-I ate lunch with my parents at Applebees. (Guess who picked the restaurant?) Dad had just come from the 9th Annual Chocolate Fest, a fundraiser for the East Tennessee Kidney Foundation. 23 booths were scattered throughout Knoxville Center, mostly offering chocolate (hence the name). For $15, a donor got a sample from each vendor.
-MPW and I attended the Tennessee-Memphis basketball game at 3:30 pm at Thompson-Boling Arena. Last year when the two teams met on February 23rd, the teams were ranked 1 and 2. Tickets were selling for over four figures. This year, MPW and I could not pawn off our extra ticket. JTL also had no company, so he sat with us.
-There was a strong Memphis contingency in our section. They repeatedly spelled out T-I-G-E-R-S. They were quite obnoxious and I respected them for it.
-Tennessee lost the game 54-52. The game disseminated into a half court contest. There are few teams who will not defeat the Vols in this type of game.-Still, the Vols held a team to 54 points and lost! The last game I attended at Thompson-Boling Arena, one player (Jodie Meeks) scored 54 by himself. On this day Meeks would have matched both teams.
-Tennessee allowed an uncontested three-pointer just before the half. It loomed large. I suspect that had Bobby Maze been in the game, the shot would have been defended.
-Tennessee has now played both teams from last year’s national championship game, having played Kansas on January 3rd. They lost both games.
-It was the third straight time I had seen us lose at home. I had missed a win over South Carolina the previous Saturday. We have lost more games at home this year than in Coach Bruce Pearl ’s previous three seasons combined.
-The ZOOperstars performed at half time. Peyton Manatee (pictured), Shaquille O’Seal, Dennis Frogman, and Monkey Mantle were the four ZOOperstars in attendance. The ZOOperstars once appeared on America’s Got Talent. We interpreted their presence as the Georgia mascot regenerating.-Also at halftime, a student named Tyler took a pass from former Vol Dane Bradshaw and tried to recreate Chris Lofton’s shot that defeated Winthrop in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The shot came remarkably close.
-In other sites and sounds of the game: The UT dance team performed. They were fresh off winning their third straight national title...Jacqui Pearl sang the national anthem before the game...Prior to the game there was also a moment of silence for former N.C. State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow who had died earlier in the day...The entire Tennessee football was introduced during the first half.-After the game, we walked back to our car with JDM, ANS and their friend Wala. We commiserated on the loss together.
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