Hosts: Sonny, Ryan and Rich

In this episode, we discussed this weekend’s slate of college football games. Two big matchups await us in the SEC. Can the Tennessee Volunteers’ powerful running game do just enough to slow down Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and the explosive Florida Gators? Also, who will win between LSU and Auburn? Sonny is boldly predicting a Tiger victory. Also, we talk about the effect of Arizona State’s loss to UNLV and how that impacts their matchup against Georgia.

 

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Note: We’d like to apologize for the technical difficulties we’ve been having this week. We’re attempting to sort things out and hopefully, we’ll be up and running consistently this weekend.

Usually, we’d expect a battle of this magnitude to take place in North Carolina between UNC and Duke. Not this time. Tomorrow’s matchup between Tennessee and Memphis, the 38th regular season meeting between a #1 and #2, is even more significant because of the long-standing rivalry these two teams have had.

“These 1-2 matchups are usually reserved for Tobacco Road or some place in Indiana or Ohio,” Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said Thursday.

“And the fact that it’s in Tennessee is something that I think all high school basketball players and high school coaches and different folks that love basketball in the state of Tennessee are certainly proud of.”

So who do I like? At home, it’s difficult to pick against Memphis, who haven’t lost at FedEx Forum in their last 47 games, the longest home winning streak in Division I hoops. Also, who will step it up for Tennessee against Memphis’ beasts inside? Joey Dorsey is probably big enough to start for Philip Fulmer’s offensive line.

It’s Memphis’ size and athleticism against Tennessee’s outside shooters. It’s Bruce Pearl’s orange blazer against John Calipari’s ego. The winner of this game can likely pencil in a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.

I won’t lie about my preference for male sports. I know more about the players, teams, and history of male sports and in the end, I just prefer their brand of play. Don Imus agrees with me, but to a far more ridiculous extent. His recent statements about the Women’s National Championship are ignorant, idiotic, and downright demeaning.

Don Imus hosts a syndicated talk show that is broadcast on MSNBC, which is owned by WRC’s parent company, NBC Universal. He was talking to three guests when he said about Rutgers, “That’s some nappy-headed hos there,” after his executive producer, Bernard McGuirk, called the team “hardcore hos.”

But that wasn’t all. Imus then went on to compare Rugters’ squad to Tennessee’s Lady Vols. Imus said the Vols “all look cute,” then went on to call players jiggaboos. Last I checked, that’s a racial slur. Maybe kick this guy’s sorry ass off the air? While avoiding the fact that Rutgers made a very surprising run to the Championship Game, Imus noted that they were “some rough girls from Rutgers. They got tattoos.” Brilliant observation Don, way to earn your paycheck you hack.

I originally thought Imus just felt like getting wasted before his show. But he’s apparently been sober since 1987.But this really comes as no surprise. He’s called Arab’s “ragheads”, “stinking animals”, and has a long history of homophobia. Considering I had never heard of this old bastard before, it’s good that he was dumb enough to put himself in the news. The lesson here? If you have a radio show, you can get away with being an enormous jackass.

In an arena full of famous Tennessee sports figures, it was the new guy in town, Bruce Pearl, that made the biggest statement. Pat Summitt repaid her friend and showed up to last night’s game versus Florida in a cheerleading outfit. She sang “Rocky Top” and got laughs out of Phillip Fulmer and Peyton Manning. Then she watched Pearl’s Vols roll up #4 Florida, 86-76.

Sitting on the bubble just a couple of weeks ago, Tennessee has rattled off six wins in their last seven games, including four wins over ranked teams. Last night’s performance was the most impressive of the bunch. While ESPN criticized Florida for not being intense enough, they overlooked the obvious. It was impossible to match the intensity in Knoxville last night. The defending champs get everybody’s best shot. They weren’t up for it last night and got beat by a good team.

I’m not going to say Florida is done. You’ve probably heard it already. But Gators fans should get a bit worried. Did they peak at the wrong time? This is a team that started the season 24-2 and won their first 11 SEC games. Since then, they’ve lost three of four. Then again, they were all on the road. The reason Florida won the National Championship a season ago is because they peaked at the perfect time, winning their final five games of the season before winning six more in the NCAAs.

On a night when Summitt wore a questionable Orange feather hat and then gave it to questionable Dick Vitale, Tennessee was simply too inspired and intense for the Gators. If you’re looking for a team that could be tough in the tournament,watch out for Pearl’s squad. They should learn from their 2nd round exit from a season ago, when they were a questionable #2 seed.

There’s few reasons to watch tonight’s big tilt between #4 Florida and the Tennessee Volunteers. One, it’s SEC basketball so it’ll be intense and an overall fun atmosphere. But there’s also another. Remember Bruce Pearl’s display at a Tennessee-Duke women’s game? Women’s coach Pat Summitt wants to return the favor by supporting Pearl’s boys tonight.

“I know what Pat is doing, but I’m not at liberty to say,” he said. “I think (fans) are going to love it, and I think America is going to see a side of Pat Summitt that they haven’t seen in a long time.”

Summitt made a reference to her days as a cheerleader in 7th and 8th grade. She may be a great coach but I don’t want to see her in a cheer outfit. Sorry, the lady is 54. If she wants to show a side that nobody has seen, she should probably start by smiling. But let’s try to stay clothed Pat.

“I think people see me as being really serious, and I’ve just always been a kind of person that likes to have fun and do things like I’m going to do tomorrow night. But I usually don’t do it on camera in front of the whole country,” she said. “I figured, why not?”

Summitt makes one hell of a point. After all, the damn basketball court at Tennessee is called “The Summitt.” That should be reason enough. She has more wins than any coach in the history of college basketball with 940. I’d say she’s earned the right to go crazy for a night.

This is just further proof that Bruce Pearl was a perfect hire for the Vols. They have a rich athletic tradition but until a couple years ago, they weren’t known for mens hoops. That appears to be changing with Pearl. He has the community excited and he even has us excited. If Summitt goes insane, we have something to write about tomorrow.

Most of us are familiar with Bruce Pearl and his somewhat crazy antics. As head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team, Pearl has done a great job both as a coach and a cheerleader. He is known for his orange jackets and sweating through them.

Pearl has now taken it one step further. He appeared at the Lady Vol’s game fully decked out…in chest paint. I guess the man has become the Volunteers biggest fan now, which is absolutely hilarious.

I love that Pearl did this. It proves that he isn’t just another coach using this job as a stepping stone, he really does care about the university. He wants not only his team, but the women’s team to do well. He wants to instill an atmosphere of fun and absolute madness. He talked about the Cameron’s Crazies and how he wants the Tennessee campus to be similar to that. I think a good way to do that is to go out and have your coach go crazy. Painting a V on your chest to help the students spell out “Vols” is a sure fire way to build support.

One thing I might suggest to pearl is to maybe keep his clothes on next time. I’m all about face painting and chest painting to a certain degree. Support your team as much as you want, but if you have the body figure of Bruce Pearl, I would suggest keeping the shirt on.