Finally! I got it to work. Thanks to Hoop for the assist.

This is my take on the new uni thing.  I'm down with black.  I think it's a great idea.  Why?  Because it's bold. Aggressive. Mean.  I know it might be a little played out to some. "No! We're not Georgia."  No we're not.  So who cares if anybody else has it or has done it before. They aren't us.  I agree the black should only be for "big" SEC home games or maybe other "really" big games that we might play at home. Wearing black doesn't mean we're not Tennessee. It's just different and a little exciting. I'm just sayin...

So here are the unis I came up with. Be forewarned. I like things simple. So I went simple. I couldn't figure out how to change the color of the logo so the orange pants and jerseys would obviously have a white Power T on them. But I thing these are a classic take on the design, which I like. Whaddya think? BTW, I hate EA's version of our orange.

via i25.tinypic.com

via i25.tinypic.com

via i25tinypic.com

via i25.tinypic.com

via i25.tinypic.com

I created unis. Which I would like to post. However, I can not, for the life of me, figure out how to move the pics from My Documents\My Pictures to the dang Fan Post. Apparently, the address on my hard drive is not a URL. Do I have to publish them to the web or what? Can't drag and drop. Don't know how to make this work. Could somebody help me please. My skills are limited, obviously. Help!

XRay makes some good observations about this perfect storm of Tennessee sports.  It appears we have truly eclipsed TSOWWDNS.  (Of course, the Lady Vols Track and Field did win the indoor national championship this year...)  [Note by hooper, 03/23/09 7:02 AM EDT ]

I haven't said, well anything really this year, mostly because my job and other aspects of my life haven't really afforded me the time to, and so what if I only get a couple hours of sleep tonight, but I have to say something now.

It seems to me, with only two exceptions, that this is the worst year EVER to be a UT fan. I know I have been the butt of more ridicule by friends and co-workers this year than I ever have been in the last 15 years. I can only anticipate the jeers I'll have to endure tomorrow. Even though all of my colleagues are fans of  S.Carolina, Clemson, Georgia, and Auburn, I still have never had to defend myself this much as I can remember.  I know everybody has down years but this is ridiculous.

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Nobody's said anything about it yet, but while the men's team was having it's butt handed to it by Meeks last night, Layne and Layla Kiffin were birthing a son. The kid's a healthy 8+ lbs and his name is... wait for it...

Monte Knox Kiffin.  Obviously he'll be called "Knox".

Didn't really think they'd go with "Neyland" or "Peyton" but Knox is plenty good enough.

I just hope naming the kid that, doesn't come back to bite him. It's a real sign of commitment though if you ask me. What do y'all think?

Anyhoo, congratulations to the Kiffins and her's to the newest member of the Big Orange Family.

Chest-bumped to the front.  A thorough writeup of a first impression by XRayVol.  [Note by hooper, 12/01/08 9:53 PM EST ]

I've been uncharacteristicly quiet about this this whole situation for a while because I was trying to sort out all my feelings about it. Ugh...feelings. Bleck!  Anyhoo...  I was also waiting to see who the new coach was going to be and gather my thoughts about him. I've seen. I've gathered. Here we go.

Firstly, I, as I'm sure most of us do, mourn the loss of The Papa. He was truly a great man and a great coach and I for one will sorely miss him. And yes, I cried when they carried him off the field. I don't care who anybody thinks they are, if you're a true Vol fan that was a VERY emotionally charged moment. Just ask Kiffin. He cried too. Or so he said. A great era has ended and it should be revered and honored as such. I wish Coach nothing but the best and hope to see him return as an intregal part of the University and the Program. So does Kiffin. Or so he says. And as of right now, that's enough of that.

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Rightly bumped to the front page.  Very well-deliberated thoughts from XRayVol.  Also, don't miss Getoffmyvols's take here.  --hooper

Hello RTT. Good to see y'all again. I've been uncharacteristically quiet over the last few weeks. Some of that is due to technical difficulties, some because, well to be honest, I didn't know what to say.

Over the last few weeks, I saw our team get handled by Florida and Georgia, underachieve at Auburn, come back to play a near perfect game with Miss. St. and go on to flummox with two big rivals. The season has been tumultuous to put it mildly. I have experienced sheer heartbreak this season, as I'm sure you all have. We couldn't not have.

One phrase, I think, can summarize this season:  "Technical Difficulties"

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As I said earlier, I'm restarting this little thing. Hope y'all enjoy it. But during the feetball season it will expectedly include thoughts about our team. So let's start with that.

Oh, and these points of interest aren't in any particular order.

I'm glad we won. Albeit unimpressively, a good win. I think a step in the right direction for the most part. However, some things piqued my interest.

That had to be, without a doubt, the MOST animated I have ever seen Phillip Fulmer on the sidelines. And I gotta tell ya. I LOVE it. Wanna see more of it. We NEED more of it. Papa has to get more involved during the games like he did Saturday. I think it's a key ingredient to our looming success.Chewing guys out, smacking helmets... Kids wanna see their coach be emotional. Tells them how much you care about what's going on. Good work Coach. Keep it up.

Why did I not see Brandon Warren become a target until the 4th quarter? Especially after Luke Stocker's performance, or lack thereof I should say. He needs more attention. Now.

Why didn't I see Austin Rogers catching passes over the middle? Is it just me or didn't that work for us last season?

I'm beginning to become quite concerned about Crompton's ability to perform under pressure. Given, this was a better show than UCLA, but he's still making too many mistakes, especially under duress. It seems like he's having trouble making decisions. Do I pull the ball down or throw it? Who do I throw it to? Uh-oh, here comes a rusher. Aahhh!! Just make a decision already. And make it a good one.

Speaking of which, and I know most of you don't want to say it, but... I liked what I saw from Nick Stephens. Yeah, yeah I know it was late in the game when their D was tired, but that doesn't take away from the good things he did. Just something to think about. That's all I'm saying.

Gotta run the ball more. Duh. Need to see more of Mo-Hard inside the Orange Zone. Oh, and I've officially opened the Lennon Creer Man Crush Club to prospective members. Come on in. We got lotsa goodies for ya. This kid is definitely the future and a strong addition to short down situations. I know, UAB's defense and all that. You cannot deny the kid's talent. I'd like to see some Wishbone with him and Mo-Hard. I think it could be devastating.

And last but definitely not least, we have got to tackle better. If we tackle like that against Florida, our goose is cooked. And in case you haven't seen my little avatar, beating Florida is supremely important to me. But if we can't tackle UAB, there's no WAY we can tackle Teblow or Harvin or just about any of their guys. Get to work Chief!

OK. Just some points to ponder. Things I hope that people getting paid to run this team are thinking about. Now, with that out of the way...

The men's Golf team tore it up in Georgia this weekend! Yeah buddy! The #10 ranked Golf team finished the 20th Annual Carpet Capital Collegiate tournament 5 under par to finish 2nd behind #12 Chattanooga. The guys ran into some trouble on Saturday but played well Sunday to jump 2 spots and finish 2nd. Congrats guys on a good opening tourney. Next up for the Vols is the PING/Golfweek Preview Invitational Sept. 28-30 in Toledo, Ohio. Go kick some butt fellas!

The #23 ranked Lady Vol Soccer team, however, did not have such a good weekend. The Lady Vols were shut out for the fourth time this season falling to Pepperdine 2-0 Friday. To add to ther woes, the Ladies then travelled to UC Santa Barbara Sunday only to fall again 2-1. Sorry Ladies. The Ladies fall to 2-5 on the season and will finish out their non-conference schedule Friday the 19th hosting Western Carolina. Good luck to y'all.

The Lady Vol-e-ballers split their weekend losing to #17 Illinois on Friday, 3 sets to 2. They then turned around and beat Dayton Sunday, 6 sets to 3. Dayton ended up winning the tourney however, by having the least points scored against them. The Ladies are now 5-4 on the season and begin their conference schedule next weeend with Mississippi State on Friday the 19th and then Alabama on Sunday. Go git 'em Ladies!

Well, that's about it for Around The Hill. Let's wish all our competitors luck in their upcoming contests. And as for the Gaytors... I hope we run all over them.

GO VOLS!!!

  Well, it's been awhile since I made any kind of significant contribution to this site. That has a lot to do with the turbulence I've been experiencing over the last few months. In July, I got a new job at a new hospital and had to move and get orientated and find a place and so forth. So some disorientation equalled an unexpected absence. I was going to do a week to week look ahaead at the teams we were going to be playing but that got moved to the backburner and then extinguished all together, unfortunately. Lucky for us we have other, more qualified people here to do that anyway. Lots of other things had to take a backseat to the life change but it's all but gotten at least somewhat back to normal now and I should be able to return to doing some things that I had to let go for a bit. But I digress...

  I'm not going to take this opportunity to vent about UCLA. Even though I'd like to, I'm pretty sure everything that's needed to be said has already and I'd just be reenforcing what's already been covered. I have just as many questions and doubts as you do and they've all pretty much been covered in previous posts by more eloquent writers. All I will say is that I'm keeping a close eye on John Chavis and PRAYING that JC gets his game legs and wits about him and soon! Oh, and O-Line - I'm looking at you. And I'm looking hard.

  Last Spring I started a little thing called "Around The Hill" where I took a week to week look at the "other" sports being participated in by our athletes. I got an e-mail from The Hoop asking me if I would be reviving said contribution and the answer is, yes, I will.

  So far this fall, there aren't a whole lot of other sports being played right now. The men's Golf team starts their fall this Friday (tomorrow) in Rocky Face, Georgia at the 20th annual Carpet Capital Collegiate tournament. UT coach Jim Kelson calls it, "...the Master's of collegiate golf." With ten top-25 teams and several others, this looks to be a big test for the Vols. Let's wish them the best and I should have a recap for you on Sunday.

  As for the Ladies, the only sports in action right now are Volleyball and Soccer. As of right now, the Lady Vol Soccer team is 2-3 and plays at Pepperdine tomorrow night and has a match at UC Santa Barbara Sunday evening.  I'll keep an eye on that and let you know something Sunday, hopefully. If I can complete coherent thoughts. The Lady Vol-leyball team has played 2 tourneys so far and is 3-3. They open their home slate tomorrow morning vs. Gardner-Webb and has Illinios at 7 in the pm. They play Dayton Sunday at 1 pm. Again, given the ability to hold my head up, I'll have some kind of report. If not then, then Monday.

  Thanks to The Hoop for the proverbial kick in the can to get this back on track. I'll do my best to keep you abreast of off-beat action amidst my unbelievable dedication to the Feetball. And by dedication, I mean self-progenated reason for somewhat irresponsible imbibing of adult beverages disguised as superstitious support of our Football team who as of right now appears to need all the support it can get. Good news for my local red-dot. Bad news for the liver.

  I'm the XrayVol and this has been Around The Hill. Stay tuned. Things are just warming up.

I have a question for either Joel or Hoop. If I write something in another format, say Word, can I transfer it into a FanPost? Is it as easy as just copying and pasting? Or is something else required? I'd like to write a piece about the upcoming season but it'll be too long to do directly so I figured I'd do it in Word and transfer it is that's posible. I remember y'all talking about this when we first switched over but I can't remember. BTW, why does this Post have to be 75 words long? Thanks.