If you can get out to Sushi Spot today...They are celebrating their 8th Birthday Friday Night (tonight) with some wonderful specials.
$8 Chef Special Rolls
2 for $8 Select Appetizers
$8 Chicken Habbachis
$8 Steak Habbachis

Help A Family In Need Of Our Help & Prayer: Portion of the proceeds will be shared with Daniel Oliver and family. Daniel is a 40 year old father of 3 (all under ages of 10 including a son that is 5 months old) that was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer. If you'll consider getting by there today/tonight and making a donation, this will be greatly appreciated.

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.

Tony Basilio Show
Box 26011
Knoxville, TN 37912

Thanks again for helping us serve our community!

'Bachilio Nation:

Random musings as we join Tony in focusing on the positives of our courageous football team. A team that still has a chance to fulfill the preseason goal of going 10-2 and winning the SEC East.

THE BAD NEWS? WE ARE A GOOD DISTANCE FROM THE TOP OF THE SEC: Butch Jones' fourth Tennessee team definitely had the front line talent to win the SEC East. Now, we'll see if this program has the depth to win the East. Based on last Saturday, an injury-depleted Tennessee team is further away from an SEC Championship than it looked in Tuscaloosa last year.


THE GOOD NEWS? WE PLAY IN THE SEC EAST: The Southeastern Conference Eastern Division has lost the last seven SEC title games in a row. You have to go back to the 2008 Florida Gator team to find a champion from the East. That Gator team went on to a natty behind Tim Tebow. During that seven-year run, Alabama has won the league four times, Auburn twice and LSU once. (That's why Les Miles is watching games on TV right now). Two things you'll never be able to take away from this Tennessee team and this fan base: wins over Florida and Georgia that will be remembered for generations to come.


WE AGREE WITH STEVE: Steve Spurrier opined recently that the divisional champions of the SEC should be determined by intra-division play only. Makes sense. Makes it a level playing field and removes the disadvantage Tennessee has when Alabama is really good, which is most of the time. We think "White Flag Tony" might go along with us on this one.


PRESCRIPTION FOR GETTING TO ATLANTA? OFFENSE. To be sure, the loss of Alvin Kamara is a tough blow to the Vol offense, but the other skill position players should be good to go a week from tomorrow and there is reason to believe the offensive line will be reasonably intact. And, QB Josh Dobbs seems to have come through the gauntlet okay and will be very important in this run. Did we say run? So, this veteran offense is going to have to carry this team down the stretch and keep this decimated defense off the field. That means OC Mike Debord and staff need to run the football effectively and then set up big plays in the passing game. Will Muschump has his South Carolina defense playing fairly salty, despite giving up a ton of yards rushing. Kentucky is the worst defensive team we'll play down the stretch but the Wildcat running game may get traction, so Dobbs and Company need to ring up a bunch of points at home. Missouri is off from their outstanding defensive teams in the past few years but HC Barry Odom is a defensive guy. Probably the best defense our Vols will play from here on out will be Vanderbilt, as HC Derek "Radio" Mason has his team playing their best football right now. We could easily be pulled into a low-scoring, ugly game at Nashville.


NOW, SHOOP PROVES HIS WORTH: We were a little tough on DC Bob Shoop on Monday, maybe too tough, but he's making a lot of dough, he talks a lot of smack and our expectations are high. There's no question that the DT position can't take any more attrition but we think DL coach Steve Stripling is great at bringing people along. There is reason to believe that LB Darrin Kirkland Jr. will come back soon and maybe S Nigel Warrior will be worked in to make the Vols more athletic in the back end. Maybe. We've almost given up hope that reserve slot receiver Tyler Byrd will be switched to corner, but we have reason to believe that folks in the football office read tonybasilio.com, so we'll keep bitching about it. (Actually, we're going to bitch about it for the next two or three years). Probably, the best offense we'll play in November is Missouri, and Kentucky can run it. South Carolina and Vandy are basically terrible, although the Commodores can run it some with RB Ralph Webb. Again, we'll emphasize that Butch Jones and Mike Debord need to help out their defense by running the ball and milking the clock when possible.


SPEAKING OF ATLANTA ... DO WE REALLY WANT TO GO? Would it better for us to win out and Florida lose, and have to play Alabama again as the meek representative of the SEC Least? We would probably lose, and go to something like the Citrus Bowl and play somebody like Iowa again. Or, do we want to win out, Florida win out, and the Gators get served up to the Bammers, opening the door for our 10-2 Vols to go to a Big Six bowl game at the Orange in Miami or Sugar. Warning: we would play somebody better like a Houston. Answer: of course, we want to win the SEC East because that is the original goal of the International Geophysical Year of the Volunteers, and who knows what will happen to Alabama between now and then, and who we will get back? Cam Sutton, for one. Maybe more. So, fellow Big Orange fans, would you rather go have fun in Orlando and beat up on a racially-challenged Big 10 team for the third year in a row, or go party on South Beach or Bourbon Street and play a better team?


HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR VOL HOOPS: The SEC created a brief interruption of its football season for a couple of days of basketball talk this week. The attending media picked Kentucky to win the league, of course, and our Volunteers to finish next to last. 13th out of 14th. That's better than the current recruiting effort (or lack thereof), which is tied for last in the nation. Only 21 days until the home opener with Chattanooga.


FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY (16-9 vs. the spread, 59%): We went 3-for-4 last weekend, with our lone blemish being our wooly pick that the Vols would cover a +13 point spread vs. Bama. That was done by halftime. The showdown game tomorrow is Texas A&M at Alabama. The Crimson Tide opened as a hefty 17-point favorite and the line is now at 18.5. We're tempted to take the Aggies and the points but we'll pass and take the Under on a total of 58. We know that's risky because of the A&M defense we saw against our Volunteers and the fact Alabama routinely scores on defense, but we'll take that chance. Arkansas got a big home win over Ole Miss last week, but is a 9.5 road underdog at Auburn. Auburn is clearly improved but we'll take Bret Bielema's Razorbacks to make it closer than that. Speaking of Ole Miss, the Rebs now go to Baton Rouge to play a rested and ready LSU team. The Tigers opened as a three-point pick and that spread has swollen to 5.5. We'll avoid that and take the Under on a total of 60.5. Missouri hosts MTSU and the total is 71.5. This should be a high-scoring affair but we'll take the Under.





Orange Throat
IGYV'

'COACH CLASSIFICATIONS: Though it was my intention to have a blog Open Date, Tony B gave me yet another homework assignment on rather short notice. During The Dean and the Good Doctor Sean Sinclair’s excellent show on Wednesday some discussion on current coaches rankings were briefly mentioned. Especially in terms of how far ahead of the rest of the pack Nick Saban and Urban Meyer appear to be at-present. I couldn’t agree more and believe that Jim Harbaugh is the only current CFB Head Coach that belongs in the discussion. My “next level” selections below could certainly be ranked almost anywhere between 4-10 and several of their teams are having below their previous standards seasons.


Before you proceed I’m sure Tony would want you to know:


BASILIO RADIO FAMILY DISCLAIMER: Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the simpleton that wrote it and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Tony Basilio Radio Family:


So with that out of the way here we go: TOP-10 GENERATIONAL: 1-NICK SABAN-Alabama 2-URBAN MEYER-Ohio State VERY CLOSE 3-JIM HARBAUGH-Michigan NEXT LEVEL 4-MARK DANTONIO-Michigan State 5-DAVID SHAW-Stanford 6-GARY PATTERSON-TCU 7-JIMBO FISHER-Florida St 8-DABO SWINNEY-Clemson 9-CHRIS PETERSEN-Washington 10-BOBBY PETRINO-Louisville


RISING STARS: TOM HERMAN-Houston; PJ FLECK-W Michigan; JUSTIN FUENTE-Va Tech; PAT NARDUZZI-Pitt; PAUL CHRYST-Wisconsin


SOLID BUT WHAT’S NEXT? BUTCH JONES-Tenn; GUS MALZAHN-Aub; JIM McELWAIN-Fla; BRETT BIELEMA-Ark; DAN MULLEN-Miss St; HUGH FREEZE-Ole Miss; KEVIN SUMLIN-Texas A&M; PAT FITZGERALD-N’Wesern; JAMES FRANKLIN-Penn St; SONNY DYKES-Cal; JIM MORA-UCLA; KYLE WINNINGHAM-Utah; GARY ANDERSEN-Oreg St; LARRY FEDORA-UNC; BRONCO MENDENHALL-Va


ALREADY PEAKED: MARK RICHT-Miami; PAUL JOHNSON-Ga Tech; DAVID CUTCLIFFE-Duke; BILL SNYDER-K-State; BOB STOOPS-Oklahoma; JIM GROBE-Baylor; LOVIE SMITH-Illinois; MIKE RILEY-Nebraska; RICH RODRIGUEZ-Arizona; TODD GRAHAM-Arizona St


PHONEY-BALONEYS: CHARLIE STRONG-Texas; BRIAN KELLY-Notre Dame; WILL MUSCHAMP- S Carolina; KIRK FERENTZ-Iowa; MARK HELFRICH-Oregon; MIKE GUNDY-Oklahoma State


ALL BLING NO RINGS: (Fun but they’re not going to win anything) MIKE LEACH-Wash St; DANA HOLGERSON-WVU; KLIFF KINGSBURY-Texas Tech; DINO BABERS-Syracuse


SOON-TO-BE COORDINATORS: MARK STOOPS-Kentucky; DEREK MASON-Vandy; ED ORGERON-LSU; KEVIN WILSON-Indiana; DARRELL HAZEL-Purdue; CLAY HELTON-USC; MARK MACINTYRE-Colorado; MATT CAMPBELL-Iowa State; DAVID BEATY-Kansas; STEVE ADDAZIO-BC; DAVE DOEREN-NC St; DAVE CLAWSON-Wake Forest

WHO KNOWS? KIRBY SMART-Georgia; CHRIS ASH-Rutgers; TRACY CLAEYS-Minnesota; BARRY ODOM-Missouri; DJ DURKIN-Maryland; KILANI SITAKE-BYU'

Tony,

We hit the final regular season break of the year for the Volunteer football team. That does not mean there are a shortage of topics to discuss.

1. Derek Barnett is having one of the best seasons ever for a UT defensive linemen. When you think about the legends who have come through here, that speaks volumes.

2. The Tennessee fanbase did not react as negatively as I thought to the Alabama blowout. The narrative will not be nearly so understanding if the Vols lose one or more of these final five.

3. I can't say I'm surprised to see Tennessee picked 13th in the SEC by the media. It is hard to make a case for a team so young and with so little size on a sight unseen basis.

4. Jordan Bone is the talk of the early practice sessions. Having a true point guard is a luxury Tennessee has lacked for what seems like decades.

5. It appears that Rick Pitino is going to escape any meaningful punishment. It is shocking how much sleaze Louisville is willing to overlook for athletic glory.

6. The NFL and the Giants should be absolutely ashamed of their handling of the Josh Brown situation. It is hard to envision how they could have made a bigger mess of what should have been an incredibly easy decision.

7. It is fun to see the city of Cleveland having its time in the sporting sun. Lord knows they suffered enough.

8. The NLCS has been a roller coaster. You have to think there is at least one more breathtaking moment left.

9. The Warriors are going to be a pure joy to watch this season. We all need to realize how fortunate we are to be seeing their greatness.


This week's featured small batch punch at Sapphire is "In Flight Entertainment." It consists of raspberry vodka, lemon juice, orange juice, calvados, and lavender syrup. Stop in and enjoy one. While you are there, get the details on the October 29th Pirate Party.

The Blankenship Field renovation project is steaming down the stretch of 2016. Go to blankenshiplegacy.org to donate.

Blankenship
Revitalization
Foundation
(Click to donate)

Keith

'Tone,

Rationalize however you want, but bama is and has been the bench mark for decades. Vol fans would sell their souls to be in their league. Coming from a non Bammer but that's just the way it is.

Great Show!!


Mark L, Nashville'

Tony:

I remember you made a big deal out of Georgia shutting off their scoreboard in Sanford Stadium as soon as Tennessee caught that long pass as time expired. I'm wondering when you're going to get around to ripping Tennessee for doing the exact same thing to us Alabama fans in Neyland stadium. Not sure if this was mentioned on your show this week but the scoreboards read “Tennessee 0, Alabama 0” just seconds after the game ended.

That is sad that Tennessee become “bush league” like so many others. No need for that anywhere. Now, are you going man up and publish this and criticize UT or were you selectively outraged.


Concerned Bama fan...

'Tony,

If you recall, when the SEC first went to the East/West format, everyone was saying that the East was dominant with UT, Florida, and Georgia. They also were saying that the league should be reshuffled to make things fairer. My, my, my how things change. Wait for awhile and things will change again.

Tim (TC not JC)'

'Tony,

I still don't know what to make of the bama game. It kills me to say it but even after all the injuries I don't think we will ever be able to hang with saban for his remaining tenure. I think the only coach capable of going toe to toe is urban, and he left Florida because he couldn't do it at that level for an entire season and regularly have to get past saban. I know you said you might end up even cheering for Meyer if it comes down to him and saban in the natty, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be smiling if I saw bama putting a beating on Meyer or harbaugh like they did us saturday. They don't have to go through nearly as much as any sec team.

That being said if we can run the table and make it to ATL, I'll be believing once again we can take down sabans evil empire. GBO!!! GYOV

Ryan'

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