SB Nation User Blog: rustytanton

Brunetti commits to West Virginia : Football Recruiting : GoVolsXtra.com

rustytanton — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:11:04 -0000

Brunetti commits to West Virginia : Football Recruiting : GoVolsXtra.com

And the QB situation gets a little more precarious.

Lane Kiffin Show with Ed Orgeron (via lanekiffinshow) (xtranormal.com, the site used to make this...

rustytanton — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:58:34 -0000

Lane Kiffin Show with Ed Orgeron (via lanekiffinshow)

(xtranormal.com, the site used to make this video, has much potential for hilarity)

Some thoughts on the Daniel Hood situation

rustytanton — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:34:21 -0000

I have been mulling over UT's decision to give Daniel Hood a football scholarship.

As you've likely read by now, Hood was convicted when he was 13 years old in assisting with the rape of his cousin. He is 17 now, and by all accounts, he has been a model citizen since who says he is remorseful and is not running away from his crime in public statements.

John Adams wrote an asinine column today about the situation, which was the first I'd read about it. The reasoning Adams offered for why offering him a scholarship was a bad decision was cynical and sad. My first reaction was to take the opposite position, since Adams' opinions add about as much value to the public dialogue as the Boston Globe's stock would add to your investment portfolio.

But then I read the court document that Clay Travis linked to and it made my stomach turn. Not just the description of the act itself, which was heinous, but Hood's victim-blaming and lack of remorse in the immediate aftermath.

I also am extremely uncomfortable in particular with how the vicitm's forgiveness is being used as evidence that he has reformed. That doesn't prove anything. Victims of rape frequently don't even report what happened because they are too scared. More importantly, victims of rape and abuse will often rationalize the perpetrator's actions.

Nor do the glowing recommendations from his school really mean all that much. People have this image of rapists as sketchy men in trench coats who lurk in alleys, but most of them are people who by all appearances are upstanding members of society.

Our court system has determined that juveniles are supposed to get second chances as adults, with the record wiped clean, for almost any crime. Since the incident happened when Hood was 13, we aren't even supposed to have even known about it. That the information is public knowledge at all was due to someone's mistake.

Believe me, did I ever make some poor decisions when I was a teenager that would not reflect well on me now if they were public knowledge. I will only elaborate enough to say I am very fortunate to be the beneficiary of some second (and third) chances in life myself.

So, it's fair to say we wouldn't be having this discussion at all had it not been for a mistake made by the courts; that for every Daniel Hood with a crime like this that we know about, there are thousands more like him that we will never hear about because our justice system has determined we shouldn't. Some of them will reform and go on to lead productive lives. Others will squander their second chance.

Ultimately, it is a judgment call, and there is no formula to determine the right decision. Lane Kiffin has determined that Hood means what he says, that his actions have demonstrated he has reformed, and that he isn't a sociopath who is pulling the wool over everyone's eyes. Everyone involved understands this is an extremely risky decision, and they appear to have been as transparent about making it as they possibly could have been.

It would have been hard for me to make the same decision that Lane Kiffin made. But it was probably hard for someone else to offer me a second chance, many years ago.

Receiver Paige leaving UT : Football : GoVolsXtra.com

rustytanton — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:24:14 -0000

Receiver Paige leaving UT : Football : GoVolsXtra.com

[Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Terdell] Sands had an even harsher tone for James Cregg, who...

rustytanton — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:10:40 -0000

[Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Terdell] Sands had an even harsher tone for James Cregg, who joined Kiffin’s staff in December, leaving the Raiders midway through their season.

"That man is a clown," Sands said. "He gets no respect because he quit on us in the middle of the season. He jumped ship. Maybe some of his guys liked him when he helped with the offensive line, but I’ve got no use for anybody that quits like that."

Chattanooga Times Free Press | Hargis: Sands says Kiffin better fit at college level than in NFL

B.J. Coleman: School in Summertime

rustytanton — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:23:06 -0000

I guess this is a less diplomatic way to write this than Joel or Hooper or Will would write it, but I am happy B.J. Coleman is no longer playing football for the University of Tennessee.

Did you listen to his post-quitting interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press? Check the FanQuotes section here, there is a lot of quoteworthy material excerpted from it. He threw everybody under the bus. Fulmer, Clawson, Crompton, Stephens, Kiffin, Reaves, Smokey, the water boy, the scorekeeper. Everybody.

Yeah, he's a 19- or 20-year-old kid, and subject to not always respond as maturely to situations as maybe he should.

And yeah, from the facts available to us, it sounds like Kiffin could have handled the situation better than he did.

But it doesn't matter. Moreso than anything he has done since arriving on campus, that interview demonstrates he is not cut out to be a central figure representing the University of Tennessee.

It's possible that, as he says, he's more talented than Stephens or Crompton and that the coaches passed him over despite that to make the position more appealing to 2010 and 2011 recruits. And it's possible that all those second team reps could be construed as not giving him a fair shake.

But in all his time at UT, he has never done anything on the field to demonstrate he is head and shoulders above the other QBs on the depth chart. One 300-yard game against JV competition does not a starting quarterback make.

What he has demonstrated is that he has a good pointing finger.

Best of luck to him, but also, good riddance.

"I believe the reason I wasn’t moved up is because it would hurt them in recruiting if they name a s...

rustytanton — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:47:45 -0000

"I believe the reason I wasn’t moved up is because it would hurt them in recruiting if they name a sophomore as their starter," Coleman said. "Some of the high school guys they’re recruiting might not want to go where they think they’ll have to sit for a couple of years.

Chattanooga Times Free Press | Coleman: No fair shake

Coleman is leaving Vols : Football : GoVolsXtra.com

rustytanton — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:49:48 -0000

Coleman is leaving Vols : Football : GoVolsXtra.com

(I'll) go back and see the film and be able to tell you guys more Tuesday.

rustytanton — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:20:04 -0000

(I'll) go back and see the film and be able to tell you guys more Tuesday.

By design, Vols didn't go vertical : Football : GoVolsXtra.com

Bryce Brown finally ended the extra-long soap opera that his signing had turned into on March 16....

rustytanton — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:07:06 -0000

Bryce Brown finally ended the extra-long soap opera that his signing had turned into on March 16. After committing to Miami, his recruitment was still wide open.

Among his suitors were Oregon, Kansas State, LSU, Miami, who may or may not have retracted the offer, and Tennessee, who he decided to sign with.

One of the reasons he decided to go with Tennessee over the others was that he felt they would get him to the NFL. He stated, "I thought they were the best school to prepare me for the next level."

I had to laugh at that a little bit.

Did Bryce Brown Make the Right Choice? | Bleacher Report