I was out enjoying the incredible weather last night in my neighborhood when I met the most delightful little dude. His name is Sawyer and he has a really cool little saying when he watches the Vols play football. 'Touch Em Down Boys!'
That little guy makes it all look so fun. He's not scarred by any of the Dooley era. Lucky lil' guy. Maybe Tennessee will 'touch em down 5 times on Saturday. Wouldn't that be something?
Saw where Trevarris Saulsberry is traveling this week and has been making strides toward getting back. If he can play, that would be a huge best. If he could play to a pre-injury level, that would be potentially game changing.
I heard a couple of weeks ago that Jacob Gilliam was considering playing on his injured knee. That guy is either crazy or loves UT football or a little of both.
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Can UT's O-line mesh this week in Athens?
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Why not the Vols this week? Really....Why not?
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We had an interesting conversation on the show yesterday around this topic.
These are Tennessee's next 5 real football games.
@ Georgia
Florida
@ Ole Miss
Alabama
@ South Carolina
Fill in the blank.
Of the next five 'REAL' football games, (not counting UTC), I expect Tennessee to win ___________ games.
If the Vols fail to win any of the next five 'REAL' football games (UTC doesn't count in my world), this will be unacceptable. Yes or No? And Why?
I'll tell you how I answered this. I believe Tennessee will be an underdog in EVERY ONE of those games. Here's how I would rank them in terms of toughest.
Bama: Toughest
@ SC: 2nd Toughest
@Ole Miss: 3rd Toughest
@ UGA: 2nd most winnable
Florida: Most winnable
As I said, Tennessee will be probably at least a touchdown underdog in every one of those games (except Florida).
So, my take is this. I said back in the summer that I had zero won-loss expectations and I'm going to stick with this tone.
I do expect to win the Florida game but if Tennessee fails to defeat the Gators we will all live.
Call me crazy but I really do think Tennessee has a puncher's chance at Georgia. The Dawgs are one dimensional. Of course that dimension may represent the strongest running game in the country featuring a couple of game breakers.
Go To Pick 'Em
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Insidetennessee.com Managing Editor Randy Moore shared his story idea with me yesterday on the air. This is excellent and thought provoking.
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Here's another reason why the Vols should load the box this week.
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I'm forcing this guy to 'manage' a way to beat me.
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Great to get Ethan Wolfe back at TE.
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I do want to remind Geoff Brock that it's his night to bring snacks to the film study. We will break down Georgia, Tennessee tonight with the following members of the Basilio Radio Family. Dr Sean Sinclair, 'X', Vol Colonel. Geoff Brock. Beano. Fab Five Freddie. Jerry Colquitt (via Skype FEMA Region X), Tony Robinson (via Skype, FEMA Region III) Shazon Bradley, Charlie Garner (is invited via Skype), Lil' Timby, Dar Flash, Sugar Shane, Jon Reed, Christian Lundy, Vol King.
These guys have taught me so much in terms of breaking down games. I can't wait to share with you what we come up with. It's such an amazing experience going into the film room with this group of characters. I feel really blessed to have such a wonderful support group around me!
Ben Frederickson of KNS is very good! Here's a cool # he dug up and posted on Twitter last night. 'Some new Butch Jones math: Out of 70 #Vols on travel squad this weekend, only 11 have played in Sanford Stadium before.'
Keith Hatfield returns with another installment of the Hatfield IX.
Hatfield's Nine
'We hit the middle of the week with UT's SEC opener on the horizon. The trip to Athens will be a good barometer of where the Vols are.
1. The Tennessee family lost one of its best with the passing of AW Davis. He was the true definition of a gentleman.
2. Steve Bisciotti and the Ravens organization simply need to be quiet. They keep digging the hole deeper each time they speak.
3. Treyvon Paulk's dismissal leaves UT a little thin at running back going forward. I would say adding another ball carrier just became important for this recruiting class.
4. Tennessee and Florida playing at noon is just depressing. I hope the natural order of things is restored soon.
5. It is hard to imagine seeing someone other than Derek Jeter at short for the Yankees. He's had a truly remarkable run.
6. Dean Ambrose returning to the WWE is a huge boost for the company. He and Seth Rollins are the best workers they have on the roster.
7. The Patriots look really out of sorts. I'll be intrigued to see if they can right the ship.
8. It's good to see the Pirates battling for another playoff spot. They've built it the right way.
9. Manchester United is a complete wreck. It's amazing to see a franchise with those resources completely collapse.
Tomorrow night is the Tennessee Brew Works four course beer dinner at Crown & Goose. Call for reservations and enjoy some quality brew and fantastic food.
PS: TB, why is everybody else on your Friday line-up invited to the film study session but me? Are you trying to tell me something?
Keith'
Keith. Sorry man. It's a space issue. Nothing personal. Next week I will make room for you.
Really wonderful tribute to AW Davis from the incomparable Tom Mattingly at KNS. I have such a tremendous amount of respect for Tom. His tribute to AW is really fitting. One Vol legend discussing another legend. RIP AW Davis.
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Only at Bama would they retroactively change stats so a guy can have a record. Bama is the place that claims 3 National Titles for collecting the most Campbell's Soup labels back in the 70's.
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Why are all these folks on boards speculating that ambien was involved in the death of Rob Bironas? Is that drug really that dangerous? Does it make some people go out of their minds to this extent? Educate me please. Check out some of the comments on this Bironas story.
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Here's a timeline on Bironas last few hours. I don't see Ambien mentioned here.
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Former Michigan QB broke kayfabe in a big time way yesterday on the radio.
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Vandy Joe Returns!!! Drinking Game!!! Every time you see something that makes you
'Tony,
I want to say off the top--thoughts & prayers to the A.W. Davis family. He was a damn fine basketball player. I saw him put a hurtin on my Vandy teams few times in my youth.
Well, we're about to separate the men from the girls (Vanderbilt is worse than that!! At least this year they are.). The next five weeks of slobber knocker football starts Saturday. I expect a few upsets along the way--i.e. the Cowpokes beat down of Les' grass eaters (didn't see that one coming)during the turmoil. I think Alabama tastes defeat to one of the Mississippi schools. Arkansas takes down someone big--may be A&M(they got some real road grader OL men in Fayetteville). LSU becomes a second tier team at least for this season. South Carolina gets its act together to secure the East if they get by Missouri this week. Florida starts looking for a new head ball coach after UT takes em down. (UT fans start worrying about the talk Butch is going to bolt Big Orange Country for "The Big House").
Don't see Les getting the Maze n Blue job with Hoke getting the heave-ho at the end this year. He's turned them down once; just don't think they'll come calling again. Especially with what's been exposed by MSU last week.
Don't take the Cats too lightly either as they have played well & got jobbed by the zebras in Gainesville. They'll boat race Vanderbilt by UK standards Saturday (38-17 or worse). It'll be interesting to see how many schools come calling on Stoops after this season.
Looking at the conference, the SEC could be needing to hire as many as 5 coaches for next season. WOW! You figure Will the Thrill is headed out of Gainesville unless he explodes first. Derek Mason is going to get shown the door(or at least he better or someone else will) on West End after they get continuously boat raced week after week & even lose to ODU (No one realized he would take the slogan literally & Anchor Down the program.).Butch is going to get the calls from Michigan when Grady gets the hook(will he stay or will he go).Cowpokes are going to need a coach when Mullen gets out of Starkvegas before the roof falls in (headed home to Gainesville). Kentucky may well have a vacancy if Stoops finds a ticket out of horse country(He's this years James Franklin!). And the shocker of all shockers is: Georgia may need to find someone to replace the golden one Richt after he up & says he's had enough.
Of those 5 plus the bonus, I'd say the first two are almost lead pipe locks. Mullen to Gatorland is a safe bet since he was the OC there for several of their glory years (Folks are saying Kiffin's the guy; but, Foley's not that crazy.). If Butch were to bolt to "The Big House" who would the Vols hire?
I've got a coach we'd give you, pay his salary & moving expenses to boot if you'd just take him off our hands. Oh, I forgot Mike Hamilton's no longer around. All kidding aside what would Dave (Jimmy Johnson's kid hair bother) do? The interesting one, if it comes about, will be the Garnet & Black opening. They'll line up from everywhere for that plum.
The SEC is never dull. Just thought I'd give you & your readers a little fun thing to think about. Keep it real Tony!
VANDY JOE
P.S. I have an early Christmas wish--Hoping that Derek Mason is boat raced out of town during one of the boat racing events that are becoming commonplace again on West End. You might feel the ground shake from the noise of the cheering from the Vandy faithful!
Do you think Michigan is going to have some $$$ when it times to go coach shopping?
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Darnell Dockett is a genius. Let's reward brawling fans.
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Mark Dantonio believes only conference champs should be in the playoffs. He has a pretty good point if you think about it. This system is stupid if you think about it because you have 6 power leagues and 4 playoff slots. Why not go to 8 teams with two wildcard slots? Or take the top 4 conference champs (of the 6 power leagues) with four wild card slots. The current configuration is going to create a feeding frenzy/circus at year’s end. Watch and see. Dantoni makes a great point here.
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Final Thought: If you're a non pitching member of the Atlanta Braves 'Professional' Baseball Club, do you accept a paycheck for the month of September?
Viva Bucs!! Congrats to the Pirates. A great baseball town gets another crack at the postseason. I hope they win it all!!!
Tony