Just a few thoughts. Comments always welcomed. Thoughts on Hoops: How We'll Win - Blogs - The 8th Maxim
Another blog in the downtime. Enjoy. Thoughts on Hoops: What I Would Tell Cuonzo - Blogs - The 8th Maxim
Excellent stuff. I would encourage you to actually send that to Coach Martin's UT email address. It's a top notch primer on what someone coming into Knoxville from the outside needs to know.
I miss the Tennessee outline. Drove home the point that UT is the flagship university of the WHOLE state.
Good stuff, but there's one more that should be added. #11 should address the fact that in no way is this a "women's basketball school". I know opinions vary on the matter and I actually like the ladies b-ball quite a bit, but I'm tired of explaining to some dipshit outsider that men have always outdrawn the women, or that we are NOT #3 in the pecking order here. There's always some [uck fay]ing idiot who thinks they're the first one to make that comment about how the Lady Vols run Knoxville. Tell Cuonzo, don't believe it for a minute. Unless, of course, we are talking about the lesbians and geriatrics. Then, yes, we rate #3.
I have to explain the whole "women's basketball, you guys love it at UT! Hurr hurr hurr" misconception at least once a month out here. Yes, we have a larger portion of the fanbase that follows women's basketball than most schools. Yes, Pat Summitt is historically dominant and very good at what she does. Iconic of the sport. But even in Knoxville, it is STILL women's baskeball. I don't mean that in a derogatory sense, I mean that in a "it is somewhere above Volleyball and below baseball" way. God bless those women and I appreciate Summit as an asset. But it is women's basketball.
I think that is right. I don't have the numbers in front of me but I can't think of any year the women's team drew better than the men's. That's just the nature of it. I was always ambivalent towards women's hoops until I lived in Knoxville and found some folks to outwardly hate the men's team or make fantastical claims like Candace Parker could suit up for the guys. That always struck me as weird behavior. Thanks for the nice comments folks.
