Sports mailbag: Oct. 18

Kiffin could show a little more fire during game

It is disheartening to watch Lane Kiffin at the UT football games. He doesn't seem to be able to express any emotions, win or lose. Come on, Kiffin, crack a smile when your team does well. California cool doesn't look good here in TN.

Carol O'Connor

Knoxville

Good move to postpone high school games

What an astute decision was made by schools that cancelled Friday night football games. It is better to be safe than sorry. No game is more important than the students' and fans' welfare.

Shame on you if you played the game in the mud. The night was too dangerous to have done this. Not only was the Sweetwater/Loudon game called off, everyone was invited into the gym for safety.

Bill and June Landrum

Sweetwater

McClendon earns praise for reaching out to fan

I would like to pass along a great story about University of Tennessee senior right guard Jacques McClendon. I had the pleasure of attending high school and college with Jacques and I consider him to be a close friend. Anyone who has ever been around Jacques has seen his infectious personality and would agree that he is simply a very special young man.

My mother is a middle school guidance counselor and she recently learned that one of her students (and a fellow offensive lineman) looks up to Jacques as a role model. When I passed that along to Jacques, he humbly deflected such praise and then asked if he could get in touch with the young man. Jacques wound up calling him the very next day to thank him and give advice on the importance of academics and hard work in achieving success.

While it is easy to criticize an athlete's play on the field, it seems only right to applaud such a worthy act off it that truly makes a difference in another person's life.

While pursuing a graduate degree in sports management and preparing for an important game against a conference rival, Jacques went out of his way to reach out to a young man who looks up to him. For this, I will give Jacques McClendon a standing ovation every time.

Thank you, Jacques, for making a phone call that one young man will certainly never forget. Thank you as well to his mother, Stephanie McClendon, for raising such a remarkable young man.

I will miss seeing No. 65 in the orange and white next year, but like the young man he reached out to, I wish my role model the best in his undoubtedly promising future.

Rob Robinson

Chattanooga

Need to give Kiffin more of a chance

Bear Bryant once said that Tennessee had more officials in its stadium than anyone in the SEC. I don't know about that but I do know we have more so-called experts than anyone in the country.

Let's give Lane Kiffin a chance. He has Mike Slive to deal with.

Tom Reep

Knoxville

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