Posts Tagged ‘Tommy Bowl’

This Week’s Roundtable is hosted by:

Your Mother Slept with Wilt Chamberlain

This week’s Big Orange Roundtable is hosted by Thomas the Terrible over at YMSWWC.  As you may have noticed, I have been a bit scarce this week, while HSH has been burning it up with his awesome series of 2009 SEC Football Previews (which, by the way, are now linked and accessible via the links on the countdown widget in the sidebars).  Given the fact that he has done yeoman’s work this week already (and the fact that I have been so un-helpful due to a spate of pesky depositions), this week I am flying solo on the Big Orange Roundtable.  Which pretty much means that this set of responses will suck more than usual.

At any rate, here are my thoughts for the week:

Week 3

1) Now that we have covered the receivers & QB’s, let’s get to the running game.  Just how much improved do you think the running game will be??

Lawvol: Every time I make predictions about how good someone is going to be, how many games someone will win, or how likely it is that Charlie Weiss develops a gravitational field and causes opposing coaches to go into orbit, I look like a fool.  I am awful at this sort of thing.

I suppose that Niels Bohr got it right when he said “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.”

All that said, I do think that the running backs this year have the chance to really do some special things … or fall flat on their faces.  We really have no choice but to lean on them.  My gut tells me that Bryce Brown will be great someday, but that it is simply unreasonable to expect him to come exploding out of the gates from day one.  While he might end up factoring-in significantly by mid-season I don’t see him being the cure-all for the Vols offensive woes from last season immediately.

For this reason, I see Montario Hardesty as the man on which the Vols’ early-season offensive hopes hangs.  If he can stay healthy and stay focused, I think he has the potential to really put up some gaudy numbers behind the re-tooled offensive line with its zone-blocking scheme.  Of course, no matter how good Hardesty may be, if Tennessee cannot improve its passing game at least a little, then defenses are simply going to stack-up to kill the run all day long.  As a result, I think whether Hardesty is able to actually make things happens depends a great deal on whether the quarterback under center can play his role effectively.  If so, then I think that Tennessee’s backs should be more than strong enough to score some points.  If not, then the scores may be low—and the risk of injuries to the running backs great—as opposing defenses pound away at the Vols ground attack.

Still, I am hopeful and optimistic that running backs, now coached by Eddie Gran, are up to the challenge.

Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently, University of Tennessee students are getting a bit restless these days when it comes to the BasketVols—so restless, in fact, that they’ve decided en masse not to come to the games at all, and have chosen to stay home and take naps (or something along those lines).

According to Basilio only 312 students showed up for the Vols’ game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at the Tommy Bowl (a/k/a Thompson-Boling Arena).  Tennessee currently has nearly 30,000 students, so that adds up to around 1% of the total students bothered to come to the game.  Now admittedly, that game was played on Valentines Day, and maybe “love” was in the air, but only 312 students?  I know from my time on the Hill, there are usually plenty of undergraduates who don’t have dates at any given time (or ever, in the case of some folks).  Unlike football, students don’t have to get a ticket, and need only provide a valid student ID to get into the games, so the cost and annoyance argument is out the door.  Given the fact that students came in throngs last year, it appears that the students have simply gotten fickle and expect a little more from the program than what they are currently receiving.

So why have the students seemingly given up on this team?

I was a student at the University of Tennessee from 1994-1998.  When I arrived on campus as a freshman, the Vols were coming off their worst season in the history of the school.  The 1993-94 Vols won a grand total of 5 games under, then, coach Wade Houston who apparently did not even understand the rules of basketball.  Thus, my expectations were low when the 1994-95 season rolled around, despite the fact that Tennessee had a new head coach, Kevin O’Neill.  Still, I can say with conviction that I attended every home game that season and watched the Vols claw their way to an 11-16 record.

Great basketball, it was not.  Still, I went nonetheless.

Now I am not going to call into question the loyalties of the student body as a whole—we each make our own choices and decide what is important to us personally.  I suppose, given the lengths to which I have gone as a fan of the Big Orange (including running the Gate), I am one of those fans that you can count on to show up anytime the real Gate 21 (into Neyland Stadium) or the doors of the Tommy Bowl are open.  I suppose I am one of those nut-jobs who blindly supports the Vols regardless of the circumstances (this is not entirely true but, for the purposes of this article, it fits).  I guess that is why I always attended the games when I was a student.

Either way, only 312 students at the game is pretty slim pickings, and I am pretty sure — at a minimum — that out of the tens of thousands of students at UT, there are more than 312 students who, like me, are certifiable head-cases when it comes to supporting the Vols.

Read the rest of this entry »

Final Score: Florida 63 • Tennessee 79

Postgame: Quotes • Box Score

The BasketVols managed to get back in the win column versus the Florida Gators, grabbing a key win in the Tommy Bowl.  The win was the Tennessee Volunteers’ 4th straight and 6th win out of the last 7 games against the Gators.  More importantly, with the Kentucky Wildcats losing back to back games against first Ole Miss and then South Carolina, Tennessee moved back in the running for the SEC East, in a three way tie with Florida and the Wildcats (I know, they are technically a 1/2 game back, but who’s counting?).  At 13-7 (4-2 SEC), the Vols are very much in the mix as they enter the final month of the season.

The key feature of this game was the absence of mental lapses.  This was the first “complete” game the Vols have managed since beating Vanderbilt on the 20th of January.

Hopefully, this was a turning point…

'Scuse me! Comin' through!

The Vols only shot 49.2% from the field, but made up for it by shooting 42.9% from behind the 3-point arc.  The Vols were led offensively by Scotty Hopson, who scored 20 points, followed by Tyler Smith (16), Wayne Chism (12), and Bobby Maze (11).  Defensively, the Orange led in steals 10-5 over the Gators who gave up 18 turnovers.  This was probably the best defensive showing by Tennessee this season.  Of course, it is easier to play god defense when you jump out to a quick lead, which is exactly what the Vols did.

Starting out 6-0, Tennessee grabbed the lead and never relinquished it.  Leading by as much as 23 points in the second half (16:03 remaining), the closest Florida could get from there was 9 points (7:09 remaining).  The Vols responded by putting on more steam and kept it going down the the stretch, securing the 16 point victory.

Player of the Game Scotty Hopson seemed to really turn a corner, shooting 4-6 from 3-point range, along with his 27 minutes of solid defense and “smart” play moving the ball. Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism both did their part, each with 9 rebounds and a stifling presence.  Still, the win was a team effort with each of the Vols contributing in a positive and meaningful way.

• Stats Courtesy of: CBS Sports

With ESPN’s College GameDay crew in Knoxville, it’s nice to see the men in orange send a message to the nation.  What was that message?

We may be young, but we don’t quit, and we are getting stronger…

After the game, Tennessee Head Coach Bruce Pearl, said that he felt that the Vols were ready to beat Florida.  After losing to the LSU Tigers earlier in the week, he was heartened by the effort he saw getting ready to face the Gators, “After we lost Wednesday to LSU, we practiced hard Monday; they showed me at that time they intended to move on.”

Apparently, Bruce Almighty was right.

Now, if the Vols can capitalize on the momentum over the Gators and push forward as they get ready to take on Arkansas, Auburn, and Georgia, they can put themselves in a good position to compete for the SEC East title, with the overall SEC Title still within reach.  The Vols face the Arkansas Razorbacks 13–6 (1–5 SEC) on Wednesday, 4 February at 8:00 pm in Fayetteville.

– So it goes …

Image Courtesy of: ESPN.com / AP – Wade Payne

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

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

Despite falling behind by 10 points with just over 12 minutes to play in the second half, the Tennessee Volunteers managed their ninth consecutive victory over the Georgia Bulldogs this past Saturday, 86-77.  With this win, the BasketVols improve to 10-4 overall, and kicked-off conference play with a win.

But was it enough?

By most measuring sticks, Georgia is either the worst or second-worst team in the SEC—unquestionably the worst team in the SEC East.  Despite their weakness as a team, the Dawgs gave Tennessee all they could handle.  In a game which—on paper—should have been a rout, Bruce and the Barbarians found themselves behind with only minutes to play.  To their credit, the Big Orange refused to go down and played with tenacity down the stretch—perhaps spurred on by Bruce Pearl losing his suit jacket in the second-half as the Vols continued to flounder.  Whatever gave them the edge, credit their hustle and effort in helping to secure the victory.

Many have recently opined that this team is simply not as good as the 2007-08 squad.  I would not necessarily disagree with this estimation, but would add the qualifier “at this point.”  I add this slight caveat because I am still not entirely convinced that—at least from a talent perspective—this team is not in the same class as last year’s squad individually.  Of course, their play so far really does call that into question.

This team just seems to have a hard time playing together—especially in tight spots.  By all appearances, this inability to gel as a team does not owe to ego, a lack of cooperation, or a lack of effort.  To the contrary, with a few small exceptions, this team clearly wants and tries to play together as one unit.  For some reason, however, it just does not seem to click.

At times, some of this confusion seems to arise from the annoyingly “inconsistent inconsistencies”—one night it’s defense, the next transition, and the next free throws.  Each game seems to feature the debut of yet another weakness, along with the departure of an already established one.  It is the proverbial “one step forward, two steps back,” type of situation.

In other words, the ball keeps moving…

This every changing cycle of strength and collapse exacerbates the team cohesiveness problems.  To some extent, this is understandable—especially for the coaching staff as they try to fix what is not working.  Furthermore, if the teammate you count on to be a clutch free throw shooter suddenly goes 2-22 from the charity stripe, well that’s going to have a negative impact on both chemistry and confidence for the team as a whole.

In some ways, these changing problems which (in most cases can be fixed) are worse than consistently un-fixable ones.  If you know as a team that no one can hit a 3-point shot to save their life, then you can adjust by simply working that much harder to push the ball inside for the sure-thing 2 points.  When the problem seems to change every game, however, things get much more challenging since you simply cannot be sure where the obstacles will arise.

In the end, it seems likely that—for the time being—there are going to be very few “easy” wins for this team.  That said, I do have faith in this team—and more importantly this staff—and believe that they will find a way to get things running on all cylinders.  I just do not know when.

It didn’t hurt that Tyler Smith—who was not even expected to play against the Dawgs—took it upon himself to drag the BasketVols to victory with his 24 points (13 in the second half) and 11 rebounds.  All of this after he was on crutches on Friday afternoon.  So far this season, the Vols have had a real habit of relying on a single leader to pull them through games.  While that isn’t how it should work, for now it is working.

And a win, after all, is still a win…

Smith Grabs Rebound vs Georgia

With the Kentucky Wildcats coming into the Tommy Bowl on Tuesday night, the Vols are going to have to find a a way to rise to the challenge, not as a collection of talented individuals, fraught with intermittent failures, and teetering on the edge of disaster.  The Vols are going to have to find a way to rise together, and meet the Wildcats as a team.  The Wildcats are sure to put the Vols to the the test.

Prior to the Georgia game, Cameron Tatum was quoted as saying: “This is our season now.  This is what we’ve been working for.“

Hopefully, he is right.

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: KNS / AP / John Curry

A List of Reminiscing…

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

My new logo

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

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

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

Thanks Coach

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

CLK

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

Champs

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

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

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

Thanks Chris and JaJuan

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

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

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

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

Monte!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17) This play:

18) These dunks:

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

Monte!

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

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

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

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

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

25) Shaun Ellis: This was just plain funny…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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