse at this the Tide.
	Result: ALA 22 • MISS 3
2.		Florida Gators‘ coach Urban Meyer has proven that he will do anything to win — including risking St. Tim on a QB dive late in the game against LSU. Still, they are undefeated, that is until they likely meet Alabama in the SEC Championship game, where it’s anybody’s guess.
	Result: FLA 13 • LSU 3
3.		I was actually impressed with the LSU Tigers’ showing against Florida in some respects. Their defense — in classic bend but don’t break fashion — held the Gators to only 13 points. Their measly 162 yards and 23:30 time of possession, however, did them in. Still, they are better than many other SEC squads so, they stay put at number 3.
	Result: LSU 3 • FLA 13
4.		The South Carolina Gamecocks should have beaten Kentucky badly. Instead they simply kept from losing. Still, at 5-1, they are finding ways to win games. Props to Stephen Garcia for his herculean effort to drag the Cocks to victory.
	Result: SC 28 • KY 26
5.		The Arkansas Razorbacks are an offensive machine that is a thrill to watch. Defensively, however, they are weak and cannot rely upon simply outscoring their opponents. Still, great progress thus far, which Florida hopes to blunt … smartly
	Result: ARK 44 • AUB 23
6.		I cannot decide whether the The Tennessee Volunteers‘ win reflects a huge step forward or simply another bit of small progress paired with Georgia’s complete ineptitude. Either way, the victory over the Dawgs was huge for the program. It’s hard to believe that Jonathan Crompton — paragon of fail only weeks ago — is now the SEC offensive player of the week. Nice to see that the Blackjack General does know a lot more than the rest of us armchair geniuses
	Result: TN 45 • GA 19
7.		Defensively, the Ole Miss Rebels did everything they could to beat Alabama, but their offense continues to be wobbly at best. Apparently, the Wild-Reb offense had been in the White Lightning again.
	Result: MISS 3 • ALA 22
8.		Well, the party is over for Gene Chizik and the Auburn Tigers, courtesy of the Razorbacks. Auburn has a solid core, but needs to learn how to play defense — which no one (including the Vols) really require them to do previously. That whole tackling thing, that is important.
	Result: AUB 23 • ARK 44
9.		The Kentucky Wildcats were weaving through the season like a bourbon soaked drunk — in and out of competence and suck. Now, with quarterback Mike Hartline gone for the season, it’s looking like the it’s looking like the hangover will stay, and the Cats’ fans will have to start getting ready for basketball season.
	Result: KY 26 • SC 28
10.		I can honestly say that I have never seen a Georgia Bulldogs team with less spark than they showed in Knoxville. It’s looking like a long season for Dawgs with, Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech to come. I imagine the fire under Richt’s backside is for real now.
	Result: GA 19 • TN 45
11.		One of these days, the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Dan Mullen are going to manage to win one of these things. They keep putting up valiant efforts, but keep coming up short. While their record hardly reflects a departure from their legendary suck of 2008, they are a far better team and continue to improve..
	Result: MSU 24 • HOU 31
12.		The Vanderbilt Commodores losing to Army. Man, what to say? In the words of the Late General Anthony General McAuliffe (in response to a German demand for surrender during the Battle of the Bulge) “NUTS!“
	Result: VU 13 • Army 16

Yes, I know, rank incompetence on my part…

The Rest of the Power Poll

Now that you have wasted your time looking at my ballot, go check out what everybody else is saying over at Team Speed Kills, where the round-up will appear later this week.

Also—further confirming that the standards of the Power Poll have slipped—I will be joining in the “Team Speed Kills Now! ” podcast tonight at 9:00 ET to discuss the state of the SEC at mid-season.  I know you simply cannot wait to hear my brilliance unleashed.  I’ll be posting an embedded player and link to the podcast later today.

Onward and upward …

– So it goes…