Ask Griff: Birth of my blog

Welcome to a new beginning for the AskGriff Column.

They tell me this will be referred to as a blog, even though I have an intense dislike for the word “blog.’’

Not only does the word “blog’’ sound like something you’d cough up while suffering the flu, but it isn’t too specific as to what you, the reader, will be getting.

For the record, you’ll get straight-stuff from me with few aimless wanderings.

I’d still like to answer your questions as part of this column, I mean, blog. Have I mentioned I don’t like that word?

A panel of journalists spoke at the CoSida (university sports information people) convention in San Diego this summer about the schools’ concern with blogs.

Blogs, CoSida said, threatened the media’s relationship with coaching staffs.

Speaking as the President of the Football Writers Association of America, my response was that the type of blogs that provide writers’ thoughts during the course of an event are a fad.

Who, in their right mind, is reading a live blog when they could be watching the event live on television?

Somebody tell me, isn’t that what chat boards are for?

As for writers putting things in blogs that they’ve learned from coaches that they wouldn’t put in stories, string those writers up.

If a journalist has the conviction to write something in a blog, they should put it in print with proper attribution and/or information, and it should be balanced with an objective and thorough perspective. That’s what separates the print media from the anonymous posts on message boards.

 Now, sounding off on my first subject: Phillip Fulmer.

Could somebody please find coach Fulmer a new speech writer?

I’ve covered coach Fulmer for years, and he's as meat and potatoes as Shoney's. But this last idea he had at the SEC Football Media Days to compare the football team to the women’s basketball team comes off as a bit loopy.

Even if Fulmer wasn’t, in a roundabout way, trying to point out that Pat Summitt also hadn’t won a national title since 1998 prior to this season, it came across awkward.

Football stands on it’s own legs and leads the way for the University of Tennessee program. Don’t compare it to anything but other UT football programs or SEC football teams.

And about that Erik Ainge-Candace Parker comparison coach Fulmer threw out?

Well, they are both plenty athletic and talented, and they’ve both turned off fans with arrogance at times and had moments where their toughness could be questioned.

They could also both make me eat those words easily if they show more maturity and guts the coming seasons.

Back to coach Fulmer: He’s a lot tougher and better prepared than he comes across. The guy outworks most coaches in the SEC, and if he’d do the things he believes in — like playing power football, 1998 — UT will be a very successful program.

Fulmer let David Cutcliffe have too much control last season, and Cutcliffe admitted he didn’t devote proper attention to the run game. Perhaps he was too busy running up Ainge’s numbers with 3-yard routes and TD passes from inside the 10 to jack up the QB rating.

Cutcliffe is a very good coach, but as far back as Peyton Manning, he’s had a tendency to pad his QB’s stats.

Consider, Tee Martin got virtually no experience playing behind Manning even when the Vols were blowing out teams.

It almost cost UT the next season, as Martin was slow to develop. If not for a dominant run game and a heroic defense, Fulmer wouldn’t have any national title to fall back on.

And how much experience would Jonathan Crompton — the QB of the future — have gotten last year if Ainge hadn't fallen over his own feet on that QB draw against South Carolina last season?

 Cutcliffe not managing the run game adequately was no small miscue, and it led to an embarrassing exhibition of running the ball that ranked as the worst in 43 years at Tennessee.

Yet, Cutcliffe still got a monstrous raise. Bigger than the raise John Chavis got, even though it has been Chavis who has stuck with Fulmer when other job opportunities have arisen, and it has been the defense that has been a constant over the years.

Even if I don’t agree with Fulmer’s raise structure — he rewards coaches who threaten to leave, not the ones who turn down jobs without interviewing or leaking their offers to media — he’s still one of the top coaches in the country.

When Fulmer makes a mistake, it’s likely because he went against his gut.

It will be a good sign if Fulmer has his headset on this year and does more than clap on the sidelines.

 This looks like a 9-3, maybe 10-2, team to me, with Cal, Georgia and Alabama being the swing games, and Kentucky loominig as a possible upset.

UT has good running backs with Arian Foster poised to have a strong year, and Brent Vinson is the best freshman prospect since Kelley Washington (Robert Meachem redshirted with an injury). The Vols have a better offensive line than you think and solid tight ends, thanks to Greg Adkins. Ainge needs to be patient with the receivers and not press.

Defense has a below average front four by UT standards, and aside from Jerod Mayo, the linebackers are merely adequate. Secondary is inexperienced, but talented, and Larry Slade is a good teacher. Not having a kicker could cost UT a game.

Fulmer’s Vols could challenge for the SEC title in 2008, provided Cutcliffe gives Crompton some meaningful snaps and re-establishes a running game. That would mean Ainge's numbers might not be as good, so that could be a tough, and somewhat unprecedented, call for coach Cut.

 On to basketball, where I’ll soon (Aug. 8) head to Europe with Bruce Pearl and the guys.

It’s just too bad Tyler Smith, J.P. Prince, Cameron Tatum and Brian Williams can’t make the trip, as they are not allowed by NCAA rules.

But don’t go writing any nasty letters to the NCAA. Intercollegiate athletics’ governing body did the Vols a huge favor letting Tyler Smith have immediate eligibility.

How big? UT went from SEC favorite to among the top five or six favorites to play for the national championship with the addition of Smith.

He’s that good. And this after the Vols had already found a player in Prince who could more than fill Dane Bradshaw’s shoes on the court.

Here’s the current starting lineup: Wayne Chism, Tyler Smith, JaJuan Smith, Chris Lofton, Ramar Smith.

The only question with Pearl’s team is internal leadership.

Chris Lofton is not gonna get loud to lead. It’s not his style.

Look for JaJuan Smith, Duke Crews, Tyler Smith and Ramar Smith to play leadership roles for a team that might not lose an SEC regular season game barring an unforeseen injury or suspension.

Here’s another tip: get your tickets now. With a smaller seating capacity, probably around 21,000, there will be some tough tickets for a team that figures to be ranked in the top 10 — maybe even top five — come the start of the SEC season.

 OK, I’ll allow for one random thought, in the spirit of this BLOG.

If there’s been a more dominant athlete in the history of UT sports — shoot, SEC sports, for that matter — than Monica Abbott, I don’t know about them.

Abbott delivered the most clutch performance I’ve ever witnessed at the Women’s College World Series and single-handily put UT softball on the map.

Talk about grit and poise, Abbott pitched what amounted to five straight scoreless games on the sport’s biggest stage, and three of those shutouts came against Arizona, the N.Y. Yankees of collegiate softball.

The Wildcats beat her with an unearned run in extra innings before finally guessing right on a fast ball to hit a wind-aided home run in the Women’s College World Series finale.

Abbott is deserving of a street name. Right now.

 If you have any questions you’d like answered in this column, send me a personal e-mail at knsgriff@aol.com.

Otherwise, post your thoughts at the bottom of this column.

Writers like to pretend they don’t care what people think, but most of the ones I’ve run across certainly do and should.

It takes more than one person for successful communication, be it a column or blog.