Why can’t we have nice things…

Where in the world was Patrick Smith Saturday evening... anyone have any idea? I felt he had moved to the top back position by end of year last year, and most seemed to feel he had edged out Rocko as the #2 behind R. Davis. Rocko had a solid game Saturday, but just was surprised we NEVER saw Smith in the game? Does he have an injury I missed somewhere? Thx

It's been a great week for Vanderbilt football, but that was dampened somewhat by Wednesday's dismissal of freshmen Maurice Edwards and Daniel Martin, two highly-rated recruits who didn't play in the opener. Chris Lee and Kevin discuss that, some takeaways from the Hawaii game (including an energetic defensive approach) and more.

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Not much new info here but thought I'd put a bow on the situation.

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Former Vanderbilt and NFL star Corey Chavous watched the Hawaii game with trained eyes, and came away impressed. Corey talks about what he liked on how coordinators Nick Howell and Joey Lynch did in calling games, outstanding performances by BJ Anderson, Max Worship, Mike Wright and Rocko Griffin, about what lies ahead with the Elon game, and a whole lot more.

Don’t care where they are located. Wanting to take the family

Stats - I like them. They tell a story. By no means the whole story, but trends.
Let me be clear I am not saying our point output is a trend -- but the stat below is eye-opening. Disturbing about 2021 as well.

We scored 189 points in 2021 (15.75 ppg).
We Scored 63 points last night.
That means we have achieved 33.3% of our 2021 season point total in week zero.

This January will mark the 20th anniversary of my/our coverage at VandySports. Thanks to all of you for being here, especially those here since the beginning (and there are many of you!).
Here’s what we intend to provide in the coming year, and then at the end, some places I could use help from the community.

What we’ll provide
This is what I plan to do. As most of you know, I underwent open-heart surgery on May 5 and the good news is, now that I have fully recovered I have way more energy to do my job this year than I have in recent years… which is good news, because I’ve got a lot planned.

Football

• Wall-to-wall coverage of fall camp. (Nine practices so far, I’ve made them all.)
• Full game coverage. I should be there for all home games/postgame press conferences. I’ll watch the road games from TV.
• In-week press conferences. I plan to be at those asking questions; they’re usually every Tuesday.
• Weekly 3-2-1 feature.
• Weekly mailbag
• Podcasts, probably three a week in season, with some in the off-season ones thrown in as appropriate.
• Wall-to-wall spring practice coverage.
• The normal recruiting and prospect camp coverage that Sean Williams provides.

Basketball

• Coverage of all major games and most of the minor ones. (Holidays and travel to see in-laws may cut off a few of those.) Again, I’ll attend the press conferences with these.
• Weekly 3-2-1 feature.
• Weekly mailbag feature.
• Podcasts in season, probably two a week, maybe three, with some off-season episodes as needed.

Baseball

• I generally try to cover two out of three on major weekends as my family schedule permits.
• Coverage of some mid-week games; the Lipscomb and Belmont games, major mid-week opponents and some early mid-week games against no-name opponents are generally on the list of what I can do.
• Attend some of the mid-week press conferences as able.
• The weekly 3-2-1 feature.
• The mailbag.
• One or two baseball-related podcasts a week.

Where I could use help
I’ve spent 20 years and somewhere north of 10,000 hours working at the site; I’ve given it my best shot but it’s never been enough to earn a living without working elsewhere. What I make here is through website subscriptions and podcasts ads and I’m a contractor on each, so there’s no guaranteed salary and no benefits and I pay the extra 6.5% self-employment tax on top of that. I have no expense account for travel or anything; that all comes out of our family budget. The price is the same as it was 20 years ago (that's out of my control). As for hiring out, I simply don’t have enough support right now to justify additional help outside Sean Williams, who does a wonderful job with our recruiting.
So with that, here are ways you can help, any of which are appreciated:

1. Become a sponsor. I have found that it is impossible to solicit sponsorship outside of the current fan base; businesses and corporations consider the Vanderbilt market too small to bother. Basically, if those of you reading this don’t help, nobody will. I’d love to have sponsors for content for each sport, or just additional sponsors for the podcast, or if you have another idea for new content you'd like to sponsor, I’ll consider it.
2. Support our sponsors. If you have need of a dentist, please visit Jody Jones. If you need a personal injury attorney, Sutherland & Belk should be your guys. And even if you don’t need them, please drop them a note telling them you appreciate their support of our podcast.
3. Extend your subscription. If you’re month-to-month, please consider an annual subscription.
4. Tell a friend. Word of mouth to bring in other subscribers always helps. And if you’re sharing a sub with someone else, I’d kindly ask you not to do that and ask that person to get their own sub; it cuts into what I can make.
5. Tips and donations. I’ve just started a separate PalPal account for the business; if you’d like to offer something one-time or recurring, either is appreciated. (And if you’d specifically like to tip Sean, that would be great also, please let me know if you want something earmarked for him.)

6. Subscribe (for free) to our YouTube channel. If we get to 1,000, I can earn a little extra income that day. Just follow this link and hit the red “subscribe” button:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBvCKCYHsFoH1s6Oy-6E7lw

7. Add a nice rating and review of our show on Apple Podcasts or any other destination that allows ratings and reviews.

Again, I can’t thank those of you here enough for what you’ve done. I’m very much looking forward to serving you this year.

An updated list of Vanderbilt players that have entered the transfer portal. Will include any transfer additions on this list as well once they occur.

Click on the link above... lots of choices from shirts, to mugs, to notebooks to many things in between.

Oh, and there's a sale to kick this off!

Wanted the job. Begged for the job. Boosters in the interviews said they would have hired him over Lea…

ETSU 23
Vanderbilt 3

I found out today via Facebook that VU Provost Susan Wente and Chancellor Double D have announced that Vanderbilt will spend $100 million over 4 years to hire up to 60 new professors.

Really, that works out to a $1.67 million bribe/new faculty member to lure them from their current ivory towers to Nashville.

So what do you guys think? Is this needed? Or is this another slap in the face of the Athletic Department?
Or is the new Chancellor just trying to appease, placate, and pacify Susan Wente and the faculty before beginning a major overhaul of the athletics facilities?

Do you believe that Vanderbilt's faculty is so inferior that VU must pay vast sums for replacements and upgrades? Are we seeking fame and name recognition in academia?
Are USNAWR rankings driving this?

Can we sign a 5-star professor?

That’ll be our primary focus for the next seven months.

Text 678-378-4866

Fantumfan said:

Okay, I was trying not to be political, but I will answer this. If you had been invited to Obama's WH and asked him that without being hostile, I firmly believe he would have talked with you and answered your question. (Whether it was to your satisfaction or not is not the issue.)

If someone went now and asked that same question, I firmly believe they would either be ignored or roughly escorted out of the residence.

Click to expand...

Perception is reality I guess.

This is the problem. It is not a forum for bringing up political differences. It is a photo-op, and going to the White House with any President there is cool and an honor. In this day and age where people hate each other because of differences of opinion, it's no surprise that an NBA team doesn't want to go to the White House. That would have never happened before, and it's not because of the current President. It's because too many people lack tact, and are so used to saying things on an anonymous level on Facebook and Twitter, we shouldn't be surprised when that spills over into the real world.

Even folks on this forum think that, if I disagree with them, I must dislike them. What a sad turn society has taken in that regard. We can all have differing opinions, but we are all Vandy fans, and if we all met in person, I am sure we'd all become friends. No different in terms of visiting the White House. If anyone engaged on that level with the President, I am sure they would find him affable and with a sharp sense of humor. That is what NBA teams (and whoever) are missing: it is not a political forum or statement. Just go and experience the White House. I have been in the West Wing, and it was an awe-inspiring visit. We could not go in the Oval Office, but we were leaning into it. Got photos behind the podium in the press briefing room. Just to think of the history in that place is really cool. It's sad that everyone doesn't want to participate in that.

Looking for two tickets vs USC and possibly a parking pass. Thanks

Reach me at 8032801371

Rrrrrrrr