Barbecued pork, Tennesee style

Vols 34, Razorbacks 13 With defensive coordinator Johnny Chavis back at the helm of the Tennessee defense (he was gone for a few weeks, right?), the Vols held Darren McFadden to a mere (!) 116 yards rushing, effectively shutting down the Arkansas offense. Impressive play, and for the second time this year (Georgia was the … Read more

Seeing Through Cynicism

I have a confession to make: I am a cynic (though I’m skeptical about the fact). Well, if I’m not a bona fide cynic, I do at the very least have a common tendency to be cynical. My undergraduate major was Advertising, and I studied subjects like persuasion, and targeted communication. When you’ve been trained … Read more

How homecoming is supposed to be

Vols 59, Ragin Cajuns 7 I didn’t go home for the Vols’ homecoming today (judging from the decade-low attendance, few did), but this is the way homecomings are supposed to be. And for one game of the year — this will likely be the last — the Vols routed a team. Granted, Louisiana-Lafayette probably made … Read more

Please, be seated

It’s official. Standing ovations are now meaningless. I recently attended a political event here in Washington where nine presidential candidates came to speak to a crowd of nearly 3000 people. The same crowd gave every candidate a standing ovation. While some of this was due to the politeness of the crowd, it was noteworthy that … Read more

Toward a Tolerable Tolerance

The relationship between religion and politics, always a perennial subject of much consternation, is yet again at forefront of the national discussion. One of the chief questions that always arises out of such debates has to do with whether or not faith even belongs in the public square. The faithful say “yes!,” the unfaithful “no!,” … Read more