How about a hand for Lane Kiffin? That was some rebuilding job huh?

Look, I'm not faulting good ol' Lane for making the move from Knoxville to Los Angeles. He's leaving one elite program  for another, one where he has a history. It makes sense. And coaches leave all the time to take new jobs- nothing new about that. But for Kiffin, who announced his entrance to the SEC with a string of barbs toward the power programs, who had Vols fans rejoicing about the energy he brought, who talked more than any 7-6 coach ever should, his quick exit is decidedly fitting. A guy who promised to have the Vols competing with Florida and Alabama again is now on his way out of town, having barely spent a full calendar year there. For a guy who claimed to embrace the Vol nation, he sure was quick to jump on another offer the second it came his way.

And that my friends, is why SEC fans are laughing today. All of his bravado, all of his comments, all of his "energy"....and yet all Knoxville has to show for it is a 7-6 record, an embarrassingly lopsided bowl loss, and now, another coaching search. Given the class and maturity he showed throughout his tenure at UT, I can't say I'm surprised. Lane has always been all about Lane, and it's safe to say his smug smile won't be missed by many around the South, including Tennessee.

Yes, you read that correctly. I don't think UT fans should be that upset today. All of the talk about Kiffin energizing and turning around the program this season was a little shocking to me. I mean, they went from 5-7 to 7-5 in the regular season. Is that an improvement? Yes. But that's hardly a dramatic turnaround, and to be fair,  he didn't exactly inherit a bare cupboard, going to a roster with more than its share of high school All-Americans who had underachieved in their college careers. Now there's something to be said for getting a roster to play to their potential. QB Jonathan Crompton and RB Monterio Hardesty, inconsistent at best during their careers, both showed tremendous improvements under Kiffin's watch. But the name of the game is winning, and in the end,  the whopping two game improvement simply did not impress me much.

Now Kiffin could recruit- no question. He had some top notch athletes ready to hit campus this fall. But he also had the nasty habit of collecting secondary violations related to his recruiting. One or two- no big deal. It happens everywhere. But Kiffin collected at least seven between December 2008 and January 2010. So I don't think it's a stretch to think that the longer he spent there, the more headlines he would have made for the wrong reasons. (Of course, Kiffin would have probably found those violations and recurring NCAA investigations to be a compliment, as he stated last month). And considering Kiffin learned under Pete Carroll at USC, who's had his share of..ahem...questionable recruiting tactics...it's not unrealistic to think Kiffin may have eventually had the Vols headed down a dangerous path.

So I think I speak for all SEC fans when I tell Kiffin good riddance. He talked a real great game, but barely stuck around long enough to even try to back it up. As an SEC fan, I hope Tennessee gets someone good, but also someone who understands the SEC. We don't mind trash talk, outsized egos and energetic personalities, but you have to earn them. The SEC is better when Tennessee is good- even a Gator fan like myself can admit this. So let's hope they get this one right.

In the meantime, I hope USC knows what they've gotten themselves into.

It's halftime of the Kentucky - Florida game and it's been a good one.  Kentucky weathered an opening run against Florida and took a 38-31 lead into halftime. 

The first half began with Florida jumping out to a 7-0 lead as UK missed several bunnies in close and Florida took their opportunities in the open court.  Kentucky's missed shots inside were so bad that Coach John Calipari said in the half time interview "we missed 10 one footers."  When asked what he told the team, Cal replied with his usual witticism, "I told them please make it or dunk it!  That's some good coaching huh?"  Well done coach.

Florida was lead in the first half by Alex Tyus with 9 points.  Tyus made the first two threes of his career in the first half.  Combine that with the banked three pointer in the final minute and Florida has to feel good about being within single digits at the half.

For Kentucky, John Wall made a couple of impressive pull up 17-footers and Eric Bledsoe had a monster first half.  Bledsoe scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting and knocked down two foul shots.  Wall had 8 in the first half and Patrick Patterson added 7 points. 

One of the biggest influences in the first half was the inside play of Daniel Orton.  DeMarcus Cousins missed several inside shots (1-6 shooting at the half) and Orton came in to snag 7 rebounds and block three shots (all in the same sequence) in the first half, helping Kentucky to dominate the paint on the defensive end.

The second half is coming up.  We'll see if Kentucky continues to press and try to wear down Florida.  Florida will need to improve their shot selection and improve on their first half 3-13 performance from the three point line if they are going to knock off the #2 team in the nation at home.  We'll be back with postgame coverage after the second half.

Also of note tonight, Purdue falls at home by the score of 70-66 to Ohio State despite Robbie Hummel's big 35 point night.  Kid was on fire in the first half.

Breaking news tonight is that Lane Kiffin will be leaving the University of Tennessee to fill Pete Carroll's vacant spot at Southern Cal.  We'll have more in the coming days with reactions, predictions, and coverage of UT's coaching search.

Kentucky goes to Gainesville tonight to play Florida in their first road game against SEC competition. An event like that obviously deserves a bullet-point post.

• It's put up or shut up tonight for Kenny Boynton. Kenny Boynton is a freshman guard for the Florida Gators. He was a McDonald's All-American. Before John Calipari came to Kentucky and brought John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins, he was probably going to be the highest rated incoming freshman in the SEC. Even after Cal brought those guys in and Kentucky was thought of as a preseason top-five team, Boynton had this to say to SLAM Magazine about Kentucky, "...I think we have a better team... I don't think they're as good as everyone says they are." I'm all for athletes being confident, but those comments seem a bit ridiculous considering that was in July and neither team had played a game. For what it's worth, Kentucky is 16-0 with wins over ranked UConn and North Carolina. Florida is 11-4 with losses to Richmond and South Alabama (at home).
• Pete Carroll knew when to get out of USC. A lot of people in the media will tell you Carroll didn't leave because of the violations that are forthcoming to USC, but that's horsecrap. He was the king of college football for almost a decade and could get almost any kid he wanted. Now, he's coaching the Seattle Seahawks. Can anyone remember the last marquee free agent they got? Yeah, exactly. The hammer is coming down on the Trojans (insert your own perverse joke) and a postseason ban and loss of scholarships are inevitable.
• Would Lane Kiffin leave Tennessee for USC? I've been going back and forth on this one since the Carroll news broke. On one hand, USC is a more prestigious job than UT and has a bigger recruiting base. USC's campus is nicer and much closer to the beach and ocean (depending on who you ask). It's also easier to win in the Pac-10 than it is in the SEC. On the other hand, no one knows for sure what the NCAA is going to do to USC. Kiffin still has one of the ten best jobs in college football and is already revered in Knoxville. He's got a top class coming in for 2010 and barring any arrests, the Vols have a chance to compete for the SEC East next year. Like everything else, it will probably come down to money should Kiffin decide to bolt. If USC wants a Carroll clone, someone who's energetic and doesn't mind ruffling some feathers, they'll throw a bunch of cash at Kiffin and he'll be out of Knoxville as quick as he was there.
• Mark McGwire took steroids. When informed of the news Jerome Bettis said, "Hey, did you know I'm from Detroit?!?"
• Auburn Basketball is irrelevant and not funny. I'm going to watch UK play Auburn this weekend down in Auburn. I don't take signs to games, but I was wondering what I would write on a sign if I were to take one. I can't think of anything other than, "Auburn Basketball is so irrelevant I don't have anything funny or insulting to put on this sign." That seems a little long to write on a posterboard. What say you, readers? Do you have any good ideas for a possible sign idea for Auburn Basketball?
• I hope John Wall dunks on Kenny Boynton tonight. While standing over Boynton, Wall could then pull the above-mentioned SLAM article out of his sock, then unfold the article and lay it on Boynton's chest. John Wall would immediately move past Tom Brady and Trey Anastasio and be my favorite person alive.

What a weekend. Three things happened on Saturday, in this order:

1. The Bengals pooped the bed against the Jets, continuing a 20 year tradition of crushing my spirit.

2. My old man called me for the 15th straight rendition of his "I don't think I'm going to renew my Bengals tickets" speech. This speech has become as much a tradition as the Bengals futility. At this point it wouldn't feel like the off-season without it

3. I started hearing this song in my head, on a loop:

Far be it for me to attempt to make any actual football analysis--I mean I'm no Dennis Miller--but it didn't take a genius to see this one coming. A combination of injuries, tragedies and an offense that hadn't really shown up for most of the season led to the giant steamer you saw out there on Saturday. Honestly, I'm too tired of thinking about it to give any more energy. I do know I'm about to stop following Ochocinco on twitter. Perhaps some more practice and less youstream next season, Ocho. I'm also considering spinning off a new blog titled "Overthrown by Carson Palmer." There will be no shortage of material.

Other things that happened between Friday and Monday:
- Purdue lost to Wisconsin up in Madison, making everything I said in my first post look completely idiotic.  Thanks guys.
- Tennessee beat Kansas, ensuring that Grubby spent most of his Sunday night collecting traffic cones for home decoration.
- Landon Donovan had a kick ass debut for Everton (that's soccer, kiddos), was probably their best player, notched an assist and helped them to a 2-2 draw with Arsenal. These are all good things.

I'll spare you the details of the STF visit, and simply share this video I found this morning via UTSports.tv

I do find it odd that Chism is the one directing the cheers and the "hey-pay-attentions."  This is the same guy that wore a Bert and Ernie hat to the SEC Tournament first round games last year.

Anyway, this is fun.

This appears not to be as fun.

We'll be tied up for the next three days trying to keep this dude out of jail, pounding blue shit, and watching nachos disappear (and hoops).  Let's hope we all enjoy our weekend as much as this Romanian truck driver.

Can somebody please explain the baseball Hall of Fame to me?

No, this isn't a "who should be in" argument, because bascially, for the most part, I couldn't care less who is in the MLB Hall of Fame. Sure, it's neat to see guys like Tony Gwynn and Rickey Henderson get in- I grew up watching those guys play. But a great deal of the plaques in Cooperstown mean nothing to me. Seriously- look at some of the members. There's Hugh Duffy and Edward Delahanty in the vaunted 1945 Class. Can anyone tell me anything about either of them without looking it up? What about Albert Barlick? Amos Rusie? Burleigh Grimes? Or my favorite - Henry "Heinie" Manush? Any of those ring a bell?

Doesn't matter. Because that's not the point. The point is that the entire Hall of Fame election process is greatly flawed, at least to me. Because, to me, Hall of Fame voting should be easy. It should be reserved for players who were undeniably great, and if a player is great, it should be obvious to everyone with an understanding of the game. Chances are, if you have to make an argument that a player deserves to be in the Hall, he doesn't. If there's a debate over whether someone was a great player, than in most cases, he probably wasn't. And if he wasn't great enough to get the votes five years after he last picked up a bat or glove, then why would he be any better 10 years later?

Babe Ruth. Mickey Mantle. Sandy Koufax. You mention those names to a baseball expert, and their eyes glaze over as they fondly recall the heroic exploits of these legendary players. There's no discussion about home run to strikeout ratio, no talk about WHIP or any of the other countless statistical measures we use today. Those guys were great players - plain and simple. There's no argument that can be made against them.

So with that in mind...why are players allowed to be on the Hall of Fame ballot so many times?  Not to pick on Bert Blyleven, who is probably already having a rough day, but if there's enough debate to keep you out of the Hall for the 12 years through which you've been eligible, then you may not deserve to be in there. The same goes for many of the other players who find themselves falling short of the required votes year after year. If there's enough questions about your greatness, then maybe you weren't all that great.

Now Blyleven was a good pitcher - no doubt. But it's the same song and dance every year. He just makes the talk-radio rounds, touts his statistics, and hopes for the best. But why? If he wasn't good enough in 1998, or 2003, or 2008, then why would he think he's good enough in 2010? He hasn't taken the mound or struck out any more batters since then. So why would he be better in 2010 or 2011 than he was in 2003?

That's where the flaw lies. At this point, it's becoming less and less about Blyleven's statistics or skills, and more about his lobbying ability.Essentially, he just has to get a few more baseball writers to change their opinions, and then BAM! - all of a sudden he's an elite player to be remembered by hundreds of future generations, instead of a good player who might be best known to our generation for using two obscenities during a live broadcast as the Twins announcer.

But does he really want to get into the Hall now? Does he really want to get in based on his ability to lobby writers and promote himself, rather than his pitching ability? Because that's what the system allows right now. First, you have to be good enough to get consideration, which Blyleven certainly was, and then you have 15 years to plead your case for being great.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, or too short-sighted. But my general view of athletes is that you shouldn't have to tell someone how good you are. It should be evident from your play. And if it isn't, if there's room for debate, then maybe you weren't quite as great as you think you were.

But hey - best of luck to Blyleven in 2011 as he takes another year to try to prove how good he was. For his sake, I hope he finally gets in. But for me, I'm not buying it.

Since the bowl games are so bad, I figured you needed some entertainment. I am back and trying to be better. Let's make fun of people...

• There has never been a worse slate of bowl games. Take away the team you root for and tell me how many games you thought you needed to watch from start to finish. I will answer for myself: zero. These games are second-class. That is, in part, because college football is so down this year, but also because of some of the matchups. Who wants to watch two second rate teams like Boise State and TCU defensively struggle against one another? I'd rather watch two of the girls from Jersey Shore talk about who invented the poof. Or how about that "golden" matchup last night between Georgia Tech and Iowa? My TV told me there was too much yellow on the screen and forced me to watch He's Just Not That Into You. Again. People love to hate on USC, Michigan and Notre Dame, but at least they're interesting to watch.
• Rich Brooks was a good coach at UK, but is undoubtedly overrated. People will throw a lot of things at you about how great Rich Brooks was. He beat #1 LSU, he beat Auburn and Georgia on the road and he won three straight bowl games which had never been done before at UK. He should get congratulations for the first two, but the three straight bowl wins is what really irks me. This year, there were THIRTY FOUR (34) bowl games. No coach that coached before Brooks had as many opportunities to get to bowl games. The Music City Bowl, which Brooks won twice, had its first game in 1998. Brooks' bowl wins also came against Clemson, a depleted Florida State team and East Carolina. Those three teams aren't exactly a murderers' row of college football. He was also winless against Florida and Tennessee.
• Speaking of football coaches named Rich... How does Rich Rodriguez still have a job? He's a terrible football coach. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt when he came to Ann Arbor and had a bad football team in 2008. I was going to let him bring in, "his players." Apparently, his players are not as good as the ones Lloyd Carr was bringing in. Rodriguez was going to be bringing in stud players to get Michigan back on top. Well, Rivals currently has Michigan with the 18th best class for 2010 (no 5-stars, five 4-stars, eighteen 3-stars, one 2-star). It's possible to win in the Big East with 3-star kids like RichRod did at West Virginia. Ohio State will continue to beat Michigan if all they can get is those types of kids. Also, I don't mean to pick on a high school kid, but the 2-star kid that's committed is a white defensive back whose only other offers were from Bowling Green and Kent State. My good gosh, be better.
• John Wall is good at basketball. Just making sure you knew. I didn't know if you'd heard of him. He has a dance.
• Tiger Woods sent Christmas cards to: Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, Mike Leach, Jim Caldwell and the Indianapolis Colts, every person who plays Fantasy Football, Jesus (a birthday card may have been more appropriate) and roughly eighteen women.
• Your racist grandfather should watch Purdue and Wisconsin play basketball this weekend. It will remind him of simpler times, when there wasn't as much scoring. And when there were more whites on the court than any other race. Everyone who likes good basketball will be watching any other game. Hell, I may fire up He's Just Not That Into You (on every minute of every day on one of the HBO stations) instead of watching that garbage. (Sidenote, how about Gage's first post? I didn't know it was possible to ejaculate through fingers while typing. I am pretty sure JaJuan Johnson filed a restraining order against him last night. Purdue will get respect when they get a legitimate win.)
• Jason Bay's contract with the Mets will be one of the biggest disasters since the Titanic. CitiField is enormous. Jason Bay is a power hitter. Manny Ramirez thinks Jason Bay is bad in the field. New York fans are unforgiving. Tell me how this ends well?
• Knoxville needs to build an indoor climbing wall. Seriously, the student athletes need something to occupy their time.

Here it is, my first post for Stadium Drives. I can tell by your silence that you've been on the edge of your seat in anticipation of my particular pearls of wisdom. So, how do I plan to endear you, the reader, to me? By demanding your respect.

More precisely, demanding you give some respect to the 2009-10 edition of the Purdue Boilermakers. Even more precisely, this is me complaining that nobody seems to give a crap that my alma mater is 13-0 with wins over Tennessee (before their players were in prison), Wake Forest (11-2 after a win over Xavier) and most recently West Virginia (the fighting Bob Huggins have been a top 10 team all season long).

I had the good fortune to escape from Holiday Family Time on New Years to watch the second half of the Purdue/WVU game. It was a beat down. I didn't catch a single WVU player's name, I was too busy giggling with glee.

Of course, then I tuned into see Temple get emasculated by Kansas the next day, just to hear the ESPN knucklehead announcer (apparently the A through D teams were busy that day) mention how "no disrespect to Purdue" but the other three undefeated teams (KU, UK, Texas) are all contenders. Excuse me while I write a letter to Awful Announcing...

more after the break...