Loads to get to today, so quickly to our business.
Rushmore of Elton John songs — “Tiny Dancer” (if for no other reason than the famous bus scene from “Almost Famous”), “Rocket Man,” “Candle in the Wind” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and that’s skipping some bangers from “Lion King,” which I love. Brother, that is simply an amazing catalog of hits.
Rushmore of best No. 1 overall NFL draft picks in the Super Bowl era — Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman, John Elway and Bruce Smith narrowly over Audray Bruce, Ki-Jana Carter and Tom Cousineau.
Rushmore of Quentin Tarantino films — “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Inglorious Bastards,” “Django Unchained” and “Pulp Fiction.”
Rushmore of Martin Short roles — Franck from “Father of the Bride,” Ed Grimley from SNL fame, Ned Nederlander from “Three Amigos” and his role in “Only Murders in the Building.”
Elsewhere, dang Arkansas, what was that collapse? Every card-carrying citizen in Big Blue Nation said something to the effect of “Tournament John, gonna tournament John at some point people.”
Also, get a whiff of this story. (Wait for it, Spy), TFP sports editor and storyteller extraordinaire Stephen Hargis shares the skinny on a pitcher in the Sequatchie Valley who has started the season with three no-hitters and struck out 54 of the first 62 batters he faced this season. Wowser.
To the bag because we got a lot of great questions today.
For MocMan
Jay, love your column, even if it’s overly SEC stuff for my tastes. But wanted to email and say thanks for writing about our Mocs’ NIT success.
Question for you: Where do you think Coach Dan Earl will be coaching next season? I hope it is right here. Thanks again.
MM
So, this is a great question and should be on the minds of UTC followers everywhere.
I know it is on the mind of UTC AD Mark Wharton. How do I know? I asked him your question.
His response via social media confirmed my belief that Earl will be back in the 423 for 2025-26 unless someone comes in and delivers a Will Wade-esque “Big (Bleep) Offer.”
From Wharton: “I am working with Dan on, I believe, a significant contract extension to keep him for years to come. I believe we are close to agreeing in principle. Details on other stuff will take some time.”
I also asked Wharton, big picture, about the NIL expenses that come with success like Earl’s Mocs have enjoyed during the program’s first run to the NIT semifinals.
From Wharton: “We plan on opting into the House settlement and are working towards plans to rev share in 2026. To the extent of the amount is unknown.”
The House v. NCAA settlement is for almost $2.8 billion and could get final approval on April 7.
Buckle up people, because as Wharton rightly said, there are plenty of unknowns.
(Side note: While Earl rightly is getting a heap of praise which looks to lead to a heap of a raise, Wharton deserves some back pats considering the moves he’s made and the success the entire UTC athletic program has experienced in his tenure.)
From MJ
I’m a Vols fan with no sympathy for Jeremy Pruitt, but how much must it stink for him to still be under a show-cause for something that is now simply the legal way the game is played? Do you think he would be a likely candidate to land an NCAA coaching job, if allowed?
MJ
First, great question. Second, timely question, since, as Paschall shares here, Pruitt is now suing the NCAA for nine figures for the show-cause penalties, et al.
Hey, would the last person NOT suing the NCAA turn the lights out before you go? Thanks in advance.
In some ways, if the House v. NCAA suit is centered on back NIL money for athletes, I wonder if coaches could spin this in terms of NCAA sanctions and show causes.
Because Will Wade has a much stronger case than Jeremy Pruitt, who has put all common sense in a McDonald’s bag and tossed it in the trash if he believes the NCAA issues cost him $100 million in lost wages.
I don’t think Pruitt would ever have been a top-tier head coach.
Think he’s an excellent defensive mind and will have a DC job about as long as he wants one. Heck, someone somewhere will hire him again.
Goodness knows, Champion of Life Butch Jones got another shot after being dipped in the cleansing waters of being an analyst on Saban’s staff.
But Pruitt as the CEO of a nine-figure operation like SEC football?
Nope, and nope.
From TC
Jay:
Well, you triggered a memory with the Crash Davis/Nuke LaLoosh bus scene in “Bull Durham,” where Crash is admonishing Nuke about his rendition of the late, great Otis Redding’s song “Try a Little Tenderness” and had to wonder if you happen to be a fan of one of the icons of soul music?
TC
I will blend two together here.
I simply love Otis Redding. Not as much as the Mrs. 5-at-10 does — she’s a huge fan of Mr. Redding — but he’s just ahead of Marvin on my list of old-school soul music icons.
No. 1 on that list for me is Sam Cooke, which makes me think of the soundtrack to “Animal House,” which makes me think of Boone screaming, “Wait till Otis sees us. He loves us.” “It feels so good to be back here at the Dexter Lake Club. We’d like to do a tune now titled ‘Shamalama Dingdong’ — so hit it.”
And truly, “Try a Little Tenderness” is an all-timer in any genre.
From Chas
For Friday’s bag: Will LaMarch Butler outplay ZZ, top guard for Tennessee?
Chas
Hard to know, especially since the pressure of the end being near for Zakai Zeigler could be extreme motivation or crippling pressure.
That said, Butler’s ability to guard was desperately missed in the nine games he sat with injuries.
Moreover, Butler’s ball-handling negates some of the powerful impact ZZ’s sharp-dressed man defense causes in migraines for foes.
If Butler does not turn it over — mistakes which ZZ almost always converts to transition baskets — and plays the UT star PG even remotely even everywhere else, then I think UK moves on.
From Patrick
So in the all-time “who cares” face-off, who are you backing Jay — LeBron or Stephen A.?
Thanks and more “Bull Durham.” And cowbell.
Patrick
Great question. You know what that makes you? Larry.
“Lollygaggers.”
So, back story on the feud between the biggest star in North American sports and arguably the biggest sports broadcaster around (who certainly has the biggest yapper).
LeBron swung back in the next round of his three-week feud with ESPN’s $20 million a year mouthpiece (literally) Wednesday.
More back story: Screamin’ A. is in the “Make outlandish statements to generate clicks and headlines and attention” business. And he’s world-class good at it. Smith in the NBA and Paul Finebaum in college football are arguably the two best ringmasters of the modern media circus out there.
Smith was critical of Bronny James, King James’ son and not-so-coincidentally his Lakers teammate, and LeBron confronted him during the Lakers’ win over the Knicks as Smith was sitting courtside.
Smith recounted the confrontation on his show “First Take” the next day. This happened in early March.
So LeBron aired it out for the first time Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” which is also on ESPN and for my money the best vehicle around these days in terms of sports entertainment. (Explainer: The McAfee crew is funny, and they do not take themselves seriously. They lean into the fun angles of sports. That said, their language is as salty as a homemade pickle.)
Anywell, here’s what James had to say about Smith enjoying the “Taylor Swift”-like tour of the publicity of getting into it with a bona fide one-name superstar athlete: “It started off with, ‘I didn’t want to address it,'” James said of Smith to McAfee and his crew. “‘I wasn’t going to address it. But since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ M—-f—-, are you kidding me? If there was one person that couldn’t wait until the video had dropped so you could address it, it was your (bleep). Like, seriously?”
Smith earlier had pleaded for LeBron to put an end to the Bronny-in-the-league after the younger James played 15 scoreless minutes in an NBA game.
And, hey, we all have made the jokes, right? (Side question: Who you taking 1 overall in the nepotism draft these days, Bronny, Donald Jr. or Hunter? Hey, it’s AGT, friends.)
King James covered that issue — saying Smith “completely missed the point” — and why the confrontation happened with McAfee too:
“Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court,” James told McAfee. “That is your job to criticize or to be in a position where, OK, if a guy is not performing, that is all part of the game. That’s all part of the game. But when you take it and get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players.”
And he continued.
“He’s gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him again,” LeBron said of Smith. “He’s gonna get home and grab some ice cream out of the f–ing freezer and sit in his chair in his tighty whities on the couch. Like, dude, like, relax, bro. Like, relax. Like, seriously.”
Smith answered back on his podcast — and it’s hard not to think Smith is reveling in the “no such thing as bad publicity” mantra (ESPN too, since it’s their two biggest stars in this mix) — Wednesday.
Smith said he did not respond to the confrontation without “making a scene” and then tried a weak, Weak, WEAK flex for his listeners.
“What do y’all want me to do? You want this to be a reincarnation of Chris Rock and Will Smith? … Let me assure you it wouldn’t have gone down like that. I would have gotten my ass kicked because if that man had put his hands on me, I would’ve immediately swung on him. Immediately. That I’m not going to tolerate. But I knew he wasn’t going to do something like that.”
OK, this has now moved from silly to stupid to surreal.
LeBron would never have done that. Dude has been in the spotlight since he was 15.
But, ‘Screamin’ A.’ would take on a whole other connotation if he every tried to step to LeBron. That would be more one-sided than a bug vs. a windshield.
In truth, if LeBron wanted to, if he circled his NBA minions and they cut Stephen A. Smith out of the intel circles, that would hurt him the most.
Have a great weekend friends, and let’s go Auburn — clap-clap–clap-clap-clap.