The Southern Appalachians region between Blacksburg and Knoxville is some of the most beautiful country found anywhere. This view is from Mt. Rogers in Virginia near the Tennessee border. Photo by NorCalVol.
I grew up in Kingsport, about four miles from the Virginia border. Four miles separating Vol territory from Hokie land. When I was a kid, I would listen to the Vols’ game on the radio on Saturday afternoon. Then on Sunday, I would watch the highlights show.
But I would also watch the Virginia Tech highlights show on WCYB-TV from Bristol, the town that is half in Tennessee and half in Virginia.
When it came to football, that state line, only four miles away, was like a foreign border to a kid. So watching the Sunday Tech highlights show back in those days was like peeking into a secret, made possible only because of living next to a state line.
But culturally, we were of the same region. The Southern Appalachians. The Ridge-and-Valley Province. Some of the most beautiful country in the U.S.
Southwest Virginia and Upper East Tennessee were the same region in the winter when it came to the snow reports and school closings on TV and radio. In summertime we were the same region because of the Appalachian League — one of baseball’s rookie leagues that had teams in towns from the region’s two states: Wytheville, Marion, and Pulaski in Virginia; Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol in Tennessee. The league still thrives.
Highway 11W connected Blacksburg and Knoxville by running through Bristol and Kingsport, later replaced by I-81 connecting with I-40 just short of Knoxville. And what emotionally, and for many, spiritually, connected Upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia was the music. Bristol, situated about halfway between both schools, was the real home of country music, where many of the first recordings were made, and just a few miles and a couple of ridges away from Maces Spring, home of the Carter Family.
Culturally, we are cut from the same cloth.
But football? You would think we were located 3,000 miles away.
Different conferences since 1933.
- Virginia Tech: Southern Conference (1922-64); an independent (1965-90); Big East (1991-2003); ACC (2004-present).
- Tennessee: Southern Conference (1921-32); SEC (1933-present).
In the long history of both schools, Tennessee and Virginia Tech have only played seven times. Seven.
- 1896, 1897, 1899, 1911, 1933, 1937, and the 1994 Gator Bowl.
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The Bristol Motor Speedway, which would have served as a most bizarre site for a college football game.
Much was once made of a proposed football game pitting Tech against Tennessee at the Bristol Motor Speedway, ever since Bruton Smith, owner of Speedway Motorsports, in 2005 offered each team $20 million to play the game inside the race track. One of the problems would have been the timing. The game would have had to be a November date after the annual fall race date (Nextel Cup Race), because the infield would have had to be leveled and a playing surface brought in following the race. Scheduling a non-conference, neutral field game in November would be difficult because non-conference games at that time are generally played at home as a homecoming affair.
The plan idea caused a lot of excitement. Then, in a fog of non-information, the plan idea fizzled.
Additionally, holding a football game at the racetrack would now seem highly impractical following the recent construction of a large scoring pylon and four-sided video screen in the middle of the infield (see photo).
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During a teleconference earlier this month officially announcing the two programs’ participation in this year’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Tennessee and Virginia Tech athletic directors Mike Hamilton and Jim Weaver intimated that they were close to a deal for a game at some point over the last couple seasons before changes to the infield in Bristol killed it, and now the fact that their future schedules are both tied up for about 10 seasons seems to have stalled any energy to get serious about establishing a series. Here is what the principals had to say (sources: Times News; GVX Article).
Tennessee AD Mike Hamilton:
“We’ve talked about it periodically, we’re not opposed to doing that… We’ve talked about it as recently as a couple months ago as a possibility for down the road, but the first availability we had was for like 2019 or ’20. We’ll go back and revisit that at some point… And a little-known fact, I don’t know that we really shared this, we actually did throw a date out there at one time with Bristol Motor Speedway. That’s been talked about a bunch and it didn’t work out as something they could have done… They made major changes to their infield and that sort of ended up being the end of the discussion.”
Virginia Tech AD Jim Weaver:
“There’s no question our fans have wanted this game for a long, long time… . They’ve been talking about it as long as I’ve been here going back 13 years…I even talked to Doug Dickey about it before Mike took over… That (Bristol Motor Speedway) thing kind of came out of the blue and I think everybody got excited and then there wasn’t any other communication…”
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As was suggested to me by Ryan (furrer4heisman) who is the main writer over at Gobbler County, the fine Virginia Tech blog, A Tech-Vol annual rivalry game would be akin to a Georgia-Clemson series (which has become intermittent). SEC-ACC. Neighboring states. Similar geographic regions.
Makes sense?
Yes. Absolutely. I would be all for it as a fan. Remember, I grew up practically standing on that state line.
But I don’t think Tennessee wants to do it badly enough. Perhaps not at all. Look at the future home-and-home series that Tennessee already has locked up: Oregon, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Nebraska, Ohio State, Southern Cal. With the exception of North Carolina, the goal seems to be “get out of the back yard.”
I think the addition of the North Carolina series is nostalgic in a way. The Vols and the Tar Heels played every year from 1945-61 and many years before that. Also, another ACC school probably would rank above anybody else in terms of setting a home-and-home or even an annual affair. That would be Georgia Tech. The Vols and Yellow Jackets played some of the greatest games in the history of Southern football. They were top rivals for years in the SEC. And Georgia Tech’s greatest coach, Bobby Dodd, was a Vol All-American (and a Kingsport native I might add).
But new times are meant to make new traditions. I would love to see Tennessee and Virginia Tech establish a regional rivalry. It could be a great one. No development time would be necessary.
I just don’t think it will happen.
But I am thankful this year’s bowl matchup did happen to allow us to dream about the possibility of a rivalry made in (Southern Appalachian) heaven.
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COMING UP
MON 28 DEC: TRYING TO SHED A NATIONAL INFERIORITY COMPLEX.
TUE 29 DEC: GOODBYE SENIORS – WE HARDLY KNEW YA.
WED 30 DEC: PEACH BOWL GAME PREVIEW.
Virginia Tech 2009 Season Recap: Part III
Two consecutive, debilitating losses resulting in a fall from national grace—from fourth nationally to nearly the abyss of the unranked (inhabited by the beloved big orange, thank you)—had the Hokies feeling a bit lost around Halloween. East Carolina was perhaps the opponent-in-need to avoid the Hokies’ first three-game losing streak in six years. For motivation, Tech could conjure up memories of last season’s opening 27-22 upset loss to the Pirates in Charlotte, which was capped by a blocked punt returned 27 yards for the winning TD with just less than 2 minutes left. Certainly Tech wasn’t looking past East Carolina. This was the Hokies’ first visit to Greenville since 2000 and the Pirates and their fans certainly had this one circled on their calendars. read more…
Virginia Tech 2009 Season Recap: Part II
Before the previous week’s game, the Hokies were offended that the media were not giving their side their due. Now that the Maroon and Orange were getting ready to march into their first away game of the season with a Number 6 national ranking, Tech probably just as soon would have liked a little anonymity. Duke’s coach David Cutcliffe, well known to the Vol faithful, has turned around the Duke football fortunes so much so that the Blue Devils are not playing third fiddle in the Research Triangle’s football conversations anymore. If there were ever a banana skin game for Virginia Tech, this was it. read more…
Virginia Tech 2009 Season Recap: Part I
A 7th-ranked Virginia Tech looked ahead at a potential opening loss against a strong Alabama as nothing to be worried about, even if the Hokies had big aspirations for 2009 — hoping to do more than just repeat as ACC champions. You might as well get a loss out of the way early. And a loss was, frankly speaking, expected as Tech’s key tailback, sophomore Darren Evans, who ran for 1,265 yards and 11 TDs last season, tore his ACL in preseason practice. Enter redshirt frosh Ryan Williams as Evans’ expected replacement. read more…
It’s Christmas week. So, as a gift to you, the faithful readers, a game-by-game season summary of our Peach Bowl opponents, the Virginia Tech Hokies will be coming your way.
Here’s the plan. On Tuesday, we’ll have a look at Tech’s games of September. Thursday, the October clashes of the Maroon and Orange will be recapped. And on your day after Christmas, the Hokies’ November games shall be reviewed.
Here are the Hokie 2009 season’s results. Happy Christmas Week!
Virginia Tech 2009 Season Results
Sat Sep 05 Alabama L 24-34 Sat Sep 12 Marshall W 52-10 Sat Sep 19 Nebraska W 16-15 Sat Sep 26 Miami (FL) W 31-7 Sat Oct 03 at Duke W 34-26 Sat Oct 10 Boston Col W 48-14 Sat Oct 17 at Georgia Tech L 23-28 Thu Oct 29 North Carolina L 17-20 Thu Nov 05 at East Carolina W 16-3 Sat Nov 14 at Maryland W 36-9 Sat Nov 21 North Carolina St W 38-10 Sat Nov 28 at Virginia W 42-13*******************************************
It will be junior (senior-to-be) Nick Stephens, high-school recruit Tyler Bray of Kingsburg, California (Central Valley), and new juco-signee Matt Simms to battle for the 2010 QB job this spring.
Simms who is 6-3, 215, played at El Camino Community College in Torrance (Los Angeles County) California this season, completing 159 of 269 for 2,204 yards and 17 touchdowns. The Warriors finished the season 8-3, winning their fourth consecutive league championship.
Simms began his college career with the Louisville Cardinals where he played in only two games and threw only 10 passes. He served a four-game suspension at the start of the 2008 season for undisclosed violations, which appeared to be weed-related according to this August 19, 2008 post on Card Chronicle.
He also gained quite a bit of notoriety for his response to opposing fans during and after leading his high school to the New Jersey State Championship in 2006.
He is also recovering from a broken throwing hand, having the cast removed just recently.
Kiffin’s signing of Simms as a juco-transfer is likely a harbinger as the Vols transition from the Fulmer era to whatever it is we are moving into.
Bring on the competition. Stephens should be the odds-on favorite. Redshirting Bray would be the next big decision. That will depend on Simms.
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Are sales down at the Gray lady?
On December 9, 2009, a story in the New York Times written by Pete Thamel and Thayer Evan appeared and you would have thought they’d discovered a new angle on the human condition. Thamel and Evan reported that a significant part of an NCAA inquiry into the Tennessee football program is focused on the use of recruiting “hostesses.” Yes, the story was about the potential rules transgression of it all — and the potential severity of any violation.
But the subtext was there — the role of the seductress.
But, nothing new about use of hostesses.
And, nothing new about seductresses.
A primer for all males, like we really needed one. read more…
In what was announced as the closest (28 total points / 5 first-place votes) contest ever for the most prestigious college football award, Mark Ingram of Alabama wins the 75th Heisman Trophy Award.
According to the ESPN story, here are the numbers:
- Ingram: 1,304 total points • 227 first-place votes
- Gerhart: 1,276 total points • 222 first-place votes
- McCoy: 1,145 total points • 203 first-place votes
Ndamukong Suh was fourth; Tim Tebow finished fifth.
The previous closest vote in Heisman history came in 1985, when Auburn’s Bo Jackson beat Iowa quarterback Chuck Long by 45 points.
Mark Ingram, Alabama running back, accepts the 75th Heisman Trophy Award Saturday night in New York. Getty Images.
When Ingram’s name was announced, it was a very emotional moment, as it often times is. The tears flowed freely once Mark reached the podium. And when his first words came, the tears came more freely.
No matter how you felt about the outcome (and I’m clearly on the record that Stanford RB Toby Gerhart was the deserving winner, even though the VITF group tally went for Ingram), looking at Mark Ingram standing at the podium made you very happy for him. How could you not be?
But he composed himself and delivered a short, eloquent speech. He thanked people directly: family, school officials, coaches, teammates, trainers, and his fellow Heisman candidates. It meant a lot to him to be the first Alabama player to win the award. It meant a lot to him to be the newest member of the Heisman Family.
He briefly lifted the trophy, shook hands with the former award winners who were lined at the back of the small stage, and that was it.
Meanwhile… read more…
Once again I asked the collective braintrust at VITF to produce some more nonsense. This time, the query was to assess the proper recipient of this year’s Heisman Trophy.
Each of the VITF panel was asked to submit their top five, in order from 1st to 5th. A total of five ballots, including mine, were received. The votes were tallied by yours truly. Each first-pace vote was worth 5 points, second-place votes were worth 4 points, and so on. The table below is a summary of the number of votes for each position and the total tally of points.
Mark Ingram and Toby Gerhart each received the most first-place votes, two each, but Ingram received one more total point; Gerhart did not receive a vote on one of the five ballots received. C. J. Spiller and Ndamukong Suh came in third and fourth. Everybody else was way back, although Case Keenum who finished sixth received a first-place vote (his only vote).
Following the table are the individual ballot results along with some comments from each of the illustrious voters.
Why do we do this? Some things are just too important to be left to the professionals… read more…
Only time will tell of course.
If you look at the chart below, the shift of Heisman Trophy winners from primarily running backs to quarterbacks didn’t begin in 2000 with Chris Weinke (Florida QB). Arguably it began with Doug Flutie (Boston College, 1984) who broke the string of 12 consecutive running back winners. Beginning with the diminutive QB from BC, the winner of the Heisman has been a QB 15 times in the last quarter century. And, of course, 8 of the last 9 winners have been QBs.
We truly have been living in the Age of the Quarterback.
If a running back wins on Saturday, perhaps it will only be a Reggie Bush Bump on Quarterback Road (a.k.a. 2005).
“QB” = quarterback. “RB” = running back and includs halfbacks and fullbacks. “WR” = wide receiver and includes ends. Def = defensive player. Charles Woodson (Michigan, 1997) was the only winner as a primarily defensive player (cornerback). He also returned punts and occasionally played as a wide receiver. [NOTE: his dot on the chart above is colored orange for reasons known to Vol fans.] Les Horvath (Ohio State, winner 1944) is included above as QB – he also played HB. Vic Janowicz (Ohio State, winner, 1950) is included above as RB – he also was a kicker. Ernie Davis (Syracuse, winner 1961) is included above as RB – he also was a linebacker.
It’s Tennessee vs Virginia Tech in Atlanta, Alabama will meet Texas for the title, and the SEC clean up with 10 bowl spots.
It’s official. Our Tennessee Vols will face Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Years’ Eve at 7:30 pm ET. The game will be televised on ESPN. Tennessee readily accepted the bowl bid today. The appearance in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, formerly known as the Peach Bowl, will be Tennessee’s 48th bowl appearance in school’s history, making UT tied for 3rd with Southern California in all-time bowl appearances. Only Alabama (soon to be 57) and Texas (soon to be 49) have played in more bowl games. The Vol’s bowl record is 25-22.
We’ll take looks at the Hokie’s season and team in the coming days here at Vols in the Fall. read more…
Recap / Box Score / Play-by-Play / Drive Chart
Your 2009 SEC Champions: The Alabama Crimson Tide. AP Photo
Alabama made 26 first downs to Florida’s 13, and converted 11 of 15 3rd-down conversions (11 of 15!) to Florida’s 4 of 11. The Tide’s rushing yardage swallowed the Gators’, 251 to 88 yards (63 of Florida’s 88 yards were Tebow’s). Alabama’s unheralded passing game equaled Florida’s touted Tebow-to-Company wrecking crew, 239 to 247 yards. And the Crimson Tide had possession of the ball twice as long as the Gators, 39:37 to 20:23.
Total domination.
This was simply Alabama’s best game of the season and Florida’s worst. By far on both accounts. But why?
Perhaps Tennessee Head Coach Lane Kiffin was correct when he humorously postulated earlier this week that both teams had great players but Alabama’s were better coached. Perhaps. read more…
HIS NAMES WERE MANY.
Jesse, Jess, The Boo Boo, Needy Boy, Worry Wart, J, J-Man, J-J, Captain, General, Sweet Pea, Sweet, Sweetness, Poo-Poo, Poopsie, Poopster, Delicate Boy, Tough Boy, Alpha Man, Little Man, Mister.
TODAY, I’VE BEEN TRYING TO REMEMBER AS MANY THINGS ABOUT HIM, HOPING NEVER TO FORGET.
When he would lie down next to you, he would always have some part of his body touching yours: a foot, his back, or best of all, his head against your leg or foot.
If you walked up to him, he might roll on his side and stick just one leg out straight with the hope that you might be interested in rubbing his belly. And if you were interested, he would most certainly let you, for as long as you wished.
If you tried to trick him with some kind of slight of hand, he would look at your face instead of trying to figure it out.
When he got nervous, he would yawn, usually while doing a downward-dog, then upward-dog, perfectly, without the aid of a yoga instructor.
When he got separated from the family “pack” he would let out an almost blood-curdling yodel-like cry.
He tended to panic and race around if confused.
Even his annoyances were amusing.
He was needy.
If he got the slightest thorn prick in his leg or foot, he would hold out his leg at 90 degrees like a wounded bird and wait for his “mom” or “dad” to rescue him. Sometimes as I would inspect the affected leg/foot, I would find nothing wrong, and after a brief massage, he would scamper off.
But also one day up on top of our hill, he got into a fence-fight with a neighbor’s dog, and in the attempt of sticking his head underneath the fence, or extracting it back, he flayed wide open his loose skin around his neck from ear to bottom of throat, then calmly trotted down the hill past the house as if nothing had happened.
He loved to chase turkeys and deer out of our property – not to maim them, but for the joy of chasing them.
He had impeccable bathroom habits: always far away, seeking his own version of privacy, followed by a volcanic sound of scratching the ground surface, then running back for your praise, black ears flopping.
He was scared of the dark night – the “big, black world” we called it – running out into it with broad shoulders and a big bark, then doing his business and hurrying back.
When Phyllis and I would take “the boys” for a ride in the car, Jesse would not get in the vehicle until both us humans were accounted for at the car. If only one was at the car, and the other was still in the house, he would bolt back into the house to herd us back into a pack.
He loved to have his pig ear snack after dinner, while Phyllis and I would eat our dinner. But after he finished, he would stand up and give me that pitiful look. So, I would get up from my dinner, come over to his bed and turn over his bed mat – because he didn’t like to lie on a partially wet bed. He was a particular boy. And I was more than accommodating.
His face – it was so expressive. It’s what I fell in love with first. In February 1999, I saw a picture of that face on the Internet. He was just a pup and just what I was looking for.
I loved his feet. They were delicate and white. He would lay in his bed, body and head erect, with his two front, white feet crossed, and he would have his almond-shaped eyes sort of squinting, almost half-closed – not because the sun was out – and he might barely be panting, just enough to have the tip of his pink tongue sticking out. The picture of contentment.
For nearly 11 years, he was in the same room as Phyllis or I – at least one of us – whenever we were in our house. He never liked staying in a room by himself. We wouldn’t have had it any other way.
TIME JUST FINALLY RAN OUT.
He turned gray early. We thought it was likely because he worried about everything (which he did). He was in wonderful shape – well-exercised, not overly fed. Phyllis and I loved to take Jesse and Bucky (his “brother”) out for 3-mile hikes around the reservoir, or to one of the regional parks where they could run free off lead and get into all kinds of trouble, which they did all too often.
But this year he noticeably started to slow down a bit. He was 10 years and a few months for goodness sake. This summer, it was only half way around that he would start to lag a bit, and near the end, you could hear his toenails dragging. He would sleep the rest of the day. He never complained. He was always ready to go the next time.
Two weeks ago, he didn’t want to eat his pig ear snack after dinner. Strange. Upon returning from vacation this past Sunday, I picked him up from his pet care place – he didn’t look like himself. His expressive face had lost most expressiveness. His breath smelled like nothing I could remember – and he never had the best breath.
Then on Tuesday morning he refused to eat breakfast. I took him to our local vet clinic. They said his blood numbers, indicative of kidney failure, were the worst they’d ever seen. Tuesday evening he went on an IV in hopes of flushing his blood system.
Wednesday he was transferred to a 24-hour care clinic in hopes of a more thorough diagnosis. No cancer. Image of his kidneys looked normal – not the shriveled “old-dog” kidneys look.
THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
On Thursday 3 December 2009, after two days of aggressive treatment, his blood numbers didn’t get better, nor stabilize. They had become worse than horrible. The best thing to do was the best thing for our best friend.
When Jesse was a puppy, he would sleep in a crate in our bedroom. He would still be excited, even at 10pm. So, I would talk him down. “It’s time to go to bed. Sleepy. Go to sleep. Sleepy. Sleep.” He would go down almost immediately and fall asleep.
Thursday night, Phyllis and I, with a good friend, a vet named Jen, went to the clinic, freed Jesse from his tubes, and then spent an hour with him. We placed him in one of his first beds – we had brought it with us to make it his last. He was perhaps a bit anxious – he wanted to go home. We both sat with legs crossed, bed between us, edges under our legs. He finally lay down. We stroked his body, massaged his ears, rubbed the neck muscles behind his head until his eyes were barely closed like they looked when he would sit up in bed, front feet crossed, contented.
We leaned over and I whispered over and over, “It’s time to go to bed. Sleepy. Go to sleep. Sleepy. Sleep.”
Jesse quickly fell asleep. We continued to gently rub his body while he continued to sleep peacefully, perhaps for the first time in three days. He slept for a good five minutes. His head rested on the side of Phyllis’ calf. His breathing got deeper and relaxed.
We signaled to Jen.
She did the right thing the right way as Jesse slept peacefully.
And when he stopped breathing, he looked younger somehow.
There’s a lot going on right now with bowl committees unashamedly sitting in their thrones to see who will grovel the lowest and get down the dirtest. That’s what the first week of December has come to when you have six SEC teams with 7-5 records.
So today I thought we’d talk about something more interesting: Football.
Good football.
The biggest game to be played in the Pac 10, arguably the most exciting conference in the NCAA this year.
The Civil War, Oregon Style
The Civil War is the local name for the seventh-oldest college football rivalry game: Oregon-Oregon State. The first game was played in 1894 and Oregon has the hold on the series with a 56-46-10 record. From 1997 through 2006, the winner was the home team – this streak was snapped two years ago when OSU beat Oregon in Eugene, and then last season, the Ducks beat the Beavers in Corvallis. read more…
Rumors are rampant and you can’t believe anything at this point, especially based on past years’ surprises. But you can limit the Vols’ destination to three possibilities based on the rumors themselves: the Outback Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, and the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Those are the only three for which Tennessee have been mentioned.
Most sources have Tennessee linked with the Outback because of that Bowl’s traditional choice of SEC East teams. But that bowl has been known to set up bidding wars according to Dave Hooker of GVX who writes that “[g]uarantees of tickets sold are not allowed by SEC rules, yet the Outback Bowl has been suspected of using that as a determining factor.”
And, most sources seem to think that if the Outback snubs Tennessee, the Vols will go to Atlanta on New Years’ Eve to play in the Bowl Formerly Known as the Peach to face an ACC team. read more…
Recap / Box Score / Play-by-Play / Drive Chart
The self-proclaimed biggest game ever played for a generation of Kentucky football fans in front of 70,981 turned into more of the same Saturday night:
- A dog-fight of a Boarder-State Rivalry War; and
- A Tennessee victory.
With a win on Saturday, Kentucky would have fulfilled a string of significant accomplishments for their improving program under coach Rich Brooks.
- An 8-4 regular season, the first 8-win regular season since 1984.
- A second place finish in the SEC East for the first time since the realignment of the conference in 1992 and best SEC finish since 1977 (when they tied for first with Alabama).
- A likely New Years’ Day bowl date for the first time since the 1998 season (Outback Bowl, Jan 1, 1999 vs Penn State).
- And perhaps, most importantly, an end to The Streak – 24 consecutive losses to their bitter, long-time, border state rival.
But, would have didn’t materialize. read more…
I had the Rolling Stones’ song When the Whip Come Down rattling around in my head all Thanksgiving Day. I think I know why – it started to morph into Will the ‘Posts Come Down?
Kentucky (7-4/3-4) is due to break their losing streak of 24 against the Vols (6-5/3-4).
The Beer Barrel Trophy: An Old Symbol Of An Old Rivalry. Can We Please Bring It Back?
During the period 1985-2008, the ‘Cats are 0-24 by a total score of 911-400 and an average score per game of 38-17. The Vols shutout the ‘Cats four times and held them to under 10 points an additional four times. Tennessee scored over 50 points seven times. Five of those seven 50-plus games were in consecutive seasons (1996-2000).
But, all good things come to an end. The streak will be broken sooner or later. I’m just not ready. I’d rather see 2009 anointed as the silver anniversary of the last Kentucky win of the Beer Barrel (where in the hell is that thing now anyway?). read more…
Family • Friends • Food • Football
Got any more F’s?
Happy Thanksgiving!
On Monday, Jackson’s court date was canceled. On Tuesday, Jackson was back on the practice field named after the former Vol that owns the convenience store at which his “buddies” may have committed a felony. However…
We don’t know who really made the decision to reinstate Janzen Jackson to the team – Kiffin, Hamilton, Simek (UT’s Interim President) – and we don’t know all the facts that were considered in the decision-making process.
We don’t know where Janzen Jackson was at the time of the holdup. His lawyer, an advocate for his client, said he was in the back seat of Marie Montmarquet’s car. The store clerk reportedly said that a football player was inside the store acting strangely at the approximate time of the holdup. One of the persons subject of the holdup indicated that a third person came over and told the two pranksters-with-guns to get out of Dodge.
We don’t know if Janzen Jackson was given a drug test after his arrest. Remember, he was suspended for the Memphis game four days before his arrest for, by some accounts, failing a drug test. And obviously, if he was given a drug test, we don’t know the results, and if he wasn’t given a drug test, we don’t know why. read more…
Janzen Jackson
Prosecutors announced Monday morning that charges of attempted aggravated robbery were being dropped against Janzen Jackson, 18 and Marie Montmarquet, the woman accused of acting as a getaway driver in a botched holdup Nov. 12 outside the Pilot convenience store on Cumberland Avenue. Charges against two former players, Nu’Keese Richardson, 18, and Mike Edwards, 18, still stand, according to Randy Nichols, Knox County district attorney general. Also, the charge against Ms. Montmarquet for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia will proceed. read more…
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