I did some digging yesterday on Alex Anderson's report on the heat between USC coaches and some of the Kiffin holdovers on UT's staff. I now wholeheartedly believe that both Jim Cheyney and Lance Thompson have received inflammatory phone calls and text messages from Lane Kiffin and Coach O. Even Monte has gotten in on the act according to one of my sources. I did some digging yesterday and was told that late last week Coach O fired off an angry profanity laced call on one of the coaches voice mails that was saved and later played for an assemblage of coaches and support staff that greeted by laughter and cheering by those in the room. What is USC so upset about. That Tennessee would have the 'guts' to get this 'improperly' recruit USC juniors and seniors. What I couldn't get yesterday was how many players and who are involved in this. I also couldn't nail down who is visiting and when. I asked one source if there have already been visitors from USC's upper class and was told 'maybe'. I said 'maybe'. What is that supposed to mean. And was told 'that's all I'm going to say.' Take that for what it's worth. I think the irony in this is delicious. Alex reported that Kiffin said to Thompson 'how could you do this to me. I gave you a break at UT. You can't do this to me.' I love Lane Kiffin. He's such a bad guy to the core. It's beyond maddening and amusing at the same time. Very few people have ability to possess both of these attributes.
'Final Four Fulmer?' Is Mike Griffith of the News Sentinel kidding us? Surely this is a summer ploy to create conversation. UT a 'Final Four' team based on the logic that the teams who beat them went on to play for a National Title is moronic. Let alone the fact that Auburn didn't play for anything the year they beat Tennessee in Atlanta. Hey Griff, I have a new name for Coach Fulmer. How about 'Final 34 Fulmer'? Yeah, 'Final 34 Fulmer'. Phil Steele's Football Annual has one unit out of 10 (wide receivers) in the Final 34 in America. That's great recruiting! That's 'Final 34 Fulmer'. Here's some great advice for the Fulmerites and for Coach Fulmer. Please let go. It looks silly. It's tired. It's time to turn the page. This doesn't help Coach Dooley. Here's what Fulmer should say to Griff. 'I had a great run at UT, I love the fans and this place. I'm a Vol for life! I'm cheering for this new administration to get the job done. Anything they need, I'll be there for them. It's not appropriate for me to talk about my time at UT though my record speaks for itself. It doesn't do any good to try and clear the record since that wreaks of sour grapes. I want to be gracious in this time of transition.'
Do you think this guy is capable of this. For crying out loud, UT is down 6,500 season ticket renewals from LAST YEAR when we didn't COME CLOSE TO SELLING OUT A GAME! What are these people thinking dredging this tired non-sense up? And that's exactly what it is. And BTW, all this stuff about QB, his QB was drafted by the Chargers and is a millionaire now, how bout having competent coaches on your staff? How about having the security in yourself to hire Scot Loeffler when you could have had him and Ryan Mallet two years ago? Is Fulmer kidding me? He never was going to do this because it was all about security. And that's why he's still not putting a sock in it. Come on Phillip, it's over. And your time is not coming back. You had your day in the sun. It was a great, Hall of Fame run. But it's over. Quit living in the past. As for Griff, doesn't he have some Rocky Top League stats to break down? Shouldn't he be working on lines for this weeks games? Are we all bored around here.
6,500 tickets down from last year when UT was in the tank in mid summer and had a fire sale on tickets. Wow..That's a real shame but also the price of our economy and being less than stellar.
Would UT be in better shape if Fulmer weren't fired? I don't think so. I don't think this program would have a pulse if Fulmer were still here. How ugly would it have gotten? You may feel differently. Let's discuss today.
What kind of place is Youngstown Ohio? Are you telling me that an Ohio State recruit was shot twice in a two month span and the shootings weren't related?
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FishPantry.org.We will talk some World Cup today with Michael Lewis of the NY Daily News. He's live in South Africa and will be covering tomorrow's US/Algeria game which is absolutely huge for that sport in this country. The US simply has to get through. And I'm going to say this again. If they can get through and win the group, this team could get to the Final 8 in the world. And once you get there, anything can happen. Especially this season. This year is wide open! Every team I've seen has faults. Every one of them!