Best of pearl

#29
#29
Ericvol2096 said:
My favorite personal moment was during Pearls first year when we were waiting outside of TBA for the Florida game that year. We were all out there drinking having a great time so excited for the game but had been out there forever.

Pearl then came out and gave an awesome speech and passed out tons of pizza. It was so awesome and I have loved him ever since.
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Mom's always say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Pearl's no fool. :)
 
#32
#32
Last year's tourney run will be the thing that sticks with me the most. There have been so many good times over the past 6 years that it's tough to even remember all of them. It was great knowing each November that we were going to field a competitive basketball team. My favorite player of the Pearl era was without a doubt Wayne Chism. It was just fun to watch that guy play. When it was all said and done, I'd say he's one of my top 3-4 all time favorite Vols in any sport.
 
#34
#34
DocVol said:
Elite 8. #1 ranking. Pre-season NIT Tourney win. Team entering through the crowd. 2008 outright SEC title. 6 straight NCAA tourneys. Fundraising. Charity work. Brining TN back to relevance.
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Actually C.J. Watson asked if they could do that and Buzz told him no and when Bruce arrived he said yes. That shows what a players coach Bruce was. As for the topic at hand I have got to say Bruce painting up for the ladyu Vols game because it showed unlike most coaches here that have shown they were intimidated by Pats success. Bruce however embraced her and that the 2 could coexist. It also showed he wasn't the uptight type and the players took to that as well as get us nationally talked about. pardon the Interruption loved the guy.
 
#35
#35
The other thing I'll miss about Bruce was the excitement of the fans surrounding the program while he was coach. My dad's old company had 4 season tickets to basketball, and he would always pick them up and give them to me when nobody at the office would take them, which was most of the time. To this day, along with all my other game tickets that I save, I have STACKS of unused basketball tickets because I was lucky if I could rope one friend into going to games with me, much less use all 4. Hardly anybody gave a crap about UT basketball during the Buzz years. All that changed in the fall of '05. I never got the tickets again after that, and had to start paying to go to the games, but it was well worth it. Bruce and the good times he brought to UT basketball will be sorely missed, but it was one hell of a ride even if it feels like it's getting cut far too short.
 
#36
#36
Sittin in Smokey's cafeteria my sophomore year when Bruce walked in, pulled up a chair and proceeded to give a speech to the entire cafeteria about how we were gonna kick somebody's a** (I don't remember which team we were playing that night). He did this multiple times but I was there for the first one. It gave me chills and I was ready to lace em up. I don't know who we'll get next but we'll never get a coach that pulled together a fan base and connected with them like he did! We lost a true vol today and a friend!
 
#37
#37
The win over Memphis.

"We may not be the best team in the country, but we're 20 minutes from being the #1 Team in the country" (IIRC)

AND

Calapari having to eat the "PJ" remark
 
#38
#38
I went to school with his daughter, and on her birthday, he brought cake in and gave a piece to anyone he saw. Bruce was a good guy, and will be missed around here.
 
#39
#39
Pearl is my favorite coach of all time. The best games for me were:
2006 at Florida
2010 Ohio State and into the elite eight
2008 at Memphis
2010 Kansas
2006 at Kentucky
2006 Florida
 
#40
#40
Bringing back the Blazer. Being #1 for a few hours. The Elite 8. Texas, Kansas, Memphis, Kentucky, Florida, and at the very end, one game away from Duke.
 
#41
#41
I've been reading on here for quite some time and finally decided to post. I've been following UT hoops since the Ernie and Bernie days. I haven't had as much enjoyment as what Pearl brought in the last 6 years. To say that he will be missed is an understatement to me. When we look back in 10, 15, 20 years (if we're still living), this will go down as one of the most memorable eras in UT hoops. Unfortunately, it had to end way too early (at least to the non-haters).

Here's my list in no particular order:

  • Reconnecting with former players and bringing them back into the fold with the family of UT hoops
  • Retiring Bernie, Ernie and Houston's jerseys
  • Pearl's body paint
  • Pearl riding the zamboni at the Preds hockey game during his 1st year on the job
  • Cafeteria speeches
  • Speaking to about every group he could to get the word out on UT hoops and selling the program
  • Predicting his team was going to kick Florida and Tiger High's ass and then going out and doing it
  • Sweeping our lil brother Candy's ass three times
  • The Big Orange jacket
  • The sweep over Florida in his 1st year
  • Bradshaw's steal and bucket against Florida to win the East in the 1st year
  • Bradshaw's tip in over Ok State to win at the GEC
  • Lofton's steal and throw down court to Bradshaw against Florida at home during the 1st year
  • Lofton's many huge 3's
  • The full court press and turnovers created on out of bounds plays
  • Tyler Smith sticking it up an opponent's nose
  • The win over Ky at Rupp in his 1st year and Pearl ripping his shirt off in the locker room Hulkamania style
  • Going to the SEC tourney and actually thinking we had a chance to win a few games for once (even if we always didn't)
  • Wins over Texas (x2)
  • Winning record over every SEC team but Ky during the Pearl tenure
  • 6 straight NCAA's
  • Huge win over #1 Kansas with a depleted roster
  • #1 Tiger High vs. #2 UT with the good guys winning
  • Ranked #1 for the first time ever
  • 3 Sweet 16's
  • Beating Ohio St for our very first Elite 8
  • Telling the Memphis reporter he just asked a horsesh*t question
  • Not afraid to play anyone, anywhere
  • Taking busloads of fans down to Athens and taking over their gym
  • Williams' buzzer beater at UGA
  • Demolishing Pitt
  • Going into every season thinking we could beat anyone for the first time in, well, forever
  • And being a thorn in every SEC team's side and loving it.
 
Last edited:
#42
#42
OrangeBalls said:
I've been reading on here for quite some time and finally decided to post. I've been following UT hoops since the Ernie and Bernie days. I haven't had as much enjoyment as what Pearl brought in the last 6 years. To say that he will be missed is an understatement to me. When we look back in 10, 15, 20 years (if we're still living), this will go down as one of the most memorable eras in UT hoops. Unfortunately, it had to end way too early (at least to the non-haters).

Here's my list in no particular order:

  • Reconnecting with former players and bringing them back into the fold with the family of UT hoops
  • Retiring Bernie, Ernie and Houston's jerseys
  • Pearl's body paint
  • Pearl riding the zamboni at the Preds hockey game during his 1st year on the job
  • Cafeteria speeches
  • Speaking to about every group he could to get the word out on UT hoops and selling the program
  • Predicting his team was going to kick Florida and Tiger High's ass and then going out and doing it
  • Sweeping our lil brother Candy's ass three times
  • The Big Orange jacket
  • The sweep over Florida in his 1st year
  • Bradshaw's steal and bucket against Florida to win the East in the 1st year
  • Bradshaw's tip in over Ok State to win at the GEC
  • Lofton's steal and throw down court to Bradshaw against Florida at home during the 1st year
  • Lofton's many huge 3's
  • The full court press and turnovers created on out of bounds plays
  • Tyler Smith sticking it up an opponent's nose
  • The win over Ky at Rupp in his 1st year and Pearl ripping his shirt off in the locker room Hulkamania style
  • Going to the SEC tourney and actually thinking we had a chance to win a few games for once (even if we always didn't)
  • Wins over Texas (x2)
  • Winning record over every SEC team but Ky during the Pearl tenure
  • 6 straight NCAA's
  • Huge win over #1 Kansas with a depleted roster
  • #1 Tiger High vs. #2 UT with the good guys winning
  • Ranked #1 for the first time ever
  • 3 Sweet 16's
  • Beating Ohio St for our very first Elite 8
  • Telling the Memphis reporter he just asked a horsesh*t question
  • Not afraid to play anyone, anywhere
  • Taking busloads of fans down to Athens and taking over their gym
  • Williams' buzzer beater at UGA
  • Demolishing Pitt
  • Going into every season thinking we could beat anyone for the first time in, well, forever
  • And being a thorn in every SEC team's side and loving it.
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Good first post and welcome. I think we will regret letting
Pearl go in the years to come as we sink back into the
quagmire of irrelevancy.
 
#45
#45
The university has made the right decision to fire him. I completely understand and agree 100%. That being said, Pearl was one of a few coaches that could reinvigorate the program. Yes there are certainly better coaches out there, but again, it is unlikely most of them could have done what Pearl did for the program. We should all be thankful (even the posters that hate him) for the manner in which he rebuilt the program. I will miss him, but I am also ready to move on.
 
#46
#46
knowthevols said:
Good first post and welcome. I think we will regret letting
Pearl go in the years to come as we sink back into the
quagmire of irrelevancy.
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You going to have to drop this line of thinking. With the right hire, the program WILL NOT sink back to a level of irrelevancy.
 
#47
#47
What about playing schedules that with top rpi ratings every year. All of these things are gone. Tennessee will now go back to mediocrity.
 
#48
#48
Anytime we walked into Memorial Gym and painted it orange with a W. Also busting Memphis in the mouth every time we played them. (I hate in-state schools)
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