Archive for the ‘Shoutin' Out’ Category

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a pretty great new Tennessee Football preview annual coming out in only a few short days.  It’s from Maple Street Press and is entitled: “Rocky Top Tennessee 2009.”

I know, I know, you’re probably thinking to yourself “those previews are all the same, a bunch of the same basic statistics and information re-styled to make them appear shiny and new.”  In most circumstances you would be correct, but this preview is a little different than most.  You see, Maple Street Press does not approach these sorts of publications the way that some of the other publishers do.  They turn independent writers and bloggers who are passionate about their team and ask them to write on subjects that are near and dear to their hearts.

The result is a 128 pages of thoughtful insight, analysis, and perspective that the mainstream press simply does not offer.  Furthermore, if your a regular reader here at Gate 21 and other sites across the web, you’ll recognize some of the writers and be pleasantly surprised at the ways Rocky Top Tennessee 2009 differs from the run-of-the-mill preview magazine.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a rainy and stormy afternoon here in Knoxville, but Tyler Smith is brightening the day for Tennessee hoops.

Smith announced he’s going to stay for his senior season. Obviously this is good news, because Tyler’s the best player on Tennessee’s team. Additionally, Smith will be the fifth senior Vol for next year, alongside Wayne Chism, J.P. Prince, Bobby Maze, and Josh Tabb (walk-on Quinn Cannington is also a senior). A nice senior core for the Vols as they look to add a second SEC Title in four years. At this point, your way early SEC favorites have to be (in no particular order) Kentucky with the Jodie Meeks-Patrick Patterson combo and influx of studs, defending champs LSU with Tasmin Mitchell (who’s been at LSU since Stromile Swift) and Marcus Thornton, and Tennessee.

Welcome back, Tyler

A couple of other notes: first, a shout-out to bosgap at Losers With Socks who called this 9 days ago. Now I wouldn’t say they were going too terribly far out on that limb, but kudos to those guys scooping this, adding another feather in their hat of breaking news well in advance.

Secondly, a shout-out of thanks and best wishes to Philip Jurick, who is transferring and thus providing a way for Tyler to come back by opening up a scholarship. I saw Jurick play a little bit at last year’s Rocky Top League, and while I saw some promise, I also saw a project of sorts. He showed some really positive inside defense but his offensive game was very lacking. With Tyler’s return and the addition of Kenny Hall to the Chism-Brian Williams-Emmanuel Negedu platoon, I highly doubt Jurick would have been able to break into the big-man rotation next year.

Speaking of the Rocky Top League, last year I took upon myself the task of “covering” it using the start I started out with – “The View From The Hill.” I went every night and took some video and some pictures and mental notes and observations, and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I won’t be able to do that this year, as I won’t be able to go every night and I’ll miss the first week of it. That said, if you’re in Knoxville on a Monday or Wednesday the next three weeks, do head over to Bearden High School and watch some games.

Sure, there’s no air-conditioning and outside of the Tennessee players the other competitors are small college or high school players, but it’s a cool experience. Of course it’s glorified pick-up basketball with referees and clock, and the defense is highly lacking, but nowhere else will you get this close to the Vol players. If you’ve got kids, I can almost guarantee you will get autographs from the entire team, as well as some other former Vols like everybody’s favorite Dane Bradshaw, and a couple of my personal favorite former Vols Ron Slay and C.J. Watson.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the best part…IT’S FREE

– … to me.

Just a quick link or two that stood out to me…

Fred White does sports talk, and chats with VJ

First of all, anyone who remembers watching former Vol DB Fred “The Deuce” White from 1996-99 will be pleased to hear that Fred now has his own radio show courtesy of 1180 WVLZ in Knoxville, the same station that brings you Basilio and other great sports talk radio. The guys over at Vol Junkies recently got the chance to sit down and chat with Fred about his new show and get a few insights from the big man. Check out the interview over at Vol Junkies, and you can check out Fred’s show at 1180 am on your radio dial or in a live web stream from the WVLZ website.

Brian Butler’s tale gets even more twisted

RTT’s Hooper takes an interesting look at all of the issues surrounding the Tennessee recruit Bryce Brown’s “handler,” Brian Butler, on the heels of the announcement that the NCAA will be investigating Butler’s involvement the recruiting of high school athletes (not an investigation of any program in particular, but rather one of Butler and his Potential Players recruiting service).  It’s an interesting read, discussing the thorny path that high school handlers must walk, and the possible implications it can have for both recruits and the programs recruiting them.  Oh it’s a tangled web we weave…

MoonDog gets a facelift

In case you hadn’t noticed, the venerable and all-knowing MoonDog has gotten a facelift.  Well, at least his site has.  Slide on over and check out the new look for his prognosticating and pontification portal, MoonDogSports.com, which is pretty snazzy looking if you ask me (of course I did help a little with the makeover, so I suppose I’m biased).

Anyway…

Hopefully, I will get a chance to come up for air soon, and can continue on with my series looking into the impact of the nation’s economic woes on major athletics entitled: “The Cost of Sports.”  I also hope to simply get back to my standard fare of half-baked and poorly executed commentary on Tennessee sports.  Until then, however, all I can say is that I am trying my best and hope to be back in the saddle … someday.

– So it goes …

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 »

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)

In case you hadn’t noticed, there is a great new video resource available on the web over at FanDome.com which has assembled one of the best and most varied collection of sports videos on the web.  What’s even better is that all of the videos are classified by team and sport—making it much easier to find what you’re looking for.  What’s more, if you take the 30 seconds required to become a registered user (registration is free by the way), you have the ability to affiliate with your favorite teams.  Thus, registered users get a profile page  which automatically displays all the videos associated with their team.  In my case—surprise, surprise—that would be Tennessee.  All of the major teams across the nation have their own FanDome categorized by sport.  Tennessee has both a Football FanDome and a Basketball FanDome.

The video upload process is amazingly simple, allowing you to upload from your own computer or from other sites such as YouTube.  To top it all off, the folks over at FanDome have created a series of video widgets which show all the latest content for a given team.  You can check out their widget over in the right sidebar here at the Gate (that’s this way  for those of you who are directionally challenged).  Thankfully, all of the content on display is embeddable, linkable, etc., just like this little clip:

The content is as varied and, at the same time, well-organized as I’ve seen on any of the various video sites across the web.  FanDome has really done a nice job in putting together its virtual smorgasbord of sports video.  If you like YouTube and the like at all, FanDome really is worth checking out.

– Go Figure …

**Disclosure: While both Gate 21 and FanDome.com feature hyperlinks to one another, neither site, their editors, nor their webmasters receive any payment or other compensation of any type or kind in return for those links.  Furthermore, neither Gate 21 nor lawvol received any compensation for this review, which was neither requested nor solicited by FanDome.com.  This “Shout Out” represents the actual opinion of the author (for what that is worth) and was in no way influenced by any other person.

Despite being tied up in trial, I am still (reasonably) aware of what’s going on in the world of the Tennessee Volunteers.

That doesn’t just mean football … anymore.

In case you didn’t know, the BasketVols are back!  In anticipation of Bruce and the Barbarians holding their first practice of the 2008-09 season, my good friend RBK has been counting down the Top 25 Moments in the Bruce Pearl era over at the BruceBall Blog.  There are some great ones in his list, including the No. 1 moment: Winning an outright SEC Championship for the first time in 41 years.

If you love the BasketVols, you simply have to check out this list, as well as the rest of RBK’s wide assortment of Big Orange roundball goodness.

I promise, it’s worth your while…

– Go Figure …

Last week offered some great in-conference matchups and a couple turned out to be more lopsided than many thought. The great conference games continue this week, as the races begin to take shape.

Indeed, the conference races will continue to take shape as the temperatures drop around the country (it was 86 in Knoxville yesterday) and leaves start falling everywhere. Yes, I’m avoiding mentioning Tennessee’s now meaningless season by discussing the weather…

Another larger storyline that’s been discussed already this week is the Big 12’s apparent attempt to claim itself as the best conference. While the league is pretty good at the top, I still think the SEC has better depth, even with the struggles of Tennessee and Auburn.

Anyways, here’s the games to watch, and hopefully this time I’ll do a better job picking them – I picked LSU, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and they all lost…

SEC Games

Vanderbilt at Georgia (12:00, RayCom): So much for that little run. Vandy just missed out on a huge opportunity to get to 6 or more wins. There’s still chances with games against Kentucky, Tennessee and Duke, but beating Florida, Georgia and Wake Forest may be a tough order. Vandy’s offensive struggles were exposed last week against Mississippi State, and Georgia’s not the best team to face with an iffy offense…

The questions with Georgia: they left plenty of points to be gotten last week against the Vols, with two picks and kicking four field goals. They better not overlook Vandy, as trips to LSU and the showdown with Jacksonville come in the next two weeks.

Ole Miss at Alabama (3:30, CBS): Alabama comes off the bye looking to continue the momentum from hammering Georgia and edging Kentucky two weeks ago. Ole Miss has been better, yet horribly inconsistent, beating Florida on the road but falling to Vandy and South Carolina at home.

I don’t expect Ole Miss to win, but they should keep it close. I’m still expecting Alabama to lose a game, but it won’t be Saturday. The matchup to watch is the Tide’s offensive line against the Rebels’ defensive front. The only way Ole Miss can win is limiting the turnovers that hurt them in their two home SEC losses.

Arkansas at Kentucky (7:00, ESPNU): Give me some credit, last week I didn’t explicitly pick Arkansas to upset Auburn, but I did say the Hogs were gonna get somebody at some point this year and they did. Can they follow it up? Kentucky’s offense is still struggling, so Arkansas can certainly keep it close. This is a big game for UK’s bowl hopes, as they sit at four wins on the year.

This 63-yard TD run by Michael Smith led Arkansas to the upset over Auburn. Can they Hogs get UK this week?

Mississippi State at Tennessee (7:00, PPV): Ugh. Good thing this game is on pay-per-view…who wants to watch these offenses?

Uh oh...Mississippi State held Vanderbilt to 107 yards of total offense...

Obviously I do, because I’ll be there in the fourth row. I’m expecting an ugly game with points few and far between. Tennessee can’t really lose at home to Mississippi State, can they? State has played decently the past two games, and no doubt have some momentum coming into Knoxville. How does Tennessee show up with nothing but pride to play for? Is Phil Fulmer the next coach to be Croomed like Ron Zook and Mike Shula?

LSU at South Carolina (8:00, ESPN): Ouch. Didn’t see that coming. LSU got crushed by Florida, and now they travel over to Columbia to a Carolina offense that’s gained some confidence with SEC road wins in Oxford and Lexington. Whoever’s been playing QB for the Gamecocks – Chris Smelley and/or Stephen Garcia – have actually done pretty well.

LSU’s defense isn’t what it was last year – they’re 9th in the league in total defense. Carolina’s defense is going up against an inexperienced QB and an offense that got beat physically by Florida last week. How do they respond?

Honestly, I want to say Carolina will win. But this is historically one of those “almost” wins for the South Carolina program. “Almost” as in they “almost” win a huge home game over a better opponent. That said, I think LSU bounces back, setting up that showdown with Georgia next weekend.

Florida is off this week, but I want to give a little shout-out to Brandon Spikes. Now I hate the Gators and hope they fail at everything, but when something’s funny, it’s funny. Here’s Brandon Spikes’ attempt at a punt into the stands after a pick-six…

OTHER CONFERENCES

Some Mountain West love: big game tonight for unbeaten BYU, as they travel to TCU tonight. The unbeaten Cougars essentially have two tests between them and a BCS Bowl: tonight and the season finale at fellow unbeaten Utah. Keep an eye on this game…

The Weekly Duke Update:After a bye week, the 3-2 Blue Devils are back in action with a big game, at home against young Miami. Just 4.5-point dogs, Duke looks for the upset. This game is on ESPNU at 3:30, so if Alabama starts killing Ole Miss (and you actually have ESPNU), switch on over and see if the missed Coach Cut can lead Duke to the upset. The emptiness of Duke’s stadium won’t have any adverse effects on the Canes – they’re used to it…

Big XII

Kansas at Oklahoma (3:30, ABC): Oklahoma and Bob Stoops is going to be pissed off. Poor, poor Kansas. They avoided OU and Texas last year. Er, not this year. How Kansas stops OU I have no clue. Then again, the Sooner defense got worn down watching Texas go up-and-down the field on them in Dallas. Kansas keeps it close – for a half.

Missouri at Texas (8:00, ABC): So much for Missouri beating Oklahoma State by three TDs. The Tigers essentially gave the game away, and now face a make-or-break game at #1 Texas. I say make-or-break because Missouri’s schedule is pretty clear sailing after this game, and they obviously have to win to stay relevant in the title race.

Can Texas return to earth after beating their hated rival last week? This should be a pretty high-scoring game (duh, it’s the Big XII new Pac 10…), and entertaining. I think Texas wins the game in the fourth quarter.

Javon Ringer faces a tough Ohio State defense Saturday afternoon

Big Ten

Ohio State at Michigan State (3:30, ABC):
Yes, people, Michigan State is very much in the Big Ten race. Of course they have to beat Ohio State to stay there. The Spartans are led by HB Javon Ringer, but the Ohio State defense is tough up front.

Ohio State has been overly impressive on offense. They have actually been kinda bad. If Michigan State doesn’t give up a special teams or defensive TD to the Buckeyes, I like their chances to keep Ohio State’s offense in check. The winner would become the biggest challenger to the dominance Penn State has shown this year.

Michigan at Penn State (4:30, ESPN): I know, I know, Michigan sucks and Penn State is really good. Thought losing to Toledo is bad? The Wolverines better be ready to get blasted Saturday. Penn State is a legit team. Keep in mind two things: (1) Penn State hasn’t beaten Michigan since 1996 and (2) they are at Ohio State next weekend.

Outside of these games, there isn’t much else. We all know USC will win the Pac 10 and whoever wins the Big East doesn’t matter. As it is, enjoy this weekend…

Images Courtesy of: Dave Martin / AP (Daylife) • Rogelio V. Solis / AP (Daylife) • Nam Y. Huh / AP (Daylife)

Oh Yeah, Basketball

With lawvol swamped, I have been given the steering wheel here at Gate 21. How do I respond?? With a basketball-related post – in the second week of October. That’s what 2-3 and little hope does, but I’ll have more on that plus the newly-revived Big Orange Roundtable AND the usual “On Remote” college football preview.

The joys of Fall Break and some extra time…

Anyways, the inspiration for this post, you ask? On my way back to my apartment just now, I of course see freshman Renaldo Woolridge walking down by Pratt/TBA. Not thirty seconds later, who do I see? Emmanuel Negedu. My first Negedu sighting.

Now Woolridge just had a story about his rap talent in this morning’s Knoxville News-Sentinel, where I currently work. I got a chance to listen to it for a moment this morning and I gotta say if his basketball skills are near his rap skills, Tennessee got a great player – I think they already did anyways…

Now compare this to this summer’s hit, Bobby “Big-Money” Maze’s “I Put on for Tennessee,” which was on YouTube…

These of course have little to do with Tennessee basketball, other than the incredible rise in the program’s street cred. Honestly, you could assume and guess that stuff like this helps recruiting, especially if Bruce Pearl has nothing to really say about it (I’m not sure I’ve seen his comments on any of it either…). It certainly can’t hurt, right?

I guess I just had basketball on my mind (and not Georgia…get it?!) this afternoon. Weird and all since it’s Georgia week, but you’ll get my thoughts and understand why a little later this week…

Reason #15,653 to love Bruce Pearl: the Vols now have two rappers...

Thanks Phil, But…

Saturday afternoon was it for me. I have avoided jumping over to the side of the fence that wants a change in the head coaching position at Tennessee for quite awhile now, but Saturday’s performance pushed me over said fence full-bore.

The bottom line is that Tennessee is going to be a middle-of-the-pack SEC program until a change at the head coaching position is made.

I flirted with jumping on the “Fire Fulmer” wagon after the 59-20 loss to Florida last year, but still didn’t. That day, the reason was the fact that our team quit and attitude reflects leadership. I even managed to avoid it after the horrible trip to Alabama when the entire staff forgot how to do their jobs. I dismissed UCLA as a fluke.

But Saturday’s performance was just an awful display of football in every phase of this great game. Tennessee may not have the talent of the 90s (as Ghost of Neyland over at 3SIB points out here) and Florida may be loaded, but the fact of the matter is that Tennessee is too talented a team to get blown out at home and play as poorly as they did.

My most adamant complaint is kicking to Brandon James – twice. He beat us – both times. What does it take? Essentially three (in the sense one was called back) times we have let him beat us. Three. I threatened all week that if we kicked to him and he returned it, I would leave Neyland Stadium. I about did.

Obviously we should have punted it to Section P, but apparently everybody BUT our coach (or our punter) already new that...

Offensively, the execution is pitiful. Most of that I think is because Jonathan Crompton is, for lack of a better word, incompetent. Is he progressing? Slightly, but he is so mistake-prone that it’s to a point where Dave Clawson is now limited as to what he can do. I’m still giving Clawson the benefit of the doubt, but Crompton just doesn’t have it between the ears. I miss Erik Ainge…

Arian Foster, our supposed senior leader on offense, gets a stupid personal foul penalty making a third-and-short into a third-and-long, yet he misses no time. Foster disappeared in a big game yet again, yet still is the starter and Tennessee’s primary ball carrier when BOTH Montario Hardesty and Lennon Creer have shown more explosiveness. I have liked Arian, but I have been told that he isn’t the leader many of us expected he would be.

Defensively, I don’t know what to say. Yes, we held the powerfully explosive Gators to 200-something yards, but I credit that more to the fact Florida basically ran draw and read plays the entire second half up 27-0. You would have a tough time telling me that if that game was being played in Gainesville Saturday, that Florida doesn’t get 50.

That said, the defensive effort is certainly there. They showed some backbone and never stopped fighting, but what’s the point? What more can Eric Berry do? When is his play going to infect everyone else? We still can’t stop anybody on third downs…

Don’t even get me started on special teams. Lawvol went through that extensively in the new “Marching Orders from the General” feature (we have yet another one on tap for tomorrow as well). Maybe it’s just Chad Cunningham…

Defenses we still play: Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and yes, even Kentucky...UH OH

Florida made it look real, real easy Saturday. They didn’t even really have to try much and just let Tennessee make mistakes. Yes the Gators made plays when they had to, but they made that win look terrifyingly easy. They got in, got out, and on their way to their tougher games against LSU and Georgia.

Point is that this is just not a good football team from the coaching on down. And it’s a shame, too. There’s a pretty good level of talent on this team and it’s being wasted. The players work too hard for this. Offensively this is mostly due to the poor QB play. Overall, defense included, this team just lacks aggressiveness.

I watch LSU pull out a gutsy win at Auburn Saturday night, and they run an onside kick and their defense (Auburn’s, Georgia’s, Florida’s, Alabama’s this season as well) is just flying around making plays. In scoring position with a chance at a game-winning FG, does Les Miles run it up the middle? No, he takes his freshman QB and throws a tough throw/route for the winning TD. Nick Saban is playing freshmen everywhere.

We are too tentative, too conservative, too afraid of making a mistake, and they are inevitable. And they happen. We can’t get a freaking handoff. My friends and I could execute a handoff. We have no swagger that I see from these other teams. There’s no question about the effort – which could be some reason for hope, maybe – but that’s about it.

That pretty much sums up this past Saturday...

That’s coaching, people. And for Tennessee to return to the level of being able to compete legitimately in today’s SEC, there’s going to have to be a change. Coach Fulmer has done more for this University than just about anybody else and deserves that credit. But it’s time for him to step down. I just hope when it does happen, that it goes without too much drama and the nonsense that’s happened at other schools (Rich Rodriguez comes to mind).

Unlike the ever-optimistic Lawvol, I have bailed on this season. I know I did foolishly last year, but I see no reason for a turnaround. None. At. All. Will I stop watching games? No, I’ll be at Auburn Saturday and in Neyland for Northern Illinois next weekend. I’m still a fan, but there’s something not right about not even overly caring that we got beat 30-6 on our own field a few hours after watching it happen.

It’s a sad, sad time for the Tennessee football program…

But let’s all remember to stick with the team through all this. It’s time like these that make the better days so much sweeter.

GO VOLS!!

Images Courtesy of: Doug Finger / Gainesville Sun • Streeter Lecka / Getty Images (Orlando Sentinel Picture #18)