by design | Sep 6, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Tom Mattingly The year was 1971, 50 years ago. Neyland Stadium seated 64,429, with a new southwest upper deck scheduled to open in 1972. Fifty years is an eternity by anybody’s standards, but for veteran Vol fans, 1971 was an amazing time, a season that had enough...
by design | Aug 15, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Tom Mattingly Speaking of Thursday night University of Tennessee football games, Oct. 3, 1996, was a Thursday. No 9 Tennessee was in Memphis to play Ole Miss at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. It was a “home game” for Ole Miss and was beamed nationwide on ESPN. It’s...
by design | Aug 8, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Tom Mattingly Sometimes sportswriters come up with an idea that makes sense years later. The year was 1926. It was a Monday, Labor Day, Sept. 6. The baseball pennant races were in full swing. The football season was set to begin on Sept. 25. A new coach was ready...
by design | Aug 1, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Tom Mattingly When Tennessee and Arkansas squared off in the 1971 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, on Monday night, Dec. 20, the teams had not met in 64 years and shared little in common other than state borders defined by the Mississippi River. Tennessee and...
by design | Jul 25, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Tom Mattingly When you look at the life and influence of Dr. Andrew Joseph Kozar, the one term that does not apply is “one-dimensional.” He was not “just” an athlete, not “just” a scholar, not “just” an author. He was all that … and much more. Kozar, who died on...
by design | Jul 19, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly The solitude of the Sunday after Christmas in 2004 was shattered by the midday phone call from colleague John Painter in Dallas, as the Vols were preparing for the Cotton Bowl game against Texas A&M The message was this: Former Vol defensive...
