Monday, August 30, 2004
Girls High School Golf Preview, 2004
Here is an article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal published on Monday, August 30, 2004.
Tennessee Football Tradition vs UNLV
Here is an article that was published in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas newspaper the Rebel Yell (ryunlv.com) before the UNLV-Tennessee game that was played on September 5...a game I flew across the country to attend. Enjoy.
The Rebel Yell wants people to register to read their articles, so I put the whole article here...
The Volunteers' Deep Football Tradition to Host the Rebels on Sunday
By ARNOLD KNIGHTLY
Published: Monday, August 30, 2004
To understand the difference between Tennessee and UNLV when it comes to football, one needs to look no further than their respective 2004 media guides. While the Rebels' guide comes in at a healthy 39 pages, the Volunteers' guide comes in at a weighty 372 pages.
It's hard to explain to people who have never lived in a place like Knoxville, Tenn. (I grew up there) what football means to the people living there. The easy joke that citizens of Las Vegas like to make is that there is nothing else to do in Tennessee, so of course that is why they are so deep into football. What they do not understand is that football at Tennessee, and throughout the Southeastern Conference, is a deeply rooted tradition which goes back five generations. The program has won six national championships; 1938, 1940, 1950, 1951, 1967 and 1998. (The beginning of what would become UNLV was opened as a satellite campus of University of Nevada in 1957.)
A football game at the 104,079 seat Neyland Stadium is a gathering, a spectacle, a religion. By comparison, Sam Boyd seats 32,000. Last season, the Vols averaged 105,038 fans per game while UNLV averaged 25,805 people per game. The "Big Orange" games are broadcasted on over 200 stations throughout Tennessee and a few out-of-state markets, as well as on the Internet.
The atmosphere on game day is a happening that has to be experienced to be understood. Orange-clad fans start showing up three or four days in advance of a game. Some bring their houseboats down the Tennessee River and hitch them at the dock right across the street from the stadium. Others park their RV around campus and have a multi-day cookout/tailgating party. By the time the 350 member "Pride of the Southland Marching Band" splits the giant T and the Vols come running through before the game, the crowd is at a fever pitch.
The Volunteer faithful expect victories at these gatherings, and they are rarely disappointed. The last time a non-bowl, non-Southeastern Conference opponent walked into Knoxville and beat them was October of 1986 when Army shocked the devoted, 25-21. Not only do the Vols expect to beat UNLV (and soundly so), but they expect to win every game they play. And this is with a schedule that usually includes Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. This season, Notre Dame replaces Miami on the non-conference schedule.
To put this attitude in perspective you need to look no further than Vols head football coach Phil Fulmer. Since taking over the last few games of 1992, Fulmer and the Volunteers have won 113 games and lost 27. He won the 1998 National Championship, has had a street named after him, and is now paid $1.7 million a season. By comparison, Rebel coach John Robinson's total payment package from inside the university and other media deals is around $600,000.
Yet with a "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" attitude, there are rumblings among the Tennessee faithful on sports talk radio and over backyard barbecues that Fulmer's run could be over. In Fulmer's first five-plus seasons before the championship the Vols have won 54 games and lost 11, won at least 10 games four times, and recorded victories in four out of six bowl games. Following their 13-0 championship season, their record has been 46-14, only two seasons with at least 10 wins, and four out of five bowl game defeats including the past two Peach Bowls by a combined 57-17. To compare the Rebels' program during the same time frame, they have accumulated a 42-86 record and had two winning seasons while appearing in two bowl games. In fact, the Rebels have won more than 10 games once since they started playing Division I football in 1978. (Tennessee started playing football in 1891, 14 years before Las Vegas was incorporated as a town by Union Pacific Railroad).
This will not be the Rebels' first trip to Knoxville. In 1996, UNLV was drubbed by a Peyton Manning led offensive attack, 62-3. The Tennessee fans expect the same type of results this time around. UNLV is first on the schedule for a reason, the same reason Fresno State, Wyoming, Texas Tech, East Carolina and, previously, UNLV, are the first teams on Tennessee's schedule nearly every year; to tune up for brutal conference schedule every year. The Vols have won nine straight home/season openers.
Let me say right here that I am a Rebel fan. I go to all the home football games, home basketball games, and try to catch some of the other teams here at UNLV. I did grow up under the shadow of the Volunteers and spent many Saturdays of my youth at the stadium. As a Boy Scout, my troop would guard the flags that line the top of the stadium, and in high school I sold sodas during the games. And I will be back there on September 5, cheering for my beloved Rebels. You may catch me on ESPN2 that night; I will be the shirt of red in a sea of orange. I return to the stadium believing that UNLV can be the first non-bowl, non-conference team to beat Tennessee in Knoxville in 18 years. Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but I really do believe.
The Rebel Yell wants people to register to read their articles, so I put the whole article here...
The Volunteers' Deep Football Tradition to Host the Rebels on Sunday
By ARNOLD KNIGHTLY
Published: Monday, August 30, 2004
To understand the difference between Tennessee and UNLV when it comes to football, one needs to look no further than their respective 2004 media guides. While the Rebels' guide comes in at a healthy 39 pages, the Volunteers' guide comes in at a weighty 372 pages.
It's hard to explain to people who have never lived in a place like Knoxville, Tenn. (I grew up there) what football means to the people living there. The easy joke that citizens of Las Vegas like to make is that there is nothing else to do in Tennessee, so of course that is why they are so deep into football. What they do not understand is that football at Tennessee, and throughout the Southeastern Conference, is a deeply rooted tradition which goes back five generations. The program has won six national championships; 1938, 1940, 1950, 1951, 1967 and 1998. (The beginning of what would become UNLV was opened as a satellite campus of University of Nevada in 1957.)
A football game at the 104,079 seat Neyland Stadium is a gathering, a spectacle, a religion. By comparison, Sam Boyd seats 32,000. Last season, the Vols averaged 105,038 fans per game while UNLV averaged 25,805 people per game. The "Big Orange" games are broadcasted on over 200 stations throughout Tennessee and a few out-of-state markets, as well as on the Internet.
The atmosphere on game day is a happening that has to be experienced to be understood. Orange-clad fans start showing up three or four days in advance of a game. Some bring their houseboats down the Tennessee River and hitch them at the dock right across the street from the stadium. Others park their RV around campus and have a multi-day cookout/tailgating party. By the time the 350 member "Pride of the Southland Marching Band" splits the giant T and the Vols come running through before the game, the crowd is at a fever pitch.
The Volunteer faithful expect victories at these gatherings, and they are rarely disappointed. The last time a non-bowl, non-Southeastern Conference opponent walked into Knoxville and beat them was October of 1986 when Army shocked the devoted, 25-21. Not only do the Vols expect to beat UNLV (and soundly so), but they expect to win every game they play. And this is with a schedule that usually includes Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. This season, Notre Dame replaces Miami on the non-conference schedule.
To put this attitude in perspective you need to look no further than Vols head football coach Phil Fulmer. Since taking over the last few games of 1992, Fulmer and the Volunteers have won 113 games and lost 27. He won the 1998 National Championship, has had a street named after him, and is now paid $1.7 million a season. By comparison, Rebel coach John Robinson's total payment package from inside the university and other media deals is around $600,000.
Yet with a "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" attitude, there are rumblings among the Tennessee faithful on sports talk radio and over backyard barbecues that Fulmer's run could be over. In Fulmer's first five-plus seasons before the championship the Vols have won 54 games and lost 11, won at least 10 games four times, and recorded victories in four out of six bowl games. Following their 13-0 championship season, their record has been 46-14, only two seasons with at least 10 wins, and four out of five bowl game defeats including the past two Peach Bowls by a combined 57-17. To compare the Rebels' program during the same time frame, they have accumulated a 42-86 record and had two winning seasons while appearing in two bowl games. In fact, the Rebels have won more than 10 games once since they started playing Division I football in 1978. (Tennessee started playing football in 1891, 14 years before Las Vegas was incorporated as a town by Union Pacific Railroad).
This will not be the Rebels' first trip to Knoxville. In 1996, UNLV was drubbed by a Peyton Manning led offensive attack, 62-3. The Tennessee fans expect the same type of results this time around. UNLV is first on the schedule for a reason, the same reason Fresno State, Wyoming, Texas Tech, East Carolina and, previously, UNLV, are the first teams on Tennessee's schedule nearly every year; to tune up for brutal conference schedule every year. The Vols have won nine straight home/season openers.
Let me say right here that I am a Rebel fan. I go to all the home football games, home basketball games, and try to catch some of the other teams here at UNLV. I did grow up under the shadow of the Volunteers and spent many Saturdays of my youth at the stadium. As a Boy Scout, my troop would guard the flags that line the top of the stadium, and in high school I sold sodas during the games. And I will be back there on September 5, cheering for my beloved Rebels. You may catch me on ESPN2 that night; I will be the shirt of red in a sea of orange. I return to the stadium believing that UNLV can be the first non-bowl, non-conference team to beat Tennessee in Knoxville in 18 years. Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but I really do believe.
Girls Golf Preview, School-By-School Capsules, 2004
Here is an online feature the Las Vegas Review-Journal posted on Monday, August 30, 2004. www.reviewjournal.com
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Coronado vs. Del Sol; High School Football, Week 1
The Clark County School District has opened 17 new high schools since 1991. The immediate results are schools that have been around a few years beating the living daylights out of newer schools. It is basically a varsity team beating up a JV squad. It was suggested in the newsroom that maybe the new schools should play smaller schools, or the big school's JV squads. The new schools are essentially made up of freshmen and sophomores. If there is a junior on the team it is usually because he was not getting playing time at the other school and elected to go to the new opening. The end result is what I witnessed last night...OUCH! Outcomes like this can not be good for anyone involved.
Coronado 66, Del Sol 0 -- At Coronado, Christopher Desjardins rushed for six touchdowns and returned a fumble for a seventh as the Cougars crushed the Dragons in their first game.
Desjardins scored on touchdown runs of 57, 30, 23, 12, 7, and 6 yards and ran back the fumble 24 yards. He finished with 214 yards on 13 carries.
Coronado's Scott McLeod completed 5 of 8 passes for 108 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown to Tysson Poots.
The Cougars defense recovered four Del Sol fumbles and intercepted one pass. Coronado allowed only 107 yards.
-- Arnold Knightly
Coronado 66, Del Sol 0 -- At Coronado, Christopher Desjardins rushed for six touchdowns and returned a fumble for a seventh as the Cougars crushed the Dragons in their first game.
Desjardins scored on touchdown runs of 57, 30, 23, 12, 7, and 6 yards and ran back the fumble 24 yards. He finished with 214 yards on 13 carries.
Coronado's Scott McLeod completed 5 of 8 passes for 108 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown to Tysson Poots.
The Cougars defense recovered four Del Sol fumbles and intercepted one pass. Coronado allowed only 107 yards.
-- Arnold Knightly
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
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