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Tennessee sports have been full of surprises since I joined Knox News in 1987. So, I asked my literary contributors what surprised them the most. It could have been a game, a season, or a coach being hired or fired.
Mike writes: As for Tennessee sports surprises, I am most surprised that Tennessee somehow managed to survive the years with Jimmy Cheek as Chancellor and the years with Jeremy Pruitt as Head Coach, and came up with winners in Donde Plowman and Josh Heupel.
Plowman not only is highly supportive of the UT Athletic Department, but she actually knows what she is doing. Heupel turned the football program around much more quickly than any of us had imagined and quickly restored enthusiasm in UT football. And another pleasant surprise is that nowadays we never hear anything about Phil Fulmer.
My response: Agreed. Tennessee’s improved leadership with Randy Boyd as president and Plowman as chancellor have had a huge, positive impact on athletics.
Bill writes: Since 1987? The fumble in the 1998 Arkansas game had to be the biggest surprise. My son and I left the stadium when UT failed on the previous fourth-down play.
We were shocked by the loudest roar I have heard from the stadium when Billy Ratliff recovered that fumble.
My response: I was shocked, too. I already had started working on a “Tennessee loses” column.
Then, Clint Stoerner fumbled, the crowd roared, and the stadium shook. And I started working on a “Tennessee wins” column.
Shemp writes: The surprise is that for all its sports promotion UT is basically an also-ran as it rarely ever wins any championships.
That surprise will be even more so with OU and Texas in the SEC.
My response: Baseball might be Tennessee’s best chance for its next national championship.
Glenn writes: The best surprise was the undefeated 1998 season and the win over Florida…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tennessee-sports-full-surprises-readers-090047358.html
Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-04-07 09:00:47
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