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Vols vs. Tigers

Tigers vs. Vols.

There has been a lot of discussion leading up to tonight’s basketball match-up between the Tennessee Vols and the Memphis Tigers about the future of the series.

For the record, the Tigers won a thrilling game at Thompson Boling Arena - 85-80 over the Vols on Friday night. It may be the last game in the series. Or maybe not.

Either way it was a good game to end on even if it is just a short break. The Tigers got out to a large lead playing some of their best ball of the season and the Vols roared back in the second half to make it a very close game. The game spoke well for BOTH ballclubs.

It’ll be interesting to see where the series goes from here.

On Wednesday, Memphis head basketball coach Josh Pastner emphatically declared an end to the series after tonight’s game. Then, on Thursday, his boss, new Memphis AD Tom Bowen declared “Not so fast my friend.” He told the press that there had been many discussions between himself and his UT counterpart, Dave Hart, about continuing the series.

For their part, Hart and UT men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin have stated they’d love to see the series continue.

And with a hard fought game like the one on Friday night, it’s hard to argue against their point.

I may be one of the few people in the state who would just as soon they not play the game. For me, it always represents a lose/lose proposition. Mind you, it’s usually a great game – heart-stopping action - down to the wire - as was evidenced by the double overtime affair the two teams engaged in last November in Maui.

For me, with one foot firmly planted in each end of the state, I am always guaranteed that one of my two favorite college basketball teams is going to lose a game when the Vols and Tigers play.

To review:

• Father’s family from West Tennessee/Mother’s family from East Tennessee
• Came of age in Memphis/have lived in East Tennessee most of my life
• School I wanted to attend/School I did attend

The list goes on.

Let’s just summarize by saying, I love both schools, both towns, both teams. I’m destined to chalk up an ‘L’ every year.

“But Jeff, isn’t your other team guaranteed a win?”

Well, that’s true. But, have you ever tried celebrating a Memphis win in Big Orange Country? Have you ever tried singing “Rocky Top” in the land of the Delta blues? It’s just not that simple.

And while it feels great to see one of your teams record a key victory, it’s always tempered by seeing the other team lose.Tonight, I’m happy for the Tigers and bummed for the Vols.

If they both scheduled a high profile opponent that was someone else, it wouldn’t be like that. You’d have the chance of celebrating two ‘w’s’ on the same date.

Anyway, no one asked me. And it looks like, somehow, at some point, the series will go on.

So the plus side of that is that all Tennesseans are guaranteed some fantastic hoops action to come.

And this state definitely has a rich basketball tradition. A few years ago in 2008, I recall when there were five college teams from the state of Tennessee playing in ‘The Big Dance’ – Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Austin Peay and Belmont. In ’07 and ’09, there were four Tennessee teams in the NC2A tourney.

What a great point of pride for folks in the Volunteer State – no matter whether you live East, West or in the Middle.

JG

Originally posted 1/5/2013