Before we get to today's festivities, let us offer a brief and heart-felt thank you to everyone who has offered well-wishes and kind words about our new endeavor at Team TFP. I am truly excited to try something new and have high hopes for the column and high expectations for myself. Thank you all - it means a great, Great, GREAT deal.
And yes, there's a chance we'll disagree at some point moving forward whether it's about the NBA or politics or what have you, but as always, we're willing to listen and discuss, and hope to have a running discourse across all platforms. We'll see of course, but we know that the 5-at-10 is a place to come and kick back. It's like the internet Cheers, just without the cold co-colas.
From the "Talks too much" studios, we can get by with a little help from our friends.
Vols' monster test
Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall, right, shouts at a referee on the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against LSU in Knoxville on Feb. 14, 2015. LSU won 73-55. Now we're here. UT looking for some internal answers with the college basketball Kong coming to town.
Donnie Tyndall's orange bunch of overachievers have won four times on the road and are 6-6 in the SEC. It's a record that has more league wins than most would have guessed the Vols would have accumulated all season. They were picked 13th out of the 14-team league, after all.
Donnie Knoxville's boys have made those strides with a variety of methods and strengths that mask a number of glaring flaws from a roster that was Swiss Cheese-ish in structure.
They play incredibly hard and aggressive. That covers the fact that they are shaky at the point and would be viewed as undersized in most competitive church leagues.
They are better as a group, a true testament to coaching mind you, and the sum is much better than the parts. This masks the obvious fact that other than Josh Richardson, the parts are less than dazzling.
Those attributes are noteworthy and commendable. They also leave you wondering how UT will stay within 20 of a Kentucky team that comes to Knoxville with a 25-0 record and a roster filled with NBA guys.
Play a simple game here: UK has at least nine guys - 10 if you count Alex Poythress, who was injured early in the season - that would start and likely would be Tennessee's best player. Ten. Other than Richardson, does UT have a single guy that would crack the Wildcats' rotation? Doubtful.
The face of this UK team is probably Willie Cauley Stein, a 7-footer with freak athletic ability that has a NBA future, an inside track to SEC player of the year honors despite mediocre stats and the occasional indifference that comes to the truly gifted when they get board.
The face of this UT team is not Richardson or Tyndall as much as it's Armani Moore, the hard-fighting scrapper who plays power forward in a power conference despite easily going unrecognized in the cafeteria.
It's a mismatch of the highest order.
But that's the beauty of sports, right? That unknown - described thousands of times by the 5-at-10's Pops with "That's why they play the game" - that holds the potential shock-the-world moment that keeps us coming back.
Will UT shock the world tonight? We don't see it happening.
But we will be watching because that's the greatness of sports.
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NFL combine
Jamarcus RussellThe NFL combine starts this week, and as many of you regulars know, we love the draft.
Tight ends, offensive linemen and kickers and special teams folks arrive in Indianapolis today for registration and measurements.
The week's complete schedule is here and as for on-field work and drills, here's the go-zone schedule:
Friday, Feb. 20 - Tight ends, offensive linemen, kickers, special teams players
Saturday, Feb. 21 - Quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs
Sunday, Feb. 22 - Defensive linemen and linebackers
Monday, Feb. 23 - Defensive backs
And yes, we probably watch more of the large dudes running and sweating in tight clothes than most normal adults should. So it goes.
If you are wondering how much the combine can mean in the eyes of scouts, well, the first-round busts of the infamous Workout Warriors like JaMarcus Russell and Mike Mamula and too many other names to mention are the famous examples.
But the other end of the spectrum is true too.
While we have always put some value in how a prospect prepares for the combine - it's the biggest job interview of a football player's life after all - as a measuring stick about whether a guy is ready to be a professional, there are those that had combine disasters who turned out OK.
Take this skinny, slow-footer kid from California via Michigan. Yep, there are some that say his combine showing was the worst from a quarterback in the modern era that included the slowest 40 time on record for his position.
Still, proving that there are no touchdowns scored or games won at the combine, despite an awful showing at Indy almost two decades ago, things turned out OK for Tim Brady after all.
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Stadium issue
San Diego Chargers' Junior Seau does a celebration dance after one of his seven tackles in the Chargers' 24-3 win over the Houston Texans in this 2002, file photo.The San Diego Chargers have turned the page from hardball to threatening in regard to a new stadium. Here's ESPN's story on the topic.
In most instances, we are against local governments building stadiums or arenas for sports teams that are making fine money on their own.
Ironically, though, the one group that could most easily afford the 10-figure price tag to build a new stadium is the one that offers the most value to the city.
A state-of-the art NFL venue - especially with some modern modifications - is a calling card for a multitude of big-name and big-dollar events that will repay the city of almost any investment sooner rather than later.
Take the city of Atlanta. The new Falcons' stadium will get a Super Bowl and a Final Four and allow the city to keep lucrative events like the SEC title game and the Peach Bowl. The new Braves stadium, though, will house the Braves.
Which one of those do you think the city gets the most bang out of?
As for the Chargers, though, the strong-worded threats seem a little over the top, especially for a team without the long-standing connection to the franchise like say Kansas City and/or Phily.
We'll see how this plays out, and we know this for sure - this will not be the last time the Chargers (or fill in Team X here) will look for Joe and Jane TaxPayer to help pay for a new home.
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This and that
- West Virginia bested Kansas last night in a pretty exciting college basketball Monday night. Side note: WVU coach Bob Huggins got a $25,000 bonus for the win. He is one of the few with a head's-up bonus for beating a certain team. We have to wonder if this won't be the future of college contracts. In addition to major bonuses for winning the conference or the national title or for having good graduation rates, we can certainly see a future where the Auburn coach will get an extra $50,000 for winning the Iron Bowl or other coaches getting bumps for winning rivalries that can really salvage a season (aka - donations).
- The New York Yankees continue to count down the numbers available to their roster. The Yankees, who have more all-time numbers in their ledger than anyone this side of Heidi Fleiss, have announced that Jorge Pasada, Bernie Williams and Andy Pettitte will have their Nos. 20, 51 and 46 retired. We also know in the not too distant future Derek Jeter's 2 will be put in the rafters. Couple of things: The lowest number available to future Yankees when Jeter's uni is retired will be 11. We're about another generation of success and a few more all-stars away from the Yankees handing out pi or infinity. "Now batting for the Yankees, Allan Jones; That's , Jones."
- Reports have Davis Love III poised to be the next Ryder Cup captain. Want to know an underrated part of a "good hire" in all walks of life? Are you replacing the man or are they looking for the man? If it is Love, he gets a huge benefit following Tom Watson, who was the divisive leader of the debacle last summer for the U.S. Side note: The European team is expected to name its captain Wedneday, and will pick between the kick-back cohorts of Darren Clarke and Miguel Angel Jimenez. That means regardless if it's Love or not, the European's team get togethers will be infinitely more fun.
- And from the files of the weird: Don't just think college football fans are a tough too "fanatical." This dude known as Big Ben has developed a reputation of painting messages on his belly at Predators games. Yes, you read that correct - painting messages on his belly - to support his hockey team. Well, on Valentines Day, Big Ben painted a marriage proposal for his main squeeze Brandy. Egad. Who says chivalry is dead.
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Today's question
Remember the mailbag folks.
On this True or False Tuesday on ESPN 105.1 FM, we may throw out several college hoops hypotheticals. Like try this one: True or False, this Kentucky team would beat the 1992 Duke team?
Or this one: True or False, if the Vols beat UK tonight, it would be a big enough head-turner to get them in the NCAA tournament?
Feel free to answer any either of those and offer up your own True or False Tuesday question. We'll either answer it here or on the radio.