I have a personal rule regarding University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic columns. Any time I can work UTC Sports Hall of Fame football player Cos DeMatteo into the copy, I require myself to do so.
So before we get to everything else that was great about the 16th annual Porky’s Open golf tournament Tuesday at Council Fire, let us begin with a DeMatteo gem.
When former Mocs quarterback BJ Coleman — who, sadly, never got to throw to DeMatteo, since their careers were a decade apart — leads his Arizona Rattlers arena league team into New Orleans this weekend, DeMatteo will be calling defensive signals for the VooDoo, which, if nothing else, might be the coolest team name out there.
“It’s kind of weird,” said DeMatteo, who’s actually the offensive coordinator at Baylor School but moonlights with the VooDoo on weekends through the summer. “I’ve been watching film the last couple of days and I find myself rooting for BJ to do well. But not on Saturday.”
If you’ve paid close attention the past few months, you already know the UTC athletic department has been doing extraordinarily well this school year. The first football playoff appearance in 30 seasons. A nationally ranked women’s basketball program that knocked off two top-10 teams during the regular season, including big sister Tennessee. Its usually stellar wrestling team. A Southern Conference regular-season champion softball program.