The Blue Workhorse

Over the holiday weekend, the University of Tennessee Athletic Department unveiled the new and improved compensation packages for the head coaches of the two headlining sports in Knoxville.

Both Phillip Fulmer and Bruce Pearl received what I will label as “more than modest raises.”

Obviously, the University of Tennessee is not alone in their bursting budgets and a seemingly endless flow of funds that are spent on, let’s face it, a game. The problem is that neither of these raises, regardless of amount, was justified.

Plastered over many sports-news outlets recently was the story of the Denver Broncos’ recent release of Travis Henry. Included has been much ado over his year-old contract, originally worth $22.5 million over 5 years, and the Broncos organization still choosing to part ways with the former Pro Bowl running back.

Head coach Mike Shanahan’s given reason for the departure of Henry? According the Shanahan, Henry’s behavior seemed to express a “lack of commitment” to the Broncos’ organization.

But, the story should not be that Shanahan and the front office released Henry. It should, instead, be why the Broncos even signed the troubled back to a lucrative long-term contract in the first place. Previous signs of “lack of commitment” were evident well before Henry inked his 2007 free agent contract.

One of the three SEC teams that did not make the national tournament is a Tennessee baseball team that finished 27-29 overall (the first losing season since 2002) and failed to even make the SEC tournament after having previously making the national tournament in three of five seasons from 2001-2005, including twice making the College World Series during that span. As far as this season, many point to this being the first year of a rebuilding project under Coach Todd Raleigh, and it may very well be a couple of seasons before the program can be restored to national prominence.

The question I ask myself, however, is ‘What was wrong with the University of Tennessee baseball program before Raleigh got here? ‘

After the outrage and outcry that occurred when Heisman’s first article about Bruce Pearl was sent to some Tennessee Volunteers’ web sites, and subsequently, posted on UT message boards, he felt the need to write a rebuttal to all of those upset by his original post and to clarify where his allegiances lie because being called a Kentucky fan is quite the blasphemous statement.

I am not one to jump on bandwagons, and I will not begin now. I applaud Pearl’s actions this past week, and I hope he remains consistent with these values. If so, many Volunteer basketball fans will have a team they can be proud of on and off of hardwood.

While perusing ESPN’s web site earlier this week I came across what should wrap up the award for the most ludicrous piece of legislation for this legislative calendar.

Now, many of you are probably rummaging through the remnants of news blips you have heard while flipping back and forth between sporting events trying to remember anything you can about the political process. Most of you probably can only conjure up the lyrics of School House Rock’ “Bill on Capitol Hill.” Anyway, the article referred to a bill sponsored by some of our seemingly bored Congressmen in the House of Representatives.

Representatives Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Georgia) and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) have introduced a resolution that would force the Justice Department’s Anti-Trust Division to investigate the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) as an illegitimate enterprise because of restrictions on free trade.

Driving to work a couple of days after the Tennessee Lady Volunteers won their 8th National Championship in women’s basketball, I heard something that made my blood pressure slowly begin to rise.
Before I go on, as a native Tennessean, I would like to congratulate Pat Summit and the team, as a whole, for representing themselves [...]

Something has been eating away at my soul for the past couple of months, causing me to lose sleep, have bouts with indigestion, and take a look at how I have lived my 22 years of life thus far, and how I want to finish my life on this earth.
No, it isn’t the death of [...]