One Step at a Time

  .   In school, there was no better feeling than showing up for another dreaded day of academic drudgery only to discover every student's favorite turn of events - the teacher called in sick. The substitute teacher is a favorite of almost every student. The assignments are easier, there's usually no homework, and often …

Mayoral Malaise: what happened on election night?

    A few weeks ago I wrote that Knoxville needed the next Cas Walker, a people's champion, someone more concerned with Chert Pitt Road than Cherokee Country Club, to emerge. Knoxvillians certainly settled on an establishment outsider as their next mayor, just not one from the mold of Cas Walker. Indya Kincannon, a Princeton …

Ain’t Nothin’ Like the Real Thing

Over the course of a three year clinic on football ineptitude, the Tennessee Volunteers have had their share of moral victories. In particular, this season's competitions with Alabama and Georgia showed glimmers of hope for the big orange faithful. However, Saturday night Vol fans were reminded that there is just nothing like the real thing, …

“A Hillbilly Colossus”

Knoxville is an odd little town. It has all the resources a city could hope for: a flagship university, a major waterway, and two nation spanning interstate highways. Yet decade after decade, it lags behind Memphis, Atlanta, and Nashville in terms of growth and development. The reasons for this are myriad and complex, but might …

Donald Trump, Texas Hold’m and the Big Ukrainian Bluff

  I am a Texas Hold'm addict. The game of poker encompasses many of my favorite things: strategy, risk, socialization and even a little acting. Every Monday night, my friends and I get together to play hours and hours of Texas Hold'm style poker. One of our most infamous players is my good friend Tommy …

Out of Many, One

      In grade school, every Tuesday our grandparents would pick up my siblings and I after class to spend the afternoon with them. Trips to McDonalds followed up with hours-long games of hide and seek were commonplace. The afternoon of Tuesday Sept. 11, 2001 did not go according to plan. Grandma and Grandpa …

Sifting Through the Ashes: Tennessee’s Darkest Hour

  My earliest memories of Tennessee football came around a campfire. I can remember as a young boy sitting next to my uncle on a family camping trip, huddled around a bonfire, as he listened to Tim Priest and Bob Kessling call the Georgia game. I can't remember what year it was. The final score …

When Johnny Comes Marching Home: the Vols need a savior again

  **** DISCLAIMER - I've heard several versions of this story. It is likely something similar happened, but not this exact version of events. But as always the legend is far more entertaining than the reality.**** It was October 16, 1976 better known as The Third Saturday in October, and Alabama had come to town. …

Not this again: Week 1 on Rocky Top.

In the comedy classic Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, there is an iconic scene in which the protagonist, Ricky Bobby, falsely believes that he has been paralyzed. Disregarding the begging assurances of his friends that he can in fact walk, Ricky hilariously jabs a steak knife into his leg, assuming that he will …

Jackie & the Bear: Tennessee’s forgotten legend

      "Unblockable" is a word that has often been used to describe some of football's greatest defenses. It conjures up images of the breath rising from the helmets of the '85 Bears as they harass quarterbacks on an icy day in Chicago, or of Tom Brady picking turf out of his face mask …