CFC's Luke Winter dribbles between Indiana Fire's Derek Creviston, left, and Tanner Wikken during Chattanooga Football Club's national semifinal match against the Indiana Fire at Finley Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015, in Chattanooga.Soccer
Major kudos to the Chattanooga FC for landing the National Premier Soccer League championship match this Saturday.
Here's our column on how the event deserves to be here in front of the Chattahooligans.
It's certainly a big deal and the crowds - especially in the playoffs - have become a story unto themselves.
We asked Bill Elliott, the FC coach, if the over/under on the attendance was set at 12,000 this weekend, what would he said.
He took the over.
We are inclined to agree.
This is not about the soccer revolution. This is about a cool, fun community event that has surged in popularity.
Period.
And that's OK and cool, too.
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College football
And with that, we've started.
The Mocs put on the gear. The Vols met with the media. The Bulldogs will do that today.
Derrick Crane runs the ball during the first day of football practice for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.It's here and it's all happening.
With that, here's Pat Forde's list of the most intriguing college football coaches.
He has Jim Harbaugh No. 1, which makes sense. He has Steve Spurrier outside the top 25, which makes no sense.
In fact, there are relatively few SEC coaches on the list, and for the most part, they are a relatively uninteresting lot.
That said, what happens at each of their day jobs is a very interesting enterprise.
Take UT coach Butch Jones for example. Dude in an interview is a combination between insurance seminar and motivational sales meeting. His team, though, has the chance to be one of the more intriguing bunch in the game.
Is 6-6 possible? Sure. Is 10-2? Yes, it is. That swing arc makes the Vols one of the more enigmatic bunches around.
And that will prove very interesting.
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Braves
The Atlanta Braves are 48-58 after last night's staggering 9-8 come-from-behind win over San Francisco.
To put it mildly, it was a very impressive rally on multiple fronts.
Atlanta Braves' Adonis Garcia, center, is congratulated by shortstop Andrelton Simmons (19) and others as he comes into the dugout after hitting the game winning home-run against the San Francisco Giants during the 14th inning of a baseball game, Monday, August 3, 2015, in Atlanta. Atlanta won 9-8. The Braves were down 6-0 early to Matt Cain before tying it at 7 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a homer by A.J. Pierzynski.
It was a fun game to watch and gave a detailed example about how hard this young bunch plays.
Are they short staffed? Yes. Are they too young to know better? Yes. Are they too far back to make a legit run? Almost assuredly.
Still, despite the numbers, this bunch plays hard and makes the most of less.
Fun Braves fact of the day: As of last night, they had used 52 players, 31 of whom are pitchers. Yes, they have used 31 pitchers this year, and among that group, 13 made their big league debut.
That's so young, the official team meal would be chicken nuggets and juice boxes.
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This and that
- UTC will play at LSU in 2017 and reportedly will get $500,000 for the effort. That's cool.
Texas Rangers' Adrian Beltre follows through on his solo home run completing the cycle against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. Beltre is the ninth player in Texas Rangers history to hit for the cycle. (AP Photo/Jim Cowsert) - The New York Mets are now alone in first in the NL East. Wow.
- Adrian Beltre hit for the cycle for the third time in his career, which matches the big-league record. Babe Herman, John Reilly and Bob Meusel also have three career cycles.
- Very interesting back-tracking by Chris Mortenson in regard to DeflateGate here. The more this moves forward, the more we think Brady will get a reduced suspension.
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Today's question
Interesting day this Aug. 4. It's Barack Obama's 53rd birthday.
President Barack Obama speaks about his Clean Power Plan, Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, in the East Room at the White House in Washington.On this day in 1987, the FCC stopped the Fairness Doctrine, which required TV and radio to report controversial stories "fairly."
Today is recognized as the day Dom Perignon invented champagne. That's cool.
Let's do a Rushmore of adult beverages?
Go, and remember the mailbag.