Reminder for you...If you're looking for a place to watch the NFL Draft on Thursday, we're going to be having a listener watch party Thursday at Clancy's Tavern and Whiskey House in downtown Knoxville. It is going to be a superb time watching my Eagles screw up our franchise for the next half plus decade. We're going to have a cool contest for those that show up surrounding the first 10 picks. I just don't know exactly what we're going to do just yet. I'm open to any ideas you may have.
We missed Orange Throat on Monday so he's stopping by today we loads of interesting stuff. Much of this will be unpacked on today's show. See what you think.
Orange Throat
'City of Basilio:
Random musings as we continue to enjoy warm temperatures here in East Tennessee:
MORE FALLOUT FROM TITLE IX LAWSUIT: The latest casualty from the Title IX lawsuit is the shift in policy that Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch will no longer inform the UTAD of investigations involving athletes. Your correspondent believes UT will now be in a very small minority of SEC schools that have that situation. (Hopefully, the Nashville chief is a VFL and doesn't play ball with Vanderbilt). You have to wonder what other ramifications this could have for the UTAD's communication and relationship with the local police department.
If you think this is fine, consider the fact that only one plaintiff in the lawsuit is alleging transgressions that are actually going to trial, now that Alexis Johnson is less than six months away from having his record cleared. Allegations are made with some regularity against high-profile athletes. Ask Von Pearson about the hell he went through.
LAWSON DEPARTS: UT strength coach Dave Lawson had been phased out of working with the football program some time ago and his departure from the UTAD was made official a few days ago. Lawson will get paid for more than a year and hopefully signed a proper agreement to not speak ill of his former employer. Lawson's former right hand man, Mike Szerszen is now in charge.
Rumor has it that key leaders on the Vol football team soured on Lawson and expressed their dismay to Jones. Some will interpret that as Jones caving to the players but your writer prefers to view this as Jones continuing to upgrade his staff and Vegas odds are that WR coach Zach Azzanni will be the next to walk the plank if the receivers continue to underachieve in 2016.
SHEEPING FOR SHOOP: Tony had a great interview with DC Bob Shoop yesterday. This guy is obviously very smart and very confident and he has done more with less.
Tony asked the critical question at the end of the interview, which was basically are you going to call off the dogs on a 4th and long against Florida and let them throw a pattern unmolested and he emphatically said he would not. Tony's glee was audible and so was your correspondent's listing on the app.
CROSBY COMMITMENT MIGHT BE A TURNING POINT: Your writer opined Friday that a commitment from highly-regarded DT Eric Crosby from Virginia Beach, Va., might be a real good shot in the arm for Butch Jones' 2017 recruiting effort. While a flood of commitments shouldn't be expected immediately,
this is a significant accomplishment because Crosby is one of highest ranked DT's in this class and the Vols basically whiffed on DT's in the 2016 class, unless Alexis Johnson rises from his troubles and makes a contribution. Crosby is also from a talent-rich area that had yielded great players in the past.
SEC TOURNEY FOR BASEBALL VOLS? HOW ABOUT THE NCAA TOURNEY? What a difference a series win over Vandy makes for Dave Serrano's Baseball Vols. To be sure, this team has tough terrain to negotiate and very little margin for error, but an NCAA Tourney berth is still not out of reach if this team gets red hot and stays that way. Last night's walk-off 4-3 win over Eastern Kentucky ran the Vols' record to 24-17 and a series sweep at Missouri this weekend would put UT at 9-12 in the SEC. Far-fetched but possible.
Orange Throat'
Incredible...Amazing report Throaty!!! Love it!!! Love it.... So much there to discuss today. Dr Sinclair will have his choice on where to start on our live offering today from Sushi Spot.
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If you read this blog you know that I think an awful lot about the DC hire by Tennessee. Bob Shoop should prove to be an upgrade in every way, shape, and form. He was flat out impressive yesterday in his noon appearance with me. What you have to understand about Shoop is that he really hasn't had a full complement of players to approach defensive football until now. He had some pretty good athletes at Penn St but certainly NOTHING like he has now at Tennessee. Shoop and Tennessee are a marriage of convenience. He was looking for a better than soft landing after being short stacked athlete-wise at Penn State while setting himself up for perhaps an opportunity as a head coach. He's a really sharp cookie and I'm hearing wonderful things about him behind the scenes. Players love him. They feel like he has their back. Here's what we covered in our conversation.
Publicly acknowledge awesome job yawl did at Vandy.
Penn State folks hate losing you. My family is Penn State proud.
What lesson can we all learn from that Nassib kid? Walk on to 1st rounder.
How frustrating were injuries in Spring?
Better or worse than when you first watched film.
Do you have enough right now to play the way you want to play?
I hear players love you because you seek input from them. Is this true? Where did you develop this leadership skill?
How do you defend against spread teams like Texas A&M vs. pro style teams like Alabama?
It's 4th and 16. The Ball is on your opponents 40 yard line. You're up 6 points. How many guys are you rushing?
I LOVED his answer to the final question. LOVED it! All time great. I believe the guy means what he says when he promised yesterday that he wouldn't play conservatively in that spot.
I've never understood the concept of not throwing the pedal down when it's time to win a game. It just seems silly. Why bother playing a certain way for 55 minutes only to retreat when it counts?
I hate prevent defenses and I told the listeners that Shoops' answer to the Florida question made me feel sheepy for Shoop. Sounds like a bumper sticker.
Hatfield's Nine
Tony,
Injuries and some teams fighting back at home have made the first round of the NBA Playoffs far more compelling than they appeared a week ago. It has turned into a war of attrition.
1. Any possible additions to the class of 2016 are still clouded in secrecy for Tennessee basketball. We are beginning to see information trickle out about '17 and '18 targets.
2. If one believes in such things, the injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin prove the Clippers are cursed. They appeared suddenly positioned a a legitimate title threat.
3. Terry Stotts has done a fantastic job with a very young roster in Portland. The Blazers have benefitted from fantastic player development.
4. Oklahoma City now has an opportunity to permanently change the narrative about this collection of players. They can see a path all the way to the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
5. It will be fascinating to see how the Spurs interchange their parts against the Thunder. I'll especially be interested to see who gets the majority of minutes guarding Russell Westbrook in crunch time.
6. Indiana suffered an absolutely crushing loss in Game 5 against the Raptors. Hard to see any way they bounce back.
7. Atlanta held serve to head back to Boston with a chance to close the series. This one sure has the feeling of a seven gamer.
8. Miami is in desperation mode tonight. A loss and their season is almost certainly over.
9. Manchester City at least gave themselves a chance in their set against Real Madrid. That is more than a little surprising to me.
Keith
Speaking of the NFL Draft, several of you pointed out that the article I linked yesterday stating that EB was Tennessee's last first round pick was way off the mark. CP and Ja'Wuan James are also first round picks hailing from Tennessee. Lots of history around here. Even in the leanest of times, Tennessee has had decent representation at the top of the draft.
Today's Syllabus:
Who will be Tennessee's next 1st round draft choice? I'm thinking the Vols get shut out tomorrow night so the culprit will likely come of this year's roster? Who are you rolling with?
Who would you like to see get the SEC/CBS color commentary job now that it looks like Verne is heading off into the sunset and supposedly being replaced by Brad Nessler? Charles Davis? Todd Blackledge? Tim Tebow? Phillip Fulmer? Any ideas?
Who would you like to see replace Mike Tirico at ESPN on Monday Night Football? We need someone of Howard Cossell's cache to help restore some luster to this TV franchise. Any ideas?
Barrett Sallee of Bleacher Report joins today. He has an interesting posts spring practice SEC ranking that has the following.
#1. Bama
#2. Tennessee
#3. Ole Miss
#4. Florida
Color me surprised by this on many fronts. Where's LSU? Why is Tennessee so high? Why is Florida in the top 5? It should be a really interesting conversation with Barrett who really knows his stuff.
Butch Jones is growing into this thing.
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It was also terrific catching up with Tony Jones on yesterday's show. The former Pearl assistant head coach is coaching pro hoops in Canada and seems to be loving every minute of it. I'm getting to the point where memories of the Pearl era bring a nostalgic smile. It sure would be nice to have a vibrant college basketball program in Knoxville. I'm not feeling it from Rick Barnes. I hope I'm wrong about him. I really do. Memories may be all we have around here for a while when it comes to that sport. Shame.
If he stays away from Purple Drank could he revive his career?
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Meet the new Ryan Leaf. Same as the old Ryan Leaf. I hope this young guy lives to tell about it.
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Won't you join me in wishing this young man well in his future?
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Is Jake juicing in Chi Town?
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Final Thought: Can you feel it? I still need a slogan for the upcoming season. So you think we should just leave this heavy lifting to Butch Jones? Should I send him the prize pack?
Tony
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