-On Sunday morning, I taught the college department at the Central Baptist Church of Bearden. I substituted for MLM who was away leading a retreat for the church’s young married couples. I taught on “The Song of the Vineyard” (Isaiah 5:1-7) from the Collegiate curriculum package by Threads. I adapted the lesson plan as I thought the commentary provided was excellent but the lesson itself less than stellar. They geared it towards God’s expectations when I feel the passage lends itself toward social justice.-The class was great. I am “friends” with many of its members on Facebook so it was great to see them. I was amazed at the attendance given their age and the fact that it was both the first morning after the change to Daylight Savings Time and the fact that the Tennessee basketball game tipped off at noon.
-The church is still taking letters for the retiring ADF. We all found it amusing that the letterhead the church used has ADF’s name and dates served making it appear as though ADF had died!-I enjoyed the class very much. Next door, HBT was teaching on The Shack. At one point, I stuck my head in and informed him that his volume indicated that he had gone from teaching to preaching. He pushed me back through the door.
-After I dismissed the class I rushed to meet MPW at Thompson-Boling Arena to watch the Vols play Alabama at noon. The game was broadcast by CBS Sports. As I was late and UT continues to block off more and more parking, I wound up parking well over a mile from the stadium. I missed the first eight minutes of the game. I did not miss much as Tennessee scored only eight points during that time. (Note to self: recommend church start an hour early when the Vols tip at noon.)
-There was a co-promotional offer on this day. One’s basketball ticket entitled its owner to see the Vols baseball game at 2 PM free of charge. Why wasn’t that in effect the day before when I went to the game?
-The Vols trailed by ten at halftime but made a run at the Crimson Tide in the second half. With the game tied at 67, Anthony Brock banked in an amazing 35-foot three-point shot at the buzzer to win the game 70-67 for Alabama. Brock had driven to the game himself after attending his grandmother’s funeral. It was his only basket of the second half. Still, we were not a bit surprised when the shot bounced in. The Vols had won three in a row and have been unable to produce a real streak all year.-The Vols had no one to blame but themselves for the loss. Their second half free throw shooting was abysmal. The Vols hits only 6 of 16 free throw attempts and this does not count missing two front ends of one-and-one opportunities.
-How many Tennessee games has Teddy Valentine officiated this year? On this day, the refereeing was unbiased and if anything in favor of the Vols. Still, Valentine seems to almost always be assigned to the Vols . Why?-Halftime was typical. The promotion where a fan tries to recreate a famous Tennessee shot continued. This time, the fan had to duplicate Dale Ellis’ eighteen foot jump shot that defeated VCU at the buzzer on March 15th, 1981. The shot propelled the Vols into the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. The fan missed the shot.
-The other halftime “entertainment” was the announcement that Smokey, the Tennessee mascot, was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. There were only three inductees this year, two professional mascots and Smokey. Seven former men who had donned the outfit were on hand. They must not be selling the orange blazers as these guys were all given a complimentary blazer for the event.-After this announcement, there was a game of musical chairs with Smokey and other area mascots. The game was clearly rigged from the beginning as the music stopped with Smokey always in front of a chair. When the game came down to two contestants, the seven former Smokeys rushed the other mascot and granted Smokey the win. The exhibition made me question the integrity of every elementary school teacher who had used the game.
-The first mascot eliminated was Ronald McDonald which was ridiculous as he has the smallest “uniform” of them all and as such should be more mobile. Both MPW and I find him very creepy.-MPW and I have vowed to make a list of halftime suggestions for Vol games next year. They clearly need our help. If you have any ideas, e-mail them to me.
-Former Tennessee football corner back and current broadcaster Charles Davis sat in Section 105 and was announced to the crowd.
-Despite the loss, the Vols will be playing at 7:30 PM on Friday night at the SEC Tournament in Tampa as the SEC East' top seed.
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