Aug. 24, 2011
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by Brandon Barca (Archive) Twitter updates @brandonbarca |
Women’s basketball head coach Melanie Balcomb released a statement in support of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. “My heart goes out to Pat and her family,” Balcomb said. “As a personal friend and competitor, I hope that Pat can coach as long as she wants to. She is the best I’ve ever coached against and I have so much respect for her. More than just being a great coach, Pat is a tremendous person. Because of her strong character, she has surrounded herself with a very talented and classy staff, and I know they will be able to continue the tradition for years to come. Pat is an icon in women’s basketball and has done so much for this sport. Our thoughts are with Pat and her family during such a trying time.”
Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post wrote a magnificent article on how Summitt won’t back down from her fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
The Vanderbilt women’s basketball schedule was announced Tuesday. The slate includes 17 home dates and match-ups against eight teams that advanced to the postseason in 2011.
With no official depth chart released, The Tennessean’s Jeff Lockridge outlines what he thinks the football starting lineup might look like based on Tuesday’s practice.
Carey Spear and Ryan Fowler are battling for the role of starting placekicker. Also, Richard Kent has strengthened his leg and hopes to punt less after setting a school record in attempts (84) in 2010.
Redshirt freshman defensive end Kyle Woestmann is having a successful training camp but has also been his own worst critic. “Coach Franklin and I had a talk [Monday] and he got me mentally right,” Woestmann said. “I was overanalyzing everything. I just need to go out and have fun. … I really just go out there and try to play as physical as I can and just hit everybody I can.”
Dropped passes were a concern for the Commodores coming out of last Saturday’s scrimmage. “We dropped the ball, which we hadn’t been doing,” Coach Franklin said. “That’s what we got to fix.”
The football pregame radio show has been expanded to a 90-minute program. For home games, the broadcast will begin in Vandyville, the popular fan tailgating area on Natchez Trace.
Dick Vitale included guard John Jenkins and center Festus Ezeli on his preseason All-Solid Gold teams. Vitale noted that he based his selections off the VBDI (Vitale Bald Dome Index).
Perfect Game All-American catcher Chris Harvey opted to skip his senior year of high school and enroll at Vanderbilt. “I kind of got the idea to do it when I committed last fall, but I committed to enrolling early this summer. It gives me an extra year in college,” Harvey said. “But most importantly, it gives me another chance to get to Omaha and win a national title.”
Former Commodore Mike Minor won his fourth straight decision as the Braves defeated Chicago 5-4 Tuesday.
Additional Commodore News
Football: Send in mailbag questions for Joe Fisher (VUcommodores.com)
Football: Commodores return to practice Monday (VUcommodores.com)
Men’s Golf: Hofmann finishes at U.S. Amateur (VUcommodores.com)
Video of the Day
Coach Franklin told media members that he felt his squad had one of their best practices Tuesday night.
Song of the Day
Urkel is back in Cee Lo Green’s music video titled “Cry Baby.” I want to believe that Urkel’s message is directed at Laura Winslow.