#Team118 #BowlLife @taxslayerbowl pic.twitter.com/7f3sEFs7fN

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 30, 2014

the most wonderful time of the year

we're 3 days away from the first day of college football season, 5 days away from the first football saturday and 6 days away from the vols season opener, because they are inexplicably playing on a sunday night.

so, it's time to decorate your work computers for all your co-workers to enjoy! here are some ideas (click2enlarge):

oh, and if you're a georgia fan, you could use this.

every season is football season.

our 2pz sports commentator bun-bun is about to get his ass laid. off. there has been a veritable FONT of great news coming out of knoxville this week, and you haven't heard a peep. let's get started.

this shouldnt surprise anyone, but at the end of national signing day, butch jones and his recruiting team put together the FIFTH-RANKED recruiting class in the nation. to answer your question: yes, that's better than georgia's.

Butch Jones came out swinging, landing a ridiculous 33 new players in his first full class as head coach of the Volunteers. It includes a massive upgrade at the skill positions, including borderline five-star running back Jalen Hurd, four-star back Derrell Scott, four-star receivers Josh Malone and Von Pearson, and four-star tight end Daniel Helm.

The Vols also got signatures from a U.S. Army All-American in safety Todd Kelly, a ready-to-play offensive tackle in JuCo transfer Dontavius Blair, and six four-star recruits for the defensive front seven. (via)

read how it all came together HERE. (thx dan!)

one should also note that a fifth-ranked class is only third-ranked in the SEC, and that 7 of the top 10 recruiting classes were from the SEC, and that all 14 SEC teams made it into the top 50.

one of the highlights of signing day was the berry twins. jicydak, the younger twin brothers of 2Pz all-time favorite vol eric berry verbally committed to tennessee when they were just 14 years old. playing together for their high school team, they won a (georgia) state championship last year.

read how cute and well-liked they are HERE.


here's a video of a 5-star recruit telling the story of how coach butch jones convinced him to keep his talents in tennessee.

and finally, here's a photo of one of our 2014 recruits, d'andre payne, literally jumping for joy as he enters neyland for the first time as a vol. *single tear*

d'andre, i notice you're wearing modesty harvesty's number, and i like your spirit so far.

#BRICKBYBRICK

oh and i nearly forgot:

The Nashville Sports Council and the University of Tennessee announced today that the Tennessee Volunteers will open their 2015 football season at LP Field in Nashville. The Volunteers will take on the UAB Blazers on Saturday, September 5, 2015. (via)

is it september yet?

NERD ALERT: christo and jeanne claude(rip)

OVER THE RIVER WAS APPROVED!

"DENVER — Federal regulators on Monday approved a $50 million installation of anchored fabric over the Arkansas River in southern Colorado by the artist Christo, whose larger-than-life vision has divided environmentalists, residents and politicians for years over questions of aesthetics, nature and economic impact.
The project, “Over the River,” will include eight suspended panel segments totaling 5.9 miles along a 42-mile stretch of the river, about three hours southwest of Denver. Construction could begin next year, pending final local approvals, with the goal being a two-week display of the work as early as August 2014." from nyt

You better believe I will be there.

would you like a reason to like coach cuonzo?

i spent this time some afternoon learning a little bit more about our new basketvol coach, and while we haven't had much time to grieve, i think i'm ready to give him a chance. look how sweet he is! this blurg post makes a good case.

he's a former college and professional player and a kancer survivor. here he is accepting the award for best coach in the MVC, which i guess is some kind of basketball conference. anyway, a big orange welcome! (don't mess this up.)

what did you get for Kismas?

i was a good boy this year!

levi's black (not) skinny jeans
light grey hoodie
black knit fingerless gloves
6 grey socks
grey members only jacket
light grey v-neck sweater
black and white plaid button up shirt
glee, the complete first season
whats love got to do with it
the great gatsby, f. scott fitzgerald
1876- Narratives of Empire, gore vidal
white teeth, zadie smith
role models, john waters
inception!
ulysses, james joyce
shock value, john waters
sunglasses, oaknyc
volunteer traditions bowtie
volunteer traditions belt
the clinton street bakery cookbook (thx keeks)

the bike song

ive got bikes on the brain today. i found this awesome community bike shop in memphis called revolutions bike shop. it was started as a program to get bikes to underprivileged kids, but now it has grown into a full community embracing shop with bikers of all ages and abilities participating. you have to volunteer for 10 hours, and pay a suggested membership fee of $40 bucks, and then they teach you how to rebuild your own bike to keep. they provide the space and tools, and by the end you know how to make the minor repairs and maintenance to keep your bike on the road. im going to take a bunch of old bikes from the garage down there, and see if i can volunteer and rebuild one for myself. ill let you know how it goes.

if YOU have half a million dollars burning holes in your pocketbooks...

...i know some folks who could use it.

you can head right over to the nashville red cross donation site.

if you have TEN dollhairs burning holes in your pocketbooks, you can text "REDCROSS" to 90999, and it will go right to the right place. don't worry, it will just show up on your parents' family plan phone bill.

for every time you donate, joel will take off another article of clothing. STRIP charity!

and if you live in the nashville area, you probably already know this, but you can sign up to volunteer through hands on nashville. luckily, our state is named after its abilities to do this.

ok! so now you know everything. brb helping!