And I'm also surprised (and disappointed) that our most recent previous coach escaped unscathed.

If this news is true then I'm going to say what I said I would not be able to say:

It could have been worse.

Quite frankly, considering the state of things in college FB today, I'm shocked.

In the Gator Bowl at the end of the 1966 season, UT played Syracuse. One of the Syracuse players, could have been Floyd Little, said something about that they were disappointed not to be playing a great team but were happy to playing a "good" team like Tennessee. That ticked off my father. He didn't go to UT, didn't even go to college, but that made him mad for a northern school to be talking that way about a southern school. He always liked UT but for no reason really. So I started paying attention and I became a fan.

I followed the Vols and my fandom was solidified in the first game of othe 1968 season. UT vs. UGA, first game on the artificial turf.

But deciding to go to school at UT was almost an accident. I was considering South Carolina, UNC, UGA and (101st Dad will love this) Clemson. One day at high school one of my friends asked me why I didn't consider UT since I really wanted to go some place a good distance away. (Yes, I know it's only a trip of less than 3 hours from Greenville, SC to Knoxville but back then it was a good 4 hours or more.) The problem was that UT required the ACT and the ACT and SAT weren't interchangeable in those days. I had already taken the SAT so I took the ACT, applied to UT and that was that. Almost half of the college bound kids out of my very large HS senior class were dividing between USC and Clemson. I wanted something new. And big.


Semi-humorous story: My Dad said I could go anywhere but South Carolina. He said it was a big party school. So when I decided to go to UT, that was fine with him. The night before I left for college we ran into a girl who was a junior at UT. I asked her did she have any advice. She said "bring an umbrella and be prepared to party." The look on his face was priceless. He really didn't know.

I don't like them much, but I bet they players like them

You are correct. And that's why UT will eventually (soon) wear something like that. I don't like it, because I hate change. ( I wish we still wore the pale orange and indecipherable white numerals of the seventies.)

But the players love it. And that's why we'll do it.

[Jérôme Gueneau]

Thanks for asking! 

Jérôme Gueneau Sancerre Domaine des Grandes Perrières Le Clos Chartier (2009)($24.00)
Delicious Sancerre (French Sauvignon Blanc) from the Loire Region. Bright fruit, crisp and tart. A great white wine for a hot afternoon. Wine Spectator gives it 89 points and I agree. A very good wine.

So, are you playing golf in the stiffling heat today? 

Yep. After playing in the heat of July, this seems relatively cool.

I will be leaving the office at 11:30 today. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to you.

Thank you. That is all. Carry on.

[Instead, they thought Shapiro was just a fan who helped players from out of state.]

So Bryce and Arthur and their entourage get food and rooms from Shapiro but the NCAA has told K State that everything is OK?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/ncaa/08/17/kansasst.brown.ap/index.html?eref=twitter_feed


The Browns' spiritual adviser, Brian Butler, told The Wichita Eagle that he and the Browns didn't know Shapiro was a Miami booster. Instead, they thought Shapiro was just a fan who helped players from out of state. 

"In our case, he did invite us to lunch and we did go to lunch, and he did reserve some rooms for us, for myself and Mr. Brown senior," Butler told the newspaper. "Those things, I can say that he did."

And there's no NCAA violation?   

Congratulations!

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/17/uscs-markeith-ambles-academically-ineligible/

What a shame. 

I'm getting a red X but I assume that they're white. 

By we, I assume you meant you and your liver?

Fortunately there were other livers there to help mine. My wine seems to disappear quckly while bottles other people have brought seem to linger. I opened one bottle, poured myself a glass, went back about 15 minutes later to get another, and it was empty. There were only 4 of us that drank wine.

Ahhhh, reds and whites...thanks for the clarification   

We ran through so many I couldn't keep track. 

...is Droner drinking tonight????   

Thanks for missing me! 

We drank 7 bottles of good wine. Reds and whites.

Regular programming resumes next week.

I will be leaving the office at 1:00 today. A little later than usual but pigeons must be plucked clients must be seen. I will then travel to beautiful Lake Secession. While there I'll be drinking wine.

Thank you. That is all. Carry on.

Wait until the #1 BCS ranked school is prevented from playing in the BCS Championship Game because they had a 929 APR. Lawyers love this kind of stuff. And get rich off of it. 

This is why the schools which emphasize athletics will eventually leave the NCAA. The Division I committee on academic performance includes FCS and FBS schools (I-A and I-AA). Therefore the I_AA schools and the I-A schools which don't emphasize athletics have a certain amount, perhaps a disproportionate amount, of influence over the I-A schools which choose to emphasize athletics. Why is Dr. Walt Harrison, president of the University of Hartford, the chair of the Division I committee on academic performance? The University of Hartford? Why should the University of Hartford have anything to say about the athletics/academics at UT, or Bama, or Southern Cal?

And here's the kicker. When the big boys leave the NCAA, who is going to feel the pain? The I-AA schools and I-A holier than thou schools. The schools who stay in the NCAA won't be allowed to play the new non-NCAA schools. The I-AA schools won't be able to make a year's budget payoff by playing one game a year against the big boys. The I-AA schools' athletics will suffer. And possibly die.

So be it.

[my]

Holloway to Stanley Morgan bomb on the first play from scrimmage against the Clemson tiglets in 1974. That was Morgan's fake walk off the field after the KO return and then lining up at really wide receiver.

The tiglets gripe to this day that UT cheated. It wasn't a great play in the history of UT FB but it was a great play in my history with UT football.

Of course it doesn't help their anger when they heard that when Seivers caught the two point conversion to win the game the referee held up his arms and allegedly said "We win!"  I don't know if that's true or not, but they believe it. Which is just as good. 

[Bodegas Rafael Palacios]

Thanks for asking!   

Bodegas Rafael Palacios Godello Valdeorras Louro do Bolo (2009)($18.00)

My wines come from several different sources. I have a wine girl and wine guy in California. I have purchased the last three allocations of Turley Zinfandel directly from the winery courtesy of CONSIGLIEREG8R. There are several good small wine shops here. And then there are the wine "superstores" such as Total Wines. Obviously, more sources mean more choices of wines. But even a giant such as Total Wines has basically the same selections all the time, as do the small wine shops. (Also, the South Carolina system for the sale of alcohol does its best to limit choice. That's why I like to buy from the people in California or from the winery. This might be illegal in your state.)

Tonight's selection was purchased from a store I had not been to in a while. This store has the usual stuff but also frequently have new wines I haven't seen in other wine stores. I found this delicious white wine from Spain. It's dry and medium-bodied. There is plenty of fruit and although there's a little oak, the acidity on the end cleans it up with nice bite.

It's fine to have a favorite wine store, but to have variety, you gotta shop around. (You may sing those last four words if you wish.)

A big day for birthdays on VTTW. Today happens to be mine as well. Happhy birthday to the others.

Happy Birthday Ridge! What a load of birthdays on one day.

Happy Birthday Jethro, Clock and Mrs. ReVOLver!

I will be leaving the office at 11:30 today in order to play golf in this withering heat and humidity. There's no fool like an old fool.

Thank you. That is all. Carry on.

Jan 1 1968. Karl Kremser wide right.

LOL! I thought of that one but I figured that only about 5 of us would remember it. 

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2011/aug/04/tennessee-receives-voter-points-but-isnt-ranked/

I was going with the UGA TD until I read japanvol's Memphis game pick. Now I'm conflicted. The Memphis game hurt the team's overall success more. The UGA game hurt me more.

I would also mention the Jamarcus Russell "no-fumble" call but that would changing a call and not a play.