Via Cleverbot:
User: Hey, Cleverbot. Somebody told me about you.
Cleverbot: Somebody told you what?
User: That you were cool and funny.
Cleverbot: I know I am, sweetheart. You, however, have the cunning of an orca whale.
User: Okay, then. Do you know anything about college football?
Cleverbot: Thank god, no.
User: Why don't you like football? Are you a Tennessee fan?
Cleverbot: I do.
User: Oh, so you like football but don't know it. You're a Florida fan.
Cleverbot: I never said that I was God.
User: Right. So maybe a Miami fan.
Cleverbot: Maybe.
User: So who's going to win the NCAA basketball tournament this year?
Cleverbot: I don't know. There are many big games. I'm not aware of the biggest.
User: Do you like Kentucky to win it all?
Cleverbot: No.
User: Who then?
Cleverbot: I don't know.
User: Not so clever now, are we?
Note: this is not an attack on Calipari, who most of you know I'm not too fond of. While I do think that there are very valid criticisms to be made of Calipari both as a game-day and ethical coach, right now isn't the time to bring up those criticisms (because Cal has had a very good record of late, and is in the middle of his most promising season to date at Kentucky). So this isn't an attack on him or his character, but rather an attack on the notion of creating shadows to support an illusion.
I regularly visit a few of our SB-Nation SEC sites, the very popular A Sea of Blue among them. Typically I avoid most of the opinion articles there -- frankly, about half of them are complaints about how everybody is out against them and that nobody gives Coach Cal an ounce of respect, or how tough it is to be a team sporting multiple #1 recruiting records and the winingest record historically. (Which, were I a Kentucky fan at all I wouldn't mind, but as a rival? It gets a bit old.)
So it doesn't come as a surprise to me to see this response to an article written by an NBA contributor for SB Nation, Jonathon Tjarks. But, uhm. Do you really want this guy to be as aSoB commentator jc25 quickly points out "one of my favorite basketball writers"? Really?
Upon seeing this, your first inclination may be that it is fake -- a joke.* No no. It's realer than real deal Holyfield, and at time of publication is still on the front page of merriam-webster.com.
*To be fair, it is hilarious like a joke.
(Hat tip to Card Chronicle -- the excellent SBN site for the University of Louisville Cardinals -- for discovery of this gem.)
Lindsey-Nelson Stadium
Schedule
2/17 - 4pm
2/18 - 1pm
2/19 - 1pm
Series Record: First meeting
2011 record: 30-27(16-11 MAC)
2011 RPI: 181
Tickets
Game One - $4 to $7, Kids under 12 get in free, bring 2 school supplies to get in free
Game Two - $4 to $7, bring 2 school supplies to get in free
Game Three - $4 to $7, Kids under 12 get in free
Additional information after the jump
For most of us in orange, the 2010 Tennessee-LSU game brings up painful memories of a potential upset for the ages ruined by an epic mistake by a young, inexperienced team and coaching staff. But what if the Vols' defense having too many men on the field was a tactical decision designed to maximize the chance of victory? Bill Barnwell's article The Fearless Super Bowl Recap on ESPN's Grantland yesterday contained an interesting analysis of an illegal participation penalty by the Giants late in the fourth quarter: Barnwell believes that Tom Coughlin may have intentionally placed too many men on the field, preventing the offense from completing a long pass and trading yardage for time.
Commentator extraordinaire Bill C.'s (Far Too Early, Sure To Change A Thousand Times) 2012 F/+ Projections are up over at Football Study Hall, with Tennessee checking in at number 20, albeit behind SEC rivals Georgia (#10), Florida (#14), and South Carolina (#19).* The Vols earned their ranking courtesy of the newly signed (and 13th ranked) 2012 recruiting class and large number (20) of returning starters.
For those of us hoping that this is the year that the bamboo grows, I've taken the F/+ rankings for each team on the Vols' 2012 schedule to establish a thoroughly pseudo-scientific expectation of victory for each game: positive numbers should increasingly correlate with victory, and negative numbers should correlate with defeat.
| Date | Opponent | Opp. F/+ | Diff. btwn Opp. and Vols |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09/01/12 | NC State | -1.6% | 15.5% |
| 09/08/12 | Georgia State | Not found | Let's say this is a win |
| 09/15/12 | Florida | 17.9% | -4.0% |
| 09/22/12 | Akron | -26.3% | 40.2% |
| 09/29/12 | at Georgia | 19.6% | -5.7% |
| 10/13/12 | at Mississippi State | 5.3% | 8.6% |
| 10/20/12 | Alabama | 32.9% | -19.0% |
| 10/27/12 | at South Carolina | 14.1% | -0.2% |
| 11/03/12 | Troy | -16.6% | 30.5% |
| 11/10/12 | Missouri | 10.4% | 3.5% |
| 11/17/12 | at Vanderbilt | 10.1% | 3.8% |
| 11/24/12 | Kentucky | -7.8% | 21.7% |
Interestingly, the numbers correspond to my general feeling about the upcoming season, with the season dividing neatly into three categories: have-to-win, need-to-win, and would-like-to-win. Headlining a truly awful non-conference schedule are lightweights Akron and Troy (both waaaaaay down in the rankings) and little sister of the poor Georgia State (unranked, probably due to their transition into D-1). Tennessee should win all three of those games handily, as well as the games against Kentucky and NC State. Next up are the need-to-wins, meaning that any Tennessee head coach needs to win these games or face the pitchforks and orange mob. Vandy, Mizzou, and Mississippi State are all firmly middle-tier teams, capable of beating teams that don't play with focus and take care of the football. The Vols should be more talented than all of them. Finally, the last tier of games are the would-like-to-wins, featuring SEC East rivals Georgia and Florida, and historic no-body South Carolina; all three teams are close enough in projected F/+ that we'll get an idea whether or not the new coaching staff can coach. (Note: traditional rival Alabama is so far off-the-charts that it's not worth thinking about right now. I'd love a win, but it would be a huge upset.)
*For those who don't follow advanced football stats, F/+ is a combination of two metrics: FEI measures drive success and S&P+ uses play-by-play data to measure expected points and success rate. Final rankings for 2011 are here.
I was very fortunate to attend the Letterman/VIP signing day celebration in the West Club at Neyland Stadium last night. This particular banquet/party occurred after Dooley's media tour and conference but before the longer, more accessible gathering downstairs with Bob Kesling. I had a great time and the access to the coaches and administrators was unparallelled by any event I have been to yet as well as a far more candid setting. I learned quite a bit about what has been going on, what is going on now and where we are going in a media-less setting where things were slightly more unfiltered.
For those that may be interested, here is what I gathered:
Mainly to get this all straight in my own head and for the benefit of others that follow recruiting, I thought I would run down who we have, who we might lose, and who we might gain when the faxes start rolling in on Wednesday. More to the point and to make you all jealous, who I might be hearing Dooley telling me about when I'm eating dinner at the signing day banquet in Knoxville. Ha!
So, without further adieu, here is the breakdown along with the ESPN.com link for each player. Also check out Brad's stuff for more info. The star ratings are from 247's system as they are most easily found. I don't have memberships to the recruiting sites, but I know how to troll around for info so away we go:
| 01/24/12 | at Vanderbilt *  |
Nashville, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| 01/28/12 | vs. Auburn * |
Knoxville, Tenn. | 6:00 p.m. ET |
| 01/31/12 | at Kentucky * |
Lexington, Ky. | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| 02/04/12 | vs. Georgia * |
Knoxville, Tenn. | 8:00 p.m. ET |
| 02/08/12 | vs. South Carolina * |
Knoxville, Tenn. | 8:00 p.m. ET |
| 02/11/12 | at Florida * |
Gainesville, Fla. | 4:00 p.m. ET |
| 02/15/12 | vs. Arkansas * |
Knoxville, Tenn. | 8:00 p.m. ET |
| 02/18/12 | at Alabama * |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. | 1:30 p.m. ET |
| 02/22/12 | vs. Ole Miss * |
Knoxville, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| 02/25/12 | at South Carolina * |
Columbia, S.C. | 8:00 p.m. ET |
| 02/29/12 | at LSU * |
Baton Rouge, La. | 9:00 p.m. ET |
| 03/03/12 | vs. Vanderbilt * |
Knoxville, Tenn. | 4:00 p.m. ET |
Joe Paterno off Respirator near Death
Report Paterno in grave condition
Breaking News The announcement came at the end of the Tennessee win over UCONN on CBS
So sorry to hear for my BSD friends - Sad day in Happy Valley
But there may be some hope
Joe Paterno, battling cancer, in serious condition after complications AP report
If anyone on Rocky Top wants an in depth view of the Sandusky situation at PSU Read the Second Mile Sandusky Sex Scandal blog or this post on Black Shoe Diaries what you read may surprise you
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