GIVE ME A BREAK - I SAVED LADY VOLS
But after all that was over, she sincerely opened with these words: "I am delighted to be your coach and want to thank all of you in this room for all you've done for the University of Tennessee and for all of our sports." I was in the room. That means she thanked me for all I'd done for the program. Am I the biggest Lady Vols fan? Not really. Have I monetarily donated to the university? I'm broke as a joke. What have I done? I'm about to tell you. It's a story that's been hidden inside me for seven years. Rewind your mind back to the spring of 1999. The Lady Vols basketball team was after its fourth consecutive NCAA title. With star Chamique Holdsclaw at the top of her game, Tennessee looked to be a shoo-in for title No. 4. But single-handedly, I almost ended Holdsclaw's career and the Tennessee title run (which came up short anyway.) What a lucky February day I was having. I actually got to park close to where my class was, a rarity on the UT campus. On Volunteer Boulevard and directly in front of the Music Building, I parked my silver Toyota Camry (the "Silver Bullet" as it was known then). I was about to attend my all-time favorite college class - History of Rock 'n' Roll. I sat through the entire class and didn't skip out early. When the class ended, all the students began their 15-minute hikes to either their cars or their next class. Not me. My car was right out front and directly across from the Stokely Athletics Center, where the women's basketball team practiced. Lucky me. I switched on my left-turn signal. Checked my mirror. No cars coming. No one had reached his or her cars yet. Long walks. Remember? I pulled out onto Volunteer safely and approached the crosswalk at the intersection of Volunteer and Pat Head Summitt Street (oh, the irony.) Other lucky cars parked on the side of the street blocked my view from approaching pedestrians. As I neared the crosswalk - and pedestrians have the right of way on campus - a host of girls donning gray sweat suits stepped onto the street. With my Jedi-knight-like reflexes, I slammed on the brakes. I wasn't speeding, but my car slid. My eyes closed for fear of the impending accident. My car stopped. No "thump" or "crack" was heard. Shaking, I opened my eyes, and there, no more than two inches from the front of the "Silver Bullet," was Holdsclaw. Little did I know that she, teammate Tamika Catchings and another young lady had scored a few ice cream scoops at the Presidential Courtyard, which is a few blocks from Stokely and the Music Building, and were on their way to Stokely. The UT legend's mouth was agape, and her ice cream cone was an inch from her mouth. She was about to devour it, just like my front bumper was about to inhale her legs. But I had stopped in time. She, emotionless face and all, stared at me. I stared back, hands still firmly grasping the wheel. Two seconds later, the Lady Vols were back on their way. Their legacy, and legs, still intact. My legacy at UT, not that I had one, was almost Bill Buckner-esque. I was almost the Steve Bartman of Knoxville. Every Lady Vol and Summitt fan from here to San Jose would be sending me hate mail and threatening my very being. I likely would have been exiled from my home state into and sent into some Canadian-based witness protection program. But thankfully I went from goat to hero - in my mind, anyway. What a lucky day. So, when Summitt issued her thanks to those in the room at Calhoun's on the River, I couldn't help but think of the day on Volunteer. Did she know about what I had done and almost did for her program? No. Nevertheless, Summitt thanked me, sort of, for my efforts in 1999. No problem, coach.
Tickets cost $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Tickets for the March 1 event at The Foundry are still available. NBA Hall of Fame member Gail Goodrich will be the guest speaker. The event starts at 6 p.m. Go to utfan.com/tipoff for more information. ================================================================= Fan following Convincing fans to show up in large numbers for Tennessee's home basketball games is one thing. But first-year Vol coach Bruce Pearl even has them showing up in bunches for the road games. More than a thousand UT supporters attended Saturday's key SEC game with
Georgia in Athens. Their enthusiasm and backing helped the Vols eke out
an 83-78 win that, coupled with LSU's loss at Florida, puts Tennessee
atop the SEC standings at 9-1. LSU is second at 8-2. "Unbelievable," he said. "You talk about answering the call. We put out the call and the plea. The Big Orange Tipoff Club had buses. The Big Orange Nation, the students, had buses. People from Western Carolina, suburbs of Georgia, the Chattanooga area and Knoxville. "Everybody came out and heeded the call. And the good thing was, I think they felt they were a huge part of this win. And they were, because Georgia is a good basketball team. They didn't go away when they were down 18." Georgia trailed 62-44 midway through the second half, then rallied furiously to pull within two points (67-65) with 4:35 remaining. With UT's fans cheering them on, however, the Vols made a 10-5 spurt that reclaimed the momentum and ultimately sealed the victory. "I don't think we win this game with about 1500 from the Big Orange
Nation," Pearl said.
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