Before we get started today, a little announcement. We have updated our computer, which had gotten to the threshold of complete disfunction Tuesday in that it could not send an email.
(That's the reason the 5-at-10 yesterday was the 5-at-noon. Thanks for your patience.)
From the "Talks too much" studios, fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
UTC preview
We think this is the most complete UTC football team Russ Huesman has had in his record-setting time at the helm of the Mocs program.
The offensive line is good and could be potentially be great. The defense is athletic and fast and has at least two NFL prospects and maybe a couple of others. It will be the deepest wide receiver corps UTC has had and they return a 1,200-plus-yard rusher in Derrick Craine.
All the pieces appear to be in place for another title run that could be linked with a full-head of steam toward the playoffs. So what are the concerns? Well, glad you asked.
Is the quarterback ready? Yes Alejandro Bennifield has experience, and he has the confidence of his head coach. But when the lights come on in a meaningful and challenging moment, will he be able to handle the moment? That's the question, and it's one no one can answer until it happens, then we all will be able to answer it.
Can absence make the heart of the offense grow stronger? A lot of times in the last two seasons, when UTC needed a big play on offense, it turned to Jacob Huesman, and more times than not, Jacob delivered. In cases like that, having a great player can cause the rest of a team to become too dependent on that player. Now the offense together will have to fill the void left by the loss of the most accomplished offensive player in school history. If anyone thinks Bennifield is going to take all that slack by himself, that's wishful thinking. Still, the offense as a whole has a chance to be every bit as good as it was last year if not better.
Winning the close ones. There are several new coaches who are leading a very veteran roster. That's a good thing, but the Mocs, especially late in the season and into the playoffs will face some tight moments. How will they collective respond - on the field and from the sideline - will be the difference from this being an expectedly good season and a potentially magical one.
And yes, the fact that we are at a place that the baseline of expectation for a UTC football season is a conference championship still makes us shake our head a little bit.
Kudos, Russ, because that's traveling light years in less than a decade.
One last Kaepernick thought
There's nothing new in the Colin Kaepernick deal. In fact, some of you are likely tired of it. But, we have a couple of things to try to expand the discussion.
First, even if you hate everything about Kaepernick's protest, everyone has to agree that on the fundamental level of the definition of a protest, it was almost perfect. This is day five of this - and yes, part of the attraction and extended attention is a slow calendar of sporting events around it, which ends in about 30 hours - and it still has ripples.
The latest one was an on-air viewpoint of ESPN host Stan Verrett.
Here's what he said during SportsCenter on Tuesday:
"I've always stood for the anthem because I believe in the promise of America, what the flag is supposed to symbolize even though America often falls short of what it's supposed to symbolize. I mean, my dad served in the Army, dealt with discrimination in the Army, came back from his service in World War II and was not afforded the same rights as a U.S. citizen after his service, so don't talk to me about sacrifice and the military. My mom was the valedictorian of her high school, couldn't go to college in Louisiana and other mainstream universities because they were segregated. They didn't want to hear about her grades. You can't go because you're black. There's still (discriminatory) problems in housing, hiring, the justice system. These are real problems. People aren't making this up and they're trying to find ways to speak out about it. You're not always going to agree with the method. But let's pay as much attention to the substance as we do to the symbol."
So much of that discussion made us think of the great opportunity we had earlier Tuesday. We had got the chance to speak to a bona fide expert on race-relations in this country at McCallie School.
When asked about it, here's what he told us:
"The problems we have in this country are not as much about race and racism as everyone wants to make it out to be. The problems we have today are about poverty."
Those words came from Andrew Young, the former Atlanta mayor, U.S. ambassador and member of Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle during the civil rights era. Young spoke to the a large chunk of the students in the McCallie chapel and his message was powerful and could not have been more pertinent.
When asked about the confrontations of today, he told the gathering that what we see now, while not ideal, is magnified because we know about everything in an instance and have an instant reaction to it through social media.
"In 1961, 60 homes were bombed in Birmingham, and I don't even know if it was printed in the Atlanta Constitution," Young told the captivated audience.
When asked about the racial angst in this country, Young, who shrugged his shoulders when asked about Kaepernick, had a response that was as rich and layered as his resume in the fight for equality.
The fact that so many are angry is in my mind progress," he said. "When we were protesting, we couldn't afford to get angry or we could have been killed."
Of course, there's work to be done to make relations of all groups in this country better. But what social issue in a nation of any size, never mind one this big and this textured, does not need some form of improvement?
"I think the biggest thing is that when we come to accept our differences rather than fear them, that's when someone's race or creed will be no different than the varying colors of our shirts," Young said.
This Sept. 16, 2013 photo shows the ESPN logo prior to an NFL football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, in Cincinnati. ESPN on Monday, April 27, 2015 filed a lawsuit against Verizon in an escalating clash over how the popular sports channel is being sold in a discounted pay-TV package. (AP Photo/David Kohl) ESPN point of view
We have no problem with what Stan Verrett said that is listed above. It's his personal viewpoint and some of his personal history that shaped it.
But where does ESPN draw the line on allowing personal opinions be part of the discussion, and when those personal opinions come from a more conservative and less politically correct stance, they are normally dealt with swiftly.
Think back to a lot of folks who have been shuffled into suspension or even more harshly over the years for conservative-leaning stances that are not as drastic as Verrett's. And never mind one as potentially offensive as the quote Desmond Howard tossed our way this week on a segment called "Fair or Foul."
The topic was whether it was fair or foul for BYU quarterback Taysom Hill, who is 26-years-old, to be a Heisman candidate. (Hill has had a couple of redshirt years because of injuries and served on a two-year Latter Day Saints mission after high school.)
David Pollack said it's fair and mentioned Chris Wienke won the Heisman in 2000 at the age of 28 after playing six years of minor league baseball.
Howard's answer was strikingly different and to a large number of BYU fans and LDS worshippers highly confrontational. From the Salt Lake Tribune, here's Howard's quote:
"Just because Weinke was 28 doesn't make it fair. Man, that's foul. At BYU, they've been getting away with this hustle for years! You got grown men playing against boys. I think this is as foul as it gets. There needs to be a cut-off age as far as playing collegiate football."
Yep, Desmond Howard called a religious organized mission trip to less fortunate parts of the country a recruiting 'hustle.'
This and that
- OK, our list of favorite college football players is littered with guys who wear Auburn uniforms. So it goes. Well, Travis Rudolph, the FSU wide out quickly moved to the front of the line with his quiet and kind gesture of sitting with a kid who was eating by himself at a middle school this week. Here's the story and a friendly reminder of the power random acts of kindness can have on people.
- We mentioned earlier this week about the doofus principal at the South Carolina high school who would not let one of his students into a football game with an American flag. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Well, someone apparently reminded that jack wagon that his little fiefdom still resides in the good ol' U.S. of A.
- The SEC teleconference happens today, and here are some surefire things that will happen. Butch Jones will speak often of individuals - as in "individuals making individual plays in individual games that make an individual impact on Season 120." Kirby Smart will get testy with someone, even though he doesn't want to. Will Muschamp will open with a planned joke/one-liner and everyone will think, "Man, Will's better at this that we thought." And Gus Malzahn will say at least different times the Tigers "Have gotten better." And he better be right or his going to have gotten fired.
- The Minnesota Vikings got the worst kind of preseason news Tuesday when quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a torn ACL and other knee damage in a non-contact drill. Add the Vikings to the list of teams looking for quarterback help, but here's a report that says Peyton Manning is not interested. (Side note: If we are the Vikings, we're already calling Cincinnati to see what the price tag is for AJ McCarron, the former Alabama star and current Bengals back-up. While you don't want to overspend for a one-year guy because Bridgewater is young and has a bright future, you have to have something better than Shaun Hill, and with the extensive knee injury Bridgewater endured, who knows if he'll be back next year.)
- Here are the details of Tim Tebow's baseball work out Tuesday. Of the things in there, the most telling would likely be the simulation against former MLB pitcher Chad Smith. Tebow went 1-for-5 with a single to center and a walk in six live plate appearances against Smith.
- Sadly, according to this report from Darren Rovell, there is no plan to redo the EA sports college football video games any time soon. Stupid Ed O'Bannon.
Today's question
Feel free to bandy about any of the above.
Also, on this all hallowed College Football Eve, what's your prediction for the season - big small, safe or crazy. (We'll have a bunch in this space this time tomorrow.)
If you need a Rushmore, we'll go here: Ol' Richard Gere is 67 today, and one time dude was the toast of Hollywood. Rushmore of Gere movies. Whatcha got? (And remember the mailbag.)