nm

Now, that being said... I wish we were competing with better offer lists when we offer a QB. Most people in the recruiting services think this guy is underrated though. They must because usually that sort of offer list gets you two stars. Of course I trust the coaches at big schools more than the recruiting services too.

"Trust the coach" is an overused cliche when it comes to recruiting, but early returns on the Dooley regime suggest it may carry more weight with him.  A lot of those supposed "space fillers" that committed in the last two weeks after Kiffin left turned out to make some pretty significant contributions last year. 

When it came to getting max output from unheralded recruits, Tommy Tuberville was the best I've ever seen.  If Dooley can approach that level (and his first class is certainly a positive indicator), then we're going to be just fine.

He sure doesn't have a 4 star attitude- he seems like a really nice, humble, grounded kid.  The kind of kid you want to succeed. 

Also, I have that same shirt.  He got it at Costco.

I think it's an interesting strategy, if true.  The most cost-effective delivery system for Netflix is streaming, and it's also the most convenient for their customer.  They've had problems acquiring the streaming rights to first-run movies, and this may be the way to force the studios' hands, especially if their customer base turns to piracy.  It's a big gamble, but may just benefit everyone in the end. 

Personally, I only have the streaming plan anyway, so the increase didn't effect me.  I'm not a big movie renter- if there's a movie that I like well enough to want to see a 2nd time or more (and there aren't many), I'll buy the blu-ray.  I mostly use Netflix to catch up on TV shows I haven't seen (currently watching "Weeds") and for the documentaries.  The selection of docs available for streaming is second to none.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20080346-261/is-netflix-killing-dvds-like-apple-killed-floppies-q-a/?tag=TOCcarouselMain.0

 

I'm sure he charmed his investors with his delightful personality.

So I've read up on this situation, and apparently GT's AD Radakovich is in hot water with the NCAA because the NCAA told him they were coming to investigate his football program, and he committed the unpardonable sin of warning his coach beforehand.  Supposedly, we were set to hire him at UT before this all went down. 

Now, I'm not saying we should reconsider him as our AD (in fact, there are a LOT of others I like better, including our own David Blackburn), but what the hell did the COI expect him to do?  His paychecks say "Georgia Tech", not "NCAA".  If they didn't want GT to know they were coming, then why the hell did they tell their AD?  Did they really expect him NOT to look out for the best interests of his institution?  If our AD had knowledge of an upcoming investigation and didn't warn the coaches in question, I would want him gone. 

So long, Friday Night Lights.  Another great tv show bites the dust.  There are not many left these days.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110715/SPORTS04/107150308/Josh-Moon-Dooley-Miles-jolly-SEC-sideshow

Wow.  Just wow.  I think I speak for everyone when I say, "Georgia Tech won an ACC title?"

I eagerly await the first post from Droner's Kidney Stone.

I hope Bochy leaves him in there for 140 pitches or so.

Apparently, it's a Kroger house brand.  FWIW, they also make an Orange flavor.  Might have to pick some up for some future tailgates.

http://www.digitalyukon.com/rocky-top-orange-soda-p59995.html

If I were the coach, I'd sink or swim with Jake Locker this year.  He'll either be a wonderful surprise, or he'll put them in great position in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.  I think Luck is the next great young NFL QB.

So are they also going to give back their Sugar Bowl payout?  I won't hold my breath.

It would be wonderful and infuse the whole team with a level of confidence they have not had in years.

I can just see it now.......we are up 3 with 4 min to go. The opposing team punts to us with 3 timeouts left playing for a stop and punt with little time elapsing. We run it every play, grinding out 3 first downs and chewing up the clock then take a knee for the win. Did I mention that game sends us to the SECCG?!    

Too much to hope for this year but a fan can dream, because that is what fans do.      

Yeah, but if it's the game that sends us to the SECCG, then it's almost certainly against Kentucky.  And we already do that against Kentucky.

Not just pure 100% hope and blind bravado I hope -- you really think it's realistic?  Hope so!    A great OL is the ENGINE that pulls the rest of the team.  But I believe it'll be awhile before we see those days again.  

I disagree.  We've loaded up on quality and quantity along the OL in the past two classes.  I think this line will be very good this year, and one of the nation's best (and deepest) by 2012.  

I'm thinking we have kissed the valley goodbye.  Heading back up to the mountaintop...

Alright, I wasn't going to say anything, because I didn't want to jinx us.  But since you already have , I'll also add that we haven't had any serious off-field issues this summer, either, for the first time in, oh, ever.

I hate your dumbass blue hair fans who show up en mass to road games acting like they're entitled to something.  Hope you have a LONG trip home, #badword#s.

I hate your lying, cheating, POS coach.  NCAA, when are you going to put this MickeyFickey out of business?  Two words for you:  Show.  Cause.

I hate your uniforms, what with their stupid little holographic horses sewn into the fabric.  But I REALLY hate that goddamn swoosh.  It is appropriate, however, that you should display the emblem of the one major sponsor who has stuck by Tiger Woods.

I hate that fair-weather fan, airhead bitch ashley judd.

I hate your bag man World Wide Wes.  

But you know what I LOVE?

I love that you showed up in Knoxville dressed like soldiers.  Were those outfits borrowed from the French Army?  Because they sure as hell weren't from the US military.  When our military goes to battle, they win.  And when they gain the upper hand, like you did when you tied the game and had the ball with the chance to go ahead, they finish the deal.  To the contrary, you went out on an 0-9 run like a bunch of pussies.  You gained the high ground, and you promptly surrendered.  France would be proud.  

Soldiers going to battle?  You aren't worthy to wear that gear.  Take those camo hats and blow them out your ass.  

I love that YOU guys, of all people, are whining about the refs right now.  Look at the boxscore and try to explain away the discrepancies in fouls and FTA's, you morons.  Is this why you're called the bluegrass state?  Is that grass so blue because it's so well fertilized by all the bullshizzle that comes out of your mouths?

You guys will hang some banners in Rupp this April, for sure.  You've almost clinched the SEC regular season title, and who knows what you'll get beyond that.  Cal and Wes got what they paid for with this recruiting class.  But a word of advice:  When you hang those banners, hang them with velcro.  It will make it a lot easier to take them down when the NCAA inevitably bitch-slaps you in a couple years.  

Face it:  You have a collection of 5 star players being led by a 3 star coach.  And everything they've achieved this year will eventually be forfeited.  I know it, you know it, and Chris Mills knows it.  Everything you've ever accomplished in this sport has been through cheating.  Why should this season be any different?  Enjoy it while you can.  But those of us without our heads up our asses know that it's about as legit as one of Bernie Madoff's financial statements.

Everyone, including me, is having trouble with this, but I think I have it figured out. To post a video:

• Use the flash tags, and change "200,200" to "425,344"
• Copy and paste the URL of the video between the flash tags. Not the whole pasting code you used to, but just the URL-- in my case this is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVfHieBITxk
• replace the "watch?v=" with simply "v/"-- this will point to the standalone video location and not the youtube page

In the end, it should look something like this:

Code:

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/eVfHieBITxk[/flash]

And the result is this:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/eVfHieBITxk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/eVfHieBITxk</a>

One more note-- the URL change made above is what youtube actually gives you in the "embed src" tag in the code you used on the old board to copy and paste. If it's easier for you to grab the URL from there than to make the change, it ought to work.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/sIE0xpwMWeo&amp;eurl=http://www.roundtableradio.com/" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/sIE0xpwMWeo&amp;eurl=http://www.roundtableradio.com/</a>

The '86 Sugar Bowl.  The Miracle at South Bend.  The wins over UF in '98 and 2001.  Clint Stoerner's fumble.  The '98 National Title game.  Precious memories for Vol fans everywhere. 

But those were just the headlines.  As we sit here on the eve of yet another season of Big Orange football, I'm reminded of the more personal memories tied to those games and others.  The games themselves bind us all, but it's the individual stories that shape our fanhood- happy, sad, funny, and sobering.  What does being a Vol fan mean to you? Here's what it means to me:

It's riding up to Knoxville with my family on a football Saturday when I was 10 years old.  Were we going to a game?  Nope.  Dad was pondering a transfer to Knoxville, and we were going to look at houses.  I wasn't even a Vol fan yet.  Had never been to a game, so I had no idea what UT football meant to that town.  But I soon found out.  As we rode around some of the neighborhoods of West Knoxville, I was struck at how little traffic there was.  That side of town was basically shut down. Some of the houses we looked at were lived-in, and the families were at home.  All of them, every single one, had the radio tuned in to the voices of John Ward and Bill Anderson.  I don't even remember who the Vols played that day, but I was amazed at how the phenomenon of a simple football game could consume an entire city.  As it turned out, Dad didn't take that job, and we stayed in Chattanooga.  But I'll always remember that day- it was my earliest memory of UT football. 

It's curling up in front of our 25" console TV to watch the Sugar Bowl on New Years night in 1986.  This was the final game of the season that turned me (and many others of my generation) into a Big Orange die hard.  We all know how that game went, but one of the things I remember most is seeing the crowd on TV, and how it basically looked and sounded like a UT home game.  I remember asking my Dad, "What happened?  Didn't Miami get any tickets?"  I was still a little naive at that point, so I just assumed that all college fanbases followed their teams with the same ferver that we do.  I learned that day that all fans are not created equal. 

It's walking out of the Superdome following the comeback win over Virginia in the '91 Sugar Bowl.  UVa took a big lead into halftime, when their band desecrated a life-size Elvis doll on the field.  As we walked into the night, we joined other UT fans in chanting "Don't fizzle with Elvis!"

It's being home on leave in '94 and driving down to Gainesville with a couple friends to see the Gator Bowl.  We went down without tickets, hoping to get some on the street.  And we did get GREAT seats, as it turned out, from Brandon Stewart's parents.  We sat with Brandon's family for the entire game.  I know they didn't leave a good taste in a lot of Vol fans' mouths, but they were very gracious to us that day. 

It's meeting Volznut and Voluptuous prior to the UF game in '98.  We think nothing of it these days, but that was the first time I had ever met someone in person that I had only previously known online.  Crazy as it sounds today, I was a little nervous about this, wondering just what kind of weirdos they may be. 

It's helping a mob carry a goalpost down Cumberland Avenue that night, with all of us chanting "fizzle the gators" at the top of our lungs.  If you've never done this, then you have no idea just how heavy those damn things are.  I was sore for three days after that, and it was totally worth it.

It was the 5 minutes immediately following Clint Stoerner's fumble.  I'm not really a touchy-feely kind of person, but I think I hugged more complete strangers in those five minutes than I have in the rest of my life before or after that point.  Afterwards, as I walked back in the cold, miserable rain, I met my roomate Brian (who was sitting in another part of the stadium) on the steps of the library.  The first words out of my mouth were, "Did that really just happen?  Because I'm still not sure I believe it". 

It's smoking victory cigars at O'Charleys following the Fiesta Bowl win over FSU.  Except Brian didn't know that he wasn't supposed to inhale.  Shorly after, as we raced towards West Town Mall to pick up some NC merchandise, he told me to pull over.  "Why?" I asked.  "Because that damn cigar is making me puke!" 

It's trying to score points with the ladies by slicing limes for them to put in their froo-froo beer at the tailgate before the South Carolina game in '99.  FYI, never do this while drinking.  I think there's still a blood stain on the pavement in the Credit Union parking lot from where I damn near cut my pinky off. 

It's buying a new hat prior to every season.  I generally don't even wear hats anymore- but superstition says I still have to get one. 

It's putting together my annual tailgate playlist.

It's the time we sang our usual round of "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" before the season opener in 2003, with all of us crying like girls.  Brian had died suddenly that previous January, and this was always his favorite part of gameday.

It's the 2004 Florida game.  How did that one turn out again?

It's that trip to the supermarket to pick up tailgating supplies the night before the first homegame.  Is there ever a more joyous occasion to make a routine trip to the grocery?

It's every new season, wondering how Emeril is going to top the previous year's elaborate tailgate setup. 

It's the guy who sits two rows in front of Emeril and myself.  I don't think anyone even knows his name, we just know him as the "IT'S THIRD DOWN!" guy.

It's the fact that, even though Coach O is long gone, I'm STILL going to play "Colonel Reb is Crying" on gamedays this year, just because it's so damn funny.

It's VTTW.  For the past ten years, whatever the server, this site has provided us all a place to talk sports- but sports is obviously just the tip of the iceberg.  I've made friends on here that I'll keep for the rest of my life- and for that reason, this place is as big a part of my UT fandom as anything.  Thanks to Revolver and all the admins for making it possible.

That's just a short list of what UT football means to me.  Here's hoping we add a lot more pleasant stories this season.  It's only a day away.