I won't be able to be around, but you should be able to watch the press conference here at 2:00 EST. Leave your knee-jerk reactions below.

Quickly this morning because my alarm didn't go off when it was supposed to . . .

• So we've given a Final Tribute to The Papa and Drawn the Curtain on His Final Act as a Tennessee Volunteer. If you missed the Phillip Fulmer show this weekend, find a replay this week and do not miss it. Fantastic stuff the entire hour. Ever wonder what the story is with that guy in the leg braces who runs out after every kickoff to get the tee? Watch the show and find out. It's a terrific story and yet another insight into the Phillip Fulmer we never knew.
• So it's on to the future, but not just yet because I heard Jimmy Hyams say Sunday morning that UT had in fact talked to Mike Leach by phone about replacing Phillip Fulmer. Reportedly, Leach wanted to wait until after the Baylor game (this past weekend) to do a full interview. Tennessee didn't want to wait. If that's true, and if that's the only factor, then shame on them. Regarding Brian Kelly, he was apparently pushing for the job early until it looked like Notre Dame might come open, so Tennessee backed off at that point.
  
• So now it's on to the future . . . Lane Kiffin's our next coach, and we'll get our first look at him in orange this afternoon at 2:00. Who's he bringing with him? ESPN says his father Monte, defensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is coming, but Mr. SEC says it's not a done deal. Wouldn't it seem weird, though, that he'd give up $2M per year in the pros to go to the same position in college for much less money? But hey, whatever the reason, the architect of the Tampa 2 would be great. I guess, I mean, I'd sorta need to figure out exactly what the Tampa 2 is before I say that, huh? Hey, if a defensive scheme has its own nickname, it must be  . . . never mind. Question: what happened to the Tampa 1? Is 2 an upgrade, and if so, is it like a Microsoft upgrade? If so, how do I set up Automatic Updates for necessary patches?
  
• Aaannd . . . folks are talking like Ed Orgeron is coming, too, for recruiting. Yaw, yaw, yaw, but huh? Why would he leave a job as a position coach for the NFL to become a recruiting coordinator in college? If Monte's really the DC, where's that leave Ed? Notice how your impression of Oregeron changes completely when you call him Ed. Anyway, questions, questions, questions.
• And finally, so . . . coach Kiffin and Company, welcome to Rocky Top! You've already done the dirty work, releasing most of the current staff, and had the requisite team meeting. After you get your staff filled out, Job One is this: RECRUIT ERIC BERRY. This guy is your team leader next year. He will follow you because you're his coach and he's that kind of guy, but the degree to which he is sold out for you will be mirrored by the remainder of the team. Job Two: shore up our recruiting class for this year.

	November 30, 2008 7:30 EST TV: ESPN2 Radio: Vol Network Phone Broadcast: TeamLine Live Stats: ???
No. 12 (AP) No. 12 (USA Today)		No. 9 (AP) No. 10 (USA Today)

Jackson the Mule says . . .

. . . what's up with all the canines in this tournament?

Leave your pre-, in-, and post-game thoughts below.

Go Vols! Hulk smash yet another canine!

Above all else, the greatest thing about sports is that it is unscripted entertainment. Competitors are cast together on the same stage with the director insisting from the shadows only that each is to attempt to achieve his own success by depriving the other of his. Often the impromptu drama in live sporting events rivals that of award-winning scripts designed by their very nature to lead you through an emotional gamut from status quo to conflict to denouement.

But if the unscripted nature of live contests is their strength, it is also their weakness. Often the hero fails. Often the villain wins. Too often the curtain closes with the audience looking quizzically at each other and saying, "Maaaaan. It should not have ended that way."

Yet it's precisely the unknowable ending that makes a positive conclusion all the more satisfying. There was really no reason for Vol fans to believe that their team would win its last game of the season, no real basis for believing that the players would be able to put together an entire game that would actually give them a real opportunity to douse Phillip Fulmer with Gatorade one last time or to carry him off the field with the honor he deserves.

But there it was, the happy ending. Coach Fulmer smiling. Gerald Jones and Jonathan Crompton racing straight for him as the clock cleared to zeroes so that they could have their opportunity to embrace him and tell him again how much he means to them. A host of players dumping the Gatorade over his back. A bigger host of players in the colors of both schools huddled together at midfield with Fulmer telling Erin Andrews and ESPN to just hold their money-grubbing horses for a second because we're gonna have our prayer -- it's Tradition, don't you know. Fulmer then answering the inane questions with all of the class and honor and integrity you have come to expect from him, saying not that the administration was wrong -- although he surely believes that they were -- or that his record suggests that he should have been given an opportunity to remedy the problems with the offense -- although he most certainly believes that it does -- but remarking simply that he "will always be a Vol."

And then there were Ramon Foster and Anthony Parker heaving Fulmer on their shoulders and carrying him off the field in a moving mass of welling-eyed, 200- and 300-pound players in a manner fitting a man who has devoted his entire career to the betterment of the Tennessee Volunteer football program. And there was that man, who had struggled against anger and tears three weeks ago, now riding high on the shoulders of his beloved players, smiling from ear to ear, carrying the game ball high and tight, just like he always taught his players whether they listened to him or not.

The curtain has closed. The house lights have lit. Perhaps it should not have ended this season, this game.

But regardless of whether it should have ended at that time, there can be no doubt that it should have ended that way.

The first thing I think of when I think of Phillip Fulmer isn't some Fulmerism or fark, it's a moving image of him intervening on the sideline with an angry Jason Witten in 2001, who was storming his way to the bench after something like his third key dropped pass against rival Florida. Fulmer didn't pounce on him, didn't chew him out, and didn't even drill him with a disapproving scowl. Instead, he grabbed Witten, hugged his neck, and spoke what appeared to be words of encouragement directly into the earhole of his helmet. His message, we later learned, was exactly what it looked like: "Keep your head up, Jason. You're going to be fine, and we're going to need you."

This is the reason they don't generally let fans on the sideline. Those clad in orange in the stands and watching at home were ready to rip Witten's helmet off head and all after he'd squandered yet another scoring opportunity. Yet there was Fulmer, building yet another young man into an NFL talent with honor, integrity, and character. Right in the midst of an all-important struggle against a hated rival, with everything on the line, Fulmer was first and foremost growing young boys into men.

Because that's what he was all about. The 2008 Tennessee media guide puts it like this:

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See the prior week for the tweakage history of this thing.

The Top 35 for week fourteen, according to the Rocky Top Talk computer poll, is immediately after the jump because the table doesn't fit on the front page.

[Note by Joel, 12/01/08 9:18 AM EST ] Oops. Spreadsheet here.

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