Tennessee Martin vs Tennessee (Tennessee)

I DVR’d the game so I could badoop badoop it and not have to spend a ton of time watching it. I feel a little bad for Lester Hudson. He’s obviously a great player–you can tell just by the way he moves. But the Vols pretty much shut him down until late in the second half when, oddly enough, the Vols started playing pretty sloppy themselves. It’s too bad, because this was probably one of the few nights a lot of people in the state would get to see him play.

I think the real story of the game was Brian Williams who was getting it done everywhere on the floor. That dude is looking a lot better than last year. I can see J.P. Prince and him both having big years as everyone tries to contain Tyler Smith. Should be a fun season to watch the Vols.

WNBA=We’re Not Bad Asses

Bench clearing brawl? Uber-athletic cat fight? Meh.   The video doesn’t quite live up to they hype from this article in the News Sentinel. The only thing worthwhile in the video is the audio of the guy filming it making cat sounds.

Parker was one of three players ejected along with Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn after an ugly scuffle with 4.6 seconds left in Los Angeles’ 84-81 victory on Tuesday night.

I was hoping this would give me a reason to watch the WNBA. Nope.

Is is just me, or is everyone else over fighting in sports in general? With the abundance of MMA on TV now, I can watch guys who can actually fight go at it anytime I want. I’ve got 2 or 3 shows of real fights loaded up on the TIVO right now that I don’t even have time to watch.

I was at an international rugby match between Argentina and Ireland a few weeks ago and a fight broke out–BORING! To quote my friend BGE: “There are so many legal ways to do violence on somebody during a rugby game–why would you ever punch them?”

Note to professional athletes–I pay (or sneak in) to see you do what you do well, not something that you aren’t any better at than I am. If I want to watch someone ineffectively flail their arms in the general directions of someone else I can just set up the Flip Video and lace up some boxing gloves with my buddies.

I Never Thought I’d Live To See It

Tennessee is the top ranked team in the nation? In basketball? Men’s basketball?

You have to understand, I attended the University of Tennessee during the reigns of Wade Houston and Kevin O’Neil. I was a pretty die hard fan back then. Of course it was easy to sit in the front row of the student section back then. But my memories of Tennessee basketball consist of Carlus Groves and Steve Rivers running their version of the shake and bake (mostly off the court bake), and poor Allan Houston carrying the load on his own. I guess that’s not totally fair. Houston had help from Token Lang Wiseman and Corey Allen. Of course they were canceled out by Gannon Goodson and Jay Price, both of whom I can vouch for as really nice guys, even if they weren’t great players.

Who would have thought back then that just 16 short years and…hang on, let me count them…four coaches later the Vols would be ranked #1?

Now that the big game is over and decided, it will be nice to hear local sports call in shows get back to talking about what really matters. Of course, I’m talking about football: “Guys, do you think we’ll beat Flarda this year?” and “When are they gonna git rid of Fulmer?”

See, basketball don’t really matter ’round here. Did you notice the players weren’t jumping up and down after the big win? It’s because all they care about is football too.

Or maybe they have class and they expected to win?

Why Can’t a Guy Like This Run For Public Office?

George Will’s column in yesterday’s Washington Post is about MLB umpire Bruce Froemming. There are several good stories told in this short column, but this one is my favorite:

A story for Froemming: Rogers Hornsby, who averaged.400 over five years, was facing a rookie pitcher who threw three pitches that he thought were strikes but that the umpire called balls. The rookie shouted a complaint to the umpire, who replied: “Young man, when you throw a strike, Mr. Hornsby will let you know.”

Baseball is a lot different than most other sports in that there isn’t really any subjectivity to the rules. Sure, umpires have to make judgements, but the rules are clearly defined. You never hear commentators say, “wow, they’re calling it really tight tonight” the way they do in football or basketball.

Then there is this:

Consider Sept. 2, 1972, when Froemming was behind the plate and the Cubs’ Milt Pappas was one strike from doing what only 15 pitchers have done — pitch a perfect game, 27 up, 27 down. With two outs in the ninth, Pappas got an 0-2 count on the 27th batter. Froemming called the next three pitches balls. An agitated Pappas started walking toward Froemming, who said to the Cubs’ catcher: “Tell him if he gets here, just keep walking” — to the showers.

Pappas’s next pitch was low and outside. Although he did get his no-hitter, the greater glory — a perfect game — was lost. Another kind of glory — the integrity of rules — was achieved.

This couldn’t happen (and rightly so) in football or basketball where officials are very hesitant to call things like pass interference or ticky-tack fouls in the closing seconds of a game. I think this is due to the nature of the sports. Baseball has a finite numer of situations and possible actions. It lends itself to a strict enforcement of the rules that other team sports usually aren’t afforded.

When I read articles like this, I’m reminded of how much I love(d) baseball–the sport, not MLB. It’s such a simple, complicated, and smart game.

It’s really sad that it has been pretty much ruined in the US.

Tim Hutchison De-certified

We’ll see how it pans out, but for now this is good news. At least Hutchison and company didn’t insult the intelligence of the citizens of Knox County by sneaking around to get the maximum pension for him in a sneaky, clever way. Nope. They made it obvious, right in front of our faces.

The maneuvering in this situation reminds me of that scene in “Casino” where Robert DeNiro’s character is constantly changing his title at the casino so that his application for a gaming license is perpetually kept at the bottom of queue to be processed. Food and Beverage Manager, VP of Guest Relations, Head Pool Cleaner, or whatever else, the fact is he was running the place.

Look for Hutchison to start his new job on Monday as “Special Guest Referee” in a basketball game between the deputies and the inmates.

And how about this:

Hutchison responded to the decision in a statement posted on the Knox County Sheriff’s Office’s Web site

Is it really okay for County employees to use public assets like the Sheriff Office’s website to make opiniated posts for political and/or financial gain? That seems unethical if not illegal.

Knoxviews has a pretty entertaining take on Knox County Deathmatch 2007.

Knoxville Eyesores

I actually got up yesterday to check the KNS online to see their article on Knoxville Eyesores.  I have to say that I’m a little disappointed, but I guess you get what you pay for.  It seems like they were addressing issues that occur everywhere else in Generica–urban sprawl, litter, strip malls, abanadoned warehouses, etc.

While all of these are definitely eyesores, they aren’t specific to Knoxville.  I decided I’d come up with my own incomplete list of eyesores that are specific to K-Town.  Of course, these are my personal opinions. Continue reading “Knoxville Eyesores”

Girls Just Wanna Have Fights!

And teachers are doing nothing about it!  This is news!!!  Local6 in Orlando has video as well, if that’s something you want to watch.  Not for me, thanks.

“The teacher was just sitting there, and as soon as they started hitting each other, the teacher had called someone else,” student Partrick Charite said.

Witnesses also told Local 6 News that the substitute teacher said, “Let them fight,” during the scrum.

First, let me state (again) that it makes my stomach turn every time I hear a fight or scramble for a basketball referred to as a “scrum”.  I don’t think it’s too much to expect professional writers to know the meanings of the words they use, especially when they are sports writers and are using a sports term.  

A scrum is not a frantic melee, but the most complicated and intricate aspect of rugby.  It is kept safe and controlled mostly because its participants are strong, technically sound, and agile.  Saying that a couple of out of shape seventh grade girls slapping and pulling hair is a scrum is like saying that two mixed breed dogs humping Continue reading “Girls Just Wanna Have Fights!”