In Eckleburg's Eyes - 12/30/2008, Part 1

On Monday night, KL, MPW, and I joined a surprisingly full crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena to watch the Tennessee basketball team play the UL-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns in a rare un-televised game. We were surprised by the crowd as school is still out and even MPW had forgotten about the game until earlier in the day.

In preparation for the game, I donned my UT paraphernalia in front of my computer so that I could dress while listening to the have Bobby Maze’s song of “Put On For Tennessee”. I did indeed put it on for Tennessee. Some things I do just to amuse myself.

For the second game in a row, we arrived on time! As usual we saw a strong contingency from my church. Before the game, we saw HTB and his family and my old coach CDL, who always sits in out section. After the game we bumped into (almost literally) the Ackers and Trevathans. Both importantly, Joe Johnson (JLJ) and Judy Johnson (JLJ) were featured on the Kiss Cam. Naturally, Joe hammed it up. Expect a fine on Sunday.

We learned a valuable lesson during this game: don’t count your chicken sandwich... With ten minutes left in the game, the Vols were on pace for over 100 points and our free chicken sandwich given by Chick fil-A each time the Vols score 90 or more points seemed a lock. Amazingly, the Vols scored exactly 89 points after an offensive collapse of epic proportions. Tennessee still won the game, 89-62, but that is beside the point. The point is this: I do not get free poultry.

The game changed significantly with 5:12 left. Wayne Chism plummeted to the ground after blocking a shot. Our momentum was wheeled away on the stretcher with him. I really hope Chism is not hurt as MPW and I were quite insensitive during this process. Chism is always on the ground so we were not alarmed. You may remember that Jordan Howell gave Chism a concussion in practice last October 30th. Yes, Jordan Howell. As many times as Chism hits the floor, you would think he would build up a tolerance for it. It was 83-52 when he left the game.

Not only did Chism exit, but Steven Pearl entered. The all important Steven Pearl time stamps were 5:12-2:37 and 2:06-0:00. In the time he played, the team scored exactly four points. Amazingly, he did not even attempt to take a charge.

The halftime entertainment was a performance by the Fort Loudon Middle School Trash Can Band. I had seen them perform at halftime of a Lady Vols volleyball game on November 14th. They were the best halftime of the volleyball season and are the clear frontrunners in basketball. This claim is not as impressive as you might think.

More importantly, JDM joined us at halftime to see our breathtaking view. It was literally breathtaking as he had to hike from the student section to see us. He and his brother-in-law JAH were sitting in the 14th row of Section 123, the student section. This is significant as JAH is not a student.

JDM’s new baby nephew is well. JDM told his niece Pyper that this would be the last Christmas that she would be the center of attention so she had better enjoy it. His sister was going to buy the baby reading products that are advertised on TV. JDM and JAH were adamant that they have no time for that in his regiment. The only reading the child needs to be working on is reading defenses.

The quote of the day from JDM came when I asked him of his New Year’s plans: “Not much. Read a book. Drink a glass of wine. The usual.” Touché.