Be it Christmas or summertime, there are a few things we can count on around Chattanooga.
The Honors is going to be in impeccable shape. The Ridge Cut is going to be packed, and more times than not, because one 18-wheeler does not know the left lane from the right lane. The Friday catfish at Southern Star is going to be aces.
And, we are virtually unbeatable in virtual popularity contests.
Well, we have another shot to put our internet intercontinental title on the line. And this one is far more important than a line-item on a CVB brochure or a bullet point for the outdoor community.
Partnering with credit unions and working through Credit Unions for Kids, there's an online poll to allow people to vote for the best Children's Miracle Network Hospital.
The top five in the voting, which ends Dec. 19, will split $100,000, and think of what a wad of cash for extra smiles of little ones in the hospital around Christmas could do.
Our Children's Hospital at Erlanger had almost 1,800 votes Friday afternoon. That was good enough for 11th place, a far cry behind Mercy Children's Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, which had more than 7,300 votes.
And I'm sure that all of the good people at all of the good hospitals around the country do excellent work.
But think how many of us - present company included - have turned to the professionals at Erlanger in emotional moments, grand and devastating.
What say you, Chattanooga? No one comes at us online and survives. Let's keep the streak going. Go to voteformiracles.org to vote; you can vote once a day through Dec. 19.
Game on.
AN EXPENSIVE GAME
By now, you have heard that John Currie has been relieved of his duties as the athletic director at the University of Tennessee.
His ouster - and the decision to replace him with longtime Vols legend Phillip Fulmer - is the latest turn in a roller coaster week for the Tennessee athletic department.
Reports told of as many as 10 candidates being interviewed for the head football coach position before Currie was relieved of his duties. Currie had settled on Greg Schiano before a tsunami of social media unrest derailed that notion last Sunday.
It has turned Tennessee into a national punchline.
Crazy, right? Want to know what else it is?
Expensive.
Tennessee owes former football coach Butch Jones and his dismissed staff more than $13 million to not fulfill their contracts. Unless Tennessee claims they fired Currie for cause, UT will owe Currie the remaining $5.1 million on his contract.
Now add in what Fulmer will make. And the growing price tag on the next coach, because let's face it, everyone not named John Currie knew Schiano was a terrible fit, but the social media uprising raised the asking price for the next UT coach by seven figures easy. And don't forget the possible lawsuit Schiano may file and what he may or may not be entitled to since he and Currie signed a memo of understanding.
It means the UT athletic department still does not have a coach and may have already close to $20 million to get in position to start over.
Or as Tennessee state Rep. Martin Daniel put it on social media Friday afternoon: "One might reasonably conclude that we have a big ole mess on our hands at the Univ of Tenn. My concern is the $$$ it is costing Tenn taxpayers and tuition payers. Let's get this straightened out quickly. By the way, athletic program revenue IS public money."
SPEAKING OF WASTED MONEY
By now, everyone also has heard about Matt Lauer.
Lauer got the ax earlier this week after an NBC employee said she was the victim of inappropriate sexual behavior from Lauer.
And like that, he was out. It's becoming a familiar exclamation point on this sorry societal trend.
Now, New York newspapers are reporting Lauer is meeting with lawyers to see how much of the $30 million left on his contract he can expect.
WELL, HOW DO YOU REALLY FEEL, WALMART?
It's not hard to misconstrue the message on a T-shirt that Walmart briefly was selling recently online.
The back of the T-shirt read, "Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some Assembly Required."
Well, all righty then.
Psst, Walmart. Here's a tip: We know of a couple things that are never funny: Hitler and lynching references.
Teespring, the company that makes the T-shirt, got in trouble in August for trying to sell a shirt with a rainbow swastika on it. Now that is an equal opportunity offensive symbol right there.
If you can get the gay community and the skinheads mad at you at the same time, then you are in rarified air of the offending world.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.