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.

Apparently, Kenny O'Neal couldn't quite make the grades and will be transferring. Where? Who knows. I hate to lose this kid. He could've been something special with his 4.24 speed but I guess we'll never know. See KNS for story. Dangit!

Before we get to the Action from Around the Hill, a Big Orange welcome to Bobby Maze who signed to play B-Ball for us last week. His services are greatly welcomed as we need all the good guard play we can get. Pull on that Orange and go to work!

Well, there's a good bit of news from Around the Hill today, most of it from the Ladies' end.

But let's start with the men, which is a good news/bad news situation. First the good news:

The #8 Men's Tennis Team (23-3) had an excellent weekend at their NCAA Regional not dropping a set during their dismantling of Furman (16-11) 4-0 and Va. Tech (16-9) 4-0. UT started both matches off by winning the doubles point, continuing UT's undefeated mark (21-0) when winning the point. Now that the boys have cruised through their Regional, it's off to Tulsa, OK to join the other 15 teams slated to play for the National Championship. The Vols will start off playing 9th seeded Baylor at 1 pm this Friday the 16th. Tennis-ee is on a roll and should fare well in Tulsa. Let's wish them the best and hope they pull it out. GO VOLS!!!

On a more somber note:

Some, if not all, of you probably heard about the woodshed whoopin' we got from Kentucky on Sunday. The 20-5 debacle ended the home series in which UT failed to win a game, falling to 25-27 (11-16 SEC) and prolonging an almost epic slide from the once promising BaseVols, who at one point in the season were only 3 games out of first in the SEC and are now in last place in the East. The boys will face Furman in Greenville, SC Tuesday and then go to Columbia to play S. Carolina this weekend. UT's home record stands at 19-13 for the season. I'm not sure what kind of chances the team has now for the CWS but judging by their play lately, it's not good. Sorry boys, maybe next year.

Again, on the Ladies' side the news is good/bad so we'll start with the good:

A small number of the #19 Lady Vol Track and Field Team went down to Georgia to compete in the GA Invitational and had a very good day Friday. The Ladies entered in 6 events and won 4 of them. The wins came in the shotput, pole vault, the 1,500 meters, and we placed 1 and 2 in the discus. A fine day for the Ladies, congratulations!

Now for the rest:

The Lady Vol Golf Team ended it's season this Saturday in the 3rd round of the NCAA East Regional when they failed to shoot their way into the top 8, finishing 16th. This is the first time in five years that the Ladies won't be playing for the National Championship. Sorry Ladies. Florida won the team title finishing one stroke ahead of 3 time and defending national champion Duke. I don't need to tell y'all how unhappy that makes me. AArrgghh!

The #25 Lady Vol Tennis Team (15-9) took out #36 Illinois (12-11) 4-0 on Friday, dropping only 3 sets in #1, #2, and #5 singles (all three matches going unfinished as they weren't needed for the win). Unfortunately, they turned around and got drummed 4-0 by #3, defending national champ, Ga. Tech (21-5) Saturday afternoon. The loss ends the season for the Ladies at 15-10, a respectable record which ties for the most wins by them in the last 5 years. On the bright side, the future for Lady Tennis-ee looks very good with a lot of returning young talent who should make next season very interesting. Also, two Ladies, Caitlin Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor will travel to Tulsa May 21-26 to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships. They will play doubles together and Ms. Whoriskey will also play singles. Best of luck to both these Ladies and let's hope they do well.

And lastly, the Lady Vol Softballers did just what I wanted and whooped GA 5-2 on Thursday, completing the season sweep of the Dirty Dawgs. Gotta love beating GA at anything! However, unfortunately, the Ladies turned around and got beat by the only other more un-holy school in the East. Yup, the doggone Gaytors. #14 UT (47-14) lost 6-1 to #1 FLA (61-2) Friday evening in the semi's of the SEC Tourney, ending their season. The good news, however, is that the Ladies have been given a national #13 seed in the NCAA's and have been granted a Regional to host! This will be the 4th consecutive year the Ladies have hosted a Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately though, it's no cake walk. The Vols' Regional will include Big South Champion Winthrop (36-17), Louisville (30-21), and ACC Champion Va. Tech (44-15). UT will start off the weekend with Winthrop at 5 pm on Friday the 16th. If the Lady Vols get through the weekend, they will face 4th seeded Michigan (48-6) in a best of three series at a Super Regional for the right to go to Oklahoma City. This is UT's sixth NCAA Regional and their 5th consecutively. UT has made three straight trips to the Women's CWS finishing 3rd in 2005 and 2006 and 2nd last year. Let's wish them luck and hope they make it a fourth straight trip. GO VOLS!!!

That's all the Action. Like I said, some good, some not so good, but we still have a few irons in the fire so to speak. It's not summer just yet.

GO VOLS!!!!

Well, before I get into the Action from the weekend, a few things I'd like to comment on first.

1. Marvin Harrison may have shot somebody this week... wait. What!? MARVIN HARRISON WHAT!? No. This has to be a joke, right? Or maybe just a misunderstanding. Yeah, a misunderstanding. He was probably just somewhere near where a shooting took place. Yeah. And they won't be able to connect him to it. Sure. Just a big misundersanding. Marvin Harrison would never be involved wih something like that. What? The gun? Belongs to him? Awww, crap!  It's always the quiet ones.
2. Ryan Perriloux. This would probably be better news except that the guy who's behind him is supposedly a Matt Flynn type and said to be quite good at his job. Not that we'll see LSU except in Hotlanta but still...
3. Chris Lofton. I'm sure I can't say anything about this guy that hasn't already been said in the last few days, but it doesn't matter because there aren't enough accolades or praises or just plain positive adjectives in the English langage to do this young man justice. Seriously, on the list of all-time most admirable Volunteers, or just people period, Chris Lofton stands alone. He has become my all-time favorite, and like Joel said, the model that I would teach my kids to strive for. Nothing but love and the best of luck to him in the future, which I'm sure will be bright.

The BaseVols had a rough weekend dropping three straight to the Commodores in Knoxville despite a ninth inning rally in the third game Sunday. This was the first home SEC series lost this season by the Vols (25-23, 11-13 SEC) and adds to an already concerning skid. The Vols will host Kentucky this weekend for the final home series before finishing at South Carolina the next. With a couple of games inbetween, that'll do it for this season with the SEC Tourney next, beginning on May 21. Let's hope the boys pull it together for this stretch before the tournament.

The men's Tennis team begins NCAA Tournament play this Saturday the 10th at 11 AM vs. Furman. Let's look out for that. The boys should get through the weekend okay but let's wish 'em luck anyhow.

That's all the men's Action but for the women...

The #25 Lady Vol Tennis Team (14-8) will begin NCAA Tournament play at Ga. Tech this Friday at 3 PM vs. #36 Illinois (12-10). UT already beat Ill. in January 6-1 and if they win will face the winner of #3 Ga. Tech vs. Alcorn St. The Yellow Jackets are mounting a defense of their 2007 National Championship and will be difficult for the Lady Vols to get past. This is UT's 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance which is admirable in itself. Let's wish the ladies luck and hope they can pull out the upset.

The #12 Lady Vol Softball Team (46-13, 14-12 SEC) also had a tough weekend on the diamond dropping all three of their games with #2 FLA (59-2, 27-1 SEC) including a 3 hour and 47 minute, 11 inning marathon on Saturday night (remember, they only play 7 innings). That series ended the Lady Vol's regular season and they will play next on Thursday, May 8 in their opening round of the SEC Tournament in Baton Rouge. The #4 seeded Vols will face #5 seed Georgia at high noon (insert whistle from Eastwood movie here). Let's hope they beat the far out them Dirty Dawgs!

Well, that's it from Around the Hill for now. See there Hoop, on time! I'll let y'all know somethin' when I know somethin'. Till then... GO VOLS!!!

-- ed.

I'm sure I'm about the only one around here who really cares about this but just in case anyone else is interested there's some pretty exciting news from the Hill.

It was announced that the men's Tennis team will be hosting a 1st and 2nd round regional this weekend. This is a big honor in college tennis and we should be very proud of the boys for bringing this to UT.

The #8 Vols (21-3) will play Furman in the first round Saturday at 11 AM at the Goodfriend Tennis Center on campus. They will then face the winner of Kentucky and Va. Tech. on Sunday at 2 PM.

You may ask, "But J, how do you know they'll advance?" Simple. UT has already beaten Furman once this year, 7-0, and the Vols own the all-time series 15-0. So I'd say the chances are pretty darn good. The Vols have also already dismissed Kentucky twice this season and Va. Tech once. So it looks pretty good that we'll advance to the round of 16 May 16 in Tulsa.

The Vols' last hosted regional was in 2005 where we beat ETSU and Ohio St. to advance to the round of 16, unfortunately to lose to eventual National Champion UCLA. Hopefully we'll be more successful this year.

Remember, there's no basketball or football or anything really worth being excited about right now (the baseball team has really hit a skid lately dropping 7 out of the last 10 games dropping them to 25-20 on the season. Sorry guys.) so if you don't have anything better to do Saturday and/or Sunday, ride out to campus and support the Vols. I know I would if I could, unfortunately an extremely restrictive current financial situation and the fact that I live 4 hours away prevents me from doing so. Best of luck guys and Let's Go To Tulsa!!!  GO VOLS!!!!

-- ed.

Well, spring practice is over. The Orange and White game, besides offering confusion for our friends in attendance, saw the offense improve even more and gave us all immense hope for Jonathon Crompton and the rest of our offensive brethren. If these men continue to Work Like Heck over the summer, good things my friends, good things! We've seen improvement from the D-line, which is great news, and the secondary looks like a nightmare that'll keep Offensive coordinators awake at night thinking about whether they chose the right career. Get a couple of linebackers to step up and we look like a conference title contender. Again. Now comes the sad part. Summer. I wish I could just hibernate for the next four months but life dictates that I pay bills and such. Stupid life. But, in the meantime, yay, other sports!

The 30th ranked Baseball team (23-16, 10-8 SEC) won 1 of a 3 game series with ArKansas this weekend. They fought hard but could only come up with the last game. At least they're Workin' Like Heck. Next up is App. St. on Tuesday followed by ETSU Wednesday and a series with Miss. St. this weekend. Have a good week guys!

The number 9 Golf team finished in 6th place this weekend at the SEC Championships in Georgia. Poor putting on the final day caused the Vols to finish 17 over par for the tournament. No. 2 'Bama won the tourney by 8 strokes over South Carolina. The Vols will wait to hear their destination for the NCAA Regionals May 15-17.

The Tennis team competed in their SEC Tournament this weekend. During the weekend's festivities, UT's coach, Sam Winterbotham, was named SEC Coach of the Year while JP Smith was named Freshman of the Year. Congratulations to these gentlemen. Good work. Unfortunatey, No. 8 UT was knocked out of the tournament in the semi's by Ole Miss on Saturday. The Vols finish at 21-3 and will hear on April 29 who their first opponent will be in the NCAA Tournament.

The 5th ranked UT Track and Field team broke 3 records this weekend at the Vanderbilt Invitational. Freshman Joseph Berry (no relation) cleared 17'1" to claim the meet and facility records in the pole vault while Junior Matthew Maloney's javelin throw of 226'11" broke the meet record. Congratulations fellas.

As for the ladies...

The #9 Lady Vol Softball team won 2 of 3 in their weekend series with #11 LSU. The Lady Vols are now 43-9, 13-8 SEC and hold a 1 1/2 game lead over LSU for 3rd place in the SEC. They have 9 games left before the SEC Tourney.

16th ranked Lady Golf moved up 2 spots on the final day of the SEC Championships to finish 8th. The Vols will play in the NCAA Regionals May 8-10.

Battling injuries, the Lady Vols Tennis team (14-9) couldn't pull it out vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt this weekend, getting bounced in the 2nd round of their SEC Tournament Friday. They will wait to hear news about their potential 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. Good luck ladies!

That's all the news from Around the Hill. I'll try to keep y'all up to date with things while we wait out this dang long, hot summer waiting for the return to the gridiron. Thinking about it makes me want to cry a little. Sort of. Naw, not really. Well, at least I'll have time to come up with some better closers.  

GO VOLS!!!!

--ed.

Not a whole bunch happened this weekend outside of the scrimmage but a few notable things did occur.

By far the most important of which (to me at least) is the men's Tennis team. Let me break it down like this: Georgia has not lost to an SEC opponent since April of 2005. That's 40 consecutive SEC matches! Well no more! The Vols took it to the Dawgs and pulled out the upset. Georgia's streak has been demolished! Take that you Dirty Dawgs! This season-ending victory caps a season that saw the Vols win their most matches since 1993. The Vols will be a 3 seed in the upcoming SEC tournament which they start with their first match Friday at 9 AM vs. the winner of LSU and Miss. St. Great season guys and best of luck in the tournament. Go git 'em Vols!

The Baseball team used a 4-run 8th inning to clinch their series with 'Bama Sunday. UT (22-13, 9-6 SEC) has won each of it's 3 home SEC series and is 7-2 vs. SEC teams at home and 18-4 at home overall. UT is guaranteed at least a tie for 3rd in the SEC halfway through the conference schedule. How ya like us now conference coaches?

The Golf team will travel to Georgia to defend their 2007 SEC Championship (their 3rd) April 18-20. Happy putting guys! Remember to keep your head down.

As for the Ladies....

The 11th ranked Track and Field team won 4 events Saturday at the Sea Ray Relays including a UT-best 3 baton events. Nice work ladies!

Unfortunately, the Softball team couldn't quite pull it out against the US Olympic team. UT lost 4-2 after maintaining a 1-run lead until the 5th inning when Jessica Mendoza hit a 2-run homer to give Team USA a 3-2 lead that they would keep. Monica Abbott struck out 11 hitters in her first return to Knoxville. But that's not too shabby against the "Best Team in America". Way to go ladies.

The Lady Tennis Vols dropped a 5-2 match against #8 Georgia this weekend to end their season at 13-8, 6-5 SEC. They will be a 5 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Auburn April 17-20.

Aside from the football scrimmage, which thankfully saw the new offense improve, that's about all the action Around the Hill from this weekend. Stay tuned for more action including SEC Championship tourneys for Golf and Tennis coming soon.

GO VOLS!!!!

-- ed.

Well, the basketball madness is over. Thanks to Coach Pearl for another great season hitting records and giving us even more hope for the future. Love that guy! And thanks to Coach Summitt for another Championship season and another reason to be proud. You're too good to us Pat. Congrats to Candace Parker on trophy number 2 and the first pick in the draft and also to Alexis Hornbuckle, Shannon Bobbitt, Nicky Anosike, and Alberta Auguste all of whom were also drafted. Best of luck to you all, and thanks a bunch.

Now that that's all over let's see what else is happening Around the Hill.

The baseball team is now 20-12 (7-5 SEC) with a 5-1 record in home SEC games and 16-3 overall at home which puts them 2 games back of 1st in the SEC despite being picked by league coaches to finish last. Not too bad for first year head coach Todd Raleigh. Keep it up.

The golf team is now ranked 10th nationally after finishing 10th at the ASU Invitational which was their final chance to prepare for the SEC Championship this weekend. The Vols are ranked 10th behind 'Bama at 1, Georgia at 2, and Florida at 8. Hope the Vols putt well this weekend.

The tennis team is ranked 8th nationally at 18-2, 8-2 SEC. They play their final home match this weekend vs. #3 ranked Georgia (20-1, 10-0). Make those first serves and play the lines boys!

Track and Field is ranked 3rd nationally behind Fla. St. and LSU but appears to be performing well as of late and should make the end of the season pretty interesting as they are hosting the Sea Ray Relays right now competing against 55 other collegiate teams. The Vols are making an impact as senior Jangy Addy has won the decathalon trophy with freshman Michael Ayers finishing 3rd. The action will continue through Saturday with UT's senior day Friday.

And I'm sure we're all aware that the defense is killing new coordinator Dave Clawson's offense so far this spring. Of course it's to be expected that a brand spanking new system will struggle early on but let's hope Coach Claw gets it going soon and a qb emerges in the process. And a big Wah Hoo to E.B. and D-Mo. Keep us safe back there gentlemen!

As for the women...

The golf team is ranked 17th nationally and will compete in the SEC tournament April 18-20. Good luck ladies!

Softball is cruising and ranked 11th nationally with a record of 40-7 which makes this their 6th consecutive 40-win season. Outstanding! It doesn't count towards their season record but they will play the US Women's Olympic team this Saturday welcoming Monica Abbott back to Knoxville for the first time since she graduated last year. Good luck ladies, give 'em heck!

The ladies tennis team fell to 25th nationally (13-7, 6-4 SEC) after dropping two tough matches this past weekend. The ladies will host Georgia this weekend for their last match before the SEC Tournament which begins April 17th. Go git 'em!

That's about all the pertinent action happening right now. Let's not forget that the University of Tennessee has 8 men's and 10 women's competitve sports teams most of which get lost in the fray of football and basketball but all of whom perform well regularly and give that much more reason that It's Great To Be A Tennessee Vol! So let's support these teams and remember, only football and basketball cost money. To go see any of these other teams is free! All they require is our enthusiasm.

Y'all take care. More to come.

I was wondering when the "Bruce Pearl, with his mid-west ties, oughta go to Indiana" talk would start. And it appears it has.

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2008/mar/01/columnit-pearl-indiana-job/

Just to keep everyone abreast of what ELSE is going on around the UT sports world (just in case you're interested), I submit to you:

We all know that the BasketVols pulled out an ugly one on UK Sunday and some of you may know that the LadyBasketVols put a whuppin' on UGA. But did you know...

The BaseVols traveled to Texas this past weekend to plat in the Houston College Classic and started strong but did not finish that way. The weekend began as UT shocked No.3 Texas and cameback to win 5-4. Unfortunately, Saturday, they lost to Texas Tech 7-3. Sunday, in spite of pitcher Bryan Morgado's tournament record tying 10 strikeouts, UT lost to Oklahomo 2-0. The BaseVols now stand at 4-3.

No. 14 men's tennis lost to No.4 Ole Miss 4-3 Friday to garner their first loss of the season. They turned around, however, and took down Miss. St. 5-2 on Sunday. The Tennis-ee Vols are now 11-1.

Men's track and field participated in the SEC Indoor Championships this weekend finishing 3rd.

Women's track and field also participated in the SEC Indoors and finished 2nd behind LSU. This is their 3rd top 5 finish in a row.

No. 23 women's tennis beat Miss. St. Sunday 5-2 to improve to 8-2, 2-0 SEC.

The big story this weekend, however, is the Softball team who traveled to Columbus, GA to play in the NFCA Leadoff CLassic. The women took down Charlotte(8-4), Hoffstra(5-2), Fla. St.(8-5), Ill.(5-2), and Nebraska 9-0 Sunday to record their 11th straight win and go 5-0 in the tourney. They are now ranked No.4 and 19-1 on the season and looking really tough.

That's about all that went down this weekend but UT sports are looking good. Stay tuned for future updates.

Edit [2008-2-26 19:25:00 by hooper] Under the "Too Many Cooks" file, we have this little gem by XRayVol. Originally in the Diaries, I'm bumping this back to the top due to behind-the-scenes confusion. All is well, and pay no attention to the horde behind the curtain. Hat tip to XRayVol for keeping pace with the full sports scene at UT.

-- Joel

To kind of follow up on Hooper's post, there do in fact appear to be other sports at UT besides football and basketball.

Who'd a thunk it? AND, not only do they exist, but they're pretty good too.

I submit to you:

The men's swimming and diving team finished 3rd at the SEC Championships and is ranked 7th in the country.

The men's tennis team is right now, undefeated at 10-0 and ranked 13th nationally (but tennis is a lot more competitive than you think).

The men's track and field team is ROLLING and ranked 3rd nationally (they're a perennial powerhouse in case you didn't know).

And did you know that we have women playing sports other than basketball? What's this?

Most of us know about the softball team and if you didn't, they're also a perennial power and are right now 14-1 and ranked 5th nationally.

The women's tennis team is 6-2 and ranked 23rd nationally (again, see men's tennis).

The women's swimming and diving team finished 4th at the SEC Championships (but won 3 golds) and is ranked 7th nationally.

The women's track and field team is also ROLLING and ranked 2nd nationally.

The Dance Team has won 2 National Championships in a row, including this year. While dance may not be considered a "sport" by many, it is decidedly athletic and competitive at this level. [Ed: added at request of XRayVol and others. Having those gals at halftime means you don't watch me dance, at which everybody should cheer. --hooper]

And women's golf is just starting but ranked 12th nationally.

That's five other teams ranked in their respective top tens, three in their top five, and three others in their top 25. Along with basketball teams at 1 and 3 and a football team that may be top 15 in the preseason this year, I'd say UT athletics is looking pretty darn good.

Don'tcha think?

I haven't been ble to post here nearly as much as I would like, so some catching up to do.

First and FOREMOST; I could not possibly be happier, as I'm sure all of you are, with the basketball our boys are playing right now. Bad Bruce, when he's not busy groping Erin Andrews (nice choice by the way), has the guys believing in themselves and playing unselfish, focused ball. The defense and rebounding we saw at Memphis was truly inspired ballin' and exactly the way it should be done. Hulk said that these upcoming games would be more difficult than the final four and I think he's right. If we can get through these next SEC games without a loss, I think we'll have amassed all the tools we need to make a serious run at it all. I think we'll be seeing our boys late into the tourney.

Speaking of a late tourney show, I'm beginning to worry a little about our ladies. I know not a lot of people really care about the ladies, but I do and the team cohesiveness and focus is starting to concern me some. I mean after the loss to LSU I started to worry. Then Candace announces that she's leaving and I wonder, "Could this be the end of the season?" I mean, I know it's not, but why would she announce this early unless she feels things are coming unglued? They're not shooting well, not rebounding like they should...It's just not how they should be playig thi late in the season. Don't get me wrong, I know they could turn it on in the tourney, and I hope they do, but I still wonder. We'll likely see LSU again and that concerns me. Anyway...

John Adams. Mmmmm... $%@# that guy. Sorry. I know this is a family type blog, but I just can't think of any other suitable expression. It pains me that Papa has to take time out of his busy day disciplining players and arranging ride alongs to respond to the inane drivel of a "writer" who is so clearly Anti-Fulmer and biased against the team that it makes me wonder just why exactly he's "writing" for the KNS. I think he should be booted if only for the simple fact that his "writing" is making focusing on football that much more difficult for the people who really need to. The players, coaches, etc... have enough to worry about without being assaulted verbally in the local newspaper on a daily basis. He should at least be told that if he's going to "write" something about our players or coaches, it better dang well be supportive. Newspapers in Athens, Lexington, Gainsville, and elsewhere can be negive all they want. I would expect that from them. But we shouldn't tolerate it from someone who's supposed to be on our side in our own town.That's all I have to say about that.

On a related note, the letter Papa wrote was a testament to his class and leadership and I for one am DANG glad to have him at the helm. Best of luck coach, I belive in you and the upcoming season!

Okay. Venting completed. I will now look forward to seeing our boys beat up on Vandy at their house tomorrow night and go on to win their remaining games. I will also begin to worry about all the suitors that are going to come calling to Bad Bruce and PRAY that we can keep him around for a good long time.

God bless you Bruce!

GO VOLS!

GOVOLSXTRA is reporting that Maryville high school coach George Quarles interviewed on Monday with Dave Clawson for our vacant TE coach position.

I know this makes lots of us happy, and rightfully so. Anything to get Quarles on the staff, right?

They're also saying that former grad assistant Jason Michael, who has been coaching TEs for the New York Jets, is a candidate.

Personally, I'd go with Quarles. In a heartbeat. Before breakfast. Before coffee.
I wouldn't even be out of my pajamas yet. I'd still be in bed, dreaming about... well, you get the point.

In other news, Scout.com is reporting that Chris Scelfo, former Tulane HC, has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Matt Luke for our TE coach vacancy.

I'm not REAL familiar with this guy, as far as his philosophy regarding tight ends, so I'll look into it and let y'all know what I find.

If anybody else has any info, please post it.

Arian Foster just stated at his press conference that he will in fact be returning to UT for his senior season.

I couldn't be happier.  DUH!

Let us all rejoice together in unison for what just may prove to be the best running attack we've seen in years.

So we got ourselves a running backs coach/recruiter, an OC who'll also be the QB coach (sorry Jim Bob), and two returning offensive linemen.

What's left? A wide recievers coach and Arian Foster, right? That's all we're waiting on? Did I miss anything?

Anybody got any word on a recievers coach?

According to GOVOLSXTRA, Anthony Parker and Ramone Foster have both decided to come back for their senior year!

Now, consider this. We go get a really good running backs coach, Foster and Parker decide to come back.

Could Arian Foster's decision to return for his senior year be far behind?

I unfortunately couldn't be on with y'all for the game but wanted to interject a few points.

1. NEVER, EVER, run the G-Gun 3 times in a row without having G Jones throw the ball. What in the world, I'd like to know, prompted that bone-head call?
2. We saw some people start something in this game. I'm talking to you Antonio Wardlaw, Elix Wilson, Gerald Jones, Montario Hardesty, among others. I'm really looking forward to watching this team next year.
3. Thank you Joel, not only for providing all of us with a place to come and air our minds out with like-minded folks, but also for ridding us of pariahs like OneNationUnderVols. That, my friend, was something I've been waiting for. Great Call.
4. Hope everyone's holidays were more than satisfactory. I know we all got one Christmas present we wanted. Great way to start the new year. Now let's just hope we can get an OC that can help us finish the year just as well.

Old Smokey asked earlier about our record against the Big 10. So here's what I found.

Since 1979, we have played 11 bowl games against the Big 10 (they were formed in 1896). As of right now we own a 6-5 record against them. Here they are.

1979 Bluebonnet Bowl  Purdue 27   UT 22
1981 Garden State Bowl  UT 28   Wisconsin 21
1982 Peach Bowl  Iowa 28   UT 22
1986 Liberty Bowl  UT 21   Minnesota 14
1988 Peach Bowl  UT 27   Indiana 22
1992 Fiesta Bowl  Penn St 42   UT 17
1994 Citrus Bowl  Penn St 31   UT 13
1996 Citrus Bowl  UT 20   Ohio St 14
1997 Citrus Bowl  UT 48   Northwestern 28
2002 Citrus Bowl  UT 45   Michigan 17
2007 Outback Bowl  Penn St 20   UT 10

Notice the desparity with Penn St? We've NEVER won a bowl game against Joe Pa. Hmmmm...

On the other side of the coin, however, we did win our only showdown with Wisconsin in 1981.

Let's go 7-5!  GO VOLS!!!

If I wasn't on prescription heartburn medication already, I would've had to have set a record for most Rolaids eaten in a three month period. This season was nerve racking fo' sho'!

Where to begin. Okay, first of all, congratulations to the entire team for what I personally consider to be a successful season, but more on that later.

The SECCG. Well, of course I'm really disappointed. Why? Because we had EVERY opportunity to win that game, and I mean EVERY opportunity, and we couldn't make it happen. Was it all Erik's fault? Of course not, but good lord son. When you're a senior quarterback having the season you've had, you don't try to force balls to recievers, especially against a talented defense like LSU. You can't pick the biggest game of the year to make the worst decisions of the year. Unfortunately, he'll be tagged with this loss forever instead of the leadership he showed throughout the year up to those unbelievably horrible decisions. But, he did a great job otherwise.

Enough can not possibly be said about the defensive effort that I saw in that game. Everybody said LSU would carve us up. Instead, we held them to one of their lowest scoring games of the year. They'll say, " ...second string quarterback this and second string quarterback that, blah, blah, blah..." But we all saw Ryan Perilloux play probably the best game of his career even with a hobbled hand. Kid's got guts. But we were all over him all night and with the exception of the toss to Byrd, kept him from really abusing the secondary, but we should probably work on our option defense for the future. Probably should've done a better job on Hester but that kid's hard to contain and he didn't have a TD so I think we did okay. Jerod Mayo and Eric Berry get my defensive players of the game and my oh my, what a game E.B. had. That kid is going to be a MONSTER. I can't wait to watch him next season. Bbbrrr... I've got chills. Somebody call Mayfield 'cause that kid needs his own flavor of ice cream, call it Eric Very Berry or something like that.

Offensively, I don't know that you can blame any one person. Obviously Ainge and Lincoln did not have the best day with opportunities to win the game but then neither did anybody else really. Arian Foster had 55 yards on 21 carries average of 2.6 ypc. Ouch. 8 different recievers touched the ball, not one getting even close to 100 yards. Briscoe had a fairly respectable game but the rest of them, except for Chris Brown who only had two touches but one for a TD, just didn't produce. But then, Ainge wasn't exactly on fire either. He didn't do anything stupid, most of the game, but he wasn't very accurate.

The bottom line is... we should be happy that we played them tough and kept it close the whole game, but at the same time, we could've won. We absolutely could've won that game. A VERY slim margin is the difference between SEC champions and Outback Bowl.

I think that's what bothers me the most. The fact that we SHOULD'VE won. I'd be less unsatisfied if we'd have gotten blown out, then there wouldn't be this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me how they didn't have Glen Dorsey or Matt Flynn, how Perilloux, Doucet, and Steltz were hurt but we didn't take advantage of any of it. It tells me how their team was discombobulated until the first interception and how we still had them on their heels until the second one. It reminds me of how THEY didn't beat us but how we actually beat ourselves. We were SO close.[sigh]

Maybe I'm being greedy though. I should be ecstatic that we even made it to the game, right? That we played so tough and almost beat the eventual national champions. (I don't give Ohio State much of a shot. Why? Think about it.)I should be happy that we didn't blow a lead in the second half or that we didn't make some absolute bone-head play calls (except maybe going for it on fourth down, you pick a helluva time there Phil, but that one I can kinda live with). Maybe I should just stop focusing on the negative. Good idea. It still stings though.

All in all however, it was a good, albeit tumultuous, season. People are back on the Phillip Fulmer bandwagon. Welcome back folks! I may have been overly critical, but I never wanted him fired. Ever firing Fulmer would be an absolute travesty. I hope he goes all Joe Paterno on us, rolling up and down the side lines in a wheelchair if he has to. But the three losses withstanding, obviously, we have to be proud of this team and what they accomplished in the face of, what many other teams would consider insurmountable, turmoil. Injuries, suspensions, dismissals, unbelievable critisism, abandonment, etc... all begging them to lay down and die. But NO! We will NOT go gently into that good night. We will rage, rage against the dying of the light. They fought and clawed and made it to somewhere no one said they'd be. Atlanta. And they played tough. So we should be satisfied, considering. Right?

So we've got Wisconsin in the Outback. I haven't watched the Badgers this season so I don't know too much about them but, they're a Big Ten team so how tough could they be? Well, they finished fourth in the Big Ten losing only to Illinios, Penn State, and Ohio State, got played close by Iowa and Michigan State and just did beat Minnesota but beat Michigan by 16. They have a thousand yard rusher in sophomore P.J. Hill, who appears to be their workhorse and averaged 108 ypg. Their leading reciever is a junior tight end, Travis Beckum, who has only four games over 100 yards and is averaging 80 ypg. They're averaging over two hundred yards rushing and recieving per game but winning by only an average of 7 points. Will have to look into this a little further but looks like we'll be just fine.

I'll tell you one thing. I can't wait for next season. We should have a, in the words of Les Miles, "DAMN strong football team". We should be a good sight better next year with experienced youngsters and some promising players coming on (i.e. Ben Martin, Brandon Warrren, and Kenny O'Neal). We have a much better schedule, picking up UAB, UCLA, N Illinois, and Wyoming, and getting Florida, Alabama, and Kentucky at home. The only hiccups may be Georgia, Auburn, and Satan Spurrier at their places. Considering the facts at this point in time, the only ones I'm really worried about are Georgia and Florida, and maybe Auburn. But, we'll have to see. Regardless, the team should be much improved next season and although it's way to early to make a prediction, I think we'll do really well. I can't wait to see.

I'm sure I left some stuff out and forgot to mention a couple things, but I feel like we had a pretty good season, considering. And anybody who feels like our season was a failure on any level (see poll), well, those people seriously need to re-evaluate their values and maybe find a new team to "support" 'cause those of us who really do support this team, don't need ya and I for one am tired of hearing you whine about what's wrong with the team when you clearly don't see the big picture. Nobody's team is perfect, get over it.

GO VOLS!!!