Random Thoughts - Monday December 15

Where I've lost my third XBOX 360 to The Red Eye of Death, which also doubled as my DVD player, so we've been enjoying repeat viewings of The Dark Knight on my laptop...

"May your first child be a masculine child..."
The Family is coming together.

Monte Kiffin officially announced that he will be joining son Lane in Knoxville next fall as the Vols' defensive coordinator. The elder Kiffin has been the defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay since 1996, coinciding with Tampa's rise to football relevance and the implementation of Kiffin's Tampa 2 scheme, coming soon to SEC offenses near you. He'll inherit most of the talent from the nation's #4 defense in 2008. Good times ahead.

Monte was always a big part of the Lane hire looking good, and thanks to Gene Chizik and Charles Barkley, the Vols' hire will now be less scruntinzed everywhere but Knoxville. If there was anyway to ease the pain from John Chavis' departure, Monte Kiffin was it. I like where this can go.

Next stop - this guy. Tell 'em about it, Jo Jo!




#16 Tennessee vs. #24 Marquette in Nashville

The SEC/Big East whatever they're calling it features two teams that, at the very least, are fun to watch tomorrow night at 9:30. Check out the detailed preview from The Bruce Ball Blog.

The Vols will have to come off the deck fast after Temple reality checked them on Saturday. JP Prince is still doubtful at best with a severely sprained ankle, and the Golden Eagles use three guards at once better than just about anyone in the nation, which almost carried them deep into March last season. For the young Vols on the perimeter who just got lit up by Christmas in Philadelphia, they'll have to rebound quickly to slow Marquette in Nashville.

The Vols will leave Nashville and return to TBA for games against Belmont and the Rajun Cajuns before the non-conference madness continues. We're still not sure exactly what we've got with this team that beat Georgetown (who beat Memphis) and lost to Gonzaga (who lost to Arizona), and the last glimpse from the Temple game wasn't promising. Not that Belmont isn't capable and won't be ready to spring an upset, but the real proof will come in the three non-conference tests between now and the start of SEC play: Marquette in Nashville tomorrow night, at Kansas on January 3, and the Gonzaga rubber match in Knoxville on January 7. 2-1 in those three games would be great. If the Vols have it going well enough to win tomorrow night against this Marquette team after playing so poorly just 72 hours earlier against Temple, I'll be very impressed.

Titans: Two Weeks to the Playoffs

(Cortland Finnegan: SHORYUKEN!)

The bad news is that Al Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch are out for Sunday's AFC home field advantage showdown against Pittsburgh. The good news is, both will be back for the playoffs.

The Titans could backdoor their way to HFA if Pittsburgh beats them and then loses in Week 17 to Cleveland and the Titans beat Indianapolis in Indy...but right now neither route seems particularly desirable.

There are a few folks who are jumping off the bandwagon (and jumping on the "put Vince Young in the game!" ship, which is insanity.) Sunday's game will help decide not only home field advantage, but the real direction of this Titans team. The 10-0 start has turned into a 2-2 bump in the road in the last four weeks - and it may be only that - but the Steelers will be the best gage of that.

Sadly, the game won't be flexed to NBC's Sunday night slot, which goes to Carolina and the Giants.

The Celtics are on pace to win 75 games

Again, I'm just saying.

Since we've already mentioned several cinematic classics in this post, allow me to bring up another: Boston will be envoking Rocky IV next week by going into the belly of the beast on Christmas Day, for what is without question the first must-see Christmas TV NBA game for me, when the 22-2 Celtics travel to Los Angeles to face the 20-3 Lakers.

There's 3/4 of the season left to be played, and Cleveland is certainly hot as well - but if Boston beats Utah tonight, they'll match the all-time best NBA start of 23-2. That mark is currently held by the Jordan Bulls team that went 72-10, which is the best record in NBA history. For now.

...again, I'm just saying.

And finally...

You didn't really think we'd show one Ed Orgeron video classic and not show the other, did you?

The man. The legend. The next recruiting coordinator at the University of Tennessee.

Be afraid.