2008 3-State 3-Mountain Challenge Ride Report

The climb up Suck Creek Mountain went well. I found a good rhythm and chugged five miles uphill. I was kind of glad for the climb, because I thought it would help me warm up.

I'm exhausted from reading that and Brian's just getting warmed up. Follow the link and check out Brian's outstanding photo journal of this grueling event.

WBIR.COM

...Vols quarterback Erik Ainge was the 162nd pick overall...

OK, then.

But coach assures parents it won't happen again.

The New York Times says Jackie Walker will finally be inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, thanks in part to the article by Betty Bean who is quoted in the NYT article.

Congratulations to the Knoxville Ice Bears, champions of the Southern Professional Hockey League. I attended tonight's game as the Ice Bears beat the Jacksonville Barracudas 4-2, completing a three-game sweep of the championship series. --Mark Harmon

The Knoxville Juggler's Club is meeting this Tuesday!

Jan Sanders Hall at Cokesbury United Methodist Church will be open to jugglers from 7 to 9 p.m. on the first Sunday and the third Tuesday of each month.

Jugglers and non-jugglers alike are welcome to attend. For the answers to "What type of people attend juggling clubs?" "Why juggle?" and "Who can juggle?" see Knoxville Juggling Club relauches. The answer to who can juggle is anyone! I have even seen a one handed man juggle 5 balls!

Watching golf can be a little slow. Watching The Masters is different. Normally the course is gorgeous and I believe this year it is the norm.

Through Sunday, April 13.

Trevor Immelman (?) is currently in the lead. Tiger Woods is tied with several others for 22nd place (1 over par).

All five starters drafted:

Candace Parker had a whirlwind 24 hours. Parker was selected No. 1 by the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA draft on Wednesday, a day after capping her college career by leading Tennessee to a second straight NCAA title.

[..]

All five Tennessee starters got drafted. Shannon Bobbitt and Nicky Anosike were the first two picks of the second round, with Bobbitt joining Parker in Los Angeles and Anosike heading to Minnesota. Alberta Auguste was drafted in the third round by New York.

Congratulations, again, to the Lady Vols basketball program.

UPDATE: WBIR shows us the money.

What can you say, except congratulations!

Summitt Is First to Win 100 Tourney Games

The [78-52 win over Perdue] not only sent top-seeded Tennessee to its annual regional semifinal appearance, but also made Summitt the first coach in Division I basketball history — men's or women's — to record 100 wins in the tournament.

"Pearl Has Converted The Faithful in Tennessee"

Link...

Tells the story we're all familiar w/ and brings in a couple of quotes that are smile worthy, plus something to think about regarding a Jew among Christians.

"He's just so dynamic, so engaged," she says. "It's fun being around him, fun to be around someone who always sees the good in everything."

"He jumped on the Tennessee bandwagon," Summitt says. "If there was an event, he was at it. He could be elected mayor in a heartbeat."

So maybe we won't have to look far to replace Ragsdale.

If there is a subject on which Pearl is most passionate, it's his Judaism, about which he talks so feelingly that his eyes well up. When he first arrived in Knoxville, some local Christian worshipers invited him to church and told him they wished he would make Jesus his personal savior, so he could get to heaven. It wasn't enough for Pearl to politely inform them he was Jewish and attended synagogue. He described the role of God in his life, how he worshiped, lit candles, believed in mitzvahs. (Some of the local Christians still invite him to church.)

I was taken aback by this. I am preparing to go to church this morning, and am unsettled that people would not respect his religion.

But the players do, there's a passage about when they went to Europe last summer, and he took them to the concentration camps. And then there's the story of Pearl watching as the players attended his daughter's bat mitzvah between that trip and the beginning of fall semester.

"Here came these talk, dark, handsome men, all wearing yarmulkes," Pearl says delightedly. Then he adds his favorite detail: how he heard some of the players greeting the other well-wishers.

"They were going, 'Shalom, y'all.' "

You have to overlook the spelling, but this is pretty funny.

WVLT: Candace Parker named Academic All-American: "This is such an honor," Parker said. "An athletic career could end at a moment’s notice, but a solid education will last a lifetime."

Tennessee's Parker to Skip Senior Year

By skipping her final year of eligibility, Parker has the chance to enter the WNBA draft in April. She would likely go as the top pick.

UPDATE: Yesterday's news.

It is my understanding that the gentlemen who play basketball for the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee Knoxville are ranked among their peers in the number one and number two positions respectively, and that the two clubs will compete on Saturday in a contest characterized as the Game of the Century.

Tickets to attend said contest in Memphis are reportedly fetching a price of $10,000 per ticket, indicating a heightened level of interest in the rivalry and an unusual demand for credentials to witness the historic confrontation.

Experts report that the University of Tennessee's number two ranking is the highest level of recognition ever secured by the university's basketball program. Much of the credit is given to their wily and tenacious coach, a Mr. Bruce Pearl, who is a relative newcomer said to be popular with those who follow the university's sporting activities.

Isn't there a war going on? Isn't our economy in shambles? Are we not worried about terrorism? Illegal immigration? Rising energy prices? Jobs being sent overseas? Global warming? Health care? Apparently Rep. Henry Waxman believes that congress should focus their attention on a couple of baseball players who allegedly used HGH and steroids. Meanwhile over in the Senate chamber Arlen Specter has some "hard hitting" questions for the NFL commissioner about the destruction of tapes related to the infamous Patriots/Jets "spy" scandal. Carry on America...your congressman and senators are here to serve and protect.

Try to read this one without weeping.
Bruce Pearl rules.

Link...

OK, if no one else will say it. I will. I wonder, if after those first two quick scores, Jim Tressel said:" I fear all we have done is waken a sleeping Tiger...".
Hee Hee Hee.
Geaux Tigers.

Candace Parker benched for first half of hometown game for missing curfew.

Go Knights!

Cowbells and bulldogs? Pffttt... Who needs em?

University of Wisconsin marching band practices in the snow for the Outback Bowl.

Duke denies reports it has offered the head coaching job to Cutcliffe.

Who to believe, these guys, or these guys?

UPDATE: It's official.

Cutcliffe in running for Duke job

...there's a football game today or something?

Tennessee hangs on for an SEC Championship bid after four overtimes. Congratulations to the U.T. Volunteers, and to the University of Kentucky Wildcats for making U.T. earn it in one of the wildest SEC games ever.

How screwed up is SEC football that UT has to come back from a 16 point deficit to beat Vanderbilt to tie for the SEC East lead?

And Georgia has to struggle to get past Kentucky to stay in the hunt? And Kentucky's only big win was against SEC West leader LSU, and that was LSU's only loss?

And now Tennessee also has to get by Kentucky, who could be the spoiler?

I don't usually follow this stuff, but this all just sounds crazy. I guess there's an "anything can happen" element that keeps it interesting?

A lucky UT student who attends at least ten of fourteen Lady Vols home basketball games will win one year's free tuition, courtesy of the Lady Vols. Second prize ain't too shabby, either. Read all about it here.