Posted by cdldoc on March 14, 2008 at 10:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Another supportive, pro-UT article from the local paper? Or another writer trying to pick against the Vols to show how "good" he is? Why do we have these writers that ought to be somewhere else? Move to Arkie, Strange, and take Adams with you.

Posted by alfrizzle097 on March 15, 2008 at 12:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Oh for god's sake!!! He is just trying to come up with an interesting approach. The Mikes are the only ones over there that know anything about basketball, so cut him some slack.

Posted by Hunter on March 15, 2008 at 1:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

First sign you're severely overmatched - you compare your team to George Mason......

Posted by cdldoc on March 15, 2008 at 1:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Well, if he knows so much, he should know we are going to win. Instead he insinuates that the Vols may not be tough enough to win again. With friendly writers like this do we need ESPN and Dick Vitale?

Posted by calivol on March 15, 2008 at 1:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

cdldoc, were you also one of the ones criticizing pennington because you knew inside that you were one of the paranoid ones he was writing about? take a deep breath pal. it's gonna be OK. not everyone is out to get you or our Vols.

Posted by coach75 on March 15, 2008 at 2:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

i would have rather faced vandy than arkansas. vandy is one dimensional with foster, arkansas has an inside game with thomas and townes. they also have a good outside presence with ervin, weems, and beverly. they are harder to match up against than vandy. we must play better peimeter defens if we want to win this game.

Posted by schymtz on March 15, 2008 at 8:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Thank you coach75 for actually focusing on the game. After the big wind bluster this event may turn out to be a better memory than it is as an experience for the fans, players and coaches involved.
As for the "bad" press at the kns or espn, I haven't enjoyed a quip quite as much as the ESPN report on Chism's long-wild-off-the-top-of-the-backboard-into-the-basket shot right before halftime.
Voice One: "Off the top of the backboard...it doesn't count."
Voice Two" "Why? because it isn't Pauly Pavilion?"
After all that, line the bottom of the bird cage or train the puppy with Adams- et-al if you must but:
GO VOLS! BEAT the Hawgs! Beat 'em! Beat 'em!Beat 'em bad!

Posted by General_Watermelon on March 15, 2008 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Vols overlooked South Carolina because they are a bad basketball team. For God's sake, we beat them by 32 and 24 points. How do you get up for that?
Vols were red hot against Arkansas the first time so they better take this one more seriously. Afterall, Arkansas beat a very good Vandy team. I think they will and the Vols will be playing for the SEC Tournament Championship.

Posted by camoman270 on March 15, 2008 at 10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I like my bacon crisp!!!...........so call up the Hogs!!!
Go Vols Ba-beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Posted by waterskier3 on March 15, 2008 at 10:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

omg why do all tn fans think no one likes us and can't anything other than we're special...... that's the problem with american no one can take criticism.... man vol fans get over it.......

Posted by volfan5521 on March 15, 2008 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

OMG go drown yourself waterskier3eye for the queerguy, We are special you natzi, or perhaps with your bad english maybe Al-Quaida? Shutup and let us talk about the screwing those Cats got!!!! Gonna have to play without their obnoxious blue fanbase, and twice on same day,nope because the Dogs are gonna run them out of Atlanta,Go Vols!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by pdhuff on March 15, 2008 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

waterskier3 - go get your warm and fuzzy and put it on. You'll understand then. LOL

Why should they care what anyone thinks? Win and it doesn't matter. Lose and you turn away to trivial things such as "he said, they did....."

Posted by volfan5521 on March 15, 2008 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I am glad the Hogs beat Vandy, just in case we should lose, which we won't. I'm from Nashville and these Vandy fans would probably make another DVD or something if they beat us. Go Vols!!!!!!

Posted by utalumntx on March 15, 2008 at 11:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

cdldoc, Mike Strange is one of the most pro U.T. writers you will ever find. Don't take my word for it. Look up some his past articles. If it were not for people who have tunnel vision Strange would not have to state the obvious. He is just pointing out that the Hogs are playing much better than in the game on February 13th. Ho If you take the time to research the facts you will see what Mike has stated is true. I can't find anywhere in this article where Strange says that Arkansas will win. As far as your need for Mike to guarantee that Vols will win tonight, you should note that Mike has been around long enough to know that this time of year any team can win on a given day. Most of us on this site, including Strange, want Tennessee to win tonight. But we have seen enough basketball to know that there are too many variables involved to chalk up a win before tip off. You don't have to look any further than the current tournament. South Carolina beat LSU and took the Vols down to the last second. Alabama beat Florida and took Miss. State to overtime. Georgia beat Ole Miss. If you want to get technical, Arkansas' win over Vandy is much more impressive than the Vols' win over South Carolina. That is what makes March so exciting. Now let’s address the EPSN conspiracy nonsense. Who made the following quote: This year's final four will come from these seven teams: Tennessee, Memphis, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, and Georgetown."? The Answer is ESPN's Dick Vitale and yes the first team that came out of is mouth was Tennessee. ESPN's Steve Bardo has been on the Tennessee band wagon all season. He even predicted that the Vols would beat Memphis as far back as November. ESPN's Jimmy Dykes has also been on the Volunteer band wagon all season. Every game that he calls including ACC games he always mentions Tennessee as a top contender to win it all. It is not just ESPN giving Tennessee their due credit. Garry Parish of CBS Sports has Tennessee ranked number 2 in his most recent poll. Here is the link to the rankings: http://www.sportsline.com/collegebask.... CBS commentator and former college coach Pete Gillen continuously mentioned Tennessee as contender yesterday during the Memphis-Tulsa game. He said it so many times that I am sure it had to get under the Tiger fans’ skins. CBS' Steve Lavin has also stated many times this season, including before and at half time of the Kentucky game on March 2nd that Tennessee was a final 4 contender. Here are just a few examples of national sport prognosticators giving Tennessee respect. Yes, there is doubting Thomas or two out there like Billy Packer who is pro ACC but they are in the minority. There will always be a few doubters out there even if Tennessee is goes to the final 4 but that does not equate to a conspiracy against our beloved Vols.

Posted by 02champs on March 15, 2008 at 11:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Pennington's an idiot.

Posted by ORANGEjayhawk on March 15, 2008 at 11:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The only reason I do not get on here more often is because most of these articles are horrible. I read better articles in my local paper by pimply faced high school students. The only real Mikes are on ESPN with Mike and Mike in the morning. These mikes could not even wash their jockstraps.

Posted by givehim6 on March 15, 2008 at 12:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I think USC was a reminder to The UT gang that teams play different in the tournament the regular season. Now we have had our wake up call, a giant has woken! Look out! hear come the VOLS!

Posted by johnlg00 on March 15, 2008 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The most negative commentary I have heard on ESPN about the Vols has been by Dookie Jay Bilas, who has said that as of a couple of days ago he doesn't have UT as a #1 seed. He merely says that the Vols give up a lot of offensive rebounds, don't shoot free throws consistently well, and depend heavily on inherently streaky outside shooting. He gives the Vols credit for finding ways to win but he does not consider them an especially powerful team, especially inside. IMHO, that is just telling it like it is. I bow to no one in my respect and admiration for CBP and this gutty band of Vols, but I have said all season that this team doesn't have much margin for error. We can be beaten by any decent team if we don't bring the fire every night. We didn't, at least on defense, against the 'Cocks and we almost blew the game. CBP, in another current article, essentially said the same thing. All the national commentators I have heard have us among the top five or so teams in the nation, regardless of our seeding in this year's tournament. Given the previous 25 or so pre-CBP years, Vol fans should be ecstatic that we are even mentioned in such company. If anyone thinks that any of the above is in any way negative,...well, some people wouldn't be happy if you hanged them with a new rope(;-P)!

Posted by Razzle on March 15, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

None of the ESPN hob-knobs that i just saw seemed to think Tennessee deserved a number one seed: Jay = Kansas, Digger = Kansas, Knight = Georgetown.

Posted by johnlg00 on March 15, 2008 at 3:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

You're right, Razzle. I saw them all say that just after I posted my comment. All I can say is, I would rather have everyone say on Tuesday, Apr. 8, that we were the luckiest, least-talented, least-deserving--whatever--NCAA champs in history than I would for everyone to anoint us the champs before the tourney even starts and then see us get taken out in the second round by a double-digit seed. We will have to play our best to beat several very good teams to win the championship, no matter whether we are a #1 or a #2 seed, and it is inconceivable that we will fall further than a #2 seed. The teams we will play will be just as good, no matter where either we or they are ranked going in. We do have serious weaknesses going in, not the least of which is our very spotty--to date, anyway--play at point guard. Any national analyst who did not think that was significant has never seen an NCAA tournament and would not be worthy of a TV commentator's job if he didn't mention it. That does not mean necessarily that they hate us, it means that in objectively comparing us to the overwhelming majority of teams that have won championships, and the teams we would have to beat to win it this year, we are lacking in at least one major talent/performance category, and probably a few others besides. Of course, it is not possible to put numbers on "heart" or "guts" or "luck"--all of which we have had in abundance--but it would be stupid for anyone except a die-hard fan to say that our good intangibles WILL trump our weaknesses when we are playing at a level of competition we have NEVER faced before. I surely HOPE we go all the way. I surely HOPE the national media will have to publicly admit that they were wrong to sell us short--though I won't hold my breath for that.

Posted by Razzle on March 15, 2008 at 3:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

From a motivation standpoint think id rather not be a 1.

Posted by pdhuff on March 15, 2008 at 3:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Just bring it, Vols. If we can get past Arkie, wouldn't it be a hoot if Ga upsets MSU?

Posted by schymtz on March 15, 2008 at 8:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

RATS!

Posted by givehim6 on March 15, 2008 at 8:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

UT is just saving it's juice for the NCAA.