- Leave your pic-a-nic baskets at home. Last year's lesson is one for the ages, including this year.
- I'm on deadline. Go figure. Be looking for a guest column I'll be doing for the Thursday edition of The Daily 49er, assuming I'm able to get it to Patrick this morning before 9:00 PST. "Real life intervenes, so apologies for the light posting today" doesn't look so good in the newspaper, I'm guessing. Just kidding -- it's already written.
- The Return of the Uh-Oh Stat. The Vols are 61st out of the 65 NCAA Tournament teams in free throw percentage.
- Smile, James, smile! If you have access to GoVolsXtra, check out this video by Erin Chapin of the Vols' reaction to the announcement of their 5th seed in the NCAA Tournament. Chris Lofton's smile (in reaction to being referred to as "James" Lofton during the announcement, I'm guessing) is priceless. And just how tall is Dane Bradshaw, eight feet? Either that, or Chapin is the size of a hobbit. (An aside: my hobbit name is "Olo Bleecker-Baggins of Fair Downs." What's yours?
- Greatest hits, various artists. If you're just not feeling the excitement for this season's Big Dance, you need help. Head over to CBS Sportsline, which has finished its countdown of the greatest moments in NCAA Tourney history.
- We can rebuild him. We have the technology. Ainge in Orange has elected to have surgery to repair his torn meniscus Monday, which has a longer recovery period but is the best long-term solution for Ainge. They're hoping Ainge "will be back" as early as June and by July at the latest. If you read the linked article to the end, you'll notice an interesting comment attributed to Ainge's father. While they still don't know for sure how or when the injury occurred, Doug Ainge apparently said that there was a chance that it happened on the play during the South Carolina game during which he sprained his ankle. Ainge's first injury on a questionable play call (the shoulder, against Notre Dame) led to The Season of Which We Do Not Speak. His sprained ankle on a questionable play call last year at least contributed to losses to LSU and Arkansas. Could it throw next season into a funk as well?
- More green, less red, please. One last thing. If you've had too much basketball this week, head over to MGoBlog and fool around with his excellent third down efficiency widget. Let me know what you find out.
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Rocky Top Talking Points: mood-altering media edition
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