OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Vanderbilt
Your Humble Scribe has to admit he is baffled. He works in a managerial position where a goodly number of the employees are teens and early twenty-year olds. I have tried every traditional motivational method I've ever heard of to keep them focused, upbeat and on task. Sometimes the methods work. Most times they don't. Just when did we lose the concept of, just do your damned job BECAUSE IT'S YOUR JOB?
One would think that the prospect of a 9-3 season and a trip to the Sugar Bowl would inspire Butch's troops to redouble their efforts. Beyond that, one would imagine that pride would also be involved against a traditional foe. All that stood in their way were the otherwise hapless Vanderbilt Commodores.
The Vols had one job: beat Vandy.
One thing that's been pointed out in these maunderings is that teams have a tendency to pile on when things go well but when things don't they fold like a dishrag. The Gen'rul warns of this in Maxim #3. Unfortunately, he was writing in a different time.
There is a biography of Vince Lombardi titled When Pride Still Mattered.
This writer used to ponder that title as pride is something that has ALWAYS mattered to him. Pride is doing a job well. Pride is doing your best no matter how mundane the task. Pride is working and serving alongside others with a determination to not let them down.
I know a number of our younger veterans and they seem to be able to do this and know how to respond to a direct order. The kids who never served have no such frame of reference and cause much head scratching.
Does pride still matter?
******
The Old Sea Dog was in charge. The striking power he commanded was breathtaking.
The Third Fleet consisted Task Force 38 with three Carrier Task Groups marshaling a total of thirteen Essex-class fleet carriers and Independence-class light carriers. Additionally there were modern fast battle ships that could be detached to form Task Force 34, the most powerful battle line ever.
The Old Sea Dog was none other than Admiral William F. Halsey, known as Bill to his colleagues and Bull to a fawning press that had latched on to his ebullient and confident manner as he revived the Navy's and Marine Corps morale and effectiveness during the darkest days of the Guadalcanal campaign and led a comeback that is still discussed in classes at the Naval Academy and at Quantico.
Indeed, the Fleet was so large that Halsey could not see all his ships even from his lofty perch aboard the battleship USS New Jersey. This would prove a problem.
Halsey's star had already been tarnished in the higher commands of the Navy for a series of questionable decisions during the recent Battle of Leyte Gulf that nearly resulted in disaster for the escort carriers and old battleships covering the landings.
17 December 1944 found Halsey and the Third Fleet sailing in heavy weather. The winds were whistling and the seas growing rougher and rougher. Ships on the fringes of the fleet kept sending weather data and reports indicationg that this was something far worse than a normal storm.
It was a typhoon, later code-named Typhoon COBRA. And brother, did this cobra pack a bite.
Halsey and his staff meteorologist weighed the reports and decided against shifting course and the Third Fleet plowed on directly into the fury of Typhoon COBRA. For the nest eighteen hours the fleet fought one of its most implacable foes. By the time they cleared the storm, three destroyers had capsized with the loss of 800 men. Several carriers had suffered serious damage as planes broke loose on the filght or hangar decks and crashed into bulkheads or other planes and many fires were started. Two of the light carriers nearly capsized as well and their survival could only be attributed to masterful ship-handling, luck, and God.
A Court of Inquiry was convened when the Fleet returned to Ulithi harbor and Halsey was judged to have primary responsibility for the disaster. However, higher command decided to heed Lincoln's dictum that, I cannot spare this man, he fights. Halsey kept his command.
Less than six months later, Halsey found himself again facing heavy seas and growing winds. On 4 June 1945, while operating off Okinawa Rear Admiral J.J. Clark commanding Task Group 38.1 saw an ominous shadow on his radar, He'd seen this before. It was another typhoon, this one named VIPER. Clark repeatedly sent messages to Halsey requesting a course change. As before, Halsey decided to keep going. As before he kept going and sent TG 38.1 straight into the maw of VIPER. Thankfully, none of Clark's ships were lost but two of his fleet carriers were heavily damaged and the heavy cruiser Pittsburgh had its bow ripped off.
Another Court was convened and this time not only did they find that Halsey carried primary responsibility, but recommended that he be relieved of command.
Chief of Naval Operations Ernest King had had enough of Halsey's shenanigans and endorsed the findings but the war ended before the results of the Court could be acted upon. It was decided that America needed a naval hero and so, in Shakespeare's words, The quality of mercy is not strain'd, / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven. The findings of the second Court were quietly buried and Halsey gained his fifth star and the title Fleet Admiral after the war and after King had stepped down.
******
After stirring wins over Florida and Georgia early in this season, Team 120 sailed into choppy waters and fell afoul of three disastrous games against South Carolina, Texas A&M and (bangs head) Vanderbilt.
Butch Jones became only the second HeadVol to drop two games to Vanderbilt in a single tenure. The Gen'rul lost to Vandy thrice but only once during each of his three tenures as HeadVol. The other unfortunate was Harvey Robinson who was HeadVol in 1953 and '54.
This is not acceptable. One has to think this applies not only to we fans but also to Coach Jones and his staff.
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
How, in the name of All That is Holy, does Tennessee give up 608 yards of total offense and FORTY-FIVE points to Vanderbilt? By comparison, the 1998 Vols gave up only about 280 yards PER GAME on average.
The world wonders.*
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way SCORE!
Yes, the Vols took advantage of Vandy's sole turnover, but it was not nearly enough.
3. If at first the game or the breaks go against you, dont let up PUT ON MORE STEAM!
See above.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
You simply knew it wasn't to be when the normally reliable Aaron Medley caromed a field goal attempt off the upright in the fourth canto.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
There is some discussion as to whether or not Vanderbilt could have put up 600 yards total offense against air.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Absent Medley's miss, the special teams' play was very good. A sole bright spot in the disaster of Typhoon Dudley.
7. Carry the fight to Vanderbilt and keep it there for sixty minutes.
Does pride still matter?
All the calls for our HeadVol's professional head miss one vital factor.
There is literally nobody on The Hill to do such a thing nor to hire a successor coach. Chancellor Jimmy Cheek is still there but is leaving at the end of term. AD Dave Hart departs in June. His deputy, Chris Fuller, has gone to Syracuse.
All we can do is hope that HeadVol Jones uses the bowl game prep and the off season to learn from this year's disasters and fix the issues.
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Maybe the best that can be done is to quote another grizzled commander from World War II. After being chased out of Burma by the Japanese, General Joseph W. Vinegar Joe Stilwell had this to say, [/FONT]I claim we got a hell of a beating. We got run out of Burma and it is humiliating as hell. I think we ought to find out what caused it, go back and retake it.
And there you go.
Brick by Brick, Baby!
MAXOMG
Suggested Reading:
Hans Christian Adamson and George Kosco, Halsey's Typhoons
E.B. Potter, Bull Halsey
Clark G. Reynolds, The Fast Carriers
* Bonus points if you can cite the historical reference.
© 2016
Keeping Your Stories Alive
Bow damage to USS Hornet after Typhoon Viper, June 1945. (US Navy photo)
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