Greeson: Tyndall give Vols a spark

photo Donnie Tyndall, right, is introduced as Tennessee men's basketball coach by athletic director Dave Hart during a news conference Tuesday in Knoxville. The former Southern Mississippi coach succeeds Cuonzo Martin, who resigned last week to take the coaching job at California.

Hey it's, Donnie Tyndall, Tennessee's new basketball coach. His name sounds as country as grits and NASCAR. His reputation and style have earned praise from basketball folks we respect.

The Donn has been hired. Long live The Donn.

So we know that there are several questions about The Donn's past run-in with the NCAA. Those questions are fair.

They also apply to most every coach in college basketball, which makes college football look like operating room in the cleanness category.

We also believe that the stage is set -- in some ways similarly to what Butch Jones has -- for success for The Donn to be the guy that followed the guy.

Follow along.

Bruce Pearl supercharged Tennessee basketball, giving it a pulse and a hope that pumped blood and excitement across the fan base at levels never before seen. He also tripped over some questionable decisions and a run-in with the truth.

So Cuonzo Martin follows Pearl with honesty and integrity and a very solid brand of basketball that overachieves early and bores late before a magical March last month. Martin was doomed to fail because he was not Pearl -- in both bad and good ways -- so the Vols were left looking for the next Pearl, and they appear to have found what looks to be a close replica.

In both good and bad ways.


Wrigley Field turned 100. One hundred.

And let's get this out first -- Wrigley has never seen a World Series championship for the home team. Crazy, right?

But 100 years in the same stadium is awesome and something that in today's sports landscape seems down right dinosaur-like considering that the city of Atlanta is about to build a new football stadium and a new baseball park to replace the Dome and the Ted -- two buildings that were launched in the 1990s.

So Wrigley is 100, and the magic of the place is the history of course. It's a destination.


• Looking for extra work? Apparently the sherpas have decided to leave Mount Everest during the climbing season which has been marred by an avalanche that killed 16. Being a sherpa is a tough way to climb the success ladder. (Thank you. Thank you.)

• Julius Randle declared for the NBA draft. We're not particularly surprised by the UK one-and-doner's decision. We believe Mr. Randle can score on the NBA level with his mix of offensive skills. Now, the rest of the NBA graduation/preparation for the talented baby Cats commences. Kind of a pompous circumstance, no? (Thank you. Thank you.)

• How about the SEC women's tournament could return to Chattanooga? If that's the case, then we may be in line for the SEC football title game at Finley. Or maybe not.

• Albert Pujols hit homer No. 500 last night, a magical number that deserves mention. Dude is 34, and has averaged roughly 40 homers a year. How high could he go, considering he looks like the old Albert this year with eight homers in 20 games? Could he join the 700 club? Say hi to Tammy Faye and Jim.

Until next time.

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