Talking Points: Gerald Jones out, freshmen in

by Joel Hollingsworth on Aug 24, 2009 7:51 AM EDT in Rocky Top Talking Points

Back in the saddle with minimal sunburn after a fine vacation of doing absolutely nothing. Ready for the season, and ready for this morning's Talking Points:

Sigh. Another receiver goes down, and this time it's No. 1 target Gerald Jones for four to six weeks. Hooper's all over the injury and it's impact on the team. As hooper notes, this means that Tennessee will be relying even more on freshmen than we had anticipated, which in turn means that we're likely to see a lot of the following guys early in 2009, which thrills my heart, which makes one too many "whiches" for this sentence: DTs Montori Hughes and Marlon Walls, RBs Bryce Brown (assuming he gets eligible . . . please!) and David Oku, WRs Nu'Keese Richardson and Marsalis Teague, DBs Janzen Jackson, Darren Myles, and Mike Edwards, and LB Jerod Askew, among others. John Adams is already in love with Bryce Brown, by the way, but who isn't? And Adams is also wondering when August will end, but who isn't?

It's huge! Team Speed Kills augments CBS's SEC Preview with its own ultimate, comprehensive, encyclopedic SEC Preview. Florida's the team to beat. Oh, I'm sorry, did I spoil the ending? ;-)

And bonus, embeddable video from CBS. See, SEC? This is how it works. Make it available and people will pass it around. I just used CBS's brand three times in one paragraph.

Remember Jesse Scroggins? Yeah, well, we're not giving up on him.

Kicks. With all of the talk about quarterbacks and freshmen and those huge concerns for the Vols, the concerns about the kicking game have sort of gotten lost. But that's improving as well. Daniel Lincoln was three of three at Saturday's scrimmage (from 23, 40, and 47 yards), and coaches are pleased with Chad Cunningham's progress, too. We still don't have anyone who can get the ball into the end zone on kickoffs, though (not until next year), so we'll have to see how coverage is before we get too comfortable.

Goodbye . . . what's that awful smell? Spencer Hall of EDSBS.com says goodbye to his friends and enemies at Sporting News.

Woo! In other fine news, Bruce Pearl says that his team is going to press this year. Somebody give me a woo.

Guilty. Geoff Calkins says John Calipari has no defense for one of Memphis's entire season getting sucked into the black hole with the NCAA logo on it.

This bullet point sponsored by Home Depot. Nice feature on the Sullins' boys, whose antics taught their parents the fine art of drywalling. Public service, you know.

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Comments

I know it's 12 days to football

But the return of the press in basketball is the best news of the day

Will - Rocky Top Talk

by Will Shelton on Aug 24, 2009 9:25 AM EDT reply actions

Some are saying Jones may be back for the UCLA game

Fingers crossed.

by rblakeh on Aug 24, 2009 10:12 AM EDT reply actions

That Scroggins article made me laugh.

Jacques Smith really should have an office in the athletic department and a company phone.

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it."

by Getoffmyvols on Aug 24, 2009 10:52 AM EDT reply actions

Since it's a pay link, anyone wanna give me the gist without violating their copyright/content rules?

by memphispete on Aug 24, 2009 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, sorry about that

Hectic morning.

The gist is that UT commit Jacques Smith is continuing to call Scroggins and asking him to take a visit to Tennessee this fall despite his commitment to Southern Cal, and Scroggins appears to be at least open to taking the visit.

Rocky Top Talk

by Joel Hollingsworth on Aug 24, 2009 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Thanks & it's completely cool. I'm the one being cheap and you are keeping us informed. Great work.

by memphispete on Aug 24, 2009 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions

CBS Knuckleheads Have TN @ #4 SEC East - behind "Superior"

“Woo!” on the return of the press and the importance of TN Hoops.

I still don’t know how Calipari gets away with using an illegal player – one who cheated on his SAT’s – without a personal penalty. Could someone please investigate Worldwide Wes?

by memphispete on Aug 24, 2009 11:15 AM EDT reply actions

Do you want him investigated now,

or would you rather wait a little bit and let the Kentucky vacated-game ante build up a bit first?

;-)

by David Hooper on Aug 24, 2009 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

after X years in Memphis, watching the used car salesman in action, I'd rather fry him now.

assuming he’s guilty of the allegations, of course…. ;)

by memphispete on Aug 24, 2009 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Kentucky? Sanctions? Never!

I find it fascinating that the Calipari/Pitino rivalry has returned – at two different schools yet again.

I find their moral character more fascinating. If this results in Door 2: The Opening, this is a win.

Eric Berry for sending the guy who wins the Heisman spinning 720 degrees in the air at the podium - or for intercepting it and returning it to where it rightfully belongs

by Chris Pendley on Aug 24, 2009 8:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Chuckle... it does raise interesting questions for the Pope, doesn't it?

by memphispete on Aug 24, 2009 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions

For those unfamiliar

Pitino and Calipari are both nominally Catholic. At what point are they excommunicated for publicly embarrassing the Church – Pitino for his affair/abortion payments and Calipari for his repeated cheating through intermediaries?

[Not a slam against the Church and – yes – everyone misses the mark. But this is pretty high profile, and I don’t like either coach, so I am going to take advantage of their foibles.]

We should begin referring to Calipari as the Godfather. He never pulls the trigger himself – he always works through a paid flunkie (like, say, um, I don’t know, let’s pick someone completely at random… hey, that guy over there at the AAU games – Worldwide Wes)

by memphispete on Aug 25, 2009 8:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Door 2

We have to remember that door. If things start turning south in Lexy, we must find somebody to run a live feed of a UK door. Any door on the athletic complex is fine. Maybe that one that the reporters chased Gillispie through when he was faking that cell phone conversation.

by David Hooper on Aug 24, 2009 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions