East Tennessee Media Archives

November 4, 2009

Of course Mora ended up getting fired at the end of the season, Tony Dungy came in and the rest was history. 

TSSAA’s new Executive Director, Bernard Childress, got a raw deal handed over to him from the Ronnie Carter regime. That “Z”-plan is now getting shredded from Memphis to Mountain City. The plan is trying to squeeze three grand divisions into four quadrants. It’s literally like trying to shove a triangle into a space made for a circle.

Ohio’s problem is the Harbin ratings aren’t really perfect either. They are better suited for quadrants, mostly because the state is sort of shaped like a rhombus. However a team like Colerain, who didn’t get in by 0.4687 points (because they lost two games at the start of the season to St. Xavier and Elder), has more points than 10 other Division I teams in the state that will be in the playoffs. Colerain would be fifth in Region 3 and sixth in both Regions 1 and 2. But since they’re in Region 4, where the top 12 all have ratings of 21 or higher, they can’t get to the postseason and that’s the first time since 1999 the Cardinals aren’t playing in November.

Regardless of the state no one is completely in love with the high school football playoff selection process. 

October 29, 2009

Halloween is supposed to be a reserved day for ghosts and goblins and all sorts of other miscreant beings. Depending on which denomination you follow it’s supposed to be founded from purely evil intentions.

I’m not here to conduct a theological discussion on why Halloween should or shouldn’t be celebrated as it is…I’m just here to hand out my week’s worth of picks (including college picks once again after two weeks of none) and some treats. The treats I’m referring to are my second college poll of the season and my midseason honors for college teams as well as my thoughts on the high school playoffs in Ohio and Tennessee.

But first, I want to touch on the start of the new NBA season.

Kobe and company got their rings last night and then proceeded to struggle with their roommates before winning. Yeah the Clippers lost to the Lakers yet again, but they were without No. 1 pick Blake Griffin and will be without him for about six weeks due to a broken kneecap. In all fairness the Lakers were without Pau Gasol, who was still nursing a hamstring injury.

I’ve been pretty clear that the NBA is unwatchable and has been since the “baby boom” movement in the mid 90s when Kevin Garnett came straight to the NBA after graduating from Farragut Career Academy in Chicago and becoming the first player to make the jump straight to the Association since Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby both were drafted in 1975.

Let’s be clear on this though. Garnett, Kobe, LeBron James and Dwight Howard are the exceptions to high school players being able to make the jump successfully to the pros. Most of the others, like Kwame Brown, Shaun Livingston, Sebastian Telfair, Monta Ellis and Martell Webster, don’t make it with any success.

The days of guys like Tim Duncan staying in college four years and then coming into the league and being successful are all but gone. This new generation of “one-and-done” that has started with the league’s new rule for players having to go to college or overseas for a year before being eligible for the draft isn’t helping either college or professional basketball at all and will not help it in the long run.

How I yearn for another Bird vs. Magic national title game.

September 23, 2009

September 18, 2009

The consensus in places like Boulder, Charlottesville, Louisville, South Bend and Morgantown is that the head coaches of the college teams that play there had better start winning some meaningful games (in a couple of places just getting wins is the cry).

Colorado’s Dan Hawkins is more famous for his sound bites than for his coaching prowess while with the Buffaloes.

Tennessee at Florida

In the words of Alicia Silverstone…as if! 

September 11, 2009

The folks in this area are sounding like the Cubs’ fans these days with the “wait until next year” rally cry going on.

The Reds followed a 7-game winning streak up with a 4-game sweep at the hands of hard-charging Colorado. The only thing that was left for the Reds to play for this was a longshot wildcard and…well losing three straight where you either had the lead or couldn’t muster enough offense to support pretty good starting performance from your rotation has been indicative of the Reds’ plight since the All-Star break.

So now the Reds are almost mathematically eliminated from the wildcard spot (16.5 games behind the Rockieswith 23 to play) and while the life shown in the last 10 games made some people think next year could be better there’s still the fact the Dusty Baker has been given a vote of confidence for the 2010 season.

I’m not sure that ownership has figured out that this guy doesn’t work well with young players. He ruined Mark Prior and Kerry Wood in Chicago and right now Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips have been just ordinary players over the last two months not to mention the fact that Edinson Volquez is probably out until the All-Star break next year following Tommy John surgery.

Until Baker figures out how to fill out a lineup card (you don’t bat your speedy second baseman clean-up) and handle a pitching staff he should stick to stealing money from ESPN or Fox as an analyst.

Tennessee Favored Over UCLA

I’m not certain about all the double-digit favorites that the boys in Vegas keep putting up for the Vols (well I will admit I didn’t think the Big Orange would cover the 29 last week), but one thing is for certain; this is a must-win game for Tennessee and Lane Kiffin. It’s at home against a team they should’ve pounded last season on the road and it’s the last decent tune-up before finding out how much Kiffin’s mouthing in the off-season is going to cost them in Gainesville next weekend.

So if Jonathan Crompton is able to translate his success in last week’s glorified scrimmage into positive results in Neyland on Saturday (as well as putting the second half and overtime in Pasadena behind him) then the Vols shouldn’t have a lot of difficulty.

Still though 10 points does seem a little generous, but I think the Vols can cover that though I’m not exactly sold on the “new-look” offense and I’m really not sold on all Kiffin’s talking either. How about winning a few games, first coach?

September 13, 2009

The NFL’s archaic blackout rule will be tested all season long as teams struggle to sell out games. Case in point, the Cincinnati Bengals avoided having their home opener blacked out by the NFL waiving the timeframe.

They were able to sell out on Friday afternoon so now all the folks that won’t be at Paul Brown Stadium will get to watch the regional broadcast on CBS.

Good for the city and I suppose good for the league, but with the economy being what it is right now I feel the NFL should ditch the rule for the time being and the network should be willing to allow that to happen. Even if the game isn’t a sellout there’s no reason to penalize the fans or casual observers watching at home.

Lord knows we don’t want to see infomercials all day long on Sunday.

n  Let the finger-pointing begin.

I have no doubt that I’m in a slight minority these days when it comes to Tennessee football and the new coaching staff. I was always one who felt that Phillip Fulmer got a raw deal from his alma mater.

After Saturday’s debacle against UCLA, a team they should’ve beaten last season on the west coast as well, I now am fully convinced that the regime change wasn’t the right one and I’m not convinced it will ever be the right one. This game will have ramifications all the way until we’re wondering if the Vols can avoid losing eight games for the first time…ever.

Though Monte Kiffin’s defense held the Bruins to less than 200 yards of offense and only gave up 19 points, son and head coach Lane’s offense is downright offensive right now. Playing against a team that isn’t from the Sun Belt is a lot different than a team from the Pac-10. Those 63 points and 657 yards against Western Kentuckywere frosting on the cupcake.

Against a BCS school and racking up a whopping 15 points and 208 yards of offense isn’t going to cut it. There’s only one perceived walkover game the rest of the season (two if you really want to count Memphis) and unless somewhere in Kiffin’s mind he realizes that Crompton is a bust (sorry Heath, but he is) then Vol fans are going to experience what Michigan fans did last season when Rich Rodriguez took over for Lloyd Carr.

However I wouldn’t get too excited about Year Two just yet when making comparisons. Just because the Wolverines beat an overrated Notre Dame yesterday in Rich Rod’s second year doesn’t mean that the younger Kiffin will experience that kind of turnaround. Mostly because Rich Rod has been coaching a lot longer andMichigan doesn’t have Florida, Georgia and Alabama to deal with on an annual basis.

Somewhere, Fulmer is both sad and smirking.

n  Elsewhere, Dave Clawson is proving he can coach a little bit.

With all the clamoring for Fulmer to get more creative on offense he went to a head coach from a lower division to try to get the spread offense started at Tennessee, which required a quarterback with some mobility, which was going to be Tajh Boyd, who’s now at West Virginia because little Kiffin didn’t want him.

The fallout we all know was Fulmer and the rest of the staff were cut loose. Clawson, through no fault of his own except coming to a situation where the fans are notoriously unreasonable as well as impatient, was immediately scooped up by Bowling Green.

If Vol fans are wondering what’s so special about Bowling Green…that guy Meyer in Florida that’s won two of the last three national titles cut his teeth as a head coach in D-IA having the Falcons run the spread.

I’m not saying that Clawson is destined to win the national championship in the future (though he did reach the I-AA semis before coming to Tennessee), but if the fans thought that Fulmer and Clawson were going to turn things around in one year with what they had…well you get the idea.

The Falcons nearly went into Columbia (Missouri, not South Carolina) and pulled off a big upset, but it didn’t happen. Still, Bowling Green is back on the rise in the MAC it would appear.

It’s funny how the wolves all of a sudden became sheep…then again looking at the current state of the country where a once unknown junior Senator from Illinois is now the Commander-In-Chief it’s not that surprising I guess.

n  Ever since Ball State went 12-0 last season and was complaining that they should get a shot at the BCS along with Boise State and Utah they’ve now lost four in a row; most recently to New Hampshire…ewwww…not good for Dave Letterman’s alma mater.

And how about the number of mid major and I-AA teams beating or giving Big Six teams fits? Jacksonville Stateallowed a late touchdown by Florida State or else the Seminoles are 0-2 heading into Provo to take on BYU.Central Michigan did Michigan State (thanks to boneheaded plays at the end by the Spartans) in East Lansing. Louisiana-Lafayette beat Kansas State (it looks like Bill Snyder is suffering from the same loss of magic that happened to Joe Gibbs when he returned to the Redskins).

Dan Hawkins is now firmly on the hot seat in Colorado after losing at Toledo big. I guess that’s why Chris Petersen isn’t in any hurry to leave Boise State.

Speaking of Boise State I’m not buying the “internal” discipline for Byron Hout in the aftermath of the Oregongame. The whole thing is a little on the seedy side for me. Hout needs to sit a few games to figure out that sportsmanship is more important than mouthing off after a win. Whatever he said to LaGarrette Blount could’ve been better said in the locker room among his teammates instead of provoking an altercation that has now pretty much ended Blount’s football career and marred his image for good.

I don’t excuse anything Blount did because it is clearly inexcusable, but for Petersen to not make an example of Hout for being the instigator is also inexcusable.

n  Just a simple question…who told Clemson that purple on purple was a good idea?

n  One last Tennessee take; it’s funny how now the failures that Kiffin will have are a result of Fulmer’s lack of talent when Fulmer had a highly-rated recruiting class in the works (not to mention a quarterback) and how since 1997 Fulmer had been to five SEC title games and won a pair of them as well as a national title. Now there’s some schools of thought, as flat-out wrong as they are, that the current coaching staff is the best in the country.

Highest-paid doesn’t equal best. The best coach on the staff is Monte Kiffin and that’s not debatable. He’s also the only coach worthy of consideration as the best in the nation because he’s forgotten more about defensive schemes than most people have ever thought of. However UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow did look to have a rather easy time at points getting his offense to move the ball when it was needed.

When Lane Kiffin and Co. beat someone with a little more to offer than WKU I will begin to look at this whole deal in a different light, but for now I continue to reserve judgment on this atrocity because it’s not going to get any better…not even in three years like the Tennessee spin machine is trying to get the state media outlets to latch on to.

In short, the Big Orange fans from Copper Basin to Tiptonville and all points in between better get ready for some really lean years. If you thought the occasional down year from Fulmer was so hard to live with wait untilKentucky passes the Vols up. South Carolina has already pulled even.

Until a Tennessee man is back coaching at Tennessee things aren’t going to improve. 

September 4, 2009

Former Alabama All-American Andre Smith finally got his contract with the Cincinnati Bengals after weeks of seemingly no concern of ever getting closer on numbers, but just two days after the holdout ended he broke his foot.

The Bungles get stung again.

Either his foot was already broken, as some would seem to think, or indeed the non-contact drill injury occurred while working out with the team. Either way there’s been a lot of grief on Bengals’ fans trying to get this guy signed. Now that he is it’ll be weeks if not months before he steps on the field…then who knows what kind of shape he’ll be in?

Other NFL news

Brett Favre…attention hound, dirty player?

You got that right. On a crackback block where the Vikings lined Percy Harvin up in the shotgun and Favre out wide as a receiver, No. 4 took the low road on Texans’ defender Eugene Wilson. Wilson claims he’ll be OK, but the thing is much like Favre said 13 days ago he was weed-eating and not thinking about throwing blocks.

No the Vikes don’t play Houston in the regular season and they should be glad they don’t, but Favre needs to watch his back this season. He’s got a lot of disgruntled “teammates” to contend with as well as folks who’d love to just see him go away.

Count me as one of the ones who wants him to go away. I don’t like the tarnish he’s putting on an otherwise Hall of Fame career.

College Football Notes

Little Caesar’s has paid the money to sponsor the Motor City Bowl. Good for them. I used to work for the joint. The pizza was OK, but the local management structure was less than desirable. I was young and foolish back then though.

It’s still a crappy bowl game.

n   Charlie Weis’ career at Notre Dame is on the clock.

The early schedule sets up for a shot at a BCS bowl berth (undeserving as it is) and there’s potential for a 10-win season for the Golden Domers, but if Michigan has figured out Rich Rod’s offense if teams like Purdue, Navy, Boston College and Connecticut don’t get drawn into the overblown mystique then the Irish could be staring 7-6 or even 6-7 in the face.

I have a feeling no matter what Weis’ contract status if he can’t get to a BCS game this season with Jimmy Clausen having almost two years to run the offense then it’s going to get really hot in South Bend for the rotund one.

Fact is Notre Dame isn’t relevant anymore and really hasn’t been in some time. The media, mostly in this region, has tried to prop up the Irish for the last 15-20 years while waiting for the day when the Irish win another national championship. The two years where Weis inherited Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija from Tyrone Willingham’s recruiting classes is an aberration.

And don’t mistake Clausen throwing for 400 yards against Hawaii in a bowl victory for being the stepping stone to a tremendous year. The Vols fell into that trap with his older brother, Rick, following the 2005 Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M. The next season saw the Vols finish 5-6 and started in motion the events that led to Philip Fulmer’s eventual (and ungracious) ouster.

n   Oregon running back LaGarrette Blount just cost himself a career in the NFL potentially…all because he couldn’t control his temper.

Following the Ducks’ 19-8 loss at Boise State Blount sucker-punched defensive lineman Byron Hout after Hout was woofing at him. Quite possibly that woofing was due to the trash talk that Blount had publish during the off-season.

Well both players are in the wrong, but Blount has to be a man and take his medicine whenever he talks big. Otherwise he looks like a chump. That was a chump move, much like when Carmelo Anthony sucker-punched Mardy Collins during a Nuggets-Knicks game in 2006 was also a chump move.

It’s been reported that some scouts have dropped Blount from their draft boards altogether following that incident in Boise.

East Tennessee Notes

n   Grainger got a must-win under its belt by winning in overtime on “The Range”. West Greene hasn’t beaten Rutledge/Grainger since 1993. This would have been the time to break that drought.

n   Farragut won a battle of big-time West Knoxville teams by stopping Catholic. Maybe this could be the year for the Admirals to finally break through. Then again they could be the Knoxville area’s equivalent to Dobyns-Bennett yet again…great in the regular season, but a dud in the post season.

n   Gibbs is 3-0 for the first time since 1969. Ken Sparks was the head coach then and my uncle Steve (Barnard not Wilhoit) was told by Carson-Newman’s legendary head coach that he was “too mean” to play for them back in that era. Nowadays I doubt he’d say that.

Congrats to Eagles’ head coach Brad Conley, who was a former Rutledge assistant coach, and his players…even though the Grizzlies were the year’s first victim. Pigeon Forge is pretty bad though…

August 26, 2009

August 12, 2009

Well this blog has only taken a month to compile, so I hope you like it!

Does anyone really know why Sacha Baron Cohen is allowed to make movies?

I have seen him in one role I can tolerate to an extent. That was when he played a swindling peddler in Tim Burton’s interpretation of Sweeney Todd and he met his maker by way of a straight razor across his throat by Johnny Depp playing the title character.

I’ve not seen Borat, nor will I. My wife has and said it was funny. Sometimes our senses of humor differ quite a bit.

I wasn’t thrilled with him in Talladega Nights as the “married” gay French Formula One driver switching to NASCAR. I found it extremely disturbing and just plain annoying.

Now there’s this Bruno. Folks, the guy isn’t funny. The best thing about him is his other half: Isla Fisher.

Anyway…

In other movie-related items, parents get your kids ready. Alvin and the Chipmunks are back…with some female friends this time.

And now for some 80s flashback, here’s the video of Foreigner’s classic heard in the teaser. 

One of my favorite singers in all genres, David Phelps, did a cover of the Foreigner classic for one of his Contemporary Christian albums. It’s great, but I prefer him singing Southern Gospel and Contemporary Christian songs. I found this clip of his range, which is just tremendous and void of falsetto. One of the best voices…period.

OTHER STUFF

n Chad Eight-Five…ERRRR…Ochocinco…ERRRR….Johnson is claiming he will “make his own rules” when it comes to Twittering during games and after he gets to the sidelines. This comes after the NFL put the kibosh on his plans to do so with their blessing.

The Bengals still have a lot to get through before they’ll compete against Pittsburgh and Baltimore. They’re moving Jason Shirley from defensive tackle to offensive guard. There’s not a lot of enthusiasm from the local media about that move.

That gives first-round pick Andre Smith a lot more leverage in contract talks while he’s in his holdout.

n The Reds went from a virtual tie in June to completely out of contention with a July record of 8-19. One thing they did that was positive was acquire 3B Scott Rolen from the Toronto Blue Jays for 3B Edwin Encarnacion and P’s Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart.

Roenicke was the lynch-pin in the deal because he’s thought of as an eventual closer. Right now the Reds have Francisco Cordero and are paying him quite a bit to close games (when he has the chance) and has successfully saved 25 games in 26 chances (with one being firmly on Dusty Baker following a rain delay).

Rolen shores up the defense at the hot corner, but right now is battling concussion symptoms he experienced after getting beaned in only his second game as a Red. He returned three days later and belted a two-run homer in a win, but has only been in one other game since August 2. Also with Rolen being a veteran presence that has been missing for quite some time in the clubhouse there’s a little more hope for the future, though he won’t be around forever so it’s up to the executives to get more pieces to the puzzle brought in.

That means getting a true ace for the pitching staff. Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo have both cleared waivers so there’s hope someone will make a pitch for either of them. Don’t get me wrong because both have been good community guys, but they’ve been consistently inconsistent.

n The Michael Vick ordeal now comes back to the forefront. A lot of teams have already said “no thanks” to his services. Count me in as one guy who was never sold on his abilities as a quarterback. He could be a top-notch receiver or a kick return specialist, but his stats say he’s not a quarterback. He’s completed less than 54-percent of his passes and takes far too many sacks to be effective as a passer.

Also why is he not sporting a 4-foot afro? He made the statement, fool-hearted as it was, that he wouldn’t cut his hair until the Falcons won the Super Bowl.

n High school football is upon us and last year I was trying to decide where to go to get my fix. Well after some consideration I’ve got 10 games to go to right now, but I’m probably going to look for one or two alternates for a couple of the selections. I can tell you that I will be seeing Colerain, who is one of the perennial favorites in Division I, play at Sycamore in the second half of the season. Sycamore is the local public school district for where we live right now.

Other teams I plan on watching for certain are Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Kings, Mason, Loveland, Little Miami and Milford. Moeller is probably not on the list  because they don’t have their own field. Most of their “home” games are played at UC’s Nippert Stadium and Lockland High.

At any rate I’ll also not be traveling to see Edgewood, where I start delivering to next week. I will however get to watch Harrison, a school I delivered to last year.

n I know my cohorts aren’t keen on the DH, but it is evident that the American League has the National League’s number in the All-Star game. Not even a contest in Busch Stadium with the Senior Circuit’s most decorated club hosting the thing could change a 13-game non-winning streak. Ironically it was St. Louis’ Albert Pujols’ error that allowed the game’s first run.

Like I said before I’d rather send nine batters to the plate with a better chance to get on than a pitcher who might play once every five days hitting his position. Since Babe Ruth stopped pitching back early in his career there’s not been a decent hitting pitcher that didn’t let one aspect hurt the other. The Reds are experiencing that with Micah Owings.

Owings can rake, but he’s not getting it done on the mound. He gets brought in to pinch hit in certain situations…or rather got brought in before he went on the DL…but his win-loss record is horrible and his ERA is well north of 5.

The Junior Circuit now trails 40-38-2 in the Midsummer Classic.

n More on high school football; much like Tennessee is dealing with new classifications this season Ohio went through a cycle where the schools were reclassified. Some interesting notes are that both the Division II and Division III championship game participants all moved up in class. In the case of Anderson, from the east side ofCincinnati, the Redskins are the smallest Division I school in the state now…by four boys.

n College football’s opening weekend just got a little less glamorous for Virginia Tech. The Hokies lost leading rusher sophomore Darren Evans to a torn ACL. That gives Alabama’s defense one less thing to prepare for.

Eric Berry has stated that 10 wins will be a successful season for the Vols. Clearly Berry is trying to put on a positive front for Vol fans obviously. I’m pretty sure he’s trying to let Lane Kiffin know he’s with him and his bluster, but seeing as how Berry is about as much of a lock to declare for the NFL draft after the season I would venture a guess that Berry will give a lot different story…especially if the Vols are 4-4 when they play Memphis.

You have to love Kiffin’s sales pitch. Tennessee has the best staff in America which includes recruiting. Well why is Jonathon Crompton still starting at quarterback and why isn’t there a top-flight signal caller waiting in the wings if that staff is the best in America?

The Vols will make a bowl game and should win eight games and that’s it…which unfortunately will be enough to give Kiffin and his mouth an extension.

I’m contemplating being a Penn State fan more and more.

n Shake ‘n’ bake! 

I've neglected NASCAR for most of the season and that’s a big oversight on my part. I don’t watch as many races as I used to. Probably because my wife doesn’t get the sport of stock car racing.

The Chase for the Cup is almost upon us and Tony Stewart is leading the top 12 to this point. The next three races are ones that Carl Edwards won in a row last season. And then there’s the presence of the ageless Mark Martin in the top 12 and having the most wins on the season.

Of course winning races is nice, but consistent finishes are what wins points titles. My money is on Stewart holding on or Jeff Gordon capturing his fifth points title. However there is Jimmie Johnson still in the mix and he’s looking to become the first driver to win four straight points titles.

July 7, 2009

If you’ve read my bio you’ll see I wasn’t always a sports writer. I played enough sports as a kid to say I have some playing experience in what I witness and write about.

But I made my way to the University of Tennessee because of music. I was all about playing in the Pride of the Southland Marching Band once I got into eighth grade. Later on I aspired to play in a drum and bugle corps. This is why.

This video clip is 21 years old and brings back a ton of memories. The corps is one of the oldest operating ones in the country: two-time world champion Madison Scouts. This clip features a version of the Latin concerto “Malaguena.” I defy you to watch it and not get chills.

The summer before my junior year at Rutledge I attended my first drum and bugle corps show at Sevier CountyHigh School. Drums Across America is part of the Drum Corps International championship competition and they’ve been holding the spectacle in Sevierville for a long time. Just recently DCI had an event in Fairfield just west of my present location.

DCI has a ton of members so on most summer nights they’ll have shows in four or five different cities to accommodate the sheer number of corps that participate.

Well I never got to march in a drum corps and for that matter only marched two years with The Pride, but the memories of marching band are some of the best.

A pox on the “one time at band camp” line from the American Pie franchise!

n  The Steve McNair murder was something I heard about while I was in East Tennessee this weekend. I thought initially that my leg was being pulled, but soon found out that it was indeed a reality.

No need for me to speculate past what other people will in time, but in this day and age of celebrities and marital issues it doesn’t shock me that McNair was found shot with a woman purported to be his girlfriend. What bothers me is that he was still married and…well that’s more than just wrong. I could get really ugly about the whole deal there, but I will leave it alone. Rest in peace No. 9; you were sure fun to watch when you weren’t making life difficult for the Colts.

n  Roger Federer is now being called the greatest tennis player of all time. Well…you know the deal. It’s a different era. Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and tons more have long retired. Heck right now only Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick are considered in the same category as Federer and Nadal is injured.

Most folks familiar enough with the sport and the man say that Rod Laver is the greatest player ever. Looking at his achievements that’s hard to dispute. He’s the last man to have won the Grand Slam of tennis in the same year…make that the only one to do that…twice even…oh, and the first time he was an amateur.

 Anyway, not that I watch much tennis anymore, but that’s my opinion.

n  The Reds lose by three touchdowns to the Phillies. I think that can be called an aberration.

n  More depressing news for the family of Phil Mickelson. Now his mother has also been diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m not Lefty, but with the current circumstances I don’t think anyone will say anything derogatory towards him should he take the rest of the year off to be with his wife and his mother as they both fight this awful disease.

Best wishes to both Amy and Mary Mickelson. God grant you a speedy recovery if it be His will ladies.

n  More baseball…it’s basically the halfway point for the majority of teams with just a few exceptions. Your leaders at the midway point are Boston, Detroit, Anah…ERR…Califor…ERR…Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim,Philadelphia, St. Louis and the Los Angeles Dodgers. My goobery buddy’s boys in blue still hold the best record in the bigs and are just now getting Man-Ram back.

Albert Pujols is making a run at the unicorn that is the Triple Crown. He leads the majors in homers and RBIs and it batting a robust .336, which is tied for second in the National League. Joe Mauer has cooled off a little bit, but still leads the Junior Circuit in batting average with a stellar .389.

n  Showing that they will truly make a show with anyone, VH1 is set to premier The T.O. Show. The countdown to the apocalypse is officially on.

n  And with that I will wrap up with my thoughts on the celebrity deaths from last few weeks that didn’t include anyone from the sports world.

Michael Jackson was undeniably one of the most talented entertainers in the history of the world. The fan worship is disturbing probably about as much as the multiple allegations of child molestation. The circumstances around his death are still not fully known, but having seen a supermarket tabloid/gossip magazine cover showing the final pictures of Jacko intubated and with a neck brace on as he was being rushed into the hospital just bothered me a lot.

The “media” in this country leaves a lot to be desired. When any moron with a camera phone can snap a picture and be called a photographer means you’ve moved away from people who actually take photography seriously.

Farrah Fawcett was a looker back in the 70s and 80s. She was, along with Loni Anderson, the epitome of the phrase “blonde bombshell.” The years didn’t affect her too much until she was diagnosed with anal cancer (which just sounds even more awful than I can imagine). I read where ex-husband Lee Majors and his current wife were extremely saddened to hear about Farrah’s passing.

Ed McMahon was a lot of things over his career, but one that isn’t mentioned a lot (at least not that I’ve heard) is his service to this country as a Marine fighter pilot in World War II and as an artillery spotter in Korea. He retired as a colonel in the mid 60s then was commissioned as a brigadier general in the California Air National Guard. Although he’s most well-known for being second banana to Johnny Carson, Jerry Lewis and Dick Clark he got his crack at being the main man with Star Search.

As Season One vocal group winners Sawyer Brown went on to say later “Thank God for you” Ed. Rest in peace.

June 17, 2009

Getting a 7-foot gorilla of your back can be extremely comforting.

Kobe Bryant now has the last laugh on the Big Aristotle. Shaquille O’Neal, as only Shaq can, insulted Bryant last season following the Lakers’ destruction at the hands of Boston in Game 6. Something about “tell me how my (BLEEP) taste?”

Now Bryant has his fourth ring, his first Finals MVP and bragging rights. Of course people, like me, will point out that they Lakers played the Magic and not the Celtics or the Cavaliers. The same Magic that is now 1-8 all-time in the Finals (which is one more win than the Cavs, Grizzlies, Bobcats, etc. have) made it an interesting five-game series, but in the end had nothing left to give the eventual champs.

Dwight Howard needs help and more importantly he needs a more polished game. Getting 20 and 20 on a regular basis will only take you so far and if nothing else can be taken from this series it’s that Howard needs to work on a mid-range jumper and most importantly free throws. That however is the bugaboo for all big men (except for Yao Ming it seems).

So the NBA Finals did manage to finish up prior to the 4^th of July. That’s great. Is it football season yet?

n  Moving to baseball I’d like to take time to pimp my wife’s cousin, Diamondbacks’ relief pitching prospect Billy Spottiswood, who jumped from High-A Visalia to AAA Reno after nine appearances this season. Billy has moved along since being drafted in the 25^th round from Cal State Chico in 2007 at a pretty good clip, starting at Yakimafor Low-A ball in 2007 then pitching last season in South Bend in Class A. He’s been pretty effective in the closer’s role, leading both Yakima and South Bend in saves and getting plenty of props from the big club.

This season he’s been struggling a bit moving into higher classification. His ERA is currently hovering around 5 and he’s not closing to this point for the Aces playing in the PCL. I know nothing of the thought processes that go into where pitchers are moved to when it comes to the minors, but I would think that the logical progression would’ve been for him to go from Visalia to Mobile. Especially considering his ERA went from the low to mid 2 range to 4.15 in his nine appearances with Visalia.

Then again we know the closer’s role is to get the final outs of the game and protect the lead. As long as Billy gets back to doing that on a regular basis I see no reason why he shouldn’t be on the 40-man roster in the near future.

More baseball related stuff; apparently Dusty Baker finally figured out you don’t send in a starter (or any other pitcher for that matter) back to the mound after a rain delay.

I’m sure he was about to seize when the time came to make the call not to send Aaron Harang back out after the rains came in Downtown Cincinnati, but he fought it off and let his bullpen work. It paid off with a win. Funny how that works out like that.

n The Pittsburgh Penguins are the champions of the NHL. Good for them. I really didn’t care to hear more about “Hockeytown USA”…A.K.A. Detroit. There seemed to be a little flap about how Sidney Crosby didn’t shake hands with all the Red Wings players. Well it had been nearly two decades since the Penguins won a Stanley Cup so I think the Detroit guys can chill out just a tad. Maybe they should go back to making a fuss about the league outlawing fans from throwing octopi on the ice.

What’s up with that anyway? Octopus and Detroit don’t seem to mix other than…well I’m still thinking about that one.

Is it football season yet?

n Former Pigeon Forge baseball stud Tyler Cannon is making some news as the Virginia Cavaliers are in the College World Series for the first time in school history. Cannon is the starting shortstop for UVA and helped them eliminate the favorite, Cal State Fullerton, setting up a showdown with Arkansas to stay in the tournament.

Cannon was the District 2-AA MVP for a couple of years, but that was after former Rutledge All-Stater Jason Gray graduated having won the honor three consecutive years.  A lot of folks considered Cannon to be the better player overall, but I’d take a team of Jason Grays (especially patrolling center field and pitching) any day.

There were folks that called Gray a dirty player, but they’re wrong. He played HARD. No easy out with him on the base paths because he meant to break up a double play if he could. He also had one of the best pickoff moves that a southpaw could have on the mound…at any level.

Gray went on to win a JUCO World Series ring with Walters State and finished up his collegiate career with Carson-Newman. The Eagles won the South Atlantic Conference his senior year and made it to the South Regional of the NCAA Division II Baseball playoffs.

Not that I’m sayin’, it’s just that I’m sayin’.

See? Baseball, softball, basketball and every other sport in the lower division of the NCAA don’t care about the connotation. Only Division I-AA…ERRR… Football Championship Subdivision... has a complex.

 n Tennessee walk-on Skylar McBee strutted his stuff at the Rocky Top League opener by getting 20 points and draining threes. He’ll be the best walk-on in the SEC this season bar none…and he should’ve gone to Santa Clara on a full ride in my opinion since Bruce Pearl wants him to wait to give him a scholarship.

n  This just in…Phillip Fulmer will technically only have one losing season in his 16-year career once the NCAA is done taking away a win from Alabama for their textbook scandal. That makes Fulmer a career 153-51 and ungraciously removed as head coach of his alma mater. Also to this point Lane Kiffin has done squat except get…I forget  is it six secondary recruiting violations now?

Be careful what you wish for “Vol fans.”

Is it football seas…oh yeah, I might want to skip football season until after Florida gets done with the Vols.

Well speaking of football season high school football kicks off in a little more than two months and once again this season I will do some stuff on both Tennessee and SW Ohio football during the week. I think I have gotten a little better grasp on the teams in this neck of the woods, but I still need to make it out to a game or two. One of the guys I work with is a big fan of the Anderson team, who won the 2007 Division II football title and was a semifinalist last season.

Anderson is a little far to drive on a Friday night when I have to be up by 3:30 a.m. and out the door by 4:15. I’m still looking at the possibility of catching some games at Sycamore or Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, both of which are nearby and where a lot of kids that go to church where Shannon and I have attended on occasion go to.

Anderson is also the alma mater of Reds’ TV and radio broadcaster Thom Brennaman, son of legendary Reds’ voice Marty. Steve isn’t much of a fan of the elder Brennaman, but has said he does like the younger one. I’m with him on that, but I don’t mind Marty so much. He’s been at it for a while.

It could always be worse…there used to be Larry Munson on the airwaves rooting for the Georgia Bulldogs.

June 3, 2009

n Former Tennessee Smokie Dan Uggla, now the everyday second baseman for the Florida Marlins, became the fastest ever second sacker to reach 100 career home runs. Uggla did it in 502 major league games, beating out Alfonso Soriano’s 536 games.

(For the record MLB counts Soriano’s first two partial seasons where he played a total of 31 games and had three dingers for the Yankees. Uggla has been the everyday starter since being dealt to Florida in 2006.)

That’s all good, but Uggla toiled in the minors for quite a while before making it to the bigs. He was with the Diamondbacks organization for five years before being dealt. I remember a conversation that went on in the Smokies’ press box back in 2005 while Uggla was turning heads in Kodak with his play. The Man (Knoxville News-Sentinel writer Nick Gates) was asked if Uggla had what it takes to make it in the majors. As I recalled Gates said absolutely with his bat, but his glove might hold him back.

That was a fair assessment, but right now he’s struggling with both a little with career lows in batting average and fielding percentage. Here’s hoping the Louisville-born, Memphis Tiger can get out of his funk with this achievement.

n  LeBron James…for as long as I could remember I’ve thought he was a whole lot of hype. Not Tony Mandarich type hype, but still a lot of hype.

Talented, yes. Mature, no way. NBA championship material, not looking like it to this point.

James first graced Sports Illustrated when he was a junior in high school and the article was trying to make the claim that he was ready for the NBA as a junior. The biggest problem with the NBA is there are still lots of players that have little more than a supporting role on their teams because they opted to make the jump to the league instead of going to college to hone their skills before the forced one year rule was put into effect.

Now Memphis is involved in an investigation concerning former freshman phenom Derrick Rose, who just won the NBA Rookie of the Year award recently. Rose would have gone straight to the NBA instead of Memphis if not for the rule.

Back in the 70s the NCAA lifted the restriction on freshmen being eligible for varsity competition mostly due to the Marshall Football team tragedy. It was enacted for everyone in 1972.

We talk sometimes about how much more the late “Pistol” Pete Maravich would’ve scored at LSU had he been able to play as a freshman. His NCAA record would’ve been 4408 in four years instead of 3667 in three. (That also doesn’t take into account how many shots he took from beyond the top of the circle, which later became the college 3-point line).

In spite of all that, the NCAA needs to go back to having freshmen sit for a year in order to get their academics in order. There’s been talk about having six years of eligibility to get five years in. I hope that they make it where only four of them (unless injured or redshirted) are playing years.

The NBA needs to help out by fixing their rules for draft eligibility to those like the NFL. Pro football insists that the player be at least three years removed from high school before being eligible. The NFL doesn’t have the image problem that the NBA has mostly because (in my opinion anyway) they don’t let all of the immature high school kids come in and ruin the product.

And the whole debate on whether college athletes should be paid or not? How about the education which is hard to put an accurate price on as well as the per diem that they get as well? Does that not have some value?

500-dollar handshakes will probably be an issue well after this writer shuffles off this mortal coil. Either way until the NBA gets new leadership at the top we’re going to continue to see poor product for the most part. Congrats to Orlando for getting by “The Chosen One” to reach the Finals, but somehow I feel like the league will continue to try and make LeBron and players of his ilk be in the finals.

On a lighter note, I want to be the first from EastTennesseeMedia.com to wish James a speedy recovery from recent surgery to remove a benign growth from his jaw. Even though I don’t like the incessant fawning over him I don’t wish anything bad to happen to him physically.

n  Speaking more of the NBA Finals…Game 7 is slated for June 18…which is two weeks after Game 1. I remember when the Lakers and Celtics played those classics in the 80s that after two days off from the conference finals (for whomever finished last) they played Games 1 and 2 on back to back nights, traveled to the other city involved and played Games 3, 4, and 5 in a 4-day stretch, then traveled back to city they started in and played Games 6 and 7. Seven games in 10-11 days. Neat and tidy.

It was also back when they played a best-of-three mini-series in the first round, best-of-five second round and best-of-seven in both the conference finals and the finals. Weekend games were played in the middle of the day so everyone could have a chance to watch. Now they’re all seven games series that have to be in primetime. Why? The all-mighty dollar.

I was once a Laker fan back when real pros like Magic, Kareem and Worthy were on the floor for “Showtime.” This bunch ain’t anywhere in the same area code as those teams.

n  Randy Johnson is on the brink of eclipsing 300 victories. He’s now pitching for the Giants in his mid-40s. His triple-digit heater is no longer in the arsenal, but he still hits 93 on a regular basis. His slider is still one of the nastiest pitches in all of baseball and his 6-10 frame on the mound is still one of the most imposing sights in the game.

Johnson started out with the Montreal Expos and like so many that were drafted by and played for Les Expos Johnson went on to bigger things elsewhere. Should he record another 157 strikeouts (and most importantly win one more game) before he retires he will join Nolan Ryan as the only two pitchers in major league history with 5000 strikeouts and 300 wins. Only Ryan and Sandy Koufax struck out more batters in one season than when Big Unit fanned 372 in 2001.

He’s not been the most media-friendly guy to every play America’s pastime, but if his numbers aren’t first-ballot Hall of Fame numbers then everyone that doesn’t vote for him should have their privileges revoked.

Winning 300 games isn’t as easy these days. Probably the best suited for a run at 300 wins is Toronto’s Roy Halladay. Doc has won 140 games as of this mention and he just turned 32. If he pitches for another 12 years until he’s 44 and can average 14 wins a season then he will go over 300 wins. That’s not too big of a stretch considering in the eight seasons he’s been able to record more than 18 starts he’s won at least 16 five times and 12 six times. He’s currently 9-1 this season.

n  More baseball for you…Ichiro Suzuki is 124 hits away from 2000 for his career. He only started playing in the bigs in 2001. Just imagine if he had been state-side since 1993 when he turned 20.

Ichiro turns 36 in October and by that time he will have collected his 2000^th hit (barring injury). He rarely misses games (despite having missed a career-high eight already this season) and he’s a career .331 hitter so more often than not he’s on base. He’ll probably not play past 45 unless he just continues to be that productive well into his 40s.

So Pete Rose can not worry so much about Ichiro breaking his all-time hits record. Derek Jeter is the major threat to that mark.

Taking a look at where both players stood at the end of their 13^th full season (when they were both 34) Jeter had 2523 hits while Rose had 2547. It should be noted that Jeter appeared in 15 games in 1995 before becoming the full-time shortstop for the Yankees in 1996. He had 12 hits in those games (which I did not add in). Rose started from game one when he made it to the big leagues in 1963.

This chase is still at least 2015 before it starts to get interesting, but just so you know there is some interest in it now.

May 29, 2009

I’m not as up on the phenomenon as I would’ve thought seeing as it’s been going on for over two years now, but I feel like it’s a good time to put this 80s smash into my blog.

Rickrolling is where a bait-and-switch occurs with what you’re expecting to see is replaced by the video for “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. The song went to No. 1 on the charts in the US and the UK. It was one of my favorites. Yeah I had the cassette and I’m well aware most all of the songs sounded the same (except for Astley’s cover of “When I Fall in Love”).

So here’s the original…

And here’s the Muppets with Beaker on lead vocals…striking resemblance to Rick… 

And last but not least Brian from Family Guy gets into the act… 

Ah yes! I do love the freedom to do what I want (within reason) when I write.

n My Blue Jays have hit the wall. Nine straight losses to Boston, Atlanta and Baltimore (BALTIMORE!?) have dropped the Jays from first to two games behind the Red Sox and 1½ behind the surging Yankees. Championships aren’t won in May, but they sure can be lost in May.

In the Queen City, the Reds continue to hang tough now back to only 1½ games out of first in the division with a six-game road trip coming up where they can leapfrog both the Brewers and the Cardinals if they keep having the kind of success they’ve enjoyed so far on the road. The reaction so far in Cincinnati is cautious optimism. Why? I’m not sure. From all reports I’ve heard fans should be a lot happier with the results they’re getting as opposed to the last nine years.

One of the division leaders heading into the final weekend of May is my esteemed goobery colleague’s Dodgers, who also still sport the best record in the majors (by a mile) and haven’t missed Man-Ram as much as most thought. WAR Chavez Ravine. This could be Joe Torre’s best managerial season to date and he’s got three rings.

n Cleveland delays the inevitable for one more game. The Cavaliers led by double digits, trailed by as many as eight in the second half before leaning on LeBron James to carry them to a win in Game 5 and avoid elimination for one more night. This series is Orlando’s because they now get to go back to the Sunshine State and the Cavs have been atrocious on the road. So much for a Kobe vs. LeBron final.

Then there are the Lakers. They have a shot to finish off Denver, but probably won’t because they don’t have to. Instead I look for the Nuggets to score about 140 then lose by 25 in Game 7 at Staples.

June Madness…don’t ya love it?

n For those of you that care the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs is a rematch of 2008. The only drama is whether Detroit repeats or not.

n Apparently there’s some controversy that’s going on in Arkansas involving the results of the American Idol finale. Kris Allen received more votes than Adam Lambert, the long-predicted winner by Simon Cowell among others, and because of that now there’s some sort of outrage that Lambert, who is very good but not my cup of tea, didn’t win.

It seems there’s an AT&T phone that allowed people in attendance at Kris Allen parties to text once, but get 10 votes recorded. That’s not what I’d call a good thing, but for the last five years the idiots on Vote for the Worst have been downloading a dialer program for their computers and sending in votes for the likes of John Stevens, Sanjaya Malakar, Kristy Lee Cook and this season’s Megan Joy Corkrey.

The problem is that now that someone has won with the aid of all this technology the “general population” is in an uproar. Anyway, I feel like the right guy won as it is. Allen is more mainstream and easier to digest than Lambert. There’s nothing for me to take away from the talent that Lambert has because obviously he has plenty, but over-the-top theatrics and caterwauling at such high levels gets to be a bit much.

Congratulations to Kris, though that coronation song (first single) is a dud. Hopefully his debut album will have lots better material than that. 

May 17, 2009

Am I missing something?

Both the Lakers-Rockets series and the Magic-Celtics series played a Game 6 on Thursday night, but have to wait until Sunday to play the decisive Game 7? Was there something wrong in Boston or L.A. that required the teams to get two days off in between games?

It’s May 17 and the NBA Playoffs will finally be half over by day’s end. That’s stupidity at its finest. The regular season ended over a month ago and it’s taken that long for some teams to play 14 games.

Instead the 4-letter network aired Kobe Doin’ Work last night in primetime. Spike Lee is slipping. He’s a diehard Knicks’ fan making a documentary on a Lakers’ shooting guard. Michael Jordan had a couple of deals like that in the prime of his career. Nothing as blatantly pushed on the masses as this piece of garbage, but nevertheless shameless self-promotion by NIKE among others.

However Jordan’s image for the most part was squeaky clean. He was a McDonald’s spokesman. Heck I made McJordan Deluxes for the few times that they were offered for a limited time when I worked at the golden arches. (The sandwich wasn’t too bad actually…bacon and BBQ sauce on a quarter pounder without the ketchup and pickles.)

Kobe Bryant is trying so hard to rebuild his image after his indiscretions with the “other woman” in Colorado a few years back. The subsequent rape trial and acquittal didn’t change the image that everyone had formed on the enigmatic star.

Most folks have the same feelings toward Bryant as they did Jordan. They either can’t stand him or they love him. There’s not much middle ground. And no matter how many documentaries and two-and-a-half month playoff season exposures he receives will change that. Most people will always consider him an unfaithful husband who got away with rape. Others will consider him as one of the truly great players in the history of the league.

I will consider him this way; a talented, yet selfish player from day one. He was drafted straight out of high school by the Charlotte Hornets, but never played a minute there because he wanted the bright lights of a major market, made the All-Star team in his second full season and shooed Karl Malone away on a chance run Jordan off a screen in one offensive series (to which Malone was extremely miffed), then went on to win three straight NBA titles alongside Shaquille O’Neal and then work behind the scenes to get Shaq out of town.

Oh yeah…he also scored 81 points in a game (out of 122 points scored by L.A. in a win) while shooting 46 times (he did at least make 28 of them and made 7 of 13 three’s).

Anyway…back to the point that the playoffs are far too long. Then again the NHL (if you even care) is also just beginning their conference championships. They might be done earlier than the NBA, but doesn’t ice hockey in June strike you as just a little odd?

Is it football season yet?

n  I saw some lacrosse highlights today while getting a haircut at Big League Haircuts (which I will shamelessly endorse) and you know I could get into that a lot more than ice hockey or soccer. Lacrosse is big in the Midwest and Northeast, but it’s gaining some popularity in other regions. Coach T.com has a message thread dedicated to it and it’s just basically a club sport in Tennessee. I don’t foresee it becoming too much bigger in the VolunteerState, but who knows?

n  I read a little bit of Tony Basilio’s blog about them calling out quasi-sports writer Skip Bayless. Ya know along with that tidbit of info and the recent interview with future Vol hoops walk-on Skylar McBee I think I can forgive Tony B for being on the other side of the Fulmer saga. He and I had some opposing views we shared in emails back in the fall when all of the idiots wanted Fulmer gone. I was trying to be the voice of reason, but no one asked me for my advice…at least not from The Hill.

Now we have Lane Kiffin…the jury is still out on that hire, but so far it looks like a really bad move.

n  Todd Raleigh…we’d like to thank you for your time as UT baseball coach, but your services are no longer required. Way to get the team fired up for the seniors’ last home game. Mike Hamilton should be concerned about his own job security.

n  Barack Obama gave an address at Notre Dame. Yawn. I’m more interested that Norma McCorvey (a.k.a. Jane Roe from “Roe vs. Wade”) was in attendance and arrested for trespassing. It’s not reported on much, but McCorvey now regrets being the focus of the abortion debate in the infancy stages and is now firmly pro-life.

I’m not here to get anyone riled up, but if you really sit and think about it the argument for pro-choice is pretty weak. I don’t know specifics on numbers, but it seems like all the bases that get covered when talking about “acceptable” abortions are all fairly far-fetched…unless you watch any TV show where doctors are involved. Chief among those is Private Practice. I really like Kate Walsh (she is a hot redhead after all), but storylines where an expectant mother is only given the option to terminate her pregnancy or else both she and the child will perish is pretty slanted towards the pro-choicers. But hey, what am I supposed to expect? These are the same networks that slanted their election coverage so much more so this cycle towards the liberal (and I mean liberal) candidate.

Anyway…I’ll just leave it at that. Food for thought…your mom chose life by the way if you’re reading this.

n I’m looking forward to the season finale of American Idol. I’ve not said a lot about it to this point, but the guy I’ve liked to go far in this all season is in the finals…

No, not Adam either. Are you nuts?

Kris Allen has been pretty steady all season long and has been an afterthought in the minds of the judges, but after one of the “frontrunners” got eliminated last week there’s little doubt that Kris has a 50/50 shot to win the contest.

My wife doesn’t like the way his mouth tends to contort when he sings, but that’s just a product of how he learned to sing. It has little if anything to do with how well he sings. She likes Adam for the record and I’ll admit he’s a really good singer, but he’s way over the top and it’s pretty scary to think that he’s going to end up winning this competition.

By the way it’s not a given that either will successfully navigate the music world just because they’ve won. Kelly Clarkson has flamed out, Carrie Underwood is still pretty strong, but arguably the most successful alum of AI is Chris Daughtry and he finished 4^th behind Taylor Hicks, Elliot Yamin and Katherine McPhee. I will agree that this season’s group was pretty strong, but it’s not as strong as the Daughtry, McPhee, Yamin and Hicks group…to this point.

May 3, 2009

I know my boy Christopher Ayers is pleased right now with the Reds being over .500 for the month of April for the first time in three years. He’s probably even more excited that Edinson Volquez and Bronson Arroyo have both thrown gems in consecutive starts.

He also probably likes the move of Edwin Encarnacion to the DL so Adam Rosales can get a look in the show. My guess is that before long either Edwin will figure out he’s on borrowed time with his lack of production, lack of hustle and overall Andruw Jones-like play. He doesn’t appear to be as talented as Jones was in his early days so lollygagging won’t get it. Cue Joe Reardon…and forgive the inability to cut off the last three seconds of profanity.

So in conclusion, Reds’ fans will have to deal with the lack of hustle when Edwin returns unless he either straightens it out on his own down at Louisville or until Walt Jocketty can offload him for more starting pitching…or a guy that hits for power from the right side.

n Congress…ugh. The BCS is a flawed system, but we don’t need you to fix it.

Nor do we need you to fix baseball’s steroid problems.

Nor do we need you to fix anything sports-related.

The House of Representatives gave the NCAA an ultimatum regarding the BCS saying that they’d better get a playoff system in place…or else. That’s great, but there are contracts in place and unfortunately unless all parties are willing to cooperate they’re not going to do anything until about 2013 (hopefully once the current Commander-In-Chief is back to just being a “community organizer” or begins making the rounds on the $50,000 per appearance speaking circuit).

Personally, I can’t stand the BCS. I think it lends itself to scrutiny every year since its inception. Of the 10 national champions since it was implemented in 1998 probably only three times has it panned out with the best team over the entire course of the year won the title (Tennessee in 1998, Miami (FL) in 2002 and USC in 2004) with the 2005 game between Texas and USC being by far the most exciting and quite possibly the only game in the series that was worthy of the billing.

The endless tinkering and re-tooling has brought out the politician in all the coaches. They’re always looking to give a soliloquy to tell us why they belong in the BCS or the title game.

This past season Utah had the big gripe. In 2006 it was Boise State. Great teams both of them and certainly by going undefeated there’s cause for some debate, but do we really want to go back to the days where an undefeated BYU team that beats up on an uninspired Michigan team in a bowl game prior to New Year’s Day wins the title with an undefeated mark? Because that’s what will happen should every school that goes unbeaten get into the title game.

On the field is the best way to determine a champion, but I think most agree that there’s a lot that can happen by way of injury and academics that affect the outcome. I’ll not totally go down the road of non-BCS schools having somewhat looser academic standards (because if you listen to the folks in South Bend they can’t get over the hump because their academic standards are too high for the top athletes).

n My wife is so cute. She thinks that Tom Keifer (lead singer for 80s hair band Cinderella)… 

Sounds like Gonzo the Great…

Then she said maybe he sounds more like Grover. 

I think he just sounds like a guy getting castrated with no anesthesia. It’s a cool song, but the “sounds like a Muppet” theory is a little bit of a stretch.

(Thanks to Universal Music Group for making me have to find a live version of the song because they didn’t want the embed code posted on YouTube.)

n  Jack Kemp has passed away. Most people know him only because he was the vice-presidential nominee for the Republican Party in 1996 when Bob Dole ran his ill-fated campaign against Bill Clinton.

He was an economic conservative and had libertarian and conservative views when it came to social issues. He was generally well-liked by most people as far as I could tell. He was a hero in western New York from his days as the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills and led them to back-to-back AFL titles in the 60s. Rest in peace Jack.

n  A few years ago the movie “The Great White Hype” was released and it pretty much embodied the state of high-profile professional boxing. Well…maybe it was a bit more embellished than accurate, but after reading about the Manny Pacquiao/Ricky Hatton fight last night life really did imitate art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO-51h2QL4o

(Again thanks to Fox for asking the embed code being disabled…jerks.)

This movie wasn’t exactly like what happened to Hatton, but anyone who would listen would tell you that he was going to be trouble for Pacquiao. Uh, yeah, right.

Boxing is a dying sport among the heavyweight division and now the lighter divisions are beginning to suffer from lack of interest. Mixed martial arts fighting is the wave of the future.

n  Back to baseball, the Reds’ Joey Votto is among the league leaders in batting average and RBI. He’s not hitting the ball out of Great American Ballpark with regularity, but he is making the most of two-baggers. The Redlegs are counting on Votto to be a cornerstone for the future and so far he’s doing that.

n  The draft has come and gone in the NFL and only one Vol got drafted. He was a first rounder so something can be said for that, but I guess in some parts the wolves won this part of their argument.

Still, I’d rather have a sure thing with integrity than to be uncertain of what the future holds for an arrogant, hot-shot loudmouth that hasn’t won a game in college football to date.

n  Skylar McBee is down to three options for his college of choice. He recently visited Marshall and has since crossed them off the list. That list is now down to Santa Clara, Winthrop or walking on at Tennessee.

I’ve made no bones about where he should be. The Vols should give him a scholarship and not have him walk-on and foot the bill for a year or longer. From talks I’ve had with Grainger hoops’ coach Derrick Combs, Santa Clara is right in Skylar’s wheelhouse as far as style of play. That and some west coast exposure could lead to bigger things once he graduates.

I’d even take Winthrop now if a full ride is in the mix. A college education is nothing to sneeze at and Winthropis closer to Rutledge than Santa Clara. 

April 15, 2009

I’m on vacation this week and while I was taking a break in cleaning the townhouse with my wife I just went to update my line-ups for fantasy baseball and saw the breaking story on Harry Kalas. He with the distinctive voice behind Philadelphia sports and NFL Films and of course Campbell’s Chunky Soup.

I knew you’d know what I was talking about when I said Chunky Soup.

It’s inevitable for folks to pass on. We’re only promised one thing by the Lord and that’s that we will die at least one time. It still doesn’t prepare us for the initial shock of someone we know or have heard of dying.

I was listening to some of an interview with Reds’ Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman prior to Cincinnati starting their longest road trip of the season in Milwaukee and it was clear that he was shaken up pretty bad. He relayed a conversation he had with Kalas last Thursday when the two talked about retirement. Irony is one thing that permeates our lives on a daily basis. It’s also called life.

The entire Tri State area is still coping with the loss of the late Joe Nuxhall (affectionately known as “the ol’ left-hander”) even though it’s been over a year and a half since Nuxy left us. There are probably some folks on the outside of the Reds’ organization that would quip that Marty is running out of friends (because of his tendency to come across as extremely abrasive), but the man has more friends than folks can count. This isn’t about Marty though. The loss of Kalas transcends sports.

His loss is the sports equivalent to motion pictures losing the grand voice of Don LaFontaine last September. Unless you’ve been one of the half dozen (like me) to have actually watched an episode of Frank TV then you’ve never seen LaFontaine unless you paid close attention to all the thousands of GEICO commercials. All of those over-the-top, yet stirring voice-overs for movie trailers made waiting for 20 minutes of trailers somewhat worth getting to the theater early.

Sports still has great young voices in Thom Brennaman (Marty’s son who also does Reds’ radio and TV) and Joe Buck (although he is beginning to be a get a little too brash) and thank goodness because Brent Musburger and Bob Costas are both too much to handle.

Other Quick Hits

n The NBA regular season winds down Wednesday night. Now we will wait until mid-June to crown a champion. Is there anything more ridiculous in sports than a 2-month playoff for pro basketball? Probably the biggest surprise of the season (other than Cleveland having a chance to go 40-1 at home) is how Oklahoma City avoided being the worst team in the league. Sacramento gets that distinction. Heck, the Thunder had a better record than the Clippers and Wizards as well. Yippee! They’ll get fewer balls in the hopper for the lottery.

n The NFL released the 2009 schedules on Tuesday night. Pencil in the Steelers as a participant in the Super Bowl…with that schedule it’s a pretty safe bet. They get the NFC North, the AFC West,  Miami, who won’t be close to repeating their run from a year ago with Tom Brady back anywhere near 100-percent, and Tennessee, who can bet that they’ll never have as good a shot as they did last season with the Colts and Jags both having some hiccups along the way. The Steelers should be even money favorites to repeat barring any major injuries.

n In case you care the NHL playoffs are set to get underway. Wait a minute…I don’t even care.

n It’s not a cool thing to say that a golfer chokes, but Kenny Perry choked…wait he didn’t just choke he gagged, yakked, retched…you get it? He didn’t do it like Kevin Costner did in “Tin Cup.”

Or like Jean Van De Velde did 10 years ago at the British Open. 

 No, Perry let things slip away two holes from a green jacket. He went bogey-bogey on the final two holes to slip into a 3-way playoff with Angel Cabrera and Chad Campbell. He then bogeyed again on the second playoff hole to give Cabrera the jacket. Perry is an extremely likable pro and he’s now at the age where he can start splitting time with the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour so for him to lose the lead like he did is heartbreaking…but it’s also a choke-job of Greg Norman proportions.

n What the heck is this?

There’s a lot of things coaches have to do these days in order to get the students and  their players to think of them as “one of them” when it comes to everyday life situations and such, but I’m beginning to think Bruce Pearl is a little batty.

The shirtless painted chest at a Lady Vol game was one thing. This is another. The Vols just concluded a season where they ended up backing into an Eastern Division title, blowing a chance to win the SEC Tournament and then getting knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

If this improves their team defense next year and makes them better at shot selection then I’m all for it, but it really seems to be a lot of horse manure.

March 31, 2009

 I think it would be in Kentucky’s best interests to not jump fully into bed with John Calipari. While it’s true that Cal took Memphis to the title game last season and by all accounts should’ve won the title poor old Tiger High couldn’t win the big one. Cal has won diddly squat in college. Yeah he’s won the Atlantic 10 and Conference-USA titles quite a few times, but has nothing more to show than that. He was a miserable flop in the pros before coming back to a hotbed of basketball talent that, at that point when he arrived, had little competition reeling in recruits in his own city and keeping them away from Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and the Mississippi schools.

The Wildcats are looking for some redemption. Billy Gillispie was an abject failure. He was worse about alienating alums than Jerry Green was in Knoxville. The big difference is that Green had no expectations to live up to since the only coach to have been to the NCAA tournament in the two decades prior to his arrival was Don DeVoe. Big Orange fans had suffered through Wade Houston’s miserable coaching all for the glory of getting a blue-chip shooting guard in Houston’s son, Allan, and then suffered through totally unwatchable basketball and 36-32 scores with Kevin O’Neill. Green didn’t do the little things to keep his job however and no matter how many 20-win seasons you have in a row you’ve got to be more engaging with the fan base. Thankfully Bruce Pearl gets that. Hopefully he’ll stick around long enough to get the Vols beyond the Sweet 16 and actually win an SEC Tournament title.

There was no way Billy Clyde could match the expectation level set by UK fans. It’s also rumored that Gillispie flat-out didn’t want to make nice with at least one major group of boosters from the get-go.

I don’t know where Gillispie will end up, but my guess is somewhere that’s not as high-profile as Kentucky. It seems like he’d be just fine at places like Washington State.

n This is just hilarious! 

 I haven’t the slightest idea how much Activision paid to get Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski, Pitino and Bob Knight to do that commercial but for the three active coaches it’s brilliant recruiting stuff. Kids these days are having their parents/guardians buy Rock Band and Guitar Hero at a torrid pace. By appearing in a commercial with something that kids connect to those three might have all gotten an edge with at least one recruit in the future (probably the phenom that averages 25 in middle school and can play all the songs on Expert difficulty).

However, the image is pretty disturbing. I mean four pasty-skinned older men in their white boxers with dress shirts. Tom Cruise they ain’t.

n I’ve held off a little while in my review of the Tennessee basketball programs so here it is.

The Vols need for the freshmen to hang around a while and give the fans the reassurance that Pearl simply wasn’t a coach with the good fortune to have a fairly full cupboard left over from the previous regime. They also need to figure out that defense is an important part of the equation and not just full court pressure defense.

The Lady Vols need to grow up and figure out that the mystique doesn’t scare many teams anymore. It also wouldn’t hurt to admit that Cait McMahan is a flop. Pat can’t be blamed for trying to get local kids in to go along with her nationwide talent base. She’s tried. She’s tried with girls from Maryville, South Greene, Central, Science Hill and now Heritage. It’s been a rarity for any of them to succeed.

In McMahan’s defense you can’t help injuries, but in most instances that’s the one thing that determines success or failure. Her scoring prowess might never be recognized because her knees have betrayed her.

March 17, 2009

March 11, 2009

Spring! Spring! Spring!

You’ll have to wait about a minute into this trailer to get to the song…

All this 70 degree weather the past weekend and yesterday has gotten my spirits raised quite a bit. It’s been a rough few days save for yesterday being the second anniversary for my lovely wife and me. I’ve been put on a new route that is all grocery and convenient stores and…let’s just say I am running non-stop from the time I load up between 4-5 a.m. until around 1 or 2 p.m. It’s rough and the chances for making commission on this route are slim, but at least I have a job.

A lot has been ongoing in my life the last year with only a few bright spots to mention. The best thing has been having a woman of such grace and beauty being with me to help. I know I’ve been difficult to live sometimes, but thankfully not too difficult.

So now in honor of the classic song from the classic musical featuring the same man who later played Clayton Farlow on Dallas I’m throwing out some spring thoughts as we are less than two weeks from the official start of spring…even though we just sprang ahead for Daylight Savings Time this past weekend.

n I think this is a really bad idea.

http://www.ufl-football.com/about

Has no one learned anything about going up against the NFL? Better yet has anyone not explained to these goofs that the USFL, World League and the XFL were at least smart enough to play in the spring and not in the fall when the NFL dominates Sunday afternoons and college football rules the entire day on Saturday?

Underserved? Are you kidding me? There’s a network dedicated to NFL programming, a premium package for fans of NFL teams to follow their favorite team even if they’re not in that city or region anymore. Plus, the mere fact that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul is involved gives me cause to assume this is going to be a league with some sort of problems in one way or the other. Depending on which spin you prefer can it be doubted that at some point this league will struggle and ask congress to come down on the NFL for…whatever reason they decide is a good one?

Lots of luck to you UFL because you’re going to need it.

n As promised I have not watched an inning of the World Baseball Classic. If not for there being a clip of theNetherlands beating the Dominican Republic to advance I wouldn’t even have known it had started yet.

As far as real spring baseball is concerned only the Anaheim…ERRR…Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Orange County, Chatsworth (insert a local town in So Cal here), Atlanta and Minnesota are the only teams actually performing exceptionally better than everyone else. The rest are all in the .667 percentage range and lower all the way down to Houston bringing up the rear of all baseball at 1-10 right now. Of course these records mean nothing and we know that several players are participating in the WBC, but the Astros have got to be a little concerned about the direction they’re going in having only one win so far in Grapefruit League action.

Speaking of that this is the Reds’ final season going to Sarasota for spring training. Next season they go toGoodyear, Arizona for the spring. The change in venue might not be the best thing for the fans that make the trek to Florida every spring to watch the Reds. First of it’s about 1000 miles more travel to the desert southwest than to sunny Florida. Second we’re still technically in a recession. Now the Reds’ brass is trying to change the recent fortunes of the club and it’s progressing, although slowly to this point. Whether or not moving the spring training facilities to the Cactus League is a good thing will be debated for some time, but as of right now no one’s talking about it other than me…I guess.

n I didn’t notice if this has been changed since the last time I went to watch the TSSAA state basketball championships, but now the powers that be are running six games in a row every day of the tournament. Once upon a time they started with three games from 11-2 Eastern Time then took a short break before resuming around 4:30-5:00 to get in the last three of the day. What that means is the folks that were among the support staff (statisticians, announcers, scorers, clock operators, etc.) got a little break to grab something to eat or drink, relax from non-stop game action and just re-focus on what their task is in the next session.

Now it’s basically a 15-20 minute break between all games and that’s it. I’ve done a district tournament public address and clock operation in the past and four games in a night is a lot so I’m sure six in a day is way more of a strain. Shame on the TSSAA. It’s time the entire organization was critiqued someone with some clout.

n That brings me around to spring football and just wondering out loud what new revelation about Lane Kiffin will come out next.

It seems as though Kiffin ridiculed a recruit about his choice of South Carolina over Tennessee recently. Something about pumping gas being in the kid’s future. Well I don’t know if Lane realized this yet, but first off South Carolina beat the Vols last season with a more-established and winning head coach and secondly there aren’t that many full service gas stations in the South anymore. There are probably more in the South than anywhere else in the nation, but in the age of pay-at-the-pump the air bell signaling to an attendant it’s time to ask the customer “fill ‘er up?” has gone the way of Route 66.

I see that most of the same guys who couldn’t stand Fulmer now hinge on all that Kiffin says as being just the best thing ever. That reminds me a lot of the new Commander in Chief. Talk is one thing, but content is another. I hope the sheep like what they’ve got because now they’re stuck with him for a few years. I’m actually speaking to both Kiffin and Obama supporters there.

n Speaking of 44 I don’t think he gets it at all. There’s no money; none. You can’t continuously keep spending money that we don’t have in the hopes that the economy will turn around. You can’t expect that by merely saying you’re working to create more jobs will create more jobs. By jobs I mean actual jobs, not more government which is more than likely the meaning of “job creation.”

I’ve made no secret that I didn’t necessarily want to vote twice for W, but in order to keep the nation from spiraling out of control I felt it was better to go with the lesser of two evils. Now the country is in the process of seeing what I mean by lesser of two evils. John McCain wasn’t a conservative and wasn’t my choice to be the GOP candidate for president, but at least I knew that he wasn’t a conservative. Still I supported him over a man that will no doubt lead us to utter ruin, but of course it will get blamed on W. The sad thing is the rationalization that will ensue to try and defend the policies.

The worst idea of all being bandied about (other than reimplementation of the “Fairness Doctrine”) is the whole universal healthcare issue. Being a Tennessee native I think the folks that are wondering how bad it can get should look to the Volunteer State. Not even a healthcare management guru like Governor Phil Bredesen has figured out how to get TennCare right yet and it’s now in it’s second decade. I don’t think that anyone should be without basic healthcare myself, but I’m not footing part of the bill for it and I wouldn’t ask you to do it for me. I’ve had healthcare through employers for some time now and don’t have any issues with paying a portion. However I haven’t grown up expecting to have all my basic needs given to me by the state or federal government either.

Capitalism works folks. It has for 232 years almost. It worked in the late 20s-early 30s when we were struggling and it will again if we keep the socialist agenda away from it.

n I’m wondering if there’s a good way to tell a cable network to stop with the short-season crap.

I love watching USA’s Burn Notice. It has been one of my favorite things to watch since my wife and I got DVR for our cable. I have to work early in the morning so I get home and watch it after I get off on Fridays then watch again later in the evening after she gets off. The show is making Jeffrey Donovan a legitimate star and is establishing Gabrielle Anwar once again as a great female lead (even if she is a pagan.) My gripe is the show runs for about 11-12 weeks then has a finale and then says that new episodes return three months from now. ENOUGH ALREADY! Order a full 26-week season like the Big Three do, take the summer off to air reruns while filming the next season then come back after Labor Day.

The biggest reason I feel this is happening more now is because of the strikes by the writers. Another reason not to support unions.

n As I mentioned yesterday was the anniversary. Two years and counting now. It’s been great more than it’s not been great. Neither of us has any “deal-breaker” faults to this point, which I would say is good news. Now it’s time to think about living somewhere else starting next January because the townhouse we’re in and that I’ve called home since January of 2006 is beginning to suck big time.

First off it’s now $850 a month as opposed to when I first moved in and it was $720 (which included water). Now water is billed separately and that makes it over $900 when that’s figured in. Second our water heater got a new thermostat last year and twice in the last month I’ve had maintenance come to fix it. Something is making it trip off, but the breaker isn’t tripping. I’ve had to cut the breaker off and open the panel to reset the thing about a half dozen times since mid-February which tells me it’s time to replace the thing. More on that to come.

Then there’s the whole neighborhood issue. When I moved in the management was different and the folks were fairly nice for the most part. Now there are a lot of people leaving after having been here for quite some time and the ones moving in are larger “families” which aren’t necessarily families. It’s gotten progressively louder in the past two years and honestly I’m just not as happy as I was initially with the choice of this place. My wife didn’t want to sign the new lease and I probably should’ve agreed with her, but I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to get in anywhere else…that mistake won’t happen this year. In the next few months we’ll be looking for somewhere else to hang our hats.

n Looks like Skylar McBee won’t be playing in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest has a commitment from a 6-6 guard from Norway. That seems like an awfully long way to go to get a shooter. Anyway here’s hoping that Skylar will be a success wherever he ends up playing college ball.

March 3, 2009 

While my cohorts have pegged me as a Tom Wilson (Biff Tannen) look-alike I must respectfully disagree. I’ve always fancied myself more of a John Candy (though with a much slimmer waistline) look-alike.

See for yourself. 

Then again I also would like to be considered as possible stand-in for Bruce Campbell (Sam Axe from Burn Notice). If nothing else to hang out with Gabrielle Anwar…

Or how about Tommy Boy Callahan (minus the wild hairdo and squatty stature)?

Forgive me for the ugly name dropped in that clip. I couldn’t find an edited one.

Yeah while I loved the “Back to the Future” franchise I’m no Biff Tannen. I’ve never worn my hair that short, but I have had a slight crush on Lea Thompson…

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

Skylar McBee’s prep career on the hardwood has come to a close. The flu bug bit the Grizzlies hard and they suffered a road loss in the opening round of the Region 1-AA tournament. McBee led all scorers with 23 points in the 53-41 loss to Johnson County and has compiled over 2300 points for his career. To put that into perspective former Rutledge All-American A.W. Davis is the all-time leading scorer for Rutledge/Grainger with 3130 points. McBee would have to play nearly another season and a half to surpass that total, or have been guarded one-on-one for the last three seasons.

Davis averaged over 30 a game each of the last three seasons he played for the Pioneers. McBee has averaged over 22 per game the last two seasons. Of all the things that the two have in common I’m hoping the college they play(ed) for will be the same. Davis was an All-American as a senior at Tennessee in the mid 60s.

Looking at the TSSAA Record page I noticed that there are seven ladies that have accumulated over 3000 points in their prep careers with two having eclipsed 4000. Of the seven, five played in the 6-on-6 era including the top two with over 4000. Former Lady Vol Nikki McCray is the top scorer in the “modern” era. I was trying (to no avail) to locate some stats for the Rutledge girls I was working on earlier in the decade. I’m sure I have them somewhere, but right now I either don’t know where they are or they’re on a 3.5-inch floppy disk (which I no longer have a drive for on my computer.)

At any rate Rutledge’s career leader for the girls in points scored played in the 6-on-6 era and surpassed 2000 points. The second-leading scorer (if I recollect right) either started playing at the prep level the last year of 6-on-6 or the first year of how we view it these days.

SO LONG

T.J. Houshmandzadeh has left the Tri State for the Pacific Northwest. The Bengals are running out of targets for Carson Palmer to throw to…wait a minute…am I starting to worry about the stinkin’ Bungles? No chance.

Chad Johnson may or may not be back, but he’s seriously hurt his chances to be dealt elsewhere because of his performance last season. In order to get out of Cincinnati he’ll have to have a career year, keep his antics out of the spotlight and fire his agent. It’s my opinion that Drew Rosenhaus has hurt more than he’s helped with a lot of his clients. Chris Henry is all but out of second chances and…well you see that the situation is a lot worse than most people in this area want to admit to.

I think apathy has completely taken hold of the Bengal fans.

WORLD BASEBALL YAWNER

I’m a pretty stable baseball fan. I root for the Blue Jays and have adopted the Reds since I live in Cincinnatinow, but I’ve got zero interest in the World Baseball Classic. I didn’t follow it two seasons ago and won’t this year either. In fact I’d say this is the last time this year you’ll see it mentioned in this forum.

Spring training is time for the teams to work out the kinks and shake off the rust from the winter. It’s not the time to play close to a dozen games before Opening Day.

I saw a highlight of an exhibition between Team USA and the Yankees. That’ll be the only highlight I see because it just happened to be on SportsCenter when I was surfing.

CELTIC PRIDE?

Danny Ainge saved his job last year because he went out and got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the off-season which propelled the C’s to an unprecedented 17^th NBA title. This season he goes and gets…Stephon Marbury? Talk about a move that could kill locker room continuity and morale!

Marbury and Garnett played together in the early days of the Minnesota Timberwolves. It could’ve been one of the best big man/guard combos since Cousy and Russell, but Starbury wanted to be “the man.” So in case you thought Kobe and Shaq’s ordeal was rare…it is in a way, but before Kobe wanted to be “the man” Starbury wanted out of Minneapolis so he could get his. I hope Boston enjoyed that title last year because someone else is winning it this season.

February 9, 2009

Yours truly is pushing 40 folks. I don’t feel like it…all the time that is. I guess that’s mostly due to my love for high school sports and marrying a younger woman…who claims she’ll never age beyond 29.

n The things you’re not missing by living in Cincinnati? How about 10 inches of snow in three hours, or a foot of snow sandwiched around an inch of ice? Thankfully it made it into the upper 50s Monday so we’ve gotten thawed out. Dried out is another thing and there are still piles of black snow in many areas.

Another thing is UC football recruiting. I don’t follow it much, but from the trend set in this particular class Brian Kelly can keep the Bearcats in the hunt for the Big Least by following this formula: keep the city/county talent from leaving town.

Out of the 27 commitments one-third of them are from Hamilton County schools, including a kid who went to a JUCO prior to returning home. Most of the time the Cincinnati schools are represented well in the Ohio State Football Championships so if Kelly continues to get eight or nine kids from the Elder, Colerain, Winton Woods and Moeller campuses he can stay in town and not have to worry about job security too much…that is until alumni get too demanding and want to see a national title, which ain’t gonna happen in this lifetime.

I’ve made my case before that Tennessee needs to be more active in recruiting SW Ohio and especiallyCincinnati. It’s closer to drive to than Memphis and you’re not dealing with Alabama, Ole Miss and Arkansas all the time for recruits. You will be dealing with Ohio State and Notre Dame however, but the weather in late fall is much better in the foothills of the Smokies.

n My wife and I generally like Will Ferrell comedies. We’ve not seen all of them, but we have seen all the sports-related ones. “Talladega Nights”, “Kicking and Screaming”, “Blades of Glory” and most recently “Semi Pro”...with Blades clearly being the most disturbing...and have been rolling around laughing like we'd been tickled with ostrich feathers.

I made a discovery when watching Semi Pro for a second time…our good friend Steve Wilhoit bears a striking resemblance to Flint Tropics play-by-play man Dick Pepperfield.

See for yourself…

Not so much the suits, but the mannerisms and the overall look. I will say that Pepperfield is no Wilhoit, whose smooth delivery of the details is unparalleled by anyone except maybe Mike Rypel, whose voice has often reminded me of Dan Levitan from “Good Morning Vietnam.” Trust me, but you’ll have to watch the movie because I can’t find a clip with more than two seconds of the voice to compare.

n Is Lane Kiffin just an idiot, or did Monte drop him on his head when he was a kid?

I think by now everyone has had their opinion on what Kiffin did following signing day, which by the way didn’t address the main issue; quarterback, in calling Florida coach Urban Meyer a cheater when he (unfortunately) wasn’t while being a complete and total buffoon about the situation. In the days of camera phones and high speed internet you really need to be up to snuff on the rules if you’re going to call someone out on an alleged violation.

That’s not too much to ask for. Which now begs the question…has the Wonder Boy been following all the rules since he’s shown his propensity to not know them all?

This ol’ boy expects Florida to score 70 on the Vols in the Swamp. Thanks a lot Lane…you too Mike. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

n The Pro Bowl needs to die. Leave the memory of it in Hawaii. Don’t bring it to the mainland and for sure don’t put it in between the Conference title games and the Super Bowl.

The NFL is getting too cute with their product. It’s been great for a long time. Probably the top pro league just ahead of baseball, but when you start playing regular season in games in London, where they really don’t care and that can be seen in the defunct leagues World League of American Football and NFL Europe, try to work in pre-season games in Mexico City or Tokyo or wherever else in the world someone might have a dollar.

The whole globalization thing makes me uneasy. It’s bad enough that our new Commander In Chief is a big proponent of it and would just as soon see all our money distributed evenly (oops did I say that?), but for our pro sports leagues to continually pander to foreign markets is insane. It’s great that we’ve started bringing in talented players from other parts of the world, but there has to be a point where enough is enough.

Getting back to the Pro Bowl I can guarantee that if the Colts make it to the Super Bowl not one of their team will play in the Pro Bowl. The same could be said of all the teams. Why risk it? The goal is to win a championship, not play in an All-Star game that no one gives a rip about. More people watch the WNBA All-Star Game than the Pro Bowl…maybe.

n I have finally figured out that the majority of people who post on message boards are idiots. Pure and simple, uninformed morons. Dimwits. Nimnuls (as Mork would say).

I’ll not gratify the site with a mention, but a certain message board that has mostly Vol fans on it has been inundated with dipsticks that don’t know much about Division I basketball recruiting and whether or not a player is on that level. This is not a homer talking here, nor is it a guy who has known a kid since he was in diapers. This is a guy who has been carefully following the activity surrounding Skylar McBee to see where he will end up playing college hoops.

My money is on Wake Forest right now because they’re indicating they’ll offer a scholarship if they decide on him. That would be fantastic. He would still probably go to UT if Bruce Pearl ever offers, but right now he’s gambling that Wake won’t offer. Then he might go back to the whole walk-on malarkey.

McBee has spent countless hours in the gym honing his game, has played with similarly talented kids during the summer and has even played with older guys (his brother and friends) in pick-up games for years. He gets it done in the classroom. He’s the second-leading scorer all-time at Rutledge/Grainger and that’s only because A.W. Davis set the bar so high in the 50s and 60s.

There have been some talented players come along since Davis, but there’s no question McBee is the best of the ones that have followed. Too bad the uniformed have no clue as to what talent is.

n Tiger Woods really does have it all now. A gorgeous wife, a beautiful daughter that’s approaching the “terrible twos” and now he has his family name to carry on another generation. Tiger and Elin Woods recently had their second child, a son. The boy is named Charlie Axel Woods. Why Charlie? That would be because of Charlie Sifford, the first black man to qualify for the PGA Tour.

Tiger, who is still working his way back from knee surgery, will continue his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ record for major titles beginning with The Masters in April. He needs five more to surpass the record. He’s only 33 and has been a pro for 13 years…14 majors in 13 years and he missed the last two of 2008.

January 7, 2009

In the spirit of making resolutions I’ll give my bold predictions instead for this final year of the aught decade.

n Barack Hussein Obama becomes the 44^th President of the United States. That’s going to happen in a couple of weeks as bad as I hate to think about it. What goes on after that will be interesting, but I imagine we can look for higher gas again, higher taxes (despite “middle class tax cuts” that will never happen) and probably some international incident where the least-qualified Chief Executive since George Washington (who wasn’t qualified because we’d never had a President before and qualifications were honed from that point on) will show all of us exactly what a deer in the headlights looks like while speaking to millions of people on TV. Ah, but with his skills as an orator he will continue to tell the lemmings and anyone else who will listen that “Change is coming.”

n Tim Tebow will declare himself eligible for the 2009 NFL Draft after leading the Florida Gators to their second title in three years and third since 1996. Head coach Urban Meyer will try to dissuade the fullback in quarterback’s clothing to stick around for his senior year so the Orange and Blue can claim the title “Team of the Decade” over USC. After thinking for a minute, Tebow says no because the riches of guaranteed NFL money and hotter women than those that patrol Gainesville’s night clubs are calling.

n University of Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin gets a call from the NCAA. It’s not a “welcome back to college football” call either. Apparently in his year away from college football assistant coach Ed Orgeron found out some new approaches to recruiting that he thought would work. Unfortunately in the NFL it’s known as free agency and you actually are encouraged to try and be the highest bidder.

Steve Spurrier and Alabama attorney Tommy Gallion were the first ones to call the NCAA on the matter.

n After months of consideration, East Tennessee Media writer Chris Ayers decided not to take over as the Sports Editor of the Grainger Today as well as declining an offer to return to the Citizen Tribune for a fourth tour of duty. With the coverage at the Tribune taking a huge hit due to the departure of Assistant Sports Editor Justin Holt, Sports Editor Brian Trent made a desperation phone call to Ayers, who had been sitting on the GT offer for approximately 4 months. Just as fast as he could get out “HA! HA! HA! HA!” Ayers politely declined the chance to be an underpaid employee of the Fishman News Syndicate. He also remembered he had the offer from GT and called them up to say no as well despite fewer deadlines, fewer teams and more money. He is currently back at his chosen profession: career college student and pizza delivery boy.

n With a successful semester as a substitute teacher under his belt, East Tennessee Media founder Steve Wilhoit decided to enroll in some evening classes at Walters State’s Greeneville campus to work on getting his teaching certificate. Ever the one to take the bull by the horns Wilhoit also enrolls in night classes at Tusculum during the times he’s not going to WSCC. By mid-summer Wilhoit is halfway through the certification process.

Say good morning to Mr. Wilhoit, boys and girls.

n Grainger High School’s first graduating class marches across the stage in the cafetorium in late May with thousands of folks wondering why not outside with a bigger stadium. Those inside inform the masses that those days, while fond to remember, are now a thing of the past because you really shouldn’t have to wonder whether or not Cousin Susie is going to where a halter top with ripped jeans to graduation and if Uncle Jerry hit the corn liquor early that day and is now yelling YEE HAW at the top of his lungs while trying to hold his overalls up.

Here’s to the good old days. Let some of them stay in the past.

n Though he has only been a Grizzly for one season Skylar McBee gets his football jersey and his basketball jersey retired for setting single season records in both sports. The idea that anyone will ever come along and top his accomplishments (though the school is said to be a viable location for the next 60-70 years) is unfathomable.

McBee, who opts to walk-on then get his scholarship as a Tennessee Vol basketball player, is extremely humbled by the gesture reminding the administration and coaching staffs that “there are a lot of Cabbages out there and I intend to get married one of these days myself and you know there’ll be another McBee or two. You might want to hold off on that idea for a few years.”

n Speaking of UT men’s hoops, Bruce Pearl marries “the love of his life” in a quick ceremony in Vegas…or maybe even Gatlinburg. He spurns Ernie Grunfeld’s offer to coach the Wizards yet again because how can you meet hot, young coeds in the nation’s capital unless you live near the Georgetown campus? Pearl’s ex-wife’s new salon, Alimony’s, goes belly up…something about other peoples’ money comes to mind.

n UT football receives a visit from the NCAA. Something about lack of institutional control. The wunderkind is having a bad off-season.

n Phillip Fulmer signs on to do in-studio analysis with ESPN as Lou “Granny Clampett” Holtz is not retained. Next in line on the chopping block is Rece Davis. I like Jim Wogan to replace Rece.

n Holtz, looking to suck more money off of someone, agrees in principle to an administrative position at Notre Dame for Charlie Weis. Weis, who gets fired in mid-October after the Irish lose their rivalry game against Boston College to send the Domers to a 2-5 record with games against Pittsburgh, Navy and UConn looming. Holtz fills in as the interim head coach, but is not considered for the long term position again due to his past transgressions. Disheartened, Holtz leaves South Bend for Greenville, NC to be a motivational speaker for his son Skip’s East Carolina squad.

n After years of fooling people at Sports Illustrated and a little more than a year of fooling the people at ESPN, Rick Reilly implodes and writes a scathing column about fellow space-waster and Boston sports apologist Bill Simmons. Simmons in kind blisters Reilly in his column and in the aftermath both are fired helping to boost the traffic to the 4-letter network’s Web site to new levels. Chris Low and Pat Forde immediately get raises and are given the top-notch assignments.

n In November the Tennessee football team completes a turnaround season in which they finish 9-3 and Eastern Division runners-up. For their accomplishments the Vols accept a Capital One Bowl berth and Kiffin receives a 10-year contract extension worth $3 million per.

n In December rumor spreads of NCAA sanctions against the Vol football program and also that Kiffin is in line to replace Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay. Kiffin denies the rumors and pooh-poohs the NCAA actions. On Christmas Day the Knoxville News-Sentinel releases the following headline at the top of the fold on the sports’ front page: KIFFINS HEADED TO TAMPA, VOLS HEADED TO PROBATION.

 n After months of no luck finding a replacement for Holt, Trent gets a name familiar to most in the Lakeway area to come back and help the sports department: Chuck Myron. It is alleged that Kevin Utt wasn’t interested in coming back as he was still working on his novella.

January 4, 2009

January – We saw that in the playoffs the Colts are owned by the Chargers. No, this isn’t 2009 and that choke-job we saw last night, but it probably might as well be. Big props to Indy for being a model franchise for consistency, but one championship in 11 years with Peyton Manning running the offense makes them look more and more like the Atlanta Braves.

February – Probably the biggest upset in modern Super History saw the New York Giants grow up before our eyes and knock off the undefeated and “invincible” New England Patriots. Mercury Morris was indeed happy as were the rest of the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Serves the cheatin’ so-and-so’s from Foxboro right.

March – The Tennessee Vols won the SEC regular season men’s basketball title…then were promptly beaten in the SEC Tournament semis by Arkansas after having torched the Razorbacks a month earlier in Knoxville. Then they go on to limp past American and Butler in the Big Dance before getting blown out by Louisville. Bruce Pearl has now officially done more than Jerry Green by getting to a pair of Sweet 16s, but if he can’t get over the hump into the Elite Eight or better yet the Final Four is that any different than what Green could’ve done had he stayed?

The answer is…yes. Green had no control over the players and the collective GPA was enough for the entire men’s team to be on Academic Review…which yours truly was on after his one semester at UT.

April – Kansas wins the national title over Memphis and in doing so keeps the Apocalypse from happening and marked the first time Bill Self won a big game. A national champion in Memphis would’ve further damaged UT’s recruiting hopes in the Bluff City. Thank goodness that the Conference-USA champs were put in their place on the first Monday in April.

May – The Tampa Bay Rays were the buzz of the baseball world. By the end of May they were leading the murderous (except for Baltimore) American League East. They would continue to lead the division at the end of every month from that point. Meanwhile Florida’s other pro baseball franchise led their division, but lost that lead and faded way back while the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets took hold of the race with the Mets yet again choking in the final days.

In other baseball news during May the Cincinnati Reds batted out of order. Dusty Baker did that once himself as a player so expecting him to keep up with the order as a manager…that’d be asking too much wouldn’t it? Hey Dusty…that’s what you find in Little League, not in the big leagues.

June – The NBA season mercifully comes to an end before Independence Day and finds the Boston Celtics and their cast of mercenaries winning banner number 17 for the franchise. That just goes to show that unless the C’s have Bill Russell, Larry Bird or Kevin Garnett that they don’t win titles.

July – Oklahoma City brought basketball back to the Great Plains/Midwest for the first time since the Kings bolted from Kansas City to Sacramento in the early 80s. My guess is it won’t be long before ownership decides that pro hoops in OKC isn’t a great idea after all. There’s probably a guy somewhere in St. Louis or Louisville that would like to have another crack at a pro basketball franchise though.

August – The NFL preseason saw the absence of Manning and Tom Brady which proved to be somewhat of an omen. Both quarterbacks started their teams’ season opener, but Manning was ineffective for many weeks and Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season opener against Kansas City. Manning got things in gear for the Colts to win their final nine games and qualify as a wild card, but even though Brady’s back-up, Matt Cassel, made his first start since high school and helped the Pats finish up 11-5 they missed the playoffs because they couldn’t win the AFC East or the final wildcard. Isn’t that too bad…

September – The wolves start howling outside the football office at Tennessee after the Vols lose to a pitiful UCLA on the road in overtime. It begins the long season of inept offense brought in by former offensive coordinator Dave Clawson and culminates with Philip Fulmer being forced out prior to the end of the season. Fulmer ends the year beating traditional November patsies Vanderbilt and Kentucky to finish his career 152-52. Successor Lane Kiffin comes to Tennessee with an overall record of 5-15 at one career stop; the pitiful Oakland Raiders.

The wolves are happy, but I’m thinking in two years they won’t be.

October – The Oklahoma City Thunder make their preseason debut with a loss in Billings, Mont. As of January 3 the Thunder are 5-36 in preseason and regular season games combined. It’s hard to build a good fan base with players that are that bad. On the flipside they should get the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and could finish with the worst record in NBA history if they focus.

November – In quite possibly the worst non-conference loss in Neyland Stadium since losing to Rutgers in 1979 the Vols react to the news of Fulmer’s dismissal with a 13-7 stinker against Wyoming. Rumors begin swirling about the possible replacement for the Tennessee icon ranging from the long shots like Tim Brewster atMinnesota to the unorthodox like Mike Leach. Prior to the Kentucky game and Fulmer Day at Neyland word leaks of the new coach being Lane Kiffin. The official word isn’t passed down until Monday, but the depth of classiness demonstrated by Mike Hamilton is now becoming the stuff of legend.

December – On the opposite end of the 1972 Dolphins will be the 2008 Lions. Detroit fans have suffered through mediocrity for decades with very few breaks and this is the pinnacle of futility. 0-16 isn’t an easy thing because you have to really suck to lose every game you play in pro football. Then again, the architect of this collection of stiffs got whacked in the early part of the season. Matt Millen was finally fired about three years too late. The last team to lose every game in the season was the 1976 Buccaneers who were an expansion franchise quarterbacked by an aging Steve Spurrier. The last winless team was the 1982 Baltimore Colts, whose tie with Green Bay was the only thing that kept them from going 0-9 (yeah there was a strike that season).