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For four years, Mrs. Karen Camp was my high school
homeroom teacher. And no, I didn't repeat homeroom;
that's just the way things shook out.
Mrs. Camp noticed one morning, back in 1977, that I
was a bit disgruntled and a smidge embarrassed. She knew
her students pretty well.
"What's the matter," she asked, then realizing the
McKenzie High School baseball team just lost 7-4 to Big
Sandy the evening before. "Oh, I know; you are upset
that you lost yesterday."
She said something next that has stuck with me to this
very day: "You all thought you could just put the
pinstripes (our uniforms of the day) on and win, didn't
you?"
I conceded that was the problem. I'm not sure Big
Sandy has defeated McKenzie in baseball since then.
Maybe it has, who knows, but it was a tough loss for our
over-confident team.
Perhaps Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer ought to
hire Mrs. Camp as a consultant to the football team. The
Vols, fresh off yet another puzzling, embarrassing yet
ever more predictable loss in a big game, felt like they
could just flash the Power T on Clemson and the Tigers
would cower and be intimidated.
Clemson realized, after it found out it was playing
Tennessee, that it had the superior team.
It's almost as if Fulmer is taking a page from Jimmy
Carter: he doesn't learn from his mistakes.
Last year's horrid 8-5 season and 30-3 set back to
Maryland was supposed to bring about changes in the Big
Orange fold. This team was healthy. This team had
seasoned back-ups because of injury. This team had a
solid line, powerful running game and Casey Clausen
back.
This team was without festering boils like Jason
Witten and Kelley Washington. Fulmer told us that this
team was going to be disciplined.
Are we total morons or were was the spin job offered
us enough to make James Carville look like a piker?
The Vols were overmatched, undisciplined and
outcoached...as usual. Tennessee, since the national
championship, is 1-5 in post-season games (including the
SEC title debacle of 2001). They have been outscored
140-93 in those losses. The Vols have had virtually no
bounce from their national championship. And again, I
wonder if 1998 was more serendipity than excellence.
Some have criticized me for my scrutiny of Tennessee.
When I'm not wearing my reporter hat, I'm a Vols fan.
But we have to recognize the truth. These are the facts
and they are indisputable:
* Good bowl games as well as the BCS passed on
Tennessee. Some claim that it makes better economic
sense that the Outback Bowl, located in Tampa, picked
Florida over the Vols, though the Vols were nine 10
ranking slots higher than the Gators (whom also lost to
Florida State in the season finale). If you want to talk
about economics, tell that to the hotel operators who
took a bath by having only one out-of-state team. The
truth is the Outback recognized that Florida is a better
team, even having lost to Iowa. This wasn't about money.
The BCS spared Tennessee major embarrassment because the
BCS knew the Vols weren't worthy. Even the Cotton Bowl
passed on the Vols, believing Ole Miss had the superior
team. The Cotton Bowl was right.
* Clemson beat Duke and South Carolina by a combined
103-24 score. Tennessee beat Duke and South Carolina by
a combined 46-26 score and South Carolina extended
Tennessee to overtime. South Carolina extended Clemson's
winning streak with a 63-17 setback.
* The Vols had six personal foul penalties against
Clemson and 10 flags overall for 119 yards. If this is
the way Fulmer deals with discipline, I hope he has an
alternate way of addressing his family and finances.
* I maintain that Tennessee's 10 victories were
hollow. I was criticized for having this opinion on a
local radio talk show. To those guys, I say, "make your
case." The Vols beat 10 teams with a combined mark of
55-67. The only team it beat with a winning record in
November was Miami and the Hurricanes should have won
that game. We also must realize that the Hurricanes
weren't the powerhouse they once were.
* Attendance was down at Tennessee this year. Fans
(and donors) don't want to see this mess anymore. Count
me as one of them.
The Vols are too predictable. They give up too many
passing yards; they can't run the ball. Clausen has had
to run for his life all four years. He had a bad knee,
bad shoulder and concussion last year because of his
wonderful protection. And the Vols can't win big games.
If you think this was a successful season because of
10 wins, you are thinking with your heart and not your
head. The future doesn't look any better either. The
Vols have Notre Dame at home, and the Irish might be
better. For the first time in recent memory, the Vols
don't have a solid quarterback waiting in the wings.
Yes, I know, in 2000, one could argue the same thing;
but we knew that Clausen or A.J. Suggs would be the man.
Joey Mathews was just marking time. We'll have good
receivers, but nobody to deliver the ball to them. Next
year is reportedly Georgia's year. Florida will be
better now that they have a seasoned Chris Leak. LSU
just won the national title and it returns as well as
top-flight runner Justin Vincent...who is only a
freshman.
And the Vols extended Fulmer's contract through 2010.
Can I apply for a job at UT?
The future is not looking good on The Hill folks.
I've given the Vols bad marks for the last five seasons,
almost as bad as the marks Mrs. Camp used to give me. |
