Monday, November 10, 2008

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 11/10/2008, Part 1

This past weekend was my most relaxing weekend in recent memory. My mother was in Abingdon, Virginia, with some (platonic) girlfriends from Newport over the weekend, so I spent Friday and Saturday with my father.

On Friday night, Dad, MPW, and I braved the rain and headed to Thompson-Boling Arena where we watched the Tennessee basketball team manhandle Tusculum, 82-52. We received a poster commemorating the 100th year of Tennessee basketball for our troubles.

We also sat through the perhaps the worst halftime “entertainment” in the university’s history. Alton Reese presented the five finalists for homecoming queen (reduced from the original 26 candidates). You could cut the tension with a knife as the crowd awaited the announcement of the winner. (Read: sarcasm.) For the record, Emily Edwards, a senior accounting major from Clarksville sponsored by Kappa Delta, was crowned by last year’s winner Mary Kathryn Rogers.

Also at halftime, ALK made the trek from her seat in the third row of the student section to the upper realms of the stadium where we sit. She was clearly winded when she arrived as well she should have been after hiking that far. It was very sweet of her. We also got to see JCT (who was sitting lower in our section, 317) and JTL and his wife Jill at the game.

My thoughts on the actual game are posted under “View from 315A”.



On Saturday, Dad and I watched two football games before eating at the Red Lobster. First we saw, the Vols’ football team lose their homecoming game, to Wyoming, 13-7. Then, we watched #1 Alabama hold off LSU 27-21 in overtime. The fact that Tennessee lost to Wyoming has yet to fully set in.

The Cowboys entered the game as the lowest scoring team in major college football (averaging 11.7 points per game). They were considered so bad that in spite of Tennessee’s woeful season, the Vols were 25-point favorites. Wyoming need not have an offense in this game, as Tennessee turnovers handed them the 13 points they needed to win. Has Tennessee ever lost when favored by more points?

The Cowboys (4-6) had lost their two previous tries against UT by a combined 89-24.

The loss officially eliminated the Vols from bowl contention and matched the 1997 sqaud for most losses in school history.

The worst thing about the game was that it was not a fluke. Wyoming deserved to win. They even outgained the Vols 266 yards to 219.

I personally blame Eric Berry. He wore #29 in honor of former player Inky Johnson and for the first time did not make a highlight reel play. He alone is usually worth seven points, which would have won the game. I blame the new jersey. (Note: For the record, that was a joke.)

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