SB Nation User Blog: XRayVol

Is this the worst year EVER to be a Tennessee fan?

XRayVol — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 03:26:07 -0000

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.

When it comes to the three big sports of our school, being football, basketball and baseball, we have but one bright spot. Our men's basketball team should've been a lot better than they were. Yeah, we won the East, barely and not really, I mean we had to share it with S. Carolina, and got bounced by an Okie St. team that should never had been in the game to begin with. Why was it that J.P. Prince and Scotty Hopson were the only guys with balls enough to go to the hole? Our women's team was without argument the worst we've EVER had. First EVER loss in the first round. These women NEVER found their heart. Except maybe against Rutgers, but that's about it. And I think that really describes both basketball teams. No heart. No hustle. Not when it mattered. Not when it needed to be there. I have never seen a group of athletes at UT that had so much potential and let it go to waste so easily than these two teams. I could be wrong, and if so please let me know, but that's how I see it.

I don't even want to talk about baseball. Suffice it to say, they are also squandering a bunch of talent in a BIG way. Just like our basketball teams, they also can't play defense. Yeeesh.

No heart. No defense. No hustle. No real accomplishments. 5-7 (of course defense was the only real bright spot to this year's feetball team, so...) 1st round - out. 1st round - out. Without a miracle, no CWS - again.

The only bright spots we have this year is the new feetball coaching staff and the unbelievable job those guys are doing recruiting and preparing our team for their system and a new era of Tennessee Feetball. Reading what the players have been saying and doing is giving me a lot of hope for this upcoming team. I think we may be a lot better than most people expect. The other bright spot we have, and I'm sure none of you really care, but our men's Tennis team may just win a National Championship this year. Those guys are playing out of their minds so far this year. Beating teams ranked higher than us almost every week. These guys are GOOD. Look it up. As far as the other obscure teams go, I'm not really sure. I think our swmming and volleyball teams are good but I don't know those numbers right now.

I have a lot of hope for next year. I think our basketball teams will be much improved, given that Tyler and Wayne come back. Not too sure about the baseball team, we'll see. Like I said, the feetball team should be better than we all think, and that's great.

But, and I don't know about you, this is a year of UT sports that I will try to forget as soon as possible. With any luck, and some serious off-season work, I'll never have to write this opinion again.

Welcome Knox!

XRayVol — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:27:35 -0000

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.

Impressions of Kiffin...and such.

XRayVol — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:44:43 -0000

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.

I was wary of the hire. Who will it be? Will he be right for us? Will he become a true Tennessee man? So forth and so on. I heard all the rumors about Kiffin being the guy and I began to hope that he wouldn't take the job just as an opportunity to re-establish himself as a springboard back to the NFL. That was my first and major concern. Yes, he's unproven as a head coach. But so was Fulmer when he got the job. Yes, he's relatively unknown to us as far as his ability and direction. But so was Fulmer. I had questions. I'm sure we all did. And even after the conference, still do. But I watched the conference and now I have fewer questions and a little more insight into this man, and a little more confidence I think.

I was eager to watch Layne Kiffin's news conference (just so y'all know, I'm a huge Alice In Chains fan and will be spelling his name this way for the forseeable future. Anyone familiar with Layne Stayley? If so, you understand) in order to gain some insight into our new coach, as I'm sure we all were. I went into it with a measure of skeptisism and came out with a measure of optimism.

I was impressed. With several things I hoped to see from him. He appears to have a great respect for the University and all it's tradition and meaning. He appears to be awed, and rightfully so, by the sheer emotion that pours from each individual member of the Tennessee family and the immeasurable importance that the program has for us. I was wondering about that and am now satisfied with his response to it. He also seems to have great respect for Papa, which I was also hoping for as that is an imoprtant measure of him for me. So far, so good. I wondered about just how prepared he was for taking his place in the unparalled tradition, history, and atmosphere of not only our University but our conference as well. He appears to not only be prepared but very excited as well. Okay. Good. Keep going. On top of that, I got an impression that he is, at least for now, quite humble about his place in all of that. Again, me likey. I was worried about just how seriously he would take this new position in our football world or if it would be just another job for him. He appears to be taking this all very seriously, which is important, very important. He needs to realize that this ain't just some thing you do to pay the bills. This is Tennessee Football son, and it's your life now. Obviously, there'll be moments in the coming future that'll bring that home to him more convincingly but he seems to be looking at it the right way, which will be imortant for him very soon.

I think I hoped more than anything, that he would realize the greatness of the opportunity that he's just been given in the capacity that it's one that could potentially not only make his career but also give his life stability and a home. A place for him to flourish and know that he's a very central part of something important that spans millions of lives. Something that gives countless people hope and inspiration. Other schools have a fan base. We have a Big Orange Nation. A Big Orange Family. And he is now our patriarch. I hope he understands the power of that, and the potential of it.

I was worried about the whole, "is he just using us?" thing. But I was quite taken with something he said. I'm trying to hold it at face value because it could just be a hook he was throwing out, but it was almost as if he knew what I wanted to hear.

"My agents won't like me for saying this, but... I'm not going back to the NFL. Not because of what I think of the NFL but because of what I think of Tennessee and being at this place."

Oh, you sweet talkin' ... I had to smile just a little bit. And then there was the thing about him not wanting to move anymore and not wanting to move his kids because he knew what that was like. Hmmm... Just what I wanted to hear. I just hope he means it. Especially if things don't go too well right away. Which they probably won't. But to hear it was nice. So I'll give him a little leeway because he said the right things and seemed to mean them. We'll see.

Bottom line: I went into the news conference with a bit of a scowl. And came out of it with a bit of a smile. He seems to want to recruit hard and play hard and restore the competition among the players that I think we've been lacking as of late. He runs a pro-style offense instead of that stupid spread, which I didn't want anywhere near Knoxville (sorry Mike Leach). It's a gimmick and it's time is fading. The I-form, punch in the mouth, hard nosed football is everlasting and it should always be Tennessee Footbaw.

So Welcome Layne. Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast. Go out there and prove that you're the guy. I'm beginning to think you might be. We may have just gotten very lucky. Either that or Mike Hamilton isn't the bozo he seems to be. I'm going with the lucky thing. Either way, I've become a lot more open to the new era of Tennessee Football.

GO VOLS!!!!

Things that must be said.

XRayVol — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:07:28 -0000

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"

Let's be quite frank. The last thing that anybody can say about this team is that they didn't try. The results of this season to date have most definitely not been due to lack of effort. On ANYBODY"S part. Certainly, not Coach's. But we'll get to that. Everybody has been working hard. Of that, you CAN be certain.

Technical difficulties. That's what it all has been. Think about it. Our worst enemy this season has been penalties. Mental Errors. Drive Killers. Momentum Killers. We have played some really sloppy football. But the one game. The one game that we executed well and played smart and disciplined, we handled Miss. State. No offensive penalties in that game. And what happened? 34-3 happened. Now, given, it's MSU, but still! You get what I'm saying. On top of that, and I warn you, these are all things that can be refuted but are my opinion and I think a fairly good point, you bring in a spankin' new OC with a spankin' new complicated playbook and give him a bunch of kids who are trying to pass classes at the University of Tennessee and learn this thing. Oh! And by the way, we're gonna give you a quarterback who is almost completely untested and has only started one game in his short career, to run that complicated offense. We all saw how well that worked. So, hey! I know, let's give you a completely untested sophomore who has NEVER started an SEC game in his LIFE! And we'll see how that works out. Mmmkay?

And what did we do? "Hey, Clawford, or whatever your name is, you gotta make this thing work RIGHT NOW. Today. You have ZERO room for errors. Mmkay. Good luck." That poor guy never even saw the fire as he walked right into it. Or else he saw it and decided to go in anyway. In which case he deserves a lot of respect. Even if he does need to work on his playcalling.

To be honest, in my opinion, this offense never really had a chance. I know! Let's debut this shiny new offense with it's shiny new quarterback against friggin' UCLA. But it's cool because we have three whole weeks before we play FLA., Auburn and flippin' Georgia. Take a ten year old, show him a couple of Karate moves and then let him fight a pack of Ninjas. See what happens. It was always going to take more than one year to get this thing going. But then, no one could have predicted the internal hemorrhaging we'd suffer during the strengthening process. Or the broken neck we suffered when Jon Crompton turned out to be a bust. Stephens has made a pretty good brace for that neck but hey, the kid's got some growing to do, naturally. So things didn't work out the way anybody wanted, it was bound to happen sometime, but I really think we can chalk it all up to Technical Difficulties.

Difficulties that, for some reason, evaded fixing. Why? Who knows. Was it the coaching? Was it the kids? Who knows? I find it really hard to believe that our coaches are inept and/or our athletes are uncoachable. Doesn't make sense. I think it was just unrealistic of us to think this would be anything more than a rebuilding year. All the signs were there. But we, in our infinite fandom, over-expected and we got hurt. We got emotionally injured. And we lashed out. We lashed out BIG. And what generally happens when you make an emotionally charged decision? It usually comes back to bite you in the arse. Stay tuned.

They just needed more time. And understanding. Which brings me to my point.

I only saw about the last season of Johnny Major's career. And I have seen every year of Fulmer's. I rode the wave of excess in the 90's and have ridden it as it has slowly beached itself this year. We have seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows during the last 17 years. We have experienced the thrill of important victories, hard fought battles, and decisive routs. We've felt the sting of upsetting losses, and I don't just mean the games (I'm looking at you Inky Johnson), public embarrassment, and the unfulfillment of championship dreams. A lot of things have happened in the last 17 years, not all of them good. And I have to tell you, I love the University of Tennessee and I always will, but what they did Monday was wrong. It was a bad decision. Nevermind that Fulmer, one of the NCAA's winningest and cleanest coaches, should have been allowed to leave on his own terms, but to do it with three game left. Shameful. If you're going to fire the guy, at least wait 'till the season's over. Sheesh. I don't like the decision to fire him. I think it'll cause more trouble than it'll fix. Personally, I think they should have had one more year. If they couldn't make the thing work by the middle of next season, then you start thinking about a new coach. NOBODY installs a new offense and makes it work immediately. NOBODY. Especially not with green quarterbacks. It was bad. And I say that knowing that Fulmer could've turned it around eventually and that now we are very dangerously close to becoming the newest seat on the Coach Carousel.

I love Fulmer. I think he is one of the classiest, most genuine, dedicated, resilient, fervored coaches ever. He bleeds Big Orange more than most. He has worked like heck for us and the school and especially his athletes. Who I was damn proud of, seeing them at the press conference. That's loyalty people! Have you seen any other coaches' players line up behind them during their conferences. I think not. Phillip Fulmer was at the center of something special at the University of Tennessee. And now it's gone. I feel the worst for the players. Even though we've questioned Fulmer's discipline with his players, no one can question his dedication to them. It's sad to think that the football program won't be the program anymore. What will it become? What will we become? Will we be the next major university to become the girl you wanna take to the "movies" but not the one you wanna bring home to mom? Or will we meet the guy? The guy who will restore order to our lives and treat us well and stick around. (ed.s note: I'm not a scorned woman, or a woman at all, I just can't think of a better analogy right now.) I just hope this decision doesn't come back to bite us like I think it might. I really do.

I'm going to miss Phillip Fulmer and the whole staff, should it be discarded. And I had to get that out of my system. I guess the only thing to do now is move forward, and hope that Hamilton, whom I'm not a big fan of right now, makes a very good decision to fix the bad one he just made. Well, it won't fix it but it could eventually take away the sting.

God bless Phillip Fulmer and I wish him and his family nothing but the best as well as all the coaches we might lose. I hope they go on to continued success. Now I'll just sit back and cross my fingers and hope for the best. God help us.

Around The Hill... and then some.

XRayVol — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:26:18 -0000

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!!!

Don't worry. We'll be going Around The Hill again soon.

XRayVol — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:27:53 -0000

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.

Question for ed.

XRayVol — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:24:07 -0000

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.

Where the Tide Don't Roll (via SECsongs) This is great. Everybody needs to see this. Enjoy.

XRayVol — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:56:57 -0000

Where the Tide Don't Roll (via SECsongs)

This is great. Everybody needs to see this. Enjoy.

Under the Lights: Tennessee Football (via FSNSouth) Chief gits after 'em!

XRayVol — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:39:56 -0000

Under the Lights: Tennessee Football (via FSNSouth)

Chief gits after 'em!

O'Neal calls it quits

XRayVol — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:22:40 -0000

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!