Posts Tagged ‘Final Four’

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 »

Well, I’m not going to pretend that I am happy with the result of the BasketVols‘ game against the Louisville Cardinals, no one likes losing … but I am so happy with this season that I can hardly contain myself.

I would have loved to see the BasketVols advance to the Elite 8 and set one more team record, by advancing farther in the NCAA Tournament than any other Tennessee team. I would have loved to have seen the Vols have a shot at making the Final Four, but it just wasn’t in the the cards. Still, I am so amazingly proud of this team and what they accomplished this year.

As odd as it sounds, I am so happy that, finally, Tennessee fans have earned the right to be disappointed that basketball season is over …

In years past, when the Mens basketball season ended, there was little to be disappointed with. If (and that is a huge “if”) Tennessee had made the NCAA Tournament, the Tennessee faithful had no reason to be disappointed — in years past, just getting there was all that was ever expected. You can only be disappointed if you expect more. You don’t get disappointed, unless you care. Now, for the first time in my entire lifetime, all of Orange Nation cares.

This year was very special for the Tennessee Basketball program, it was a coming out party of sorts. For the first time since Coach Mears walked the sidelines in Stokely Athletic Center, Tennessee fans had a lot of reasons to get excited, and for the first time Tennessee “belonged” at the forefront of the world of college basketball. As long as Bruce Pearl is coaching the Vols, I think they will continue to “belong.“

In the end, tonight’s game against Louisville was far from the best game that the Vols have played this year. Early fouls for Wayne Chism, inconsistent play at point guard, the inability to beat the press, and a lack of offensive rhythm, and a long list of other things really killed the Vols down the stretch. None of that really matters now. The only thing that matters now is what did the season represent?

Progress…

This year the BasketVols end the season at 31-5, better than any other team in the history of the University of Tennessee. After more than 40 years, the outright SEC Championship belongs to the Vols. Tennessee both beat the No. 1 team in the country, and earned the right to be the No. 1 team in the country. For the first time since the 1970’s, Tennessee filled its arena for every game. The list goes on.

A few years back, none of this was possible…

Tonight was an end of sorts. Three fabulous young men: Jordan Howell, Chris Lofton, and JaJuan Smith young men I am proud to say represented my alma mater, played their final games for Tennessee. To each of them, we owe our thanks. Good luck gentlemen, and Godspeed …

Tonight also represented the final sentence in this 2007-08 chapter of the basketball program. With that, the most remarkable season in Tennessee Mens Basketball history comes to a close.

Ultimately, however, the loss to Louisville does not represent an end, but rather a beginning. Three years ago, Tennessee was mired in the throes of perpetual mediocrity. Now, the future looks bright. In just three short years, Tennessee has come so far under Coach Pearl’s leadership. Tennessee is now — legitimately — a basketball school. Tennessee took huge strides this year, and next year they will take some more. No matter what happens in the future, I know I will always look back and say that it all truly started here, in 2007-08.

In the end, a win against Louisville in Charlotte would have helped the BasketVols take one more step forward, but the loss isn’t a step backward. Coach Pearl summed it up best when he recounted to Bob Kesling what he told the players after the game: “Tonight could have added to this season, but in no way did it detract from it.“

Now there has been a great deal of discussion swirling about whether Indiana or some other suitor will come calling to try and pry Bruce Pearl away from Tennessee. I have refrained from writing on that until now, because there were more important things at hand. I plan on covering it a bit more in the future, but for now all I can say is that I hope Bruce Pearl remains in Knoxville for a very, very, long time to come. I personally have never believed in a coach in any sport more than I believe in Bruce Pearl — and if I feel that way, I can’t imagine how much the BasketVols believe in him.

To the BasketVols I send my sincerest thanks — you all were great this year, and I hope it was as rewarding for you as it was for all of the members of the Orange Nation. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you, for all your effort and work.

This team made basketball fun again….

As for Louisville, they will go on to play the Tarheads in the Elite Eight. They played tenaciously tonight, and I wish them all the best as they advance in the tournament. Though I’m disappointed that the Cardinals beat the Vols, Rick Pitino and his Louisville squad can make up to me by beating the Tarheads by 80 — no, let’s make it 90 — on Saturday.

In closing, all I can say is that despite the fact I started this blog as a “football” blog, this season has changed that. Thus, while I haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to do yet, no longer will this blog be about “Life, the Universe, and College Football” with only the add-on of “Plus Basketball” it’s time that my little corner of the Tennessee and SEC sports world recognize that the Tennessee Volunteers aren’t just about football, and give credit to Coach Pearl’s program. For now, I’ve adopted the new byline of “Life, the Universe, and the Bounce of the Ball“…

I welcome any suggestions or thoughts from the blogosphere for a “revised” byline.

There is no question that I hate to lose as much as the next alum or fan, and I am disappointed, so very disappointed to see it all end. Yet, after what I have seen from Coach Pearl and this team — all the promise for the future, all the fun of this season, all the excitement of actually being a contender in the NCAA Tournament — I can honestly say, when it comes to sports …

… this is the happiest I’ve ever been to be disappointed.

– Go Figure …

Update: 28 March

Here are a few other thoughts on the game worth reading:

• Standing O for the Tennessee Volunteers – Rocky Top Talk
  
• Louisville 79, Tennessee 60 – The Bruce Ball Blog
• Crapola — Fulmer’s Belly
• A Look Back at Last Night – Third Saturday in Blogtober
• Louisville Ends Volunteers Season — World According to MoonDog
• A Picture Tells the Whole Story — Pigskin Pathos
  

Alright, I admit it, this rant has been building up for a while now … about 23 years.

The first time I saw Ted Valentine officiate a basketball game, I was a kid, and it was the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament which used to be played in my hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. Up until that point in my life, I never really gave much thought to the referees and their role in a basketball game.

Ted Valentine made sure I never neglected to think of the officials ever again…

From the moment that game began, it became obvious that Valentine wanted everyone in the Asheville Civic Center to realize that he was there, and he was in charge. He wanted to make sure that no one forgot him. Even to this day, I can hardly remember the name of any of the players in the game, but I still remember Valentine.

Since that game, I’ve probably seen Valentine officiate close to 20 games in person, and who knows how many on television. How do I know that? In every game Ted Valentine calls, he goes to great lengths to make sure that no one in a game ever forgets him, whether they be players coaches or fans. When Ted Valentine is on the floor, he makes it clear that the players get to compete at his pleasure. His overly-aggressive and antagonistic on-court persona dominates. When Valentine is officiating, it is about him — God forbid the actual game get in the way of his opportunity to strut.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that officials do have a difficult job. They are charged with overseeing the collision of, often legendary, drive, strength, and egos — and that’s just the fans in the seats. I know they get a lot of lip, and very little credit — when they do their job right, no one realizes they were there. They are supposed to be cool, objective, and dispassionate. They have to deal with mad coaches, jacked-up players, and fanatical boosters. I know this because my father used to referee high school basketball, and a close family friend is a college official. Still, that is what they sign up for; it’s not like a person is required to serve as a basketball official.

Ted Valentine has never been accused of being cool, objective, or dispassionate. He has had run-ins with the coaches of almost every major school in the country. Don’t take my word for it, a quick Google of “Ted Valentine“ will yield a litany of rants and raves — some from respected journalists. Even I must admit, however, that Valentine is some kind of genius.

Valentine is the only person I’ve ever seen that, the worse he did his job, the more rapidly he moved up the ranks…

In my opinion, Valentine has no business officiating any basketball game. Of course no one cares what I think, and the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big XII, NCAA, and numerous other conferences continue to give Valentine choice assignments — including the NCAA Final Four.

So why am I writing all of this now? Valentine officiated the Tennessee vs. Florida game, and yet again he managed to make himself known. In this instance it was a technical foul called against J.P. Prince immediately after getting hammered to the floor by Florida’s Dan Werner.  As he slammed Prince to the ground, Werner was immediately called for an intentional foul by one of the other officials. Prince got up — admittedly — angry, yet no shoving occurred. Valentine, however, ran all the way across the floor and immediately called a technical against Prince.

Now, I wasn’t standing there. I cannot say that Prince didn’t earn the technical honestly (Yeah, I know that’s an odd way of putting it…). In fact, I can guarantee you that — most likely — Prince did earn the foul — I’d have been pissed too if I had just taken an elbow drop the way he did. I have to give all of that to Valentine.

Still, sometimes, as an official you have to exercise a little discretion. Sometimes, you have to balance a “technical” violation of the rules against the intent and purpose of the rules. As every official I’ve ever spoken with has told me, you could call a foul on every single play, but that’s not what the referee is there for. You have to let the players play the game.

That is, unless you are Ted Valentine…

– Go Figure …