| Top | Blog | Sport |

Alright everyone, let’s have a little flashback now, shall we? Rewind to the day after National Signing Day, when Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin called Urban Meyer a cheater with the whole Nu’keese Richardson thievery. Remember all the hoopla and relative crap that went down after that? Well, we might be going through more of it…

I can’t prove it, but I really think this guy may be Tennessee Volunteers Assistant Football Coach Ed Orgeron’s long lost butt-kickin’ brother.

Video: Vinnie Jones: Ed Orgeron’s Long Lost Brother?

Somewhere, in front of a chalkboard—his hands coated with chalk dust—Lane Kiffin is smiling…

For those that might have missed it, ESPN’s Outside the Lines ran a feature story on Lane Kiffin this morning. In case you did miss it, take a moment and watch it.

I imagine that Joel might like that one, a little homage to “the Crunk Incident”…

So is football season here yet?

– So it goes…

Last year, during the off-season, I began a series on the Great Games played by the Tennessee Volunteers football team over the many years as seen through my eyes.  As I am wont to do, I seem to have lost my focus and have not exactly done a capital job of keep that series going.  Imagine that.

I normally don’t post about individual commitments or recruiting updates in general, but I think this is fairly important. Tennessee got another defensive lineman - tackle, specifically - to join the group for 2010 in the form of John Brown.

This is important for two reasons. First, Brown is transferring from the University of Florida to Northeast Mississippi Junior College in the fall to likely an early enrollee at Tennessee in December or January (he says he will sign with the Vols as soon as he can).

In the eyes of rival fans and the so-called “outsiders,” Lane Kiffin has made Tennessee football sort of an offseason laughing-stock. What with Kiffin’s incorrectly calling Urban Meyer a cheater and the secondary violations and taking in Daniel Hood and the other stuff - I’ll save you the recap - UT has been the brunt of jokes and criticism. Of course the beauty in this is that Kiffin doesn’t give a you-know-what about any of it (as should Tennessee fans)…

Well, after taking the better part of two weeks off here at the Gate, and enjoying a little vacation in my “real” life, I am back once more.  If anyone noticed that I was gone, that is.

Here’s a little magic from John Ward and the Vol Network to go along with Joel’s post over at Rocky Top Talk this morning discussing Shaun Ellis’ miraculous runback of a recovered fumble versus the Auburn Tigers in 1998.

I would try to describe it, but that would only diminish the call from the legendary “Voice of the Vols Emeritus.“  But don’t take my word for it, listen for yourself…

[>> See post to listen to audio <<]

Over the years, I have often criticized Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Editor John Adams for his excessive fault-finding with the various athletic programs at Tennessee.  Since the ascendancy of Lane Kiffin as the new head football coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, however, it has seemed to me that suddenly Adams had gone soft.

Well, Adams’ recent column on Daniel Hood proves that I am wrong…

Nice find by my friend, the Ghost of Neyland:

• HT to / via: You Simply Can’t Buy Advertising Like This | 3rd Saturday in Blogtober

Sweetness!  Gotta get me one of those shirts...

Despite my not being able to attend the game this past weekend, my cohort here at the Gate, “Home Sweet Home,” was able to attend. He was also able to document the game for everyone with his camera.  Thus, here are a few images of the game.

Click Images to Bigify

The Flash Player and a browser with Javascript support are needed..

The 2009 Orange and White game has come and gone and now we have a little bit of an idea of what we should expect from the Tennessee Volunteers this fall.  It was less than exciting—as most scrimmages are—but showed a brief glimpse of the 2009 Vols and what is on the horizon for Tennessee fans and haters alike.

On the whole, it looked pretty good…