The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

Tennessee is #1 in basketball. Men's basketball. That's right. Not a typo, my friends.

As for the three ring circus game between Memphis and Tennessee last night.
I won't dwell on the fact that the Bitter Betties of East Arkansas wouldn't sell the visitor tickets in a block like every other home team on the planet and instead made the Volunteer faithful sit scattered throughout the arena. Or that the visiting team's fans were completely shut out of ESPN Game Day. Or that their team tried to pick a fight in the tunnel a la 12 year old bullies on a playground.

I mean, they seem like sound game strategies. But what do I know?

I do want to make it clear that as a good and proud Tennessean I was always technically a men's basketball fan - just not an avid one as of late. And I'm not an avid fan now because they're winning. I'm an avid fan because as long as they play with the joy that Chris Lofton has on his face in that picture. I don't care if they ever win another game...

Well, maybe after the Vanderbilt game on Tuesday I don't care if they ever win another game.

The UT message board at espn.com is a good source of amusement occasionally and today found one Volunteer who summed it all up nicely.

"Oh happy day.

I never thought I would live to see

the UT message board being trolled during basketball season...

by UNC fans.

Breathe it in, fellow Volunteers. Breathe it in."

Yup. A UNC fan caring enough about the status of UT basketball to trash-talk on our message board.

Is this the kind of change Barack Obama was talking about?

If so, I'm totally on board.


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Speaking of politics....

Ralph is running for president again. Oh joy. You'd think he'd be tired. Not from all of his consumer advocate do-good-er-ness, but from his giant ego and smug self-righteousness.

I would love nothing more than to have a viable third party (even a viable Green Party) but if he were really interested in building a third party and having an alternative on the ballot, you'd think he'd go about a more grass-roots-y / bottom-up approach rather than the out-of-nowhere / completely-full-of-crap method he's chosen instead.

But he's not interested in building anything. He only proves the theory that many of these so-called advocates, activists, or whatever they want to call themselves - on the left and the right -aren't in it for the cause. They're just in it for the attention. Ralph. Rush. Same motive. Different divisive asshole. It doesn't matter if the cause is seat belts or hate-mongering. It could just as easily be tooth decay. As long as they get to dance about like a chimp in the spotlight, they're happy.

I give Barack Obama credit for calling Nader out on exactly what he is and what he's trying to do.

And he did so with complete sentences and by pronouncing everything correctly.

Ahhhh more change I can believe in.