Tennessee's Lane Kiffin a Cheater....... Already!

Lane Kiffin! What a jackass! He calls out Urban Myer of Florida, which turned out to be a lie and then commits two violations of his own. This idiot has not coached a single game in college yet. I don't think he will come out of the Florida game feeling very good about himself. Win some games, earn some respect from your peers then you can run your mouth about other coaches. I have a feeling that everything Al Davis said about Kiffin was true. I see him lasting 2 or 3 years at Rocky-Top!



Vols' Kiffin commits minor recruiting violations
Tennessee coach admonished, had earlier called Florida's Meyer a cheater
New Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin got a letter of admonishment from his employer after committing two secondary recruiting violations.

Tennessee notified the NCAA it found a Southeastern Conference coach committing recruiting violations — the Volunteers’ own Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin was reprimanded by SEC commissioner Mike Slive on Thursday for falsely accusing Florida’s Urban Meyer of a recruiting violation.
In letters to the NCAA and SEC, the Tennessee athletic department said the secondary violations occurred in January. One violation occurred when nine prospects on an official visit to the school participated in a mock press conference at Neyland Stadium’s media center.
Another violation occurred when a fog machine was used as a recruit entered the field at Neyland Stadium during his official visit on Jan. 9.
Under NCAA recruiting rules, schools are prohibited from simulating a game experience for recruits during official visits.
Tennessee issued letters of admonishment to Kiffin and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron and provided the staff with a review of NCAA recruiting policies. Neither the NCAA nor the SEC has issued any punishment.
“They understand that they must ask questions of the compliance office about anything ’creative’ regarding campus visits,” the Jan. 26 letter said.
The violations were first reported Monday by The Knoxville News Sentinel.
Tennessee’s coaching staff believed the mock press conference was allowed because it was not done in public. They thought the use of the fog machine was allowed after seeing it used at other universities.
Kiffin, who was introduced as Tennessee’s new coach on Dec. 1, said Meyer broke recruiting rules by phoning wide receiver prospect Nu’Keese Richardson as he was making his official visit to Tennessee. Doing so would not constitute a violation of either NCAA or SEC rules.
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier questioned whether Kiffin broke rules by contacting a recruit before being cleared by the NCAA to do so. Kiffin assured fans that he had been notified by the NCAA that he was cleared before making his first phone call.
Kiffin joked later that he received a 39 out of 40 on his recruiting test required by the NCAA.

Tennessee is Now Number 1 by Defeating Memphis

That's right Tennessee took it right at Memphis for 40 minutes of basketball. It was a knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish with Tennessee nailing their free-throws and taking the win 66-62. Both teams played their hearts out. I would have to say it was one of the best college basketball games I have seen in a long time. This was a true rivalry game. Duke v's Carolina had nothing on this game tonight.
Here is the recap from www.espn.com
1 2 T
#2 TENN (25-2) 34 32 66
#1 MEM (26-1) 35 27 62
Final9:00 PM ET, February 23, 2008
FedExForum
Memphis, TN
No. 2 Tennessee likely next No. 1 as Memphis leaves with 1st loss

Team Stat Comparison
TENNESSEE MEMPHIS
Points 66 62
FG Made-Attempted 24-64 (.375) 23-58 (.397)
3P Made-Attempted 6-19 (.316) 8-27 (.296)
FT Made-Attempted 12-18 (.667) 8-17 (.471)
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 19 (0/0) 17 (0/0)
Largest Lead 7 7

Game Leaders
TENNESSEE MEMPHIS
Points T. Smith 16 D. Rose 23
Rebounds J. Smith 10 J. Dorsey 6
Assists T. Smith 3 D. Rose 5
Steals J. Prince 2 D. Rose 4

Next 5 Games
TENNESSEE (ET) MEMPHIS (ET)
02/26 @VAN 9:00pm
03/02 UK 12:00pm
03/05 @FLA 9:00pm
03/09 SCAR 2:00pm
02/27 TLSA 9:00pm
03/01 @USM 4:00pm
03/05 @SMU 8:00pm
03/08 UAB 1:00pm
Tyler Smith hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 26.5 seconds left and No. 2 Tennessee knocked off the nation's last unbeaten team, edging top-ranked Memphis 66-62 on Saturday night.
Tennessee (25-2) won on a night when star guard Chris Lofton scored only 7 points, beating the Tigers with a dominating performance on the boards. Lofton did finish it off, though, hitting a couple of free throws with 4.5 seconds to go after Memphis intentionally missed at the line.
Memphis (26-1) lost at home for the first time since Jan. 2, 2006, ending the nation's longest home winning streak at 47 games.
"We've just got to learn from it. We lost," Robert Dozier said. "They just out-toughed us. They get every loose ball, every offensive rebound. They just outplayed us."
The Tigers had hoped to use this game to show their lofty record was proof they were the nation's best team, not the beneficiaries of playing in an unheralded league, Conference USA.
And, of course, they wanted to stay on track to become the first team since Indiana in 1976 to make it all the way through the season with a perfect record.
But the Hoosiers can rest easy. At the end, Tennessee's players walked off the court in triumph, holding up the name across the front of their orange jerseys to taunt the stunned crowd. The small group of Vols fans who actually got in the building hung around to chant "We're No. 1! We're No. 1!"
Tennessee surely will be No. 1 when the next poll comes out -- for the first time in school history.
Just as flamboyant coach Bruce Pearl predicted at a pep rally before the game, then again at halftime.
"I wanted to make sure our guys knew we were playing for something," Pearl said. "I don't know if we're the best team in the country. I knew we were 40 minutes away from being No. 1."
Smith scored 16 points to lead the Vols, while Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince added 13 apiece. But Tennessee did its best work on the boards, overpowering the Tigers with a season-high 50 rebounds. Memphis had 34.
"Rocky Top, you'll always be, home sweet home to me," they sang, having the arena to themselves after the Memphis faithful headed out onto Beale Street to drown their sorrows. "Good ol' Rocky Top, Rocky Top Tennessee."
The Tigers were up when Smith took a pass from Lofton, backed in and hit the jumper for a 62-61 lead. Antonio Anderson missed badly for Memphis at the other end, and the Tigers were forced to foul.
"I really don't even remember," Smith said. "I just remember the shot going in."
Prince hit a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game, and Tennessee wisely fouled before Memphis could go for a tying 3. Instead, Derrick Rose made the first attempt in a 1-and-1, but had to miss the second intentionally, in hopes the Tigers could grab the rebound.
No way. Tennessee came down with it and Lofton was fouled. He only went 2-of-11 from the field, but calmly sank the two foul shots that finished off the Tigers' perfect record.
While Rose was trying to miss, Memphis clanked plenty of foul shots it was trying to make. The Tigers, one of the nation's worst free throw-shooting teams, lived up to their ranking by making just 8-of-17 at the line.
Rose led Memphis with 23 points, but Chris Douglas-Roberts was the only other player in double figures with 14 points.
The Tigers looked in good shape when Douglas-Roberts scored on a layup with 2:28 left, putting his team up 61-58.
Then Smith went to work. He answered with a drive of his own, pulling the Vols to 61-60, then hit the game winner -- but only after Memphis squandered three chances on one possession to extend the margin.
Doneal Mack missed a 3, but the Tigers grabbed a long rebound. Rose missed, and Memphis chased it down again. Finally, after playing without the ball for some 90 seconds, the Vols finally grabbed it away off an attempt by Dozier that banged off the front of the rim.
A couple of hours before tipoff, flamboyant Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl held a pep rally with the Volunteer faithful at a sports restaurant near the FedExForum. He made a bold promise: "All I can tell you is we're 40 minutes away from being No. 1."
Then his team proved him right.

Good Call, Bad Call!

Last night was full of very close games. Two were decided by referees whistles. The first involved the Georgetown, Villinova game. The game was tied and Nova missed a shot, Georgetown got the rebound and began to dribble down the sidelines when the player was bumped and a foul was called with 0.1 seconds remaining. The Hoya player went on to make both shots and win the game. Why? The player was 75 feet away from the basket and he was nudged, not even hard enough to knock him out of bounds. The game was at Georgetown! maybe some homecooking? I say BAD CALL .
The second came during the Tennessee, Rutgers women's basketball game. Tennessee was trailing by one point with seconds remaining and missed the shot, a Lady Vol got the rebound, missed it and another Lady Vol grabbed it and was Horsecollard to the ground. Time seemed to have run out, but the shot clock had 0.2 on it. The Tennessee player knocked down two foul shots and that was it for the Scarlet Knights. By the way, the game was played on Summet Court. Homecooking? I say GOOD CALL!
How about Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy calling out his franchise player (Dewight Howard) through the media? This could get ugly. We'll see what kind of person Howard is now. He has every right to be upset at how Van Gundy handled this situation, but he could shut every one up by playing even better and doing what his coached said he was not doing. Or he could pout like a spoiled NBA player and want a trade. I have a feeling he will come out of this situation a better player. Stan Van Gundy might be correct about Howard's play, but I think he should of pulled his star aside and had a chat, not through the media. By the way, is he Harry Reems twin? I say BAD CALL!
Bobby Knight wearing an officials jersey on Jay Leno. I thought it was typical Bob Knight trying to be funny and show a different side of himself. He is known for giving the officials a hard time, so I thought it was funny. He is a great person and people are still going to knit-pick everything he does. I say GOOD CALL!
Larry Hughes scoring 40 points last night. I have to believe that the old saying about even the sun shines on a dogs ass every now and then rings true with Hughes scoring 40. I wish I am wrong, but as an avid Cavs fan, I can't get my hopes up. The only thing I can think that could happen positively from this for Cavs fans is that Hughes continues to play well so his trade value goes up. I say BAD CALL!
Johan Santana being signed by the Mets for mega millions. Some would say this is good news for the Indians because he moves to the National League. Look at his record versus the Indians anyways, it wasn't good at all. As a true Cleveland Indian fan I think it is devistating because now we will never be able to sign C.C. Sabathia. C.C. will definately want Santana type money in order to re-sign him and all of us Indian fans know that Cleveland wont offer near that much to keep him. I say BAD CALL!

North Carolina upset by Maryland, Roy Jones Jr. v's Trinidad, Ohio State loses to Tennesee

College basketball's #1 team came to a road block today as Maryland stunned them at North Carolina. I guess I shouldn't really say stunned seems how Maryland had control of this game, or was hanging around by a few points the entire game. Congrats to Coach Williams and his Terps for getting a huge win on the road and a win quality win at that. Should help them since they will probably be a bubble team...... in the NIT!
Speaking of NIT, how about them Buckeyes and their problem with the SEC teams no matter what the sport is this year. The football team starts off great and then just as you get your hopes up, boooooooooooom!!!!!!! It's put your head down and run back to Ohio. Basketball Bucks almost did the same thing today versus Tennessee. Don't get me wrong, they are a very talented team and very deserving of there ranking, but the young Buckeyes had them on the ropes. The real disappointing aspect to me as a true Buckeye fan is that the state's all time leading scorer (John Diebler) and best three point shooter, couldn't come close to buying a bucket in the final seconds and they left him wide open. What does that tell you, Diebler? I'll tell you what. Welcome to the big ten where you are too slow and can't play defense. Not only do you not start now, but your time is going to dwindle down quickly. Buckeye fans will remember this comparison and name.......... Brandon Fuss-Cheatem anyone?????
Roy Jones Jr. versus Felix Trinidad. All I have to say is that if Jones Jr is still sponsored by Jordan, then he wins in unanimous decision.