Tennessee football
- Volquest.com is reporting that the strength and conditioning coach stalemate has been broken, with Mark Smith agreeing to receive his entire contracted salary in monthly installments unless he finds another job, in which case, he'll either get nothing or the difference between that other job's salary and what Tennessee promised him. Flip a coin on whether he joins some other staff as a GA and makes Tennessee foot the bill.
- It's Tennessee preview week over at Team Speed Kills. Yesterday: Past as present. Today: Lane Kiffin is a lying liar who lies a lot. Oh, sorry, that was a fabricated quote from Al Davis. Or was it?
- Gate 21 compares and contrasts Lane Kiffin's wrongdoings with Alabama's and has Kiffin repeating things on the chalkboard while 'Bama's in the principal's office. I don't recall exactly what Kiffin did to mules to warrant restitution, but there it is. I'll have to ask Jackson.
- GVX's weekend coaching profile was on Frank Wilson, who's a really interesting dude.
- Inside Tennessee says the wide receiving corps should be "significantly improved" this season. Let's hope.
- No, I haven't forgotten about the Best Plays of 2008. Will do the final post soon.
Tennessee basketball
- Scotty Hopson scored 49 points in a 130-123 victory for the News Sentinel team over Ray's ESG. Defense, boys.
SEC
- A Sea of Blue indulges in a Moment of Panic upon hearing that Jodie Meeks will in fact enter the NBA Draft and taking his three-point shot with him. The bright side? "[W]e are going to get a lot of practice playing against zone defenses next year . . . ."
- Spencer Hall says not to get too excited about the report of Urban Meyer scrapping the spread in favor of a pro-style. I think he's just nervous. ;-)
- Sporting News ranks the non-conference schedules of the SEC teams and finds Georgia's to be the strongest, Ole MIss's to be the weakest, Georgia vs. Oklahoma State to be the best game, and Charleston Southern at Florida to be the worst game. Tennessee has the 5th-toughest non-con schedule and the 5th-best non-con game in UCLA.
- Dr. Saturday's latest premature assessment concerns Tennessee's evil twin: Auburn. The Doc's more pessimistic about the Tigers than about the Vols, so there's that.
- If Les Miles wasn't coaching football, he'd be a cable guy or a telephone repairman?
- If you like baseball, keep an eye on LSU, who destroyed Arkansas 9-1 yesterday in the College World Series.
NCAA
- Tomahawk Nation has a fantastic post containing everything you ever wanted to know about defensive line play. This is your required reading of the day -- and it will take that long, too.
- The Only Colors takes a look at the offensive efficiency stat Yards Per Play.
Just for fun
- Iowa umpire ejects the entire crowd.