Bleacher Report - Articles by JESSI SHARPE

Fresh Coach, Fresh Start?

JESSI SHARPE — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:02:02 -0500

So much history through the years of seeing the good teams succeed year in and year out. Well it seems times are changing as alot of the old familiar successful programs I remember watching growing up are falling by the wayside. I decided to come up with 10 coaches that could rejuvenate these programs in a big way. Some are old, some coach schools to success that have no business competing with the big boys, and some are up and comers. I hope that everyone is satisified with the great coach that has been designated for your team. Have fun with the read and please feel free to comment.

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The Worst SEC Teams in History: Last 50 Years

JESSI SHARPE — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:25:55 -0400

Sometimes we just need our loved one's to hold us. Oh how we SEC fans hate going through the bad years with our teams. Most SEC football teams have enjoyed alot of success through the years, and when our teams are on top we forget very quickly how bad it used to be. Well what do you say we do some reminiscing. Not just about the championships but about how far our teams have come out of the holes they dug themselves into at times. In the following slides we will preview the worst season's for all 12 of the SEC schools. I will try to rank them, but please dont be offended if your team gets the worst ever nod. I only did one season for each team so I wouldn't just be picking on the less dominant teams of the conference. So let's go back in time shall we?

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SEC Recruiting Territories: What Do They Mean?

JESSI SHARPE — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:42:50 -0400

One thing is for sure. The SEC is bringing in recruits from all over the country. The question is, who is actually winning the recruiting battles. Is it the guy that can convince all his home grown talent to stay at home? Or is the guy that thinks outside the box, and stays on the road looking for the next big thing that could take his program to the next level. The following is a team by team breakdown of where these coaches are pulling thier players from. Sure there will be a recruiting winner being judged by how many stars thier recruits had. I for one dont put too much stock into this, because if a SEC calibur coach extends a scholarship it normally means the kid can play. Well lets get on to the show, and see what opinion you form.

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2010 BCS Tournament: If Only it Were Real

JESSI SHARPE — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:17:04 -0400

Before reading please go down and select single page format, B/R doesnt like my excel spreadsheets I put in there. Thanks.

Last year I wrote an article about what would have happened if they had a 16 team playoff for the title. In the end I had a No 1. seeded Florida team beating a No 5. seeded USC team for the championship. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/99759-bcs-tournament-2009-if-only-it-was-real

I did all this after the season was over.

This year I'm gonna put a different spin on things, in trying to predict the National Champion off of the 2009 1-120 preseason poll from nutshellsports.com.

My tournament will enclude all the conference champions (11) with five wild card teams, which will be the remaining top five teams out of the BCS that did not win thier conference.

All this will be as if the preseason rankings are right for once. So this tournament is strictly fantasy. I am in no shape or form saying that this is concrete.

Hope you enjoy seeing how it all is gonna play out.

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME			AUTOMATIC BID WINNER
1. FLORIDA	VS	10. MISSISSIPPI	1. FLORIDA 20-10
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
2. OKLAHOMA	VS	21. MISSOURI	2. OKLAHOMA
PAC 10 CHAMPIONS
3. USC			3. USC
BIG 10 CHAMPIONS
5. OHIO STATE			5. OHIO STATE
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP
8. UTAH			8. UTAH
BIG EAST CHAMPIONS
15. RUTGERS			15. RUTGERS
WAC CHAMPIONS
16. BOISE STATE			16. BOISE STATE
ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
20. FLORIDA STATE	VS	26. CLEMSON	20. FLORIDA STATE 20-14
C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
35. TULSA	VS	55. SOUTHERN MISS	35. TULSA 35-10
SUN BELT CHAMPIONS
54. TROY STATE			54. TROY STATE
MAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
58. BALL STATE	VS	63. BOWLING GREEN	58. BALL STATE 35-30

SWEET 16 OF 2010 BCS TOURNAMENT			ADVANCE
1. FLORIDA	VS	16. BALL STATE	1. FLORIDA 45-0
2. OKLAHOMA	VS	15. TROY STATE	2. OKLAHOMA 48-10
3. USC	VS	14. TULSA	3. USC 51-13
4. TEXAS	VS	13. FLORIDA STATE	4. TEXAS 20-10
5. OHIO STATE	VS	12. BOISE STATE	5. OHIO STATE 21-14
6. OREGON	VS	11. RUTGERS	6. OREGON 31-26
7. PENN STATE	VS	10. ALABAMA *	7. PENN STATE 10-7
8. UTAH	VS	9. TCU	8. UTAH 21-20
* ALABAMA GOT IN DUE TO MOVING UP ONE SPOT PAST MISSISSIPPI WHEN THEY LOST TO FLORIDA IN THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

ELITE 8 OF 2010 BCS TOURNAMENT			ADVANCE
1. FLORIDA	VS	8. UTAH	1. FLORIDA 35-21
2. OKLAHOMA	VS	7. PENN STATE	2. OKLAHOMA 25-20
3. USC	VS	6. OREGON	3. USC 38-10
4. TEXAS	VS	5. OHIO STATE	4. TEXAS 35-27

FINAL 4 OF 2010 BCS TOURNAMENT			ADVANCE
1. FLORIDA	VS	4. TEXAS	1. FLORIDA 31-27
2. OKLAHOMA	VS	3. USC	2. OKLAHOMA 21-10

BCS TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME			ADVANCE
1. FLORIDA	VS	2. OKLAHOMA	1. FLORIDA 28-25 OT

Conference Realignment That Makes Sense: Part 2 With a Twist

JESSI SHARPE — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:30:25 -0400

First of all, before trying to read this article go ahead and go down and make it a single page view.

I wrote two articles about six months ago, one proposed a tournament for the BCS National Championship with other realigning the conference to where they geographically make more since. The two articles are listed here and here.

Using my tournament formula of having the 10 conference champions automatically getting a bid and then taking the remaining top six and seeding them accordingly one thru 16.

The picture above should give you and indication of the championship game. I used the 2009 preseason rankings from nutshellsports.com to help me figure out the my results as far as where all the teams would end up.

Just thought it would be fun to combine these two ideas and see what I could come up with. Listed below are the outcomes of the conference championship games and the BCS Tournament. Hope you enjoy.

FARMHAND			CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#2 OKLAHOMA	VS	#12 IOWA	#2 OKLAHOMA 20-10
APPALACHIAN
N.C. STATE	VS	CLEMSON	CLEMSON 17-14
NORTHEASTERN
#15 RUTGERS	VS	#7 PENN STATE	#6 PENN STATE 24-16
SEMINOLE
#1 FLORIDA	VS	#20 FLORIDA STATE	#1 FLORIDA 30-11
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
#8 UTAH	VS	#16 BOISE STATE	#7 UTAH 30-22
ALAMO CONFERENCE
#4 TEXAS	VS	#9 TCU	#4 TEXAS 15-10
SUNSHINE
#3 USC	VS	#6 OREGON	#3 USC 24-21
GREAT LAKES
NOTRE DAME	VS	PURDUE	PURDUE 35-21
DELTA
#23 LSU	VS	#10 OLE MISS	#8 OLE MISS 23-10
OH-IO
CINCINNATI	VS	#5 OHIO STATE	#5 OHIO STATE 35-3

BCS TOURNAMENT SWEET 16			ADVANCES
1. FLORIDA	VS	16. PURDUE	1. FLORIDA 54-0
2. OKLAHOMA	VS	15. CLEMSON	2. OKLAHOMA 33-10
3. USC	VS	14. IOWA	3. USC 21-20
4. TEXAS	VS	13. CAL	4. TEXAS 20-10
5. OHIO STATE	VS	12. TEXAS TECH	12. TEXAS TECH 31-17
6. PENN STATE	VS	11. TCU	6. PENN STATE 20-3
7. UTAH	VS	10. ALABAMA	7. UTAH 23-6
8. OLE MISS	VS	9. OREGON	9. OREGON 30-24

BCS TOURNAMENT ELITE 8			ADVANCES
1. FLORIDA	VS	9. OREGON	1. FLORIDA 31-16
2. OKLAHOMA	VS	7. UTAH	2. OKLAHOMA 31-10
3. USC	VS	6. PENN STATE	6. PENN STATE 30-24
4. TEXAS	VS	12. TEXAS TECH	4. TEXAS 31-23

BCS TOURNAMENT ROUND FINAL 4			ADVANCES
1. FLORIDA	VS	4. TEXAS	1. FLORIDA 21-14
2. OKLAHOMA	VS	6. PENN STATE	2. OKLAHOMA 18-3

BCS TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP			CHAMPION
1. FLORIDA	VS	2. OKLAHOMA	2. OKLAHOMA 31-17

Lane Kiffin's Dilemma: Where Is the Next Peyton Manning?

JESSI SHARPE — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:52:00 -0400

People wondered what in the world was wrong with Lane Kiffin when he told Tajh Boyd and Bryce Petty that their services would not be needed in his pro-style offense. I, on the other hand, figured that if anyone could see the kind of quarterback they need, it would be Kiffin—the man who is being paid to coach the team.

Not myself, who is just a Soldier with no qualifications of being a coach, except playing 2A high school football in Northeast Tennessee. That's also the same kind of qualifications for most of the people that were calling Kiffin crazy for telling those two talented kids thanks, but no thanks.

I can see why they would raise some eyebrows, however. Tennessee has no proven college-caliber quarterbacks. Jonathan Crompton struggled all season last year, as did Nick Stevens. The backup. B.J. Coleman, who was everyone's dark horse to win the job, has transferred to Chattanooga, stating he wasn't getting a fair chance at competing for the No. 1 spot.

We have a walk-on, Mike Rozier, who decided to come and play some football after a failed MLB stint with the Red Sox.

Then there is Kiffin's new problem of not being able to get any of his targets in recruiting for his system to come and play for him.

Of course, the selling point is come play football for a prestigious program that has jack squat for a quarterback depth chart. That would seem to be a big lure for a kid that wants to come in and try to make a difference right away. However, these top prospects are proving otherwise.

Not saying that a kid has to be a five-star to be a great quarterback, hence Sam Bradford. The list is getting thin in top-ranked pro-style quarterbacks though. It looks like Kiffin might have to settle for a three-star and perhaps hope he has a diamond in the rough like Bradford.

It seems that Kiffin is getting a little desperate, as he is looking at dual-threat quarterbacks now. I thought he was a pro-style guy from everything I read. Maybe he thinks he takes a run-first kid with a great arm and teaches him to stay in the pocket.

Who knows what going on with that, but I'm sure Kiffin is about to find out what coaching is all about in the quarterback position anyway.

Below is a list of quarterbacks prospects. You will notice a trend though: All the top ones are almost gone. I believe in Kiffin and his staff, but even my non-qualified self is starting to get concerned.

PRO-STYLE
NAME	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	FROM	COMMITTED
PHILLIP SIMS	6'1"	209	CHESAPEAKE, VA	ALABAMA
JESSE SCROGGINS	6'3"	195	LAKEWOOD, CA	NO
JAKE HEAPS	6'2"	195	SAMMAMISH, WA	BYU
ANDREW HENDRIX	6'3"	220	CINCINNATI, OH	NO
NICK MONTANA	6'2"	177	WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA	WASHINGTON
CODY BLANCHARD	6'1"	180	CENRE, AL	NO
TYLER BROSIUS	6'3"	233	WAYNEVILLE, NC	VIRGINIA
TYLER SHREVE	6'4"	210	REDLANDS, CA	NO
DAVID PYLAND	6'2"	175	SOUTHLAKE, TX	NO
MICHAEL STRAUSS	6'2"	208	MIAMI, FL	NO
CLINT TRICKETT	6'2"	175	TALLAHASSEE, FL	NO
JOSEPH BRENNAN	6'4"	178	CHERRY HILL, NJ	NO
DYLAN THOMPSON	6'3"	201	BOILING SPRINGS, SC	SOUTH CAROLINA
JONATHAN WATERS	6'4"	178	LINDALE, GA	NO
DUAL THREAT
BARRY BRUNETTI	6'0"	207	MEMPHIS, TN	WEST VIRGINIA
MUCHIE LEGAUX	6'4"	185	NEW ORLEANS, LA	NO
JAMES FRANKLIN	6'2"	218	CORINTH, TX	MISSOURI
JEFFREY GODFREY	5'11"	167	MIAMI, FL	NO
DARIAN STONE	5'11	180	CLINTON, TN	NO
TIM SMITH	6'2	190	FORT PIERCE, FL	NO
GABRIEL HENDERSON	6'0	182	RALEIGH, NC	NO

Tennessee's Spring Practice: Last Man Standing

JESSI SHARPE — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:50:21 -0400

Only one thing is for certain for the Tennessee Volunteer football team this year. Eric Berry is the only person who will not be fighting for his life to keep a job. It didn't even take seeing the guy in practice for the new coaching staff to decide that.

All you have to do is look at his stats and see that he is the best DB in college football. First of all, his numbers are way more impressive than when Charles Woodson won the Heisman. He also had better stats than Malcolm Jenkins who won the Thorpe award last year. It just goes to show that you are not going to win any awards if your team is 5-7.

That being said, there has been some positive feedback flowing out of Coach Kiffin's mouth about his quarterback situation. After a rough start it seems that Jonathan Crompton is finally starting to find his stride out on the practice field.

However, with BJ Coleman behind him, Crompton had better straighten out fast. Coleman has received nothing put positive accolades as well. Nick Stephens isn't really able to show his game right now because he broke his wrist in a workout drill prior to spring practice. He has since gotten the cast taken off but isn't really able to do anything more than throw five yard routes right now.

Of course last year we heard the same thing about Crompton in spring practice. Dave Clawson, the offensive coordinator at the time declared that Crompton was really getting the offense and was coming around smoothly. Of course, we all saw how smoothly he came along during the season.

That being said he was coming off of knee surgery. Me personally, I don't believe the guy ever completely recovered. With Kiffin being honest about the quarterbacks play early on and saying they are starting to look good running the offense, it leads me to believe that he may be telling the truth. You can draw your own conclusion.

Bryce Brown and David Oku may find it harder than expected to get some game time this year if this spring is any indication. Although the passing game struggled early on, the running game has not missed a beat. Tauren Poole and Monterio Hardesty are constantly getting pats on the back during post practice interviews with coach Kiffin. The main surprise has been how Poole is just breaking crazy long runs in scrimmage situations. This while Hardesty provides the constant power running.

The offensive line really hasn't been talked about as much. They seem to be a little thin in this area especially converting TE Aaron Douglas to offensive tackle. From whats being said, the line is picking up Kiffin's zone blocking scheme really well.

The defensive line gets a lot of publicity with the Vols being loaded at DE. Chris Walker has been described as unstoppable. Ben Martin has really came on. The competition is so fierce that Wes Brown decided to tell coach Ed Orgeron that he would like to move down to defensive tackle to help out in the middle.

The Vols also are so confident in that position that they tried Gerald Williams out at linebacker. Needless to say that position is stacked. Now they are trying to find other places to put quality players that might not get the starting nod. Seems to be working out as they continue to fill in holes.

The linebacker position will get a new revamped look as Rico McCoy will be moved from weak side linebacker to the strong side. The coaches are trying to capitalize on his speed and power to get to the quarterback. Nick Reviez, a former walk-on, has been a monster at his middle LB position with his intensity. Although the weak side seems to be a question mark, plenty of help is coming with four freshman linebackers in the fall.

The defensive backfield (Eric Berry) is covered as before mentioned. Just joking. Nothing but great things coming out of Monte Kiffins mouth on these guys.

Special teams seems to be a question as well. Nothing has really come out about that situation.

Wide Receiver seems to get little press time as well. Expect a lot of freshman playing time in this positions come fall. One surprising move had former TE Brandon Warren move out there to provide an athletic big target. I don't see many DB's wanting to come up to take this man down.

Gerald Jones is a monster and could end up being one of the best players in the country with the right quarterback throwing him the ball. Austin Rodgers may turn out to be a good possession receiver if used correctly. That being said, three more WR's will be coming in to make an impact come August.

Short and sweet the Vol's spring practice has been a dog eat dog world so far. These guys are really battling for their positions. Though some people may say that the talent level wont be there, I disagree.

Tennessee has always had enough talent to compete with the best teams. Fulmer's regime became old and stale. Their is a breath of fresh air in Knoxville and it's bringing intensity. That's a good thing, because intensity is all these guys have been missing.

Lane Kiffin Is One Sly Fox: Signs No 1 Running Back Bryce Brown

JESSI SHARPE — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:41:31 -0400

Well if people didn't have enought reason to hate on Lane Kiffin, he has really went and done it now. He just signed the nation's number one running back Bryce Brown. This after a very long recruting process that went well after signing day.

People were starting to wonder if this kid was ever gonna sign anywhere. Truth of the matter is he was heading to Miami. He already had signed with Hurricanes back in February 2008.

Well Miami got mad at him because he decided to take his remaining five visits and he got mad at Miami for switching up offensive coordinators. Thus resulting in Miami pulling back the kid's scholarship. This let Sly Lane go in for the kill.

A lot of people think Lane Kiffin is a smart mouth spoiled little punk. At first sight it would be easy to come to that conclusion. However, if one would really sit back and ponder what is really up the young coaches sleeve they may come out with a different idea of the son of a "defensive genius."

I knew as soon as I heard about Bryce Brown signing with the Vols there would be someone insinuating that something fishy was going on. To my surprise only two stories have been posted. One of the two I read said Bryce Brown will end up in jail if he is the kind of character that would sign to play for a questionable character like Kiffin. Number one sounds like a bitter fan to me. Number two is that is really an ignorant comment.

The new Tennessee coach has really ruffled some feathers that's for sure. Accusing Florida coach Urban Meyer for cheating. Calling out Pahokee High School. Ripping shirts off at junior day (thanks to that crazy Ed Orgeron). Talking about beating Florida and singing Rocky Top all night long next season. Smoke machines and PA systems. Oh and what else? Oh yeah, he actually staged a fake press conference for the recruits.

Well first off the only overboard statement was the Meyer thing. It seems he learned his lesson there. Sometimes getting the boosters all giddy just isn't worth it. He called out Pahokee High School on the guidance of the recruits aunts so I really cant fault him there. He just said what he was told.

People may not like the half naked man approach but it went over with the recruits real well apparently. The Rocky Top thing was a really light hearted comment. Get over it...Really! For those stupid petty infractions get off the band wagon people. Your teams get called for secondary violations as well. No one in their right mind can tell me they agree with those crazy rules.

Like it or not the "Kiff" is trying his best to rebuild a once proud program. He doesn't care who's feelings he has to hurt to do it. Read any article about the players feelings right now and all you hear is positive thinking. They are fired up. He isn't picking up just any 5-7 team. The same team was in the SEC championship game two years ago. Not to mention a defense that was in the top 5 in the nation returning, with potential Heisman candidate Eric Berry knocking peoples head off.

Of course none of it matters if the quarterback situation doesnt get straightened out. However, if a former quarterback who has worked with the likes of Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart cant figure it out who can? Also the offensive coordinater Jim Chaney mentored Drew Brees at Purdue for Christ's sake.

Not only did the young cocky coach end up with a top ten recruiting class he assembled a top notch coaching staff as well. So what if he had his daddy's help. If you had connections like that wouldn't you use them? Tell the truth now.

So yeah the whole SEC is ready to get a piece of the Vols but the truth of the matter is the Vols seem up to the challenge. So be careful what you wish for because all the hype may mean something. Something like getting hit in the mouth with intensity for all four quarters.

Tennessee-Florida: Bruce Pearl Owns Billy Donovan

JESSI SHARPE — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:31:18 -0500

Tennessee beat Florida tonight, in a convincing fashion, 79-63. Going in, 77 percent percent of the people that voted on the outcome of the Tennessee-Florida game said the Vols would lose, according the poll on this article.

Well apparently these people don't know that in the seven games Tennessee has played Florida with Bruce Pearl at the helm, they are 6-1. The lone win in the series was a 94-78 game in Gainesville during the 2006-2007 season. Of course, Chris Lofton was not in that game either.

It's understandable with the Gators coming in on a SEC 6 game win streak and the problems Tennessee has had all year why people would vote they way they would. Which brings the question do some teams styles just work better against certain teams?

Was this the team that was ranked so high in top 25 at the beginning of the season? Did Florida just have an off night? All these are good questions, but I just think Pearl has got Donavan's number.

The evidence is overwhelming. Tennessee averages 85 points to Florida's 78 in the series. Which means there have actually been some close games, but this ain't horseshoes so it really doesn't count does it? The Vols have went 4-0 at home and are 2-1 in Gainesville which isn't easy to do.

Speaking of the 2006-2007 if Greg Oden wouldn't have been the country's golden boy that year and actually got called for fouls, Tennessee would have beaten Ohio State in the Sweet 16 and probably advanced to play in the national championship against Florida.

Who do you actually think would have won that game? Wow, and we thought Pearl's raise was big last year.

Florida may get their revenge in Gainesville later on but as Tennessee learned against Gonzaga this year, when a team has got your number it doesn't matter if you play them twice. This wasn't even a close game, as Tennessee was up as many as 21 in the second half. Sure the pesky Gators made a run, but that halted in the last three minutes.

No one can tell me Billy Donovan is not a little frustrated by the outcome of this series. Then again, he also has 2 championships in a short time in Gainesville. All Bruce Pearl has is two Sweet-16 appearances. At the same time, Bruce has got Donovan in career winning percentage at .784 to .703.

It can't be denied the SEC has looked weak this year, but however there is no way that any one of these teams wont be feared come tournament time. The rest of the nation needs to hope that they didn't see the real Tennessee tonight.

As far as Florida, well we have all seen what a Billy Donovan team can do in the NCAA tournament.

At the end of the season Florida will look to be the better team most likely. They will probably advance further in the tournament. Just remember though, the next time you go to vote for a winner in this head to head match up that BRUCE PEARL OWNS BILLY DONOVAN.

Breakdown: Tennessee Schedule 2009

JESSI SHARPE — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:52:09 -0500

Allot of optimism is flowing around Knoxville these days with the hires that AD Mike Hamilton has made for the football team. Whether you like Kiffin and company or not, one must admit they are putting forth the effort so far to build a once proud Tennessee tradition back from its shambles. Dont get me wrong I am not bashing Fulmer nor will I ever. What that man put into the University of Tennessee can not be expressed in words. Just 2 years ago he had the Vols back into the SEC championship game and only lost by 7 to the eventual national champions, LSU. With an offense that supposedly takes two years to get going, the Volunteer faithful decided they had enough. Understandibly so, with 2 out of 4 years missing a bowl game. Tennessee fans were not accustomed to such non-sense. So Phil had to go (tipping my hat), along with all his staff. In comes Kiffin and company and people just cant believe all the big names they have gotten on one coaching staff. So here is a game by game breakdown of how IMHO the Volunteers will do against their schedule if they play to their upmost ability.

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Where Will the Tennessee Volunteers Land in 2009?

JESSI SHARPE — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:33:43 -0500

Well there is a ton of excitement in Big Orange Country, that is for sure. All the Fulmer bashers are happy the fat man is off the sidelines, and most of the old Fulmer supporters seem to have jumped on board.

Can Lane Kiffin salvage what once was a great recruiting class? It's a good possibility. Especially with all the visits he has gotten from previously committed players to other schools recently. So either they will sign or just wanted to go for the experience.

There has been some questions to his recruiting tactics, however. Tennessee had one of the most touted QB recruits in Tajh Boyd coming in until Kiffin informed him that he did not really fit his system. After that, Boyd opened his recruiting back up and recently committed to Clemson.

He let another decent QB prospect go in Bryce Petty a few days after Boyd, which left Vol fans baffled once again. After all, quarterback play was not the Vols strong point in 2008.

It seems with all the players Kiffin is recruiting that linebackers and wide receivers (athletes) are his main point of emphasis. Receiver makes sense, but linebackers? Tennessee had a top 5 defense last year in large part due to their linebacker corps, which mostly is coming back next year.

Maybe he thinks he can coach Jonathan Crompton up to the his potential. Crompton did show some signs of hope when he replaced an injured Erik Ainge in 2006. Although the Vols did go 1-2 in that span, it was no fault of Crompton's. The defense was terrible in giving up heartbreaking plays to JeMarcus Russell and LSU in a last-second loss.

Then they couldn't seem to find an answer to Darrin McFadden and Arkansas. However, last year it was hard to imagine that the quarterback we saw two years ago was the one playing like a guy who just got off the couch.

I personally believe the kid never got over his surgery and was thrown in there and expected to produce. Have fun convincing a lot of UT fans of that, though.

Everyone expects B.J. Coleman or Nick Stephens to start, considering some of the promise they showed last year, but mark my words, it will be Crompton that gets the nod, unless Kiffin has a 5 star freshman coming in that no one knows about.

Speaking of Vol shortcomings in 2008, what ever happened to that running game that allowed the quarterback to open things up?

Blame the new offense and switching positions of lineman all you want, but its hard to believe that such a successful running attack in 2007 would so terrible a year later.

It was heart-breaking to see Arian Foster go out with such a lackluster season his senior year. This was a guy that would have entered the draft after his junior season and could have been at least a third-rounder.

Hopefully this James Cregg guy knows what he is doing and gets the lineman on the same page, because if Lennon Creer or Montario Hardesty get the blocks they can cause some damage.

Also, the possible freshmen coming in look to be Reggie Bush types:$ David Oku, Damian Thigpen (might go elsewhere according to new reports), and Nyshier Oliver. Also, LenDale White lookalike Toney Williams seems to be very promising.

The Vols seem to have all the ingredients to turn it around in 2009. Great coaching staff, (at least it better be great, considering their payroll is over $5 millon), promising recruiting class, top 5 defense, and running backs galore. The big question mark is quarterback.

The receivers that they have seem to be good enough to make some plays, but you gotta have someone that get the ball in their hands. People will be surprised to see how much talent is actually at Tennessee if this promising coaching staff can put everyone in the right place.

I hope I never see another G-Gun formation again. Don't get me wrong Gerald Jones is a beast, but everyone knew what was coming when he was behind center. Let the man do what he does best, which is catch the ball and make plays. The same thing goes for Eric Berry. I'm surprised they didn't get him hurt last year.

Like most Vol fans, I can't wait to see what happens this fall. I will be up at 3 a.m. in Iraq to try and catch a glimpse of the new and improved Vols. That is when most ball games seem to come on over there.

Yeah many times I went to work on about two hours of sleep back in 04-05. Hopefully this time it will be worth it as Tennessee didn't make a bowl that year after losing to Jay Cutler and the mighty Vanderbilt Commodores. I am expecting this season to be a bright spot in another long deployment.

Conference Realignment That Makes Sense: Well Somewhat

JESSI SHARPE — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:41:31 -0500

What I have done is actually make 10 conferences with 12 teams apiece. They are matched up geographically. Lots of intrastate rivalries. I tried to make all teams from the same state in the same conference. However, this is impossible, so you will see Alabama,Illinois, and Indiana split up. Some people wlll say this is stupid, but I thought it would be neat to actually sit down and figure this out. Sure we might lose some rivalries, but thats what an out of conference schedule is for. This system will also somewhat transfer the power balance from the elite conferences. Actually in this system the old conferences are no more. So maybe peole can quit complaining about whose conference deserves what. Now mark my words as soon as this happens some FBS team will decide they want to move up and that will creat 121 teams. Oh no!!!!! Oh well make them an Independant until they're are 12 Independent teams and we can creat another conference. Any takers??

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Top 10 List: Why My Wife Hates Sports

JESSI SHARPE — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:25:55 -0500

Even if football, basketball or baseball is not on, she is convinced I will watch any sport to get out of cleaning the house. She swears I made her watch curling one day.
I ignore her when they are on.
I can sit in my underwear all day long and eat nothing but chips while watching them.
Even though SportsCenter shows the same show all day, she says I will watch every episode.
She doesn't care what the hell Brett Favre is doing.
It's an obsession.
Because you can only Google Bleacher Report so many times a day.
I insist on getting her interested in all aspects of sports, and she couldn't care less.
She's convinced I will harass our children into playing sports, even if they have no interest.
She wants me to leave her alone about this article so she can watch Ace of Cakes!!

Jeez, and she say's I'm obsessed. My boys will probably become bakers.

OH NO!!!!!!!!

Who Would Have Thought? Chargers and Cardinals Really?

JESSI SHARPE — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:58:09 -0500

My argument begins with the Colts. Peyton Manning took seven weeks before he worked out all the kinks from having surgery and rescued his team winning their last nine. They seemed to have all the momentum in the world, especially after beating the number one seeded Tennessee Titans in Week 16 so convincingly. Maybe that was their problem. Maybe that gave them the big head and they were so high the Chargers had them beat before they realized it.

They can't blame it on Peyton, he had over 300 yards passing with no interceptions. That's pretty much all you can expect from your quarterback. The Colts even won the turnover battle 2-0. Oh wait maybe I found the answer, they were outrushed 167-64. These are all interesting stats, but maybe the answer is what my old high school coach used to say "Boys they just wanted it more."

Unfortunately for us we got to have that speech 10 times in an 0-10 senior year. Quit laughing. I'm sure people will be coming up with answers through the week on why the Colts lost, but none of these answers will mean anything really will they.

Next up the Cardinals. The sure to be out after the first round, not belonging in the playoffs, no defense Cardinals. True they played in a terrible conference. True they seemed to lose to any team that was in the playoff chase through the season. At the end of this day however, the Cardinals knocked "Golden Boy" Matt Ryan and his high flying Falcons out of one of the best Cinderella stories ever told.

Atlanta was supposed to be the team that nobody wanted to play. The Cardinals sure seemed to enjoy playing them that for sure. You can tell that by their constant smiling through the game. They looked like a bunch kids playing on the playground out their. Maybe that's the secret to winning championships, having fun. All anyone knows is their fantasy playoff brackets are busted all to pieces, except for CARDINALFANFORLIFE21.

Well if the Dolphins and the Vikings win tomorrow that will complete a weekend of playoff upsets. Will this happen, unlikely. At least according to the experts and we see where that got us today didn't we. All I know is if Superbowl XLIII is the San Diego Chargers against the Arizona Cardinals allot of people are going to be let down. I mean even the so called experts don't want this to happen.

First of all the economy is so crappy allot of these teams fans are not going to want to pay to get that far across the country. The economically safe route would be Carolina against Miami. Then there is the ratings. San Diego seems to have fans but Arizona? Maybe enough people dug in their closets and dusted off their old Jake Plummer jerseys to make this thing happen.

I for one will be watching just because I love the sport. So ratings might not be a problem if there are enough people like me in the world. Also I'm sure these bang-wagon fans that were wearing Cowboys jerseys at the beginning of the year will jump on board with one of these Cinderellas.

Then again I might be getting ahead of myself here, of course the Giants and Steelers are destined to meet in a black and blue slugfest sports historians will be writing about for ages. Or Tennessee and Carolina meet in an Appalachian ho down. Either way I will drink about 12 cold ones and be trying to focus my eyes on a last second field goal to win the game. Care to join me?

BCS Tournament 2009: If Only It Was Real

JESSI SHARPE — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:22:31 -0500

Okay, so here it goes. Everyone wants a tournament for BCS (DIV. I) football. Mine may be longer than what people think it should be, but it will keep all these people from weak conferences that go undefeated from whining.

It is a 16-team bracket. Each conference champion gets a seed—that's 11 teams. Then the remaining five teams in the BCS will receive a bid. They will be seeded using the BCS formula. Sorry, Notre Dame fans, the Independents are not a conference.

Of course, I had to play it all out in my head to come up with a winner.

NCAA FOOTBALL 2009 BCS TOURNAMENT

ROUND ONE

1. OKLAHOMA VS. 16. TROY = 1. OKLAHOMA

2. FLORIDA VS. 15. BUFFALO = 2. FLORIDA

3. TEXAS VS. 14. EAST CAROLINA = 3. TEXAS

4. ALABAMA VS. 13. VIRGINIA TECH = 4. ALABAMA (CLOSE ONE)

5. USC VS. 12. CINCINNATI = 5. USC

6. UTAH VS. 11. TCU = 6. UTAH (WHAT A GAME)

7. TEXAS TECH VS. 10. OHIO STATE = 10. OHIO STATE

8. PENN STATE VS. 9. BOISE STATE = 9. BOISE STATE

QUARTERFINALS

1. OKLAHOMA VS. 9. BOISE STATE = 1. OKLAHOMA

2. FLORIDA VS. 10. OHIO STATE = 2. FLORIDA (TEBOW LEADS 'EM LATE)

3. TEXAS VS. 6. UTAH = 6. UTAH

4. ALABAMA VS. 5. USC = 5. USC

SEMIFINALS

1. OKLAHOMA VS 5. USC = 5. USC

2. FLORIDA VS 6. UTAH = 2. FLORIDA

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP

2. FLORIDA VS. 5. USC = 2. FLORIDA

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR 2009 BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER IS THE FLORIDA GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, this is just my opinion. You can come to your own conclusion.

MLB Baseball: Should There Be a Salary Cap?

JESSI SHARPE — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:56:22 -0500

Enough is enough already with the Yankee's buying an All-Star team every year. At least that's my point of view. Nothing was more gratifying than seeing the Tampa Bay Rays make it to the World Series last year with like a 10th of the Yankees payroll. MLB has become a circus.

Pretty much if a player is in his last year of his contract and has a monster year, the Yankees are going to sweep in and get him. It really isn't any fun to watch. Teams like the Braves, Brewers, and Twins struggle each year to try and keep up.

They have to rely on young talent to come up make the plays. Some get lucky enough for this to work out, like it did for Tampa last year. However let Evan Longoria become a free agent. The Yankees will come in and offer him money that no sane person would refuse.

One cannot blame these players for taking what these teams with a lot of money can give them, however. But kudos to the Angels for saying, no Mark Teixeira we will not pay you enough money to be a God. Some see this as being cheap, but I see it as being reasonable. After all, it is just a game.

These guys are not super heroes that the World depends on their existence. Some will say its the owners money let them spend what they want. That is true, however it does take away form the purity of the game.

If some team that has been trying to build a franchise the old fashioned way keeps getting pounded by a bought World Series team then what fun is that to watch. There is no competitiveness. Case in point with the 1997 Florida Marlins. They was not able to keep all those All-Stars for more than one year.

As a kid I dreamed of playing in the NFL. It was never the dream of making $160M dollars over eight years that made me want such a thing. It was the dream of doing something I love for the rest of my life. Thanks to some millionaire with tons of money waving $100M dollar contract in front of these players faces the joy of the game is lost.

Instead of thriving to get their team as far as possible, they are worried about a .300, 35HR, 100RBI season. MLB is losing the team concept, when in fact it is team sport. Please bring back the passion in baseball. A salary cap couldn't hurt.

Tennessee Staff Coming Together

JESSI SHARPE — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:31:22 -0500

Like many UT fans, I have been checking the websites daily to see what is going on with Tennessee's coaching staff.

Now that the NFL season is over some big hires have been made. Ed Orgeron has been hired on to be assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator. He will oversee the defensive line.

This was a surprise, considering a day before articles had been written to suggest he was set to join LSU's staff. Orgeron is often credited with leaving Houston Nutt a load of talent at Ole Miss, which resulted in his early success.

Also a new offensive coordinator has been brought in by the name of Jim Chaney. I know most people will say who? Apparently he's been hiding out in St. Louis as the tight ends coach. His resume includes being personally responsible for Drew Brees' early development at Purdue. In seven years at Purdue his offense was in the top 10 in the nation six times.

There are some concerns that this staff's paycheck is way too much. Last year the defensive staff made around $900,000. Monte Kiffin tops that small chunk of change alone. It's hard for some to get on the bang-wagon when they see the money keep piling up. Whether these investments pay off or bite the University in dairy-air is still yet to be seen.