Randy Smith: A Bad Penny And Coach Warlick

I hate to rant again this close to Christmas, I really do, but two things are really bothering me this week. First of all the poor sportsmanship exhibited by University of Memphis Coach Penny Hardaway after his Tigers dropped a 102-92 decision at home to third ranked Tennessee, is not only surprising but it's ridiculous. He even cursed at Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes and accused him of complaining about his Tigers "flopping" too much, even though Barnes never said anything publicly about the Tigers' "flopping." He even further accused the Volunteers of coming off the bench with their fists "balled" and ready for a fight. An icy handshake between the two head coaches following the game was more than evident and the bad blood between the two men seems to be getting worse. 

The rivalry between the two schools has always been intense to say the least. If you remember just a little more than a decade ago, similar jawing back and forth between the coaches was the norm rather than the exception. Only the names of the coaches have changed. In 2008 or so, it was John Calipari at Memphis doing the jawing with Tennessee's Bruce Pearl. Back then the coaches each did about the same amount of jawing, eventually causing the series to be suspended. But this time, Rick Barnes is completely innocent of stepping into the fray. Penny Hardaway needs to exhibit a little more class and accept the fact that Tennessee is a better team than his Tigers are right now.

Then there are the fickle Tennessee fans who caused my blood to boil once again. The Lady Vols basketball team went through their first eight games of the year undefeated with a young basketball team and after a ten point loss at home to 8th ranked Stanford, the "Legions of the Miserable" are out in force, calling for the University to fire head coach  Holly Warlick. Are you kidding me? Warlick is 161-55 in six plus seasons after replacing the late Pat Summitt as head coach in 2012. The biggest problem I see in Holly Warlick is that she is -not- Pat Summitt. She took on an unbelievably tough job trying to replace arguably the greatest coach of all time who stepped down after being diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimers' type. Summitt passed away in 2016 and no matter who took over as head coach, they weren't going to be Pat Summitt. Holly Warlick took on the responsibility of continuing the Lady Vol tradition and while she has won a lot of games, she has yet to get that national title and the respect that goes with it.

Now her own fan base has been after her for some time, even though athletic director Phillip Fulmer extended her contract just this past spring. Fulmer has always been a Holly Warlick fan and I don't see that changing anytime soon. It would take a monumental collapse for him to cut ties with her as head coach, so Big Orange faithful just sit back and relax. The Lady Vols have the same number of losses as the men's team and both are ranked high in the polls. This is going to be a banner year for basketball in our state so let's all enjoy it. Except for Penny Hardaway. He obviously doesn't seem to be able to enjoy anything.