RECCE ROOM

Last night, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs basketball team won the NIT tournament 85-84 in Overtime. It was the Mocs first NIT tournament championship.  GoMocs news article .  NCAA news article .  ESPN news article .  Notes: 1. This author is a UTC Alum - class of 1998.  2. If your first response is something along the lines of  "congrats on being the 69th ranked team..." then you are clearly a smooth brain and likely jump affiliations with the changing of the wind. You are without thought and your "opinion" is less than worthless.  3. Clearly, any team that made the NIT final four deserved to be in the field of 68 as an 11 seed or higher. 4. Both UTC and UC Irvine deserve to be ranked in the top 25 at season's end.  5. UC Irvine played well and has nothing to be ashamed of.  6. Too many SEC schools got into the field of 68 and we as fans would have been better served with some of these NIT teams being a part of the field ins...

Four years ago, my son's Freshman Football team had just wrapped up a 6-1 season at Wilson Central High School in Wilson County, TN. It was the best ever season by a Wilson Central Freshman team. At that time, the City of Mount Juliet was on the brink of adding Green Hill High School and redistricting was already in motion.  My residence was redistricted to Mount Juliet High School; my son wanted no part of it, because of their arrogance.  He asked to transfer to Green Hill High School, and my wife and I immediately approved, and started the process. His grades and sports acumen made him an easy choice for acceptance to transfer.  But why had we asked to transfer him? Why were we so quick to approve when he asked? Simple - and he summed it up - the arrogance of those associated with that school. As an example, my wife had a conversation with a good friend from church about redistricting. Her son is a couple of years older than ours, and also played football at that time. ...

Within the last few days, the Baseball World Series has been set: it is the Texas Rangers vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Along the way, the Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies. There was much talk this week about the Phillies fans (or is it "phans?") being the "best" fanbase in baseball. Certainly, at times, their ballpark sounded very loud as the fans cheered. But that is not the whole story.  These same fans booed and left early in the Phillies final two losses at home. The losses were by scores of 5-1 and 4-2. Certainly not blowouts. Real fans would have stayed until the end.  That and their fanbase seems to be a nasty bunch. The only Phillies fans I know that are decent humans are " Lefty " and his son.  Oh, and Baseball needs to end the 5-game Division Series where the top seeds have 5 days off. Since going to that format, Top teams have a record of 12-18, losing 5 of the 8 series. The only 100-win team to advance was the 2022 Astros, who went...

 52-49 was a good number this past weekend.  The 15-year wait is over. For the first time since my son can remember, Tennessee Vols football beats Alabama. 

We are #Smashville They call us #trashville It's ok, they are #shittsburgh  Winning The Cup will be #glorious He shoots. He scores. You suck. Mur-ray Mur-ray Mur-ray You suck. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. #GoPreds

Lefty writes that the NBA is boring .  He's right. Back in the 1990's, my brother and I watched the NBA a lot.  By the late 90's, we could actually predict the series results - down to the number of games each team would win.  In 1998, my brother and I predicted the playoff results - series by series - all the way through, including the champion Bulls team. We didn't miss anything.  Every series unfolded exactly as we had predicted on paper on the day before the playoffs began. Is the NBA rigged? Well, I miss a prediction on at least one match on every WWE event.  Besides,  the NHL is more fun.  #GoPreds

I blogged about the Vols last week, and it posted yesterday. Honestly didn't expect bowls to already have been selected,  but the Vols were selected for the Music City Bowl, with Nebraska on the other end. I shall be rooting for the Vols this bowl season. Indeed, four teams from Tennessee made bowl games - Vanderbilt,  Tennessee,  Middle Tennessee St., and Memphis. I shall root for each in their respective games. Posted via Blogaway

Some call the Vols 2016 season a disappointment. Some call it a disaster. Let's put it all in perspective, first. Alabama was 13-0 this year. They will likely play in the national championship playoff. The next best record in the SEC was 8-4. Tennessee was tied with Florida, Texas A&M, and Auburn at that mark. But what if? What if they hadn't turned the ball over 7 times at A&M? What if they hadn't lost focus inexcusably against South Carolina? What if they had allowed less than a stellar offensive performance by Vanderbilt? 11-1? (Likely 11-2, after another loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game). Yeah, what if... What if there had been no miracle at Georgia? What if there hadn't been an unusual defensive breakdown by Florida? What if they hadn't gotten the call against Appalachian State? 5-7? Those what-ifs never went their way under Dooley. They fell about like that with Fulmer.  Tennessee needs an offensive line... in a hurry. Tennes...

Yesterday, between errands, I got to watch parts of the Memphis - Ole Miss game. Memphis won, of course. And they won in convincing fashion. It was no fluke, and the final score did not properly convey how lop-sided it truly was. I am a UTC Mocs fan first, as they are my alma mater . The Tennessee Vols are my favorite team that I've followed for 30 or so years. However, I did live in Memphis for a while and am not reluctant to root for the Tigers. My friend, Right Minded, is a Tigers alumni and between his blog and Twitter feed, I remain regularly updated on their progress. As it stands right now, Memphis is the best college football program in the state of Tennessee. They deserve a top 15 ranking. They've not had an easy schedule, and the Ole Miss team is a legitimate top 25 team. If the Tigers were to play my Vols, it would be another Memphis win. If Memphis had played the Vols schedule, the worst they'd be right now is 5-1, with a realistic chance at being 6-0. They...

Last night, I watched the NFL's decision to award Seattle the championship over Denver. "What?!?!?! The NFL is not fixed!!!" you yell? Please tell me you still don't believe in that. It was a shock to me to learn at age 10 that wrestling was not real. That's OK, I still enjoy seeing it. To be fair, it is more enjoyable than any other professional fixed league (NBA, NFL, etc.) My brother an I figured out the fix on the NBA back in the 1990's. We could predict game outcomes, and scores to within +/-2.5 points. At that time, we conceded that the NBA was completely, if not largely, fixed with regard to outcome. I have railed on this hard with the NFL in the last few years. So let me give you just a sampling of logic to ponder: This year, the highest scoring team ever in NFL history was crowned - the Denver Broncos. Yet, they somehow not only lose the championship, but only score a single touchdown in the process (71 offensive touchdowns over the season - th...

The Tennessee Vols recently fired football coach Derek Dooley. I like this move on the front that Dooley was never going to consistently lead the team to winning seasons, much less SEC championships. There are some who said that Dooley should be given more of a chance. I'd offer this rebuttal: when you get to a point that any coach would do better, then the writing is on the wall. Sure, Dooley was the right choice when Kiffin left the program in shambles, most notably NCAA violations. But to be fair, those violations were petty at best. Media exaggeration at best. The interim coach for the Vols season finale was offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Say what you will about the Vols this year, the problem was not their offense. As it turns out, Chaney led the team to a 37-17 win against Kentucky. Is Kentucky the best team to beat? Nope. They had not won an SEC game this year. That said, the Kentucky win was the Vols first SEC win this year. In other words, this was a game to ...

The NFL referees returned this past weekend to the game after labor disputes kept them on the sidelines for the preseason and first few weeks. Replacement refs had been employed in the interim. I enjoy NFL football, particularly the Titans. I am not a fanatic, though - just a casual fan. That said, the replacement refs were absolutely awful. Worse than church-league softball umpires. They had no idea of the letter or the intent of the rules, they let the players and coaches bully them, and they generally kept no control of the games. Even the TV announcers I saw were ridiculing them and deservedly so. Glad to have the right zebras back. .

So my son is in a flag football league this fall. He loves every minute of it. I have watched a number of games, and made the following observations for age 8 and under flag football: Running game Ages 8 and under are best served by the running game. Thus far this season, I've only seen two running plays that were ineffective (net gain of 0 yards or worse). Every touchdown I've seen was scored on a running play. Passing game Kids aged 8 and under lack the strength, accuracy, and route running ability to make plays in the passing game. Thus far, I've seen exactly four passes caught. One of those was for an extra-point conversion. None for touchdowns. I've seen plenty of interceptions, though. Kicking game This league does not kick the ball. Odd & Ends Each team gets to start at the "20-yard line." They get 4 downs to make it to midfield. If they make it to midfield, then they get 4 more downs to score. There are no timeouts. 20-minute halves...

Kobe Bryant said this year's Team USA would beat the 1992 Dream Team. Pass me a hit, Kobe. That's gotta be some powerful stuff you're smoking! .

A MLB pitcher has been suspended 8 games for using pine tar on his glove. I blogged about him getting ejected a few days ago. .

A baseball player was ejected for using too much pine tar on his glove. I cannot remember the last time I heard of this happening. .

Today, basketball coach Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols stepped down. Summitt won more games than any other coach in NCAA basketball history. Summitt said : "It's been a great ride." In related news, in his first move with which I agree 100%, President Obama has announced he will award Summit the Presidential medal of Freedom - the nation's highest civilian honor. .

This article explores Olympic beach volleyball and whether the bikinis the players wear are uniforms, or are in place simply for the looks. What say you? I say both. .

A high school basketball player makes the winning bucket ... for the other team.

As I've written before, college football needs a national championship tournament . If we follow the pattern I suggested almost two years ago, then here is what we would have. Conference champions get selected, then the top 3 other teams according to BCS standings : 1. LSU 2. Oklahoma State 3. Oregon 4. TCU 5. Wisconsin 6. Clemson 7. Southern Miss. 8. West VA 9. Northern Ill. 10. Arkansas State. 11. Louisiana Tech 12. Alabama 13. Stanford 14. Arkansas Hypothetical of how I think it would turn out, based on this alignment: Round 1: #3 Oregon vs #14 Arkansas In a shootout, Arkansas proves SEC football reigns supreme and ousts the PAC 12 champs 64-62 in 3OT #4 TCU vs #13 Stanford The Cardinal, behind Andrew Luck, race out to an early lead and never look back. TCU cuts the margin late, but only against the 3rd string defense and Stanford wins 38-28. #5 Wisconsin vs #12 Alabama Wisconsin gets blitzed early and often. Alabama shows why they were the BCS #2 t...