Hey! Do you see that? Right there. Up on the horizon. It's not a mirage. It's the 2008 football season finally coming into view.

ESPN just kicked off College Football Live, its daily college football show. Brent Musberger was perfectly awkward anchoring the thing, and the filler was quite evident in the form of a Rapid Fire segment in which Musberger asked Bobby Petrino a series of questions like the last book he read and the last movie he saw (The Secret and Dark Knight, by the way), and a viewer poll about which team between Texas Tech and Oregon, I think it was, had the best helmet. Okay, then.

But it was football.

Todd Blackledge and Mark May joined Brent in the studio, and Kirk Herbstreit chimed in from somewhere in sunny Cal to fawn continuously over Matthew Stafford's delivery. Okay, then again.

But it was football.

The news of the day from an orange perspective, though, is that Mark May included Jonathan Crompton in his list of QBs to watch this year and also named Tennessee as his sleeper for the national championship "due to the offensive line." Woo for Mr. May.

CFL isn't the only whiff of autumn in the air, though, as SEC Media Days starts today with the following schedule:

Interview Schedule for Wednesday, July 23
FLORIDA GATORS (1:10 - 3:10 pm) Urban Meyer QB Tim Tebow OT Phil Trautwein	MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (1:10 - 3:10 pm) Sylvester Croom QB Wesley Carroll LB Jamar Chaney	LSU TIGERS (3:10 - 5:10 pm) Les Miles C Brett Helms DE Tyson Jackson	VANDERBILT COMMODORES (3:10 - 5:10 pm) Bobby Johnson S Reshard Langford WR George Smith

The SEC Sports site says that they're offering free live video and audio, but it's not working for me. Perhaps it's just too early.

So, bullets:

• Will anyone be able to hear anything Urban Meyer says if he's speaking at the same time as the thunder-voiced Sylvester Croom?
  
• What do you think is the relative size between the room booked for LSU's 3:10 session and the one booked for Vandy's 3:10 session? Especially in light of the fact that Les Miles is the only coach likely to say anything truly interesting and Vandy is, well, you know.
• Prepare your templates for generating your own news: Coach A: "We're really excited this year about our [most experienced unit of the team.] We have some concerns about the [least experienced unit of the team.] We have a tremendous opportunity to do something special this year, but [opponent X] is really going to present a challenge.
• [Note by Joel, 07/23/08 9:02 AM EDT ] DawgSports has a list of questions he'd be asking the SEC coaches if he were there. I wish he were.
• Also, Garnet and Black Attack has credentials, man, and he's live-blogging the thing.

Tennessee's up tomorrow, by the way. They're a sleeper for the national championship. don't you know.

GVX is reporting that  Phillip Fulmer is a grandfather. Fulmer's daughter Courtney gave birth to Joseph Phillip Peace in Austin, Texas on Monday.Courtney's married to Robert Peace. Yes, that Robert Peace, the former UT linebacker.

Robert and Courtney's little nugget is almost certainly already decked out in Vol garb from itty-bitty squishy head to cutesy-wootsy wittle toes. Sources say that Fulmer has already rebuked Robert for holding onto the baby like a loaf of bread. Upon hearing these stern words, though, Little Joseph, being the son of a linebacker, reportedly hauled off and planted Grandpapa on his tail with a perfect form tackle, at which time Fulmer offered him a scholarship for 2026.

Congratulations to all involved, and coach, just kidding about the "old" thing. You're still an entire generation away from Paterno.

Roundtablin' time again. I'll be hosting this week, which means I have the questions this morning and a round up of everyone else's answers Friday-ish. Last week's roundup is over at The Power T. Readers, chime in with your responses below. They can make the roundup, too, you know.

All right, then. Questions:

1. For some inexplicable reason, Phillip Fulmer invites Urban Meyer, Mark Richt, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Tommy Tuberville over to his palatial estate for a dinner party. At 2:00 a.m. the next morning, The Papa discovers that Smokey IX has been murdered. Who did it, with what, and where? Think Clue. You know, Mr. Mustard in the parlor with the candlestick?

Tommy Tuberville, in the trophy room with the crystal football. Since the time he arrived for dinner at 8:00, he'd listened to seemingly endless boasts from Fulmer, Meyer, Spurrier, Saban and Miles about their national championship seasons. Every time Tuberville mentioned his perfect season, the others just smiled condescendingly, reminding him with their eyes that "perfect" was something less than "champion." Tuberville had had enough by 1:30, but when he saw what he believed to be a snarky look from Smokey, he gave in to his outrage and put an end to both Smokey's smug look and the crystal football all in one fell swoop.

2. Who between Eric Berry for the defense and Gerald Jones for the Clawfense will have the biggest impact for the Vols in 2008?

I'm going with Jones here. Berry makes the entire defense better, allowing the corners to play tight and with aggression in the comfort of knowing that not only Berry, but Morley as well, have their backs. Knowing the defensive backs are in good shape, Chavis should be able to mix up the blitzes and help get pressure on the quarterback, which will make things easier for the defensive line.

That's all good, of course, but Jones potentially gives the offense something we've not had for too many years: a consistent, dynamic playmaker. Taylor, Briscoe, and Rogers are good, but they're not dynamic. Same for Arian Foster. Robert Meachem was very, very good, but mostly because of his speed, size, and strength rather than that "it" factor. LaMarcus Coker had "it," but he also had "it," and therefore divided his time between the field and the doghouse.

Jones has the right kind of "it," and the somewhat veiled comments from Clawson seem to indicate that Clawson not only recognizes Jones' wow factor, and not only wants to develop a handful of plays for him, but wants to develop an entire package for and perhaps the entire offense around him. If that happens, we'll see an offense we haven't seen in a long time, one for which fans have been clamoring for what seems like seasons upon seasons.

3. You devise a way to harness the Lost island's temporal displacement properties. The island will allow you to change one thing, but one thing only, in the history of the Tennessee Volunteer football program. What do you change? By the way, Ben warns that if you try to say "2005" or any other entire season, the mysterious clicking black smoke will sound its wailing siren, shoot from the earth, grab you by the ankles, and pound you to a pulp against a palm tree. So change only one thing. Unless, of course, you like that sort of thing.

I'd undo the hobnail boot from 2001. That was not only a soul- (and face-) crushing defeat, it was apparently the tipping point for Georgia under Mark Richt. And worse yet, it destroyed what would have ranked as one of the most amazing finishes in Vol history. I can't locate the video or an article synopsis, so this is from memory, but if I recall correctly, we were behind something like 17-20 with time and hope running out when the QB threw a screen to Travis Stephens, which Stephens took for a 62-yard touchdown, the lead, and what each fan in Neyland Stadium was viewing as certain, dramatic victory. The memory of the replay is especially vivid because it's one of those shaky camera replays. You know, where the crowd was so raucous that the stadium was actually shaking.

It would have been one of the best, most dramatic plays in Tennessee history, but it was all undone by the hobnail boot. So yeah, let's correct that.

4. What about the future? What is your worst fear for this upcoming season, the turn of events that would send you into a blind rage?

My biggest worry is that the Clawfense will struggle against Florida and, rather than chalking it up to the fact that we're, you know, playing Florida, Fulmer instead concludes that there's something wrong with Clawson and/or his offensive philosophy, and yanks away the reigns. If that happens, Clawson is finished, and we're back to where we were when Randy Sanders was the offensive coordinator but really wasn't in control.

Be on the lookout the rest of this week for responses from our fellow roundtablers:

• Southeastern Sports Blog
• 3rd Saturday in Blogtober
• YMSWWC
• Fulmer's Belly???
• The World According to Moondog
• The Power T
• Gate 21
• Loser With Socks

"Post-Eric Berry Wall"
Photo by: Dano

• Eric Berry has added "probably 15 pounds of lean muscle mass" in the off season. If he would have had that last year, Tyler Donovan's head would have come clean off in the end zone of the Outback Bowl. And by the way, the phrase "lean muscle mass" is my new favorite phrase.
  
• 3rd Saturday in Blogtober has a scoop on the Vols' new road unis.
• The BruceBall Blog has terminated his lease and moved to a nice beachfront property of his own at a new domain. Update your bookmarks and blogrolls, y'all, and stop by to leave him a house-warming comment.
  
• Will at Southeastern Spots Blog relives the 1998 Upset Saturday, the day that ended with Vol fans making reservations for Tempe. Will also makes the point that a QB doesn't have to be a star to lead a team to the national championship by observing that Tee Martin's 1998 highlight reel consists of only a Six-Fingered-Man handful of plays. Remember this when the pundits question the 2008 Vols' chances under first year starter Jonathan Crompton for the 100th time.
  
• Erik Ainge signs with the New York Jets . . . and becomes left-handed. Huh. 
• Arian Foster needs only 684 yards to break Travis Henry's career rushing record. Quite a feet. Yeah, feet. Uh-huh. Okay.
  
• I may have more on this later, but in case I forget or run out of time, attention, or breath, don't miss the House Rules for College Football.

Just a few quick links this morning:

• Gate 21 is infiltrating the enemy. He's been captured, but, surprisingly, he's being treated very well.
  
• The BruceBall Blog found treasure in his attic while moving. Nothing in my attic but empty boxes. What's in yours?
  
• 3rd Saturday in Blogtober takes a look at the key Vol injuries this offseason. So far, it's looking like we'll be fine. Fingers crossed and hands clasped.
  
• YMSWWC takes a look at the little known new features of EA Sports NCAA 2009 Football, including one that makes Ohio State automatically lose in the national championship game if paired up against an SEC team. I still want the feature where any player that gets within a yard of Eric Berry immediately arrests, keels over, and is thereafter confined to the latest addition to Neyland Stadium, the Calhoun's Concourse Crypt.
  
• Southeastern Sports Blog's new favorite thing? CBS College Sports channel. Partial reason:

  Tue 9:00 PM - 2003 Tennessee at Alabama (5 OT)
  Fri 9:00 PM - 1996 Alabama at Tennessee (Jay Graham)
  Sun 12:00 PM - 2007 Tennessee at Kentucky (4 OT)
  
  

 

Reason enough, aye?

• Early returns on this week's Big Orange Roundtable: Fulmer's Belly (in verse!), Gate 21, Southeastern Sports Blog, YMSWWC, 3rd Saturday in Blogtober, and The Power T. Apologies if I've missed anyone.

Auto-updated feed on the Northern Illinois Huskies football team. They're fifth on the schedule for the 2008 Volunteer football team. Thought maybe perhaps I might should add that.

Huh. Photo by carbonNYC.

• This is odd. The Tennessee Sports Writers Association has both honored coach Fulmer as the college football coach of the year and John Adams as columnist of the year in large part for calling for Fulmer's head. Go figure. But don't hurt yourself.
• Jonathan Crompton will be writing a column for The Sporting News this fall. Perhaps he'll write a hoax about a rival selling cocaine and uzis, blending puppies into delicious smoothies, and being the best man at Osama Bin Laden's recent wedding to his most-prized goat. Or maybe he'll just leave out the humor, leave in the cocaine, and get waist deep in the stink.
• 3rd Saturday in Blogtober has the first Big Orange Roundtable Roundup. Good stuff from all over the orange 'sphere. 
• The secret of SEC speed revealed.
• Two safeties are out for the Florida due to knee injuries. Hard news for the Gators' already-weakest link.
• The UCLA Bruins apparently have the best set of coordinators in the Pac-10 and one of the best in the country, according to The Sporting News, via Inside Tennessee.
• The first hint of the season is coming into view in eight days in the form of SEC Media Days. 
• Inside Tennessee is continuing is Best of Fulmer Era series with articles on kickoff return men (including Peerless Price and Leonard Scott), punt return men (including Terry Fair, Mark Jones, and, a bit surprisingly, Jonathan Hefney), punters (including only one person surnamed Colquitt), and safeties (headlined by Deon Grant and Jason Allen).
  
• The biggest distinction between this year's recruiting class (so far) and last year's? Stability. Also, receivers coach Latrell Scott is a well-traveled, and efficient, man.

Stuff I heard on my iPod while eating lunch in my car, vaguely half remembered, probably incorrectly, un- fact-checked or otherwise verified, and probably just made up in between sips of aspartame.

• The Papa got a $350,000 raise. He'll make $2.4M in 2008, and his salary will escalate to $3.3M by 2014.

• Bruce Pearl got a $300,000 raise, and he'll make $1.6M this season. His contract rises to $2.5M by 2014, and he also got a $250,000 bonus and an upfront retention bonus of $1.5M.

• Brian "Da Neighborhood" Williams has gained weight, but it's mostly muscle. He's currently at 275 and wants to get down to 270 for the season. He didn't get a raise.
  

• For anyone considering a career in the transactional practice of law to avoid those nasty litigation deadlines: every one of a transactional attorney's projects is due now. 
• Okay. There's this, from Tyler Smith, who was understandably thinking about last night's NBA draft:
  

  "If you're in the top 13, you'll get at least $3 million. Late first round, $800,000 to $900,000, then you take taxes out, and I get myself a nice new car, and there's no money left."

  
  So just what kind of car does Tyler (aside: hey, I just realized we can start calling him "Smith" now) have in mind?
  
• And there's this: Josh Nunes' Upland High School is catching Big Orange fever: Parents wearing orange and power Ts, Tennessee fans planning a trip to Nunes' season-opener and "turning loose a bunch of orange and white balloons," and discussing the re-scheduling of a Labor Day practice so that the team could all watch the Tennessee-UCLA game.
• Brian Williams has a new nickname: Da Neighborhood.
• Inside Tennessee on the Best middle linebackers of the Fulmer Era.
• And Brian's article/post on the zone stretch will take the rest of your day and will be worth every minute.