I won’t be able to watch the game this weekend. I have tickets to the Northwest Arkansas LPGA Championship

Critter has taken a liking to golf so she gets priority, even over my rampant fandom

This year is no different. A big help in the work game from the fans at RockyTopTalk who gave suggestions for audio track!

Totally apropos of nothing, and with little to no technical background, knowledge, formal data or engineering ability I decided to rattle off what I consider to be the Five players whom I think will be our Zephyr‘s, or players who will work deep in hostile territory, create plays, and otherwise be the sleeper agents of our 2011 Tennessee Volunteers line up.

So come on! Drink the Dool-Aid! Kick back!  Grab a cold frosty  and join me as we embark upon the yellow brick road of fandom, as we take our third  of five trips towards my 2011 breakout player predictions.

At the end of the year we can compare my totally inane, and completely without any rhyme or reason for picking these guys against the experts and we can all point and laugh at me together.

Ben is a big ol’ boy. 

There just ain’t no denying that at 6ft 2inches and 251 lbs he’s a fella you don’t want to meet in a dark alley.

But his accomplishments list like a resume of good ol fashion grid iron proportions.

Lets take a look at’em shall we?

• Third Generation Vol
• He throws shot put (Why’s this important? Have you SEEN a shot put? Substitute “shot put” for “Skull in a Helmet” and go from there.)
• Won the 2007 Shut Put Championship (Please see above)
• 2007 Wrestling Champion

So the question is Can he catch and carry a football?

Well if his high school days are any indicator, yes, he can.

• Rushed for career high 162 yards in 2007 season opener against Antioch
• Lead blocker for pair of 1,000-yard rushers and carried ball 57 times for 406 yards as senior
• Also caught 13 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns
• As senior, had more than 100 tackles
• Tallied 19 tackles for loss, six sacks and three forced fumbles as junior in 2006

With Luke Stocker gone from the backfield this is going to be Ben’s chance to step up and make something beautiful happen.

I think he has the tools, I think he has the talent. The only thing in his way? Mychal Rivera.

Look for Batholomew to compete for this role, and I won’t be surprised to see him on several plays. When he does I expect big things out of him, start or not.

With a Internet handle like mine you get to have a little creative licensing on how you title articles. Especially when the article pertains to ones predictions on players for the up coming season.

Totally apropos of nothing, and with little to no technical background, knowledge, formal data or engineering ability I decided to rattle off what I consider to be the Five players whom I think will be our Zephyr‘s, or players who will work deep in hostile territory, create plays, and otherwise be the sleeper agents of our 2011 Tennessee Volunteers line up.

So come on! Drink the Dool-Aid! Kick back! If you missed my first prediction you can check it out here. Grab a cold frosty  and join me as we embark upon the yellow brick road of fandom, as we take our second of five trips towards my 2011 breakout player predictions.

At the end of the year we can compare my totally inane, and completely without any rhyme or reason for picking these guys against the experts and we can all point and laugh at me together.

Now I didn’t pick Mr. Brewer because he is from the state of Georgia.

No sir.

I would not stoop low on bended knee to otherwise reduce myself by selecting somebody just because the hail from what I more or less consider my home state.

The fact the guy allegedly screwed up royally at the beginning of this year has nothing to do with his selection this year. He did his time, Dooley cleared him, lets move on shall we?

Scouts honor.

At 6 ft 5 and 215 pounds, I chose this Defense Back for a different reason all together.

For once I’m breaking out the calculator.

This big ol fella started 6 games last season.

In those 6 games he walked away with 20 tackles, 10 Assists, a tackle for a loss and a 3 yard Punt Defense.

He also scored a fumble recovery and a pass break up.

Did you know he was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2006 Major League Baseball draft as a 2nd round pick?

I detest baseball. Don’t get me started. But I found it interesting.

So why would I pick this guy for a prediction?

Because a big chunk of his stats up there took place in the last 3 games of the year, including the game against North Carolina in the Bowl. Which tells me that he was getting better at his position.

The next thing is speed.

The average speed of a Major League Baseball Player is around 4 seconds and under.

By comparison, our beloved Eric Berry clocked in at 4.4during scouting.

Brewer? 4.12

Dude is smoke on Adidas and if he’s getting his hands to where they need to be this is going to be one bad hombre in our back field.

Combined with a 32inch leap he may not be the highest reaching player, but at 215 he won’t be the smallest or the slowest. Once you get something that big rolling down, it’s going to be a heckuva crunch at impact. Just ask North Carolina’s Tight End.

His personal life aside, he has all the makings of a solid defender who could be a cornerstone in our defense in my opinion.

He just needs to stay on this side of that straight and narrow.

But it’s July. Next month is August. It’s almost time. My heart beats faster just thinking about it.

As Volunteers, we have struggled this past year. Our last seasons have been anything but story book. Dooley however, has indeed made a difference, and I think anyone who bleeds orange and white can agree with that.

It’s been a tough time being a Vol lately.

Basketball program on the rebound. Our Athletic Director gone. It’s not been easy and it seems like the hits just kept coming.

But here’s a thought

When’s the last time you heard about a major altercation from a Tennessee player?

There hasn’t been. No club fight this year. No arrests. No victims.
Frankly compared to Georgia, Tennessee has been bordering on Saint hood this off season.

Janzen Jackson is back, and in full affect apparently.

Soon it will be colder. My beloved Vols will be local to me this year, and you can damn well bet I will be present and accounted for at the game.

My newly followed Bears won’t be far behind.

We can overcome these hurdles, these obstacles.

As Virgil once wrote:

Endure, and conquer! Jove will soon dispose
To future good our past and present woes.
…
What greater ills hereafter can you bear?
Resume your courage and dismiss your care,
An hour will come, with pleasure to relate
Your sorrows past, as benefits of Fate.
Thro’ various hazards and events, we move
…
Endure the hardships of your present state;
Live, and reserve yourselves for better fate.
Book I, The Aeneid – Virgil

With the fate of the NFL uncertain college football is sure to have a even bigger draw than in previous years.
I can almost hear the whistles blow, and the sound of crowds cheering in the breeze.
It’s almost football time, in Missouri, as in Tennessee.

GO VOLS!

BEAT GEORGIA!

I got to Knoxville Friday around 18:00. Got checked in to my hotel and unpacked ready to rock and roll.

Being the glutton for punishment that I am I immediately headed for Cumberland.

The Cal Ecker Band was the live venue of the night and they rocked, absolutely rocked. I bet they played Rocky Top a half dozen time in the almost 8 hours I was in the club, with the entire room screaming the song at the tops of their lungs.

I partied out at The Tin Roof until about 15 till 3 am. I was pumped, tired, blitzed and psyched all at once. (I have since learned that there is a Tin Roof in Nashville, which means at some point I may have to check it out) I wandered back to my truck and drug my exhausted carcass in to my hotel room at about 03:30.

****

<-The best damn shirt of the night!

****

06:00. Alarm goes off and I’m up and at them again. Cold shower, hot coffee, throw my duster on since its raining and head down the stairs witht he music from last night still ringing in my ears.

Grab some biscuits from the continental breakfast. One thing I have learned from years of road work: The reason why they call it a continental breakfast? Eat enough of them and you become the size of one. My present frame not withstanding I was in the truck and headed to Neyland by 8 am.

I have a spot on Maplehurst that never let me down. I parked the truck and headed for the Stadium. Picked up some spending cash from the ATM line, and grabbed my tickets from the Will Call gate.

I made a bee line for the Volunteer Village. I can almost always get some good souvenirs here and you can usually get autographs as well later.

The Tennessee Dance Team

Here is where I began to get nervous. While it was early there was still people milling about fairly well. A good sized crowd had gathered. The Tennessee Dance Team was present and they tried to get several cheers started, but the reaction was muted at best. Out of about 70 people present, maybe 3 responded, myself one of them. I began to worry. This was not typical of my past experiences on such hallowed ground as campus.

Smokey arrived, and attempted to get a rise out of fans. Posing for numerous pictures, and even going so far as to harass the Game Radio Announcers he managed to bring a almost silent crowd of the lethargy that seemed to permeate the area.

Still the crowd remained solemn.

The mood was quaint, people milled about. Children got their face painted, but still it was almost as if over 100,000 people as one stood on baited breath: will we win? Will we fall at home?

I lined up with the rest for the Vol Walk. Most felt as I did. We wanted win, but a loss was not going to surprise us. But we wanted the win.

Scalpers were out in force “Hey man, sell me your ticket?” I must have looked perplexed based on his reaction to my face but I asked for curiosities sake “How much?”. After all it had drizzled all morning, and the three hour drive to Nashville on Friday night was akin to driving in a car wash for the same amount of time: torrential down pour. “$20 bucks” came the reply. I was astounded. “I’m gonna sell you a $70 ticket for $20 bucks? Are you kidding?” “Hey man they’re not gonna win anyway.” he retorted and stormed off.

The weather, his reaction, and the crowds mood seemed to all coincide. Cloudy, cool, rainy. Dreary. As if at any moment the thunder would roll in, lightning strike and the rain wash out our hopes for a SEC win. If only we had known just where the lightning would hit.

****

The bus arrived. The lead bus, no sooner than was halted, began to rock to and fro like a thing possessed. The crowd stirred. Smokey and the Band began their march down the corridor of fans, the crowd began to move…

The door finally opened, and out stepped Tennessee’s heralded hopeful: Lane Kiffin. His dress belayed the weather, a suit of Grey. Our Gandalf the Grey would soon become our Gandalf the White, but we did not know it at the time.

The Team itself finally spurred the crowd as the boys came out, dressed in black like undertakers for a soon to be passing UGA, grinning ear to ear, slapping hands, high fives, shaking hands almost as if they knew. They knew what they held in store, they knew they were not going to let Georgia out of Neyland Stadium with a win. They gleamed it, and just exuded it. They crowd roared for the first time in the 3 hours I had stood on campus. It would not be the last.

Pride of the South Land Band

As the entered the stadium, so followed the crowd. Many of us knew we would miss other parts of the entertainment for the day, but I for one was anxious. I wanted the game to start, I wanted the bleachers to rumble, the clouds to part, sun pour down on our team and the score board to sing. I got part of my wish anyway.

My View of the Field

My view was decent, for being in the nose bleed seats. The only real downside is the blasted lights across the field after a while hurt the eyes.

There were a few, like myself, who were anxious for the game to begin. They too had already made themselves comfortable, retrieved their drinks, and had no intention of leaving until Half time.

Hell I didn’t intend to leave then, nor did I.

To the bitter end, I thought to myself. I just didn’t yet realize for whom.

The team gathered at the end of the field. They got fired up, they got motivated. What ever they all did, they need t do it from now on.

Georgia took the field to get warmed up as well.

I took this picture thinking to myself I would caption it “Georgia already playing dead on the field”…apparently it was a precognition, but I’m still proud to use it.

Finally it was to begin.

The Pride of the Southland band took the field.

The opening ceremony a time honored tradition at UT.

The T was formed, and the boys took the field.

Georgia attempted to usurp the moment by taking the field at almost the same time.

Sadly for them, they never took the field, they only borrowed it for a few moments at a time before ultimately plain giving it back to us.

**************

The game began.

It started as a dull roar, that escalated throughout the stadium. The Vols were on the field, not to play dead. Not to make interceptions. But to play ball.

The thunder did come, as 100,000 people beat their feet against the bleachers.

The lightning did blast as fireworks over the Tennessee River exploded again and again.

The rain came too, but only on poor Georgia, who despite every effort, every attempt to get momentum on their side, proved to be an effort in futility.

The scoreboard did hum as the number just kept climbing.

As completed pass, after pass, after run after Hardesty run, after touchdown. The crowd at first seemed unbelieving, almost unwilling to acknowledge what their eyes saw after the first touchdown. After Cromptons first five completed passes, the crowd was beginning to understand. Our boys had come to play frickin football, by gawd.

Someone behind me started the old yell of “WhoooooooooooOOOOAAAAA NELLY!” and then the game was off to the proverbial races with Hardesty leading the way.

The famed flying squirrel took place right in front of me (and 2 stories down) , and I have to confess from our view it looked like he was completely out of bounds. The replay told the story though, and I can assure you no one cheered the less.

Mid game motivation

Half way through the game the boys again got fired up, a breather, a blast of fresh air. Why was it needed I have no idea, but the Orange Volunteer freight train was in full force, and running wide open over a horridly unsuspecting Uga, who while residing on the tracks in process of licking himself, came to be staring in horror as they came bearing down on him without even so much as a whistle for warning.

*******

The game was over. Like a lamb it came in. Like a Lion it went.

The crowd was over the top excited. We had won our first SEC game of the season, we had destroyed a neighboring states team, and low and behold our Quarterback (whom I will readily confess I have been a huge detractor of) suddenly was performing…well like a quarterback! Spirits were high, and by the time I made it to Calhouns, I was tired, elated, and ready for cold beers.

Seasonal Harvest Beer and Hot wings at Calhouns

***

Calhouns holds a sort of special memory for me.

The first time I was married, the ceremony was performed about 30 minutes east of Knoxville, in town called Sevierville. The Justice of the Peace there ran a Feed & Seed store called Temple’s. Thusly I can say I was married in a feed and seed store, standing next to bags of grass seed and fertilizer.

Afterwards we went to dinner. At Calhouns.

I haven’t ate here since. But today was special, and I had hoped to meet some other folks here. Unfortunately between issues with my truck and a parking space, as well as the game itself we missed each other. We’ll work it out in the next run.

Still the beer was indeed cold, and the hot wings divine.

From there it was back Cumberland, and to the Tin Roof where Tony Phillips was playing live that night. It proved to be another late night for yours truly. After several hours of beer, and dancing, it was almost 3 am when last call was sounded.

Once again I crawled my way back to my hotel.

In the end it’s your typical Knoxville game day weekend. Crowded bars, boisterous fans, and myself.

Now as I sit recovering, and trying to concentrate on my work for the day I have to ask myself one very important, burning question.

Should I buy tickets to South Carolina this coming weekend?

Peace out!

I said that they have a uncanny ability to snatch victory from us at the last second. That every time we are ahead they manage to show up and smack our hands out of the cookie jar.

Saturday was no different.

Deftly, after having played what was arguably their best game all year. They didn’t quit. Penalties were low. No dumb turn overs. A nice mesh of run and pass plays. The underdog fighting against what was an almost certain loss.

They were doing the impossible. Name a Vols fan who wasn’t on their feet at the 14 to 10 lead in the 4th. Try to recall the exhilaration, the adrenaline and taste the beer you spilled on your shirt.

We lost it.

We lost focus. With the upcoming joy and celebration in our eyes on the last play, we easily snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

We talk about wide receivers who picture the touchdown before the catch the ball….and then don’t catch it.
Running backs who are picturing the open field…but never get their.
Quarterbacks who drop the snap picturing a beautiful throw.
All loss of focus.

We did it again.

17 seconds. 14 points on the board. 13 men on the field. 7 Maxims. 2 yards. 1 Game. No victory.

Some call it a miracle victory for Les Miles and his crew. Hooper of RTT summed it up well: Where victory is Pyrrhic, not moral.

Either way I call it what I, and many other Vols fans have called the entire season. A single word that sums up our anguish at their struggles, our frustration at the our errors, and agony for the players who are trying very hard to do so much.

Painful.

Given that for profit education is going under fire today via a senate hearing I thought it appropriate to write this now.

There’s been a lot of hullabaloo regarding for profit education. Even the military is backing investigations in to it, and rightly so frankly, from their stand point. They are looking out for soldiers, and anything that puts a large sum of soldiers in to debt will make the higher ups wary. They are, effectively, looking out for their employees.

A couple of points.

First off online education allows people like myself, career road warriors, access to a education that otherwise would not be available to us. I would never be able to get a formal education as long as I am in my career. There is no way for me to attend classes when I change locations every 2 to 3 weeks and am home maybe once a month at best.

A brick and mortar class room is simply out of the question.

Second, online education is not a diploma mill. Some may argue that it is not as intensive. I disagree somewhat. For one without face to face interaction getting clear understanding is much more challenging. Further more not have direct contact with your classmates creates more challenges as well in group operations. Also considering that most who attend these schools put in a 8 to 12 hour work day and then an additional 3 to 4 hours to make attendance and participating requirements I would say possibly puts more strain on them than a regular college student. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

In the end I feel I am getting a decent education. As I noted in my previous article, it may not be the best education compared to say Harvard, or Princeton, but I would counter as indicated that it is the best education we can afford and not merely by placing a price tag on it.

Now there is a flip side to all this happiness and sunshine.

I have found that most employers don’t give a rip about a online education. It is perceived as a Diploma Mill system. I can assure you first hand it isn’t. Ask my wife how many hours I have sat at my computer doing my assignments or my co workers on the road how late I’ve been up doing classwork. That does not change the perception, unfortunately.

A warning for those who think this is a diploma mill and think you will be getting a easy education: It’s not.

Three friends of mine have attempted this. Two starting at the same time I did. Making time is absolutely essential. They both failed to make time, and they both failed out of the school. Dedication is absolutely paramount.

It does not help that credits are essentially nontransferable. Accreditation be damned, myself and several other students have had a horrible time trying to transfer to other more mainstream institutions. I was encouraged by one institution to “start your education over again.”

Really? $34,000 later I have an Associates Degree’s, I’m half way through my Bachelors and your telling me I have to start over?

Another problem I have is cost. Not a year has went by that I have not seen a rate increase. I started in 2008. My classes started at around $794 per class. I’m up to almost $1,200 per class plus a almost $200 “resource fee”.

Do I regret my education?
Yes and no. No because in my eyes I accomplished it. No because I have a degree versus a certification, or diploma, or even whatever the latest IT exam is this week that’s hot. Yes because while I no longer travel, even with my education I can not obtain a job equal to what I did on the road. Furthermore even with my education, I can not transfer to a brick and mortar style institution yet.

In the end I think that is the rub to me. A person who goes through a 3 week boot camp can get a MCSE and earn twice what I make with less debt. The down side for them is in two or three years that certification may be useless (Whens the last time you heard of a person with a Certified Novel Associate certification getting a job for example? Next question.) But a person like myself, who spends two years busting their tail to earn a degree as well as trying to hold down a family and a career who earns a diploma, is considered inept purely because the school we attended is online.

In my eyes there is little difference. If the degree is accredited, it’s done. If a certificate is accepted then so should the degree. It must be apples to apples versus apples to oranges.

I have not enjoyed my online education. It has been difficult, infuriating, the Bachelors program quite frankly has been insulting, not on a intellectual level, but rather on a lack of student dedication and that purely is what i wish someone would have the balls to stand up and say at the hearing today.

I have had many classes with students who have failed who can not dictate simple English at a 5th grade level attempting to get a degree on the grounds that they believe the rumors and bad press, that the school is a mill.

I have had classes where people simply stop participating, leaving the rest of us to pull the load (we work in teams online for groups assignments as well as individual assignments in the Bachelors program)

I consider myself the norm of online students. I will continue my education, but I do it begrudgingly. Not because I want to go to this school, but because it feels like no one else will accept me. And because above all else I need a degree to better my career and my place in life. It is a gamble, that one day for profit education systems like my own will be seen as acceptable.

However, it is a gamble I feel I must take.

At the end of the hearings today I would like to see some regulation.

I would like to see equality in accreditation, my credits by transferable by those schools who share that same accreditation.

Conversely I would also like to see some regulation on the amount of money that can and has been charged for my education. There has to be a cap somewhere because currently I could have paid for my daughter to attend a Ivy league school with what it has cost me to get through half of my bachelors degree.

Finally, I want to see some acceptance from both parties out of this.

For Profit education fills a needed role. The demands of modern business requires being on call, working long harried and flexible hours. Trying to get a degree under those conditions is almost impossible.

Until Academia steps out of the dark ages and realizes that offering purely brick and mortar education systems is going to continue to dwindle their available student body, the For Profit education system and online education is going to continue to thrive.

One thing I was concerned about when I started back to school was accreditation.And as recent News Reports show, its a serious issue.

The very first school I went to, after High School, was North Metro Technical Institute, now called North Metro Technical College. At that time they were unaccredited. They have since became so, is my understanding. But essentially what I learned there does me no good because the education I received was unaccredited at the time. Hence when I went back to school for the second time, I chose a college that I knew for a cold stone fact was accredited: University of Tennessee.

While I would have dearly loved to have graduated from there, the military didn’t let that happen.

Anyway went I when I made the decision to start back, the first thing I did was check who was accredited and how. I did a lot of research. I needed something I could afford, but at the same time I didn”t want my education to suffer due to cost. Unfortunately I could not go back to Tennessee, because they didn’t offer an on line curriculum for my education level.

I also went in to this knowing that some folks, no matter where you get your degree, just do not like Online colleges.

University of Phoenix has several accreditations. First and foremost, in my area, Business, they have the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs. Only a quarter of all business schools earn program accreditation from one of the two business schools accrediting organizations. It doesn’t end there, however. They are recognized by the Department of Education. With that they have over 70 different accreditations under their belt. Thats a lot to offer.

Also in my quest I wanted to know funding.

UofP had Federal Financial Aid. Cost of college is a concern, obviously. It’s cheap, for UofP: $7,084 a year, compared with an average tuition of;$9,630 in other Phoenix programs and$23,712 at traditional
private colleges (public universities average ). Sure, UofP isn’t Harvard. But it is a good education. Whats more it is an education, period.

Like all schools it has good points and bad points, but the good outweighs the bad, in my opinion. As Katherine
Mangu-Ward wrote in Education for Profit: Why is everyone flaming University of Phoenix?

Phoenix students know they”re not getting the best education money can buy. But they might be getting the best education their money can buy.

Will I get my Bachelors Degree from them? Possibly. It depends on what advances I see with the obtainment of my Associates.But one thing is for certain. If I go on to get my Masters, it won’t be from University of Phoenix but rather it will be somewhere specific to accomplish my dream……The University of Tennessee On line Graduate Program