Comments by DRORANGELOVE

Written on Mike Strange: Bray became the NFL draft's real "Mr. Irrelevant":

Tyler,

The level of your future success or failure lies with YOU !!! You certainly have the physical ability to be a Hall of Famer, but you are going to have to change your attitude, work ethic, and maturity level if you want to achieve that status. NFL teams and players are not going to waste their time and money on a QB who isn't mature or won't show a good work ethic.

I sincerely hope you will grow up, mature, work hard and develop into an all star NFL QB that I know you have the potential to be. GBO

Written on Rawane Ndiaye commits to Tennessee basketball; Vols now two scholarships over limit:

I was and still am a believer in Bruce Pearl. That being said, I pray for Coach Martin to be successful at UT. I think he recruits players that fit into what HE has in mind for his style of coaching and game plan. I have NO problem with that. That is his choice and his job and career is depending on whether he is successful or not. I do believe that if he isn't more successful or shows a great deal of improvement this coming season then we should give serious consideration to bringing Bruce Pearl back to UT.

Written on Like Bruce Pearl, most coaches survive NCAA show-cause orders :

in response to jakethevolguy:

Pearl will be going to Auburn.

UCLA job is his if he WANTS it.

Written on Did Tennessee deserve to make the NCAA tournament?:

Their bubble was popped when they lost twice to both Ole Miss and Georgia. Had they have just split wins with both of those teams they would have been IN the tournament. They have no one to blame but themselves. Hopefully Coach Martin can have a great recruiting class and get them to blend in with the existing players and maybe they can figure out how to WIN the big games instead of figuring out how to LOSE them. WINNERS find ways to WIN, LOSERS always have excuses and find someway to LOSE. GBO

Written on A look at Tennessee's 2014 class after 3 new additions, including 4-star Todd Kelly Jr.:

in response to Hound_Dog69:

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Absolutely "COOOORECTTT" Hound. Give me a 2 or 3 star RB who bleeds big orange blood and will give his heart and guts for UT because he "WANTS" to play for the Big Orange. NOT some hyped up prima donna who has to be courted and wants special treatment and then "IF" he turns out to be as advertised, jumps to the NFL after 1 or 2 years and leaves UT hanging for the last 2 years when he could REALLY help the team. GBO

Written on Mike Strange: Justin Worley hopes to capitalize on head start:

Let us not forget that Mr Whorley was National HS Player of The Year his Sr yr in HS and that he has sat quietly by, been a team player,and done an above avg job when he has had the chance to play. Personally I think he is a much better TEAM PLAYER than Bray was AND a better team leader. Time will tell GBO

Written on Robert Gillespie hired as Tennessee's new running backs coach:

Absolutely, NO ONE hates and loathes the Gators more than me, but if you remember, Doug Dickey came from Florida and turned out being both a great coach and AD. Also if Steve Spurrier had of taken the UT head coaching job when he left the Redskins, can you imagine what he would of accomplished at UT by now ???? And he is considered a Florida product. So in my opinion, lets give coach Gillespie our support along with the rest of our new coaching staff. They can't possibly do worse than what we have had for the past 4 years.

Written on Alabama student details alleged beating at hands of football players:

in response to BigBadVol:

I noticed that ESPN has been relatively quite about this incident. If this had happened at UT(like it did 4 years ago)it would be their opening act for the entire week.(It was)

u r so right. ALA, MICH, OHIO STATE, NOTRE DAME, AND SO CAL can get away with murder and ESPN will make sure it gets buried ASAP.

Written on Mike Strange: Are the Vols losing their basketball stepping stones? :

Remember how ESPN crucified Bruce Pearl and kept his "sin of lying to the almighty NCAA" constantly on their broadcasts until he was eventually fired?????
How come you haven't heard anything about Coach Geno at UCONN sexually harrassing and propositioning that young female member of the USA Womens basketball team security staff back in April and then getting her fired when she reported him to the authorities. Haven't heard anymore about that have you???? Its been swept under the rug and completely forgotten. Don't tell me the ESPN isn't biased against some schools and plays favoritism with others.

Written on 21 new Vols in Tennessee's 2013 signing classs:

I've always been taught to be thankful for the things I "DO" have and not worry about the things I "DON'T " HAVE. This class will help turn the corner for UT's winning way and tradition. REASON ???? Because this class has HEART and GRIT and most of all "THEY WANT TO PLAY FOR TENNESSEE." Every single player in this years recruiting class could have gotten scholarships to a number of other colleges, some of them in weaker conferences, but they chose to come to UT and play in the toughest conference in college football because they all feel like they can help turn UT back into a WINNER and want to play against the best.
"THAT" Big Orange Fans is exactly the kind of mental attitude and toughness we need on the hill.
"COACH THEM UP" COACH JONES AND LETS KICK SOME BUTTS AND PULL SOME UPSETS THIS FALL. GBO

Written on Vols flip Brown from Syracuse:

in response to MichiganVol247:

It's not like the kid had a "T" tatooed on his arm and then decided to go to Florida! This stuff happens...you deal with it and move on. That's part of the problem with our fan base, you guys like to worry about a guy who doesn't commit, but how about we focus on the guys who actually want to be here. Bell would have been a great "Get", but maybe he just doesn't get what it means to be a VFL.

The Big 10 will continue to play second fiddle to the SEC, the PAC 10, and hell maybe even the Big 12! 12-0 in the Big 10 is 10-2 in the SEC...I don't give credit to a conference that continues to get beat year-after-year in bowl games. And so what if Bell wants to play for U. Meyer, if things don't go right at OSU in the next couple years he might have medical issues again and have to "retire" from football for a while.

YEP, Every time Urban loses a game of any importance, he either gets sick or decides to retire. Now he is in the Big 10 where he can beat everybody and go undefeated. Could'nt take his annual azzwhippings in the SEC from Bama, UGA, and LSU. Had to go somewhere where the competetion wasn't so tough. WEENIE

Written on Former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley confirms he is going to the Dallas Cowboys :

Good Luck at your new job Coach Dooley.
Thanks for doing the best you could at UT with the hand that was dealt to you. Maybe you will have better luck in Dallas. Sure hope so, Dallas, Denver, and Indy are three of my favorite teams in the NFL, would like to see Dallas back in the playoffs next year.

Written on Dallas Cowboys hire Derek Dooley as wide receivers coach :

Good Luck Coach Dooley. Thank you for doing your best at UT playing with the hand you were dealt, and I hope you experience a lot better luck with the Cowboys than you did with the Vols.

Written on John Adams: CAK QB Charlie High still thinking big despite recruiting rejections :

in response to exlineman:

Dr. Orangelove, I can remember that the great Gen. Neyland almost made the same mistake with Johnny Majors because he was considered too small to play in the Sec. I would imagine a few coaches along the way reminded the great Neyland of this as time went along.

If Coach Jones needs to fill his quota with a 5 star, then go ahead, but at least invite High as a walk on. I beleive Bill Bates, JJ McCleskey, Nick Reveiz and many others were small guys.

Coach, appreciate the compliment, I did play with heart when I was considered small and grew during my freshmen to sr. yr. in college. Playing with all heart and talent in this day and time is a remarkable accomplishment for a player with all of the distractions, they have to face.

Coaching players like you made coaching a pleasurable and satisfying job.
I have NO DOUBT that you were a winner as a player and are a winner in LIFE. If you have children I'm sure they have grown up to be a credit to you and their community. God Bless

GBO

Written on John Adams: CAK QB Charlie High still thinking big despite recruiting rejections :

in response to exlineman:

What so many of you fans are forgetting some kids from high school to college take a growth spell and grow 3- 4 inches.

the young man has the heart to play for the vols and one comment that stood out with me, was his accuracy of completions. This kind of accuracy is better than most of the big boys. What was Bray's high school stats and others?
I say give the young man a chance. I notice another local quarterback that strayed to Vanderbilt and wanted to play for UT. You might remember Pat Robinette, who is doing quite well according to an article written this week. I think either Alcoa or Maryville had a kicker that we failed to get is doing great somewhere else.

These 4 and 5 star players that everybody seems to want so bad aren't always 5 star players. I beleive we have experienced that on several occasions. Give me a 3 star anyday over Darick Rogers and some of the failures who have failed here at Tn.

I agree with your comments. I can also see by your comments that you are exactly the kind of player I would have recruited when I coached.

Give me a player who has the heart, desire, and " WANTS " to play for his/her coach and the team he/her is playing with and get a coaching staff who will coach him up and make him be all that he can be and you will have a winning team who exceeds its talent level.

Give me a roster made up of 3 & 4 star " TEAM " players who want to be there over a team made up of 5 star " ALL ABOUT ME " players who just want to play long enough to get big PRO bucks and leave the rest of their team and teamates hanging out to dry. Teams made up of those players hardly ever reach their level of talent, let alone exceed it.

Written on John Adams: CAK QB Charlie High still thinking big despite recruiting rejections :

I tried my best to get UT to recruit Whit Taylor back in the late 1970s ( 5'10' 175 lbs ). I was told he was to small plus he had had shoulder surgery and the staff didn't want to take a chance on him. The rest is history, he was all SEC and ran up 985 yards total offense against UT his last 2 games against UT. He also passed for 10 TDs in ONE game in arena football, a record that stood for many years.
My point, He always loved UT and wanted to play for them but never had the chance but proved himself to be a WINNER because he had the desire and heart. This kid seems to be cut out of the same mold. He WANTS to play for UT and has a lot of heart. I had rather have a kid like him ( who will only get better ) than some super star who you have to beg to come to Tennessee and will be gone in 2 years.

Written on Notre Dame No. 1? According to a BCS computer, Fighting Irish still better than Alabama:

The SEC has ALWAYS been discriminated against by the pollsters.

THINK ABOUT THIS !!!!!! IF OHIO STATE HAD NOT BEEN ON PROBATION AND BANNED FROM BOWLS THIS YEAR, ALABAMA WOULD NOT OF BEEN ALLOWED TO PLAY IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. THE GAME WOULD HAVE FEATURED ND AND OHIO ST, NEITHER OF WHICH COULD HAVE COMPETED WITH THE TIDE.

"BRING ON THE PLAYOFFS AND GET RID OF POLITICS AND BIASED POLLSTERS." or else let the boys out in VEGAS determine the rankings of teams by laying lines on the game, THEY know who is the best. EXAMPLE: ND is ranked number 1 by the polls and BCS yet VEGAS shows ALA as a 10 point favorite. WHO WAS RIGHT ????

Written on Vols lose to Ole Miss, 92-74 in SEC opener:

I think Coach Martin is a super person, but he isn't in the same league with Bruce Pearl when it comes to coaching.

Bruce Pearl WILL be back in college coaching before long and when he is, you can bet he will be handing out a lot of butt whippings on the other teams. I just hope he doesn't come back to the SEC, unless it is with UT again.

Written on Louisville upsets Florida 33-23 in Sugar Bowl:

I pull for 2 teams every Saturday during football season, "TENNESSEE" and WHOEVER is playing fLORIDA.
Without a doubt they are the cockiest and dirtiest team in college football and their fans are the rudest and most arrogant bunch of weenie heads in the nation.
Was so glad to see them get their butts kicked and to see all their fans gator chomps fizzle down to gator nibbles.

Written on Daniel McCullers returning for senior season with Vols:

There is no doubt in my mind that Daniel has made the RIGHT decision for his future. He will be " coached up " and get a lot better under this new coaching staff and barring injury he will definitely be a first round draft choice in next years draft. This guy has the potential to be better than Reggie White, John Henderson, and Albert Haynesworth, "IF" he has the discipline and desire. Good Luck Daniel. GBO

Written on John Adams: Time for 'serious' changes at Tennessee :

John, Haven't always agreed with some of your articles, but I must admit this is a great article with some very good ideas. I would like to offer what I think is a very good suggestion and one that would help the VOLS tremendously.

I remember when Neyland Stadium was considered one of the most noisy and difficult stadiums for visiting teams to play in the nation. Broadcasting networks would show decible readings showing that it was louder down on the field than 747 jet engines at full throttle. Not so anymore. My Suggestion : Do you remember the summer olympics in Johannesburg a few years ago and how very, very, loud those things were that the fans were raving around, it was totaly deafening. I don't know what those instruments were called but I would love to see the UT Athletic Dept hand out one of those to EVERY UT Vol fan dressed in UT Big Orange that walked thru the gate. (only fans wearing VOL clothing, none for the visitors) can you imagine what a nightmare it would be for opposing teams to contend with. If MISS ST can have their cow bells. why couldn't UT have those noisemakers. Then even the many thousand older UT fans could help generate a lot of noise without fear of hurting their health or over exausting themselves.

I have absolutely no doubt that making Neyland LOUD again would do nothing except HELP our team. GBO

Written on No surprise here: John Fox says Peyton Manning is his MVP:

ESPN has always been biased against anything or anybody remotely connected to Tennessee as proven by : 1) Flooding their broadcasts with praises about a defensive back who played offense sometimes yet never broke a school record, let alone a conference or national record and influenced voters to vote for that player for Heisman instead of Peyton Manning, who upon graduation from UT had broken 38 different school, conference, or national records, plus gave up millions to come back and play his senior year. 2)Persecuted Bruce Pearl constantly on their network for his wrong doing, yet have completely swept under the rug UCONNS Geno Aureamis sexual harrassment charges and getting his victim fired when she filed charges against him. Haven't heard any more about that lately have you???
How long has it been since you have seen the ESPN show ANYTHING POSITIVE about UT or any of its athletes???

Written on John Adams: Fan mail contradicts negative posts :

Merry Christmas John, Hope you have a lot more POSITIVE things to write about UT football this next season. Maybe the new coaching staff will give us more to cheer about. GBO

Written on Central Michigan focus for Butch Jones' coaching staff at Tennessee :

With all of our starting receivers, TE Rivera, and starting QB gone and the schedule we have, I think Coach Jones and his staff should get a raise if they win as many as 7 or 8 games this year.

I always liked and supported Dooley but the truth of the matter is , I did'nt see any improvment in his teams from the start of the season until the finish, if anything his teams got worse as the season progressed. I don't think we will see that problem with this new coach and his staff. Time will tell. GBO

Written on Tennessee WR Justin Hunter bound for NFL draft, while Ja'Wuan James says he'll be back :

Although Hunter and Patterson are very, very talented receivers, they both had problems running their correct pass routes and were both inconsistent in catching. Personally I feel that Zach Rogers and Rivera will be missed more and harder to replace. They both always ran the correct pass routes and were pretty consistent in catching the ball when it was thrown on target by Bray.
Irregardless, I wish Hunter, Patterson, and Bray the very best in the NFL and hope they make the Vol Nation proud. GBO

Written on Chaney joins Arkansas as offensive coordinator:

Chaney was a very solid OC. Go back and review game film of the Vols and you will see that time after time he called plays that would have worked and won many games for us IF Tyler Bray had'nt thrown over or behind wide open receivers or if the receivers hadn't of MISSED/DROPPED passes right in their hands or worse yet, ran the wrong routes.

Chaneys play calling was NOT the problem. Failure to execute and missed routes and assignments by the players was the problem.

I personally think we will regret not keeping him as OC. Time will tell.

Written on Jay Graham likely only holdover from Derek Dooley's staff :

in response to rb4346:

How about Al Wilson at linebackers coach, anyone agree with that?

Al Wilson as linebackers coach sounds great to me, while we are dreaming lets get Bill Bates to coach the defensive secondary. I truly believe both of them would do a fantastic job of coaching ours boys up. Both of them have a world of NFL experience and I never knew either one of them to ever quit or give up. Both are WINNERS

Don't see anything wrong in keeping Chaney as OC. If you look back at games played you will see that many/ many times in critical times he called the RIGHT play but Bray completely missed the receiver or the receivers dropped passes that were right in their hands

Written on John Adams: Charlie Strong's strengths match up with UT's weaknesses :

Dear Mr Adams

For a long period of time I have tried to ignore and dismiss all of the negative and sarcastic remarks posted on this website about you and have given you the benefit of a doubt as to your ability as a professional and unbiased sports writer. This article written by you has erased all doubt in my mind as to your competence. You sir are a real number one dumbazz.

Through the years I have come to realize that we should NEVER trust anything written by journalists or sports writers. All of you evidently get a thrill our of trying to influence readers and bend them to your way of thinking by never giving them BOTH sides of an issue, ONLY the side you agree with. I hope all of the loyal TN fans will stop reading your biased phooey and learn to figure out whats happening without letting you and other sports writers and journalists influence them.

Written on ESPN report says Charlie Strong is top candidate for Tennessee head football coach:

in response to CMKSIDESHOW:

Charlie Strong REALLY!, that stinks, thats the best we could do, let him know how louisville does vs florida, Im sure the rest of the SEC coaches will tell us what a great hire he is, wonder why florida didn't hire him then when Urban Meyer left. STRONG IS THE WRONG CHOICE IF THEY HIRE HIM.

I agree with your post. Tn is bowing down to all the pressure being put on the school by the News Media to hire a black coach. Remember Wade Houston and what a disaster that was ??? Same thing will happen here. Within 4 years there won't be a white player on the entire squad. Call me a racist if you want, facts are facts. All of us TN fans had better get used to being the CELLER DWELLERS in the SEC East. If Tn had to give in to the pressure of hiring a black coach they should have gone after James Franklin, that man has PROVEN he can win in the SEC, He has turned the Vandy program around and won in the SEC. If he can win at Vanderbilt he can win ANYWHERE.

Written on NCAA hits Vols football with additional penalties; tied to Willie Mack Garza:

in response to Vol86:

garbage is as garbage does. The world is so full of scum including the NCAA group. Can't wait until they screw Alabama out of a BCS title shot a couple of times and the SEC will leave the NCAA.

agree with your post. here is my proposal, see what you think about it:
Tell the NCAA to go to hell. Form a MCAA ( Major
College Athletic Assoc ) This MCAA to be made up of eight (8) 16 team conferences, each divided into 2 divisions with a Conference Championship game at seasons end. Both the conference champion AND conference champion runner up to advancfe to a 16 team National Championship playoff. Each conference champion playing another conference runner up champion in the first round of the play off. That way if a team plays consistently enough thru out the season to win its league division it will still have a chance to compete for the Natl Champ. even tho it might lose in its conference championship game. That way if the top two teams in the country come from the SAME conference, they will prove it by advancing through the rest of the conference playoff teams. Under the present system the NCAA (who has NO $$$ invested in scholarships. stadium construction or maintenence, high coaches salaries etc, but still makes more money off of college athletics than all of the colleges who pay for all these expenses.) EXAMPLE, The NCAA fines Penn State tens of millions of dollars for its role in the Jerry Sandusky fiasco. Why the hell should the NCAA get any $$$ out of that??? The NCAA suffered no harm.. All $$$ paid out due to sanduskys' transgressions should go to the victims, NOT the NCAA Also All of the big colleges who invest millions of $$ in building and maintaining huge stadiums and gymnasiums for their athletic programs won't have to worry about appeasing the NCAA who looks out for the huge number of Small colleges in order to keep them as members and make $$$ from their membership.

I could give you many, many GOOD reasons why it would benefit the top 128 major colleges to pull out from under the stupid, antiquated rules of the NCAA. Reasons that would prove beneficial to those colleges financially for not only their universities but also for the fans and the scholarship atheletes.

Written on Derek Dooley: Dave Hart 'told me he had not made a decision' :

in response to VolinCalif:

Is it Polk County Orange? Been a while since I lived in Tenn but you sound like an East Tenn person.
Don't call out the press on just Football, they stink on every issue of news that I read about. Could be that it is just here on the West Coast but I don't see it that a way.
I have a history of just plain liking all Tenn Coaches all the way back to the Gen. Yes I liked Lane , fact is I liked him a lot until he Pooed on UT . I sure didn't think the display of dislike by fans was needed.
I really like Dooley and I think he has done a good job in many ways just not on the field.
I played a lot of competitive sports and was at lease fair at most, but I lost my share also, no one likes that but that is how it is. I wish Dooley had made it, and I really like the support that Barbara showed toward him. They are good people and if he goes lets hope it is with the respect that is offered toward good people.

I don't always agree with your posts, but I do with this one. In my humble opinion you are correct on your train of thought and comments. GBO

Written on David Climer: Is Saturday's game the beginning of the end for Derek Dooley?:

Said once. will say it again. We have made our bed, now we have to sleep in it. Due to $$$$ cuts and shortages we really can NOT afford to pay Dooley his payout AND pay big $$$ for another coach. What we need to do is let Dooley serve out his contract, let Peyton play 2 more years in the NFL so he can own every QB recdord in the books and assure his NFL Hall of Fame award and let Peyton come to Tn as coach. CAN YOU IMAGINE the number of HS All Americans and 5 star players HE would be able to recruit at UT ????? Especially QBs.

With his intelligence and hard work ethic I have NO doubt he would be extremely successful.

Problem is, he will have SO MANY choices of jobs or professions to choose from when he retires from pro football ( politics, sports analyst, pro coaching, business,etc ) any of which he will be successful, will he CHOOSE to come back home and revive his alma mater out of love and concern for its football tradition and success ????

Written on John Adams: Vols should hope for lighter October in new SEC schedule :

Florida already has a big advantaage by playing most of its games in warm, sunny Florida while Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee have to play in sometimes very cold and freezing weather in November. By Florida playing Tn and Ky early in the season, the Gators never have to worry about coming North and having to contend with the cold-
der weather, thereby giving Ky and Tn absolutely NO homefield advantage. Make Florida have to play Ky, Vandy, and Tn in November in order to help give them the same homefield advantage that Florida enjoys in its home games. Of course Florida is going to fight this proposal, even though it is more fair to Ky, Vandy, and Tn.

Written on Highly-touted baseball recruit drops Vols for MTSU:

UGGG, Maybe him think " Better to be big fish in little pond than small fry in big ocean. " I'd say the boy probably has some self confidence issues and feels he can get more playing time and be more competetive playing MTSU's schedule. Nothing wrong with that. His choice. Good Luck to him.

Written on Derek Dooley doesn't expect suspended Da'Rick Rogers to return:

Its a shame that GOD sees fit to bless a young man with $10 million dollars worth of talent and only a 10 cent head to manage all that talent with. What a real dumbazz he is. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

Written on Lady Vols to 'soak it all in' before getting down to business at world series :

I did not agree with the super regional pairings and I don't agree with the World Series bracket pairings. It is very clear that both ESPN and the NCAA are tired of the SEC being the superior conference in college sports and are going to do everything they can to keep the SEC from winning yet another college national championship. I have drawn up many many National championship softball tournament bracketsin the past involving many more teams than just 8 teams. NEVER did I put two teams from the same city, state. or league playing each other in the first round. Tennessee has had to eliminate another fine SEC team in the super regionals ( Ga ) and now has to play yet another SEC team in the FIRST round of the WS. SOMEBODY does Not want the SEC to win this tournament. ( NCAA, You Think ??? )

Written on Lady Vols still in running for top-ranked recruit :

in response to BIVOLAR_BEARE:

Do like Baylor and get a man, baby!!

I agree with you 100 %. It may be years from now, but sooner or later the truth will come out. You hit the "MALE" on the head. GBO

Written on Baylor ends Lady Vols' season, 77-58 :

in response to Millisa:

I wish we could had won could had played alot better the Seniors will be missed. And the refs was horrible. Also Griner and her croanies should be suspended for the next game aint fair Baylor paid the refs off. And Griner is a man

You are absolutely correct. I've said it many times and I'll say it again. Griner is a HE or maybe an IT. I have gotten a lot of negative and sarcastic remarks on this site for posting my opinion but what it is, is what IT is. I've always been told that the truth outlives all lies and mark my words, one of these days the truth will come out about Griners true sexuality and when it does I hope Baylor and Kim Mulkey get the NCAA death penalty. If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck then it usually means it is a duck. Substitute MAN for DUCK , you get my message. GBO

Written on Mike Strange: Another sour taste for UT fans to swallow :

in response to MerlotGoVols:

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Takes one to know one. The facts speak for themselves. I don't see any big name college programs offering Fulmer OR Chavis head coaching jobs. Wonder Why ????

Written on Mike Strange: Another sour taste for UT fans to swallow :

The downward slide in the football program began ( and has continued )when Tennessee laid down and got outplayed AND outcoached in the 2001 SEC Championship game against LSU.

THAT game showed all of the college football world that Phil Fulmer and Chavis were NOT coaches who could make quick on field necessary adjustments that needed to be made, consequently they lost to an inferior team that night and it cost them a chane to play in the BCS Nat Championship game. The program has gone steadily downhill ever since that game.

Written on Lady Vols No. 2 seed, will play UT Martin :

in response to johnlg00:

The Lady Vols of recent vintage have one major Achilles heel compared to the championship teams of the past. That is a general failure to beat teams BETTER than they are. We all know they lost often enough to teams that WEREN'T as good as they are. If one could put a name on it, it would be FAILING TO RISE TO THE OCCASION. I don't know what the cause of this is or how to fix it, but they just so rarely seem to play up to their potential. Great teams are MORE than the sum of their parts. For whatever reason, this team rarely EQUALS the sum of their parts. They won't be nearly the most talented team in the tourney and at least half of them are at least as good as the LVs. If they want to win a championship or at least make a Final Four, they HAVE to find that indefinable something that makes a team play beyond themselves; half or three-quarters of what they could be, which is about their norm, just isn't going to get it done going forward.

John, I agree with the things you said in your post. The name of the intangible that keeps THIS years UT Lady Vols from being able to compete against teams with more or equal talent is: LACK OF HEART AND THE REFUSAL TO QUIT ! ! ! This team definitely has the talent to win the Nat Champ BUT they don't have the burning desire to win. " IF " the players will give their utmost effort and REFUSE to lose they can win it all. But if they don't play with that desire and burning intensity during this tournament they could be beat by any team they come up against. GBO

Written on Marino: Manning 'fits with anybody' in NFL:

in response to Down_The_Field:

i will echo the comments and say, yes, manning IS a class act. the guy once assisted my wife carrying our infant son out of a restraunt in knoxville. then took his time talking to her in the parking lot and sign an autograph. my son, who is now a teenager is one of his biggest fans. peyton is as good of a guy as he is a football player. as much as i hate to say it, which ever team he picks, i'll start pulling for them until he picks up a clip board and puts on a headset to walk the sidelines at shields-watkins field.

GO BIG ORANGE!

You expressed my sentiments exactly. If Peyton goes to Miami then I will become a Dolphin fan. GBO

Written on Tee Martin going to Southern Cal as an assistant coach, 'never got a call' from UT:

in response to volfaninvegas:

If Dooley didn't offer him, who cares? It means he didn't want him. Dooley deserves way more time than anyone is giving him.

At the same time, good for Tee Martin. He's a class act and deserves to work for a high profile team.

I'm sick of negative Nancy's on here and in Knoxville in general. I have been to enough games to know that our fans, most of them, suck. A stadium of 100K+ or even 3/4 of that should never be quiet if our fans are true. And it often is, even in the big games... even if we are down. Our fans are less consistent than our team.

For a town that is full of people that say their blood is Orange, I beg to differ. We should be the one thing that remains constant, loud, every play, every down, all the time. Nobody should silence us, no matter what. Players, coaches, etc. come and they go, but true fans do not. And if anybody, any team comes into our house, they should know, no matter what, they have to deal with us. Not as drunk idiots who start fights over a team they are knocking all over message boards (or even sober ones), but as loud obnoxious fans who CHEER AS HARD AS WE WANT OUR PLAYERS TO PLAY. NO MATTER WHAT.

But we are not. The message boards, the blog posts, the writers (although it is sometimes their job to expose the truth, but often are going far beyond journalism in expressing their lack of support), the people talking amongst their selves in Knoxville (I know many of you), are proof that we as fans are not as special as we would like every team we have to be.

I get the desire to win. I've played just about every sport you can, grew up in Knoxville, blah blah blah. As much as I love it there, it is given me too much time to realize the truth in what I am saying.

So, while everyone is pointing fingers at all the people that come through here, I wonder if they are looking in the mirror, asking their selves, do they cheer as hard as they want our players to play. Do they realize, that no matter what, they can make a difference.

Quit being a downer Danny. A negative Nancy. A negative Nick. A whiner. A female doger. A moaner, and get out there and cheer because you support this program, with faith that if the wrong people are here, they will soon go... but your support will not. If you don't do that, then you have no right to say anything really. But you have every need to look in the mirror as a fan. How's that for a reflection?

If you get what I am saying and live by it, then this isn't for you, but you should support me. If you don't, then this is for you. Please, shut up here and go scream and yell out there... FOR YOUR TEAM. Duh.

You are absolutely correct on a lot of points you made on your post. A few years ago the Vols really enjoyed a home field advantage when they played at Neyland Statium because of the strong vocal fan support that really helped to disrupt the visiting teams play. I remember when the networks broadcasting the Vol home games would show the decibel meter which registered how LOUD it was in Neyland. Now it is like a graveyard and the visiting teams have no trouble running their plays and Fan noise is no longer a problem they have to contend with. Like you posted, our Vol fans need to GET LOUD !!!!! Make Neyland Stadium a tough place to play AT again.

Written on Lady Vols seek to disrupt Kentucky's A'dia Mathies :

I truly love and respect the Lady
vols basketball tradition built by CPS and all the PAST Lady Vol teams, but I have absolutely NO respect for this current team. This team is made up of a bunch of prima donna superstars who have NO heart ( I repeat NO heart) or grit. NO go to, take charge on the court leader. Unless this team really buckles down and starts playing with hustle, desire,and intensity and up to its potential then it will be known as the WORST, NON- Achieving, laziest, good for nothing team in the history of Lady Vols basketball !!! If this is what you ladies want to be a part of, then continue to play the way you are playing now.

Written on Lowest point total in school history: Notre Dame crushes Lady Vols, 72-44:

Womens basketball is getting more and more competetive and there are many more quality players avaliable coming out of high school.

Tennessee can no longer WIN just because they have all of the talent and the other teams have much less.

Now Coach Summitt and staff are going to have to really scrutinize and carefully select their recruits and put a lot more priority on intangibles as well as talent. Example: Will this player be coachable, will she be a team player, will she be a quitter and give up when things aren't going her way???? DOES SHE HAVE HEART????

In my opinion, The players on this current squad have absolutely NO heart or grit. Are they GOOD??? Absolutely. BUT, there are a lot of GOOD players playing now with other teams, so how come Tennessee can no longer play with Baylor, Stanford, or ND ??? They haven't been able to play with Connecticutt for years. Problem??? NO HEART AND NO TRUE LEADERSHIP ON THE COURT. Coaching may be a part of it and ultimately the coaching staff has to take the blame and that blame should start with the players they recruit.
I hope the UT coaching staff reads this post and will take it as constructive criticism as it is intended and NOT become defensive or think that I know nothing about what I'm speaking. As a past coach with several state championships and 5 final four national championship finishes in the sport in which I coached, I do feel like I know something of which I talk about.
You may not agree with or like what I've posted, but what it is is what it is. Just Saying GBO

Written on Schedule envy? Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings calls foul on Kentucky's SEC schedule:

SEC people in charge have ALWAYS had their favorites and given them preferential treatment, ALABAMA in football, and KENTUCKY in basketball. Always have, Always will, so just accept it and live with it cause thats just the way it is.

Written on John Adams: UT should commit to Warlick as well as Summitt :

Pat Summitt should choose and appoint her successor. She has earned that right and you can rest assured she would choose the person to succeed her NOT based on friendship, but on who she feels would be successful and continue to carry on the winning tradition SHE has already instilled in the Womens Basketball Program at Tennessee.

Written on David Climer: James Franklin, Derek Dooley coach up heat of rivalry:

in response to Abdul_Wauhatchie_Tiftonia_Rahman_of_Orange:

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Abdul old buddy, you're beginning to make me think you don't like Coach Dooley. Or is it that you're just an ignorant dumbazz who does,nt know what the hades you're talking about ???? Why don't you go get on the Fla. Vandy, or Ala websites and share your limitless knowledge of football with them and spare us the agony of having to put up with your ignorance.

Written on Poll: Should the Vols give up the redshirt and play quarterback Justin Worley?:

in response to alfrizzle097:

Really? REALLY?!? A week ago you guys were predicting a win over Georgia which I assume would have you guys frothing at the mouth for the rest of the season...

Now there's all this drivel about how the coaches aren't cutting it and whatnot... GEORGIA HAD A BETTER ROSTER.

And before anyone says that's why you coach them up, ever stop to think Richt is coaching up his players too? I mean, this is the guy that vaulted Georgia past UT into the upper echelon of the SEC.

Spurrier, Miles, Saban, Richt, Chizik, Petrino, and even Muschamp are all pretty darn good coaches. You can do a SPECTACULAR coaching job and not out coach them. In the SEC, the players have to win individual matchups. UT doesn't have players that can do that.

You post a lot of truth my friend. There is ONE thing that separates a GOOD coach from a GREAT coach, TALENT !!!

Written on Poll: Should the Vols give up the redshirt and play quarterback Justin Worley?:

Not only NO, but HELL NO !!! keep him redshirted and play Simms, he has stayed and supported the team when Bray replaced him and has earned this chance to play. Simms is a GOOD QB and would be starting in a lot of other schools. All things considered, he did a great job last year as a starter given the quality of far superior teams he played against with a completely INEXPERIENCED line he had to play behind. Bray came in AFTER the toughest part of the schedule had been played AND the line had some experience. Not saying Bray is not a good QB, I love him and feel he will do great things before leaving UT. GBO

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