Well, at least that's what Tennessee seemed to have on Sunday night during the season opener against UNLV. Both true-freshman quarterbacks hit the ground running, and oh, did I say running? That boy Schaeffer can RUN! Those were some pretty darn impressive cuts I saw as I was jumping up and down, screaming with surprise. I loved those fakes! And Ainge (yes, he's Danny Ainge's nephew!), what an arm! I really *like* these guys, and I hope that we'll be able to hang on to both of them for a little while, at least. With two talents this strong, it is hard to tell how long they'll be willing to share the spotlight.
Right now, it looks like the element of surprise is working in our favor, and I think it will continue to work for us during the Florida game. Because Hurricane Frances postponed Florida's first game and because we have a buy this week, the TN-FL game will be only the second game of the season for both teams. They don't have much to study on Schaeffer or Ainge, and that should take the edge off our newbies.
In other news, Cedric, we're hoping you're up and running again soon. May your recovery be speedy and painless!
Friday, September 10, 2004
Back in the Groove!
Well, the EpiscoVOL is so excited that College Football is back that I've been neglecting the blog! Of course, a coding problem prevented me from posting for the past two weeks, so I'm way behind on the news. As last year, we've got to start with the annual
Tune In, Shout OUT, then Go Shake It Off!
Sept. 05 UNLV at Ktown, on ESPN... WIN 42-17, what a game! comments later.
Sept. 06 Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sept. 18 Florida at home, CBS 8:00pm est. The EpiscoVOL will be blogging this one LIVE from the GAME!!
Sept. 19 Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Even though it may be tempting, the EpiscoVOL suggests that you refrain from wagering on this game, or you'll be sorry when you're sitting through the "you cannot serve both God and Money" sermon on Sunday!
Sept. 25 Louisiana Tech at Ktown, Homecoming! PPV 7:00pm est.
Sept. 26 Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Oct. 02 Auburn at Ktown.
Oct. 03 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Oct. 09 Georgia at Athens.
Oct. 10 Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The EpiscoVOL does not like the way these texts read as consoling the lost . . . dare we say it, but last year, texts of consolation corresponded with big orange losses! Let us continue to hope that this won't hold this year!
Oct. 16 Mississippi at Oxford.
Oct. 17 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Oct. 23 Alabama at Ktown.
Oct. 24 Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
Oct. 30 South Carolina at Columbia.
Oct. 31 Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost or possibly the Feast of All Saints.
Nov. 06 Notre Dame in da BIG house!
Nov. 07 The Feast of All Saints or Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
I'm kinda rooting for those churches that opt to celebrate the Feast of All Saints on Nov. 7. It seems kinda appropriate for the day after the meeting of the ND Saints with God's Chosen Team.
Nov. 20 Vanderbilt at N'ville.
Nov. 21 Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King
Nov. 27 Kentucky at Ktown.
Nov. 28 First Sunday of Advent or the day of hair-tearing, locust- and honey-eating prophecy. What bowl game news will this prophecy hold?
And that's the run-d0wn of this year's EpiscoVOL coverage. Stay tuned for the theological analysis of last week's UNLV shocker.
Tune In, Shout OUT, then Go Shake It Off!
Sept. 05 UNLV at Ktown, on ESPN... WIN 42-17, what a game! comments later.
Sept. 06 Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sept. 18 Florida at home, CBS 8:00pm est. The EpiscoVOL will be blogging this one LIVE from the GAME!!
Sept. 19 Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Even though it may be tempting, the EpiscoVOL suggests that you refrain from wagering on this game, or you'll be sorry when you're sitting through the "you cannot serve both God and Money" sermon on Sunday!
Sept. 25 Louisiana Tech at Ktown, Homecoming! PPV 7:00pm est.
Sept. 26 Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Oct. 02 Auburn at Ktown.
Oct. 03 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Oct. 09 Georgia at Athens.
Oct. 10 Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The EpiscoVOL does not like the way these texts read as consoling the lost . . . dare we say it, but last year, texts of consolation corresponded with big orange losses! Let us continue to hope that this won't hold this year!
Oct. 16 Mississippi at Oxford.
Oct. 17 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Oct. 23 Alabama at Ktown.
Oct. 24 Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
Oct. 30 South Carolina at Columbia.
Oct. 31 Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost or possibly the Feast of All Saints.
Nov. 06 Notre Dame in da BIG house!
Nov. 07 The Feast of All Saints or Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
I'm kinda rooting for those churches that opt to celebrate the Feast of All Saints on Nov. 7. It seems kinda appropriate for the day after the meeting of the ND Saints with God's Chosen Team.
Nov. 20 Vanderbilt at N'ville.
Nov. 21 Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King
Nov. 27 Kentucky at Ktown.
Nov. 28 First Sunday of Advent or the day of hair-tearing, locust- and honey-eating prophecy. What bowl game news will this prophecy hold?
And that's the run-d0wn of this year's EpiscoVOL coverage. Stay tuned for the theological analysis of last week's UNLV shocker.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Grandfathers, grandfathers, Grandfathers
Yes, it has been a long dry spell. I haven't been able to bring myself back to the subject of college football after that bowl game. But, summer's here, and the smell of controversy is in the air, so we must be nearing the end of the off-season. This year's biggest controversy to date? The grandfathered tickets. Yes, *those* tickets that all yall been keepin for generations! UT announced that they're no longer going to allow grandfathered (since 85) season ticket holders on the sidelines to keep their tickets without donating each year $500 to $1000 per seat to the Volunteer athletic scholarship fund. *OUCH!* Now, the EpiscoVOL was really upset last year when the invitation to purchase season tickets arrived in the mail AFTER the deadline. Turns out, woulda lost 'em anyway, I can't keep up with $1000 per seat per year in addition to ticket cost! This season, we've got the games (if not the team) to haul in that kind of cash for good seats, and it looks like alot of folks are going to be dumping their seats, so rich kids, get yer wallets out!
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Theology of Fruit
Oranges and peaches both taste good, but maybe not together. And especially not on New Year’s Eve. Peaches and oranges are fruits, both carefully designed by God and tended by humanity. But when Eve took one, we all got in big trouble. In walked sorrow.
I’m sad that my oranges are going to the peach.
I’m sad that my oranges are going to the peach.
Monday, December 08, 2003
You know it is going to be a bad week when. . .
We started out the week with the ESPN boneheads talking nicely about us for once. That's when I knew it was all going there in the handbasket. Then, long before the 11th hour, Florida was chosen for the Outback bowl. WHAT!?!? They've got FOUR LOSSES! So for you few naive out there who thought that bowls were about the football and not about the money, here's your definitive proof. The Florida bowls are a racket. Then tonight's big announcement: Tennessee's going to the Peach bowl against Clemson. I couldn't be more disappointed! Ah well, in any case, when we whoop them, it will at least give us something else to lord over those annoying Florida State fans (do remember, they WERE the first *ever* BCS championship losers!). I feel pretty ho-hum about the rest of the bowls. Bah humbug!
Sunday, November 16, 2003
By the way, what's with all the overtime?
Ohio State and Florida State both squeaked by in OTs this week. It seems like there have been an increasing number of OT games in the past two seasons or so. At least, I'm almost certain there has been a statistical increase in SEC overtimes in the last two years. Last year, UT beat AR in 6 overtimes, and since then Arkansas has had two games go into 7 overtimes! Now, don't get me wrong, I like this better than the old system that allowed ties, but 5, 6, 7, overtimes makes for a REALLY long and tense game. And like we saw with Florida State this weekend, it raises the likelihood for injuries. I don't know what the NCAA could do to decrease frequency of OTs, but I'd guess that SEC coaches will up the number of 2 pt. conversion plays in the playbook. They’ve all exhausted them round about the 4th OT, and the game loses the chess-match strategy and takes on more of the last-gladiator standing aspects of the game.
It’s really exciting, but overall detrimental to the athletes. How long can we expect them to play? And how long can they expect us to watch? (ooohhh HERESY!!)
It’s really exciting, but overall detrimental to the athletes. How long can we expect them to play? And how long can they expect us to watch? (ooohhh HERESY!!)
What I've learned from football in the last 4 weeks
There has been so much to write about since I last blogged! If you’ve been trying to keep up, I apologize for my lengthy absence. My blogosphere attentions have been occupied elsewhere.
In any case, a quick rundown of what we’ve been through in the last weeks:
1. Woo hoo! A win over the Tide in 5th overtime. That was a sure screamer! Final: 51-43 Vols. Theological lesson: Don’t give up. Sometimes it takes five overtimes to pull through it. You may get battered and be absolutely worn out, but don’t give up hope.
2. A better homecoming this year. We played Duke this year for homecoming and won 23-6. Better than last year’s embarrassing homecoming against Miami! And it shows that even post-BCS Fullmer can play a gentleman’s game. Though I can’t argue this point too finely since it wasn’t televised. Theological lesson: Even if or especially if you’ve got the upper hand, you can humbly achieve your goals.
3. And THANK YOU, MIAMI! You wrapped it up, put a big red bow on it, and made our season! With their four turnovers and that last botched kickoff return, we took home a big phat W from Miami, 10-6. Yep, we ended the nation’s longest home winning streak (since 98) and the first time the canes were denied a touchdown at home since 1984!! Yee hah! Theological lesson: The sweetest victory is the unexpected one, and the team victorious is not always the best team, but the team that makes the least mistakes. Like I saw in a cartoon yesterday, “they can’t beat you if they can’t hit you!”
4. Which brings us to today’s game against Mississippi St. So much for the gentleman’s game, with a score like 59-21, we made a shameless play for the SEC east top standing in BCS. (So that if Auburn could have come through for us, we’d have the upper hand in the SEC east three way tie. But of course, Auburn didn’t come through for us! Ah you can never trust a team that can’t figure out what their mascot is. Leave it to Auburn to confuse an eagle with a tiger.) Theological lesson for the week: Keep your focus on the big picture as you keep chugging along, but remember that you’re often not in control of your own destiny. The actions of others can affect your standings more than you might be willing to acknowledge. Just focus on the things you can change.
Which brings us to next week: Vandy. Stay tuned.
In any case, a quick rundown of what we’ve been through in the last weeks:
1. Woo hoo! A win over the Tide in 5th overtime. That was a sure screamer! Final: 51-43 Vols. Theological lesson: Don’t give up. Sometimes it takes five overtimes to pull through it. You may get battered and be absolutely worn out, but don’t give up hope.
2. A better homecoming this year. We played Duke this year for homecoming and won 23-6. Better than last year’s embarrassing homecoming against Miami! And it shows that even post-BCS Fullmer can play a gentleman’s game. Though I can’t argue this point too finely since it wasn’t televised. Theological lesson: Even if or especially if you’ve got the upper hand, you can humbly achieve your goals.
3. And THANK YOU, MIAMI! You wrapped it up, put a big red bow on it, and made our season! With their four turnovers and that last botched kickoff return, we took home a big phat W from Miami, 10-6. Yep, we ended the nation’s longest home winning streak (since 98) and the first time the canes were denied a touchdown at home since 1984!! Yee hah! Theological lesson: The sweetest victory is the unexpected one, and the team victorious is not always the best team, but the team that makes the least mistakes. Like I saw in a cartoon yesterday, “they can’t beat you if they can’t hit you!”
4. Which brings us to today’s game against Mississippi St. So much for the gentleman’s game, with a score like 59-21, we made a shameless play for the SEC east top standing in BCS. (So that if Auburn could have come through for us, we’d have the upper hand in the SEC east three way tie. But of course, Auburn didn’t come through for us! Ah you can never trust a team that can’t figure out what their mascot is. Leave it to Auburn to confuse an eagle with a tiger.) Theological lesson for the week: Keep your focus on the big picture as you keep chugging along, but remember that you’re often not in control of your own destiny. The actions of others can affect your standings more than you might be willing to acknowledge. Just focus on the things you can change.
Which brings us to next week: Vandy. Stay tuned.
Sunday, October 19, 2003
A reason to blog again!
So, as you can see, I haven't been posting as regularly as I had intended when I started this experiment.
Last week, I was just about to abandon the whole experiment. My team has eschewed their wheaties for regular doses of suckweed, and the world has been hearing too much about the ominous outlook for my church. Between trying to keep up with school, work, family duties, the puppy, and laundry, I figured the blog was about dead. Why bother?
And then, tonight, I stumbled across Nueva Cantora's Oct. 13 to blog or not to blog. Wow! Blogging itself is like worship! Now this is a whole new take! And it is one that answers some questions for me! I've still been struggling with the parallels between those who participate in the blogging enterprise and the crazy authorial egos in the scholastic publishing industry. Do I have something important to say, or do I just think I have something important to say, and thus am no better than the leagues of individuals putting more drivel out into the world (see Sept. 9th's entry below)? (Good lord, did I just cite myself? That answers your question!) But seriously, the Nueva Cantora take solves this problem for me in some ways. I am exceedingly intrigued by this association between blogging and worship---blogging as participation in a community where we must value each person's role (gifts) and also recognize that some have a gift for leading and facilitating the central activity of that community. I like the parallels, but how far can we push it? Is one of the goals of blogging to reach out to God? That sends me spinning out into the world created in Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Careful that your technology doesn't become your gods! But that's not where Nueva Cantora is going at all, I'd hate to misrepresent. I guess I haven't answered the question for myself. Why blog? And how does blogging affect my relationship with the divine?
Boy, does blogging encourage navel-gazing. Why does that make me feel so uncomfortable?
Hmmmm. Must go and think on it some more... *smirk*
Last week, I was just about to abandon the whole experiment. My team has eschewed their wheaties for regular doses of suckweed, and the world has been hearing too much about the ominous outlook for my church. Between trying to keep up with school, work, family duties, the puppy, and laundry, I figured the blog was about dead. Why bother?
And then, tonight, I stumbled across Nueva Cantora's Oct. 13 to blog or not to blog. Wow! Blogging itself is like worship! Now this is a whole new take! And it is one that answers some questions for me! I've still been struggling with the parallels between those who participate in the blogging enterprise and the crazy authorial egos in the scholastic publishing industry. Do I have something important to say, or do I just think I have something important to say, and thus am no better than the leagues of individuals putting more drivel out into the world (see Sept. 9th's entry below)? (Good lord, did I just cite myself? That answers your question!) But seriously, the Nueva Cantora take solves this problem for me in some ways. I am exceedingly intrigued by this association between blogging and worship---blogging as participation in a community where we must value each person's role (gifts) and also recognize that some have a gift for leading and facilitating the central activity of that community. I like the parallels, but how far can we push it? Is one of the goals of blogging to reach out to God? That sends me spinning out into the world created in Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Careful that your technology doesn't become your gods! But that's not where Nueva Cantora is going at all, I'd hate to misrepresent. I guess I haven't answered the question for myself. Why blog? And how does blogging affect my relationship with the divine?
Boy, does blogging encourage navel-gazing. Why does that make me feel so uncomfortable?
Hmmmm. Must go and think on it some more... *smirk*
Monday, October 06, 2003
Big fat phooey.
So so so we squeaked it past South Carolina two weeks ago, and our luck ran out last week against Auburn. Like good ol' roly poly Fullmer himself said, "you can't expect to when you let them post 14 on their first two drives." Mighty Casey has struck out . . . but you can't blame him for giving up. That last minute drive to the endzone to tie was awesome! Too bad it was squelched by the most amazing interception I've ever seen. The ball was only 6" off the ground when he dove to catch it! Yowzers! So, I'm at home licking my wounds and trying to recover. The agony.
Ah yes, not to forget the theological link. Think "forgiveness," "hope," and with any luck on next Saturday, "redemption."
An update on the girl in the bathroom. I went back last week and she wasn't there. And I overheard the people I was with talking about how much her presence made them uncomfortable. But it just wasn't the crowd I could talk about it with. It was more like a girly "icky, I can't believe this type of establishment needs someone in the bathroom to intimidate the customers with cheap perfume and stale candy." Dear Lord, forgive us all for not being able to face those in need, and when we do, for not being able to ascertain an appropriate response.
Back to life. If you're wondering why it has been a while since I've posted, my life is crazy. I'm doing a million and one things a day, and I feel frustrated because I don't have time to fulfill all my duties and still be there in a deep, personal way for those who need me. Two more friends are in deep pain this week for different reasons, and I can only marginally be there. Ah, the quandries of ministry. God, please help me get--and keep--my priorities straight.
Enough whining. Maybe I'll post again tomorrow in a more optimistic mood. As always, stay tuned.
Ah yes, not to forget the theological link. Think "forgiveness," "hope," and with any luck on next Saturday, "redemption."
An update on the girl in the bathroom. I went back last week and she wasn't there. And I overheard the people I was with talking about how much her presence made them uncomfortable. But it just wasn't the crowd I could talk about it with. It was more like a girly "icky, I can't believe this type of establishment needs someone in the bathroom to intimidate the customers with cheap perfume and stale candy." Dear Lord, forgive us all for not being able to face those in need, and when we do, for not being able to ascertain an appropriate response.
Back to life. If you're wondering why it has been a while since I've posted, my life is crazy. I'm doing a million and one things a day, and I feel frustrated because I don't have time to fulfill all my duties and still be there in a deep, personal way for those who need me. Two more friends are in deep pain this week for different reasons, and I can only marginally be there. Ah, the quandries of ministry. God, please help me get--and keep--my priorities straight.
Enough whining. Maybe I'll post again tomorrow in a more optimistic mood. As always, stay tuned.
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