Archive for the ‘Flashback’ Category

…About the BasketVols‘ Struggles

First off, this is my first post of 2009, so I would like to wish everyone a very late Happy New Year. Secondly, I will take just a little time to explain the three reasons for my slacking in terms of posting…

Reason #1: School began Wednesday. That is pretty self-explanatory. I’ll just leave stop now because none of you actually care, and if you do, click my fresh, new logo on the right of your screen and shoot me some mail (thanks to lawvol for making that happen).

Reason #2: I have been mentally and psychologically recovering from witnessing Tennessee lose a home basketball game for the first time ever. Never before have I had to walk through the parking lot wondering what went/is going wrong with the team. So if Tennessee builds up another long home streak – say, never losing again til I graduate – I will forever hate Gonzaga. And I mean hate as in the same breath as C****** W******, Jabar Gaffney/that ref, Matt Mauck, and Steven Hill.

Not that I didn’t already hate the Bulldogs anyways. After the first meeting between them and the Vols, I dubbed them the “gayest team in America” label that Butler so gracefully championed since the Preseason NIT win they had over Tennessee two years ago, ending when the Vols avenged that in the Tournament last year. You may be asking why this is…

No way he is good at basketball...

You look at Gonzaga’s team, and you think there is absolutely no way in hell they are any good. Josh Heytvelt is a ’shroom-smoking, low-class punk (those of you in attendance know why) who has no business making anything from the outside. Austin Daye is skinnier than the biggest pansie in the sports world (that’s Pau Gasol of the Lakers/Grizzlies) and looks goofy in his oversized t-shirt. Matt Bouldin’s pretty boy hair annoys me, and he will NEVER score 26 points against a good team again this year (for the record, 26 is his career high, which he’s done a grand total of once). Micah Downs, a former McDonald’s All-American, does get a pass for transferring from Kansas after just a semester to be closer to home. Jeremy Pargo is the only legit player on that team and will make it in the NBA.

So while their band of goofballs (sans Pargo) are a solid team, their streakiness is the kicker. For example, they start off shooting poorly in the first half. At 45-33, I thought Tennessee would run away with it. That is, until Gonzaga’s garbage kicked into high gear and they couldn’t miss. Yes, Tennessee’s defense was awful (more on that later). But they hadn’t shot that well earlier in the game. There was also a short stretch late in the second half where they couldn’t hit anything. And of course, they made every shot in the OT. And I’m not even going to start on the incompetency of their conference’s officials…

Reason #3: I was physically sick yesterday from vomiting all Thursday night/Friday morning from Florida’s winning another national title. Which brings me to another mini-rant (please bear with me)…

How any true Vol fan could have wanted Florida to win a national championship is beyond me. They are Tennessee’s biggest divisional rival. How does their winning a second title in three years benefit Tennessee in any way at all? Please explain this to me, I’m willing to listen.

The SEC power argument doesn’t make a difference. In today’s football world a one-loss SEC champion will get a shot to play for a national title. Florida’s two titles and LSU’s last year will have no bearing on whether or not Tennessee gets left out of a potential title game in the (hopefully very near) future. Let me say it this way: if Tennessee takes care of their business of winning the SEC – which is the #1 primary above-all goal EVERY YEAR – the rest will resolve itself. And if it doesn’t and we were to hypothetically get “Auburned,” Florida winning national titles wouldn’t make a lick of difference.

We all enjoyed watching Utah smack Bammer around didn’t we? Why would watching OU do that to Florida be any less enjoyable? Hence why I wanted Utah to win and OU to win Thursday night by 1,000. I thought both Alabama and Florida would win, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right?

Bruce is more frustrated than any of us

OK, now to the main topic of this post, today’s little trip to Athens to open up the defense of last year’s SEC hoops title. I’m still not in full panic mode yet, because I had justified losing at Temple and Kansas as the whole young team/hostile environment deal and the first Gonzaga loss as to them being hot. That said, I expected Tennessee to win Wednesday night.

The biggest reason to worry right now is Tyler Smith’s health. Smith is doubtful to play today due to the knee injury he suffered in the OT Wednesday night. The hush that fell on TBA during those moments was similar to the one that fell when Chris Lofton sprained his ankle his junior season. The general thought of course was “Oh no, there goes the season.” However, when Tyler popped up and walked off, and eventually reentered the game, relief ran rampant (there’s some alliteration for ya!).

The second biggest issue is team defense. The lack of defensive communication on ball screens is absolutely some of the worst I have ever seen from a college team. I see better team communication in intramural games and pickup games in TRECS, and I’m not even kidding. I really don’t even know if it’s individual players struggling, but the team as a whole has been horrific and frustrating. You obviously can’t win if you let the other team score every trip down the floor.

Now I’m not as worried as most about Tennessee offensively. Yes, the shot selection is bad, but hasn’t it always under Bruce? That said, Tennessee missed so many makable shots in the lane Wednesday night I lost count. Admittedly the Vols struggle with hitting a big shot in a crucial time (other than Tyler of course) and consistently making an open three-pointer.

Fortunately, the SEC just isn’t very good. Kentucky, Florida, Arkansas and LSU are all teams that can make the Tournament, but I still think Tennessee’s the team to beat, at least from a talent standpoint. Only Arkansas has near the quality wins (Oklahoma and Texas) as does Tennessee (Georgetown, Marquette). The rest of the league hasn’t played – and more importantly beaten – anybody.

Georgia hoops in a nutshell...

That said, a loss today to the worst team in the league would really start the meltdown/frantic/panicking/worrying. Georgia’s losses this year: Loyola of Chicago, Western Kentucky, Illinois (by 34 points), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Missouri, and Georgia Tech. Throw in an OT win over Wofford on a prayer three-pointer at the buzzer and you come to realize: this is a bad team we’re playing today. Georgia hasn’t beaten Tennessee in four years, so even Buzz beat Georgia.

Hopefully the Vols can get this win to start the SEC season off on the right foot before the evil blue team from up north comes visiting Tuesday night…GO VOLS!

– … to me.

Images Courtesy of: Gonzaga Official Site • Amy Smotherman-Burgess / Knoxville News-Sentinel • John Curry / AP (Daylife)

A List of Reminiscing…

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve, the final day of 2008. Yes, I know, I’m asking “Already?!?” just you like may be doing. It seems like last month I was standing in Times Square in NYC for nine hours (without any food, drinks, or bathroom breaks) with five of my friends ringing in 2008. But here it is, the start of another year is less than 24 hours away.

My new logo

Now hopefully you have yet to bail on me because of that terribly mushy opening, and if you have I thank you. I’ll get to my little list of what I’ll most remember from the past year in sports in a minute, but first I need to say that I began this whole blogging thing back in June, when the looming monster of summer school was at my doorstep. When I started, I didn’t really know what I was doing, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d be blogging or any of that. I really enjoyed it at first, mostly the posts following the NBA Finals games and my amateur, yet rather extensive, coverage of the Rocky Top Summer League (yes, I skipped studying for tests and doing schoolwork to do those). However, at first I underestimated how much work blogging actually can be.

So when lawvol approached me (figuratively) about joining forces with him, it was a no-brainer. I have enjoyed writing here at the Gate and I just want to give some props to lawvol for having me on here and for helping me when I bug him about the simplest of issues. And of course thank you to yourselves, the readers (if you’re still actually reading this). Who knows if my blogging will actually help the journalism career I’m hoping for/working towards/trying to gain experience for, but I’ve certainly enjoyed it and I’m glad I decided to begin with it.

OK, enough of those little bits of business, now onto this little list. This will be a little different than the other two I’ve done, as in I’m writing this, I’m not limiting myself to what pops into my mind when I think back of the past year in sports. I was able to narrow my hatred for Alabama down to five and the hope of the Vols’ hoops season to 10, but this is a whole year we’re talking here. I’ll try to keep it as short as I can. Anyways, here goes…

Thanks Coach

1) Good-bye and thank you Coach Fulmer: Well duh. The only Tennessee football coach I’ve pretty much ever known fell victim to a failed replacement of David Cutcliffe and the second losing season in the last four years. It’s been the toughest year as a Tennessee fan I have been a part of by far, but it ended very sweet with the home win over Kentucky.

CLK

2) Hello, Lane Kiffin: Fulmer’s replacement has me excited, and I know I ain’t the only one. Some are skeptical, but the Blackjack General (kudos, lawvol) has the fire that I think this program needs. He and his staff have plenty of work to do to return to the level of competing with Florida and the growing empire in Tuscaloosa, but so far, so good…

Champs

3) Being #1 for less than two days is still better than never being #1…: This goes way back to February, and the 66-62 #2-over-#1 win by Tennessee at Memphis. I had to cover/get audio for this game for the radio station sports show I was involved in last spring, and it was just fun to watch and see in person. That, and being in the middle of the aftermath right outside the locker room and on the FedEx Forum floor trying to be “professional” is undoubtedly a highlight of this past year.

4) 2008 SEC basketball champs: Need anything else be said? And to do it in Gainesville after getting blitzed in the first half was icing. I also covered that last home game against Carolina, so watching the whole net-cutting and t-shirt deal was a highlight.

5) Fan apathy: Honestly, this was probably the biggest factor to Fulmer’s firing. I have made my thoughts on the student attendance and the whole paying for tickets well known through this site (try this). This video (I wouldn’t dare actually post it) was the lowest point for me as a Tennessee fan in my life. I must admit, I left well before it, but I didn’t want to be a apart of that. I commend you if you did…

Thanks Chris and JaJuan

6) Chris Lofton: Seeing this guy get to play in person for two years was a treat. Talk about a role model, he had cancer, didn’t tell anyone for completely unselfish purposes, and still had a pretty good season and was an integral part of the SEC Title run for the Vols. I have his #5 jersey on my wall of my room in my apartment, and it will be hanging in TBA’s rafters soon enough.

7) JaJuan Smith, too: Walk-on to nearly making the Mavericks. The best part of watching Juanny the past two years of college was that he made it look so fun. From his rainbow threes to pestering defense and occasionaly bonehead turnover, I’ll never forget this guy and what he was to the Tennessee program.

Championship #8: I have to give Pat Summit and the Lady Vols some love. I never go to any of their games, but I do know they exist. That senior class dominated and Candace Parker, well, she’s just awesome.

9) Eric Berry: The dude is just a BAMF. My four years of college may be four of the worst in Tennessee history, but at least I got to see this guy play. Seriously, he was reason enough to watch as the awful 2008 season went down the toilet. His pick-six against Mississippi State might have been the craziest moment of the student section this past year (yeah, indicating how bad the season truly was…). List of guys he almost killed in 2008: Tyler Donovan, Taylor Embree, Knowshon Moreno, Marquis Maze, and that’s off the top of my head. If a team had 22 Eric Berrys, they would never lose. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll like playing in Monte Kiffin’s defense enough to stay for his senior year…

Monte!

10) Monte Kiffin: Sweet! Most respected defensive coordinator in the NFL? Yes please.

11) The Streak: Tennessee has now won 37 straight home games in Thompson-Boling Arena. A couple of teams nearly broke it (Ole Miss, Kentucky, Belmont), but it’s still going strong. I still have never left that arena having seen Tennessee lose. It was empty four years ago, now this streak. Could Gonzaga end it a week from tonight?

12) Construction: If you visited Knoxville this past year, you know what I mean. The stadium. Glocker. The Baker Center. Neyland. The TBA facelift. Lindsay Nelson. Heck, even I-40 has been closed since May…

13) Losses I witnessed in person: Louisville (Sweet 16 game in Charlotte), Florida, Auburn (nearly fell asleep in the third quarter), Alabama, Wyoming…

14) My love for the NBA: It gets a bad rap for the most part, but you can’t tell me you’re a true fan of the game of basketball and not like the NBA. Before this past season, I never really followed it other than the playoffs and the handful of Grizzlies games I saw in my high school days. Now, I just plain love it. These guys are ridiculous. I could watch LeBron James play every night. The Lakers-Celtics finals capped off an amazing playoffs and it’s shaking up to be a great season this year too.

15) Wyoming: I saw them beat Tennessee 13-7 in Knoxville. They were 1-7 in the Mountain West and fired their coach. Ouch…

16) UCLA: Kevin Craft is worse than me for Heisman! really wasn’t as good as we made him look. The beginning of the end…

17) This play:

18) These dunks:

19) Redeem Team Wins Gold: The highlight of the Beijing Olympics for me. Yes, I watched every minute of every one of their games. They were not going to be denied and watching these guys play together and with a serious sense of urgency was well worth it. Thank you, LeBron, D-Wade, Kobe, CP3, Bosh, Howard, Boozer, D-Will, Melo, Redd, Tayshaun, Coach K and staff.

Monte!

20) The tornado that almost killed me: I’m getting lazy, so just click here. If you’re too lazy to do that, you’re worse than me I was in the Georgia Dome for the SEC Tournament when that tornado owned downtown Atlanta.

21) Michael Phelps: Second best part of the Olympics. The relay the U.S. stole from the trash-talking French and the race he won from nowhere had me up and yelling at the TV.

22) Scotty Hopson, Bobby Maze, Emmanuel Negedu, Renaldo Woolridge: They’re only going to get better…

23) This NFL season: I don’t get too pumped about pro football other than for fantasy purposes, but this was a fun season to watch. It came down to the end and I can honestly justify about six teams going all the way. Miami went from 1-15 to the playoffs and nobody’s laughing at the Falcons now. And those drama queens in Dallas are watching it all…

24) Jerod Mayo: Any time a Vol gets drafted in the Top 10…and then dominates as a rookie, I’m pumped…

25) Shaun Ellis: This was just plain funny…

26) Tyler Smith and J.P. Prince: Two transfers are huge parts of Tennessee hoops in 2008 and going forward. Thanks to Tyler for his clutch makes against Ole Miss and Memphis State. This year’s team is his team, and it took Prince hurting himself to make us see how important he is to this team.

27) The Olympics: Yeah, they were about all I watched for that two week stretch this summer.

28) VolQuest/Rivals: I can’t lie, I have spent countless hours procrastinating and wasting time on the message boards. If you have done it too, you know their addictive powers…

29) Jonathan Crompton: Well, there’s not much to say, but most of the Tennessee fanbase thinks he’s the worst QB to ever wear orange. Hell, he couldn’t even hand the ball off against Florida and Auburn. The Auburn game might have been the worst game ever played by a QB – my goodness was it ugly. When he entered the South Carolina after Nick Stephens threw an awful pick-six, ESPN showed his stats for the year – he had thrown for 666 yards. Yikes. Yet, that pass to Denarius Moore against Kentucky…reason for hope? I mean, he’s got an equal chance of starting next year as the other QBs Tennessee has. I’m just saying…

30) And finally, Mario Chalmers: Tiger High/John Calipari = EPIC FAIL…

HAPPY 2009 TO YOU FROM US HERE AT GATE 21!!!

Images Courtesy of: Michael Patrick / KNS • Michael Patrick / KNS • volnation.com • coachsoffice.com • interbasket.net

Miss Me?

Those of you who normally visit us here at the Gate will obviously noticed that, well, I have been non-existent since Thanksgiving. No lawvol did not ban me, change my password and lock me out of WordPress, and I have not quit blogging or anything else.

Simply put, I’ve had to finish up this semester with finals and studying and all that nonsense. Then there was the painting of our apartment, which is more than likely what I was doing when I wasn’t studying. As it is, I’m back in Memphis for the between-semester break.

Quite a bit has gone on since my last posting, and I’m sure I’ll have more on these things and others as they come about over the next however long. As it is here’s what I’ll touch on right here and right now with Vols football and hoops:

1. Farewill Philip Fulmer and hello Lane (and Monte) Kiffin.

Some Vol fan might have shed a tear or two, but I was all smiles of happiness watching Fulmer go out the way he did and the way he should be remembered: a winner

First off, an absolutely great performance in the season finale for the Vols as they beat Kentucky 28-10. The defense finished off an excellent season and the offense actually scored four touchdowns, running left, right, up the middle, around the end, all over the Cats. Even Jonathan Crompton completed that beautiful touchdown pass to Denarius Moore.

If there was a way for Coach Fulmer to go out, that might have been it: being carried off the field by a pair of seniors going out as a winner.

Honestly, that seems like a distant memory now, because these last two weeks have been all about new head coach Lane Kiffin and (a) the speculation of the staff he might/is assemble/ing and (b) the Sherman like march of recruiting. I think the guy finally returned to Knoxville a couple of days ago after tearing through the state, the West Coast, Ohio, and who knows where else. He’s gotten a commitment from Eric Gordon, some visits from guys who weren’t probably planning on it, and consideration from guys who might have had Tennessee out of the picture.

I am convinced Lane Kiffin did not sleep during his two week recruiting tear...

It’s obviously been two weeks as Tennessee’s coach, but so far so good if you ask me. He said at his press conference that he was going to try and outwork other coaches, and so far you can’t really say he hasn’t done that. And we’re still waiting on the completion of his staff, which won’t happen until after the NFL season most likely. Of the last regime coaches who are still in limbo, I would expect Latrell Scott to be the most likely to stay. And of course I think it’s all-but-official on Monte Kiffin as the defensive coordinator, which is great. Still awaiting word on Ed Orgeron and the rest of the staff. Lane was given an extra million for staff salaries, and Tennessee fans are being kept waiting on the potentially all-star staff Tennessee could have next year.

Finally, as fans, let’s give this guy a chance. If you watched the SEC Championship game, you realize we are quite a bit behind Florida. In fact, I firmly believe that the SEC going forward will be an Urban-Saban world that the rest of us will be living in. To be competitive, Tennessee was going to have to hire someone who could compete with those two guys in recruiting and X’s and O’s. Is Lane Kiffin that guy? Only time will tell. Some are skeptical (you know who you are), but I’m not. He’s young, he’s energetic, and I think he has a chance to be great.

Also, a shout-out to former offensive coordinator Dave Clawson, now the new head man at Bowling Green. Seriously, I wish him much success at his new place, and I’m glad he landed very much on his feet. Now I just hope he doesn’t take Latrell Scott with him…

2. Eric Berry gets Manninged

Someone explain to me how Eric Berry didn’t win the Thorpe award over Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins. I know Jenkins is like a no-brainer first round NFL pick and whatever and it’s harder to make a statistical impact at corner because you don’t get thrown to blah blah blah but that’s pure robbery.

It’s crap like that gives me plenty of reason to not care about any of the postseason awards, including and especially the Heisman. Call me a homer, bitter, whatever, but just like much of the rest of college football, it’s quite political.

Playing a DECEMBER road game against a team with a guy named Christmas: bad idea

3. Not sure any of us expected that…

My last basketball related words were of the high-praise variety, following the Vols win over Georgetown in the Old Spice Classic semifinals. Since then, Tennessee lost to a good Gonzaga team, sleep-walked by UNC-Asheville (mad props to Tyler Smith for turning the first triple-double in Tennessee hoops history), and got smoked by a Temple team playing at a high level at home.

Now I’m an optimistic guy, so here’s why Vols fans shouldn’t be totally freaking out: first, J.P. Prince was out and, though he gets a bad rap at times, he is quite a valuable guy for Tennessee. In addition, this was Tennessee’s first true road game with a number of new guys, Temple is no slouch, it’s still December, and Bruce Pearl is the coach. Remember two years ago when Tennessee went to South Carolina in mid-February and got run out of the gym similar to Saturday? Yeah, that team had less athleticism and they reached the Sweet 16. Let’s not get too bent out of shape here…

That said, things aren’t all hunky-dory. Defense is an issue. The press has been for the most part ineffective especially against Gonzaga and Temple, both of whom have experienced guards. Wayne Chism has yet to continue the growth and progress he made last year, and the platoon of him and Brian Williams have struggled the last couple of games. The three-point shooting has also been inconsistent.

It doesn’t get easier, as Tennessee faces off against Marquette in Nashville Tuesday night. The Eagles also have experienced guards in Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. It will be interesting to see how Tennessee will bounce back from Saturday’s loss.

I will be in the house for that game, and if for no other reason, Tennessee should win because I’ve seen Tennessee lose in person all of twice in my most immediate past: LSU in the SEC Tournament two years ago and the loss at Memphis State in Bruce’s first year. I’ll have my camera, so hopefully I’ll get some quality photos and/or video and get to share them with you, the wonderful readers of Gate 21 (no guarantees, however…)

As it is, I’m glad to be back posting again and lawvol and I should have some good stuff going this month.

Images Courtesy of: Michael Patrick / KNS • Michael Patrick / KNS • H. Rumph Jr. / AP (ESPN.com)

Aww, you shouldn’t have…

Yes, it’s true.  Despite the limits of good taste, the conventions of grammar, the call of life’s obligations, and a complete lack of quality and talent, Gate 21 is one year old.  As the birthday header makes clear, our mascot Gus is really excited.  (To see the Birthday header, click here.)

It’s hard to believe that it has been one whole year since the very first post here at Gate 21 was published—a post that was monumental in its complete lack of substance.  Well, at least it’s good to see that some things haven’t changed around here.

When I first typed those opening words: “Good Afternoon and Welcome to Neyland Stadium…” I really had no idea what I was getting myself into or what Gate 21 would become.  I didn’t even know what I was starting—but, as I am wont to do, I decided to jump on in with no concept of what I was about.

• The Words That Started it All:

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Those first few weeks of posts reflect that lack of direction…

Still, despite my cluelessness, here we are 12 months, over 300 posts, more than 86,000 visitors, countless wasted hours of my life, and endless examples of poor writing later and the Gate is still here—serving as the entry into my bizarre, inane, and orange tinted world.

Since starting out, I have learned a few things along the way:

Timing is Everything: The informational cycle in the blogosphere spanning from “cutting edge” to “washed-up and out-to-pasture” is just slightly shorter than the attention span of a 4 year old with ADHD who just consumed four bags of Skittles and washed them down with a Red Bull;

Know Your Audience: You can’t be everything to everybody, choose your niche and dedicate yourself to never failing to fail in that one area;

Never Take Yourself too Seriously: Always keep your tongue planted firmly in your cheek and show your willingness to fall on the sword (even if it is because you tripped over it); and

When All Else Fails, Cheap Sight Gags Work: Yes, the Tennessee Home for the Visually Offensive has served the Gate well.

Over the course of the last year, the Gate has also changed in more ways than I care to recount.

Our Mascot: Gus

In total, there have been more than twenty different headers from the boring original, to the current standard, to the patriotic, to the ridiculous, to the world of livestock, and a few others in between.  We also added my tribute to Sam & Andy’s, our mascot, and Defender of the Faith, Gus, and so many other distractions and eyesores.

Blogging—at least blogging with some purpose—is a lot of work, much more than I ever realized.  It entails endless hours of writing, editing, site maintenance, research, graphic design, code crunching, and observational brainstorming.  Oh, and contrary to what you probably think, there is no money in it—the Gate currently makes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac look like a good investment.

It is, however, a hell of a lot of fun…

You don’t do this because you want to get rich, you do it because it intrigues you, then you enjoy it, then you love it.  It’s kind of like being addicted to crack (I  think) or Tennessee Football (I know) sometimes you want to quit, but you can’t.

Fortunately, I’ve had a little help from Home Sweet Home and the Blazer Chronicles—which, on the whole has increased the quality of this joint immeasurably.  In all seriousness, I have written a lot of complete crap over the course of a year.  There is a lot of stuff which is hardly worth reading.  There are a few things, however, that I am proud of.  Hopefully, the few of you out there that regularly step inside Gate 21 enjoyed the good with the bad.

Hmm… I guess Mike Hamilton doesn’t care much for Gate 21…

Most importantly, however, I have made a lot of good friends over the course of the year, and got reacquainted with a few that I had forgotten about.  From fellow bloggers, to commenters, to flamers, I have genuinely appreciated the support and the criticism.

This first year of editing and publishing Gate 21 has been as much a learning experience as it has anything.  That is obvious, considering that I started a blog which was originally focused exclusively on college football with only 2 weeks remaining in the 2007 season.  Hopefully, everyone out there in internet-land has enjoyed it a little.  If not, well, sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Anyway, thanks to all of you that have taken the time visit the Gate, thanks to all of you who have commented on a story or post, thanks to all of you who have either directly or behind the scenes given me a little help along the way.

This first year has been fun, hopefully the second will be even better.

In the meantime, in the words of Joel over at RTT, his sidekick Jackson the Mule, and our mascot Gus, all I can say is this:

“Woo!”

Thanks for a great first year.  Hopefully there’s even more to come in the next 12 months.

– Go Figure …

Audio Clips Courtesy of: The University of Tennessee / the Vol Network / IMG

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Finally!

Well, for some it’s been basketball season since about mid-September. But after a busy last spring – Ramar Smith/Duke Crews, the Hopson commitment and the Maze coup – and preseason – taking Negedu off Arizona’s hands, D-West’s unfortunate issues, and bum shoulders and bum academics – your defending SEC champs open up the 2008-08 season in the beautiful Thompson-Boling Arena tonight – an off football Saturday (thankfully) at that – against Chattanooga.

Because my creativity is pretty limited and honestly I’m still not fully into basketball mode, I’m going to take a shortcut with my hoops preview – a list. But unlike this list, it’s going to be a nice one, and twice as long. Yes, that’s 10 things and players I’m looking forward to/expecting from the always entertaining bunch of Bruce Pearl…

1. Back-to-back?

This Tyler's team

Flashback to March 5th of last year. The Vols, trailing early to red-hot Florida in Gainesville while Mississippi State leads Vandy in Nashville, look poised to go from #1 in the country to a tie for the SEC title in just a week. Now I don’t know about anybody else, but I don’t like to share. Sharing – and tying for that matter – is stupid. I wanted the SEC all to Tennessee. I wanted a t-shirt (and a 1-seed). Who cares if the SEC was “down”? An SEC title is an SEC title.

Well then this and this happened. Tennessee got that title, its first in 41 years. Now, heading into this season, the Vols on paper are the favorites to repeat. Florida will likely provide the biggest challenge, but the Gates are young inside. Kentucky lost to VMI – yes, VMI – last night, and have to deal without Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley. They do Patrick Patterson, but it didn’t help last night…

Vanderbilt lost their team Shan Foster, but Aussie-softee A.J. Ogilvy is back. South Carolina has a new coach (Darrin Horn) and Devan Downey, but that’s a big turnaround. Georgia is not good at basketball (SEC Tournament = fluke). Even Buzz owned UGA. The West? I have no clue, so don’t ask.

So while going back-to-back isn’t gonna be easy, it could/should very well happen.

2. Being Sweet is nice and all, but Elite is, well, it’s better…

In Bruce Pearl’s first year, it was any sign of not being mediocre. In his second year, it was advancing past the second round (yes, I include Mike Conley and Greg Oden in the same light as Matt Mauck and Steven Hill). Last year, it was winning the SEC. Going along the natural progression, shouldn’t this be the hump-overcoming year to the Elite Eight?

The common thought is that this year’s group should be the opposite of last year’s team that faded at the end. This year’s team may struggle at first with the many new parts, but come tournament time, they could be real good. Now obviously there’s a whole season and who knows what the matchups will be (hopefully nicer than last year), but this is the next step for the Tennessee program: going further in March, when it really counts.

3. Tyler Smith

It’s going to be a ton of fun watching this guy play basketball this year. He is a special player, and with all due respect to the rest of this group, this team is Tyler’s team. The offense is going to center around him, and when it comes down to it, he’s going to be the go-to guy. He showed he’s capable of coming through in the clutch (Ole Miss and Memphis, anyone?).

SEC Player of the Year? Likely. NBA Lottery Pick next June? If he gets an outside shot, without a doubt yes. To me he’s next in line in establishing the Tennessee program as nationally relevant. The one we’ll remember 20 years from now in the same line as C.J. Watson (who deserves WAY more appreciation than he gets), Dane Bradshaw, Chris Lofton (who’s by himself), and JaJuan Smith.

4. Scotty, Cam, Woolridge, and Negedu…

Oh, the new guys. Talk about length. Talk about athleticism. A 6-6 or 6-8 guy at the two? Having seen Hopson play in the summer league, he just makes it look so easy. Yes, sometimes it looks as if he doesn’t care. I’m not worried about him not turning it up when has to. Tatum may be the team’s best three–point shooter (more on that later). Woolridge could start tomorrow night and has had quite the buzz around himself since summer. What will Negedu – who to me is essentially replacing Duke Crews – bring to the table?

B-Maze might be the newcomer that determines the fate for Tennessee

How are all these new pieces going to mesh? Will the chemistry seen from the last two years still be here this year? It may take some time, but if it does, the talent is scary good. Obviously youth and inexperience gets brought up as well. To that I say these names: Carmelo Anthony. Derrick Rose. Kevin Love. Conley. Oden. This ain’t football, people. You can win with freshman in hoops. It may get bumpy at first, but if the struggles are there by conference play, only then would I start worrying.

5. Big Money Maze

Now I think Bruce Pearl is an excellent coach. However, yes Rick Pitino did pretty much own him last March in Charlotte. Yes tinkering with Ramar Smith and the PG position for the NCAA Tournament probably wasn’t his best moment, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Bruce even told you that himself.

But I think Maze may be the missing link. The guy was the most impressive Vol in the summer league, with his ability to do many things at the offensive end and his overall intensity. Obviously with the horribly (and questionably) timed Daniel West eligibility issues, more of a burden falls on Maze’s (and J.P. Prince’s…and Josh Tabb’s) shoulders. Can he handle it? Time will tell, but like with the rest of the new guys, Maze seems talented enough to make it happen.

I mean, he’s like a clone of Allen Iverson – corn rows, headband, height – and he puts on for Tennessee…how bad can he be??

6. Big Wayne

Wayne...you gotta love him...

I love watching Tyler Smith play. I’m probably gonna love some of the new guys’ games too. But my favorite current Vol has to be Wayne Chism. For a couple reasons, First, he wears his headband differently from every other player, so he’s easily spotted. Second, he and his three-point shots are adventurous. You always are thinking, “Oh s***, not Wayne!”…and he banks it in. Who doesn’t love centers who can bomb? And finally, the dude’s always smiling. Always. You gotta love him…

7. Who’s Bert gonna yell “Money!” for now??

I have three major questions for this team. First, and this was a late-developing concern, is the point guard situation. Maze now has a bigger burden on his shoulders, and behind him it’s either J.P. Prince, who most fans are probably very skeptical of after last year’s debacle, or Josh Tabb. From seeing Daniel West in the summer league, I thought he was going to be a very solid backup. Prince says he’s ready, not only healthy, but ready to play point guard. The Pistons are using Tayshaun as a point forward, so maybe J.P. can get some tips. I’m not saying he’s not capable, I’ll just believe it when I see it.

Secondly, losing Lofton and JaJuan means you lose almost all of the outside game. Who’s gonna hit those dagger threes this year? Who will come up with the key outside shot in a key moment? Will the new three-point line have any effect on Bruce Pearl’s three-happy offense? If Tennessee can’t hit threes, team are undoubtedly going to pack it in and clog up the lane for Tyler and Chism. Thirdly, how will this team come together? Can the chemistry from the past seasons carry over with all these new faces? The talent’s certainly there…

8. Now that’s a schedule…

Bruce Pearl loves schedules like this. In addition to the SEC, everyone of course knows about the trip to Kansas, the visits from Memphis State and Gonzaga, and the game in Nashville with Big East foe Marquette.

How about we take a little deeper look? There’s the Old Spice Classic in Orlando Thanksgiving weekend. The Vols’ opening opponent, the Siena Saints, hammered the crap out of Vandy in the NCAA Tournament last year. Also there: Wichita State (revenge?), Georgetown, Michigan State (who’s a top 10 team?), Oklahoma State, and Gonzaga (again possibly).

Even the “cupcake” teams aren’t walkovers. Chattanooga hung with Tennessee last year. UT-Martin has Lester Hudson, who nearly went in the NBA Draft last year. MTSU is picked near the top of the Sun Belt (they lost in the conference tourney title game last March). There’s a tricky little trip to Temple, an NCAA Tournament team from last year. Finally, there’s Belmont. Ask Dook about the Bruins.

9. “The Streak”

Fact: in my two years of college, I have never had to leave TBA with the sick feeling of losing. Yes, I’m undefeated at home over two years. Tennessee’s home winning streak is up to 32 games now, and I think it would be cool to keep that going.

Just four years ago, TBA was just a big, empty arena. Now, it’s one of the best arenas in college basketball, and one of the toughest places to play in the SEC and the nation. Thank you, Bruce.

10. January 24, 2009

Look, most Tennessee fans don’t really care about little ol’ Memphis State down in the southwest corner of the state. It’s a little different for those of us who either live there and grew up there. Seeing Tennessee win the last two games against Tiger High in person were two of the funnest times of my college life. Watching them choke away a national title was pretty good too…

WWWHHHHHHAAAAHHHHHH

The Vols go for three-in-a-row January 24 in Knoxville. Honestly, this is the game I probably want to win the most this year. I could go into my reasons my hating the Tigers basketball program, but I’ll save that til this game in January. I’m not one of guaranteeing things, but it’s probably going to better than my Alabama hate post from a few weeks ago.

Oh I can’t wait to make John Calipari cry his way back home…yet again.

GO VOLS BASKETBALL!!

Images Courtesy of: Mark Humphrey / AP (Daylife) • Saul Young / GVX • Joe Murphy / Getty Images (Daylife) • Alan Spearman / AP (Daylife)

Of Course There’s More Than Just Five…

As a current student at the beloved University of Tennessee, I guess I fit into that whole “new breed” of Tennessee fan. You know, the one that woos in Rocky Top (click here for all that) and hates Florida more than anything else.

While my hatred for the Gators is obviously high, I’ve gone and accepted the fact that the Vols just can’t consistently ever beat Florida. I hate Georgia quite a bit as well thanks to my venture down to Athens my freshman year (2006). It’s pretty much those three and a gap to everybody else, at least in terms of my SEC hatred. However, as I realized it’s Alabama week and Tennessee’s 0-for-2 against the aforementioned teams I hate, I came to this conclusion:

I really really hate Alabama the most.

To crush any hopes they have of an unbeaten season would be the highlight of this otherwise awful, painful football season. So, in an attempt to fire myself – as well as you, the faithful readers here at Gate 21 – up for Saturday night’s showdown, here’s my five major reasons I hate the Alabama Crimson Tide…

1. Alabama cheated/cheats and blames Phil Fulmer for it.

Obviously, cheaters never prosper. It’s funny that Tide fans hate a man who was simply doing his civil duty. Not only that, but it wasn’t like any other SEC coaches weren’t behind Fulmer’s turning in the cheating Tide to the NCAA.

Of course we all know well Alabama’s history of cheating. It’s hilarious to me that they get caught. Look, “helping out recruits” goes on plenty of places. Remember, it’s only cheating if you get caught. It’s much like speeding down I-40 between Knoxville and Memphis for me…

The outward excuse of the Tide fans for hating Fulmer is of course his part in turning them in. I think it’s much deeper than that. I know Alabama’s won two of three, but Fulmer has a great record against them. Either that or they deny that there was ever any cheating was done…

No, you do not

2. “Got Twelve?” t-shirts and Houndstooth apparel…

I actually saw some guy in TRECS – that’s Tennessee’s rec center for students (it’s WAY nice) – with one of these on, which reminded me of this. It’s so typical of an Alabama fan: it involves lying/cheating, since the Tide (a) haven’t won 12 legitimate national titles and (b) it involves living in the past. In my lifetime, Alabama has been a middle-of-the-road SEC program, much like Tennessee is becoming, sadly enough.

I remember the Tide losing to Northern Illinois and Central Florida. I remember their 1997 loss to Tim Couch and Kentucky. I remember beating them 9 out of 10 years. One of my earliest Tennessee memories was the 1995 rout in Birmingham (below = owned). They’ve had something like seven different head coaches in my lifetime.

It looks stupid...

The houndstooth crap goes right along with it. Houndstooth reminds Bammers of the Bear Bryant days, when they were relevant (I will state the obvious that they are becoming relevant again…crap). Hats, shirts, Bear Bryant hats – it makes me sick.

And of course there’s those two Bammer fans with the toilet paper/Tide box on-a stick. I wish I was them, they are so incredibly cool…I hope I see one in Knoxville Saturday so I can laugh at them…

3. 2006

Flashback time. Third quarter, underdog Alabama has just scored thanks to a “catch” from D.J. Hall to take a 13-9 lead on Tennessee. Ensuing kickoff, LaMarcus Coker gets tackled along the far sideline from me, and doesn’t get up. Turns out it was a knee injury that took him out of the game.

During the injury timeout while Coker is being tended to, the stadium is quiet as it usually is for injuries. That is, until the Bama fans start get their stupid “Rooollll Tide!” chant going. While a Tennessee player is hurt. That’s class, folks. Hell, even the Georgia fans were quiet when Jason Allen was nearly cut in half by Leonard Pope the year before, and I don’t know if I’ve actually ever met a classy UGA fan.

If you saw the game or were there, you of course remember the UT students’ response: a loud, resounding, lengthy “F*** You Bama” chant that had to be heard on CBS. Tennessee went on to win that game, and I wasn’t nice to any Bammers I saw afterwards – old people, women, adults, anybody.

4. 2005 and 2007

I’ve made two trips to Tuscaloosa in my life, for both of the past two Tennessee games. The 6-3 loss in 2005 was the one that really doomed the rest of the season in my opinion, since Tennessee did everything but win that game.

Cory Anderson’s fumble happened in the end zone right in front of me. I thought it was six and bye-bye to Alabama’s then-unbeaten record. Of course, shortly after that, Brodie Croyle – how he was still alive after the beating he took that day I’ll never know – throws a prayer to Hall which sets up the game-winner.

As tough as that was, last year was worse. Here’s why: the Firehouse Subs right by Bryant-Denny screwed my buddy out of his sandwich, making us nearly miss kickoff; the game was at freakin’ 11:30 in the morning; our seats sucked; our coaches forgot how to coach; we lost 41-17.

There would be a book about it...

Unlike ‘05, you don’t have to deal with the stupid Bammers when you leave with 10 minutes left in the game as opposed to right after a close one. The loss appeared completely catastrophic at the time, but even looking back it’s still bad, especially after having been to Gainesville earlier that year for the 59-20 beating the Vols took…

5. And finally, as a result from Reason #4, that stupid Rammer Jammer chant.

It’s still ringing in my head. For as stupid as Ole Miss’ Hotty Toddy is, this Bammer chant sucks so much more. I heard it nonstop leaving BDS in 2005 and I could hear it during the long walk from the nosebleeds through the parking lot last year. If I have to hear this crap ring through Neyland Stadium late Saturday night, I’m going to become really belligerent.

Of course, I can’t not post this YouTube video of this Alabama fan hating on Tennessee. I laugh every time I watch it, and I know it’s old and cliche, but I feel compelled to post it, if, for no other reason, than the feelings are reciprocal…

Well there you have it. There’s of course plenty more reasons I hate the Crimson Tide (an Elephant? Seriously?). I hope Smokey bites another Tide player in warmups, as he did to Mike McCoy (who’s still playing, actually) in 2006. I absolutely cannot wait to boo them Saturday night, and I hope and pray we miraculously dominate them.

Of course I’m leaving some out, so I encourage you the reader to leave some comments with your own reasons for hating Alabama.

Images Courtesy of: thecollegestore.com • Robert H. Spain / Bleacher Report • Barnes and Noble

Nice Win, Now on to Bammer

This low expectations thing is working.

When you have low expectations and you lose, it’s not really a big deal. When you have low expectations and you beat an SEC team 34-3 at home at night, it’s actually kinda fun.

I know Tennessee is 3-4. I know Tennessee didn’t win an SEC game til Saturday night. I know our two rivals have brushed the Vols off with relative ease, and our third is coming in ranked #2 in the country. So I definitely decided to enjoy the win over Mississippi State Saturday night in Neyland Stadium.

I know I was really negative last week, but I never really felt like Tennessee was going to lose. Does that mean I think the Vols beat Alabama Saturday night, or even keep it close? Not really. But, hey, a win’s a win. And in a season where getting six of them might not be a given, why not enjoy the ones you get?

See, told you I was a positive guy…

Please keep feeding #3...

The offense still isn’t very good. Was there improvement Saturday night? I would say slight, if for nothing else that Lennon Creer basically was the last TD drive for Tennessee and led the team in rushing. Nick Stephens continues to do two things well: (a) not throw INTs and (b) hit the deep ball to Denarius Moore. With Gerald Jones‘ ankle up in the air, Moore could become an even more important part of the offense.

This team continues to play hard, despite the rough times and empty seats. Sitting in the fourth row, I can see the team’s attitude starting the game, and they came out ready and played hard. There were also no turnovers and no penalties Saturday night – that in itself is improvement.

The defense played very well Saturday night. Mississippi State’s is obviously really bad. But there is slight hope, as outside of Alabama – and the Tide aren’t exactly a Big XII offense by any means – the rest of the schedule is slight on offensive powerhouses. State QB Tyson Lee is probably still (a) sore from being hit often and (b) tired from running around for his life quite a bit.

The best part of the night was easily Eric Berry’s pick six, and Demetrice Morley’s answer. Berry is a special, special talent, and that’s still not doing him due justice. It’s his third straight week with a pick, and after coming terribly close to taking them all the way back, he finally got one. I recorded it originally on the JumboTron replay, but managed to get the TV replay’s version later. It’s now on YouTube (from me) and here it is:

I’m hoping Berry keeps giving me these opportunities to put up videos of his awesomeness each week. If Tennessee was going to lose every game, I would still want to watch it, just to see Berry make something exciting happen. With the uncertainty with Gerald Jones’ status, why not try EB out on offense. What does Tennessee have to lose?

Oh, so Tennessee does have a deep threat?

So while that was fun, the reality is this next weekend can make/break the salvaging of the season. Let me put it this way…

I want to ruin Alabama’s season.

I hinted last week that beating Alabama was basically the only really exciting thing to look forward to the rest of the year. This is the truth. Beating Alabama would be sweet. Should be expect it? I don’t know. The Tide have played excellent in big games this year (Clemson, Georgia) but more ordinary in games against Ole Miss and Kentucky.

Front row AGAIN!

Ironically enough, the student tickets for the Alabama game are black. Black usually symbolizes death. Will Saturday night be the death of the Tennessee program? Could it be a potentially embarrassing home loss to our long-time hated rival?

Low expectations have worked well so far. That’s all I’m saying.

I’ll have more on this game this week, including my Five Reasons I Hate Alabama. I’m incredibly excited it’s a night game, and I hope the atmosphere is as if Tennessee was also undefeated. I don’t give a you-know-what how badly you want Coach Fulmer gone (I do too, remember) – who wants to lose to Alabama? Why wouldn’t you want to be their first loss?

My challenge: think all week long about how much you hate Alabama. Think why, how, all that. If that doesn’t work, then there’s something wrong with you.

Images Courtesy of: Wade Payne / AP (Daylife) • Wade Payne / AP (Daylife)