TN Tech/Tennessee Weekend....Touch A Young Fan's Heart!!!
We're collecting as many tickets as possible for the UT/Tennessee Tech game to distribute to kids from families that have NEVER BEEN IN NEYLAND STADIUM. We can do this!! I think it would be an amazing thing to share UT football with as many underprivileged youngsters as possible. We are partnering in part with a group that mentors children of the incarcerated. Several listeners have conveyed that they don't have tickets but would like to contribute financially. If you would like to send UT/Tennessee Tech Tickets or $$$ to me for this most worthwhile endeavor, please do so here.
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Really interesting show we had yesterday. A spirited discussion erupted with Dr. Sean Sinclair regarding Tennessee's place in this conference juxtaposed to Alabama's. I was asked Saturday night on the Smartway/Garza Law Firm 5th Quarter Fan Reaction by a caller if Alabama was UT's benchmark. My initial reaction was no but after yesterday the answer is now hell no. Bottom line....Bama just cares more than we do. They invest in the process before, during and after unlike any other. There's nothing they won't or haven't done to get a player through the years. They pay more for coaches and support folks as well.
I asked the following on Twitter yesterday and drew the following response from a portion my 15,400 followers that chose to respond.
Is Alabama The Benchmark for the Vols or The SEC East
Alabama 28%
SEC East 35%
I reject this question 37%
I asked this question to shape comments today. I'm standing in lockstep with Beano the Great when he said yesterday that as long as we're making the SEC Championship Game 3 out of 10 years, we should be happy. I'd take this. If Tennessee gets to the Title game 3 to 4 times per decade they will win their fair share of SEC Titles. And yes, this will happen even if Bama is the opponent. The fact is that Nick Saban is super special. I hate the guy passionately because he's a joyless, soul killing influence in this league. He sucks the air right out of every town Bama visits. What Alabama is doing to college football currently can't be good for the game. So, are they a bench mark for Tennessee? Not in my world they aren't. Now, should Tennessee aspire to defeat them? Sure. But that's different that calling someone a benchmark. To me a benchmark connotes a reachable goal. Tennessee football could never be what Bama currently is. Now, could we win another Natty in the next 20 years? Of course! Everything is in place here to do that. But to expect this is silly.
Dr. Sinclair said:
Bama's Commitment to college football is second to none. They use their program to their entire university universe. At Tennessee is just another thin. It's a special thing here but not to the level of Bama. Bama is willing to sell their soul for it.
NWO of college fball: That Bama is willing to do anything to keep Saban happy makes them the New World Order of major college football. The run they are on right now is the best in the modern era. In the 1970's Bama was amazing, but they are doing this in the scholarship limitation era.
Going for world domination: Bama doesn't just want to win, they want to punish you, too.
Next thing you know Saban will be on sideline with a pants suit. Great line by Sinco....NWO...
University and Boosters & power base cares more: Dr Sinclair said this and it's true. They will do anything, including control the local police to win. When is the last time Bama had a guy that met Danny O'Brien's fate? It doesn't happen there.
Take care of the process before during and after: Nobody cares like Bama. It's too important for them.
Beano wants Tennessee: To Be Nationally relevant
Appear in Atlanta 3x a decade
Win East fair share of time
Be fun to watch
Win our share against the SEC big 6
Is this enough for you?
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Rick Barnes deprecation of his defecation of a basketball program was really telling yesterday. Did he really say after being picked for 13th in a 14 team league that he was surprised to be picked this high? No wonder Barnes was saying that he thought the Vols will surprise people this year. Poor Rich Rick Barnes. I just don't know where he's coming from.
BBB in certain circles stands for Better Business Bureau but it could mean Bring Back Buzz.
The Vols were picked 13th In SEC by league writers. Here's the real question, will the Vols win 13 overall games? I remember when Tennessee used to live in the top 25. I'm not holding my breath for this to happen under sleepy. Think about what being picked 13th in the current SEC means? This league hasn't had 5 NCAA Tournament teams in forever. 13th? Are you freakin' kidding me.
Sinco Says......
I saw where UT brought Lou Evans to SEC Media Day. Shoulda brought Lou Grant.
Meanwhile Rick Barnes has seen his once fertile Canadian Pipeline run dry. Here's CC Hoops with more on this stark reality.
CC Hoops
'
What Has Happened to Rick Barnes' Canadian Pipeline?
A few years ago Texas was being called by people and newspaper's in Canada as Team Canada South and Toronto's team, so it looked very promising for Tennessee when Rick Barnes arrived and signed Canadian's Kyle Alexander and Ray Kasongo.
Since then Ray Kasongo has transferred out of the program to Iowa State and the pipeline has seemingly dried up.
One Canadian player Tennessee was a finalist for was PF-SF Abu Kigab who visited Illinois, Oregon and Cal then chose the Ducks without ever visiting the Vols.
Other
Canadian players that Tennessee has had little or no contact with (even though there is connections to them) are: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, his cousin Shai Alexander both from Hamilton Heights in Chattanooga, Lindell Wigginton, O'Shae Brissett, Marcus Carr and 2019 5 Star R.J. Barrett.
Another player is
2016 class PF-C Kalif Young who is 6-9, 245 lbs former teammate of current Vol Kyle Alexander at Orangeville Prep. An inside player is of extreme importance for this staff to add and they never gave this guy a look. Early reports from the Providence basketball staff is Young could be starting as a true freshman! It now seems that Oregon is the new Texas with multiple Canadian players currently on the roster and with commits and offers to others.
I'm wondering what happened to that connection and was it really Rick Barnes who had the Canadian connection?
The Hidden Truth:
The key cog coach on Barnes' Texas staff that was behind the Canadian connection was Rodney Terry (now head coach at Fresno State) and he had started this pipeline as an assistant at UNC-Wilmington and expanded on it at Texas.
Terry and Rick Barnes started going up to Canada a lot and Terry introduced Barnes to Ro Russell who founded Grassroots Canada Elite and is the guy who pushed the 5 star Canadian players to Texas. Ro Russell was later forced out of his prep school job in Toronto after a documentary on him and fraud allegations became public and he went and started up Christian Faith Center Academy North Carolina, then went Phase 1 Academy in Arizona. The NCAA closed down the prep school in North Carolina since they wouldn't take their credits. So this is the type of guy and junk that Rick Barnes does not want to deal with now at Tennessee but he was willing to deal with it at Texas it seems because of the talent he received.
The absence of Tennessee with any players Canadian players of substance of lends more credence to the school of thought that the Tennessee Rick Barnes is merely a recruiting shadow of the Texas Rick Barnes. As somebody passionate about college hoops (after all, it's in my name), this is a painful admissions.
CC Hoops'
'Tony:
I can only read your blog, but it's the best information out there, and your presiding, calm attitude is impressive. Maybe the fan reaction to our many injuries can best be understood as a classic response to grief. In the five stages of grief, the first one is anger; often that anger is directed at someone who is assigned a specific blame for something that no one in fact caused. It's understandable, but not appealing to watch, especially since in this case no one has died. It only feels that way sometimes.
Arthur at UT'
Arthur...Thanks...Terrific hearing from you. That's some really interesting stuff. It seems like some in our fan base are lashing out rather than accepting what is the obvious fate of the moment. These injuries aren't the fault of Butch Jones in any way. To suggest otherwise is foolishness. That's a great correspondence from you. BTW, I've never been referred to as either presiding or calm so thanks for the love. First time for everything, I suppose.
'Hey Tony,
I've got a hypothetical for you: how do you feel if we lose another game (that we obviously shouldn't), but FL loses 2 and we still go to ATL? It would obviously be disappointing to drop a game to the likes of USCe, Mizzou or Vandy, but if Butch got us to the SECCG with as many injuries as we've had, would the fan base give him a pass? Would he get a raise/extension? I think it would be quite the conundrum from a fan's perspective, as well as the administration. Curious what others would think..
GBO,
Guy'
Guy....I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder. When you have as many injuries as Tennessee, getting to the SEC Title Game with any record is an accomplishment. Heck, I would take going 4-4 in the league if we got there with all the injuries. As for the raise and extension talk, in modern day college athletics, when a coach at one of these football factories wakes up on Jan 5th and has a pulse and can fog up a mirror, most times he's getting a raise and an extension. Butch Jones sealed his bump in salary it would seem by beating Florid and Georgia. If you beat Georgia and Florida consistently here you will have a relatively happy fan base.
Final Thought….With SEC Hoops Media Day in the rearview mirror it will soon be Basketball Time In Tennessee. Can’t wait!!!
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