Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Funniest Comercial right Now

I know i am a little video happy right now but this is great!! What is funny, he hasn't even played yet.

Greatest You Tube this week

Thanks to the guys at RockyTopTalk we have this great video of Coach Fulmer and the Vols. Is about six minutes long, wait for it, It is worth it!!!



Saturday, December 1, 2007

SEC FanFare


Man what a day. We left the limits of the city of Birmingham at around nine o'clock, I got home at sometime before two this morning. Was glad t be there too, After Ryan took us on a scenic tour of the Atlanta Metro Area after midnight. I think we were offered a few dates, and Jim was offered something to make his head feel better more than a couple of times. All in all it was a stressful moment to say the least. Have to defend him though, their directional signage leaves something to be desired.

Let me say this, if you have small children and are football fans, this was the place to be. Lots of activities to keep them in memories for a long time. From playing flag football with legends of the game, to the Quarterback Challenge, with greats like Condridge Holloway, Rohan Davey, and Alan Risher. Also got to meet and talk to such greats as Tommy Hodson, and Eddie Fuller, the two LSU players responsible for the Earthquake game against Auburn. Met Tennessee greats Tee Martin, Al Wilson, Chuck Smith, Carl Pickens and Haskel Stanback. Amazing how a lot of them seem so different than what you imagine. Some of these Legends of Folklore come off as being shy and timid, something you really do not expect. One of my observations was watching one of these football greats, walk into the building and over to the event site he was supposed to be featured. Was wearing blue jeans, a T-shirt and old worn out sneakers that look like they should have been retired three years ago. He reaches into a plastic Kroger grocery sack, and pulls out his jersey from it. Puts it on and then becomes someone that is admired by many. Two minutes before he didn't get a second look. But with his name and numbers across his back, everybody loved him again.

A lot of free swag was available for the taking. from signs to shakers to posters to megaphones. Have your picture taken with cows, trophies, or beautiful women placed there just to get your attention. You can sample food, buy a beer for $6.75, and play all the X-box you wanted to play. There were interactive games from football to Golf, Basketball to Cornhole. You name it, you could find it, need that Christmas present for the person who has it all? How about a Satin robe with the colors and Logo of the Tigers and Vols. But mostly there were fans. Big ones and little ones. Young and Old. Some that were there just to see how much free stuff they could cram into their bag, and some that were there like me just trying to cram in the feeling of the moment. Fans. Tradition. Pride. I think those are the things I took away from the event. And they too were free.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Coaching Carousel


I read Blake Ell's blog and he beat me to it. I had every intention of sitting down and writing my invitation to Coach O to come North East to Knox-Vegas. It isn't that far, you can find it from there coach, "Tell him Jo-Jo!"




As a head coach he was in way over his head. I was living in Memphis when he was hired. He coached one game against Memphis on the annual holiday weekend game. The rebels were off the next weekend because of the short week. So Coach O jumped on a plane and flew back to Southern California and went to Pete Carroll and asked uncle Petey to sit down and watch game film with him and tell him what they were doing wrong. You just paid this Coon Ass a lot of money and he runs back home with his tail between his legs when he cannot win. Memphis was starting a back up place kicker at quarterback that year. But the guy can recruit. With Trooper handling the offensive recruiting, I think the O man could bring some life back to the Vols Defense. But I am one man and it is simply how i feel.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

What a Difference.... Ok I am getting tired of saying it.


I usually wait until Sunday to write my recap of Saturday games. I will go more in depth but wanted to step in for a minute. I said back in the summer when we did our Guarantee show that I thought the following would happen. #1 Bama would lose some games, and it would not be because the other team outplayed them but for many other things. #2 Dawson would eat a lot of words this year. #3 West Virginia would win the National Title. #4 If they did win the Heisman would go to Pat White, or Steve Slaton. Looks like I hit the first two. Number three is looking good, but I will not win on #4. I do believe they should declare it a draw. It should go to Tebow and McFadden. The trophy says "The most outstanding player in college football." How can anyone argue either one of those two being given that title. The fact that both of them run and Pass, I think that puts them head and shoulders above the rest.


"We're going to Atlanta, We're going to Atlanta, We're going to Atlanta."

I am so sick of everyone saying that my Vols do not deserve to represent the East. For all of you, that still feels that way, I have the Tennessee/Georgia game on my DVR, we can have a viewing party if you like. Then you can tell me why the Dawgs need to be there. LSU is coming in with two conference losses, hey same as us how bout that. We shut down Moreno. We shut down McFadden, and put Jones out of the game. Plain and simple we took care of our business. It wasn't pretty, but tell me whose season was. LSU, Fla, GA, NOONE ! Now it is time to get revenge for 2001. I was just hoping we could be the ones to knock them out of the title.


The #7 ranked Vols Basketball team went down with a thud tonight. Lost by almost twenty in the "Stub Hub legends Classic" A tough Texas team brought them back down to earth. What is the deal with them. Last year they lost everyone. The year before they lost everyone. Yet they keep coming stronger. I think they are going to be charging through the polls soon.


Saw a sign at the Iron bowl today. "Nick Satan 666, 6 wins 6 losses 6 in a row!! Nice. will come back tomorrow with more.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Oh what a difference.....Hell you have heard it before!!


I apologize to you my loyal visitors that come by here and read the things that spew out of my mind and soul. Life and times have been tough the past few weeks, and blogging has not been at the top of the priority list. So I will try to do better.

Apologies aside lets get to the venom you have grown to hate. Where do we start...... Hmm lets go with ol Bionic Coach and the sheep. Here is the thing with them. If you go back and look at every respectable prediction of their season, and you will find that the tiders are right where most people thought they would be. Some had them losing to us, some had them losing to Arky, so they are right where they thought they would be. At this point in the season Jim Dunaway had them at 7-3 and 5-2 in the conference. Which is not too far off. We all threw out these predictions at the start of the season that sounded weird because we thought the PARODY would be the biggest factor. We just underestimated the ripple effect of those losses. We did not take into consideration the coaching carousel that would ensue. But what happened was some teams won some games they were not supposed to (Bammer) and some teams lost a couple games they were not supposed to (Aubie and Rocky Top) and all the sudden the Crimson Vile that started spewing out from the sheep was unbearable. Go back to about week three or four of the season and read some blogs and comments. Let Us lose to Cal and Fla, let Aubie lose to South Florida and get Croomed. Read where the sheep were talking so much smack about how they were "Back to collect their championships that they had let everyone else use for a few years." Here are some random posts I have found to be humorous. No names to be given, but are public blogs:

The Auburn Tigers…..Well of course I am going to start with them. I have some self control but come on people I have been forbidden to go to my own games so it gives me great joy to talk about Auburn losing. What gives me more joy is that this was Auburn’s second home field lose and to a team, who if I remember correctly, we were laughed at for losing to last year. Oh how the tables have turned. I get yet another rush of joy to see after a week of calling for Brandon Cox to be benched your saving grace Cody Burns still couldn’t get it done. Auburn’s entire offense is in MAJOR trouble. If the line can’t protect against the defense of Miss State they have no hope against teams like Florida and LSU. The quarterback situation is dismal at best and the receivers and running backs look like high schoolers playing way out of their league.Now before my fellow Bama fans jump on me about calling Auburn “mighty”, let’s all remember that before the season began they were a top 25 team and supposed to be battling LSU for the SEC West. Funny how Alabama now leads the SEC West race 2-0. Can we now all agree Auburn is not as good as they once believed they were?

Never doubt Alabama alumnus Pete Holiday's ability to wear a dispassionate SEC hat and avoid homering in on his beloved Crimson Tide. I had not planned to include Alabama in the 'mediocre' category; they return too much talent, have a great quarterback, and of course they now have a strong coaching staff."Might want to consider Alabama for a 'mediocre' rating," wrote Pete in an email. "With Saban tempering expectations the way he is, we could be in for a 7 or 8 win season.""No freaking way is Alabama mediocre," I replied. "I have Kentucky and South Carolina. That's it."Pete thought it over. "We'll see. I don't see them finishing in the top 1/3 of the conference this year... but I'd be happy to be wrong about that."Viewing 2007 through those deceitful pre-season glasses, the conference's Top 4 will probably be Florida, LSU, Auburn, and Tennessee. Knocking on the door will be Alabama and Georgia. Then, and only then, do you hit the mediocre category: Kentucky and South Carolina are the dark horses.So there you have it, Pete: I'm saying Alabama will finish in the SEC's Top 5.

For five years Auburn had the run of the state. How long did it take to undo that half-decade of dominance?Three weeks. Six football games.Here it is, not even October yet, and Auburn's 2007 football season is already lying on the ground a smoking, rotting corpse, turning putrid in the late summer heat. They're done, ladies and gentlemen. In one fell swoop, the Auburn Tigers have fallen from the heights of their self-imagined greatness back to the status quo so familiar to them over the past 100-plus years… back to being a second-tier SEC team, with their only hope for redemption (as always) pinned on upsetting Alabama in the Iron Bowl later this year.This is a fun time to be an Alabama fan and alumni of that great school. As far as I'm concerned, Coach Nick Saban earned every cent of his $4 million a year last Saturday night. No matter what happens the rest of this season, it's obvious this man knows how to coach and fits perfectly with this program. I don't care about his salary. I checked my bank account this morning, and Nick Saban ain't costing me a dime personally. And I don't care if he refuses to play golf and stroke the ego of some millionaire coal mine-owning booster. I'd rather he concentrate on football, thank you very much. Because I liked what I saw last Saturday: I liked seeing Sly Croom whip Auburn. I relished seeing Tennessee getting spanked by the Gators. And I loved seeing Bama hang tough and pull out a win when the odds seem so stacked against them.The road ahead will be tough. No one should be expecting this Crimson Tide team to win every game on the schedule this year. (And the same time, it's not unreasonable to hope that is exactly what will happen!) But no matter what happens the remainder of this year, it is clear that Alabama is headed in the right direction. And Alabama fans know well the destination to which this road eventually leads.


The net is full of these. If you want to take the time it is really good reading. You are sure to have a couple good laughs at the wisdom of these people that knew the ship was right, the savior was on the sidelines and the nation should be scared. Trembling I am not. We have seen many a crazy outcomes this year, hey we were on the blunt end of one or two of them but we hold the keys to the bus that is own its way to a Hotlanta showdown with the Bengal Tigers. We will get to my team later.

Lets go between the hedges and look at the War Eagle Tigers of Auburn. I needed them to knock off the dogs. I needed Carolina to knock off the Gators too. Don't count on others to help your cause. Ain't gonna happen. But I was worried about the Orange and Blue going to Athens. Auburn has played great at times and weak at times. I have many times compared them to my Vols. Young talent, with experience at QB, and leadership on defense. But what I have seen is a team that can get up for some and let others sneak through. Have seen them shut down the run in Fayetteville, but get run over last night. Have seen them shut down the stars in Gainesville and Baton Rouge, but get deflated by Croom and The Hat. I think they will be really good over the next couple of years, and i think they have a good chance against the Bionic one. But I can also see them losing big to the sheep. They seem to have problems when they face a true balanced offense. The sheep can bring that to the table. Grant is good, but Wilson is about as dependable as flip flops on your feet running the 100 meter dash. You do not know what team will show up. This could either be the most entertaining game of the season, or it could be the sloppiest, ugly games we have tried to watch. Will in all likely scenarios, send the winner of the Iron Bowl to Atlanta, to the Chik-fil-A bowl and the loser to probably Memphis or Nashville.

Mississippi State is a good team. They have improved every week since the opener against LSU. I was glad to come out of there with a win. Carroll is going to be good. That defense already is. They have to get some help on the O-line. Every time I looked up they were in the backfield chasing Carroll or pounding him into the ground. Have got to have some support in the trenches. I think this will be a decent team over the next couple of years. But the major thing with them is the defense. Do you realize that Bama has not scored an Offensive Touchdown in the last THREE GAMES AGAINST CROOM AND THE BULLDOGS!!!!! That is INSANE!!!

Now to my VOLS. Where to start. Coaching. You have heard me say on this board that it is time for Fulmer to go. Still think that is the case but he is sure helping his cause. So much that 191 of his former players took out a full page ad in the News Sentinel calling the murmurs "laughable -- if the potential consequences weren't so serious." But nonetheless I think we are seeing some improvements. Cutcliffe has all but abandoned the pass. Run it early and run it often . Run till you get tired then we substitute for you and we run some more. But we marched up the field and down the field eating up a lot of time and keeping the hogs from ever getting into a rhythm. We only had 151 yds on the ground, arkansas had 10 more yards total offense, but we had 7:00 more in time of possession. "It seemed like they were on the field the entire first half," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said of the Vols. "We got out of rhythm." McFadden who rushed for 321 yds last week against a stingy Carolina team, was supposed to run over us like a steamroller. He settled for 117 yds on 22 carries. "He's a great back," Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo said. "But he's not going to win the Heisman Trophy in Neyland Stadium." Felix Jones, he settled for a deep thigh bruise and 3 yds and left the game early. "Nobody thought we could win this game," Mayo said. "We weren't surprised because we played well on defense at home all year," he said. "Our pride has been bruised all year." I can agree with that. whole heartily. In a weekend where we take one more step toward Atlanta, The Bionic one gets CROOMED! Jim Tressle gets Zooked, Aubie gets bit hard by the dawgs, and superior looks inferior........ Man what a difference a week makes!!!!!!




Monday, October 22, 2007

Picture tells it all. Got pushed around, just not legally.





Why did it take me two and a half days to post following the "Breakdown in Old Drunk-Denny" on Saturday? Well it didn't this is just the one that finally made it to the publish button. I have about five other drafts that I typed up, but then cooler heads prevailed before I put them up here for all you good people to read. I have family and in-laws that do read this, and I want to keep them coming back here, so I will leave my screaming and cussing for when the Phillip Fulmer show comes on. (Actually it already has, and apparently if you spin the remote as it leaves your hand, the screen of the TV does not break, or dent. Remember that in the future Megan.) Besides , I am not supposed to blog while eating, and there has been a lot of crow to eat. I have had many friends ask me for my take on the game. I am an open and very opinionated person, it gets me in trouble often, ask my wife. So instead of spewing my hatred for the Bionic Coach and the legions of Sheep, (Man if I can figure out a way to put Saban and Sheep together and make it work, somebody be working on the artwork for the shirt, I'll get back to you......Sabeeps? nah, Sheebans?...) I will do my best to give you an objective look at the third Saturday in October. Um.... Well... Ok I tried, sorry sheep you get the real me. And I bleed Orange, so I can not objectively look at you, you bunch of....... Family, I know, I know. Well I will try.






This past game week was like no other Third Saturday, or Fourth Saturday for those years, that I can remember. Bammer Sheep spent the better part of the week trying to make everyone believe that they really did deserve to win against "O YO YO YO YOO YO YOO YO Miss" last weekend. It took someone posting a picture from Google Earth or something to try to justify it. Bottom line you were given the win. The call was overturned, there was not indisputable evidence to support that. Bottom line, blown call, gift. The sheep were more worried about that call than the tradition that was the third week in October. Had a weird feeling all week. Saturday morning on gameday, the first one I have even watched all year, they never even mentioned bammer in their predictions for the game except for saying who the Vols were going to beat. I told Jim Friday night during the Jacks High School show that I had a bad feeling about the game. That I had the same comfortably confident feeling that I did before the Cal game. Bad. Have become very superstitious over the past couple of seasons. Not sure why.






I made the decision not to go to the game to stay in good standings with the wife. She just could not believe I could go without getting into it with some sheep. Hindsight.....Good call hun. Truly my better half. Instead I decided to go to good ol' BWW in Trussville. I knew my buddy Jay would be bar tending and there would be plenty of sheep to harass. So when I get a text message from a friend saying that he heard that five players were suspended from bammer I was plum giddy. Felt ten foot tall and was only on my first beer. Newcastle was the one of choice, help me remember that, never drink Newcastle on game day. Kick off...............



It goes downhill from there. believe me you guys don't want the play by play.






Here are the things that I want to point out as being the conversation points of the game.






Bold move on the Onside kick call. Fulmer's quote on his show was that we should have recovered it. "We practice it every week, shouldn't have been a problem." ummm ok coach.






Why was the defense so predictable. JPW is not Manning. He is not the best one at dissecting a defense. But if we went man, our true freshman DB's were toasted. If we went zone, it was either a run or a slant for eight or nine. Were we calling it out? Were we that bold that we were telling them what we were going to run, daring them to beat us? A lot of the time it looked that way. Either way they picked us apart. Plain as that.






OK you knew I could not write this and not bring it up. Officiating. There were six penalties that came on third or fourth down that allowed the Alabama drive to continue. The offsides on the dramatic shift, I give you. My man got played like a banjo. The roughing the passer??? Come on, I have hit my great grandmother harder. He touched him. The pass interference call when we made the interception in the end zone. You are kidding me right? Watch the replay. slow it down the receiver was not impeded, pulled , nothing. both hands are still outstretched. He acted surprised when he realized a flag had been thrown. I had seven text messages after that call. Auburn fans, Clemson fans, Lsu fans, MSU fans, and BAMA fans telling me to calm down that the play was CRAP!! That is when in my opinion the momentum changed. Not the interception Ainge threw, that is just the play when someone actually did something. The sheep cannot say, "The game changed when the officials gave us the ball back when we turned it over." And I know what you are saying, what about the fumble that TN got back. Fulmer said they told the officials that they were going to run the shovel pass, reverse type thing. It was a STUPID play, with POOR execution. The running game was working why get cute? That is why we got the ball, was an incomplete pass.






If there was any momentum left we lost it when we kicked the ball straight to Arenas to start the second half. But in my opinion the coaches had already packed it in. Fulmer plays this game not to lose. He does not PLAY TO WIN. his punting the ball away in the fourth quarter proved that. We have always been able to get two or three yards. Hell every pass play in our offense starts with a two yard route. Nice call Coach.






Daniel Lincoln was once again the bright spot. Has missed one kick all year. Honorable mention to the O-line. Didn't give up a sack, but it wasn't from lack of effort, Erik was pressured all day, just really good at getting rid of the ball. But he had two INTs so......






The Vols have some injuries to overcome. Our #1 receiver Lucas Taylor had a foot injury that held him back with only two catches on the day. Josh Briscoe suffered a concussion when his helmet bounced off the turf. He came back in for one more catch, but did not remember even being in the game. Then there is Monterio Hardesty. He is the number two running back. Did not see the field. Fulmer said it was because he did not catch the ball as well out of the backfield. Yet on third down he put Creer into the game. Rumors are that he was not present at practice on Sunday night. Not a good thing.






I think the Vols will win one more they are not supposed to. But think they will lose at least two in the stretch.






Bammer has given fans something to cheer about. It has now starting to sound delusional again. SEC champs and even National title Contenders. In this crazy season who knows, if they do I will move to an Island and take up Cricket. I hear it is big over in Starkville, maybe it is worth looking in to.






Thursday, October 18, 2007

More fun





more fun











My turn to play !

Monday, October 15, 2007

new belly fat!!


Go check out Fulmers Belly. I just published a new one over there!!!




Thanks for all the Tennessee love I am getting, but even more thanks for the Bammer Hate mail.. I love it, tells me I am doing my job.


Thanks Jimmy

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Greatest post ever written


This was posted on VolNation a few years ago, but is still the greatest post I have ever read. It is a long read, but worth it!!


I HATE THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE !!!

- 1999


Fellow Volunteer Fans,As many of you who have participated on this list for more than 12months know, this is the week that I live for the whole year. It is timefor me to post my annual treatise on why I HATE THE ALABAME CRIMSON TIDE.While many parts of this posting are carry overs from several years, I doadd new parts to this annual posting each year so I hope y'all continue toenjoy it.THE BAMA GAME . For me, one of my main reasons for living andbreathing as a Tennessee Volunteer Fan is so that I CAN HATE THE ALABAMACRIMSON TIDE! As most of you know by now, I DESPISE THEM. I really don'tgive a rip about Florida. Someone asked me two years ago to write anequivalent post prior to the Florida game. I couldn't come up with anythingmore than a few sentences. Once again this year, THE GAME officiallydubbed the "Third Saturday in October" will be played on the fourthSaturday. This game belongs on the Third Saturday in October. You know,there was never a book written titled Fourth Saturday in October. It just"ain't" right, and I would petition the Athletic Directors of both schoolsand the SEC Commissioner to put a stop to some of this nonsense. October ismy favorite month of the year. It always has been, not just the last twoyears. It is when there is a crisp coolness in the air, and the colorsOrange and Crimson splash on a field of Green. You know, I really wish thatwe could do away with the silly rule that states that the home team wearsdark and the visitor wears white. This is only really necessary if bothteams have the same color jerseys. I know that as recently as the early'80s, UT wore orange jerseys and Bama wore their red ones. But, I digress.I hope y'all enjoy reading (or rereading) as much as I enjoy living it. Allin all, this post is getting harder and harder to write every year. Mainlybecause we have beaten Bama each of the past four years. Also, since I nolonger live there, I don't see, read, or hear as much on a day to day basisto inflame me like it used to. However, then I start to remember 1986-1994and it is like pouring gas on a fire.For me, this week is HIGH HOLY WEEK and the Saturday of theTennessee-Alabama game is the HIGHEST of my HIGH HOLY DAYS. It is biggerthan my birthday, the 4th of July, or all of the Federal Holidays that I getall combined. It is the one day of the year that I literally think aboutevery single day the other 364. Not a single solitary day goes by that Idon't somehow, some way think about the Tennessee-Alabama game. Until 1997,I lived in north Alabama, so I saw a lot of BAMA paraphernalia. Every timeI see an Alabama Bumper sticker I think about THE GAME. Every time I seesomeone wearing an Alabama sweatshirt or T-shirt, I think about THE GAME.Every time I see the color red, I think about THE GAME. I hate the colorred. Red is the one color that refuse to wear. My wife will pick out ashirt or a pair of shorts in a store that she thinks will look good on me.If it is crimson or red I will refuse to buy it. My wife bought a new car afew years ago. A red one. It is a cool car, but I hate the color. Everytime I see it, I think about THE GAME. If I pull up to a traffic light andthe signal is red, I think about THE GAME. What makes it worse is there isusually some "bubba" in front of me with a BAMA bumper sticker. If I'mlucky enough to be first at the light, then the idiot on the other side ofthe intersection will have a BAMA license plate on their front bumper. GOD,I HATE BAMA! Every single night when I used to watch the sports news in theHuntsville-Decatur area, there was going to be something said about theCrimson Tide and I would think about THE GAME. Every time I saw aBirmingham Paper and I saw Paul Finebaum or Bill Lumpkin's columns, youcould bet that somehow they were going to work in at least one sentenceabout the Crimson Tide. It made no difference that they might have beenwriting a column about equestrian or water polo. There was a restaurant upthe road from where I worked where I often had lunch. They had a pictureof Paul "Bear" Bryant on the wall behind the cash register. I would seethat DAMN PICTURE, and I immediately thought about THE GAME.For me, BAMA not Florida, is Tennessee's nemesis. Tennessee andBama already had a series record long before Florida students knew how tospell the word "football". I HATE BAMA's GUTS. I HATE THE ALABAMA CRIMSONTIDE with every word I speak, every blink of my eyes, every thought that Ihave, every breath I take, and every beat of my heart. I HATE THE ALABAMACRIMSON TIDE!!! I literally cannot stand the sight of 'em. When I firstmoved to north Alabama and was single, I glued an Alabama decal to thebottom of my commode in my apartment. It was a "natural law" on Saturdayafternoon that you would sit around the apartment all day watching collegefootball and drinking beer. It was a rule that you had to yell, "PISS ONALABAMA" every time you went to the bathroom. It was even better when I hadto sit down. 8-) (no, I didn't have a wife or son at that time. Really theonly thing that I don't like about being married is that I can't do thisanymore. :-( )I also know that a majority of the players we have on our team nowconsider Florida to be our arch rival in the SEC. There are only a handfulof players on our team who can remember the last time we lost to ALABAMA.However, I remember. From the time I was in the fifth grade at the age of10, I was listening to Tennessee play football on a Magnavox transistorradio that my Dad had. I carried that radio around with me everywhere Iwent in the fall. I was never without that radio on Saturday afternoonswith it tuned to WREC AM600 in Memphis with John Ward blaring out on thesingle speaker. Back in those days, Tennessee didn't play 9 out of 11games on television like they do now. In those days usually only one gameper year was on TV. That was a team that I later learned to fear, thenlearned to HATE, then suffered against. They were a team that wore redjerseys and whose coach was called Bear Bryant. He was revered as a god. IHATED THAT TEAM. There was a kid named in my neighborhood who was a fewyears older than me. All I ever heard out of Matt's mouth during footballseason was ALABAMA this and ALABAMA that. "Bear Bryant is the greatestcoach ever." "Alabama is the greatest team." "Alabama won back to backNational Championships, Tennessee can't even win the SEC because Tennesseecan't beat ALABAMA." "Tennessee can't beat THE BEAR." "Tennessee can'tbeat the CRIMSON TIDE". I did fully understand what kind of a mascot theCrimson Tide was, but I HATED them. For at least 5 years through the lastyears of elementary school and junior high school, I heard this rattletrapfrom that guy almost every single Saturday afternoon. Every singleafternoon after school that all the kids in the neighborhood played footballin the front yard, I had to hear this load from this guy. From my point ofview, he was right. In my short time of loving UT and being a UT fan and"watching" all their games on the radio, I had never known us to beat BAMA.Year in and year out, we lost to BAMA. I HATED ALABAMA. I wanted to beatTHE BEAR worse than anything just so I could rub it in Matt's face that wehad beaten his BELOVED ALABAMA. WE HAD BEATEN THE BEAR. I HATED THECRIMSON TIDE. I PRAYED TO GOD FOR A DAY THAT WE WOULD BEAT ALABAMA!!! I remember an October afternoon in 1982 when Coach Johnny Majors led the Vols to a victory over Alabama. I don't remember if I cried or not, but I know that I listened to every single down on my Dad's Magnavox radio. I was sohappy, I went right over to Matt's house to rub his face in it. He wasn'thome. Thank you Matt, you taught me at a young age one of the GREATESTTRUTHS in my life. I HATE ALABAMA!!!I HATE BAMA because they beat the Gators in the Swamp!!! (Okay, Idon't really hate it all that bad, but it does erk me severely....)I HATE BAMA because most of their fans are a bunch of dumb idiot,cousin dating, illiterate, rednecks who couldn't find Tuscalosa on a map ofthe State of Alabama if the Southeastern Conference Championship depended onit. Shucks, half of 'em probably can't find the State of Alabama on a mapof the United States. They are so dumb that they proudly wear flip-flopsand overalls out on the town to Walmart on a Saturday night because theycan't tie their own shoes or zip up their pants. However, they proudly flythose BAMA flags from the window of their new 1999 Red Chevrolet or Dodgepick-up trucks with their BAMA bumper stickers on the rear bumper. Thetruck probably cost 3 times their annual income, but is worth 5 times morethan the 1970's model house trailer that they proudly park it in front ofnext to a brand new satellite dish so they can watch their "beloved" CRIMSONTIDE play and fail to cover the spread against the likes of Bowling Green,Southern Miss, Tulane, etc., etc. on Pay-Per-View. Every once in a while,BAMA plays a really, REALLY, BIG GAME against seasoned, SEC opponents likeKentucky or Vanderbilt. Isn't it strange that one of BAMA's permanent SECEastern Division Opponents is Vanderbilt? What is really sad is the idiotBAMA FANS who actually will engage you in a conversation about how the"Green Wave" or "Vanderbilt" could actually give BAMA a tough game. Then,after BAMA only beats one of these "bunnies" by one or two touchdowns, theyget mad because BAMA didn't climb 6 places in the A.P. Top 25 Poll. Then, IHATE BAMA because I have to listen to these same BAMA FANS explain why thereason that BAMA didn't cover the spread against Vandy, Tulane, or BrownieTroop 247 is BECAUSE (Are y'all ready for this?), "Stallings (now MikeDuBose) didn't want Tennessee and Auburn to really see what BAMA has for ateam. They were just sandbagging until later in the season when they bringout the big guns." UNBELIEVABLE!!! I will admit that I haven't heard muchof this stuff this season since Mr. Dubose took over as head coach, but Ithink those losses to "seasoned" opponents like La. Tech in 2 of the last 3years shut most of this up. However, if they had greased those games likethey normally do, instead of losing, I'm sure I'd have heard any earful bynow.I HATE BAMA because of those two fans who go to games with a roll oftoilet paper stuck on a box of Tide washing powder held with plungers. Idon't think I've ever watched a BAMA game that those two idiots somehowdon't wind up on NATIONAL television. I went to lunch just last week withsome coworkers in the Birmingham office. They took me to some placeplastered with nothing but BAMA crap all over the walls. As I was walkingout of the door I caught glimpse of these idiots in newspaper picture thatwas framed and hanging on the wall. I received an e-mail after the 1996game. In case you think I'm kidding, here it is.>In case y'all were at the game and didn't tape it. Guess what two>guys were part of CBS' intro to THE GAME. That's right. Right there with>the footage of General Neyland, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Johnny Majors (as the>player not the coach) Reggie White, and all the other Third Saturday in>October greats of the past...>> Oh well, I guess anyone who works that hard deserves to be on>Television. At least they aren't wearing "HOG HATS".Last season Roy Kramer gave me another reason to HATE BAMA thatreally didn't come to light until Saturday, September 18th , 1999. I havealways signed my personal email, "My two favorite teams are TENNESSEE andwhoever plays Alabama." However, thanks to Mr. Kramer's Bowl ChampionshipSeries, the BCS ranks teams and uses your opponents records in the formulafor where you are ranked. Therefore, I cannot desire for ALABAMA to go 0-11anymore. THIS IS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!. On the Saturday that the TIDE wasbeaten on the last second play by Louisiana Tech, I almost jumped out of mychair laughing. I great sense of joy filled my heart. Then my brain tookover. That hurts Tennessee in the BCS rankings. Gosh Dangit! Even whenBAMA loses they find a way to hurt us. I HATE BAMA FOR MAKING OUR SCHEDULELOOK WEAK IN THE BCS RANKINGS WHEN THEY LOSE TO LA. TECH AND I HATE THE BCS FOR MAKING ME WANT BAMA TO WIN WHEN THEY AREN'T PLAYING THE VOLS. IT GOES AGAINST EVERY FIBER IN MY BODY. I CAN'T DO IT! I HATE BAMA TOO MUCH!!!I HATE BAMA because in 1992 David Palmer got not one, but TWO DUI'sand the BAMA GRAD JUDGE gave him "youthful offender status" so he could playfootball for the Crimson Tide when they won the '92 national championship.If that had been you or I, we'd still be in jail. Question: What year didDavid Palmer GRADUATE from the University of Alabama?I HATE BAMA because of Forrest Gump. I truly love the movie ForrestGump. I have seen it over a dozen or so times. It is one of my favoritemovies. I remember going to see Forrest Gump for the first time at themovie theater. I was thoroughly enjoying the movie when the scene whereForrest and Jenny are walking home from high school comes up. Forrest takesoff running and runs across the high school football field where a youngPaul Bear Bryant wearing that black and white checked cap is recruiting. Imust admit that scene took me by surprise. Very quickly, I forgot all aboutthe movie "Forrest Gump" and started thinking about TENNESSEE vs. ALABAMA!The next scene I see Forrest in an ALABAMA football uniform streaking downthe field to score a touchdown. The crowd is doing an ALABAMA card trick inthe stands. ( I wished we still did cards in college football.) Forrestruns all the way down the field, into the end zone, and out the tunnel. Ittook me several minutes to get back into the movie. I just kept thinkingabout ALABAMA. At the time the movie came out, Tennessee had lost toALABAMA 8 times in a row. I COULD THINK ABOUT WAS THE GAME AND MY THIS JUSTADDED MORE FUEL FOR MY HATE OF ALABAMA!!!I HATE BAMA because they are a bunch of ARROGANT WHINERS. Fouryears ago when BAMA lost to Arkansas, they got upset because of a blown callby the officials. This happens all the time in football and is simply partof the game. Sometimes the breaks go your way, and sometimes they go theother way. BUT NOT FOR BAMA, THEY GOT THE WHOLE ENTIRE SEC OFFICIATING CREWSUSPENDED FOR A WEEKEND BECAUSE THEY HAD THE AUDACITY TO BLOW A CALL THATWOULD HAVE GONE IN BAMA's FAVOR.I HATE BAMA because they still talk about Paul Bear Bryant in thepresent tense. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the late PaulBryant, but I am sick and tired of some redneck Bama Fan who, while pumpinggas at the gas station, sees my "GO BIG ORANGE" license plate on the frontof my car and starts telling me what THE BEAR would have done if he had beencoaching the VOLS against Florida. I already know what the BEAR would havebeen doing. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN MOLDING BECAUSE HE IS DEAD. Bama Fans arealmost as bad as Elvis fans when it comes to this. I say "almost" because,to my knowledge, Bama fans don't dress up like the Bear and hold acandlelight vigil at his graveside the way fans of the King do in Memphisevery year. Q: How many Bama fans does it take to change a light bulb?A: 75,001 - one to change the bulb and 83,818 to sit in Bryant-DennyStadium and talk about how good the old bulb was. Several years ago, I waslistening to the Rush Limbaugh radio show and a lady called him fromsomewhere in Alabama. When Rush introduced her and said the name of thetown, and state she was from she started talking about being raised inAlabama, and emphasized the fact that it was the same state that Bear Bryantmade his famous coaching tenure. I'm driving along and wondering, "Doesthis lady actually believe that there is anyone with any intelligencewhatsoever who doesn't know where THE BEAR is from?" Then I realized thepoint. She was honestly believed that she was supposed to be special andprivileged because she happened to live in the same State as the late Bearcoached. She didn't have anything to contribute to Rush's Show, sheapparently just wanted to make that point. He rather quickly got rid ofher. I was so white knuckled from gripping the steering wheel and cursingThe Crimson Tide and her arrogance that I almost had to pull over. By theway, this was in 1991 only a few weeks after we had suffered our sixthstraight loss to the Tide.There is a nice print available that shows different scenes of the Tidebeating Miami in the Sugar Bowl to win the 1992 National Championship.These scenes in the print are contained within an area that is the shadow ofPaul Bear Bryant's head wearing his famous hat. WHAT IN THE HECK DID PAULBEAR BRYANT HAVE TO DO WITH ALABAMA, COACHED BY GENE STALLINGS, WINNING THE 1992 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP? OH YEAH, STALLINGS WAS ONE OF THE BEAR'S BOYS......Three weeks ago I carried an ornamental garden hose hangar that belongs to my wife to a welding shop in Lilburn, GA, to be repaired. As Iwas waiting on the welder to finish, I suddenly got that feeling that I wasbeing watched. I slowly turned around and could see into plate glasswindow of the welding shop office. Hanging on the wall was this same printof the Tide's victory over Miami in the outline of the BEAR. The BEAR wasstaring at me. I felt it on my back. It was as if he were there. I HATEBAMA.....I HATE BAMA! Because after living in Decatur, Alabama for FIVE OFTHE LONGEST YEARS OF MY LIFE, I FINALLY got the opportunity to move toAtlanta, GA. I figured this would be great. Since Georgia Tech chickenedout and left the SEC, Atlanta is basically an "SEC Neutral" town much likeMemphis (my original hometown). My wife and I got to Atlanta and we found ahouse that she and I both liked. When I entered the living room, my eyesabout flew out of my head. The shelves were filled with ALABAMAparaphernalia complete with the "Paul Bear Bryant" Coca-Cola bottles. Fromthere I walked out on the back deck. Sitting in a pool was a three foottall elephant rared up on this hind legs with trunk in the air blowing waterup and back down into the pool. The Elephant was sporting a RED A on hisside. I about lost it right there as my blood pressure climbed 15 places inthe top 25.. My first question was, "That does go with y'all, correct?".Of course, my wife loved the place and shortly after we moved in, Iperformed a full blown orange exorcism. Unfortunately, the deck underneathwhere that damn elephant was sitting is permanently stained. So, GUESS WHATCOMES TO MY MIND EVERY TIME I SEE THAT DAMN SPOT? YOU GUESSED IT, THAT GODFORSAKEN ELEPHANT AND WITH IT, THE GAME. I MEAN FOR NEYLAND'S SAKE, 4MILLION PEOPLE LIVE IN THE ATLANTA METROPOLITAN AREA, WHAT ARE ODDS? BUTHEY, IT IS A GOOD THING, IT GIVES ME ANOTHER REASON TO HATE BAMA. :-)I HATE BAMA because Bama leads the series 42-32-7.I HATE BAMA because they are the only SEC school to have a winningrecord against the Vols in Neyland Stadium. This is totally unacceptableto me.I HATE BAMA because I am sick and tired for the BAMA FAITHFULspouting off about their 12 national championships. ALABAMA is an excellentprogram with a long football history and tradition and they have won morethan several legitament national championships, BUT GIVE ME A BREAK! Someof those championships might as well rank right up there with the "MarthaWhite Cornbread Top 25", or the "BIRMINGHAM TIRE AND BATTERY Top 25".I HATE BAMA because a BAMAFAN once told me that while the team theywant to beat the most is Tennessee, the team they least like to lose to isAuburn. I know if he wasn't speaking for all their fans as a whole, and Iguess playing Tennessee doesn't rank right up there with playing an instaterival like Auburn. I TAKE THAT AS AN INSULT. I UNDERSTAND IT, BUT I STILLHATE IT.I HATE BAMA JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE BAMA. BOTTOM LINE IS THAT I HATE BAMABECAUSE TENNESSEE LOST TO THEM 9 TIMES IN A ROW FROM 1986 UNTIL 1995. ITLITERALLY COST ME THE BEST YEARS OF MY COLLEGE FOOTBALL VIEWING LIFE. IWILL NEVER FORGET THE 6-9 LOSS TO BAMA IN KNOXVILLE IN 1990. THAT WAS THE LONGEST DRIVE FROM KNOXVILLE BACK TO MEMPHIS OF MY LIFE. I DEMANDSATISFACTION. I WANT TO KILL 'EM. I WANT TO BEAT THEM SO BAD THAT THEYDON'T WANT TO SUIT UP AGAIN THE REST OF THE YEAR. I WANT TUSCALOSAERADICATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH. I DON'T HAVE TO AVOID THE RUSH, IHATE BAMA 12 MONTHS, 52 WEEKS, 365 DAYS, 8,760 HOURS, A YEAR!!!!! I HATETHEIR GUTS. A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO THERE WAS A JOKE ABOUT A BAMA FAN'SSTUPID DOG. WELL I DON'T CARE ABOUT SOME MANGY, FLEA AND TICK INFESTED BAMA FAN'S DOG, BUT MY DOG HATES BAMA TOO!A FELLOW VOLUNTEER FAN WROTE ME LAST YEAR AND TOLD ME HE FELT EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. HE SAID, "I HATE BAMA SO MUCH THAT IF WE BEAT THEM 212-0 FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS IN A ROW IN NEYLAND STADIUM, IT WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TO SATISFY MY HATRED OF THEM." I THINK HE SUMMED UP IN ONE SENTENCE EXACTLY HOW I FEEL AND IT TOOK ME SEVERAL PAGES TO EXPRESS, EXECPT FOR ONE THING. I'D LIKE TO PLAY THEM ON THEIR HOME FIELD (BRYANT-DENNY, NOT LEGION FIELD) AND BEAT THEM JUST AS BAD. THIS YEAR I'M GOING TO GET MY CHANCE.However, I do have more respect for BAMA than any other team in theSEC. Playing and beating truly means something to me. This rivalry datesall the way back to 1901. Alabama and Tennessee rank 1 and 2 respectivelyin all time SEC victories and winning percentage. We are the TITANS of theSEC. It is for this reason that I feel the way I do. I love poking fun atthe Alabama fans as much as they love doing it to us. We have somethingthat other schools in the SEC (such as Florida) will never have. This iswhy I HATE BAMA, but I RESPECT BAMA. I will never have any respect forFlorida. I do long for Bama to return from these leaner years to its formerglory. I long for the BAMA GAME to be the #1 game in the heart and minds ofall Volunteer Fans as it is in mine. However, I ALSO LONG TO BEAT BAMABY A SCORE OF 213-0 OR MORE EVERY TIME THAT WE PLAY THEM FROM HERE ON AND I WANT THEM TO BE UNDEFEATED AND RANKED IN THE TOP 10 EVERYTIME THAT WE DO IT!!! MY ONLY HOPE IS THAT EVERY PLAYER AND COACH IN THE TENNESSEE FOOTBALL PROGRAM FEELS EXACTLY THE SAME WAY THAT I DO! GOD BLESS THE TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS. GO BIG ORANGE!!! BEAT THE EVER LOVING ELEPHANT CRAP OUT OF BAMA!!!

A first time for everything.


Remember the old adage "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out." I can do you one better. I went to tailgate at an SEC football game, deep in the south at an Agricultural school, and a Cricket Match broke out. Was stirring my Cauldron of Chili that I had made at 1:00 am Saturday morning, watching the new friends I had made from Chattanooga trying out a three way beer bong, (sight to see in itself) when I look across the street to the soccer fields and see a group of people I assumed were playing soccer, until I saw the wind up and delivery to the batter. I was introduced to cricket on my honeymoon to the Island of Antigua, where the World Cup was played this year. So imagine my surprise to see it in the land of cowbells. Seemed out of place, but at the same time there were about twenty people over there participating. And they were still going strong well after the ballgame and into the evening as we made our departure. SEC, land of diversity.


You know "The Grove" in Oxford gets a lot of publicity as the coolest tailgate community in the nation. MSU fans in Stark-Vegas are making a push to contend for that title. They have established their own close knit community of tailgating right outside the gates of the stadium. Was hundreds and hundreds of tents side by side by side to make up its own little city. But what made this different than what I have been a part of at other schools, is that for the most part it was all segregated by teams. The outer lots away from the stadium were full to the edges with Orange Clad tents and tailgates. But no Maroon. You would see an occasional truck load of people ringing cowbells come driving by, but no intermingling of fans. Was beginning to wonder if there were fans here at all until we began to walk to the stadium and saw the village of maroon outside the stadium. But there was no talking to each other, or sharing of food, or drink, they had their own friends and were not looking to make any more. And seemed to be even more fans and partying after the game. But still no hospitality seen by any of the people I talked with. Was truly a strange feeling. Maybe we should have went and played Cricket.


As we made our way into Davis Wade Stadium and Scott field, couple of things I noticed, one no security whatsoever. I saw people walk in drinks in hand, and no one ever looked at us, checked bags or looked into camera cases. Nothing. Well we made the four mile trip up the spiral concourse to the upper deck of the stadium. 21 rows up in an upper deck that has probably 25 or thirty total rows to the top. But I honestly do not think there is a bad seat in the house. There is one strange thing. The sun is on your face all day, no matter what side of the stadium you are on. The jumbotron is not very big, and with the glare of the sun, It was really a non-factor. Second thing that stuck out like a sore thumb. No concession vendors!!!! None. Nowhere. No cokes, no popcorn, hot dogs, water......you get the picture? Don't put a fan that has been tailgating to an all-SEC level in the upper deck of the stadium, only to tell him he has to walk all the way back down to get a beverage. And the concourse is totally enclosed, with no TVs, No radio pumping in, once again.... Nothing! I looked around and never could spot the first vendor anywhere in the stadium. I was very well behaved, but was still told by a student that now that we had won the game "We could get back to inbreeding." what the??? Classy. Almost as classy as Georgia stomping the "V" Stupid guys.


Ok lets talk about the stats. Here is one that is astounding. Helmet sticker to the O Line. They have not allowed a sack in over 218 passing attempts. Great stat to have. Lets start with Mr. Erik Ainge. He was not perfect did throw a long INT on a 3rd and 11. He finished up 22 of 36 for 259 yds with 2 TDs and the one int. Of those 259 yards, 186 of them went to his new favorite target Lucas Taylor. and he only needed 11 catches to get those almost 200 yds. Four others also recorded catches to reach that total. On the other side of the offensive numbers the backs had 211 yds rushing on 42 carries, with Arian Foster leading the way with 139 yds on 21 attempts. That gave the Vols 470 yards of total offense. MSU managed 338 yds total offense with 203 coming in the air and only 135 coming on the ground. Probably just the opposite of what most would have expected going into the game. Carroll finished 18-33 on the day with no turnovers and two touchdowns. Tennessee place kicker Daniel Lincoln, at times the only bright spot of the team, was 4/5 on field goals missing his first field goal of the year early in the second quarter. Next up for the Vols is the Bammers and the Bionic Coach. It is an 11:30 Lincoln Financial broadcast. Thanks a lot. LF this is UT BAMA???? WTH!!!!! This is a new low! Will share a few entries on this weeks game in the days to come. Look for them!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

How to Silence a Cowbell



Well boys and girls I have finally surrendered the fight and have given in. I will make my first gameday appearance at the Mississippi State game. I thought I wouldn't make one this year. But like I keep saying, "What a difference a week makes." The Georgia game lit fires in a few people, I just hope the fire has grown larger in the boys in uniform. I have my worries. There are concerns, this is the team that outlasted the Tigers. This is the same team that have beat Bammer, and Florida in the past three years. But the boys in Orange looked as good as any team in the country last week. The key to the game like any game is to score early. If we can get up early and force State to have to throw the ball, that should play right into our hands. But Cutcliffe is going to have to take the MSU pass rush out of the mix. He looked awesome last week with creativity in the play calling. Lets just hope we can carry some momentum. Is a 1:30 Kick, so there is time to hang out, and maybe watch the first hour and a half of the Ol Miss v. Bammer game. Then in to my seats which are probably among the bells. You think I can single handed enforce the SEC no Noisemaker rule? Yeah I didn't think so.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Oh What a difference a week makes!!!


I keep saying it. And week after week it becomes more and more relevant. Last week it looked as tough a couple of more wins is the best we could hope for in a season of turmoil. The coach was out, and we spent the majority of our time talking about who we thought the next Head Coach would be. Coach Fulmer has returned himself to the status of Genius, for one week anyway, and the team is back atop the SEC Eastern standings. They share that spot, but they are out of the cellar. Oh the difference a week makes.


I made the comment at the beginning of the broadcast that I did not have good feelings. To a Tennessee Vol, the Pride of the Southland Band forming the "T" and opening up to make way for the players to enter the field is a religious experience. When it opened Saturday for the first time i did not see a lot of life from the men. They seemed almost laid back and reserved, that scared the bejesus out of me. I notice things such as that. The worries continued when we lined up to kick-off to the bully-dogs. But surprise!!!!!!! WE COVERED!!! We actually had some life on Special Teams ! Where has that been in the last, I don't know, ten years? Defense looked great, did you hear me? THE DEFENSE LOOKED AWESOME! Georgia came into the game on the shoulders of a strong running game. If you watched their effort against Alabama they ran the ball well, and Moreno looked good out of the backfield on the little outlet passes. Never happened. Georgia was held to 69 yards rushing on 25 attempts. Moreno had 30 yds on 13 carries. Almost sixty yards below his season average. Brown was held to 20 yds before aggravating a shoulder injury that removed him from the game. Stafford was not much better, 16 of 34 for 174 yds, with 1 int and 2 touchdowns. Another couple of astounding stats, only one turnover, and NO FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS. But we did get a blocked punt, something we only get in games against Georgia. But after the two penalties tacked on it was like a punt. Thirty yards penalized on one play. And why we are on the subject of penalties, the second touchdown should have never happened. I think the crew totally blew this one. We intercepted the ball, with Georgia interfering on the play. They called it defensive interference giving Georgia first and goal. Worst call I have seen all year. On the offensive side of the ball it was the best game called by David Cutcliffe in a long time. Very balenced, kept them guessing, and gutsy. Ainge was 17 of 22 for 165 yards and no tds or ints. Lucas taylor was one for one passing for 56 yards and a touchdown for a combined 18 of 23 for 222 yds and one touchdown. The Vols ran by committee with no less than five players with positive yards rushing with Arian Foster leading the way with 98 yds on 17 carries for a 5.8 yd aveage and 3 touchdowns. Hardesty added 68 yds on 14 carries for a 4.9 yd average and one touchdown. All in all the good guys ended up with 411 total offensive yards. Not Bad, and believe me the game was not as close as the 35-14 score would lead you to believe.


In the press conference after the game, Coach Fulmer took a route similar to Coach Gundy at Okie State. The Knoxville News Sentinel's John Pennington wrote an article that was published in Saturday mornings paper. The same paper that is handed out to fans before the game. In that article he was very critical of the team and Coach Fulmer. The same way every other member of the Orange Nation has done. But he went a little deeper and apparently quoted former players who questioned the teams development and conditioning.

Let me quote Randy Moore of Scout.com. "Even in the after-glow of a huge victory, Fulmer's face grew taut with anger when he shifted his focus to the Pennington article mere minutes into Saturday night's post-game remarks.
“I would want to address one thing just quickly,” he said. “Ordinarily, I'm a pretty big boy and I can take and ignore most anything that might come up. But I thought it was an incredible cheap shot to say something about former players ... unnamed players talking about our program, particularly on a day when we had a big game like this and a lot of prospects coming in.
“It just hit a danged nerve, and I don't appreciate it. I don't usually respond that way but I think in this case our football team and our program deserves a response to something like that.
“I have relationships with our players that have been through this program, and if they've got something they want to say they can certainly say it to me at any time. I don't believe they would go through some person that's never walked on our practice "


Apparently the pressure is getting to the staffs and they are lashing out. Hope this doesn't go too far. But the season is only half over, so time will only tell. Will try to come back later and will talk about LSU and the Bionic coach. And by the way, Check out http://www.fulmersbelly.com/ "The biggest thing in SEC sports." Have started contributing, let me know what you think.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

I am cheating on you


I have a confession to make.........I have another blog. I am sorry but one is just not enough for me anymore. I have started contributing to Fulmers Belly... The biggest thing in Sec Football. Is a humerous site that we use to poke fun at ourselves and others. Here is my latest Post. Please go and leave me a comment and let me know what you think!!








Thursday, October 4, 2007

For all those wanting an official gauge

I really think this weeks game will determine the fate of Coach. Have heard all the same murmurs about an ultimatum given to him before the season. I think this week will show what kind of team we truly possess.

Two teams, no identity, so just enjoy the pics.





Sunday, September 30, 2007

You think the sky has been falling around here........


I sort of enjoyed the day yesterday being able to sit back and watch my friends go nuts during their respective games, while I had no emotional ties to either. Then again it was just good to sit back and relax, after an emergency trip to Memphis to retrieve my wife's vehicle that decided it needed a break, i had been on the road for way too long. Rushed back into town to do the Jack's Friday night Football show with the guys. I guess it was trip lag but the show had a weird feel to it, never really settled into a zone, just sort of plugged along. Maybe it was the edge of the storm that was about to rear down on football as we know it. I think South Florida must have made a deal with the devil.


There were some big games friday night that shouldn't have been. Briarwood needed multiple overtimes to win in a game where touted QB Trotter went down to injury. I can think of no fewer than four games that were decided on the final play of the game. And that was just in our coverage area. Let me give a quick call out to the guys that put on this show. Jim Dunaway, Ryan Brown, and Blake Ells put in extra hours on Fridays to bring high school football some much needed recognition. Remember these guys have already put in five hours, then come back for three more. There is only so long you can stand and talk football. I think they push the limits of that. But the callers make the difference. Enjoy the opportunity to work with them.


Saturday was filled with surprises, some worked themselves out, and some were just unbelievable. Someone stopped me early afternoon, and informed me Tulane was hanging close with LSU. Then I turned on the Satellite radio and listened as Georgia was tied with Ole Miss. Then the Zooker left his mark, Tech left theirs, and before it was said and done, I think five teams in the top ten had lost. When has that happened? Cal and Oregon was one of the better games that no one saw. Cal benefited the most from all that happened. Auburn showed they are not as bad as they once thought they were. I will be listening Monday for all the callers that called for Tubbervilles head on a platter to offer their apologies. I saw more emotion out of him last night than I have other coaches from the same state that have that Fulmer clap. Good, bad, or indifferent he stands on the sidelines, smiles and claps. Hey Coach, yeah you the four million dollar one, you just got embarrassed on national TV, quit clapping, get an offensive line. Wilson is going to break before too long. The heart is not there anymore. Not finishing plays, not giving effort. For the majority of the game, my Alabama buddy watching the game with me was having a tough time. The best thing he had to cheer for was the penalties. Was their only chance of stopping a very resilient offense. Yep the same people that wanted to laugh at my Vols and the Tigers for wanting to eat their own, will be tying a napkin around their neck. Talk radio will be fun again this week. I pulled up all of the blogs on the website as I do every day to see any updates, and I read Donya's rants about the Auburn situation from a couple of weeks ago. She layed it on them pretty thick. Go back and read it. It is pretty funny in retrospect. I bet we won't hear much from her about her loss. Bammers are big when they win, but quiet when they don't. Aubie looks pretty good, their losses are to two pretty good teams. Bammers wins don't look like they were against teams that were very good. And the losses were the same. Georgia does not have an identity yet. But FSU has one, and it is not a good one. All in all it is a funny feeling. Not playing and having any emotions left out on the field this day, when everyone else had so many.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Reflection

Although we play open this week, and I think Open is favored by thirteen actually now that I think of it. I have been doing a lot of thinking here lately about why do I even care about this crazy ride we call college football? When your team is down, it is amazing the thought process you go through. Not thinking of who stands in our way of the championship, it is more like..."OOOh pretty colors." Let our team lose a couple of games and we all turn in to a block of lunchroom jell-o. If we get enough pressure on one side we will move that way. "Fire the coaches! Bench Him, Hell if he is gonna be the starter next year let's get him some playing time!" Doesn't take much and we are spewing the same Garbage as beat writers in Oklahoma. But why? Where did it all come from?





For me, I am not sure exactly where my first football memories came from? My dad was not a fanatic. Sure he would watch the Alabama game if he was home and had nothing he had to do. But his life did not revolve around it. My first real influences, and I guess the majority of all my football roots were colored orange and blue. Our family was a faithful church attending family beginning around my eighth birthday or so. It was like most Baptist churches, adults in the big church, and in the back we had "Children's Church." This was lead by two giants in my life. A man named Jack Tolbert, and a caring woman by the name of Gladys Stephens. (They later married, many years later, and they were in their fifties at this time) Both were employed at the Super Valu warehouse in Golden Springs, Al, and both were big Auburn Supporters. Notice I didn't say fans, yeah there is a difference. They were season ticket holders. On the press box side, I wanna say about the twenty yard line. Remember it has been twenty five years ago. On the weekends of home games they would take a couple of the kids from the church with them to the game. This was the ultimate to a youngster, Remember it was 1982 or so, And at that time, I didn't know ANYONE that went to ballgames. Now it seems odd if you know someone that doesn't go. I mean I drive five hours to Gods country in East Tennessee to see football. We may not have streets of gold, but we have orange in the endzones. Ok back to childhood. The biggest thing I remember about the games is that you had to bring something back to prove you had been there. To an eight year old sitting in that HUGE stadium, there were two things I wanted. One was the little football puppets. Was a player with no facemask, and it had two levers inside that you worked to make his fists shoot out. I think he usually had a pennant in one hand. Man I wanted one of those. But it was like forty dollars. That was half of what a car cost back then! So I settled for the next best thing. A hat. Whoa hang on now, it wasn't just any old hat. It was a painters cap. Bought at J&M bookstore. Hey it was cool. Had a big interlocking AU symbol on the top and Auburn spelled out across the front right above the Cardboard bill. Ok Twenty five years ago it was the coolest thing to have. You know there were more of us kids back then that were Auburn fans when we came home on Saturday night. You reckon why that was? My orange and blue tendencies didn't stop there. When I was older and in high school, there was another friend from church that was a huge Auburn supporter. His name was Ira Lynn Collins. A huge football fan from Wellborn High School. He was my older sisters age which made him about nine or ten years older than me. He too had season tickets. Opposite of the press box, five or six rows from the top of the stadium, forty nine and a half yard line. We would call me up on Friday evening, ask if I had plans Saturday and ask if I wanted to go see Auburn play. We would go down, hang out, go to Tiger walk and talk to a player from Wellborn we knew, Tight End named Victor Hall. #87 I think. He had a cousin that was a huge recruit but never played I don't think William McCain. This would have been somewhere around the late eighties. Even got to see Victor catch his first touchdown in a televised game against Georgia at night. Went to the Peach Bowl to see them play Indiana, and saw my last game with Ira in the fall of 1992 when i went to my first Alabama game, the iron bowl at Legion Field. We sat close to the AU students and band, which was right over Bama's tunnel, where they could yell D U I at David Palmer at halftime. Remember AU came out on the field in a single file line walking with their helmets in their hand raised high above their heads. I think this was the first time I got chills at a football game. Turns out that was a pretty special year for Bama. I remember going to a bookstore in Tuscaloosa and buying a Sports Illustrated that featured the Championship. Remember watching that championship game against Miami in the managers little raised platform in the Winn Dixie in Saks where I worked during high school. A couple of years later I was at the first Iron Bowl ever played in Jordan-Hare, well sorta but not really, I was in Bryant Denny for the first time, to watch it on a huge screen via closed circuit TV. I guess when I stop and think about it, I got this love of the game honest. From a couple of gentle souls, Jack and Gladys, who cared enough to give some of us kids the only look at football we would have seen. To people like Ira or "Lurch" as we called him, who took a teenager who was struggling with a tough life at home. He never knew it, or maybe he did. Either way, thank you my friend. He took a job out of town and I haven't talked to him in probably twelve or fifteen years. Now I try to do the same. I took my step father to his first game. He is a big Bama fan, I took him to Knoxville for the third Saturday in October in 2004. For Christmas that year I had a picture blown up and mounted of him and the mascot smokey. Was his favorite gift he has ever gotten. I always take someone from the other team with me when I go to a game. Is what it is all about to me. Another subject but I took my mom to her first game. But she is a Braves fan. As big a fan as I am a Tennessee Vol, she loves her Chipper and Braves. Took her to a game one Tuesday against the Marlins. Third base side, about twelve or so rows up from the dugout. It was her greatest moment. Now she goes every year. Couple of years ago, got to be there for them to clinch the pennant. Got to be a part of the celebration.





Is moments like these that make use who we are. Our first game, our first foul ball, playing cup ball on the hill at a high school game with a piece of paper from the sign the players ran through coming onto the field. Like a seed the started to grow, into what we know now as a passion unlike any other. Some call us fanatics, some call us lunatics, some call us lucky. We are living the dream my friends. Living the good life. Now if someone would just tell that to our good for nothing coach. That no good...... what time is it....... Where is my phone I am gonna call him and tell him.............

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Holding Ground, Nothing Different


I tell you what it has been pretty hectic the past couple of weeks, and my blog has suffered. I apologize. With the new friday night high school show, I have stayed pretty busy during the week. But have to admit, the loss to Florida last week took some wind out of my football sails. But the stars aligned tonight and all is right with the world. Tennessee has won a game that scared me. A team that stayed close to Texas, but we proved to be a little scrappy. More important the Bionic coach faced his first Bammer loss. Thank you, there is a Football god somewhere. And apparently he listens to our prayers. I don't recall anything questionable that the loss could be blamed on, simply outplayed when it counted. Lets see what the Savior says and does now. I wanna see him face adversity and stare it in the eye.



Some said that Houston Nutt's seat is hotter than Fulmer's. Did not agree with that yesterday, today I do. This is a team that was on the outside looking in for so long, now that they have a taste of the limelight I expect the will make an effort to stay there. I know we always said as long as Frank Broyles was there as would Nutt be. I am starting to feel otherwise. I think there is the chance that the new AD walks in the door swinging an axe.




That is the effect the hiring of Nick Saban has had on the SEC. It has shortened the trigger we have with our coaches. If you have a couple of sub-national championship seasons you pull that trigger on him and go after someone that can get that next trophy. But who would go to Arky? I think the only sexy choice, is McFadden. That is the only way he comes back for another season. Player/Coach. He can fix up that Hoopty they keep showing us during the games.




On that same thought the inner rambles have finally started getting some national attention. The Orange nation has been saying for about two years that they wanted Chucky. The two names have been Gruden and Cower. Neither do I think would entertain the thought. But I never thought the Bionic one would do it either. But if not them then who. It is going to have to be a jaw dropping sexy name to fit the persona. Bruce Pearl raised the bar. I keep hearing Rich Rodriguez name come up. I think it is a better fit than bammer was, but it doesn't excite me. Don't really know. I think it needs to be a Defensive Guru. Not sure if Cutcliffe would stay, if he did I think we need the same intensity on the other side of the ball. Me personally, I would rather see them clean house. If one goes they all go.




We have the week off. Which is good considering the next team on the schedule is Georgia. They looked strong last night against Bammer. Had some weaknesses, but over all was impressed with them. they have a rejuvenated "O" miss this week before traveling north to Fort Neyland. Should be a good one.




Saturday, September 15, 2007

A program at the Crossroads.


If you are visiting my Blog it is because you have been here before, know I will step out and write what I think, or you hear me on the Dunaway and Brown radio show, and are here to see if I am jumping ship. Well here goes.


First off I will say up front, I am still proud to be a Tennessee VOL! That will never change, unless we pull a stunt like Rutgers students did last week, then, I will still be a VOL, but not so proudly. The 7inch by 7inch tattoo on my left arm assures me that I will always be Orange in nature. But it is no surprise, everything is not right with the world in Knoxville. As a matter of fact, there is very little right. First let me give out some helmet stickers. The few that did something right. Daniel Lincoln, the freshman kicker from Florida. Is so far perfect as a college placekicker. He is one of the only givens so far on this team. Second sticker, goes to Freshman phenom Eric Berry out of Georgia. He is a star. He got burned for 6 today, but he also took 6 back on a 96 yard int. return. Ummm that is about it. yup, that is all of the good.


Where is the Erik Ainge that won me over last year. Where is the Offensive Coordinator that brought us back to the spotlight. That took the talent in our QB's and made it shine. There was nothing about the Offense that shined, except for our flaws. Dropped passes. One on third down, that cost us 6 on the punt that ensued. Also the running game that I was so confident in, did not show up. There was no picking apart of the secondary. To steal a line from the Auburn post game show, "When are we gonna get to taste a little chocolate in our offense? Because it cannot get any more Vanilla." Three different times in the first quarter we were in the red zone, never once taking a shot to the end zone. One time trying to insult the defense with a bad reverse that lost eight yards. Thirty five yards rushing. The holder on extra points should have that many yards rushing. The defense has noone in the front lines that can put pressure on the quarterback. No Parys, no Mahalona. NOONE.

I think we need to have the cheerleaders on kick coverage. Maybe that will at least slow down the return enough that someone can touch him. COME ON!!!!


Bottom line.


We need a change. Not today. But I think this needs to be the swan song of this coaching staff. Not on account of the loss today, but this was the breaking point. The game has passed us by. We are trying to play old school football, and it not working. I never thought I would say this, But I think it should be the entire staff. We lost today, in my opinion, because of coaching. Play calling on offense was laughable. Defense looks like a screen door it has so many holes. There is no sense of urgency. No emotions. With the exception of Trooper Taylors chest bumps, there is no emotion. Our fearless leader stands on the sidelines smiles, and claps. And claps. And Claps. Keep grinning Phil. You know who is grinning right now? Randy Sanders. He wasn't the problem!!!! His work in Kentucky shows that.

Year after year we recruit well. Top five class year after year. But that does not translate to on the field success. If the talent is there, but the results are not, where does the blame lie? I think you know.......... I will hang up and listen.......