Wednesday was a great day for The University of Tennessee, Tennessee Athletics and all of the Tennessee People. The Nike Uniform Unveil was a smashing success on all fronts. My hat is off to everyone on the hill who played a part in yesterday's unveil. This wasn't your run of the mill, throw the uniforms out there for public consumption deals. This was a spectacular event, reminiscent of a Hollywood Red Carpet Movie Premier. Former Vol and current Fox Football lead analyst Charles Davis and the SEC Network's Maria Taylor hosted the event. Former Vol Quarterback and DJ Extraordinaire Sterling "Sterl the Pearl" Henton set the tone for the event as he provided the soundtrack for the day's festivities. This was truly a first rate production. It was carried live by the SEC Network. You just can't put a dollar figure on the great publicity that this event garnered the university yesterday.


Big hats off to Dave Hart. I've been a little rough on Dave lately and rightfully so for his role in taking away the Lady Vols name and identity. He really screwed that up, but I'm a big boy and have no problem giving credit where credit is due. Getting Tennessee back to being branded by Nike was a great move, not only that, Dave absolutely owned that negotiation and got Tennessee a fantastic deal. Dave is a real enigma, if he could just stick to doing his job instead of wanting to take on the world and pick senseless fights, he'd be one of the best athletic director's in the country. He did the same thing down at Florida State. He really took the FSU Athletic Department to new heights as far as growing their brand and turning them into a money making cash machine, but in the end, he got fired for too much of his BS. He picked one fight too many and got into a heated battle with the school president and they sent him packing. I have all idea's if he doesn't learn to cool his jets, eventually he'll meet the same fate here.


Now to the uniforms. I think Nike did one hell of a job. I think the uniforms are clean, sharp and modern. I think they take us into the future without shunning our past. I know everyone has different taste, but for me, I'd give the new uni's a solid 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. One important aspect for me was getting the orange the right color. I thought they were spot on perfect in this area. When you look at this new Nike swag, you realize just how poor serviced we were under the Adidas umbrella. Personally, I think the baseball and both the men and women's basketball uniforms are the best I've ever seen. Some of the lesser sports on campus were treated with the same dignity and luxury as the high profile money makers. The Rowing team's uni's were off the charts good. I've never been to a rowing event, but I can guarantee you we'll be the best dressed in the pond. I think the all important football jersey's were very good. I really like the home and road uni's. The Smokey Gray alternate uni, I thought was missing a little something, though I can't put my finger on exactly what. I do like having a matching helmet to go along with the gray uniform and if you've been reading my stuff on this blog for the last couple of years you knew a new helmet was coming. They had thought about breaking out a new helmet last year, but I believe that was nixed due to only having one more season to go before switching to Nike.


One last thing before I exit stage left. Tennessee also unveiled a brand new UTSports.com website yesterday. It kind of got lost in the mix due to the Nike unveil. Hats off to Brian Rice and all that were involved in making that launch a big success. The new site has been completely over hauled and is much more user friendly. Make sure you go check it out.

I hope everyone has a Great Day and Go Big Orange!

Your Vol Colonel

Yesterday was the first day of the rest of the UTAD's life. Welcome to The Age Of The Swoosh.

1. Rick Barnes has been around the block a few times and is a shrewd individual. If he had any reason to be concerned about the academic allegations at Texas, he would not have been as forceful in his comments Monday night.

2. I will feel much better when Lamonte' Turner is enrolled and on campus. My anxiety level is always high when any academic issues are in play.

3.LaMarcus Aldridge has positioned himself very well in free agency. He is going to have multiple very attractive options.

4. Miami will be a fascinating team to watch in free agency. They have a myriad of directions they can go with their roster.

5. Orlando is fortunate that Barcelona was quick to resolve the issue of Mario Hezonja's buyout. That assures they'll have as much time as possible to prepare him for his rookie season.

6. Phoenix seems confused about what direction they want to take. Their current roster really doesn't fit together.

7. It wouldn't be the offseason without a few John Calipari to the NBA rumors. I'm pretty sure Cal is far too shrewd to even consider working for Vivek Ranadive.

8. College basketball will sorely miss Bo Ryan. He's one of the few guys left who is a basketball coach instead of a wannabe CEO.

9. Kudos to Gary Parrish for giving Donnie Tyndall a forum this week. Here's hoping it is the first step back into the game for him.