Monday, September 22, 2008

Shutting It Down

It has been a fun ride, but I'm shutting down the Scenic City Sportsblog. With UT football being a miserable subject and my current job demanding more time and energy than my previous one, my heart just isn't in keeping this thing updated with enough good material to justify a readership or existence.

To my loyal readers - thanks for the comments, criticism and for reading my sometimes good/sometimes lousy posts. You made this fun.

Until I get the itch again,
CC

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Whatever Happened to the Tennessee Vols?

Where to start?

In a game I, and most Vol fans, did not expect to be competitive, the Florida Gators were up 17-0 in minutes and never threatened by the terrible Tennessee Vols. My expectations were low and they were met.

I can't remember a worse quarterback in my Tennessee watching life than Jonathan Crompton. He is just awful. If there was any lingering doubt in my mind about his ability to be an SEC-caliber QB, it was erased on two plays today. The first was when the "athletic" Crompton scrambled forward to be lit up by a measly cornerback. Crompton was supposed to be a mobile quarterback, but his scrambles are less effective than Peyton's. The other play was Crompton throwing behind an open receiver as both Vols scrambled in the same direction. To miss a guy by that much at this level?

Those plays closed the verdict for me on Crompton (though for more evidence I could cite A: throwing a line drive to an wide receiver streaking past the Gator secondary that was picked off B: throwing a line drive that was batted down to a wide open tight end on a two-point conversion C: fumbling the ball on a routine hand-off D: throwing an interception on the one-yard line E: the entire UCLA game F: pretty much the entire UAB game).

Let's keep passing out blame for this afternoon's debacle:

The punting game has given up two touchdowns in three games.

Kickoff coverage gave up a short field to start the game.

The defense was decent, though Florida got chunks of yards at a time.

Demetrice Morley was a good five yards off Percy Harvin on the touchdown pass.

Montario Hardesty joined Fumbling Foster when he coughed up the ball in Gator territory (yes, he got killed on that hit, but he can't fumble there).

Arian Foster, our senior "leader", picks a fight on 3rd and 1 to create 3rd and 16.

Austin Rogers? Josh Briscoe? Lucas Taylor?

And finally, the coaching staff. I don't know what got Dave Clawson the OC job in Knoxville, but I haven't seen anything interesting out of his play-calling or philosophy. The only thing I see is a focus on getting the ball to the tight ends. I'm willing to give Clawson a pass because of how awful Crompton is, but it is a temporary pass.

Fulmer gets no pass. I love the guy and always will. He brought the Glory Days to Knoxville and truly loves the school. But these are all his guys. All his coaches. These guys look awful. Florida hardly seemed tested today. I'm watching Auburn/LSU right now and the skills, intensity and overall effort in this game are all greater than what the Vols gave today.

A few years ago, I was convinced that Randy Sanders was the problem. He was. David Cutcliffe was the solution. Now? I don't know. B.J. Coleman? Nick Stephens? Gerald Jones? Is it time to let loose with the play-calling on both sides of the ball since playing close the vest isn't going to get it done with the heartless, speedless, seemingly talentless group of duds on the field right now?

Basketball practice started today and I'm ready to think about Bruce Pearl instead of Phil Fulmer. This football season looks lost and beyond saving.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Tennessee Vols vs. Florida Gators - A History

I'm going back in time to a post I put together last year about the Florida/Tennessee rivalry, updating it a bit and putting it into the blogosphere to once again wet your appetite for this weekend's big game. I could not have any lower expectations for the Vols' performance after the UCLA loss and UAB snoozefest, which probably means the Vols will win in a romp.

Let's hope so.

To the retrospective:

2007 Florida 59 Tennessee 20 - The Swamp has rarely been kind to the Big Orange, but it was especially humiliating in 2007. Future Heisman winner Tim Tebow scorched the Vols on the ground and through the air (while also making out with his roommate on the sideline) as Urban Meyer ran it up on a thoroughly-beaten Vols squad. Somehow, someway the Vols rebounded from this crushing defeat to win the SEC East. I'm still not sure how they did that. Let's forget about this one as much as we can.

2006 Florida 21 Tennessee 20 - This game is perhaps best remembered for a premature celebration and one of the gutsiest performances in Tennessee football history. Urban Meyer made his first trip to Knoxville and got his second win in a row over Phil Fulmer. The win was especially sweet for Chris Leak, who spurned Tennessee after the perceived mistreatment of his brother C.J. and remained bitter towards Fulmer about it during his tenure at UF. Justin Harrell played his final game as a Vol after suffering a season-ending injury the previous week against Air Force. He put off surgery to play the game, but wasn't especially effective with one arm. The most memorable moment of the game occurred when Vols QB Erik Ainge did the Gator chomp toward the Tennessee fans after a score put the Vols up in the 3rd quarter. It was way too early for taunts and celebration as the Tennessee defense could not figure out how to cover Dallas Baker or stop Tim Tebow's QB sneaks. Florida went on to win a National Championship.

2005 Florida 16 Tennessee 7 - This game featured several special teams breakdowns that cost the Vols, including a botched fake punt by a confused freshman (Britton Colquitt) and a blocked field goal. This was the first meeting between Urban Meyer and Phil Fulmer after Ron Zook's firing in the off-season. Meyer's tricky offense was on display when the Gators took a 7-0 lead on a reverse off the option to Andre Caldwell. The 2005 season was a terrible one for the Vols as the team fell to 5-6 behind Randy Sanders's clueless offensive scheme and the internal team war over whether Erik Ainge or Rick Clausen should be leading the team.

2004 Tennessee 30 Florida 28 - A classic game in the rivalry as Tennessee's James Wilhoit nailed a 50 yard field goal with 6 seconds left to give the Vols the lead. Wilhoit had missed an extra point earlier in the game, so hitting the game-winner was extra sweet. Many Florida fans remember a controversial call late in the game as Dallas Baker slapped Jonathan Wade (who had just slapped him) and got a 15 yard penalty that (incorrectly) stopped the clock. This was not the first time there was controversy in Knoxville between these teams. Vols fans thought they might have found the next Peyton Manning in Erik Ainge, but were also excited about starter Brent Schaeffer. It turned out they were wrong on both accounts.

2003 Tennessee 24 Florida 10 - Casey Clausen's senior season was mostly a disappointment, but this impressive win in the Swamp was a highlight. The most memorable play of the game was just before the half when Clausen found James Banks on a Hail Mary play that gave the Vols the lead. Florida tried to run the ball all game, basically out-Fulmering Fulmer, and it didn't work.

2002 Florida 30 Tennessee 13 - The score was embarrassingly lop-sided and so was the game. In fact, Phil Fulmer apologized afterwards for the performance. The Vols had 8 fumbles throughout the rain-soaked game, losing 3 of them, and could not contain Rex Grossman throughout. To me, this game was a sign of the sinking Vol ship. Casey Clausen was a junior, but looked no better than when he was a freshman. The special teams were terrible. The discipline was non-existent. It was becoming frustrating to watch the under-achieving Vols.

2001 Tennessee 34 Florida 32 - This game is remembered for several reasons: 1) it was moved back into December because of the 9/11 tragedy 2)#2 Florida was playing #5 Tennessee for the right to go to the SEC Championship game 3) Travis Stephens carried the Vols on his back with 226 yards and 2 touchdowns 4) it was an instant college football classic. It was a game of back and forth football, finally put into the hands Heisman-hopeful Rex Grossman for a two-point conversion play that was no good. Tennessee went on to lay an egg against LSU in the SEC Championship game, losing a chance to play for the National Championship in the Rose Bowl.

2000 Florida 27 Tennessee 23 - Controversy in Knoxville. The Volunteers ran the ball down the throats of the Gators, but were desperately holding on to a 23-20 lead when Rex Grossman threw a quick pass to Jabar Gaffney that he caught for .00001 seconds before it hit the ground. Touchdown? According to the referees, yes. According to 108,000 Vols fans, no.

1999 Florida 23 Tennessee 21 - The Alex Brown game. Tennessee's hopes of defending their National Championship fell apart in the Swamp as the Vols looked lackadaisical and slow compared to the Gators. Alex Brown had 5 sacks of Tee Martin. Tennessee fans remember a couple of mistakes down the stretch, most notably Deon Grant's decision to run out-of-bounds with a late game interception instead of turning it upfield and for the odd 4th & 3 sweep call with Jamal Lewis who turned it inside when the outside looked open. Would the Vols ever win in the Swamp? It would take a California kid to pull off the feat in 2001 in an instant classic.

1998 Tennessee 20 Florida 17 - FINALLY! After Peyton Manning failed to beat Spurrier's Gators for four years, Tee Martin got the job done in overtime. To be fair, the outcome had much more to do with Al Wilson and the Tennessee defense than it did Tee Martin, but he made one big pass to Peerless Price (while his arm was hit) and did not make the multiple mistakes the Gators made. Spurrier was revolving QBs throughout the game, but could not find an answer to the swarming John Chavis defense. I stormed the field with my friends and walked away with a Gatorade bottle from the Tennessee bench.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Monday Morning Football Frenzy

Friday Night Lights

* Nothing shocking about Friday night's results, though Baylor has a running back that scampered for over 300 yards. The kid was just a soccer player and us McCallie folk are hoping he goes back to that sport exclusively before the October 3rd game.

* The Big Blue got its second win of the year on Saturday afternoon over some Charlotte team. I'll always use space to brag about a McCallie win.

College Saturday

* My thoughts on the UAB game are up in another post. It is worth noting here that UCLA, the team that beat the Vols, lost to BYU 59-0.

59-0.

Someone pointed out that UAB is probably about as good as UCLA, but I don't buy that. The Blazers had one player, a tough Tebow-like QB, and little else. There defense is miserable, but Crompton still couldn't carve it up. I'm almost dreading Saturday's game with Florida.

* The Dawgs escaped South Carolina thanks to a terrible fumble on the goal line and the continued terrible quarterback play for Steve Spurrier. Knowshon Moreno is freaking fast and so much fun to watch. For whatever reason, though, the Bulldogs leave me wanting. They are like that movie "Crash" with all the big stars and connected storylines and social commentary that comes together to be a cheesy, lousy flick. The Dawgs have the players, coaches and pieces for a title run, but it just ain't working right now like it ought.

* Was Arizona State looking ahead to the Dawgs? The Sun Devils lost at home to UNLV? For the weekend, the Pac-10 was 0-4 against the Mountain West. Yeesh.

* At least it can boast the USC Trojans who are so much better than any team I've watched all year. They are all Knowshon fast, from the backs to the linemen. Poor Boeckman had no prayer back there most of the time (Terrelle Pryor sure looked legit though). Back to the Trojans, they have back-ups who would star for the Vols right now. Pete Carroll might be the greatest hire in college coaching...ever. His reign in L.A. has been unbelievable and it looks like they are loaded for several more years of dominance.

* Ohio State gets killed again by a good team. And they wonder why they get so little respect from us Southern folk.

* UTC improved from scoring 2 against Oklahoma to 7 against Florida State. The biggest improvement for the Mocs from these games is in their bank account.

* 3-2? Auburn and Mississippi State set back the sport of football back thirty years with its horrible effort Saturday night. Exhibit A for what sucks about the Spread Offense was on display in Starkville. All Auburn needed to do to win the game was run the clock out, but there they are in the shotgun (!) playing cutesy football against an inferior opponent. Sure enough, the War Eagles fumbled the ball on a bad pitch (!!!) and were only saved by an amazing interception on the next play.

I'm about two weeks away from starting an anti-Spread Offense blog. My hatred of it is admittedly irrational, much like my disdain of Van Morrison and people who put bumper stickers on their cars, but each and every game I'm watching the same offense being run by this week's offensive coordinating flavor of the month. How long until the Spread sits beside the Wing-T and Run & Shoot in the pile of relic football offenses?

The Pros

* Here is my take on the end of the Broncos/Chargers game: yes, the Chargers got hosed. Yes, it was a fumble and yes, Hochuli and his massive upper body blew it. However...the Chargers did NOTHING to cause that fumble. The ball slipped out of Cutler's hand in a freakish play. The Chargers did not force that error whatsoever. They did benefit from it (or should have), but the idea that they did what it took to win and had it stolen is a bit dubious to me. Besides, they could have stopped Denver from scoring, stopped Denver from converting the two-point conversion and successfully gotten into field goal range to win in regulation. It was an injustice, but not a colossal one.

* Look at all the 0-2 teams right now: Vikings, Chargers, Jaguars, Seahawks, Browns - these were all supposed to be playoff contenders. Crazy start to the season.

* The Titans/Bengals game was tough to watch in that windstorm, but it played right into Jeff Fisher's hands with his run attack and defensive unit. Did anyone else get the feeling from the post-game handshake that Fisher figures he'll never be shaking Marvin Lewis' hand again as the head coach of the Bengals? They are awful.

* How long until the Vikings trade for Jeff Garcia? Give up a 1st-rounder for him. Whatever it takes to get rid of Taterrible Jackson.

The Cowboys ought to handle the Eagles tonight, though Donovan McNabb has typically owned the Pokes. If Dallas wins, it sets up a great game next week between the Packers and Cowboys that could preview the NFC Championship game. Is Aaron Rodgers really this good?

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Vols/Blazers Thoughts

My first game at Neyland Stadium in several years was a hot, sweaty, fairly frustrating afternoon as the Vols put away a pesky UAB team.

Did I mention it was hot?

After grabbing two tickets from a scalper, Martha and I entered Neyland Stadium to find much of the upper deck empty. In all of 10 seconds, I went from thinking I got a good deal to thinking I could have paid much less for my tickets. In all my years of going to Tennessee games, including several years with season tickets and four years with student tickets, I can't ever remember seeing the stadium so empty. While AD Mike Hamilton is chalking it up to gas prices and high definition television (really, Mike?), the palpable feeling of frustration in the air probably had more to do with the empty seats.

My dad got our family season tickets back when I was a middle schooler and nothing in the pregame show has changed a bit. I do remember a year or two when they gave the male cheerleaders a microphone for a couple of cheers that led to massive groans rather than the desired "orange/white" silliness. They killed that nonsense and have stuck with the tried and true set-up ever since.

It did not take long for a sun-soaked crowd to get fussy with the inconsistent Vols. Our section was overly supportive at times. An orange-clad idiot in front of us yelled, "I'll take that all day!" after Arian Foster rushed for...nothing. 2nd and 10. I'll take that all day.

(Martha and I spent most of the 2nd half proclaiming we would take various Vol failures all day).

By the 2nd quarter, the boo birds were out in our section. Actually, there was only one boo bird in our section - me. Not sure why our section was so kind to the terrible Tennessee team, but it was just me letting them have it. Most of my anger was directed at Jonathan Crompton, but Luke Stocker got his share as well (though I blamed Crompton for continuing to throw it to him). Crompton missed wide open receivers and the interceptions were just awful.

The good news from my view is Section AA was the secondary's stellar play, a slightly improved pass rush and the running game in the second half. Do I feel good about the Florida game after beating UAB?

Are you kidding?

My expectations are so low for Saturday I'm going to be pleasantly surprised with any points at all.

Monday Morning thoughts coming, well, tomorrow.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Is Tennessee Still an "Elite" Football Program?


A group of us were talking up SEC football at lunch the other day when this topic came up: Is Tennessee still an elite program?

The guy across from me, who happened to be an LSU fan, argued they are since they played in the championship game of the country's toughest conference last season. Of course, that is a game they lost, but they did hang with eventual National Champion LSU and really outplayed them for most of the game.

The guy next to me laughed at the suggestion. The Vols have not been in a BCS bowl game since the 1999-2000 season. They have not won a meaningful bowl game since the 1998/99 season. They have not won the SEC in years. Right now, they are the 6th best team in their own conference - how can they be an elite program?

So who is right?

At this point, in the aftermath of the Horror in Hollywood (I really like that moniker, by the way, much more than the Collision in the Coliseum this Saturday), it is easy to argue against the Vols. They are on nobody's National Championship watch list, let alone SEC East watch list. While the Dawgs and Gators grab national attention with Heisman winners and contenders, the Vols can only boast a really good secondary.

And what about NFL talent? Elite programs like USC, Ohio State and Florida are sending player after player into the pros. Do the Vols have guys who will play on Sunday?

Yes - Eric Berry, Arian Foster, Demetrice Morley, Gerald Jones, Brandon Warren and Britton Colquitt all strike me as plausible professionals. I imagine we have a linemen or two as well. Fulmer has rarely lacked talent because of his outstanding recruiting abilities. The Vols are a national power each year on Signing Day, even if some of those big recruits (LaMarcus Coker, Jonathan Crompton) don't pan out as advertised.

Back to the question - is Tennessee still "elite"?

Yes - stadium, facilities, fan base, tradition, national exposure, recruiting, winning seasons, consistently in bowl games, marque victories.

No - unranked, middle of pack in conference, not contending for titles, dissatisfied fan base, lack of football creativity, lack of significant wins.

So which is it?

As orange as my blood runs, I think the Vols are a full step away from being an elite program at this point. There is no doubt that the SEC is the toughest conference in the country and being in the upper half of it says something. Heck, Florida and Georgia watched the Vols play LSU in the title game last season. But that was also a season that featured an admittedly lucky victory over Kentucky, an overtime win over a mediocre South Carolina team and three blowout losses. Elite teams don't get blown out three times in one season.

Maybe The Clawfense will turn things around. Maybe the big recruits will pan out. Maybe the Vols will find the heart they had in the 1990s. Until then, they are a good, not elite, football program.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Should Tennessee Play Cupcakes?

Phil Fulmer and AD Mike Hamilton like to brag about the Vols' football schedule which includes future games with Oregon, Oklahoma and Ohio State. But is it a good idea for the Vols to play such tough out-of-conference competition, especially so early in the season?

The case for cupcakes makes good sense. The Vols are a notoriously slow-starting team that usually peaks in November (and not just because Kentucky and Vanderbilt are usual November opponents). For years, Tennessee fans longed for the Florida game to be moved back because the Vols were a better team later in the year. It makes little sense to open the year with teams that can beat the Vols - teams like California and UCLA. Why not get the Crompton kinks out against UTC instead of UCLA?

An opening cupcake also keeps spirits high for longer than four quarters. I'm expecting empty seats at the opening home game on Saturday because of post-UCLA frustrations. The Vols are out of the national polls and the laughing stock of the SEC (which is saying something with Arkansas and Mississippi State in the conference). Instead of losing to a 3rd-string quarterback across the country, the Vols could be 1-0 against an FBS team in the comfort of their own dorm rooms.

Playing tough out-of-conference teams in the season opener is like the politician who tells the truth: it might earn national respect, but it doesn't win elections. Ask Walter Mondale. Remember the National Championship season of 1998? Remember that the Vols were one generous pass interference call away from losing its opener at Syracuse? Most Tennessee fans don't, but that loss would have ruined any hopes of a national crown. The long-term costs outweigh the benefits.

The track record of opening up against a tough opponent dispells the myth that it prepares the Vols for the SEC schedule. Did losing to Cal help against Tim Tebow last year? Did beating Cal at home two years ago help the Vols against Urban Meyer a few weeks later?

Quick trivia - do you remember who the Vols opened up with the last time they beat Florida?

How many of you said UNLV?

Look around the country - Oklahoma plays UTC, Florida State plays Western Carolina, Alabama plays Western Kentucky, LSU plays Appy State, Ohio State plays Youngstown State...you get my drift.

There is no, okay not much, shame in playing a cupcake. The SEC is challenging enough without playing at UCLA, Oregon, Ohio State, etc. on top of it.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Monday Morning Football Frenzy

The latest in a long line of short-lived weekly segments, the Monday Morning Football Frenzy will recap the weekend that was in the world of football. Enough introduction - let's get to the goods.

Friday Night Lights

Two impressive performances from Chattanooga private schools against Nashville juggernauts have me even more excited about their big October 3rd meeting. McCallie and Baylor were both over-matched in their meetings with Brentwood Academy and MBA, respectively, but both put up good fights in losses.

The end of Baylor's 14-3 loss to the MBA Big Red was puzzling. Baylor had three timeouts remaining as MBA tried to run out the clock. Instead of using those timeouts with the hope of a fluke fumble, a chance to get the ball back, etc., the Red Raiders decided to let the clock run out. What kind of message is that for the boys? There does come a point in the game where "quitting" is justified (i.e. not taking timeouts when down 30), but a two-possession game with two minutes left? Why not play it out and see what happens?

The other highlights of the high school weekend were Ooltewah's dominance of McMinn County and Soddy Daisy showing its win over Red Bank was no fluke as it beat William Blount.

College Highlights

No Vols this Saturday, but Tennessee schools had a good weekend as Vanderbilt beat South Carolina, MTSU upset Maryland (how bad is the ACC?) and UTC destroyed Cumberland.

Then, there was Memphis. I actually stayed up to watch the miserable ending of its game with Rice. The Tigers were driving for a field goal that would break at 35-35 tie, but instead the Owls picked off a pass and returned it for the game-winning touchdown. Tommy West looked like he was going to get sick on the sideline. What a miserable loss and miserable start to the season after getting spanked by Ole Miss last weekend.

Speaking of Ole Miss, Houston Nutt is doing a job in Oxford (and don't tell me its Ed O's players). The Rebels whipped rival Memphis, then nearly shocked Wake Forest in North Carolina. While I don't expect Ole Miss to contend against LSU, Alabama and Auburn in the SEC West, I imagine the Rebels will be bowling at the season's end.

Who won't be bowling? How about Bobby Petrino and Arkansas. They barely beat FCS team Western Illinois last week, then survived a missed field goal at the buzzer to beat Louisiana-Monroe. Why aren't the Hogs on Tennessee's schedule this year?

There is only one way to describe Petrino's start in Fayetteville - karma.

Either Miami is better than advertised or Florida is vulnerable. Tim Tebow did not look as strong as he did running the ball last year, despite ESPN's piece on his workouts. (And how long until the Erin Andrews/Tim Tebow sex tape hits the market?). I actually find myself liking Tebow more and more, but I think Urban Meyer is running his stud quarterback into Earl Campbell status with the constant and often unnecessary hits he is taking.

The BYU/Washington ending did not bother me at all. Remember when Arian Foster was penalized 15 yards in overtime for spiking the football after a failed 2-point conversion? Same thing. How can that kid not know that he cannot flip the ball up into the air after a touchdown? That has always been a penalty in college football and it should have been flagged. Blame the kid, not the ref.

East Carolina? If they were in the ACC, they would be the conference's best team. They dominated West Virginia on Saturday, who was one of my sleeper teams to make a national championship run (for full disclosure, West Virginia has been my sleeper team for about five straight years. Don't know why exactly, but I always like them). Where will Skip Holtz be next year - South Carolina? Maryland? Mississippi State?

Notre Dame? You heard it here first.

The Pros

I know the big stories are Brady and Favre, but how about them Cowboys? They dominated a good Cleveland team in Cleveland. Romo looked sharp except for a terrible decision in the end zone (I blame his bloody chin for it), T.O. was open all day and making big plays, Marion Barber and Felix Jones are studs and the defense held Cleveland to 10 points. I'm a happy Cowboys fan this morning.

I'm a happy Titans fan too. Tennessee once again shocked Jacksonville in the season opener despite the pitiful play of Vince Young. Kerry Collins is the future in Nashville. Okay, maybe not the future, but I think he ought to be the present. Young is holding the Titans back with his poor passing. Even the touchdown pass to Chris Johnson, who looks like a draft steal right now, was barely catchable. The Titans can be a playoff team once again with a big arm like Collins in the pocket, but will continue to struggle to score with the heartless Vince Young back there.

The Colts looked old last night.

Weird results all day - Bears over Colts, Bills over Seahawks, Panthers over Chargers...I don't know what to make of them. Flukes or parity? Good teams were losing at home yesterday. Weird.

Worst team in the NFL? It is not the Atlanta Falcons who blew out Detroit yesterday behind Matt Ryan and Michael Turner. Um, what? Vick who? Is Detroit just awful or is Atlanta okay?

The worst team must be Cincinnati. Did you see Joe Flacco's touchdown run? I can outrun that guy. It was the slowest football run I've ever seen in a professional game since Steve Bono ran a naked bootleg against the Cardinals last decade (my football memory is a vault of useless information).

Next Week

USC vs. Ohio State. Can you believe they are playing each other? Me neither. Plus I'm heading to Knoxville for the UAB game. If Crompton starts the game with an incompletion, I'm booing him the rest of the day.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Murray through to the Final



Well CBS is probably a little disappointed that there will not be a Nadal vs Federer III in 2008, but rest assured the better player won in the second men's semifinal match today in Arthur Ashe Stadium. This match was as good as it gets in men's tennis. Andy Murray played a nearly flawless match, under ridiculous circumstances. He was up two sets to love yesterday when the rains came. Moments after the match was postponed, it was announced they would resume play on Sunday at 4:00 pm. Everyone under the sun was predicting this would help Nadal-- it was a forgone conclusion that he would compose himself in order to meet Roger in the final on Monday. Nadal certainly played better today, but it was not enough. Rafa managed to win the third set, but it was Murray who was dictating play throughout. I can't imagine the final will be as good as this one was today. Federer lucked out by playing a visibly dejected Novak Djokovic in his semifinal. Djokovic said some idiotic things to the New York crowd after his win over Roddick, and his heart was never in it on Saturday. That's not to say Federer doesn't have a chance on Monday-- he is the greatest player ever, but if Murray plays anywhere near the level he played on Saturday and Sunday, he should walk away with the first Grand Slam title for the British Isles since Fred Perry won here in 1936-- and I thought we Americans had a drought going!

Friday, September 5, 2008

The Cost of High School Football

If you have a chance to pick up today's Times-Free Press, there is a terrific piece in the sports section about the costs and struggles to maintain a high school football team. Who knew that painting the lines all season costs $2500 or that outfitting a single player pushes $700.

The article outlines several ways coaches try to either increase revenue (pay to park, increased ticket prices) or decrease costs (re-use helmets, go without new practice uniforms), but there is no getting around the TSSAA decision that is having the greatest impact on football money: the across-the-state districts.

Several schools are mentioned in the piece, including my one-time home Ooltewah. The Owls play in Knoxville and middle Tennessee, so fuel costs for buses will drain a significant amount of the football budget. Many parents cannot even afford to make the trip to see their kids play ball.

The idea of raising ticket prices to offset these costs is hurt by the distance between schools playing. How many students from William Blount are going to travel to Ooltewah to watch their team? The limited attendance means less money even with an extra dollar added per ticket. Anyone who has been to one of these match-ups has seen the empty "Visitor" bleachers that come with them.

Here is the solution the TSSAA needs/must implement for next year: local districts. It will never be fair when schools with varying enrollments play each other, but it isn't fair to have kids missing class and running up huge fuel costs to play a more fair opponent in a game that means nothing to anyone outside of the two teams. We need to restore the local rivalries not just for the game's sake, but for the kids', parents' and environment's sake as well.

My school, McCallie, will play its third game tonight in Nashville. I haven't seen them play other than the jamboree because their games have been in Charlotte and Franklin. What a waste. I've written this before, but things were much better around here before the public/private split when real rivalries existed between schools like McCallie and Brainerd or Baylor and Red Bank. Those rivalries are dead.

Instead, we have games like Brentwood vs. McCallie and Ooltewah vs. William Blount. We have games that are half empty and extremely expensive. It doesn't make any sense.

Off the top of my head, I can list over a dozen schools in the area that ought to be playing each other instead of out-of-town teams: Ooltewah, Central, Hixson, Soddy, Red Bank, Baylor, McCallie, Notre Dame, Brainerd, Howard, Tyner, East Ridge, Bradley, Cleveland, Boyd Buchanan, Grace, Signal Mountain...you get the idea. In the name of fairness, whether that is public vs. public or enrollment sizes being equal, we're watching schools and teams struggle to properly equip their players and parents unable to afford the gas to watch their kids play.

Here is hoping that the TSSAA redraws the districts to make high school football relevant and affordable in the state once again. The playoffs can include trips across the state, but regular season games ought not to include lengthy jaunts that end up excluding students and parents.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

A-Rod Playing Well in NY



As predicted, Rafael Nadal and Scotsman, Andy Murray will clash in the semifinals of this year's U.S. Open. Both looked good but beatable in their respective quarter final matches yesterday. Federer should cruise this afternoon in his quarter final match against Luxemborger (and qualifier), Gilles Muller, even though Fed needed five sets to dispatch Igor Andreev in the fourth round. Don't forget, Adreev is no slouch on this surface-- he upset Roddick here a couple years ago.

Speaking of A-Rod, of the six men left in the tourney, he is by far playing the best tennis. He is also the only one in the Top 10 who skipped the Olypmics. Hmmmmm . . . coincidence? Seriously, Andy lost six points on serve against Olympic Gold medalist, Fernando Gonzalez, and hardly broke a sweat winning easily in straight sets. Tonight he goes up against the reigning Australian Open champion, and current #3 in the world, Novak Djokovic. And oh by the way, Novak lost here last year in the final against Federer-- a match he should have won. On paper, this looks like a tough match for Roddick, but Djokovic looked extremely tired, and was pushed to five sets in his fourth round match. Look for the brash American to make it through to the semis easily. Fed should be waiting, but if A-Rod serves the way he has been thus far at the Open he should be able to get by him this year. Just a few weeks ago, I was slamming the state of American Men's tennis. I boldly predicted that Federer would win another slam before any American male would. Well, I hope I was dead wrong. Good luck Andy, I hope you end this four year, slam-less drought for the Americans (the longest in history).

As for the Women, after watching Serena beat Venus last night, I don't think Dinara Safina will have enough to get past her in the Semis. That truly was a great match last night, probably better than their Wimbledon final a few weeks ago. Venus failed to convert set points 10 times, which was ultimately her downfall. All-American sweep in singles this year? We can only hope.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Post-UCLA Questions...Without Answers

A full day after the Hollywood Horror, I've got lots of questions that need answering.

1) What exactly is the "Clawffense?" Is there something more to it than pre-snap motion?

2) When are special teams going to be a priority?

3) Why send Daniel Lincoln out to try a 55-yard field goal after he was short from 51?

4) Can Jonathan Crompton be a big-time college quarterback?

5) Check that - can Jonathan Crompton be a competent college quarterback?

6) Why throw the ball 41 times when they are getting over 5 yards with every rushing carry?

7) Why throw the ball 41 times when Crompton isn't close with 39 of them?

8) Why sit Crompton in the pocket when he is clearly athletic enough to roll out away from the UCLA pressure?

9) Why was UCLA able to get so much pressure on Crompton? Wasn't this the exact same offensive line that protected Ainge so well last year?

10) Why isn't the Vol defensive line able to ever get pressure on the quarterback?

11) Did Rico McCoy make the trip to the Rose Bowl?

12) How can the offense fail to score, fail to even attempt a field goal, after inheriting the ball on the UCLA 25?

13) Without any running game whatsoever from the Bruins, why wasn't the defensive line able to tee off on Craft?

14) What happened to the secondary in the 2nd half? The 4th quarter?

15) What is Arian Foster's problem in terms of hanging on to the football? His career is going to be remembered for the turnovers, not the rushing record.

16) Who approved the white tops/orange pants look?

17) When will we see B.J. Coleman?

18) What took so long to put Gerald Jones back to field kicks and punts? The guy is the most explosive player this side of Eric Berry - get him the ball.

19) Speaking of that, what happened to putting Berry on offense?

20) Is it time to panic or time to take a deep breath?

I wish we didn't have to wait so long until we start getting answers. The UAB game cannot get here fast enough.

Monday, September 1, 2008

UCLA 27 Tennessee 24

Now is hardly the time to point out my astute predictions, but when I'm right, I'm right.

Glass half empty? My five concerns were:

Jonathan Crompton - awful. Just awful. I'm sorry, Bob Griese, but he wasn't inaccurate because of pressure. He was simply inaccurate. He looked lost and overwhelmed, getting little help from...

Dave Clawson - awful. Just awful. David Cutcliffe has forgotten more offensive imagination than we got out of Clawson tonight.

Neuheisal and Chow - clearly out-classed us, especially Chow who got smart with his plays in the 4th quarter and sliced us up.

Depth - the Vols looked gassed in the 4th because Fulmer could not sub throughout the night. It hurt us.

Meanwhile, our senior stud running back fumbles inside the 10, we still can't get a pass rush on the quarterback and the special teams lost us the game.

The good news is that we are still 0-0 in the SEC. For now.

First Week of the 2008 U.S. Open is in the Books.


Some thoughts:

1. The U.S. Open is celebrating 40 years of the Open era and predictably had a really lame opening ceremony last Monday night, complete with—get this—the Jersey Boys doing a Four Seasons medley. They also invited 40 past champions to help celebrate. Inexplicably, the only two 5-time men’s champions, Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras, were M.I.A. These guys defined the U.S. Open during their respective eras. Not sure who’s at fault here, but it felt awkward to me. Also missing: Steffi and Andre.

2. As I mentioned in my preview, I was a little upset that James Blake had to play Donald Young in the opening round, but that ended up being a really enjoyable match—at least the last two sets were spectacular. On Saturday night, Blake had to face one of his best friends on the tour, fellow American Mardy Fish. They are such good friends, that Blake will be a groomsman in Mardy's September wedding. Fish, for those of you who don’t know, is two years younger than Blake and might be the poster child for wasted talent in the Men’s game, but he managed to get by Blake in straight sets to make the round of 16 at the Open for the first time in his career. While both players played well, this was not a fun match to watch. It seemed neither player was enjoying himself.

3. My two picks, Andy Murray and Dinara Safina looked less than invincible during the first week and both were pushed to the limit getting to the fourth round. Meanwhile, the Williams Sisters (who should collide in the quarters), Nadal, and Fed have all cruised easily through the early rounds. Good thing I’m not a betting man.

4. As good a story as Mardy Fish making the round of 16 a month before his wedding is, perhaps Sam Querrey’s (pictured) story is even better. The six foot-six inch, 20-year old from Southern California made a huge statement on Saturday by beating an even taller (6'10") Ivo Karlovic in straight sets. What sounds like a pretty boring match on paper, ended up being quite entertaining. Up next for Querrey? Unfortunately, he’s got to face Nadal.

5. Perhaps more than any other Open that I can remember, this tourney has been all about the Young Guns. There has been some electric play from guys who wouldn’t be old enough to buy a beer during their stay in Queens. I’ve already mentioned 19-year old Donald Young and 20-year old Sam Querrey, but there have been others. Guys like Marin Cilic - 19 (who is in the midst of a four set battle with world #3, Novak Jokovic as I type this), Ernests Gulbis – turned 20 during his match with Roddick (he had a chance to go up two sets to love against the big serving American, but eventually lost), Juan Martin Del Portro – 19 (who is still alive in the tournament!), Kei Nishikori – 19 (who is also still in and all he did was get by former #1 and current #4 David Ferrer!). The kids are alright, indeed.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Glass Half Full - Five Reasons to Feel Good About the UCLA Game

1) Eric Berry - It is nice to have the best player on the field and his name is Eric Berry. I'm going to be disappointed with anything less than 10 picks and 3 touchdowns out of the sophomore. The Vols secondary ought to be good enough to allow John Chavis to blitz all year and leave his backfield in man coverage.

2) Arian Foster - Foster tested the professional waters after last season, but decided that the Tennessee River was just fine for another year. The word out of Knoxville is that he is working hard and being a leader in the locker room. He'll probably become the all-time rushing leader at Tennessee, which is odd to me since I wouldn't list him in my top 10 of all-time Vols backs (off the top of my head - Travis Henry, Jamal Lewis, Travis Stephens, Chuck Webb, Reggie Cobb, Jay Graham, Charlie Garner...okay, he is Top 10).

Foster is going to have a huge game running behind the Vols offensive line, which brings us to #3

3) UCLA's Offensive Line - UCLA has never been a physical football team in the past, but they are inexperienced and really inexperienced. Chavis will send his boys from all angles and repeatedly hit...

4) UCLA QB Kevin Craft - the community college transfer does not scare me. Ben Olson, yes. Kevin Craft? The guy threw three interceptions in a UCLA scrimmage game. What is going to do in the Rose Bowl with blitzing Vols and a defensive backfield of Eric Berry, Demetrice Morley and Dennis Rogan?


5) Phil Fulmer - call me crazy, but I think Phil still senses the Vols vultures hovering above him even after last season. The Vols have the potential to be a really, really good team this year and Fulmer knows it. To win the SEC East this year over Georgia and Florida would be feather in his cap and to win the entire SEC and go BCS bowling again would silence his critics for some time. With the addition of Dave Clawson, I think Fulmer is going to be energized and eager to put the Vols back into the national spotlight once again. It starts Monday night.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Glass Half Empty - 5 Reasons to Worry About the UCLA Game

1) Jonathan Crompton - he was a big recruit, has tons of talent and showed great promise as a freshmen. So why worry?

Here is why: he stunk last year, is inexperienced and had to learn a brand new offense this off-season. Worried, now?

The Vols will go where Crompton takes them. I'm not sold that Arian Foster can carry the Vols on his back and I'm not sold that the Tennessee receivers are good enough to make plays on their own without great quarterback play. There is no doubt that Crompton will have weapons around him, but not the type of weapons that can mask his poor play.

If we see the Jonathan Crompton we saw against LSU two years ago, we'll be alright. If we see the Crompton that looked baffled and confused whenever he took snaps last year, we are in for a long season and a long night in the Rose Bowl.

2) Rick Neuheisel - the guy might be an idiot when it comes to common sense on the job, but he can coach. The Bruins will be fired up to impress their new coach, to usher in a new era in UCLA football and to pull off a major opening season upset.

Would I rather Karl Dorrell still be the head coach at UCLA? Yes, yes and yes. Neuheisel is an upgrade who might have a few tricks up his sleeve for Fulmer and the Boys.

3) Norm Chow - yes, that Norm Chow. The architect of the USC Trojans' National Championship offense. The architect of the Tennessee Titans...well, that wasn't his finest work.

Chow is a college guy and he'll be ready to exploit weaknesses in Tennessee's defense. He might not have the tools right now to do it, but once again the Bruins are better in the coaching department than they were six months ago.

4) Dave Clawson - the great unknown. Remember that great feeling two years ago when David Cutcliffe's offense crushed the Cal Bears in the season opener? We were finally out of the Randy Sanders Era and back to playing good offensive football.

We might have that feeling once again...or we might now. Dave Clawson brings plenty of success to Knoxville, but that success was at Villanova and Richmond. Those are not UCLA caliber teams. Is Clawson over his head? Does Clawson have the offense ready for his new system? It could be great, but it could also be awful.

5) Depth - the story of the scrimmage schedule has been dissatisfaction with the second and third units. Fulmer called them out, saying they were not ready to compete in the SEC. That would be fine if this was spring practice, but we are just days from the season opener.

If Tennessee is crossing its fingers for no injuries to expose its lousy bench, the Vols are in trouble. There will be guys hurt on Monday night and there will be a need for guys to come off the bench ready to play. Let's hope they are more ready than we have been led to believe.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Kotsay to the Red Sox


http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ge-kotsay082508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

J.D. Drew's current trip to the DL apparently prompted this. I really liked Kotsay as a Brave-- I'm excited.

Monday, August 25, 2008

U.S. Open Starts Today!




I don’t have a whole lot of time to do a comprehensive preview of the world’s premier hard court tennis tournament, so I thought I’d just jot down a few thoughts:

1. Who the hell made up this draw? I’m most annoyed by the fact that Donald Young (pictured) has to play James Blake tonight in the first round. That’s right, by tomorrow the number of African-American men in the draw will be cut in half. Even though I’ve been critical of the state of American Tennis, the lefty Donald Young is a true bright spot. He’s a charismatic 19-year old African-American, currently ranked 99th in the world.

2. Is this the beginning of a new era? Not only does the current defending four-time champion, Roger Federer, come in as an underdog, but he enters a grand slam tournament as something other than the number one seed for the first time since . . . since . . . I don’t know when. Hey Rafa, good luck being the hunted. Which leads me to:

3. Can Nadal win his third straight Grand Slam of the year? Yes. Will he? I’m not so sure. While Rafael has already proven he can win on hard courts, he’s yet to get past the quarters in New York. He is also on a collision course to meet Andy Murray in the semi-finals. Murray is currently ranked #6, but since his coming out party at Wimbledon this year, he’s been playing some amazing tennis. He’s also my pick to win the whole thing. You read it here first!

4. Who is going to win on the Women’s side? Due to Justine Henin’s early retirement, the women head into this tournament without a clear favorite. In fact, there are six women who have a shot at becoming number one in the world with a win here at Flushing Meadows. Even though Sharapova is out with an injury (you’ll still see plenty of her during the commercial breaks), I’m still making a bold prediction that this year’s winner will be Russian—the Russian women swept the medals in Beijing. My pick: look for Dinara Safina (Marat Safin’s younger sister) to win the first of many slams to come.

The Beijing Olympics - Peas From the Same Pod

I'm not the biggest Olympic guy in the world, but the 2008 Games hooked me in at the opening ceremony and held me all the way through the Redeem Team's gold medal victory. In a year of great sports moments, these games had more than their share.

Michael Phelps dominated the games with his eight golds...until Usain Bolt lightninged his way to three world records. The basketball gold medal game was an instant classic, but the best American basketball team was probably the women's team that barely broke a sweat in Beijing. The American track team was a miserable disappointment, but the water polo guys came out of nowhere to grab a silver medal.

Even China, with its repressive government, mistreatment of the Tibetans, aid to the Sudanese government, censorship of the media and the rest, came across as a likable place. Going into the games I had serious reservations about the games highlighting today's China. I still do. But I've got to be honest: I enjoyed the heck out of the Chinese atmosphere and culture. With the exception of one nut, the games seemed to be safe for athletes and fans alike. China's government might be ugly, but it came through in regards to these Olympics.

The Olympics and China are peas from the same pod: they are as wonderful and beautiful as they are terrible and tragic. For every Michael Phelps there is a tae kwon do idiot kicking a referee, a racer tossed for juicing or wrestler throwing down his medal. For the beauty of the opening ceremony there are stories about inhumane treatment of the performers in preparation. It will be the same in four years when the game visiting London and the same four years after that as well.

The older I get, the more I realize that politics is sports and sports is politics. The only difference is that sports have more equipment. The good and the bad that comes along with both was displayed to the world for the last two weeks in China.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Gearing Up - SEC Talk

Slowly, but surely, I'm gearing up for the football season. My loyal readers know how obnoxious I find the current "all football, all the time" lunacy, but I do love me some pigskin and am starting to gear up for the season.

I thought I'd get some football conversation going with an SEC preview that requires very little actual research from yours truly. Like I said, I'm not quite all the way in just yet, but getting there.

SEC Champion - Tennessee.

What?!? That's right - I'm picking the Vols to win the league this year. No, it is not because I'm a lifelong fan. No, it is not because I'm a graduate. No, it is not because I currently live in the Volunteer State. This is an unbiased, objective prediction.

Okay, not really. The Vols, however, are in prime sleeper position. All the talk is Georgia and Florida right now. You don't think that burns in the belly of the defending SEC East Champions? The Vols stomped Georgia last year in a non-competitive game. Tennessee hosts both Florida and Alabama this year, so revenge looks plausible against both. The Auburn game is a tricky one as Tuberville is usually tough in the big game, but if Tennessee beats both Florida and Georgia, it can lose the Auburn game and still be fine.

Fulmer is a better coach in the underdog role than the favorite. Much will depend on the transition to Dave Clawson's offense, but I'm expecting a better defense despite the loss of Jarod Mayo. The secondary is loaded, the linebackers look good and the D-Line could be much better if Bolden and Ayers step up as seniors.

Long story short - I'm feeling good about the Vols.

Last in the SEC - South Carolina.

I think this is it for Spurrier and the Gamecocks. Spurrier hasn't gotten anything going there as recruiting to USC is nearly impossible in this area of the country. The Fun and Gun has been pretty joyless since Spurrier left Gainesville, so I wonder if the passion is gone. Regardless, I think Spurrier is gone after this year.

Bold Prediction - Vanderbilt goes to a bowl.

They are due, right?

Fired/Quit - Steve Spurrier & Sylvester Croom.

Spurrier I covered, but I see Mississippi State having another mediocre year and the Starkville faithful finally saying enough is enough about Croom's tenure. You can win at Mississippi State which Croom has not done very often. He's gone.

Best Helmet - Arkansas

There is no reason for this category, but I like it. And I like Arkansas's helmet. The razorback on it is clearly too small, but that is its charm. The details in the animal set it apart.

Worst Helmets - Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and South Carolina

Pick one, you say. Here is the connection - they all once had better looking versions. Kentucky's K looked much stronger than the current UK design. Vanderbilt's black look was cool and accurately described the state of the program. Mississippi State and South Carolina have similar looking helmets which are both inferior to their previous red varieties.

Change is not always progress.

Best uniforms - Ole Miss

When the Rebels are wearing their blue tops and silver pants, it is a sharp look. If only their offense looked so smooth.

Worst Uniforms - LSU

If Tennessee consistently wore the orange on orange combo, it would be the Vols. LSU's problem is that despite a decent color combo, their uniforms always look like a mess. The helmet is too busy and the white tops on yellow pants is too plain. And I hate Les Miles, so there.

Player of the Year - Percy Harvin

Now that the world is dedicated to stopping Tim Tebow, get ready for Percy Harvin (if he stays healthy) to run wild.

Most Over-rated Player - Matthew Stafford

He might have an NFL arm, but he makes junior high decisions with the ball. I don't trust him and haven't been impressed by him. Word is that he is gone after this year. My guess is that he costs the Dawgs a couple of games and decides to leave before his stock drops even more.

Most Dumbest Player - Ryan Perrilloux

From a National Championship to Jacksonville State. Nice going, idiot.

Most Interesting Game - Florida vs. Georgia

The end zone dance ought to have the Gators motivated and added some bad blood to a fairly stale rivalry. This could be for the SEC East and the National Championship. A close second is Ole Miss vs. Arkansas as Houston Nutt tries to best his old team.

Least Interesting Game - Ole Miss vs. Samford

There are some embarrassing games on various team's schedules, but the Rebels vs. Bulldogs ought to be a real stinker. Auburn vs. Tennessee-Martin, Florida vs. The Citadel, Kentucky vs. Norfolk State and Georgia vs. Georgia Southern are all embarrassing match-ups for SEC schools.

Upset Pick - Kentucky over Georgia

The Kats catch Georgia in a brutal stretch of road games (at LSU, at Florida, at Kentucky, at Auburn), so I smell a trap.

Over/Under on SEC football posts over the next four months - 100

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Olympics

Yesterday I started working at an elite private school with lots of boys and lots of money. Our athletes have tremendous advantages over most rivals in terms of coaching, equipment, facilities and funding. It is hardly a level playing field when we compete against local schools as they are more than happy to remind us.

It is just like America at the Olympics.

Right now, we are winning in the overall medal count over China, Australia and a few other podunk nations. It is a source of national pride with me and I imagine most of you whenever I see it or one of our athletes winning a medal.

In reality, however, it is hardly a value of our collective worth. We ought to be winning lots of medals. We are the big private school with lots of athletes and money. In 2008, who can compete with us other than China? Nobody. We are a huge country with lots of people and infinite resources. What is surprising is not the American dominance of the Games, but why we can't dominate each and every sport. Why can't we figure out how to win at luge and table tennis?

I don't mean to be a sourpuss about the Olympics, but there is something fairly hollow about the swelling of national pride we get when America does well.

Other random Olympic thoughts:

* Is there a more bankrupt sport in the world than gymnastics? We are watching underage kids win medals for landing on their knees. What about the tie-breaker that cost an American girl the gold medal? Gymnastics isn't even a sport, is it? It is a performance. What is the difference between the tango and a floor exercise? And aren't we all a little embarrassed that jumping on a trampoline can earn you an Olympic medal?

Here is my criteria for whether something is a sport or a performance: if the winner is determined solely by judges, it is a performance and not a sport. Gymnastics, diving, figure skating - performances. Some sports can come down to a judge's decision - like boxing for example - after the participants had the opportunity to win outright. That is a sport. If the only way to win is to receive scores from Simon, Paula and Randy, it ain't a sport in my book.

* I love the Redeem Team. If they don't win the gold, it won't be because a bunch of over-hyped, spoiled NBA players lost to a hungrier nation. These guys are getting after it on the defensive end to make up for their suspect shooting and lack of post-up game (which is basically non-existent in the Olympics because of the international lane). LeBron is the second best athlete in Beijing behind Mr. Phelps and Dwyane Wade is back to his 2006 form. Did you see his alley-oop to Kobe the other night? I love these guys.

* Why haven't I heard more discussion about Aaron Piersol giving Mark Spitz the bird after Phelps' 8th gold? Are we pretending he was really cleaning out his eye?

* Speaking of swimming, shouldn't they cap how many different events are held? I can think of a million different swimming scenarios involving different strokes, relays and distances, but that doesn't mean they ought to have that many. Phelps is great and all, but most athletes have no chance at eight medals because there are not eight varieties of their respective sport. All the variety seems a bit much to me as the quantity of races devalues a swimming medal.

* I have a issue with the bronze medal. 3rd place? When do we ever celebrate 3rd place? Some of these sports are only played by about three people in the hole world. I don't blame that wrestler for tossing his bronze - 3rd place is nothing to stand on a podium about. I guess the Greeks were more generous with their adulation than us Americans.

* Last rant: How are countries allowed to use athletes who are not actually from their respective countries? Chris Kaman played for Germany's basketball team - he isn't German. I watched a table tennis match between four Chinese women, only two of them were from "Singapore." Would we put up with recruiting another countries athletes to play for us? What if Rafael Nadal decided to play tennis for America? That isn't the same as Agassi or Sampras winning it, is it? I can't believe the IOC lets this happen. Is recruitment a part of the "Olympic Spirit" I missed?

Sunday, August 17, 2008

AP Pre-Season College Football Poll

1. Georgia (22) 0-0 1,528
2. Ohio State (21) 0-0 1,506
3. USC (12) 0-0 1,490
4. Oklahoma (4) 0-0 1,444
5. Florida (6) 0-0 1,415
6. Missouri 0-0 1,266
7. LSU 0-0 1,135
8. West Virginia 0-0 1,116
9. Clemson 0-0 1,105
10. Auburn 0-0 968
11. Texas 0-0 966
12. Texas Tech 0-0 786
13. Wisconsin 0-0 771
14. Kansas 0-0 707
15. Arizona State 0-0 631
16. Brigham Young 0-0 590
17. Virginia Tech 0-0 578
18. Tennessee 0-0 509
19. South Florida 0-0 496
20. Illinois 0-0 483
21. Oregon 0-0 366
22. Penn State 0-0 293
23. Wake Forest 0-0 227
24. Alabama 0-0 89
25. Pittsburgh 0-0 85
Others Receiving Votes
South Carolina 84, Fresno State 83, California 59, Utah 53, Cincinnati 44, Florida State 41, Michigan 36, Boston College 32, Rutgers 32, Michigan State 21, Boise State 17, Arkansas 14, North Carolina 14, Connecticut 10, Tulsa 7, UCLA 6, Oregon State 5, Mississippi State 4, Virginia 4, Arizona 3, Nebraska 2, Notre Dame 2, Hawaii 1, Washington 1.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

High School Jamboree Report

I arrived at the end of Boyd-Buchanan's 7-0 victory over Baylor (who is quite a bit down this year from what I hear) and left before Ooltewah's 7-0 win over Rhea County. In-between, however, was some good football from Finley Stadium.

* East Ridge beat Soddy-Daisy 3-0 in an ugly exhibition. Soddy's passing offense rarely connected, eventually resulting in a tipped pass interception that set up the game-winning field goal. East Ridge's offensive line avoided contact throughout the evening which cannot be said for the quarterback and tailback behind them.

* McCallie looked extremely impressive in its 14-0 domination of Brainerd. The Blue Tornado picked about the Panthers on the ground and forced a fumble on defense. It looks like Keenon Rush has settled in as McCallie's quarterback, though his ability on the ground exceeds his passing prowess. The key for McCallie, however, might be Joey Skogen who is eligible after transferring from Tennessee Temple last year. He had a touchdown and a big run to set up another one. Brainerd looked sloppy and overwhelmed.

* Walker Valley thoroughly dominated Notre Dame. The Irish look great in their green and gold unis, but they also look small and slow. Walker Valley racked up 20 points in 20 minutes against the Irish. The Mustangs were playing at a completely different speed in this one.

* It is fun to watch the guys on the sidelines during a high school game. They never quite know how to act. When something good happens for their team - a quarterback sack for example - only about three or four will celebrate. The rest are either a) bitter about being on the sideline b) not watching the game at all or c) so terrified about actually being in the game that they are frozen in their fear.

* I'm also amused by how oblivious guys are to what they do on defense. A cornerback will dive onto a falling runner and jump up like he just de-cleated somebody. Buddy, you didn't hit him hard and didn't even make the tackle. Bring it down a little.

* Abby will not wear what I saw high school girls wearing to the jamboree last night. Even on her honeymoon.

* Remember when you never saw passing in high school football? Not anymore - everyone wants to spread it out and run some variation of the spread option. I guess it is more exciting than the old wishbone offense that dominated high school ball back in my day, but some of the quarterbacks last night lack the skills to throw the ball more than occasionally.

* Finley Stadium really is a nice place to watch a game. There was plenty of parking and plenty of seats with backs. I'm looking forward to the October 3rd McCallie/Baylor game there.

The high school football season starts for real next Friday. The football, the rivalries, the cheerleaders, the fight songs, the drunk high school kids who think you can't tell - can't wait.

Friday, August 15, 2008

College Football Viewing Schedule

For the past 20+ years of my life, Saturday afternoons in the fall have meant one thing - college football. I woke up to Gameday, ate lunch with the early morning games, got fired up for the 3:30 SEC contests, got my second wind for the prime time offerings and sometimes even stayed up for some West Coast football before bed.

Then I had two kids.

Last football season was the first hint towards my future. It was a little tougher to commit to 15 straight hours of college football with Abby running around. She needed attention. She needed food. She needed fresh diapers.

I know what you are thinking - what about your wife? Where is she? Good questions. She thinks that when I'm home, she is off-duty. It is truly disgraceful.

Okay, that is not true at all. I'm just not a big enough schmuck to sit on the couch and ask her to raise the young'ens all by herself.

I am, however, enough of a schmuck to ask her to do it for one game a day. So I'm looking ahead at the college football season for the one game I cannot miss. It may seem like a nightmare scenario for those readers without infants, but it is my reality.

One game a Saturday? I'll take what I can get.

I already have a process in place for this venture that I think will create the greatest football satisfaction possible. The first thing we must do is look for Tennessee's big games and commit to those. Then we go to big SEC games because a) it is the best football and b) those games matter the most to me. After that, we'll look for big match-ups and traditional rivalries to round out the year.

Looking at my calendar, there are about 15 college football Saturdays coming up. Not much to choose from, huh? This is going to tough, but we'll get through it together (and for the record, I'm doing this process as I write, so you really are on board for the entire experiment. I hope that adds something to posting, but it probably just means more spelling and grammar errers.).

The calendar looks like this:

August 30 -
Sept. 6 -
Sept. 13 -
Sept. 20 -
Sept. 27 -
Oct. 4 -
Oct. 11 -
Oct. 18 -
Oct. 25 -
Nov. 1 -
Nov. 8 -
Nov. 15 -
Nov. 22 -
Nov. 29 -
Dec. 6 -

Let's start with the Vols. Luckily, the UCLA game is on a Monday night so that opens up the first weekend. I'm planning on going to the UAB and Northern Illinois games, so that takes away two weekends that I might have skipped out on watching the Big Orange. Obviously, the Florida, Georgia and Alabama games are musts each year and this year we go to Auburn so chalk that one up too. I'm not going to initially commit to South Carolina, Vandy or Kentucky until I get a sense for how good each will be (this calendar is subject to change).

As a reasonably optimistic Vols fan, I'm going to block the SEC Championship game as well. I don't really believe it just yet, but if Gators keeps getting hurt and Bulldogs keep going to jail, we might have a shot.

So let's update the calendar as such:

August 30 -
Sept. 6 -
Sept. 13 - UAB at Tennessee
Sept. 20 - Florida at Tennessee
Sept. 27 - Tennessee at Auburn
Oct. 4 - Northern Illinois at Tennessee
Oct. 11 - Tennessee at Georgia
Oct. 18 -
Oct. 25 - Alabama at Tennessee
Nov. 1 -
Nov. 8 -
Nov. 15 -
Nov. 22 -
Nov. 29 -
Dec. 6 - SEC Championship

Now to the SEC. The Florida/Georgia game is a must, but so is Florida/LSU (same day as UT/UGA). Maybe we can get a baby-sitter on the 11th. The Gators also host Miami which probably won't be much of a game, but the slate is pretty thin that day.

LSU/Alabama looks great on paper, so I'll commit to that one as well as two more Bama games - the Iron Bowl and the opening game against Clemson. Georgia/Auburn looks like a winner too, so we'll add that one. I'm curious about the Arkansas/Ole Miss game (Houston Nutt vs. his old team), but not enough to actually commit to it.

Calendar update:

August 30 - Alabama at Clemson
Sept. 6 - Miami at Florida
Sept. 13 - UAB at Tennessee
Sept. 20 - Florida at Tennessee
Sept. 27 - Tennessee at Auburn
Oct. 4 - Northern Illinois at Tennessee
Oct. 11 - Tennessee at Georgia
Oct. 18 -
Oct. 25 - Alabama at Tennessee
Nov. 1 - Florida vs. Georgia
Nov. 8 - Alabama at LSU
Nov. 15 - Georgia at Auburn
Nov. 22 -
Nov. 29 - Auburn at Alabama
Dec. 6 - SEC Championship

Let's fill in the holes. Ohio State/Michigan is always fun and fits on Nov. 22nd (though I'm bummed about missing Ohio State/USC on the 13th as my calendar currently stands). That leaves us with one open date - October 18th - which is the Red River Shootout. That, my friends, fills in the calendar:

August 30 - Alabama at Clemson
Sept. 6 - Miami at Florida
Sept. 13 - UAB at Tennessee
Sept. 20 - Florida at Tennessee
Sept. 27 - Tennessee at Auburn
Oct. 4 - Northern Illinois at Tennessee
Oct. 11 - Tennessee at Georgia
Oct. 18 - Oklahoma vs. Texas
Oct. 25 - Alabama at Tennessee
Nov. 1 - Florida vs. Georgia
Nov. 8 - Alabama at LSU
Nov. 15 - Georgia at Auburn
Nov. 22 - Michigan at Ohio State
Nov. 29 - Auburn at Alabama
Dec. 6 - SEC Championship

Luckily, it looks like the Thursday offerings are much improved this year. I've already spotted Auburn/West Virginia, Clemson/Wake Forest, West Virginia/Colorado and Texas/Texas A&M for my Thursday night viewing as well as Kansas/South Florida and Memphis/Louisville on Friday nights.

At this point, I'll take what I can get. And I'm starting to want it to get here more and more.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Top 10 Future Olympic Events I'd Like to See

1) Golf - seriously.

2) Supermarket Sweep - even seriouser.

3) Poker - this might actually be really fun to watch, but probably an idea three years too late.

4) Chess Boxing - I'm fascinated.

5) MMA Cage Fighting - that MMA is so hot right now.

6) Football - because there is no such thing as too much football.

7) Australian Rules Football - because I used to love it on ESPN as a kid.

8) Canadian Rules Football - because Doug Flutie is American.

9) Dancing With the Stars - two words: Kristi Yamaguchi.

10) Guitar Hero - rock music + video games = American gold

Others receiving consideration: Cricket (looks like it might be cool), Family Feud (always entertaining), Craps (I'd like to learn the rules), Wiffle Ball (the Cubans would probably dominate), Bass Fishing (USA! USA! USA!) and any other variety of women's beach volleyball (4 on 4, 6 on 6, 1 on 1 - any combo is welcome).

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Goodbye, Skip Caray

I have more wonderful memories of watching the 1980s Atlanta Braves than most people. Maybe it took being an 8-year old to enjoy the Chuck Tanner Experience...I don't know. I fondly remember Picture Day when my brother and I got our pictures taken with Dale Murphy, Glen Hubbard and Chief Knockahoma (I also remember insulting reliever Jim Acker when I told my dad I didn't want a picture with him because "he's horrible."). I learned about heckling during the last innings of another Braves blowout loss from a group of rowdy rednecks.

One of my favorite memories involves Skip Caray. For some reason, I really hated Harry Caray when I was a kid. I thought the Cubs were Atlanta's rival because they were both on television all the time. I hated Ryne Sandberg. I hated Jody Davis. And I hated Harry Caray.

I also had no idea that Harry was Skip's dad. I knew they had the same last name, but I thought it just added to my imaginary Cubs/Braves feud. So when I found out that we were going to Atlanta to see the Braves play the Cubs, I was really fired up. To me, this was Ali/Frazier or Tom/Jerry. This was Cubs/Braves.

In my excitement about the game, I came up with an idea that I pitched to Mom and Dad. Now, keep in mind, I'm a 2nd or 3rd grader at this point. My idea was a sign to hold up between innings that read:

"Hey, Harry, our Caray can "Skip" all over your cow."

Brilliant, no? I remember my parents' reaction like it was yesterday. There was laughter alongside a knowing look of, "We've got something special right here." It was the beginning of a promising writing career that climaxed in the 8th grade with my classic homeless people essay (won me $50 and got a rousing ovation from the patrons at the Community Kitchen) and has sputtered out with occasional postings on an insignificant sports blog.

Back to my story...

I held up that sign every half inning for the entire game, but never made the Jumbotron or TBS. It was not for a lack of trying. The people in front of us turned to read the sign and laughed approvingly, but I guess the Powers That Be on the SuperStation couldn't handle calling out that WGN drunkard.

I think of that sign often when I see Skip Caray. It is a fun childhood memory centered around a major part of my adolescence: my love of the Atlanta Braves. Skip Caray was part of the team along with Pete Van Wieren and Ernie Johnson. They taught me much of what I know about baseball, though mostly in the context of "Don't do what the Braves just did."

Plenty of people think of Skip Caray as a "homer" who openly pulled for the Braves during the TBS broadcasts. Those people never listened to him when the Braves were bad. He was a different kind of homer then, the type who whose voice deflated when the bullpen coughed up another lead or grounded into another double-play. He wasn't so much a cheerleader as a punching bag who took gut shots every night the Braves played their pathetic brand of baseball.

That is why the Skip Caray of the 1990s was so excited and so over-the-top. His most famous call - the Sid Bream slide to beat the Pirates - was the release of years of pent up frustration towards the Braves.

There is something sadly fitting about Caray passing during the same season that the Braves no longer play on TBS. It wasn't right seeing Caray on something called Peachtree TV and you could feel his boredom in the radio both simmering through the speakers (or that might have been his annoyance with Mark Lemke's nasal voice. It would have been mine.). For me, Caray and TBS went side-by-side, just like Skip Caray is indelibly linked to my childhood.

Thanks for the memories, Skip.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Coaches Poll - UT Ranked #18

Thoughts?

1. Georgia (22);11-2;1,438;3

2. USC (14);11-2;1,430;2

3. Ohio State (14);11-2;1,392;4

4. Oklahoma (3);11-3;1,329;8

5. Florida (5);9-4;1,293;16

6. LSU (3);12-2;1,163;1

7. Missouri;12-2;1,143;5

8. West Virginia;11-2;1,008;6

9. Clemson;9-4;999;22

10. Texas;10-3;979;10

11. Auburn;9-4;888;t14

12. Wisconsin;9-4;747;21

13. Kansas;12-1;714;7

14. Texas Tech;9-4;644;23

15. Virginia Tech;11-3;568;9

16. Arizona State;10-3;560;13

17. Brigham Young;11-2;547;t14

18. Tennessee;10-4;506;12

19. Illinois;9-4;422;18

20. Oregon;9-4;399;24

21. South Florida;9-4;350;NR

22. Penn State;9-4;313;25

23. Wake Forest;9-4;203;NR

24. Michigan;9-4;112;19

25. Fresno State;9-4;91;NR

Others Receiving Votes: Alabama 83, South Carolina 64, Utah 60, Rutgers 53, Florida State 53, Boston College 47, California 41, Pittsburgh 34, Boise State 25, Oregon State 23, Nebraska 17, Cincinnati 13, Virginia 12, Connecticut 9, Michigan State 9, Mississippi State 6, Kentucky 5, Notre Dame 5, TCU 5, Maryland 4, Texas A&M 3, UCLA 3, North Carolina 3, Louisville 2, Georgia Tech 2, UCF 2, Tulsa 1, Oklahoma State 1, Arizona 1, Colorado 1.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Jason Bay to Braves...Almost

The news from Atlanta on Trading Day is not nearly as exciting as the Cincinnati-Chicago or Boston-Los Angeles blockbusters. Braves news is the deal that almost was.

GM Frank Wren admitted that he thought the Braves had Pittsburgh's Jason Bay for four minor leaguers, including the light-hitting Brent Lillibridge and outfielder Brandon Jones.

Instead of Atlanta, Bay is off to Boston as part of the biggest trade of the day to try to replace Manny Ramirez. (I can't wait to hear Maximum Jack's thoughts on the deal that sent his dog's namesake to Joe Torre).

No doubt, Jason Bay is exactly the kind of player the Braves need. There might not be a team in the majors that gets less out of its left-fielder than Atlanta. Jason Bay would have been a big bat in the middle of the Atlanta order through next season. As miserable as this year has been in Georgia, the prospect of a Chipper-Bay-McCann middle of the order next year would have been a promising one.

Instead, Atlanta looks to be saving its pennies for a run at a primo free agent in the off-season. Who that will be...I don't feel like looking it up right now. Instead, I'm going to continue to wallow in my own "getting Bay would have been fun" funk for a few sentences longer. At the least, it would have taken the sting off today's Hudson needs Tommy John surgery news.

The silver lining - at least the Braves are not the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Adios, Tex

I turned off the Braves game tonight. It was just too sad to watch. The season that was supposed to be officially had the plug pulled on it as Mark Teixeira was dealt to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

After giving up double-digit runs in three straight games, GM Frank Wren finally conceded that the Braves could not compete in the mediocre National League. Between the laundry list of injuries and poor performances from key contributors, Atlanta made the correct move in becoming a seller in the MLB market. Expect Will Ohman to be the next to go.

I'm a little confused by the trade. Casey Kotchman, who seems like a nice enough player, is a free agent just like Teixeira. Steve Marek has mediocre minor league stats, though I can't find much about him otherwise.

Is this the best Atlanta could get? Maybe so, but I sure wish the Braves were getting more than a couple of months out of Kotchman. It is quite a letdown from the possibility of Conor Jackson, though the D-Backs seemed intent on not letting that happen. It seems that Arizona realizes that this might not be their year with Chicago and Milwaukee playing so well, so better to hold onto their young stud.

Back to Atlanta, the Braves haven't been this irrelevant since 1990 under Russ Nixon. Yes, Russ Nixon. It is not even August yet and Atlanta is out of it. It is a sad day for a spoiled Braves fan.

On the other hand, there is something fairly relieving about this awful season. It feels like I've been dumped by a girl I always knew wasn't right for me. 1991 broke my heart. 1996 kicked me in the groin and then broke my heart. Kyle Farnsworth broke my heart live at Minute Maid Park. The 2008 Braves? I'll be over them in a couple of stiff drinks.

When does the football season start?

Monday, July 28, 2008

2008-09 Tennessee Basketball Schedule

Thoughts?

UT basketball schedule


Date Day Opponent Site

Nov. 3 Mon. Indianapolis (exhibition) Knoxville

Nov. 7 Fri. Tusculum (exhibition) Knoxville

Nov. 15 Sat. UT-Chattanooga Knoxville

Nov. 18 Tue. UT-Martin Knoxville

Nov. 21 Fri. at Middle Tennessee Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Nov. 27 Thur. 1-Old Spice Classic Orlando, Fla.

Nov. 28 Fri. 1-Old Spice Classic Orlando, Fla.

Nov. 30 Sun. 1-Old Spice Classic Orlando, Fla.

Dec. 3 Wed. UNC Asheville Knoxville

Dec. 13 Sat. at Temple Philadelphia, Pa.

Dec. 16 Tue. 2-Marquette Nashville, Tenn.

Dec. 20 Sat. Belmont Knoxville

Dec. 29 Mon. Louisiana-Lafayette Knoxville

Jan. 3 Sat. at Kansas Lawrence, Kan.

Jan. 7 Wed. Gonzaga Knoxville

Jan. 10 Sat. at Georgia* Athens, Ga.

Jan. 13 Tue. Kentucky* Knoxville

Jan. 17 Sat. South Carolina* Knoxville

Jan. 20 Tue. at Vanderbilt* Nashville, Tenn.

Jan. 24 Sat. Memphis Knoxville

Jan. 28 Wed. LSU* Knoxville

Jan. 31 Sat. Florida* Knoxville

Feb. 4 Wed. at Arkansas* Fayetteville, Ark.

Feb. 7 Sat. at Auburn* Auburn, Ala.

Feb. 11 Wed. Georgia* Knoxville

Feb. 14 Sat. Vanderbilt* Knoxville

Feb. 18 Wed. at Ole Miss* Oxford, Miss.

Feb. 21 Sat. at Kentucky* Lexington, Ky.

Feb. 25 Wed. Mississippi State* Knoxville

March 1 Sun. at Florida* Gainesville, Fla.

March 5 Thur. at South Carolina* Columbia, S.C.

March 8 Sun. Alabama* Knoxville

March 12-15 SEC Tournament Tampa, Fla. Raycom & CBS TBD

Sunday, July 27, 2008

To the Victorino Goes the Blame

I like Shane Victorino. He plays hard and plays the right way. He's fast, athletic and exciting.

But he did not need to run over Brian McCann today.

If you haven't seen the replays, you will. It is a brutal collision on a play at the plate. The relay throw and Victorino were racing to home. Brian McCann fielded the throw cleanly, moved to tag the Phillie runner and was then knocked silly as Victorino lowered his helmet into McCann's head.

Before you tell me this is part of the game, consider this: Brian McCann was not blocking home plate. He fielded the throw and then dove toward the plate to tag what he assumed was a sliding Victorino. The play was a race to the plate which did not necessitate a collision. Beyond that, Victorino led with his helmet rather than his shoulder or forearm. He used his head as a battering ram to jar the ball loose from McCann, only instead of hitting glove he hit McCann's noggin. The Braves catcher has a concussion as a result of the play.

Victorino was rightfully concerned about the play, but that doesn't excuse it. There was no reason to plow over the Braves All-Star catcher. There was no reason to give the guy a concussion; we have all learned from Troy Aikman to Chris Benoit how devastating concussions can be to the human body and brain.

It makes no sense to me that throwing a baseball near someone's head is brawl-worthy, but running over a defenseless catcher is good baseball. It isn't. It is unnecessary and unfair to the catcher.

Here is hoping that when the Phillies visit Atlanta in September, the play is not forgotten. That will be good baseball.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

The (Sad) State of American Tennis




Non-Slam Tennis doesn’t get much coverage on SportsCenter, but in between the seven Favre stories on Thursday you may have noticed that Roger Federer was bounced early in this year’s Rogers (ironic?) Cup by Gilles Simon. Rest assured, the game’s greatest player is not finished. Yes, Nadal gave him a spanking earlier this year in the final of the French, and, yes, Rafa was able to do the unthinkable (at least to anyone who didn’t watch last year’s Wimbledon final) and dethrone the Fed Express at the All England Club. While it is no longer a forgone conclusion that Roger will break Pete Sampras’ record of 14 majors, I do believe he’s not going to retire with merely the 12 Slams on his current resume. In fact, I’m making a bold prediction that Fed will win another Slam long before we see another American holding up a champion’s trophy from any of the Slams.

In the same tournament this week, the top two Americans, James Blake and Andy Roddick, were also tossed out early. They are both still hovering in the top 10 in the world, but neither is on his way up in the rankings. Sadly, there is no one else even close. Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish are the only other Americans in the Top 50, #38 and #41 respectively. Contrast that with Spain— nine men in the top 50—or France—seven—and you start to see a gloomy picture of American Tennis. The women’s game isn’t much better. I mean the biggest splash this year from an American woman not named Williams, is the Tri-State area’s own Ashley Harkleroad, (pictured) who graced the pages of the August issue of Playboy Magazine.

Usually you’ll see an article similar to this one around the first week of the French Open. Americans traditionally do not do well on the red dirt of Roland Garros, but this isn’t the European Clay Court Season. This is the American Hard Court Season. This is our time to shine. Guys like Simon should not be winning tournaments in Indianapolis. I’m not saying he isn’t a good player—you don’t crack the top 25 or beat the world number one without a fair amount of talent, but still . . .

So, why are Americans lagging behind in a sport they have dominated for most of my lifetime? Over the last year I have been teaching tennis, mainly to juniors, at a semi-private tennis club here in the Scenic City. I have come to the conclusion that the developmental system in place for tennis in this country is seriously flawed, catering only to those who are financially secure.

You may be saying to yourself, tennis has always been an elitist sport. What’s the big deal? Surely someone will come along soon and reclaim our tennis supremacy. I’m not convinced. Much of the world has already surpassed us, such as Western Europe and the old Eastern Bloc countries and there is a large chunk of the globe, namely Asia, which is nipping at our heels. I don’t believe we will be able to compete on an international level if tennis continues to exclude a large majority of its population here in the U.S.

When I was growing up in Chattanooga in the late seventies and early eighties, tennis was at the height of its popularity in this country. It was truly a golden era in the sport. No one can deny the impact guys like Connors and McEnroe (and Borg) made on tennis. Public courts sprang up all over the place, and it was odd to drive by on a sunny, weekend day and not see them filled up with players of all levels. My, how things have changed. When was the last time you saw all the courts across from Red Bank Middle School being used? The city has already torn down two, leaving just five rapidly decaying courts for the entire city of Red Bank. The Red Bank High School team doesn’t even play or practice there anymore. Instead, they head over to Rivermont and use the six free courts closest to the baseball fields. Those courts are actually in decent shape, but it still seems odd that a town the size of Red Bank doesn’t have a decent public facility.

Those of you familiar with the area might know about the beautiful tennis facility know as The Champions Club, which is actually in the same city park as the Rivermont courts I mentioned. These courts are super, and there are 26 of them. My only problem with the facility is that you have to pay to play. If I would have had to pay to play when I was growing up, I never would have learned the game. I mean we were cheapskates. We used to buy Tretorn pressureless tennis balls because they would last forever—they actually got harder with age! So having to pay for court time would have absolutely stopped us in our tracks, and we would have found something else to do, which is exactly what is happening today.

The state of high-school tennis in this area is in shambles. The private schools are in pretty good shape, but other than that, the level of competitiveness is laughable. The USTA has instituted a “No Cut” Rule, which sounds egalitarian, but it just turns into a great big mess. You end up having 30 or 40 kids trying to share one or (maybe) two coaches and six courts. Ridiculous.

Even the private schools have some problems. Baylor’s two-time State Champion, Bo Seal, was forced to leave the area after his sophomore year because there just wasn’t enough competition for him here. He opted to finish high school at a private tennis academy in Florida. Imagine if someone had told B.J. Coleman in his junior year he would have to leave McCallie if he wanted to become a better football player. Nonsense.

Patrick McEnroe recently took the job at the USTA as Director of Player Development. He has a hard task ahead of him. I’ve heard rumors about other, more exclusive tennis academies on the horizon. I guess the feeling is if we can get the cream of the crop better prepared, they will go on to reach great heights. That may be the case in the short run, but for the long haul if the USTA doesn’t do something about making tennis instruction and courts more accessible and affordable, we may be heading for an extremely dark age in American Tennis.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Lerch's Guide to Fantasy Success

Let's face facts... Most of us play fantasy sports to experience the success and sense of achievement that eludes us in our pitiless daily lives.  A victory in one's fantasy league brings prestige, bragging rights, and sometimes even financial rewards.  When your fantasy team loses because Brian Westbrook fell to the ground on the one yard line to allow the Eagles to run out the clock against the Cowboys, the emotional effects can be devastating.

As the defending champion of the "The Only League that Matters" in football and the current leader with a consistent 25 point cushion of "Below the Mendoza Line" in baseball, I think I have become Carpenter's fantasy ringer.  He sets up these leagues for his friends and family to have some sporting competition, and this guy from Texas keeps dominating.  Therefore, I've decided to put down some of my keys to success in fantasy sports as an olive branch to my competitors that read this blog...

1) "Value of High Draft Picks - Consistency Counts" - The current fantasy trend is to load up on running backs because you can always find quality receivers and quarterbacks later on.  While this is true, the fact is that finding those guys is a bit of a crap shoot, and consider that starting running backs are dropping like flies with injuries in the current NFL.  So, do you really want to pass on Peyton Manning, who is guaranteed to throw for a trillion yards every year, for Rudi Johnson, who is "projected" to run for 1200 mythical yards, and take your chances with Jake Delhomme.  Really, think about that one for a second.  Franchise quarterbacks and receivers are hard to find - Grab them while you can.

2) "Quarterbacks - 2008 is 2003" - Any passer can have a fluke year, but statistical consistency in the NFL is difficult to find.  You want to find quarterbacks who have performed well over the long run.  Right now, there is Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and everyone else.  If you can't get one of those two guys, you have three options.  One, my current choice, grab what you think is the franchise quarterback of the future, and pray to God something terrible happens to Jessica Simpson. Two, find a consistent veteran who may not have the stats of a Brady, but will usually get the job done, like a Donovan McNabb.  Of course, the drawback here is most of these guys tend to be injury prone.  Third, draft a young quarterback who has all the scouts and press saying the right thing, and may have even gotten hot in the playoffs so everyone thinks he's better than he is, and convince yourself he's the franchise quarterback of the future.  I'm not going to say any names here, but it rhymes with "Eat my Fanning" and I will enjoy watching him throw 10 picks in his first three games this year.  I hope you draft him.

3) "Runningbacks - 2008 is NOT 2003" - We've all been playing fantasy football for a while, right.  Well, who remembers the big debate in 2001? Well, it was "Should I take Faulk, James, or Tomlinson?"  (For the record, the correct answer that year was Faulk, and I took him) Alright, two of those guys are still alive, 10,000 tackles later.  Have mercy on your soul if they are still on your fantasy team.  Running backs have a short shelf life, and the sooner you realize this, the better.  Subtract one round for every year a back is over the age of 25.  Fill up your bench with a stable of young backs, and, eventually, everyone in front of them will be injured. 

4) "Two Back Systems - Good for real teams, bad for fantasy teams" - As a football coach, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have two quality backs on a team.  You're really lucky if you have a big powerful runner and quick little guy so you can name them "Thunder and Lightning" and make t-shirts for everyone.  However, in fantasy, I avoid two back systems like the plague.  Because fantasy scoring is so biased towards scoring touchdowns, the chances of your guy being the one to carry the ball into the end zone are divided in half.  Even the so-called "goal line runners" who go in and just score touchdowns are unreliable because they gain 16 yards and no scores as often as they gain 32 yards and two scores.
- "The Maurice Jones-Drew Corollary" - The only exception to this rule is the running back who catches a ton of passes out of the backfield, doubling his opportunities to score points and thus negating the two back rule.  However, remember rule #1 here - It's not the Reggie Bush Corollary because he is way over valued.  Picking up Jones-Drew on waivers two years ago brought me a title.

5) "Two Receiver Systems - Good for real teams, good for fantasy teams" - NFL coverages tend to be focused on a single receiver.  Therefore, for a passing team, the second receiver becomes a great option for your fantasy team.  While Chad Johnson gets the press coverage, TJ Hooshmansomethingorother has been racking up incredible fantasy numbers.  We all saw what happened last year with Reggie Wayne's numbers.  Notice the emphasis is on "passing teams." The number ONE receiver on the Bears is a terrible option, let alone the second.

6) "Kickers suck in real life and fantasy" - No explanation needed on this one, right?