Thanksgiving and a New Era in Tennessee Football

It might be a little odd to combine Thanksgiving and a new Tennessee football coach into a single post, but alas, for the sake of time, I shall.

I'll take Thanksgiving first. I would be remiss if I didn't say how much I enjoyed Thanksgiving this year! I'd had to spend the last two Thanksgivings working Division III soccer, so just having the entire weekend off was a blessing unto itself! I joined Carrie's family in Port Orange Wednesday through Saturday evening. It was a great time, and Carrie's mom prepares one heckuva feast!

With the weather being sunny and mild, we took the boat to Disappearing Island for a picnic on Friday. We wore pants and the wind was chilly enough to prompt jackets when the boat was moving, but it was a beautiful afternoon. The weather was much the same on Saturday, and Carrie had the idea to go to the Ponce Inlet lighthouse, which was fun. The view was spectacular, and heavens knows I needed to climb all those steep steps to work off the loads of food I'd consumed for three days!

So now it's officially on to Christmas season, which is always a fun...and busy... time of the year.

And now, to Lane Kiffin. As most sports fans have likely heard, my alma mater tabbed 33-year-old Kiffin as the next head coach at UT. I really don't have a strong opinion one way or the other at this point. Obviously, I hope he does a stellar job, but we won't know how it will all shake out for at least a couple of years, I imagine.

That stated, I'll tell you one thing I do know: Close-ups of Coach Kiffin on the sidelines will be far more pleasant than those of Coach Fulmer! I mean, the guy's essentially my age, and let's call it as it is, he's not bad to look at! Here's hoping his coaching skills match his face! ;-P

Also speaking of the change in regime in Big Orange Country...I'm glad Phil Fulmer went out with a pair of victories. I was among his critics, but it was great to see him carried off Shields Watkins Field on the shoulders of his players, a win going down as the final note in his lengthy chapter at the helm. Fulmer had some great teams and coached some ultra talented players, and we can only hope we're headed back to those days!