Posts Tagged ‘Blogosphere’

Somewhere, in front of a chalkboard—his hands coated with chalk dust—Lane Kiffin is smiling…

For the past several months Tennessee fans and the general sports-watching public have heard a near endless discussion about the various secondary infractions which have occurred since Lane Kiffin (a/k/a “the Blackjack General”) took the reins as the head football coach for the Tennessee Volunteers.  Needless to say, some have taken every available opportunity to criticize the University of Tennessee, The UT Athletic Department, Smiling Mike Hamilton, and the Blackjack General himself.  Some of it has amounted to little more than sniping and smack-talk, while others have been decidedly more direct.

Rightly or wrongly, Tennessee has self-reported (or is in the process of investigating with with an eye toward reporting) six secondary violations of NCAA Rules, the most recent coming—as HSH reported just the other day—as a result of the Blackjack General’s recent appearance on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” where he discussed, imagine that, secondary infractions with ESPN’s Bob Ley.

A “secondary violation” is defined in the NCAA Manual as follows:

A secondary violation is a violation that is isolated or inadvertent in nature, provides or is intended to provide only a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage and does not include any significant recruiting inducement or extra benefit.  Multiple secondary violations by a member institution may collectively be considered as a major violation.

•  2008-09 NCAA Division 1 Manual § 19.02.2.1 (emphasis added)

To put this in layman’s terms, secondary violations are the functional equivalent of talking in the NCAA’s rather large and particularly boring class.  Or, perhaps, in Lane Kiffin’s case, they amount to showing-off for all the girls (or in this case, recruits) in the back of class to impress them and passing notes reading:

I like you.  A Lot.

Do you like me?

Check One:  ___Yes  ___No  ___Maybe

— Lane

While this sort of thing—in both Mrs. Elliott’s 6th Period English Class and in the world of NCAA compliance—are annoying, they are largely harmless.  While it is true (again, with both Mrs. Elliott and the NCAA) that enough of these sorts of minor errors along the way can land you in the proverbial Principal’s office, as long as you say you are sorry after each instance (and UT has self-reported all such violations) and space the occurrences out by a day or two, usually there is little punishment to be meted out, aside from being made a spectacle in front of your peers…

… or by having to stay after class and write on the blackboard.

Kiffin at the Chalkboard

Hence, while Lane Kiffin and the UT Athletic Department are probably getting a little tired of having to deal with the issue of secondary violations, they have been merely a bump in the road thus far.

The Alabama Crimson Tide, on the other hand, is now facing a decidedly more serious situation…

Read the rest of this entry »

I will be the first to acknowledge that both the blogosphere and the internet in general are full of vitriol directed toward various teams.  Any team that has ever enjoyed any success whatsoever has something written about it which drips of the sort of steaming hatred that accompanies sports rivalries great and small.  Most of the time these flaming rants come from fans of teams that are either rivals (or wish they were rivals) of the object of the spewing hatred.

This post is a flaming rant.  It is not, however, aimed at a traditional rival of the Tennessee Volunteers.  Furthermore, while it amounts to little more than a creative rationalization on my part, I feel that I have earned my bitching license on this one since — in addition to being a graduate of the University of Tennessee — I am also a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I despise the Tarheels Tarheads…

From 1998 until 2001, I attended “trade school” at UNC.  For the record, I got a wonderful education at the UNC School of Law, and have nothing but good things to say about the educational aspects of that institution.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, UNC School of Law is an excellent institution with a fine faculty.  Second, as is the case at most professional and graduate schools, most of the students at UNC School of Law did their undergraduate work elsewhere.

See, I said something nice about UNC…

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports College BasketBlog Poll hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 6

Through 15 March 2009

Well, March Madness is upon us. This weekend provided a bevy of basketball from the various conference tournaments, including some key upsets.  Bearing all of that in mind, here’s my BasketBlog Poll ballot for this week, as we prepare for the Big Dance to come.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here it is:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Louisville	3
2	Memphis	1
3	Pittsburgh	2
4	North Carolina	2
5	Connecticut	–
6	Michigan St.	1
7	Oklahoma	1
8	Villanova	1
9	Duke	3
10	Wake Forest	2
11	Missouri	3
12	Gonzaga	1
13	Washington	3
14	Arizona St.	1
15	UCLA	4
16	Syracuse	3
17	Purdue	6
18	Florida St.	3
19	Kansas	7
20	Louisiana St.	4
21	Utah	5
22	Illinois	5
23	West Virginia	4
24	Utah St.	2
25	Clemson	7

• Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Marquette (#20), Brigham Young (#22), New Mexico (#24), Xavier (#25)

I hope to post a few parting thoughts on the SEC Tournament later today along with my Ballot Predictions for the NCAA Tournament (as if you cared). One way or the other, it is now time to see who really deserves adulation and who was overrated.

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

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

More to come on the Big Dance, and the fortunes of the Tennessee Volunteers…

– So it goes…

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports College BasketBlog Poll hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

End of the Regular Season Poll

Through 8 March 2009

Well, given my habit lately of running behind, I never got around to posting my ballot last week.  Thus, this week’s ballot is without changes (since the poll for last week looked different than the last one posted).  Be that as it may, with the regular season over for the world of college basketball, here’s where I place the powers of the hardwood at the conclusion of the 2009 season.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here’s my ballot:

My Ballot for the Week

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

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

Time to break out the brackets…

– So it goes…

Yes, I realize that I have hardly been doing a very good job of keeping up with things.  No, I am not done with my series on the Cost of Sports.  Yes, I do intend to get something of substance up in the near future.  It’s just been busy lately, to say the least.  Thus, I am—as always—a little behind the curve.  Thus, if anyone out there would be interested in doing a little writing, shoot me an email and we can talk.  I’ll do my best to get caught up as soon as possible.

In the meantime, here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports College BasketBlog Poll hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 3

Through 23 February 2009

Well, after the past week in the world of college basketball, there have been a few major changes in my BasketBlog Poll ballot.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here’s my ballot:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Pittsburgh	2
2	Oklahoma	–
3	Connecticut	2
4	Memphis	3
5	Villanova	3
6	Michigan St.	–
7	North Carolina	3
8	Missouri	2
9	Clemson	8
10	Gonzaga	1
11	Marquette	–
12	Louisville	–
13	Wake Forest	8
14	Illinois	–
15	Duke	1
16	Purdue	1
17	Arizona St.	1
18	Xavier	5
19	Louisiana St.	–
20	Texas	1
	Kansas	4
22	UCLA	NR
23	South Carolina	1
24	California	1
25	Utah	NR
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Dayton (#20), Butler (#24)

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

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

Oh yeah, the BasketVols also lost to the Kentucky Wildcats over the weekend.  More on that as soon as I can…

– So it goes…

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports College BasketBlog Poll hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 2

Through 15 February 2009

My what a mess we have now.  After the past weekend in the world of college basketball, the changes are many in my BasketBlog Poll ballot for this week.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here’s my ballot:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Connecticut	–
2	Oklahoma	–
3	Pittsburgh	–
4	North Carolina	–
5	Wake Forest	–
6	Michigan St.	3
7	Memphis	6
8	Villanova	7
9	Gonzaga	7
10	Missouri	7
11	Marquette	5
12	Louisville	4
13	Xavier	3
14	Illinois	6
15	Purdue	3
16	Duke	9
17	Clemson	5
18	Arizona St.	4
19	Louisiana St.	NR
20	Dayton	NR
	Texas	NR
22	South Carolina	NR
23	California	NR
24	Butler	10
25	Kansas	4
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: UCLA (#11), Syracuse (#19), Minnesota (#23), Ohio St. (#24), Utah (#25)

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

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

– So it goes…

---

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

Week 1

Through 08 February 2009

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

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

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

The Rest of the BlogPoll

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

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

– So it goes…

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

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

Final Season Ballot

Through 09 January 2009

Well, it all came down to the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners.  As many prognosticators predicted, it was Florida all the way.  Now, with the 2008-09 BCS Championship game in the books, it is time for the final BlogPoll Ballots of the 2008-2009 season.  Thus, here is in my final BlogPoll ballot, without explanation.  I will be posting a little analysis later on today, but I wanted to go ahead and get my final ballot up as early as possible so people could go ahead and start flaming.  Either way, here it is:

My Final Ballot for the 2008-09 Football Season

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	–
2	Utah	3
3	Southern Cal	1
4	Texas	1
5	Oklahoma	3
6	Oregon	6
7	Alabama	1
8	TCU	5
9	Georgia	10
10	Penn State	1
11	Mississippi	5
12	Ohio State	4
13	Boise State	6
14	Texas Tech	4
15	Missouri	5
16	Virginia Tech	9
17	Cincinnati	6
18	Oklahoma State	3
19	Rice	5
20	Oregon State	6
	Iowa	5
22	Northwestern	8
23	Michigan State	5
24	Florida State	2
25	LSU	1

Dropped Out: Pittsburgh (#17), Ball State (#21), Brigham Young (#22), Georgia Tech (#23).

Obviously, there is a lot to talk about in this ballot—including a few seemingly unorthodox choices (such as the Texas dropping one spot, Utah leap-frogging to the second spot, and Georgia rocketing upward).  I hope to get a a little analysis up later today.  For now, however, this is how I see things.

The Rest of the BlogPoll

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

As for the rest of the BlogPoll, well, you can check out how other bloggers voted and how your team fared across the blogosphere over at MGOBlog, and view the final BlogPoll Top 25 later this week over at CBS Sports.

More later today…

– Go Figure …

Yes, just like the real Gate 21, we here at the Gate have our faithful band of ticket-takers to grant admission, to help guide you on your way, and to call the cops if you throw up and pass out on some little old Grandma from Sequatchie County due to all those airplane bottles you snuck into the stadium.

Thus, here are our ushers, ready and willing to serve…

“Lawvol” — Publisher and Editor-in-Chief :

A less than reputable sort, who earns his money as a shyster and evidence manipulation specialist (a/k/a lawyer).  A graduate of the University of Tenne-”stand up and smile when you say it“-see, who also attended Tarhead U for his “trade school.”  Lawvol claims to be a former member of the Pride of the Southland Marching Band, but the group has long since disclaimed any such affiliation and is currently seeking a court order to that effect.

A dedicated Tennessee and SEC sports fan, collector of farked (photoshopped) photos, confirmed blowhard, and general pain-in-the-ass who believes if you didn’t want to be made fun of, then you probably should have just stayed in bed.  He is best known for his lack of intelligence, inability to use the English language properly, fixation on the use of dashes — “–” — in his posts, and his habit of employing poorly doctored graphics to cover the lack of meaningful content in his writing.

In addition to his efforts as the Illustrious Potentate here at Gate 21, Lawvol has served as a guest writer for various other blogs including the venerable Rocky Top Talk and is currently a voting member of the SEC Power Poll and the CBS College Football BlogPoll (no, he is not above name dropping).  He has also been known to design logos and blog themes for bloggers across the blogosphere.  You can learn more on this by visiting Gate 21 Graphics.

During football season, Lawvol can be regularly found in the north endzone of Neyland Stadium, quietly cursing under his breath as the Vols do battle on the gridiron.  As you might have guessed, he enters the stadium via the real Gate 21.  Believe it or not, it has actually been confirmed that he has all of his teeth and, contrary to the claims of some people, those morals charges about that sheep were dismissed.

Lawvol freely invites comments and complaints as well as emails from the complimentary to hysterical…

“Home Sweet Home” — Author and Contributor:

Unlike Lawvol, Home Sweet Home — or “HSH” as he is sometimes called — is an actual writer.  A Journalism / Electronic Media major at the University of Tennessee, this Memphis native hopes to go into sports broadcasting, writing, or something along those lines in the near future.

In case you didn’t “get it” his name derives from a line in every Tennessee fan’s favorite song, and is a clear reference to Good Ole’ Rocky Top.

HSH previously edited his own blog, “The View From The Hill” before signing on here at the Gate in the Fall of 2008 in hopes of bringing some actual intelligent content — a nice change from the drivel produced by Lawvol.  He’s a  huge Vol fan who has been attending games in Knoxville for many years.  In addition to his passion for Tennessee football and basketball, he enjoys following the NFL and the NBA.

Among other things, HSH is the primary author for both the “On Remote” and “View From the Hill” features here at Gate 21.  Basically, sports are a big part of his life.

You can email him, harass him, or offer him money to commit unspeakable acts by clicking the button below.