Orange Throat
'Tonytown:
Random musings and short shots as we cheer Tony & the Eagles and curse the evil empires of Alabama:
THE AMAZING RUN of Rick Barnes' Tennessee basketball team is giving football recruiting competition for the interest of Vol fans. Barnes' Blue Collars drubbed lowly Ole Miss Saturday at The Thom and took sole possession of second place in the SEC. Kyle Alexander, exhibit A in the case for Barnes' outstanding player development, had the best game of his career.
THE VOLS DID EXACTLY what they needed to do by winning five very winnable games in a row in this stretch, and now can look forward to two road games that are challenging but not daunting. John Calipari's young Kentucky team is teetering after a week where Vandy almost upset them at Rupp and Missouri slapped them down at Columbia.
WE SEE TOMORROW NIGHT'S game at Rupp as being extremely winnable if we get a fair whistle. Future Hall of Famer Barnes seems to get good respect from officials and the Vols' aggressive, rough-and-tumble play can get tested by whistle-happy officials on the road. We are calling the shot as the Vols win in Lexington for the first time since Bruce Pearl's 2006 team did it as Chris Lofton went off on his home state team with 31 points.
WHY IS IT AGAINST THE RULES for a well paid head basketball coach to augment the salary of one of his assistants? Rick Barnes deserves credit for the selfless act and Dave Hart deserves criticism for saying no at the time. Insiders are full of stories where Hart was a complete ass on things like this. Remember that he earned the derisive nickname "The Angry Elf" at Alabama.
RECRUITING IS COMING to the wire and Jeremy Pruitt and his staff are fighting and scratching to the close. Not a lot of word coming out of the Vol camp but
LB Quay Walker is thought to be the biggest and most likely name to fall for the Orange on Wednesday. WR Jordan Young's visit to Fla State over the weekend has put his status as a Vol commit in jeopardy. Tony will have it all for you on Wednesday.
Orange Throat
IGYTH'
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Lessons From Eagles Super Bowl Run For The Vols:
Character Counts: Eagles have a ton of character guys on that team. They have a bunch of players of faith and a bunch of unselfish players. The stuff with Guarantano & Dormady can't happen on a winning team.
USE YOUR TALENT: You have to use your whole roster. Next man up. Eagles lost a HOF lineman, two Lb's, two players in their secondary and their franchise QB and they kept winning. There's a lesson in that. I think the lesson is expectations.
No Fear W/ Play Calling: The first quarter was called exactly the same as the 4th quarter. Incredible in the moment play calling. Can't believe I'm writing this!!
D Line Depth Matters: Barnett came up with the fumble but the Eagles rotated numbers all night. You have to use your whole roster. Period. Player development is imperative.
Mix Up Your Plays in Huge Games: Balance matters. And USE your tight end. He's your friend!!!!
Have A Long WR: Alshon Jeffery was told by Lane Kiffin that he was going to end up pumping gas because he didn't sign up to play for the wonder brat. Well, how's that working out for you!!! The Eagles got Jeffery in the off-season and people laughed because he's slower than Christmas. But he's BIIIIG.
Don't Be Afraid To Make A Mistake: You can't coach scared. Butch Jones could've made the playoffs in 2015 but he was afraid to win. Pederson has NO fear. Any coach could learn from him with regards to coaching in the moment.
Have A Short Memory: Pederson just kept giving guys chances and they rewarded him for it. Kind of the way Rick Barnes has with developing his guard play.
No Charts Allowed: It's OK to be unorthodox. Especially when you're consistently unorthodox.
Trust Your Roster: The Eagles used every running back, every WR, every TE, every QB and just about every O lineman on that roster. And on defense it was almost the same deal. That was a total team victory.
BASKETVOLS STAYING ON SCHEDULE GET WINTER OUTTA HERE
FREE THOUGHT FRIDAY
ANSWERING TONY’S JEREMY PRUITT QUESTION:
COLLEGE BASEBALL BLURB:
Baseball America recently released its College Baseball Preview and it illustrates the task ahead for Vitello and the Vols...
VOL HOOPS:
IOWA STATE
The Vols played their 4th and 5th halves of suffocating defense in the last three contests....
LSU
-Not sure I’ve ever seen better ball movement through the course of the game than the Vols exhibited against the Tigers...
FINAL FRIDAY THOUGHT:...[more]
Corey Clement was an undrafted free agent from Wisconsin. Trust your evaluations. Trust your players. Ball players are out there to be had. Trust your eyes. We can do this!!! Let's go guys. Annex my Eagles victory.
Coaches Are Coaches Are Coaches: 10 years ago, Pederson was a high school coach just like Pruitt. There's no reason Pruitt can't do this here. A great coach is a great coach. And I mean a great coach can coach anybody anywhere, any how at any time.
Year Two Is Year Deux: Year two is the year when you realize what you have. This is true in college and pro football. I think the Eagles have a keeper in Pederson.
Timberlake IS A Great Entertainer: People can crack and they will have but that guy has a ton of talent. I enjoyed his performance last night. Now, it wasn't really a performance because he mostly wasn't singing live!!!
Final Thought: I can't wait for the living Vol Fan to experience what I'm experiencing with the Eagles as you read this. I'm so damn proud. And yes, I'm heading to that parade.
A New Direction At TonyBasilio.com: Here at Tonybasilio.com we’re creating a series of programming with little to mostly zero commercial sponsorship. In other words, you will be digesting the following programs in coming days with almost no interruption. This is unprecedented in the history of my business. Nobody has ever done this. Here are the offerings coming your way.
Our Family Of Offerings:
‘X-Cast: A Recruiting Podcast’: Featuring Tony Basilio & ‘X’ where we discuss the latest moves, behind the scenes machinations and all the intrigue from the world of recruiting. This will hopefully be offered twice monthly with lengths varying. If this takes off perhaps we can even do some live offerings of this show. THIS IS BEING OFFERED COMMERCIAL FREE!!!
Fifth Quarter Fan Reaction: Back for season 4. Sponsored by Marcos Garza. This year with NO OTHER SPONSORS. This will be pure content for you. I’m taking a chance here but I know you will reward me for not bombarding you with messages Vol Network style. This program will run for at least 3 hours following Tennessee Football Games. We will have new visual presentation of this feature as well that we’re investing in. Thanks to Jayson Swain for helping me with the technical side of our visual presentation.
Southeastern Sunday Night: 7p to 9p on Sunday Nights airing on Periscope/Facebook Live and other platforms including your Tony Basilio Show App. This will be a regional program that aims to keep it real. We will tell the truth on us, them and all with you. This could be a lot of fun if you help me spread the word across the region. This hopefully will turn into a free for all that is free for all. ZERO SPONSORS. COMMERCIAL FREE OFFERING.
Vol-Scars: A podcast featuring Vol Historian Tom Mattingly and Eric S where we go back in time and commemorate the painful losses in UT football history that left a mark. These shows are extremely time intensive to put together. I’ve worked all summer on these offerings and am really proud of what we’ve compiled thus far. I think you’ll really enjoy this. COMMERCIAL FREE.
Gate Twenty Won: A podcast Featuring Vol Historian Tom Mattingly where we celebrate the greatest wins in UT history in time capsule form. These are a breath of fresh air and the type of programming I’m aiming to bring to you . COMMERCIAL FREE
Chill Cast: Tell Me A Story: A podcast where I grab folks from the sports world and our community and allow them to share their stories with us. This will be done in the spirit of the
recent re-launch programs that I did. We’ll aim to go deeper here. Stay tuned. COMMERCIAL FREE.
Tennessee Basketball Overtime: Back for year 5! Immediately following Tennessee Basketball Games. A Tennessee Basketball Call-In show featuring ONLY ONE SPONSOR…GARZA LAW FIRM. Therefore we keep the conversation going without bombarding you Vol Network style. What a concept!!!!
Garza On The Law: A Podcast dealing with the legal issues that invade the sports world featuring the great Marcos Garza. We will go deeper here. I promise that you will find this interesting. Presented by Garza Law Firm.
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FAQ's Asked Of Tony Per Our Relaunch Announcement:
Q: Tony, you didn't say anything about your daily show yesterday. Will you continue to do this?
A: Absolutely. I'm looking forward to year #24 with you.
Q: Tony, you used the word 'subscribe'. What Am I subscribing too?
A: Great question. 'Subscribe' is a misnomer. What you actually are doing if you choose to help us monthly (and we need this for budgeting reasons) is actually acting as a patron. The goal is to keep the content (ALL CONTENT, from postgame offerings to various podcasts) free for all.
Q: So, if I'm not subscribing and I'm already reading this, why give?
A: Because you value the content and our contribution to the market and you want to help us keep this stuff free for everybody.
Q: Are you going to beat us up for money all the time here?
A: Absolutely not. I will bring this up a few times heading into the football season as we attempt to meet our financial goals and create new programming. I'll also mention it in the post-game format as well as the regional programming. I will not however wear you out with this. Either you feel the need to help us or you don't. This is why I'm taking today to field some question I received after day one.
Q: What happens if this doesn't generate the revenue you're seeking?
A: We will scale back our online offerings accordingly. The blog itself could even disappear. I really don't want this to happen but will be forced to spend my time in the most profitable way necessary. That's why we're having the conversation. All my cards are on the table here.
Q: Where can I find these new podcasts, like that X-Cast?
A: Click on "Podcast" wherever you see it on the site, and it will take you to our Podcast page.
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