Volunteers vs Georgetown

The University of Tennessee basketball team will travel to Washington DC to play the Georgetown Hoyas on Friday night at the Verizon Center in The Big East SEC Challenge. The game will be the first time the Vols will play a top 25 team and it will be a big test for the Cuonzo Martin led team, especially without the services of Jeronne Maymom.

The Big East will get a close look at Jarnell Stokes in this game. The 18 year old beast will be playing in the paint against some bigger players when he bangs bodied with the front court players of the Hoyas. Stokes who does not shy away from contact will show the nation why he is already being compared to Charles Barkley.

I look for the Volunteers to come out of DC with a hard fought W against a very powerful and well coached Georgetown team. It will be no easy task for the Vols to stay in control against the very disciplined Hoyas. This will also be a very big test for the Volunteers Kenny Hall. The Tennessee big man must control the boards and the paint or the Hoyas will pick the Vols apart with their ball control offense.

Lets Go Vols

The End is Near

In about an hour or so, the Volunteers will take the field for the last time in 2012. There will be no bowl invitation, their season will come to a close at the end of today's game with the Kentucky Wildcats, another also ran team, looking for their first win in conference.

The Volunteers should win today, in fact they should blow Kentucky back to Lexington. I look for Tyler Bray and Co to redeem themselves for the home town crowd. The Volunteers do not want to finish last in the SEC East and pride and talent will win out today.

If I hurry I can make the game, Go Vols!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, I hope everyone out there has a great day with family, friends and loved ones. I am looking forward to watching lots of basketball and football today. The Jets play the Patriots tonight and for the first time this year I actually think they will win. The loss of Gronkowski will surly upset the Pat's offensive scheme as Gronk was a big target for Brady.

The Jets are a long shot to make the playoffs at this point in the season, but stranger things have happen. If the Jets have any chance of making the playoffs, tonight is a must win game for Gang Green. All the Jets have to do is control the line of scrimmage and run the ball down the Patriots' throat and play error free football and that means, Marc Sanchez has to not turn the ball over.

On the defensive side of the ball, Antonio Cormartie is playing like an All Pro corner and the whole squad is playing much better. Jets need to help the offense out tonight and make life miserable for Tom Brady. Tommy Boy is not as agile or as durable as he once was and a sack or two would not hurt the Jets chances by any means. I look for the Jets defense to put points on the board tonight with blitz trickery and harassment and I would not be surprised if Crow takes one to the house.

I like the Jets tonight 31 -10

Lets Go Jets  

This is the Pits

I watched in horror as Tennessee sophomore back up QB Justin Worley entered the game in the second quarter of the Volunteer - Vanderbilt game last night. Was Tyler Bray hurt? The TV announcers were as perplexed as I was as I watched Bray standing on the sidelines.

Bray was not sick or hurt, he was being punished, for having one of the worst 20 minutes a quarterback can have. Bray was struggling, but the Vols were still winning 7-6 with 6:56 remaining in the 2nd quarter and Dooley pulls him. Worley immediately threw an interception which let to a Commodore touchdown and a 13-7 lead. The Vols would score a field goal to cut the half time lead to 13-10.

The Vols were overwhelmed in the third quarter as Vandy scored the next 21 points for a 34-10 lead going into the final chapter of the game. Volunteer fans are hoping this game will be the final chapter of the Derek Dooley era at the University of Tennessee. It is clearly evident, he does not have the football intellectual or emotional capacity, to be the head coach of the Volunteers.

I hope who ever the Volunteers hire, it is someone with a smooth talking tongue, because who ever it is will have to talk himself dry to try and convince Bray, Hunter, and Patterson to stay for their senior year. The way Bray was treated last night, I would not be surprised if every junior who may have a shot of playing on Sunday, will say adios to the Volunteers if they do not hire a home rum hitter and proven winner.

The Vols need a Gruden to be head coach, they do not need a "promising" up and coming coach, they need a rock star head coach someone who can quickly turn the program around and keep the players, recruits  and fanbase motivated to come to Knoxville and be apart of a winning Big Orange tradition of excellence.


Lets Go Vols

The Volunteers vs Vandy

Can the Volunteers win today yes they could but they probable wont. It will be interesting to see how many Volunteer fans travel over to Nashville for tonight's game, that in it self will tell how much time Derek Dooley has as coach of the Vols.

Coach Dooley's fate maybe already written in the sand as many people believe and a loss tonight will only solidify that belief by the Vol Nation. A loss tonight will leave the Kentucky game as the Volunteers only chance of winning a conference game and remove any chance of receiving a bowl invitation.

I think the Volunteers can win tonight, but I have seen the Volunteers of the Dooley era collapse under pressure time and time again, so I wont be surprised if they give the game away, some how. Dooley and his staff have not conquered their own ineptness in the closing moments of games, even with the wholesale changes made on the coaching staff this season.

Vandy 45 Vols 28 

Mr. Cy Young R A Dickey

RA Dickey won the NL Cy Young award yesterday and it could not have gone to a more deserving pitcher. Dickey won 20 games for a team that won 74 and many believe he will be traded for prospects between now and the middle of next season.

I believe the Mets would be short sighted in trading Dickey at this point in his career. I do not see any other pitcher in the Mets current roster to step up and make the contribution RA does for the Mets. Over the last three seasons, Dickey has been their most consistent starter, giving the team quality starts and innings pitched.

The Mets and their fans will sorely miss RA Dickey's contributions to the team on and off the field if trade. Dickey has the ability to make the Mets a better team or for that matter any team better. His 38 years should not be a determining factor in the teams decision to trade or not trade him. Most experts believe Dickey could pitch for another five years if he stays healthy and can pitch the way he has over the last couple of season.

I hope R A Dickey's career last a long time and he wears a NY Mets uniform for that duration, but if he does move on, I will root for him every time he pitches no matter what team he works for. Dickey is not just a Mets pitcher he is a Volunteer and that alone will give me the motivation to root for him no matter what team he throws his flutter ball for.

  

80 Seconds

The Volunteers lost yesterday in OT to the Missouri Tigers and because of that loss I think it is time the University of Tennessee parts ways with the head coach Derek Dooley. I do not say this lightly, up until yesterday I had been on the side of "give him another year". The final score does not detail the turn in my opinion on Dooley.

What turned me to the "Dooley must go" camp was 80 seconds. 40 seconds at the end of the first half and 40 seconds at the end of regulation. Dooley's illogical and ineptitude head coach ability showed its ugly head yesterday as it has in the past.

Yesterday was not the first time a Dooley run football team has has given victory away in the final moments of a game. It is not the first time the Volunteers have dissolved before their loyal fans eyes and turned victory into defeat.

I have two questions for the coach: Why with two timeouts left and 40 seconds remaining on the clock at the end of the first half you do not try to get down field for a score or field goal and how do you do the same thing at the end of the game knowing the Tigers had solved the Vols defense of the first half and scoring was not a problem for them in the second half and try to win a shoot out against them?

Dooley and his staff just are not cutting it, yesterdays loss falls on their heads. Dooley and his staff acted like they do not for one have a 2 minute drill or a plan at crunch time. I think Dooley's days are numbered. I do not think he will be fired until after the season, but I doubt he will be back.

Lets Go Vols

Dooley's Waterloo

Today is the day Volunteer head coach Derek Dooley meets his Nelson at Waterloo. Today, the Volunteers play the Missouri Tigers. Missouri, one of two new teams in the SEC has one more victory in conference than the Volunteers, the other two winless teams Kentucky and Auburn will stay winless today as Auburn plays Georgia with little chance of winning and Kentucky plays out of conference.

The Vols and Missouri match up very well against each other, the Tigers cant score and the Vols cant stop anyone. Missouri takes the ball away and is very good up front on defense and they only give up 22 points a game. Volunteer fans will not be happy if they go into the last two weeks of the season 0-6 in conference with Vanderbilt and Kentucky on the horizon.

I think the Volunteers must win today and probable win out for Dooley to save his job and win a bowl berth.  I hope for his sake and the teams, the Vols have a big game on defense, as well as offense and salvage the remaining games of the season.


Lets Go Vols 

Volunteer Basketball 2012/2013

The Volunteers opened up their season last night at home against Kennesaw State in Knoxville and they did not disappoint their fans. Coach Martin had the boys in high gear and with Jeronne Maymom watching from the sidelines the Vols showed just how deep they are but that depth will be exploited next week if Maymom is not available when they have to play three games in four days in Puerto Rico.

Maymom has had a reoccurring bad knee. In March his knee was scoped and last week he was seen on campus on crutches. Coach Martin has not given the media a time line on his reliable power forward's return. Last night the Vols played very good defense and the combination of Richardson, Golden, McBee, Hall and Stokes flowed well together forcing numerous turnovers.

Jarnell Stokes is a beast, that is the only word to describe the mountain with the smooth never panic style. Coach Martin has to be please with his star because Stokes does it all. He stole the ball on defense and blocked shots taking up lots of room on the inside and helping his mates when he could. On offense, he shoots, passes and rebounds. Last night some of his interior passing was fantastic, hitting Kenny Hall on a couple of amazing dishes.

I liked what I saw from the Vols last night, they will be right there when its big dance time in March. Lets hope Maymom's injury is not a big issue and he is allowed to have the senior season Volunteer fans were expecting.

#LetsGoVols

Hot Stove League

The Hot Stove League is heating up and Mets fans are anxious for their team to sign David Wright and RADickey43 to long term deals. DWright was runner up in the Gold Glove award and many including myself felt he was a more deserving candidate. 

The news today out of California and reported on MLB Tonight the Mets are shopping RA Dickey, who was just named a finalist for the Cy Young Award. The Mets have exercised the teams option on both Dickey and Wright for the 2013 season and many feel it maybe the best time to trade Dickey who will be 38 soon. Baseball insiders also realize RA Dickey could probable pitch another five years easy. 

The Mets have many holes to fill and trading Dickey sounds great on paper, but where do the Mets get the 20 wins RA Dickey brings to the team if they trade him? The Mets must know Dickey gives them lots of innings and pitches every 5 days day in and day out. Finding someone who could do that the next five years will not be easy to replicate. 

Dickey, is an interesting phenomena in baseball, a knuckelballer can pitch well past the prime of other pitchers and filling holes on the field is not the only Mets issue, filling seats is another and trading one of Mets fans favorite players will have to be worth the loss of not just 20 games but a man the New York community cares about because of his good deeds.

The same can be said about David Wright. He is the face of the Mets and other than Dickey the only other player of notable distinction is Johan Santana. The Mets do not have any other marque players to market to the millions of baseball fans in Gotham. 

NYC Marathon

As a ex marathoner and a native New Yorker I found the decision to run the NYC Marathon insane in the wake of the most devastating storm to strike the City in well over a hundred years. The Mayor and the NYRRC finally relented and saner heads prevailed and the marathon was cancelled.

Yesterday, runners from everywhere decided to run the course on their own as people still in distress tried to live life. Pictures of residents in Brooklyn waiting on long lines to fill gas cans as runners jogged past seemed like something out of a Fellini movie.

I  would not have wanted to be one of the people who came from out of state or the country to run the race only to find out the race was cancelled, but I would not have come to NYC to run the race. I would have been aware of the burden the race would have placed on my brother and sisters in NYC. If I was planning to come to my home to run the race and had the time off to do so, my first thoughts would have been on helping the people of NYC. The runners who ran through the city on their own yesterday could have really shown the world something good by helping out blocks away from the start in Staten Island and instead of running, pitched in and assisted in any way they could.

  

The Volunteers Host Troy

The first thing I had to find out when researching today's Tennessee football game was find out where Troy University was. I was sure it was in Alabama and not in upstate NY, but that's where my geographical knowledge of the school ended. The 125 year old University is in Montgomery, Alabama and is highly rated by Forbes Magazine for its academic standards.

The Troy University football team is hard to figure out. They come in 4-4, but put up 572 yards of offense against Mississippi State. Tennessee is coming off yet another SEC loss and is 3-5 after going 0 for October in the SEC.

Volunteer fans will be looking for red meat after the teams dismal SEC play and it could not come at a better time. Coach Dooley is on the hot seat and today the Volunteers must play up to fans expectations or Dooley's days could be numbered in Rocky Top.

I believe Tyler Bray and his all world receivers will fly past the Troy what ever they are called and score at will. Lets all hope the Vols defense can stop Troy or this could be one of those who ever scores last will win the game, and Vol fans will not be happy if the Vols are not the ones scoring last.


Lets Go Vols 

The Hot Stove League Starts Anew

The World Series is over and baseball fans all about the country are settled in to a long cold winter of wondering and pontificating on the state of their beloved teams. Count me as one of the many life long Mets fans who will analyze the Mets roster and all the possible moves that GM Sandy Alderson and the NY Mets brain trust could and might make between now and early February.

When I look at the 2012 Mets certain names jump at me, names like Bay, Torres, Francisco and Ramirez who I would release tomorrow no matter how much it will cost the club. Bay, the ultimate NYC bust, can not wear a NY Mets uniform next year. Torres, Ramirez and Francisco's one year in Gotham was well below expectations and the Mets should cut bait as soon as possible.

Mets fans are all waiting for the signing of DWright and RA Dickey43 to long term contracts assuring they stay for as long as they want. Dickey who at 37 is just blooming as a pitcher and there is no reason he can not pitch effectively barring injuries for the foreseeable future. Wright is the unofficial captain of the team, and  he  should be made the official captain and given the respect and contract deserving this future HOF.   

It's going to be a long slow winter in Mets land.


Lets Go Mets