The Washington Redskins released veteran offensive tackle Jon Jansen today.
Shortly after Rihanna parted ways with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, the singer has now been linked to Kanye West.
The time has finally arrived for Baltimore Orioles Matt Wieters to make his Major League Baseball debut. Wieters, rated by many as the top MLB prospect will make his debut Friday against the Detroit Tigers.
Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett was arrested over the weekend on a public intoxication charge. The 20 year old University of Michigan transfer was arrested early Sunday morning and released on bond later that morning. He is a redshirt sophomore.
Former UT receiver and Maryville High School standout, Tyler Maples is transferring to Furman. It was suspected that he would transfer to UTC along with B.J. Coleman, but Maples opted for Furman instead.
University of Tennessee football strength and conditioning coach Mark Smith agreed to part ways after Smith and head coach Lane Kiffin met Thursday.
San Diego Padres ace right hander Jake Peavy blocked the trade that would send him to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for four minor leaguers.
Former University of Miami quarterback Robert Marve announced today on ESPN that he will attend Purdue.
The Chicago White Sox and the San Diego Padres agreed to send pitcher Jake Peavy to the White Sox for four prospects. Peavy has the option to decline, and sources close to Peavy are indicating that the 27 year old right hander sits 50-50 on the deal.
His next scheduled start is Friday, so an announcement before the weekend would be surprising.
If Peavy okays the deal, this is a great acquisition for the White Sox and will surely boost their pitching staff. Peavy is 3-5 with a 3.82 ERA this season.
Kris Allen became the American Idol season 8 winner by beating the heavily favored Adam Lambert. In reality Kris actually lost because now his first single is going to be the shitty "No Boundaries" song written by Kara.
A message from Lane Kiffin's Twitter page lands the first year coach and the Tennessee Volunteers in trouble, again.
It's down to Kris Allen and Adam Lambert on American Idol. In this season's finale, the two contestants rock out to three songs each. Here's how it went down:
Adam Lambert - Mad World by Gary Jules
Adam did this song before and it was good then and it was good this time. No creativity points there since it was a very safe choice.
Kris Allen - Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers
In another repeat performance, Kris did a good job with this song. It was very good last time and it was very good this time around. A safe performance here, and like Adam there was little creativity since it was another repeat performance.
Adam Lambert - Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke
This round is a song chosen by Idol creator Simon Fuller. It isn't the best song choice for me for Adam. I think this could end up hurting Adam in the voting because I wasn't impressed too much with this performance.
Kris Allen - What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
Kris put a nice acoustic touch on a Marvin Gaye song. I'm not a big fan of this song, so I guess Simon Fuller is terrible at choosing songs for these two contestants. Kris did decent with this song, but it didn't blow me away.
Adam Lambert - No Boundaries written by Kara
In what could be his first single written by the most annoying Idol judge ever, Adam did a decent job. The song is dumb as shit and not even Adam could make it sound good. Did not like this song at all, but the performance was decent. Adam did the best he could with a shit song.
Kris Allen - No Boundaries written by Kara
Kris takes on the same shitty song written by Kara. Adam did better.
Knox Animal Performance Scale: (1= best, 6= worst)
1. Kris Allen (Ain't No Sunshine)
2. Adam Lambert (Mad World)
3. Adam Lambert (Change Is Gonna Come)
4. Kris Allen (What's Going On)
5. Adam Lambert (No Boundaries)
6. Kris Allen (No Boundaries)
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison says he intends to skip the visit to the White House with his teammates. The MVP says that it is "not a big deal" for him to go to the White House and visit President Obama.
Former University of Miami quarterback Robert Marve is considering walking on at the University of Tennessee. Marve has been offered a scholarship from Purdue, but it is believed that Marve will turn down the full ride in order to earn a chance to walk on at UT. Miami won't release Marve to UT, so he will not be able to receive a scholarship initially.
It is a tough choice because paying for out of state tuition is tough and that's what Marve would have to do for the 2009 season. Marve could have a good chance in the competition for the starting QB job in 2010, but the thought of turning down a full ride to Purdue might be too tough to do.
Source:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4164309
Those that have FUSE TV are in luck. On June, 1 Dave Matthews Band will be performing live at the 2.800 seat Beacon Theatre in New York City, and that show will be broadcasted on FUSE.
For Knoxville Comcast subscribers it is channel 148.
Source:
http://www.pollstar.com/blogs/news/archive/2009/05/15/667395.aspx
The moment everybody has been waiting for is finally here. The Biggest Loser Couples finale is one of the most anticipated finales on Biggest Loser ever. The reason for that is because of the starting size of these contestants. It was the biggest season ever on the Biggest Loser.
With Helen and Tara already locks for the finals, it came down to America's vote to find out whether Mike or Ron is the third finalist.
Mike was the first contestant they showed and he did an awesome job. He went from being a huge obese kid to a fit teenager over the course of the show. Ron was next and he too did an awesome job. That family has a lot to be proud about. They both changed their lives for the better. America voted Mike as the third finalist.
The winner of the $100,000 prize (winner of the people kicked off the ranch) is Jerry who lost 177 pounds for a percentage of 47.97 body weight lost. That is just incredible. Jerry lost almost half his previous body weight. He did all that at 64 years old. That is truly remarkable and Jerry is somebody that everybody can look up to.
All three finalists were awesome all season. They all deserved to win, but this season's Biggest Loser is Helen. She lost 140 pounds for a percentage of 54.47. That's pretty awesome for a 48 year old.
Congrats to all the contestants this season. You all give hope to many people out there, so you should all be very proud. Keep up the good work.
The contestants must bring it this week. There are two weeks left and three contestants, it's time to bring it. This week is judges pick and contestants pick. It should be interesting to say the least, especially on the judges pick. Here's how it went down:
Judges Choice
Danny Gokey - Dance Little Sister by Terence Trent D'Arby
Boy did Paula pick a shitty song for Danny to sing tonight. The song sucked. Danny's performance sucked and it was just a shitty song for Danny to do at this point in the competition. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Danny needs to go home.
Kris Allen - Apologize by One Republic
With Randy and Kara's song choice, Kris busted out the piano and he did a pretty good job. The performance didn't blow me away, but it was good enough to be considered solid at this point of the competition. It was better than Danny's performance, but it didn't take much for that to happen.
Adam Lambert - One by U2
Simon had to personally get Bono to sign off on allowing Adam to sing this song and personally, I don't think that he should have wasted his time. It was not even close to being one of my favorite Adam performances. However, Adam is still Adam and he is a sure thing to win this competition so it doesn't matter. It wasn't better than Kris tonight, but it was still better than Danny.
Contestants Choice
Danny Gokey - You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker
This is a great song, the only problem with Danny singing it is that he doesn't have the confidence and awesomeness that Joe Cocker has. This came across as a church choir rehearsal for me. I don't know what it is about Danny, but I just do not like the guy. He is boring, his voice is overrated and I pray that he goes home.
Kris Allen - Heartless by Kanye West
There is no singer I hate more in this world than Kanye West. The simple fact that Kris chose this song makes me want to never root for him. However, Kris put his touch on it and it turned out to be very cool. It was one of the most original songs this competition has ever seen, but the real question is - does America get it? That was awesome.
Adam Lambert - Crying by Aerosmith
I'm not crazy about the song, but Adam did pretty good tonight. He will win the competition - there is no doubt about it.
Knox Animal performance scale: (1=best, 6=worst)
1. Kris Allen (Heartless)
2. Adam Lambert (Crying)
3. Kris Allen (Apologize)
4. Adam Lambert (One)
5. Danny Gokey (You Are So Beautiful)
6. Danny Gokey (Dance Little Sister)
Based on tonight, it is obvious that Danny Gokey needs to go home. Both Adam and Kris can sing the shit out of some songs. Danny can not.
When word that Brett Favre was going to talk to the Minnesota Vikings about the opportunity of returning to the NFL this upcoming season, did anybody think he wasn't going to try to return to the game?
With the news of Manny Ramirez being suspended 50 games for performance enhancing drugs this week, the endless cycle of steroid offenses in Major League Baseball seemingly will never end. With Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez taking the blunt of the steroid attention recently, there is no doubt that there are many other steroid offenders currently playing in the league.
The fact of the matter is that no player can be trusted based on the evidence of steroid users that constantly is presented in front of everybody. It has come to the point where if anybody excels in the game of baseball, they automatically are questioned as to whether or not they have been using performance enhancing drugs. I know that not every baseball player uses PED's, but because of the poor choices of others, they too have been punished because of steroids.
It is truly a shame that America's favorite pastime has turned into the big steroid scandal. I know that baseball is not the only sport that has steroid problems - don't even get me started on football. The problem is that baseball is built on statistics and its steroid statistics are growing by the year. As records of current hall of famers are broken by current players, it brings into question whether the new record holders did it while being clean. It's truly a shame, but that is what Major League Baseball has come to in this modern generation.
The University of Tennessee caused quite a stir on Tuesday when it was announced that Knoxville Catholic High School's Daniel Hood signed with the Vols as part of the 2009 recruiting class.
We learned three things on American Idol tonight: Paula Abdul is way past her prime, Slash is always cool as hell and Allison Iraheta is not in the final 3.
Slash and the Idol contestants performed the Alice Cooper hit School's Out to open the show. It was mainly badass because of Slash, but anyway, it was still a nice way to start the show off.
Paula Abdul performed live for the first time ever on Idol and it was a pretty painful experience. We finally know that the reason she always says positive things about all the contestants is so they won't bash her and her music. Abdul's style was popular in the 80's and early 90's, but it just doesn't work anymore.
No Doubt performed their 1995 hit Just A Girl and Daughtry performed their new hit No Surprise to close out the guest performances for the night. Daughtry is set to release its second album this July.
As for the results, many people predicted Kris to go home tonight, but he was the first sent to safety, leaving the decision to Adam, Allison or Danny. We all knew that Adam would be safe, so it came down to Allison and Danny. Even though he murdered the last note of Aerosmith's Dream On last night, Danny somehow made the final three. So, Allison left the show tonight. She made an awesome run at it and she has a great career in front of her.
Next week each contestant will sing two songs: The judges pick and a personal choice.
University of Alabama senior kicker Leigh Tiffin was allegedly assaulted in downtown Tuscaloosa, Alabama early this morning according to Tuscaloosa police.
A friend of mine sent me this today in my e-mail and I thought I would share it with you. I have no idea where it originated from, but it's pretty damn funny.
WHY ATHLETES CAN'T HAVE REGULAR JOBS...
1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me."
2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."
3. And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the 'Skin's say: "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl," Matt Millen of the Raiders said: "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too."
4. Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings."
5. Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
6. Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh : "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes."
7. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height." And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, and then line up in a circle."
8. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton ."
9. Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes."
10. Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning, regardless of what time it is."
11. Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt."
12. Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I told him, 'Son,what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.'"
13. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."
14. In the words of NC State great Charles Shackelford I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious.
15. Amarillo High School and Oiler coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she is too damn ugly to kiss good-bye.
With one week until the finale, this week is a test to the players commitment to living the healthy lifestyle. The players are sent home for 30 days to see how they keep up with their diets and exercise routines away from the ranch. At the end of the 30 days, the contestants return to the ranch for one final weigh-in before the finale.
The big challenge this week was for each contestant to run a marathon. Yea, I had to do a double take when I first heard that too. This is the biggest challenge ever on this show. For those of you that don't know, a full marathon is 26.2 miles. This is not an easy task for anybody, much less the Biggest Loser contestants. They all completed the marathon. Ron had to stop and rest for a little bit, but he didn't care - he was determined to finish. Each contestant earned $10 thousand to give to a charity of their choice for completing the marathon. It was awesome that they all finished, and it truly proves that with determination you really can turn your life around.
It's weigh-in time at the ranch. Here's how the contestants did:
Ron: Lost 10 pounds
Mike: Lost 10 pounds
Tara: Lost 10 pounds
Helen: Lost 7 pounds
Ron and Mike are both below the yellow line, so that means that it is up to America to vote which one of those two will compete with Tara and Helen for the title of the Biggest Loser.
The finale is next week and I can't wait!
It's rock week on American Idol, and the four final contestants better bring their 'A' games tonight. At the beginning of the show Ryan Seacrest mentions that the stage fell apart just before dress rehearsal so the contestants never got to warm up. Oh well, the show must go on right.
Ryan also drops another bomb on us by telling us that the contestants will be singing duets as well as performing their individual songs. The mentor this week is former Guns N' Roses bad ass guitarist Slash. It should be an awesome show tonight. Here's how it went down:
Adam Lambert - Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin
This show has started freaking awesome for me. The song Adam picked was perfect for him in every way. It allowed him to be himself, but it had the rock edge that was needed this week. Adam will always look comfortable up there on stage and this week he showed that he has the edge necessary to actually be a rock star if he wants too. Awesome job all the way around...
Allison Iraheta - Cry Baby by Janis Joplin
Heading into this song, I had high expectations for her given that she has pursued the rock angle the entire competition. Allison this week was very good. It was a pretty decent song choice for her given the range of the song. It is a very powerful song, and even though Allison is 17 years old, you would never know it. She has a very powerful voice and she showed it off tonight. I still feel like she could have done better tonight.
Kris Allen - Come Together by The Beatles
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I was a little scared for Kris at first, but once the song got going, I was feeling it. Another strong performance from Kris, it wouldn't be my top pick for tonight, but he definitely shouldn't be going home after that.
Danny Gokey - Dream On by Aerosmith
Danny picked one of the most recognizable songs in rock history. I don't know if it was necessarily a smart choice for Danny because he didn't perform it very well. The scream at the end of that song is the most recognizable screams in rock history and Danny doing it was just painful. It was a ballsy performance, but for me tonight - he could be in trouble.
Duets
Kris & Danny - Renegade by Styx
Okay this is slightly on the fluffy side. Whoever the hell came up with the idea to do rock duets with American Idol contestants should be punched in the temple. These contestants can barely maintain a stage presence on their solo performances, so how are they going to control the awkwardness of performing a duet.
Anyway, Kris shocked me a little bit because he could actually do the rock thing even though he is a pretty laid back chill kind of artist. Danny looked very uncomfortable up there, but he did alright. Not my least favorite Danny performance by any means - but far from the best.
Adam & Allison - Slow Ride by Foghat
It was a smart choice to put these two in a duet at the end of the show. It was pretty good, but Slow Ride isn't necessarily a tough song. Anyway, awesome job and it was a great way to close an awesome show.
Knox Animal Performance Scale: (1=best, 4=worst)
1. Adam Lambert
2. Kris Allen
3. Allison Iraheta
4. Danny Gokey
Former Green Bay Packers and last year's New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre is once again contemplating coming out of retirement to play in the NFL. The prospected team right now - the Minnesota Vikings.
When Favre ended last season and said that he was gone for good, did anybody truly believe the guy? There is no question that Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, but the longer he continues to play - the more his legacy is getting tarnished. Evidenced from last year's second half of the season collapse, Favre is no longer the player he was when he was a three-time MVP with the Packers.
Favre wants revenge on the Packers and the only way that he would come back to the NFL would be if he were to sign in the NFC Central division. The Chicago Bears just landed Jay Cutler as their franchise quarterback, the Detroit Lions just payed a shit load of money for No. 1 pick quarterback Matt Stafford, and we all know that he doesn't get along with the Packers anymore. The only team left is the Vikings, and they could use Favre.
The Vikings have been looking for a quarterback to step up the past few seasons, and even though Favre is nowhere close to player he once was, he could help the Vikings. It is a perfect fit and probably the only place I could see Favre playing this season - anywhere else would be pointless.
Wide Receiver Ahmad Paige has decided to leave the University of Tennessee to pursue a playing career elsewhere. The transferring school is not known at this time, but it seems safe to assume that it won't be another SEC school or a team that the Vols will face in the near future.
Knox Animal first reported that Paige was going to transfer on 4/22/09, but now it has been confirmed by several sources.
The rising sophomore never blossomed into the star that he was supposed to become as a highly ranked recruit coming out of Monroe, LA, so the news of the transfer isn't shocking. It is just another example of Kiffin's willingness to get rid of the players that don't fit into his plan. Vols fans shouldn't be too upset about this because Paige has been an incredible bust and nothing suggests that he will turn into a big time contributor on the college football level. It also frees up another scholarship that Kiffin will use to get a player in that fits into his system.
University of Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has once again decided it is time to dip into the marriage pool. The coach announced that he was engaged to Sevierville, TN native Brandy Miller at the first of three stops on the Big Orange Caravan Monday in Sevierville.
Pearl's ex-wife, Kim Shrigley, opened up Alimony's Hair & Nail Salon off of Kingston Pike in Knoxville. She funded her business with money from the divorce settlement.
We hope it goes better for Pearl this time around.
Arizona Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin and defensive tackle Darnell Dockett both were sent to have MRI's on their 'injured' hamstrings yesterday. This is ironic, since both of these players have contract issues.
The Cardinals made a big mistake by not trading Boldin before the draft and now they could be paying the price. Personally, I think that Boldin is an idiot for not wanting to be in Arizona because he is playing alongside the best receiver in the game, Larry Fitzgerald, who is often double-teamed to free up Boldin. However, Boldin is a pretty damn good receiver himself, so he does deserve a pay raise. It has been noted that Fitzgerald is willing to restructure his contract so that Boldin can be signed.
As for Darnell Dockett, I don't know why the Cardinals are hesitant to give this guy a deal. Dockett had a monster year last year and tore apart offensive lines in the playoffs. This guy is emerging into a star, but for whatever reason Arizona won't give him a new contract.
I usually despise the fact that athletes bitch about their contracts, because they make so much money in comparison to the majority of the people in world. However, in this case the Cardinals' front office is the real problem. Boldin and Dockett are stars on this team that made it to the Super Bowl last year, so keeping them is imperative. As for the hamstring 'injuries', that is a different story. Dockett and Boldin need to get their asses back on the practice field because nobody likes liars.
Jake Heaps, rated the No. 1 quarterback for 2010 by Scout.com is a very wanted man and the University of Tennessee is right there at the top fighting for him.
