What a wonderful ceremony for Pat Summitt last night. Robin Roberts was terrific. The spirit in that room was pure love and appreciation. Everybody hit the right notes. Joe Johnson is just ALL TIME awesome! Is there another Joe Johnson out there? Con Hunley singing "I'll Fly Away" was such a wonderful touch!!! Peyton Manning is such a tremendous ambassador for this place. He's got such a gift for events like last night. I feel so terribly sorry for Tyler Summitt. That poor young man has had a terrible run. Sure, some of it is self-inflicted, but that's not the point. If you're reading this today and you haven't done something you regret, then I can't help you. That poor fella has lost his Mom, his career, and a large part of his identity in short order.
Now it's time for me turn things over to Orange Throat. Before we go there, he's informed me that I misrepresented our bet on the air yesterday regarding the choice of beating Florida or Bama this season. So there's that. Here's Throaty.
Orange Throat
'Tony B Tennessee:
Random musings as we say kudos for everyone involved with the tribute to the late, great Pat Summitt last night:
KING SABAN ABOVE CRITICISM: SEC Network star Paul Finebaum took Alabama HC Nick Saban to task for his mild response to OT Cam Robinson's gun charges that were ultimate dropped in Louisiana. In a week where the nation is watching the city of Dallas bury five dead police officers, Saban even suggested that perhaps his players were treated unfairly by the local police in Monroe, Louisiana. You can understand why Saban thinks he is above any level of criticism. The Bammers' level of worship of the prickly Saban and his four natties at Alabama is beyond sickening, which leads me to ...
ONE WIN BETWEEN ALABAMA AND FLORIDA? Give me the goalposts sailing down Cumberland Avenue on Oct. 15. Not even close. First of all, beating the defending national champion would do wonders for our playoff candidacy and the Tennessee-Alabama rivalry goes way farther back than the one with the Gators. To be sure,
I'm just as sick as everyone about the losing streak to Florida and would have the same level of red-hiney as Beano if we don't prevail on Sept. 24, but that would be erased by the sweet taste of seeing that little elf go out the south tunnel a loser. Tony had some fun with this topic yesterday, but it's an easy decision for me. Tony also forgot a key part of the premise and that was Tennessee would go 11-1 either way and get to Atlanta.
LACK OF TRASH TALK DOESN'T BOTHER ME: Florida continued their smack talk at Birmingham but UT's representatives refused to return fire. I'm okay with that.
First of all, we got no business talking about the fourth game of the season and we got no business talking about beating the Gators until we do it. Further, I'd like to see our fan base follow suit and stifle the Gator talk until game week.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI COACHES GET SHADE IN B'HAM: Miss. State coach Dan Mullen blamed his administration for their decision to let his five-star DT recruit Jeffrey Simmons into school and onto the
Bullie football team, despite the presence of a video showing him punching a female. Mullen was roundly criticized nationally after his performance. Ole Miss coach Hugh "Hakeem" Freeze looked like a whipped puppy as he endured a media assault for his program's NCAA troubles.
MORE FIRE IN THE MIZZOU DUMPSTER: As the Missouri delegation was in Birmingham, word came down that AD Mack Rhoades was bolting Columbia for Waco, Texas and the Baylor job. This is the ultimate sign of despair for Tiger fans. Baylor is in the midst of a huge scandal and the dismantling of its football program, yet Rhoades saw fit to leave after only 15 months on the job. One wonders if Rhoades takes some bad karma with him as he sided with HC Gary Pinkel and the Mizzou football players when they decided to boycott over a dubious set of circumstances back in the fall of 2015, effectively throwing the Missouri administration under the bus. The fallout has been a marked drop in enrollment and nothing but trouble for the university Rhoades' new football hire, Barry Odom, must be feeling real good about Rhoades' loyalty right now.
Orange Throat'
Throaty:
Awesome stuff. Sorry for misrepresenting the point.
On King Saban: Why did it take until now for someone to treat him like they weren't on his staff? That's why he was shocked by the tone of that line of questioning. Good for Finebaum. I guarantee you the SEC Network isn't happy with Finebaum behind the scenes. That's just now who they are.
One Win Between Florida and Bama: Man, I'm sorry for framing that in a way that would help me win our bet. Does this mean you're not paying me? Are you going to honor OUR bet? Are you going to let this minor detail keep you from doing the right thing? This fan base wants Florida over Alabama.
Lack of Trash Talk Doesn't Bother You: That's wonderful. I half agree with you from a Tennessee standpoint. However as the voice of the common fan I can honestly tell you that I'm offended by your assertion that our fans should cut the talk about Florida out. NO! Our fans are entitled to talk about, to salivate over, and to pine for the upcoming Florida game. This is fun stuff. Please revisit your hot take on our beaten and battered fan base.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI COACHES GET SHADE IN B'HAM:
Poor Mullen. If he was Saban in that spot he would've been kid gloved. You do get special bonus points for using 'shade,' though my youngins would tell you it's 'throwing shade.' You do however more than make up with it by referring to State as the Bullie Dogs. I LOVE that.
MORE FIRE IN THE MIZZOU DUMPSTER:
I really feel sorry for Mizzou fans. I spent a decent amount of time in St Louis in the years leading up to Mizzou's joining the SEC. Those people were so excited. Now they are the ultimate example of be careful what you wish for. Capitulating to the grievance culture is akin to a death blow for that university.
Awesome report Throaty....Love you....Leave our fans alone on the Florida deal...Oh and pay up....We had a valid bet. Whether I messed up one small detail or not, you still owe me money. People want Florida this year.
You know the #'s. The SEC's media has gotten it right only 3 times in the last 12 tries over the past 6 years in terms of picking division winners. Now that Tennessee is the choice for 2016, I don't know if it's good news or bad news. Interesting stuff. See
yesterday's blog for more.
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Hatfield's Nine
Tony,
An emotional Wednesday night now gives way to the weekend. SEC Media Days and The Open give us plenty to talk about today.
1. There continue to be rumblings that Tennessee is trying to get involved with top 20 big man Nick Richards. I just think it's hard to envision that happening at this late date.
2. Butch Jones is wise to embrace the role of favorite in the SEC East. To achieve something you first have to believe you can accomplish the task.
3. I'm a bit befuddled by all the noise surrounding Nick Saban's dressing down of Paul Finebaum. It's not as if coaches have some wonderful opinion of the media and their contempt sometimes simply spills out publicly.
4. Bret Bielema is the most entertaining coach in the SEC and it is not close. His level of candor is an oasis in a desert of coachspeak.
5. Hugh Freeze spent his entire time at the podium insulting everyone's intelligence. He is the college football version of Scott Drew.
6. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony are putting principle above popularity. That decision reveals a great deal about the character of those four men.
7. The Zaevion Dobson tribute was incredibly moving. Now, it's on us to honor his memory by making Knoxville a better community moving forward.
8. Phil Mickelson had a round for the ages out of the gate at The Open. It will be intriguing to see if he can avoid a fade on Saturday and Sunday.
9. The outpouring of love at the Pat Summitt celebration of life was a testament to the greatness of the lady. She leaves a legacy so rich that words are inadequate to properly define it.
Again, I have joined the Twittersphere. You can find me at @rkeithhatfield.
Keith
B&B ARE ON TENNESSEE CFB STARTING TO CREEP BACK IN THE BLOG
Busted
Posted: Sun, Mar 24th, 4:22 PM FREE THOUGHT FRIDAY:
HOMERUN DERBY THOUGHTS:
ALL STAR GAME NUGGETS:
-The American League can win every year and I’ll still think World Series home field advantage riding on the outcome is ridiculous....
BASILIO AND BEANO (from Reno) PICK WINNERS: The Dean and I killed a July Monday with a game-by-game SEC pickathon earlier this week on The Tony Basilio Show. Here are the results of my effort on Monday:
BLOGGER’S NOTE:
2016 SEC FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS
NIGHTMARE SCENARIO:
BUTCH ON-POINT IN HOOVER:
TRUST em BUTCH:...[more]
Tee Mail:
'Tony
Put me down for the Florida win over AL. Reasons - 1)the loss streak is longer and it’s just way too long; 2) We should have beaten them the last 3 years - that has been more excruciating to me than our past losses to AL when AL has (unfortunately) had a better team.
Just my thought/vote.
Doug, Tempe Arizona'
I rest my case. Orange Throat needs to pay up. The people have spoken.
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'"Own It" is about as original as the procrastinating preacher who reaches for his reference book of anecdotes, illustrations , and quotes.
I'm almost certain "Own It" is in the same type reference for "good slogans for football coaches."
Here's what I think of "Own It"....
Link
Mid State Heath'
Slogans and gimmicks don't win football games. Player do. And quite frankly, Tennessee is better than EVERYBODY with the exception of Alabama on this schedule. It's debatable as to whether or not Bama is better than Tennessee. That's going to be a hell of a game here. Especially if Tennessee comes in with a win over Florida! Let Vols get up a head of steam and they could run the table in 2016. Then again, they could go 9-3. I'm loving the anticipation of this season. Butch Jones can have his gimmicks and slogans but he better add a win to it.
Bill Simmons is a hoops guy. So what he said about the NFL has to be seen through this lens. He's an NBA shill. Still he's telling the truth. If ESPN was locked out of the football business altogether how do you think they would cover the concussion issue? Puleeeze. Of course they're in bed with the NFL. And of course Stephen A Smith is a jock sniffer. It sure is fun to see him stir this up. Simmons seems like a bitter little baby but it's quite entertaining.
Link
No GOP National Convention for Tim Tebow. He's decided against it.
Link
Ole Miss is high comedy.
Link
30 For 30 on Doc and Darryl last night was great TV. I was METS proud of those two guys last night. So well done. Two kids thrown into NYCNY in the cocaine infested mid-80's. The clips of Darryl Strawberry in high school were scary. He was an absolute freak of nature. What a swing. Incredible talent. Came from a horrible background. Was beaten by an alcoholic father by an extension cord. The first 10 minutes of that documentary were absolutely spellbinding.
Come see us and Wing's Xpress today if you think about it. We would appreciate seeing you!!
Tony