When They're Not Playing the Gators...

I am rooting for the home team University of Florida Gators once again this year in football. I hope they go far with their very talented junior quarterback John Brantley. But within their same division is another school for which I feel a great amount of sympathy: the Tennessee Volunteers.

Last year, with The Twerp and his father coaching their team (for what turned out to be their ONE year of coaching the team), the Vols floundered amid losses and controversy regarding said Twerp's repeated verbal gaffes. Only I don't think HE ever thought they were gaffes. Many of them were directed at instigating hostility between Tennessee and Florida, and to that extent he was successful. Under Tennessee's previous coach Phillip Fulmer, who is a soft-spoken, dignified, and respectful man, I had grown to admire their program. Visiting Knoxville on occasion and seeing how much I liked it there didn't hurt, either.

Well, now The Twerp and his father have gone back to their old school, Southern Cal, to coach and possibly serve as scapegoats for that school's severe punishment for recent severe NCAA violations. The nature of his sudden abandonment of UT after he had pledged to build the program back up as a national contender left many Volunteer fans feeling deservedly betrayed. But they ended up with a better man after it was all over. Tennessee's new coach is Derek Dooley, a man who more accurately reflects their tradition of leaders like Coach Fulmer. I'm back on board with them, but not when they're playing the Gators!

Incidentally, in case you didn't know it, The Twerp also goes by the name of "Lane Kiffin".