Reading the News-Sentinel on Sunday and today leads me to one inescapable conclusion: the KNS sportwriters are little more than PR flacks for the University of Tennessee. Reading the stuff they call reporting would make you think that Saturday's game was a tremendous victory for the Vol program, on a par with great games like the 86 Sugar Bowl trouncing of Miami, or the Miracle at South Bend in 1991.
Think I'm exaggerating? Read Gary Lundy's take on the game:
The term "classic"' is overused in sports, but this time it fits.Tennessee's 51-43, five-overtime victory over Alabama on Saturday meets every definition of the word.
Oh really? Lets see. Bama 3 and out. UT fumbles. Bama goes 20 yards and punts. UT fumbles. Bama picks up 10 yards in 6 plays, then kicks a FG. UT nets 31 yards and fumbles.
I have a hard time calling any performance that includes three lost fumbles in one quarter a "classic." But maybe that's just me.
Speaking of Lundy, it appears that Vickie Fulmer has recalibrated the erstwhile Clausen critic, who now gives Clausen his Best Spine Award.
Even John Adams, a man we used to count on to give it to us straight, has succumbed to the pressure. Check out his column from the 22nd:
And no matter how poorly Alabama is faring, you always expect a certain toughness from the Tide. You didn't see that toughness last Saturday in a 43-28 loss to the Rebels, who repeatedly whipped Alabama at the line of scrimmage.Based on its most-recent performance, Alabama hasn't just gone bad. It has gone soft.
Yet now, after it took us 5 overtimes to win, he writes this:
Have you ever seen a UT team make more clutch plays to stay in a game or a division race than the one that beat Alabama 51-43 in five overtimes?
Should a former top ten team really have to make clutch plays to win against a team that got whipped by Ole Miss? A team that lost to Northern Illinois? Alabama out rushed UT. They got more first downs than UT. They held the ball longer than UT. And for 58 minutes, they beat UT. Oddly, the KNS sportswriters don't seem to remember that part of the game. They focus instead on Clausen's 'heroic' last minute drive to tie the game.
It gets worse.
Mike Griffith writes a piece about how wonderfully Clausen played.
Clausen turned it around on the final drive, going 6-for-9 for 87 yards. He opened the pivotal drive with a 16-yard completion to James Banks over the middle of the field, and the clock was running.
Clausen was 10-for-17 for 146 yards and four touchdowns from the final drive of regulation to the end of the fifth overtime.
Given that his totals for the game were 23 of 43 for 283 yards, that means that over 58 minutes of play, he was 13 of 36 for 137 yards, in the second half going 2 of 8 for a pitiful 14 yards.
I'm not impressed; why is Mike?
Next, we take a peek at Mike's Report Card. Students could only wish to be graded on a curve this generous. Of course, after the Vols got a C from Griffith for taking that Georgia butt-stomping two weeks ago, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the B they got for this game, but tell me, how does Clausen's mediocrity grade out higher than the special team's play? Clausen's stats are only slightly better than Brodie Croyle's, who, rather than making empty boasts after a game, really was playing with only one arm. Croyle actually had the higher connect percentage. On the special teams side, Colquitt kicked the cover off the ball, Wilhoit made every crucial kick, and one critical tackle, and we decimated Alabama in return yardage. But Clausen gets an A- while special teams gets a B.
Go figure.
I'm a fan. I have the luxury of rooting for the Vols unreservedly. I can have unrealistic expectations; I can dream big; I can believe we can win every game. I can be delusional in my support for the team. I expect better from a reporter. I expect him to counter my enthusiasm with honesty, my wild expectations with hard facts, and my dreams with reality. I expect him to provide that quiet voice of reason that prepares me for the let down when the Vols come up short.
When he doesn't do that, it forces me to do it for him.
Posted by Rich at October 27, 2003 11:53 AM | TrackBackHey, at least Clausen didn't throw any clutch interceptions, and has instead learned to just throw it away (although he got lucky on a couple of those desperation passes). That's worth at least a couple of grade points, right?
Posted by: SKB on October 27, 2003 2:07 PMThose cheerleaders are why I abstain from listening to local sports talk radio. No one at the KNS has any balls anymore. I wonder if they are afraid to lose their press passes and "in depth" interviews if they say anythign negative? Lundy had to kiss ass because he ragged on Clausan 2 weeks ago and caught hell from hundreds of "see no evil, speak no evil" Vol fans.
Posted by: Justin on October 27, 2003 10:57 PM