I’d heard the legends, but I wanted to see it for myself … or “feel” it, would probably be a better description. It was late summer 2005, and I was still a sports writer for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. By that time, I’d decided that I was going to make a family de...

Hank and Hammy: What do these two men have in common? More than you may think. I hate the New York Yankees. That’s never going to change. Their free-wheeling, free-spending, anything-BUT-free frame of mind when it comes to spending money embodies everything that is wrong with baseball. To me, ...

“Keep this in perspective,” I told myself. “He’s a defensive line coach.” As I was painting my Papaw’s old flat-bottom boat this afternoon and VolstotheWall rushed in the paint-fumed room to tell me that the reports were wrong, that Lane and Monte Kiffin performed...

I’m not going to be in Knoxville on Saturday. It’s best I stay away, I’ve decided. I could go, sure, and I could cheer and probably tear up and stand and clap and chant for Phillip Fulmer on his day and act for a moment like I’m sad to see him go. It would be true then, but t...

Back when I was little, the world as I knew it stopped on Saturday afternoons when the Tennessee Vols were getting ready to play football. No matter where we were, we’d seek out a television or a radio to try to see or hear the game. I remember playing pee wee football the day the Miracle at S...

In the past couple of years, Tennessee’s basketball team has persevered through personnel losses. Last year, SEC Player of the Year Chris Lofton was lost for a portion of the season with a high ankle sprain, and the Vols kept the ship steady for a couple of weeks. This year, Duke Crews’ ...

Tennessee will likely get a No. 2 seed. I understand that. I’ve accepted it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it. The Vols have the second-highest RPI in the past 15 years. You read that right, FIFTEEN years. We’ve beaten Memphis, Gonzaga and Xavier all on the road. We beat a solid W...

There used to be three seasons at Tennessee: Football season, recruiting season and spring practice. Now that we’ve taken one of those off this year and replaced it with this odd round-ball sport they call “basketball,” where the object is to throw said ball into a metal rim with a...

“Well,” I said as the time rolled off the clock, “Shan Foster hit some big shots.” Staring blankly at the television screen, Dad read my mind: “And we missed some.” That about sums up Tuesday night’s 72-69 loss at Vanderbilt. Calling this a “trap game&...

“It’s the hardest ticket I’ve ever seen in sports, ever. It’s harder than any Super Bowl, harder than any World Series. There’s just not that many people selling tickets. I’ve had so many of the players that I represent call and ask me to help them get tickets. I̵...