Lane Kiffin will just have to keep Tennessee students warm this winter

>> Wednesday, December 3, 2008

I'm a University of Tennessee alum (undergrad and grad), and grew up in Knoxville, so Tennessee orange--and Tennessee football--is kind of in my blood. It's been a rough time for Tennessee football fans of late, what with another disappointing season and the ouster of long-time head coach Phil Fulmer.

So I read with perhaps more than passing interest the news about the hiring of young Lane Kiffin (seen above), former head coach of the equally pathetic Oakland Raiders, to be Tennessee's new football coach. Then I filed that information away and turned my thoughts to Tennessee men's basketball, which is finally enjoying the success the women's side has had for decades.

But then a headline on my favorite sports blog, Deadspin, caught my eye. Check out this funny "coincidence" cited by an eagle-eyed Knoxville news reader. The first was a headline in Monday's Knoxville News Sentinel, the second in Tuesday's paper:

Lane Kiffin will make $2 million next season to coach the University of Tennessee football team. Meanwhile, UT students will have to deal with colder classrooms this winter, as the university "aims to cut its annual energy bill by $2 million."

Well, that money has to come from somewhere, right?

It's all about priorities, people.

4 comments:

Anonymous,  December 3, 2008 at 1:26 PM  

HA! That's a great find!

Fabricationist December 3, 2008 at 1:32 PM  

Reminds me of a time when the University had to ask the athletic Dept for money to keep the library open and they gave something like $200K while they also went and bought another $100K free weight set to replace the one they'd just bought that didn't have the university's name on the weights (that one was put in storage). I think their net profit that year was something like $15 Mil.

Too bad the Joneses aren't around.

Unknown December 3, 2008 at 10:52 PM  

Heh. Not terribly surprised. Something similar happened at Fordham. Though, it was never this blatantly obvious.

Though, we also had our Football Coach announce we'd get a better field for the team if they won the Patriot League. They did. And word is mum on a field.

Wonder if Kiffin is prepared for the Body Farm? My understanding is that the stadium is right in the line of fire if there's a strong northerly wind. ;-) Not that that University feature is mentioned on the UT Web site.

Anonymous,  December 4, 2008 at 6:56 PM  

Glenn and I predict the new catch phrase among dorm residents: "Dude, it's Kiffin cold in here."

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