CONTACT US | ADVERTISE | REGISTER       

Greetings from Gate 21

by Lawvol on February 9, 2010 in Asides

BANNER-Hello-LV-SMMy fellow citizens of Vol Nation, Greetings.

That’s right, I’m the new guy…

To some of you, I am probably familiar.  Yes, I am the “lawvol” who has pontificated from Gate 21—the site that I published for the past several years chronicling the exploits of our beloved Vols.  To others, I suppose I am a new face.  To others still, I am simply further evidence of the continuing decline of the moral fabric of our society.

Such is life…

Regardless of which category that you may fall in, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself formally before blazing a new trail here on the VN Blog.

[click to continue…]

{ 2 comments }

In case you missed it, this video of 2010 Tennessee signees from Thursday’s recruiting breakfast is a must see.

{ 0 comments }

Jonathan Crompton turned a few heads in the week leading up to the Texas vs. The Nation all-star game and he continued to do so during the contest on Saturday. Crompton, named the starter for The Nation, finished 9-20 for 102 yards with one touchdown pass in a 36-17 loss to Texas.

What they are saying:

Chad Reuter – CBSSports.com

Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton outperformed inconsistent Tim Hiller (Western Michigan) and Rusty Smith (Florida Atlantic), throwing accurate on short, intermediate and deep passes as he has done all week. The ball doesn’t explode from Crompton’s hand, but it almost always comes out tight. He gives his receiver a chance to run after the catch and has proven he’s the best 2010 draft prospect not scheduled to be at the Combine in February.

[click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

Wayne Chism scored a career-high 30 points and led Tennessee (18-4, 6-2 SEC) to a 79-53 dismantling of South Carolina (13-9, 4-4 SEC) on Saturday night in front of a packed house at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Vols, fresh off of a tough road win at LSU on Thursday night, didn’t arrive back in Knoxville until after 3:00 am Friday morning. Coaches were concerned that fatigue and lack of preparation time could be a factor.

But Tennessee looked inside to its senior big man, Wayne Chism, and he responded. Chism was nearly unstoppable when his teammates were able to get him the ball in the paint.

“I’m glad they did that. That was very good,” joked Chism after the game. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”

[click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

America’s Greatest Hypefest, also known as the Super Bowl, is upon us. Once the geriatric rockers have played, the commercials have been analyzed, and the Lombardi Trophy has been distributed, basketball will assume center stage. With that in mind, here are this week’s topics.

1. The Stranger. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle playing at South Florida. The Bulls haven’t exactly distinguished themselves since joining the Big East. Tampa isn’t exactly a hoops hotbed. However, if you perform like Dominique Jones, people will eventually take notice. Jones is scoring at a dizzying pace and USF has won 4 consecutive conference games for the first time since leaving Conference USA. This turnaround may not be enough to get Stan Heath’s club into the NCAA Tournament, but it should certainly get his star player some richly deserved recognition. That’s certainly a good first step in climbing out of the sizable shadows cast by the Goliaths that inhabit their league.

2. Pressure. With Selection Sunday coming into view on the horizon, there are some March Madness regulars with serious work to do on their resumes. Defending champion North Carolina is listing badly in ACC play. Roy Williams is learning the hard way that Larry Drew is a poor replacement for Ty Lawson. UCONN and Louisville, two teams that received #1 seeds a year ago, are both in danger of finding themselves in the NIT. Arizona’s quarter century streak of tournament appearances appears over if the Wildcats don’t win the PAC 10’s postseason gala. UCLA also needs some magic at the Staples Center to make the field. It’s a definite possibility all of those iconic programs will be on the outside looking in at The Big Dance.

[click to continue…]

{ 1 comment }

It’s like Déjà vu. We were just talking about having a slew of commitments and it’s happened once again. Regardless of the quality of athletes, one has to be impressed with what Dooley has accomplished in his short time here. While it may not be a good indicator of what’s to come, if you judge him on what he has done after being placed in the worst position imaginable in terms of recruiting, he gets straight A’s.

It’s not Dooley’s fault that Chaz Green and Ralph Williams do not want to talk to him or be recruited by Tennessee. He wasn’t even given the opportunity to explain who he is or how he does things. You cannot fault him for the prospects he doesn’t land, rather praise him for the ones he has pulled in.

[click to continue…]

{ 4 comments }

I’m calling on all you Atari gurus out there. How many of you remember playing Astroids and Space Invader on your Atari 2600? I wore my reset button out on those two games alone. Things weren’t going just right…just hit reset and start over. Well, that pretty much sums up the situation on the hill.

Here we are VolNation. This is the time of the year that we get to move in circles with the old argument. What comes first, the chicken or the egg? This is not to be confused with Chicken Little. Though there are some that would argue that the sky started falling a long time ago.

Usually I try to keep Guitar shots to a short, succinct theme. This time around it might seem like I’m rambling.

[click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

Win an SEC title? If you are wondering if aiming for a conference championship isn’t a lofty enough goal. Well, it is. . . . when that conference is the SEC. Consider the following:

In the seven BCS championship games since 2003, an SEC Champion has placed the crystal football on their mantle five times.

2003 LSU
2004 USC*
2005 TEXAS
2006 FLORIDA
2007 LSU
2008 FLORIDA
2009 ALABAMA

 
*Under NCAA investigation. Penalties which could be handed down as early as March may include stripping USC’s title.

In addition, since 2007 the SEC has averaged 5 teams in the Top 10 of Recruiting Classes (based on Rivals numbers). The recruiting numbers means a lot. It means a conference with tougher competition week in and week out.

The Chart below shows just how dominate the SEC is in recruiting, particularly factoring in that there are 120 school in the FBS offering scholarships. [click to continue…]

{ 4 comments }

It’s crazy times in Tennessee Recruiting. Just when we learn who one guy is another commits to Tennessee. Like I have been telling you faithful readers since that fateful evening, we will sign players. There is no difficulty in that. The names just might not be the same ones you were familiar with before the split.

And while we can sit here and debate whether one four star guy is better than another that we lost, we have talent and more importantly, we have stability in our program.

I will try and address as many names as possible.

[click to continue…]

{ 3 comments }

Tennessee’s football program is putting together the final  pieces of its 2010 recruiting class.   Coach Dooley and his staff have garnered good momentum for a strong finish. While this class is at present the priority, there are still several coaching vacancies.

[click to continue…]

{ 2 comments }