by Tom Mattingly | Apr 19, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly When push comes to shove for quarterbacks battling for playing time, as is the case this spring and more than likely going into the fall, there are a number of cliches that seem applicable. “The No. 2 quarterback is always the most popular guy in...
by Tom Mattingly | Apr 11, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Tom Mattingly What is the greatest run in Tennessee football history? Opinions vary. If Hank Lauricella’ s 75-yard run in the first quarter of the 1951 Cotton Bowl game against Texas is No. 1, Johnny Butler’s run against Alabama in 1939 is 1a, and Jay Graham’s...
by Tom Mattingly | Apr 5, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Record-setting performances happen in unexpected places, at unexpected times. It happened in a televised game in the days there were precious few games on the tube. On Nov. 9, in the ninth game of the 1966 season, Tennessee was unranked in AP’s Top...
by Tom Mattingly | Mar 29, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly “It’s not how many years a man has lived. It’s how many people are glad that he did.” That’s the Bob Campbell storyline when you attempted to sum up a life that spanned 72 years and 19 days, one that ended on Nov. 18, 2017. It was a daunting task, but...
by Tom Mattingly | Mar 22, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Three events in the mid-1960s helped define the era in Knoxville basketball history and the immediate future of the University of Tennessee basketball program. The protagonists in one specific drama were Bill Justus and Jimmy England, who were playing...
by Tom Mattingly | Mar 15, 2021 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly There are times in a lifetime of watching and commenting about sports and assessing its impact on otherwise sane and sensible people that the time comes to sit down and rationally consider what the fuss is all about. One dominant recollection...
