Vols in the news
There is a growing optimism among Johnny Vols Fans everywhere.
And it's completely understandable in the following ways:
There is more talent in Knoxville than at any time since likely the mid-2000s.
There are big-time playmakers on each side of the ball at multiple levels. Sure, Dooley's last team had a couple of guys named Cordelle Patterson and Justin Hunter on he perimeter. This group has bevy of wide outs with Josh Dobbs and a couple of big time backs, including one Alvin Kamara, who could be a big-time breakout star, as Downtown Patrick Brown tells us here.
The SEC East is filled with teams willed with questions. Georgia and South Carolina have offensive stars in Nick Chubb and Pharaoh Cooper, but each needs to find a quarterback. Missouri lost the bulk of its overwhelming strengths at receiver and defensive line from last year's SEC East championship squad. Florida has more questions than answers, and Vandy and Kentucky are still Vandy and Kentucky.
Former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer, shown here during his final season with the Volunteers in 2008, is excited about the potential of this year's team but has his concerns.As Phil Fulmer told us on Press Row on Tuesday, the Vols have a real opportunity to take a step forward.
In fact, the ESPN power rankings give the Vols better than a 50 percent chance of winning in each game that's not against Alabama. Yes, that preseason power poll and four dollars will get you a Starbucks coffee, but that type of statistical ammunition gives a recently embattled and forever proud fan base reason to take the next step in the rebuilding process.
When things turn as drastically and nastily as they did for the Vols, the process is painful. It goes from the struggle of "What has happened" to the rationalization of marginal improvement. It transforms to searching for silver linings at every corner to the in-season hope to "being competitive."
Now, at least one ranking - again, as Twain told us so insightfully, there are lies, damn lies and statistics - says the Vols should be favored, even if slightly, in every game save Bama.
This is not hoping to compete, this is expecting to compete and looking to win.
That's a stark turn on the path for a UT team that was trying to figure out how to get bowl eligible this time last year.
Welcome back football season indeed.
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Geno Smith
Yep, that happened.
The day after we listed the five most intriguing NFL teams, the New York Jets turn into a cross between North Dallas Forty and SNL.
Some third-string linebacker making six figures breaks the jaw of the starting quarterback, who makes seven figures allegedly over an argument that apparently started over a $600 plane ticket.
FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2015, file photo, New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith responds to questions during a news conference after practice at NFL football training camp in Florham Park, N.J. Jets quarterback Geno Smith will be sidelined at least 6-10 weeks after being punched in the jaw by teammate Ikemefuna Enemkpali. Coach Todd Bowles made the announcement before training camp practice Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File) Makes perfect sense, right?
Not so much.
In fact, while this is not blaming Smith for the aggression or violent nature of linebacker IK Enemkpali, there's something to the point that Cris Carter makes here.
If you are a legit quarterback in the NFL, no one touches you in your own locker room. Heck, this isn't even about the upper crust guys like Brady, Manning, Rodgers or Luck, this is about everyone down the way to Flacco, Ryan, Stafford and even Mariota.
If you are the quarterback, there are guys in that locker room willing to sacrifice their career to protect you, not end your season for a half-dozen Benjamin Franklins.
So we know the Jets are the Jets - and in typical crazy Jets fashion, they may actually be better off because of this since Geno was pretty terrible last year - and we learn again that being the QB means more than just taking snaps.
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PGA Championship
It's official.
The page has turned on Tiger Woods.
He is not, nor should he be, one of the top-five story lines heading into the final major of the year.
Tiger Woods hits from the sixth fairway during the second round of the Quicken Loans National golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., Friday, July 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) In fact, we're pretty sure that Tiger doesn't even believe that Tiger can win any more.
Think of it this way, since Tiger last won a major - it's been 2,613 days as of this morning - Serena Williams has won 13 majors and Justin Bieber went from YouTube sensation to international superstar.
Heck, Facebook has even exploded and in some minds jumped the shark in the time since Tiger was holding a major championship trophy in his hands.
It's OK to admit it, and we're finally there.
Will golf be OK? Who knows, the game's popularity will suffer because of the wider audience Tiger attracted and the fact that he brought the "must watch because you don't know what amazing thing he might do" factor.
That's simply a fact, and one that every individual-based sport faces when the uber-stars fade.
Sure, he may have flash or two left, but we are now to the point - and maybe we have been for a while - that we are wondering whether Woods will make the cut.
And in truth, making the weekend is a celebratory situation now. It gives us the chance to see Woods in red on Sunday, even if the vision is more about recalling a memory than making one.
So tee it up big guy and give 'em heck. We're sure it will be awesome and make sure you let us know how that turns out.
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This and that
FILE - In this Sunday, July 17, 1955 file photo, children sprint across a drawbridge and into a castle that marks the entrance to Fantasyland at the opening of Walt Disney's Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Fantasyland had been closed until late in the day. (AP Photo) - Thought this was cool as Disneyland celebrates its 60th birthday.
- As FE to the C pointed out, the Raiders seem almost assured of being known as the franchise formerly known as the Oakland Raiders.
- OG - and we are having interweb connection troubles with the site and that's why we have not commented recently - we are not saying gamers will be sports stars, per se in the traditional sense. But there's at least room for a very similar boom like poker went through and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
- Everyone say a silent prayer that Tom Brady and Roger Goodell figure out a workable deal and DeflateGate is done after today. Wouldn't that be Christmas in August?
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This and that
- Amazingly, all 30 MLB teams were in action on Tuesday and for the first time all 15 home teams won.
Today's question
Ian Fleming died on this day in 1964. He, of course, created the James Bond series.
Who are the faces on the Rushmore of famous heroes from fictional book series? Go, and remember the mailbag.