Football
Yeah, what he said
Sep 3rd
Blogosphere newcomer Scott Chewning on the fortitude of Vol fans:
What sustains us through these lean times? For one thing, it’s the good times, past and future. We endured the horrors of 2008 because of the thrill of 1998, and the promise that we’ll get there again. As fans, we’ve emerged from the Lane Kiffin debacle stronger because of Robert Neyland, Johnny Majors, and Phil Fulmer, and the hope that Derrek Dooley can duplicate their accomplishments. We’ve reached the top of the mountain before- without the benefit of “street cred”. By God, we’ll do it again- and when we do, it will be that much sweeter because we stuck around through the hard times.
Vols to debut stadium renovations
Sep 3rd
Tennessee will not only unveil Derek Dooley’s first football team when its sister campus rolls its Division 1-AA squad into Knoxville tomorrow, the Vols will also be unveiling the latest round of renovations to Neyland Stadium.
The latest phase of renovations includes the completion of the Tennessee Terrace on the west side, as well as a remake of Gate 21 (the main entrance to the stadium), a revamped amphitheater from which the Vol Network’s Bob Kesling and Tim Priest will take the mic, and more renovations to the stadium’s west side.
The last major round of renovations came in 2008, when some of the concourses inside the stadium were revamped:
Now the west-side renovation is complete:
Parts of the stadium, particularly the south side (construction on which will begin after the 2010 season) and east side still look like an 89-year-old stadium. But the rest of it looks absolutely gorgeous. Fans who haven’t been to Neyland Stadium in a few years but who are heading out tomorrow to take advantage of cheap ticket opportunities (not to mention the best weather Tennessee has seen for a season opener in a long, long time) may not recognize the place.
UT fans have always bragged about having one of the nation’s largest stadiums. Now they can begin to brag about having one of the nation’s most beautiful stadiums. It really is becoming a showplace football institution.
Tonight’s games to watch
Sep 3rd
The preseason is over. District play is here. The road to the playoffs officially begins tonight.
1.) Oneida at Wartburg. A young Oneida team has played like a young Oneida team during weeks one and two, and that has some folks down south chompin’ at the bit a little. In fact, there are some fans to the south who think the Indians might go 0-for-Morgan County this year. But those who just see Oneida as an 0-2 team haven’t been watching closely enough. The Indians were very much in the game against a Gatlinburg-Pittman team that might well win District 2-AA over Fulton and Austin-East this year, and if not for fumbles Oneida would have beaten DeKalb County by a couple of scores a week ago. All the teams in Morgan County are much improved this year, and that includes Wartburg (which is off to an 0-2 start for the first time in a long time). But this one won’t be as close as people think. Prediction: Oneida 35, Wartburg 14.
2.) Scott at Kingston. If there was any game on last year’s schedule that Scott would like to have back, it would have been the Kingston game. Leading by a touchdown and deep in Kingston territory with just two minutes remaining, Scott needed only to run the clock out to come up with their first win in a coon’s age over their arch-rival. But an improbable sequence of events sent the game to overtime, where the Yellow Jackets won. This year, Scott will roll into Kingston as an improved football team. This is a hump game for the Highlanders. In several chances over the past few seasons, Scott hasn’t been able to get over the hump. Tonight they do. Prediction: Scott 34, Kingston 21.
3.) Loudon at Alcoa. Nobody thinks Loudon can defeat Alcoa, and that includes me. But how close the Redskins can keep it might help give some insight into what the team from I-40 west has in store for the rest of District 4-AA as we roll through this season. Prediction: Alcoa 42, Loudon 21.
4.) Sunbright at Coalfield. The Tigers haven’t beaten the Yellow Jackets in a decade but a lot of folks from the north end of Morgan County think this might be the year the Tigers roll to the south end and take the sting out of the ‘Jackets, especially after blowout wins over North Greene and Whitwell to start the season. But the Tigers opponents to date have been awfully weak, while Coalfield held its own (and had a shot to win) against defending 7-A champion Bledsoe County. Prediction: Coalfield 27, Sunbright 21.
It’s gooooooood
Sep 2nd
From a better time on The Hill. Who wouldn’t like to repeat this scene in about 16 days, eh?
Tennessee 2010: Let’s go
Aug 31st
Football fans have been waiting for this week since the BCS National Championship Game ended last Jan. 8. Some have been waiting since the regular season ended last November.
National Signing Day and spring games were enough to tide us over for a while, but sometime along about May, realization of a football-free summer set in. Since then, anticipation for the fall has been building.
And now it’s here. Game week. Fall camp is officially over for football teams throughout the Southeast and across the country. Game week preparations are in full swing. In just over 48 hours, Wake Forest will kick off against Presbyterian (6:30 p.m. Tuesday). An hour after that, real football begins when South Carolina hosts Southern Miss on ESPN.
Tennessee will begin its 2010 season at 6 p.m. Saturday, when UT-Martin visits Neyland Stadium.
My expectations for 2010 were tempered somewhat when defensive end Ben Martin and defensive tackle Marlon Walls were lost for the season before it even began, with achilles injuries. That put a hurting on a defensive unit that was already expected to suffer from the loss of all-world safety Eric Berry and other key contributors in 2009.
Most professional prognosticators don’t expect Tennessee to fare well this year. The media has picked the Vols to finish fifth in the SEC East…ahead of only Kentucky. Sports Illustrated’s Stuart Mandel says the Vols will finish no better than 4-8.
The reality is that the demise of Tennessee’s program has been over-exaggerated by many in the media and by many UT fans. Tennessee has quite a bit of young talent. They just don’t have a lot of it. Coach Derek Dooley joked earlier in the fall that Tennessee has a first string and a third string. In other words, there is no depth. At no position is that magnified more than defensive tackle, where Dooley and defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox are shuffling players around to form a makeshift interior to the Vols’ defensive line.
And it’s troubling to hear predictions of 5-7 coming from guys like VolQuest.com founder Brent Hubbs. Hubbs is no pessimist; he makes money when UT fans are excited and buying subscriptions to his website, and he’s also employed by the Vol Network. But as a realist, Hubbs is spot-on. Last year, he didn’t buy into the thinking of the naysayers who said Lane Kiffin would not take the Vols to a bowl game. He predicted 8-5, which was as close to being on the money as anyone (the Vols finished 7-6). Unlike the Mandels and Gregg Doyels of the sports media world, Hubbs sees the Tennessee team on a daily basis.
Of course, Derek Dooley has restricted the media much more than Kiffin did a year ago. None of the Tennessee beat writers, including Hubbs, have actually seen the Vols scrimmage this fall. Access at practices is limited as well. I’ll use that as my excuse to ignore what Hubbs says, and predict that Tennessee will make a bowl game this fall.
Even if they don’t, you can forget Mandel’s prediction that the Vols go 4-8. That isn’t going to happen unless Tennessee suffers a slew of injuries. The Vols start the season with a UT-Martin squad that is a middle-of-the-pack Football Championship Subdivision team. UAB isn’t the same UAB that almost beat Tennessee in 2005. And while Memphis returns 18 starters from last year, the Tigers didn’t exactly light up the world a year ago. There’s three wins without even speculating about how conference play turns out. With a dramatically weakened Ole Miss team and a Kentucky team that hasn’t beaten Tennessee since 1984 both coming to Neyland Stadium, and Vanderbilt sporting the honors of being the only college football team to be screwed by its departing coach worse than Tennessee, you have to figure that the odds are pretty good the Vols take at least two of those games, which exceeds the four-win milestone even if Tennessee is unable to upset anyone on its schedule.
And this season, upset opportunities should abound.
1. UT-Martin. It’s bad enough when your season-opening opponent is an FCS team that is picked to finish in the bottom half of the Ohio Valley Conference, beneath such heavy-hitters as Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State. It’s worse still when that team is from a sister campus. You almost feel dirty for beating them. It’s almost like when you stomped your little brother’s butt into a mudhole during games of backyard football as a kid: you won the game but it wasn’t anything to write home about. But this is the opening game and Tennessee is in the midst of one of the worst eras in the history of its football program. Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee School for the Deaf or the High School Male Cheerleaders Union of the Southeast, you take your wins where you can get ‘em. The Vols will win this one by as much as they want to.
2. Oregon. The No. 7 team in the country—and the favorites in the Pac-10—visit Neyland Stadium next weekend. Call me crazy, but I’m putting this one in my “maybe upset” column for several reasons: unlike last season, when Tennessee’s defense was great most of the season but struggled mightily against spread teams because Monte Kiffin was an NFL guy who wasn’t accustomed to scheming against the spread, Justin Wilcox is used to seeing it. And he knows how to defend Oregon. Remember last year, when the Broncos shut down the Ducks in the season opener? Oregon may not be ready to leave the comfortable climes of the Pacific Northwest to visit steamy Knoxville in early September.
3. Florida. Loss.
4. UAB. If you don’t win this one, someone will snatch up all the variations of the firederekdooley.com domain names in a hurry.
5. LSU. This one is in Baton Rouge, which is tough. Tennessee traditionally does not play well down there. Yet, this one goes onto the long list of games that Tennessee should lose but will have a chance in.
6. Georgia. See above. Georgia is expected to be pretty good; more than one sports writer thinks the Dawgs will win the SEC East. But Tennessee just does well against Georgia for some reason. There’s a reason Tennessee fans have taken to referring to the turf ‘Tween the Hedges as “Neyland Stadium South.”
7. Alabama. Loss. If the elephants don’t repeat as national champs, it’ll be because they lose to Florida in the SEC Championship Game.
8. South Carolina. USC-East features a tough defense and a quarterback who has been around the block a time or two. This one goes on the list with Georgia and LSU, although Spurrier’s club might be slightly worse than either of those teams.
9. Memphis. See No. 4. Win.
10. Ole Miss. Most people would put this one on the same list as LSU, Georgia, et al. But the Rebs are not the same team they were a year ago. In fact, as I’m writing this, news is coming across the wires that quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who transferred to Ole Miss after being ousted at Oregon, has been denied eligibility by the NCAA. The Rebs will appeal that, but if it sticks, their stock drops dramatically.
11. Vanderbilt. Brandon thinks Vandy will beat Tennessee this year. I don’t. I wasn’t inclined to agree with him before Bobby Johnson left the Commodores high and dry just days before the start of fall camp. I’m certainly not going to agree with him now. Win.
12. Kentucky. All streaks have to end sometime. Sure, it’s in Neyland Stadium. And Kentucky has a new coach. But Tennessee also has a new coach, and Neyland Stadium was the location of Kentucky’s last win against Tennessee, back when Ronald Reagan was still in his first term. I’m going to say this one is a toss-up.
So. Four almost-certain wins (UT-Martin, UAB, Memphis and Vanderbilt). Two toss-ups (Kentucky and Ole Miss). A couple that the Vols cannot win (Florida and Alabama). And four upset potentials (Oregon, LSU, Georgia and South Carolina).
A 4-8 record is a worst-case scenario. A 10-2 record is a best-case scenario. Anything in between is possible. Yes, anything. Remember, the Vols were 7-5 in the regular season last year and would have been 9-3 if not for Lane Kiffin freezing up at inopportune times (UCLA and at Alabama). Granted, this team isn’t as talented as last year’s team. Not by quite a bit, in fact. But Matt Simms had a good summer. The offensive line is maturing quicker than anyone had dared hope. The freshman receivers are going to be good. There’s potential for Tennessee’s offense to actually be better than it was a year ago. The part that makes UT fans cringe is the defense. With the weakness at defensive tackle, the Vols may not be able to stop a nursing home intramural team from pounding the rock.
Even if Tennessee slumbers to a 2-6 start, taking the two certain wins, losing the two certain losses, and losing both the upset potentials through October, the offense could be gelling by the time November rolls around and be ready for a pleasing stretch run. Four consecutive wins to end the season (Memphis, Ole Miss, Vandy and Kentucky) isn’t at all out of the question.
Which is why I think Tennessee will finish at least 6-6. And because I’m an eternal optimist when it comes to my football team (and because I’m more confident than many UT fans that Mike Hamilton made the right hire in Derek Dooley), I’m going to say Tennessee takes advantage of one of the upset candidates and finishes 7-5. And I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a final record of 8-4. (By the same token, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a final record of 6-6.)
One thing we can probably all agree on: Fan apathy and a stagnant economy have created the perfect storm for thrifty football fans. If you want to see a Tennessee game cheap, this is your year. Never before, and perhaps never again, will you see season tickets on Craigslist at face value. Lots of ‘em. Good seats, too. And on a year when Florida and Alabama—traditionally the two toughest tickets to score in Knoxville—are coming to town, along with Top Ten Oregon.
UT-Florida tickets are selling for $100 and less per seat, which means there will be almost as many annoying reptiles in Neyland Stadium on Sept. 18 as there will be friendly Vols (same when ‘Bama comes to town). And when the Vols open against UT-Martin on Saturday, there will be more empty seats inside Neyland Stadium than there has ever been for a season opener.
Last year’s attendance was bad, despite all the excitement created by Lane Kiffin’s Loud Mouth. If the Vols don’t pick up a surprise win or two early this year, you will be able to name your price at the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Phillip Fulmer Way.
It wouldn’t surprise me if actual attendance at the season opener fails to top 80,000. It seriously wouldn’t.
KNS editor takes Dooley to task
Aug 30th
Knoxville News Sentinel editor Jack McElroy calls Derek Dooley’s latest media control snafu “troubling”:
Suppose, for a second, that another public official, such as incoming Mayor Tim Burchett, took a similar approach and decided to grant access to a high-interest news event only to beat reporters who had been “respectful,” but with a warning that “abuse brings control.”
Dooley, like any source, has a right to work with the reporters he feels good about. But it seems highhanded for a government official to declare that coverage of his department’s progress will be permitted only to journalists he judges to be “exemplary.”
Be sure to read the entire thing, because it’s really interesting.
But McElroy is right to be troubled by Dooley’s actions. I shook my head when learning (through tweets by the KNS’s Austin Ward and the Chattanooga Times Free Press’s Wes Rucker) of Dooley’s decision to “reward” certain reporters with access to the mock game.
Rucker himself, who was precluded from the list of reporters granted access based on Dooley’s criteria of respectfulness and hard work, said that not being at the game was “no big deal.”
Rucker—who has more integrity and does things the right way more than just about any other reporter on the Vols beat and should’ve been included on any short list of reporters allowed access—might not mind, but Dooley’s approach still flies in the face of a lot of principles when it comes to people in public positions interacting with journalistic types.
Allowing certain reporters to cover a team event by saying they’ve been respectful, while in the next breath warning that abusing that respect will bring more control, is akin to saying, “Hey, if you say anything negative about us, you’re going to lose access.” And that’s nonsense.
Anyone who knew anything about Derek Dooley knew that he would bring a level of access control to the program that the Knoxville media types were not accustomed to. That’s been a common theme of this blog’s Dooley-related posts since he was hired in January. A few of the journos in Knoxville are having trouble adapting to that, to the point that they almost come across as bitter. In the end, Dooley will be judged not on whether he allows free and open access to his football team but on whether he wins football games. That’s the bottom line. But it makes Dooley’s actions no less excusable.
I’m a fan of Derek Dooley. I think he’s going to prove to be a coach of impeccable character who guides this program in the right direction. But, except for his tact, how is Dooley granting certain media members access because he likes the things they’ve written about his team any different from Florida coach Urban Meyer publicly confronting a reporter because the reporter wrote something he didn’t like?
Tonight’s scores of interest
Aug 27th
DeKalb Co. 25, Oneida 13. After a first half in which DeKalb Co. controlled field position and ball possession and led 10-0, Oneida controlled the second half, with the exception of one 65-yard picture-perfect TD pass by the Tigers. But trailing 16-13 in the 4th quarter, Oneida twice fumbled the ball away in DeKalb County’s red zone. (Prediction was DeKalb Co. 21-17.)
Scott 36, York 0. Pretty much as expected. (Prediction was Scott 35-14.)
Wartburg 28, Midway 14. (Prediction was Wartburg 27-0.)
Kingston 33, Harriman 15. The 17-year drought didn’t end, after all. (Prediction was Harriman 21-14.)
Loudon 10, Lenoir City 7. Closer than I expected. (Prediction was Loudon 34-14.)
Other scores worth noting:
Greenback 35, Pigeon Forge 21
Anderson Co. 55, Morristown East 29
Sequoyah 34, Tellico Plains 0
Powell 36, Fulton 14
Ooltewah 29, Austin-East 14
Oliver Springs 47, Hancock Co. 0
Farragut 24, Oak Ridge 21
Red Bank 32, Boyd Buchanan 6
Rockwood 23, Sweetwater 0
Tonight’s games to watch
Aug 27th
It’s another glorious football night in the South. Last night’s Maryville-Alcoa showdown was an excellent precursor to Friday night, and this evening’s games have a tall order in front of them if they’re going to live up to that one (which Alcoa won, 35-31, to hand Maryville it’s first home loss in a decade).
Tonight’s games worth watching:
1. York Institute at Scott High. Scott should have defeated York last year. The Highlanders still talk about the one that got away over in Jimtown, when York won in overtime. Tonight is an opportunity for revenge, as the Dragons visit Highlander Field. This York team isn’t as good as last year’s team and Scott is the obvious favorite. But the stakes were raised last week when Stone Memorial blasted the Dragons, 36-0. Although the Highlanders and the Panthers don’t square off until Week 10, that’s the game that Scott really needs to win to make the playoffs. So, consider tonight’s game a measuring stick of sorts. Even though comparisons of Scott’s game with York and Stone’s game with York are useless, it won’t stop the chatter. Prediction: Scott 35, York 14.
2. DeKalb County at Oneida. Some folks were really disheartened by last week’s Oneida-Gatlinburg game, which the Highlanders won 28-10. But those people probably didn’t realize the quality of the opponent. Gatlinburg finished 9-1 last season in a district that includes Fulton and Austin-East and looks even better this season. The Indians, many of who were making their first starts, held their own against the Highlanders until a sequence in the second quarter that saw Gatlinburg score two touchdowns in three plays from scrimmage to grab a 14-3 lead. DeKalb County isn’t the team Gatlinburg was. And they’re not the team they were last year, either, when Hunter Poteete—who is now playing Ivy League ball—nearly single-handedly led his team to a 35-28 win over the Indians in Smithville. However, the Tigers are much improved defensively as a result of bringing in Trousdale County’s defensive coordinator. Last year, DeKalb was a good defense away from being a serious contender in the 4A playoffs. This year? They’re still pretty doggone good. But not invincible. Prediction: DeKalb County 21, Oneida 17.
3. Wartburg at Midway. The Bulldogs raised eyebrows last week with a 26-7 win over Monterey. This week should be a bit of an easier task for the Dawgs, as they travel South of the River to take on the Green Wave. Coach Craig Moser’s team has fallen on tough times. After a 2-8 season last year, the Wave is expected to finish last in a very good District 3-A once again this season. The question: was last week’s lopsided score a fluke? If it wasn’t, the Dawgs are sending a message that they’re in contention for a District 4-A championship. Prediction: Wartburg 27, Midway 0.
4. Kingston at Harriman. Roane County pride is on the line tonight when Kingston takes the short jaunt west on I-40 to visit Harriman. It’s cliche, but this series is one where you truly can throw out the records and the stat books when the two teams meet each year. Harriman hasn’t beaten Kingston in a coon’s age, but it’s been close. Two years ago on the same field, the Blue Devils had the Yellow Jackets beat until Kingston pulled out a miracle at the end. Last year, Kingston won 14-7 on its home turf. Tonight is the season opener for both teams and it should be fun. Prediction: The end of a drought. Harriman 21, Kingston 14.
5. Loudon at Lenoir City. This one, too, is a hotly contested rivalry. Except it hasn’t been too close in recent years. With the exception of a narrow 21-20 victory four years ago, Loudon has won each game by wide margins since a Lenoir City win in 2002. L.C. has some good talent coming up through the ranks, but they aren’t quite there yet. Loudon rolls. Prediction: Loudon 34, Lenoir City 14.
6. Stone Memorial at Livingston Academy. These two teams battled to a 35-31 nailbiter in the regular season last year, but Livingston came back to steamroll Stone in the first round of the playoffs, 41-0. This year’s Livingston team is young, but talented. Prediction: Stone 28, Livingston 24.
Dooley must win eight?
Aug 25th
According to tweets by both the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Austin Ward and the Chattanooga Times Free Press’s Wes Rucker, sports radio host Colin Cowherd is claiming to have been told by a “solid” source at Tennessee that Derek Dooley must win eight games this season or he will be fired.
Which is, of course, ridiculous. Even Nick Saban might not be able to win eight games at Tennessee this fall (although I thought eight wins wasn’t outside the realm of possibility before two major injuries on the defensive line). I don’t think for one second that anyone with any credibility associated with the UT football team said that Dooley might be in trouble after one season, unless that person was attempting to have some fun with Cowherd.
The only way Dooley’s job might be in jeopardy after one season would be if the rumors were true that Bill Haslam is going to use his influence after being elected in November to force Mike Hamilton out as UT’s athletics director in favor of Phil Fulmer…and that isn’t happening, either, for a lot of reasons, most of them very obvious.
Kiffin: He’s just misunderstood
Aug 24th
The L.A. Times’ T.J. Simers can’t figure out why Lane Kiffin is so despised.
Go ahead, T.J. Have your laughs at Tennessee’s expense . But know this: your entire column could just as easily be a cut-and-paste job from comments Tennessee fans made in defense of Kiffin on various Internet messageboards between December 2008 and January 2010.
We’re still trying to wash off the fleas we got from lying down with the dog and L.A. eventually will be, too.
UT fans don’t exactly comprise the most reasonable football fan base in the world. The Big Orange Nation spent approximately thirteen months defending Kiffin’s bygones, then immediately decided that he was the most heinous fiend in college football when he left town to accept a job offer that everyone knew from the minute he was hired in Knoxville that he would accept if it was eventually made.
But the thing you must understand, T.J., is that Kiffin isn’t hated just in Tennessee. Nor is he hated only in the Southeastern Conference. He’s mocked and jeered throughout the college football world. And there’s a reason for that.
Kiffin hadn’t been in Knoxville long before he decided to falsely accuse Florida coach Urban Meyer of cheating. Folks in Gainesville were understandably a little peeved.
Then he ticked off Columbia when he tried to convince recruits that their future was in pumping gas for a living if they earned their degree from South Carolina.
Then he made a perennial talent-rich high school in rural Florida angry by his choice comments about that school’s administration.
Along the way, he took potshots at Alabama and Georgia, as well.
When he choked on the field, he decided to blame the SEC. Tennessee’s handling of the final 60 seconds at Alabama last year will forever be remembered as one of the biggest on-the-field gaffes in UT football history. And when his decision to settle for a long field goal instead of getting closer didn’t pay off, Kiffin declared that he decided to not let the refs cheat Tennessee by calling a phantom holding call.
Then he took a couple more shots at Florida’s Meyer and the SEC’s Mike Slive.
When he lost a prized in-state recruit to Georgia, Kiffin proclaimed that it was because the kid’s religious grandmomma wouldn’t allow him to come to Tennessee.
On his way out the door, Kiffin’s right-hand man, Ed Orgeron, did one of the slimiest things a coach can do: while still on the UT payroll, using a UT-issued cellular phone, he called recruits who were already on campus in Knoxville and preparing to enroll to persuade them to avoid signing with Tennessee so they could follow Team Kiffin to Southern Cal.
From his lofty perch on the West Coast, Kiffin made a few potshots at a school who did nothing to him except give him his break after he had been unceremoniously canned by the Oakland Raiders.
It remains to be seen whether he is actually guilty of wrongdoing, but the NCAA has set up shop in Knoxville, investigating various aspects of Tennessee’s recruiting under Kiffin.
And while he didn’t really commit any more of them than many other coaches, it was Kiffin who made “secondary violation” a household phrase.
Nah, I can’t think of a single reason why everyone detests Lane Kiffin.
As it turns out, Kiffin systematically went about the task of disassembling Tennessee’s traditions while he was in town, from changing the hallowed pregame recital of Gen. Neyland’s maxims to monkeying with the Vol Walk.
But if you truly want a measure of the man as a coach, don’t pay attention to us fans. Pay attention to those who played for him. You can find a number of players who were on the Vols’ 2009 roster who have a lot of bad things to say about their former coach. Good luck finding one who will stand up for him.
Even Vol alumnus Peyton Manning has taken his shots at Kiffin…Manning, who may have never had a bad thing to say about anyone before Kiffin arrived in the South.
As for T.J.’s last remark, about us folks “down in Tennessee” having to find someone “out of state” to read his column to us, this comment, overheard earlier, says it best: “I e-mailed him and admitted we weren’t very good at reading. But, we are very good at math. Evidenced by our state’s balanced budget. ”
T.J. might also want to consult a map. “Down in Tennessee” would typically refer to a place south of the writer’s location. Knoxville is further north than L.A.
