Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Tenn Update

It has been reported that Erik Ainge, Tennessee's starting QB, injured his right pinky in practice on Monday.

The Tennessean

KNOXVILLE – Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge jammed the pinkie on his right (throwing) hand during practice on Monday and may not practice the rest of the week, UT Coach Phillip Fulmer said today.

Ainge is still expected to start for the Vols when they open the season at California on Saturday.

The injury does not appear to be serious but if Ainge does not practice the rest of the week that could affect game planning. Tennessee was adding a no huddle feature to their offense and, without practice, that offensive wrinkle could be seen less against Cal.

6 comments:

Trumanhugh said...

I found a variation of your post (A) on a UT blog as well as a response from a Vol fan (B)...I think they're beginning to get a little nervous. Their complacency in all things SEC is pretty pathetic, and their shortsightedness on Cal and (especially)Tedford is gonna cause them major heartache come Saturday night.

(BTW, I hope Vandy has an amazing season. They upset Georgia last year--at Georgia--and are getting lots of sleeper-team hype this year. That said, the Commodores would have a tough time taking on any Pac-10 team other than, maybe, Stanfurd.)

A. The Post.
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee senior quarterback Erik Ainge jammed the pinky on his throwing hand and might miss some practice this week, Vols coach Philip Fulmer said minutes ago.

Fulmer said he hopes Ainge will be healthy enough to start Saturday’s game at No. 12 Scary California, and he would check with trainers this afternoon to see if Ainge can practice today.

B. The response.
"...I’m having a bad day and this doesn’t make it any better. It’s a matter of pride, and there’s no way an SEC team (even Vandy) should be losing to a tree hugging, hybrid car driving, blunt inhaling, pagan ass Cal team coached by sucky ass overhyped Jeff Tedford, and the WR’s that Lou Holtz said were faster than any he’s ever coached or seen. What the fuck ever. This cannot be happening…"

Anonymous said...

"... a tree hugging, hybrid car driving, blunt inhaling..."

What's wrong with any of these? OK, the tree huggin' is a bit of a hassle for the renovation effort, but, overall, these are all environmentally friendly, organic, peace-loving things.

Really, Tennessee, if you're going to insult somebody, try taking off the cap of cliched ignorance and come up with something original, something that really cuts.

OOH, I sure hate it when the car I drive helps save natural resources while at the same protects the environment! And it sure sucks when I have to sick back, relax and enjoy a period of calm and introspection. What a loser I must be!

Really, Tennessee. Really?!?

Stuart and Heather Hike! said...

"beginning to get a little nervous"

bwahahahahahahahahahaha...

heh...

ok, let me get control here.

"nervous" for cal...REALLY? Ya think?

prepare to be embarrassed...at home...hippies.

GO VOLS!

Trumanhugh said...

Stu and Heather--

I would suggest you take a lesson that we learned with much difficulty last season: Don't go into this Saturday’s game so confident. Believe me, there is a lot of hype out there about the supremacy of the SEC and all that, but most of it has nothing to do with the task at hand.

While self-confidence and belief in one's team is always healthy, it can also be cause for much heartache. Surely, you remember Tennessee's 2005 season? Letdowns happen all the time, don’t they?

Now, before you start bringing up Cal's history, or its 2005 season, let me remind you that, for Cal--a team that is consistently been on the rise since 2002--8-4 was nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, we could have done better, and we have. We've gone from a team needing to rebuild to one that simply must reload.

See, we here at Cal haven't had the recent success that Tennessee experienced. Our national championships were in the 1920s for crying out loud! Up until 2002, Cal football was pretty much the Dark Ages, not much to be proud of.

But that was then. Our last five seasons under Tedford have been a refreshing rebirth for us. Before his arrival, we knew losing seasons and the memory of being in the lower-echelons of our conference has kept our continued success in perspective.

We're not afraid to lose. We don't want to, of course, but we know that there is more to our program than a single game against an out-of-conference opponent.

And it's that fearlessness that should worry you. It's that resolve in our players' minds and spirits that should have you thinking twice about becoming so complacent.

I know last year I drank the kool-aid and bought into all the preseason hype that was placed on my Bears. Boy, was that an eye opener! And, did that ever stick with us?! Oh man! Even though we followed that loss with eight consecutive wins, the number one postgame question posed to Coach Tedford every week focused on this one game.

Don't you think we paid attention to all of that? Are you really so arrogant to think that none of that has had an impact on coaches, players and fans alike?

Your 2005 season--hell, even your bowl appearance last year--should have taught you that nothing a sure thing. No game is a gimme. Resting assured that you are going to come out victorious is nothing short of idiotic. I know, because it happened to me last year.

So please, take some advice from a Cal-educated, $279k-a-year, well-traveling, well-living "hippie" and prepare yourselves for the rudest of wake-up calls.

Roll on you Bears...roll on!

Stuart and Heather Hike! said...

well, the hippies comment was meant to be more funny than derisive

it came off derisive rather than good-natured

anyways, good points truman

BUT

no need to list your salary (i would have rounded up to 280!) for me...that is the height of message board douchebaggery...fyi

otherwise, good comment, ya hippy

Trumanhugh said...

I guess it's that sense of perspective...I'm proud of 279, so why round it up?!...and it was listed only to shoot down the notion that all us Cal alums are hippies...Berkeley, the city, just happens to be a 60s leftover bastion for long-gone-to-seed flower children...Cal, the university in Berkeley, is one of the better public institutions in the country made up of anything but.

I apologize for being gauche. I, too, find it a little seedy to use such indicators to make a point, but I felt it necessary. Thanks for calling me on the douchebaggery!