Heed the words of Honest Abe

The greatest words from a president that I ever read:

We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny.

-Abraham Lincoln

I wish he were here to guide us today.

The Illusionist

Do you ever walk down the street and and see something along the lines of this?

It's great. Over the past 18 months, I've developed a deep appreciation for a nice set of buns. Other than boobs, the butt is what set woman apart from men. It makes me happy when women appreciate themselves enough to take care of themselves so that they can maintain the superior bodies God intended them to have.

So me being the perv I am, I quicken my pace just a tad so I can catch a glimpse of her face. However, sometimes when I get there I'm extremely disappointed.


Yeah. It ruins my day too. And it happens a lot. I don't understand how or why, but it happens. It's like someone holding an ice cream cone in front of your face on a scorching summer day only to have them drop it on the pavement.

Like I said, I don't know why it happens, I just know that it's not fair and somehow, some way, it must be stopped.

From my lips to yours

How can I tell you how beautiful you look today?
Directly? No, it can't be so
You'd think of me a dog, a scoundrel
And I only want you to think of me as highly as I think of you

I hope he told you how beautiful you look today
I hope he tells you how beautiful you look everyday

If he doesn't, give me a sign
Tell me with your eyes
Tell me with your smile

I've never let this go because I've only grown on you since we met
You look back to me for approval more and more as time passes
Approval of what?
Maybe of him, but I cannot oblige
Though, his shortcomings are brief, they are fatal in that he is not me

Somewhere in your mind you know this
Somewhere in your heart you feel this
Maybe for us to be together those two must be in rhythm,
But for now they are not

And it is now I wish time followed man,
So I could manipulate it, use it for me, use it for us
I wish to skip the part where I lay awake at night,
Hoping to crawl inside your room and just be there,
Even if you knew not I was with you,
I would be with you
I would take your dreams and bring them to life
I would whisper all that you are to me
I would whisper until I need not whisper anymore

For there is nothing I could say,
That couldn't be said better than our fingers intertwined
If I could give this to you, you could read it,
But the only way to truly send this message is from my lips to yours

Reporting on UT coaching situation

As I lounged around on my last night before school started last week, I received a phone call from my sports editor from The Tennessee Journalist (TNJN), UT's student news website, that our football coach Lane Kiffin was leaving to take over at USC. He wanted me to write a brief write-up and post it as soon as I could. I posted it and figured I'd keep my eye on ESPN to see if anything else happened, and that would be that.

Oh, how I was wrong.

Soon after, I got a call from TNJN's editor in chief telling me to get down to Lindsey-Nelson Sports Complex, because Lane Kiffin was giving an exit press conference. This started the most hectic four-day period since I've been at college, as I was part of TNJN's extensive coverage of the coaching search.

I just started writing for TNJN last semester, mostly writing game recaps for women's soccer and men's basketball. I had never been a part of any sort of breaking news coverage like this before, and it was incredible.

I did my first original reporting when I covered the roughly two-thousand student riot in response to Kiffin's leaving. I ran around helping get footage, and interviewed kids to get their opinions on the matter.

For the next couple of days, I was on Twitter just about every minute I was awake, waiting for news on the new coach to break. I didn't even think about the fact that classes were starting up, and that I still had to get my schedule finalized and buy my books.

When Derek Dooley was announced as the new head coach just a few days later, I had the opportunity to cover his introduction press conference at Neyland Stadium, including interviewing players on their views about the hire.

Before Kiffin and Dooley, UT's only had two head coaches since 1977, so this was a rare occurrence that I was honored to be a part of.

It was extremely fun and beneficial for me. I got to sit next to AP reporters and mingle with guys I read from ESPN.com. I'm blessed to have the experience, and I wanted to share the four stories I got out of it:

Kiffin bolts for USC - The original article on Kiffin's press conference
Students riot in response to Kiffin's leaving - Students gathered outside of Kiffin's press conference and lit fire to numerous objects in protest
Dooley introduced as UT head coach - Coverage of Derek Dooley's intro and his thoughts on being UT's next coach
Players react positively to Dooley hiring - Although the players had hardly spent 20 minutes with the new coach, they seemed to take a liking to him

Just a dream

She left with him. I sat alone. She came back without him. Told me to stand up. Told me to kiss her. I did. At that point I knew it was a dream.

She left with him. I sat alone. She came back without him. She sat next to me. Put her head on my shoulder. I rested my head against hers. At that point I knew it was a dream.

She left with him. I sat alone. She never came back. I felt alone while I was among many. At that point I knew it wasn't a dream.

Of all the souls I have encountered...

I watched the recent Star Trek movie, and it was awesome. It had fine acting from some relatively unknown actors. Of course, it made me think of Family Guy, as does everything else, and this clip is probably my favorite Star Trek reference in the series. I've never seen the show, so I probably don't get the more subtle and funnier references, but whatever.

Anyway, go check out the movie. Good intro to the world of Trekkie.

Arrested Vols ignore consequences, fans

Tyler Smith and three other UT basketball players were arrested with drug and weapon charges yesterday.

Oh joy.

Recall November's similar fiasco when three UT football player were arrested for attempted armed robbery, and it might make you think that it's really not all that great to be a Tennessee Vol.

I can't scold these guys for not acting their age because there are plenty of fellow twenty-something-year-olds who get caught in stupid situations like this. However, student-athletes have much more at stake than the rest of us commoners.

For starters, Smith and Cameron Tatum are valuable starters on the nationally-ranked squad (pun fully intended).

There's no doubt that the Vols rely on Smith more than any other player. Not only has he logged the most minutes on the team, he also leads the team in assists with 44 and adds 11.7 points per game, the second most. Smith's hard play and distribution of the ball are the only reason the Vols have been able to manage without a standout point guard.

Tatum has emerged as a valuable player who has started half of the season. He is shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc while averaging 8.7 points per game. Tatum tends to play well when others are having a bad game, which is a very important role.

Let's not forget about Melvin Goins or Brian Williams. Although they mostly come off the bench, both have played in every game. Goins complements Bobby Maze at guard. He plays stout defense, but can also weave his way inside for hard-fought points as we saw against Memphis on New Year's Eve. If the junior college transfer improves his assist-to-turnover ratio, he could be the answer to the Vols woes at his position. Williams has steadily improved over his career, and is invaluable as Wayne Chism's backup in the paint.

Either these young men are too humble to listen to all the praise they get and didn't realize how much Bruce Pearl needs them, or they really are just that stupid.

At a time when this university is struggling with immense budget cuts, the students of this school turn to athletics to ease their overwhelmed minds. Unfortunately all they get is embarrassment and disappointment, while at the same time watching valuable scholarship money essentially being burned in front of their faces.

It probably doesn't matter to them, but I'm very jealous of their scholarships. Including room and board, my bill will add up to about $28,000 just for this year, even though I have been on Dean's List two of my three semesters at UT.

Anybody remember the Family Guy scene where the police are trying to interrogate Kobe Bryant on his alleged raping and he spins the ball on his finger to distract them? It seems these four were thinking like Kobe. And why wouldn't they? If I were an athlete and watched Brandon Spikes eye gouge a kid and only get a 30-minute timeout, I wouldn't worry much about serious consequences to my actions either.

Not to keep making it about me, but I'm insulted by this situation. I didn't even like basketball until just a few years ago when I started watching the Vols, and considering Pearl and his boys were a big reason I came to UT, I feel like a fool. Why would I let kids who clearly don't care about those around them to influence such a big decision in my life?

They don't know me, so I guess I can't take it personally, but you'd think these guys might consider the 20,000 fans at their games who cheer them on against anyone, win or lose, before making stupid decisions.

Then again, they are just twenty-something-year-olds with blinders on.

(Read the original article at TNJN.com)