Posts Tagged ‘ACC’

Note: The Tennesseeum is in its infancy, but I hope to eventually develop it into a virtual museum (hence “Tennessee-um”) of rosters, images, articles, and records pertaining to the Vols.  For now, however, it is little more than a landing page for current rosters and a few other items of interest.

If you have any content that you think belongs in a virtual museum dedicated to the Vols, feel free to contact me.

2009 Football Collection:

• 2009 Tennessee Football:

  • 2009 Coaching Staff
  • 2009 Alphabetical Roster

• 2009 SEC Previews:

  • SEC East:

    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Kentucky
    • South Carolina
    • Tennessee
    • Vanderbilt

  • SEC West:

    • Alabama
    • Auburn
    • Arkansas
    • LSU
    • Ole Miss
    • Mississippi State

Other Collections:

The Cumberland Wing:

Dedicated to the sights, sounds and history of that little collection of buildings along Cumberland Avenue known simply as “The Strip”

• “Sam & Andy’s Forever”: Remembering the legendary hangout that was Sam & Andy’s

The Tennessee Home for the Visually Offensive:

A virtual museum of some of the finest Farks (a/k/a “photoshopped”) images from the world of sports that the web has to offer including the following sub-collections:

• Lawvol’s Masterpieces
• The SEC Collection:
  • Tennessee
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Auburn
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Kentucky
  • LSU
  • Ole Miss
  • Mississippi State
  • South Carolina
  • Vanderbilt
• The College Sports Collection:
  • Memphis
  • The Big Ten
  • The ACC
  • The PAC-10
  • The Big XII
  • The Big East & Notre Dame
• The Professional Sports Collection:
  • NFL Farks
  • MLB Farks
• The Broad Horizons (Miscellaneous) Collection

This virtual museum is under construction.

New Collections Debuting Soon!!

In case you hadn’t heard, the United States Congress has been hard at work lately—tackling the hard-hitting issues that our country is facing.  Our representatives in the House have been addressing monumental concerns impacting the daily lives of all Americans far and wide.  What, you might ask, is the single most important question in the minds of Representatives Joe Barton (R-TX), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Mike Simpson (R-ID)?

Whether the BCS / Bowl system for determining NCAA football championships needs to be replaced by a playoff system.

As a result, these congressmen introduced a House Resolution in April seeking to have the United States Congress and the United States Department of Justice investigate the Bowl Championship Series.  In particular, this obscenely overstated meaningful legislation resolves that the House of Representatives:

(1) rejects the BCS system as an illegal restraint of trade that violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act;

(2) demands the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division investigate and bring appropriate action to have the BCS system declared illegal and require a playoff to determine a national champion; and

(3) supports the establishment of an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Championship playoff system in the interest of fairness and to bring parity to all NCAA teams.

• 111th Congress, House Resolution 68

Heavy stuff, that…

As a result of the tireless grandstanding efforts of these shameless self-promoters champions of the common man, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held hearings this past week to look into the actions of the BCS in hopes of determining whether something nefarious is afoot.  This included taking testimony from: John Swofford (Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series), Craig Thompson (Commissioner of the Mountain West Conference), Derrick Fox (President and CEO of the Valero Alamo Bowl), and Gene Bleymaier (Athletic Director of Boise State University).

For those of you out there that hate yourselves, you can view a streaming video of the entire hearing through the committee website.  Note: Apparently the Congressional muckety-mucks are too busy to hire someone schooled in the basic art of video editing.  Thus, you will want to fast forward to approximately 19:45 to view the hearing (that is, unless you just enjoy watching a blank screen for almost 20 minutes).

During the hearing, the Committee specifically looked into whether the BCS amounted to a monopoly, running afoul of federal anti-trust provisions.  With the great all-encompassing seriousness that can only come from the stuffed shirts of Congress and with the aire of the Watergate hearings, the committee set about digging deep into the bowels of college football’s deep dark secret.  Having watched some of the video of the hearing, it was obvious, in the minds of some of the assembled officials, that they felt the very sanctity of our American Republic hung precariously in the balance.

Right…

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to the idea of a college football playoff, in fact I would gladly support such a system—so long as it is fair.  The disdain that is oozing from this article comes not from my opposition to the notion that college football needs a playoff, but rather from the nauseating belief by those in Congress that they are the answer to this problem.  Oh yeah, there is also the minor fact that the entire nation is passed out from the H1N1 flu in the economic toilet of the world with chunks of last night’s General Motors and Wall Street flavored hot dog still clinging to its mouth while these clueless egomaniacs are wasting their time trying to determine how we end our football seasons.

I’d love to sit around in a fancy conference room with hospitality service and get paid to talk football all day as much as the next guy, there’s no denying that.  The thought that our Congressional leaders have nothing better to do than just that, is more than a little bothersome.  The fact that they can do it with a straight face while purporting to represent the best interests of their constituents, makes me think of three words: “explosive projectile vomiting.”  I suppose that this sentiment is precisely what led CBS Sports.com’s Dennis Dodd to note that “Retching is common for these kinds of mundane Capitol Hill gatherings.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Kay Yow

As a fan of the Lady Vols, it is a sad time.  Every team, every player, and every fan of women’s college basketball suffered a heartbreaking loss on Saturday…

After fighting for over 20 years, N.C. State Wolfpack Women’s Basketball Coach, Kay Yow lost her battle with breast cancer.  She was 66 years old.

Throughout her 38-year coaching career, Coach Yow was widely respected not only for her winning teams and spirit, but also for her courage, compassion, and loyalty.  Along with her overall record of 737-344 as a head coach, her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000, Coach Yow also served as assistant coach to Tennessee Lady Vols Coach Pat Summitt during the 1984 Olympic Games, where the United States earned its first gold medal in Women’s Basketball.

On hearing of Yow’s passing, Coach Summitt reminisced on coaching with Kay Yow:

I was a young coach of 32 when I was asked to coach the 1984 Olympic Team.  When I decided who my number one assistant would be, I knew that I had to choose someone who would be loyal…who knew the game…someone I could trust and someone with great wisdom.  When it came time to make that decision, I picked Kay Yow.

Kay had great wisdom. She had a special way of telling you things that you really didn’t want to hear but needed to.  Kay was not a ‘yes’ woman.  She accepted the challenge of helping me to bring home the first gold medal to the United States in women’s basketball. It was a daunting task but Kay made it so much easier by helping to relieve the pressure.

Video: Coach Summitt Remembers Kay Yow | ESPN

Since the late 1980’s, however, Yow’s battles were not confined to the basketball court; Yow had been fighting for her life against breast cancer.  After undergoing a mastectomy in 1987, Yow seemed to be winning that fight until a recurrence in 2004.  As a result ,she missed 2 games in the 2004-05 season.  Continuing to fight, she never wavered in commitment to the players and team she loved, but was forced to take a 16 game leave of absence during the 2006-07 season.  Still, she returned to the court once more.

Then, this past December, after having just coached her 1000th game, Yow missed the next four games due to weakness from her ongoing cancer treatments before announcing in early January that she would be taking a leave of absence for the remainder of the season.  On Saturday, Coach Yow passed from this life.

Kay Yow was a pioneer in the game of women’s basketball.  More importantly, she was a testament to the enduring spirit of grace in the face of adversity.  Along with battling cancer and coaching her team, Coach Yow tirelessly worked to raise money for cancer research an to promote breast cancer awareness.  It was for this strength that Yow was awarded the inaugural Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2007 ESPYs, which was presented by Coach Summitt.  Said Summitt:

In the two decades she fought the disease, Kay never allowed herself to be victimized by cancer. Kay never pitied herself. Instead, she tried to bring awareness to the horrible disease that was robbing her of her life. Through her foundation in conjunction with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) – The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, in partnership with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, she did all that she could do to help others. That was just Kay.

Helping to get the cancer fund off the ground put Kay on a mission. She fought for cancer funding the same way she fought the disease… positive and determined every step of the way.

Kay Yow with Pat Summitt after winning the Jimmy V award in 2007

Kay Yow’s courage, dedication, and example serve as her enduring legacy.  The foundation which now bears her name will continue the struggle to defeat the adversary that took Coach Yow’s life.

Still, women’s basketball has lost a legend and the world has lost a courageous beautiful person.  She will be missed…

Click the logo above to donate to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund (Part of the Jimmy V Foundation)

– So it goes…

Images Courtesy of: UNCG • New York Times / Chris Carlson(AP) • The Kay Yow Cancer Fund / Jimmy V Foundation

Final Statistics:  Kentucky 90 • Tennessee 72

Postgame:  Quotes • Box Score

Well, so much for being optimistic.  Despite their best efforts, the Tennessee Volunteers were whipped by the Kentucky Wildcats 90-72 last night.  Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Jodie Meeks whipped the BasketVols—his school-record 54 points building a wall that the Vols had no hope of overcoming.  ESPN’s SportsCenter crew rather pointedly noted, Meeks was unstoppable, putting on an absolute clinic in front of the 20,474 in attendance at the Tommy Bowl.  Here are the highlights courtesy of ESPN.com:

Kentucky Bests Tennessee | ESPN.com

As if watching Meeks break Dan Issel’s 39 year-old single-game scoring record wasn’t enough, the Vols did not exactly do themselves any favors.  The Vols only shot 37.9 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from behind the arc.  On top of Meeks’ display and the Wildcats’ 56.6 percent shooting percentage, Kentucky piled it on by hitting 12 of 19 three point shots (63.2 percent), and hitting 90 percent of their free-throws.

After trailing by four at the half, Tennessee cut the deficit to only two points early in the second period.  Led by Meeks, however, Kentucky responded by stretching its legs and jumping out to a 15-point lead.  Tennessee refused to go quietly, however, cutting Kentucky’s lead down to 8 points, 71-64, with 6:52 remaining in the game.  That push by the Orange quickly faded, however, as the Vols scored only one point to Kentucky’s nine over the next 3 minutes.  From there, Kentucky glided on home to take the Victory, and the lead in the SEC East.

Chism Looks on in Disappointment

After the game Coach Pearl pointed to a lack of confidence as a key to the Vols poor showing, especially when it came to defensive play at guard, who at times appeared to be standing still Kentucky pushed the ball up.

Kentucky was clearly the better team, and we thought we could beat them if we played well. Our guys wanted this one, and they worked hard for it.  We play our best when everybody contributes, but that was not happening tonight.

— Coach Bruce Pearl Commenting on the Loss to Kentucky

Still, there were bright spots, as Tennessee led in turnovers 15 to 6, but only managed a total of 16 points of of those turnovers.

On the whole, Tennessee’s defense did not look as bad as its offense.  Again, the BasketVols found themselves vexed by another bout with “inconsistent inconsistency.”  Once again, the men in Orange will have to sit down and try to figure out how to bridge the gap between valiant effort and often excellent individual play (Tyler Smith 19 points, 2 rebounds • Wayne Chism 19 points, 9 rebounds , Bobby Maze 11 points, 2 rebounds), and the mystical nirvana of playing a complete game as a team.  It would also be nice to finally figure out the answer to why the guard play has been so disappointing.

With this loss, Tennessee falls to 10-5 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play.  Up next the Vols face the 12-1 (1-0 SEC) South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday at 6:00pm at the Tommy Bowl.

Needless to say, the Vols will be focused on exacting a little revenge when they meet the Wildcats again on 21 February, at Rupp Arena.  Hopefully, they will be ready to go then.

To reach that point, however, the Vols have a long way to go…

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: KNS / Amy Smotherman Burgess

Let’s start the day out with a little good news…

Congratulations to Lane and Layla Kiffin on the birth of their son, Monte Knox Kiffin, yesterday.  According to the KNS, the proud parents have already decided to call the newest member of the family “Knox.”  By all accounts both baby and mom are doing well.

Has kind of a nice ring doesn’t it—they ought to name a county after him, or something…

In all seriousness, best wishes to the Kiffins on their new arrival and Godspeed to Layla as she recovers from the delivery.

– Go Figure …

Oh, they may look harmless, but you have to be careful…

Beware!!!

Yes friends and neighbors, tonight the Kentucky Wildcats (NR), come into the Tommy Bowl to take on the Tennessee Volunteers (15 AP / 24 USA Today) in what is sure to be another serious challenge for Bruce and the Barbarians.

Like the BasketVols, Kentucky has struggled with inconsistency since the start of the season.  Though the Wildcats are currently 12-4 on the season (1-0 SEC), two of their losses were against far-from-impressive teams:  VMI and Miami.  That said, the boys in blue have appeared to rally lately, barely losing to Louisville and defeating Vanderbilt in a 70-60 win last Saturday.  Given the heat that Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie has felt since the start of last season, a win tonight is a must for the Cats.

Billy Clyde Gillispie in all his Glory!

The Vols, on the other hand, are struggling to reign in their defensive woes (currently 298th … that’s right 298th in scoring defense) and find some offensive consistency (shooting an average of 45.5 from the field and 30.8 from behind the 3-point arc).  Kentucky, however, has always been Tennessee’s biggest rival in basketball, and the Vols should have no problems getting up for all that the Wildcats have to dish-out.  My question from yesterday, however, stands: will Tennessee’s desire, hustle, and tenacity be enough to win the day?

Well, one way or the other, we’ll find out tonight at 9:00.

For a more in-depth preview and breakdown of tonight’s game, check out what RBK has to say over at the BruceBall Blog, as well as Joel’s thought’s at Rocky Top Talk.

The game will air tonight on ESPN and ESPN360.com (where available). As always, the game will also be broadcast by the Vol Network through its broadcast affiliate stations, as well as via the live internet stream available through UT Sports.com, and via the XM Satellite Radio Channels 199 (Tennessee) and 200 (Kentucky).

Barring incident and time permitting, I will be joining in the Live Game Thread over at Rocky Top Talk, where everyone is always welcome to join in and either celebrate or commiserate throughout the game.

Go Vols, Beat the Wildcats!

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: Smash South Sports / HeyBC

Well, I am—quite obviously—running behind.  I have yet to get my thoughts together on the BCS Championship Game—which President-elect Obama still thinks needs to be sacked in favor of a playoff—and the conclusion of the 2008-09 football season.

I’m going to blame it on the uncontrollable projectile vomiting that accompanied the realization that the Florida Gators had been crowned national champions…

I know, I know, I am supposed to pull for the SEC, and as a general rule I always do.  Had the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, or any other member of the SEC won, then I would be overflowing with my congratulations to the team in representing the conference on the most visible stage in the country.  There’s only one problem with this general rule of mine, it has one exception:

I have never and will never pull for the Florida Gators in any sporting event.  No way, no how, no sir.

Without re-hashing what I have already said, I hate to lose to many of the SEC schools (most notably Alabama) but I don’t “hate” those schools.  With Florida it is different.  I realize this will label me as a sour-grapes sort of poor sport who blames Tennessee’s poor performance this year on every one but the Vols.  It is petty, it is juvenile, it is silly.

Frankly, I don’t care…

Furthermore, had the thousands of classless thugs folks that I had to deal with during my three trips to Gainesville for games shown a little more class, then this wouldn’t be the case.  Of course I doubt the Gators care what I think either.  Thus, I’ll congratulate the LSU Tigers for a nice win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Georgia Bulldogs for their besting of the Michigan State Spartans, the Ole Miss Rebels for up-ending the Texas Tech Red Raiders, The Vanderbilt Commodores and Kentucky Wildcats for managing to win their bowl game when few gave them much of a chance.  To all of you, congratulations.  As for Alabama, well, thank you for representing the conference in the BCS, despite losing to a tough Utah Utes squad.  The Utes are a solid team and there is no shame in the loss.

Florida, however, can suck it…

Alrighty, I suppose that’s enough venom for the moment.  Then again, maybe not.

“You’d have to be out of your friggin’ mind not to want to play for the Gators,”

• Urban Meyer commenting after the Gators victory over the Oklahoma Sooners

• Via Go Vols Xtra: Meyer sees no end to Florida’s reign

Nice to see that Meyer isn’t smug about it all.

Fortunately, Lane Kiffin doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who really cares about impressions and opinions.  He spent his week giving the current members of Vols football squad the proverbial “Come to Jesus” experience as he has made it clear that he expects a lot from his players not just on the field, but in the classroom as well.  He drove this point home by showing up unannounced in a few classrooms around the Hill and by dismissing Darius Meyers and giving Brent Vinson one chance to straighten-up.  Other sources indicate that, in addition to these “visible” actions by the Blackjack General, there have been other disciplinary actions taken to shore-up various shortcomings by players.  Both Ramone Johnson and Demetrius Morely have also been mentioned as having been “encouraged” to find more focus.  I have a feeling that there will be more heard on this subject in the coming months leading up to the Orange and White game this spring.

All of this is fine by me.  Sometimes you have to do a little housekeeping when you are trying to make changes.

Speaking of changes, Mike Griffith posted a particularly interesting piece on the perceptions of various members of the national sports media on Kiffin’s selection as the new head coach at Tennessee.  The general consensus is that no one really knows how things will turn out.

I found the response of ESPN.com’s Gene Wojciechowski to be particularly insightful:

“I don’t know what to think. I know he’s hiring a great NFL staff – his dad from Tampa and Orgeron from the Saints. He’s going into one of the most impatient places there is. The whole thing is a chemistry experiment to me. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out. It’s one of the few hires where most people don’t have a feel for how it will work out. It’s one of the greatest calculated gambles I’ve seen in a while. If it works, Mike Hamilton looks like a genius. If it doesn’t, they fired a pretty good coach.”

• Via Go Vols Xtra: National Media sounds off on Kiffin hire

Personally, I find the reactions in Griffith’s piece refreshing for two reasons.  First, it is nice for once to hear the media talking-heads admit that they don’t know everything about everything—I guess they all forgot to pay the bill on their crystal balls due to the economic downturn.  Second, and most importantly, I like the fact that Kiffin represents a paradigm shift for Tennessee.  When given a choice between a hamburger or pizza, Smiling Mike appears to have chosen the Billy Barou (Nachos) with extra queso and hot sauce.

Thus far, when it comes to staff selections, Kiffin has been keeping up his end of the bargain.

As a result, the Vols are seeing a serious up-swing in their recruiting fortunes as National Signing Day approaches.  According to Scout.com’s Jeffrey Stewart*, it appears he has the right people out in the field knocking on doors—giving Tennessee a chance at a fabulous finish which seemed unlikely not long ago.  At present the Vols have 17 commitments, but the No. 4 wide receiver, No. 4 running back, No. 4 tight end and No. 2 offensive tackle in the nation are all making visits in the coming days.  At worst, it’s now looking like a top 20 class.  Basilio has a nice breakdown (courtesy of “X”) for those interested.

Oh, and despite the fact that Mike Hamilton’s little chemistry experiment is not a cheap one, UT announced that ticket prices will not be going up in Neyland Stadium this fall.

Note to self “Butts in the seats = Good”

Fulmer in the ACC?

Meanwhile, rumors are flying all over the place about the possibility of the Great Punkin being considered for the head coaching job at Boston College, after coach Jeff Jagodzinski was fired on Wednesday for interviewing with the New York Jets.  Fulmer has been a good friend of Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo from their time together as grad assistants on the Tennessee staff in the early 1970’s.  DeFilippo was instrumental in Fulmer’s decision to hire Dave Clawson prior to the 2008 season:

Ultimately, Fulmer settled on Clawson, who had interviewed the year before for the Boston College head coaching job. BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo was a graduate assistant at Tennessee in the early 1970s when Fulmer was getting his coaching start, and the two have continued to talk over the years.

DeFilippo’s endorsement of Clawson carried a lot of weight with Fulmer, who was even more intrigued after he met and talked football with Clawson. A dandy playcaller himself when he performed those duties under John Majors from 1989-92, Fulmer liked the idea of bringing some new blood into the program. And that’s not a knock against Cutcliffe, either.

• Via ESPN.com: Clawson, Volunteers planning to beef up running game

Many fans and media observers feel that Fulmer would be near the top of possible candidates outside of the existing Eagles staff members, especially considering the importance of loyalty in the mind of DeFilippo who has no problem following his instincts.  There has been no official word at present, but the possibility has begun to gain some traction in the press and the Blogosphere.  Whether anything comes of these rumors remains to be seen.

Oh, and the BasketVols lost to Gonzaga in overtime, snapping the Vols’ 37-game winning streak.  That pretty much sucked.

Up next, the Georgia Bulldogs, Saturday at noon—likely without Tyler Smith (sigh…).  As is my usual practice (and time permitting), I plan on jumping in the game open thread over at Rocky Top Talk—if you haven’t participated in one in the past, they are fun and you should give it a try.  Tell Joel I sent you.

I should post more on Bruce and the Barbarians (as well as the fact that Pat Summitt is only five games away from her 1,000th win), but—as I said from the outset—I’m still in catch-up mode.  We should be in full basketball mode here at the Gate by sometime next week.

Until then…

Go Vols, Beat the Bulldogs!

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: UTSports.com

*Scout.com membership required to access article