Who are We?

I, like many other UT Vol Football fans, have been on a roller coaster the past year and a half. It started when it became evident that our beloved coach, Phil Fulmer, was losing his touch in putting together a competitive team in the SEC. What ensued was an ugly firing of a great human being who didn't deserve the way in which he was let go. Out of that situation came the hiring of an unknown to our part of the country, Lane Kiffin. Kiffin brought energy and a great track record as a recruiter and up and coming name in the coaching ranks, not to mention his famous father as our D coordinator. He brought a swagger that we hadn't seen ever at UT in the football program and for the most part we liked it. Our team came close to beating both Alabama and Florida and showed improvement over the course of the season, bowl game excluded. Things seemed to be looking up for the Vols. But Pete Carrol decided to jump ship to the NFL and the carousel began. I remember thinking, 'man, if this happened a few years from now I bet Kiffin would go there.' Little did we know that he'd go now.

Now I don't want to dead horse that is Kiffin in these parts, but I do want to say that he left at the worst possible time for our program. It would be near impossible for us to poach a head coach from another program because of the timing. Who would want to be branded as that kind of guy? But for four days we all held our collective breath as candidate after candidate turned down the opportunity to be head coach at UT.

As you can imagine, talk radio was a buzz at the news of each candidate turning down the job and who we may or may now have been going after. But I was amused at the number of people who called in and exclaimed, "We are the University of Tennessee, coaches should be salivating at coming here." I am a huge UT fan, but even I had to laugh at that one. I will be blindly loyal to UT football until I breathe no more, but my glasses aren't orange colored enough to not be a realist. Yes we have a good program and a lot to offer, but we have our fair share of warts and a few open sores that were caused by the timing of the whole situation. It has been 12 years since we won the National Championship, which is two-thirds of the lifespan of the kids we are recruiting. So let's be realistic about our situation.

So I hope that we will continue to be the great program that we have been throughout our history. Maybe we won't have the arrogance of the USC's, Alabama's, Florida's, etc and that is fine with me. I am not willing to sell my soul for a quick score but instead want to see our program restored to what it once was. So coach Dooley, you have your work cut out for you. I know nothing about you, but am cautiously optimistic about that job you can. That has no reflection on you, it's a result of the actions of your predecessor. Just please don't write checks with your mouth that you can't cash just yet. I hate being accountable for the stupid things that coaches say. So start playing Rocky Top in your office, because you are going to hear it a bunch and Go Big Orange.

Weekly Update

Hey, I actually posted this on Monday!  Aren't you proud of me?

The week that was:

This has been an interesting week to say the least.  I spent Monday and Tuesday night at my sister's house since Holly started a rotation in Chattanooga.  I had a great time hanging out with my sister and brother in law and their dog, who I guess is in some sense my niece.  On Tuesday my parents came into town and we had a huge meal to celebrate Thanksgiving since my brother in law had to work on Thursday.  Wednesday after her rotation Holly and I headed up to her parents' house to spend the night and then to join my extended family for Thanksgiving.  Here's where it gets interesting.  We arrive at my grandparents' house on Thursday and have a great time with my family whom I haven't seen for quite a few months.  The only problem is that my grandmother is sick with what she thinks is food poisoning and doesn't really tell any of us.  To add to that one of my uncles and cousin show up without my aunt who is at home sick with a virus that they have gotten over a few days prior.  Needless to say Holly and I caught the bug along with the rest of our family and it wasn't pretty.  Luckily this bug only last about 24 hours but it was not a fun 24 hours.  To top it all off I'm pretty sure that Holly and I have given the same bug to her family that were with us on Friday.

The week that is:

Yesterday, Holly and I drove up to Louisville where she is interviewing at a residency program.  She finishes sometime this afternoon and then we head over to Lexington where she will interview again tomorrow.  After that interview we will head back to her parents' house and I will fly home on Wednesday while she returns to her rotation in Chattanooga.  Upon returning home I have a busy rest of the week that includes preparations for Sunday and a weekend district event that is being held at our church.  Needless to say that there is no rest for the weary.

Music that I've been listening to:

Holly and I have spent a lot of time on the road so I'm trying to pick things that we both like.  This consists of Shane and Shane, James Taylor and Christmas music on the radio.  (The latter I'm not so crazy about.)  I imagine that we'll probably hit a few sermons on the way back to TN tomorrow but who knows.

What I'm keeping an eye on:

Well UT has hired Lane Kiffin as their new head coach.  I'm actually a bit excited about this as I think he should do a great job.  I just don't expect him to stay too long and I know this will make me frustrated down the road.

On the basketball front, UNC is looking really good and they're not yet at full strength.  They have a show down with Michigan State on Wednesday that I'll get to see!

Lastly, I'm hoping that there is no sort of relapse of the virus that I hope that run it course in my system.