Travis has become enamored of several objects, phrases or events which he frequenly references in the column. Among the most frequent:
'Bama Bangs - a term coined by Travis to refer to southern men's hairstyles that feature prominent bangs for no apparent reason. Brodie Croyle and John Parker Wilson are oft-cited violators of 'Bama Bangs rules.
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When Clay Travis, acclaimed author of Dixieland Delight, decided to spend the 2008 season up close and personal with UT football, he—and every other college football aficionado—thought he was in for a rollicking ride with one of the leading contenders for the national title. After all, when the Vols kicked off the season on September 1, the defending SEC East champions were ranked 18th in the country. As head coach Phillip Fulmer prepared for the game, he reflected upon a coaching career that included an astounding 147 victories, two SEC championships, and a national title. With 34 years at UT under his belt as both a player and coach, the Tennessee native had just signed a contract extension that projected to keep him at the university long enough to become the winningest coach in program history.
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There is no college ball more passionate and competitive than football in the Southeastern Conference, where seven of the twelve schools boast stadiums bigger than any in the NFL and 6.5 million fans hit the road every year to hoot and holler their teams to victory.
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The newly favored man is not really a man at all, but a hairless, effeminate, germ-fearing, non-meat-eating, exfoliating, wristband-wearing woman of the worst order. We as men are told that we must embrace the sacred feminine in ourselves, even if it doesn't actually exist, and become the very quintessence of woman, plus penises. This situation is untenable. This trend must stop.
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Clay Travis is the only former student manager in the history of college athletics to marry an NFL cheerleader. He managed to pull this off despite an irrational affinity for the television shows Dawson's Creek and My Super Sweet 16. While being raised in Nashville, Tenn., Travis developed a healthy obsession with college sports and Alyssa Milano. As a teenager his greatest accomplishment was taking a doo-rag wearing Luke Duke (balling as Tom Wopat) to the hole at the Nashville YMCA.
In the midst of a stellar legal career during which he specialized in rewarding the unjust and punishing the oppressed, Travis began writing for CBS Sports's SPiN section in September 2005...
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So what of the Je'ron Stokes apostrophe jumping ship?
Good point.
Even better though. It's Je'Ron. He's jumping ship to the Big Ten. Which is like a r'at jumping from a dry continent to the Titanic.
So maybe there's an exception there. Or maybe we're both screwed.
I know that we don't really know anything about the real story of the Nu'Keese recruitment, unless it really as messed up as it seems...
but supposedly he didn't even tell Meyer he was going to Knoxville.
I don't know enough about rules, but it seems like a bad deal if you call a recruit while they are somewhere, and you don't know where they are, and that's a violation.
Or maybe Kiffin made the whole thing up.
One thing's for sure: we'll be gunning for 70 in Gainesville in September. It might be the one home game that doesn't feature Johnny Brantley for a half.
Did Gators just say something was "a bad deal"? Holy smoke -- it's a cult!
Kiffin obviously wants to pick a fight with the rest of the SEC coaches. What's he going to say when the Gators put 59 on him this year?
HR
Lane may want to be careful about writing checks his ass can't cash, and other such platitudes. But I guess when you haul in the 5th-7th best recruiting class in your own conference, you've got reason to be confident.
It's not a violation, never has been. Maybe Spurrier was right about Kiffin not knowing the rules.
http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20090205/ARTICLES/902050920/1136?Title=Florida_reacts_angrily_to_Kiffin_s__false__accusation
"There is no rule that would prohibit Coach Meyer from calling a prospect at Tennessee on a Friday or Saturday during an official visit during a contact period," said Jamie McCloskey, UF's NCAA compliance director. "There's never been a rule. I've been doing this for a long time. Not only has there never been a rule, there's never been an discussion about having a rule."
lol...well that turned out well.
I think Kiffin is an errogant punk. He is trying to start problems all around the sec. He has yet to prove a single thing either, granted putting together a good staff. ROll TIDE!!!
Is it just me, or does Kiffin come across as a very odd character through this and his other actions?
Also, Clay, your old buddy Dodd, in his blog, also says this isn't a violation. And points out the same 'how is Meyer supposed to know where Nu'Keese is anyway' I brought up earlier.
http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270202/13413779
I'd also like to point out that i, even tho I often post as JB with gatorsfirst, am not the JB on here. I haven't even looked at the recruiting rankings enough to know if his 5th-7th best is accurate, but he makes a good point about the way Lane seems to e picking fights in a conference where there's plenty of hate already.
This statement was just released from Gators AD Jeremy Foley:
“There was no rule violation and we have confirmed this with
Southeastern Conference. It is obvious that Coach Kiffin doesn’t know that there is not a rule precluding phone contact with a prospect during an official visit on another campus during a contact period.
"His allegations are inappropriate, out of line and, most importantly, totally false. It is completely unfair to Urban Meyer, our coaching staff, our football program and our institution. The appropriate action at this time in my opinion is for Coach Kiffin to make a public apology.
His comments not only slandered our coach, but he violated SEC rules by publicly criticizing another coach and institution."
I have no idea, but I trust Meyer and Foley's knowledge of the rules over Kiffin's.
So, how much do you think Urban's going to hang on UT this fall? Are we taking bets yet?
Ha, ha the Gates are mad. Mission accomplished, Lane.
Lane should learn the rules before he starts running his mouth, or maybe he should win a game in the SEC first too. Gonna be fun beating up on UT again.
"Ha, ha the Gates are mad. Mission accomplished, Lane."
Interesting mission. How did that work out for Mark Richt?
Richt won in 2007, lost in 2008.
Point is, this stuff is red meat for the UT faithful. Pretty smart move by Lane. Unite everyone at Tennessee in their hatred of Bama and Florida.
Now, he has to win eventually. But right now he's taking a page from the Bruce Pearl book of self-promotion. It's worked well for Pearl.
We'll see if it works well for Lane. Honestly, today has me more fired up as a UT fan than I've been in a long time. Mission accomplished. Now win some games.
Bruce Pearl was a highly successful college coach before he set foot in Knoxville. Your boy was a QB coach under Pete Carroll and a failed NFL coach. A little bit of a difference.
You should rightly be fired up as a UT fan for stealing our guys, and I have no problem with him bragging about that. But making up false accusations to get a rise out of a crowd is just stupid. Or he didn't know the rules, which would also be stupid. I don't recall Bruce Pearl making false accusations about Billy Donovan.
Good points on Pearl. But given his history turning in cheating programs Pearl treads lightly in that regard.
I think he knew it wasn't a violation and I think he probably didn't expect it to be a national story. Just red meat for UT people.
In the future they may sweep the room of media members before he speaks.
I like it. What Kiffin and Pearl both realize is that, at heart, they're entertainers. I wish coaches went at it like this more often. You know it happens in private, why put on a false front?
"Richt won in 2007, lost in 2008."
Exactly. He pissed Meyer off during the win in 2007, and got his ass handed to him in 2008. Considering UT's glaring lack of talent and still-unsolved problem at QB, I think most rational SEC fans expect a similar result when UT goes into the Swamp in September.
Maybe.
I just don't see the talent gap as that glaring. We were awful on offense last year, but our defense only gave up 14 touchdowns all season. Finished third or fourth in the country. And that was before Monte.
This year's class is only going to have about 20 players but they're a pretty decent crop (Rivals has them 17 overall and number 11 when you factor in the average number of stars.
Yeah, we'll probably lose to Florida in Gainesville, but we'd probably lose with Belichick as coach next year. This isn't about a one-year thing. It's a process. And sometimes a part of that process involves making it known that you aren't intimidated by your rivals.
I think recruits will eat that up. And I think this thing is directed at recruits and Vol fans more than anyone else.
Well not sure how the coach looking like a dope who doesn't know the rules helps with recruits, but I guess I can see this playing well with the fan base. But really, if you need tricks to help fire up the fan base at UT of all places, you're probably out of your league.
As far as the recruiting rankings, ESPN had them 5th in the SEC in theirs, Rivals 7th.
And whoever thinks this is making Gator fans angry has it completely the opposite. As a Gator fan, I love it, because dude either has terrible judgement in what he's letting hit the press, or doesn't know the rules. This seems like one of those things that could really turn on him if they start 3-2 or something.