For most Father’s Day is a great time to connect with your dad and do something special, or simply just spend time together…but for others the day is left to just memories.
Matt Stell‘s father is no longer with us, but he shares one of his favorite memories of a trip he took with his dad.
Matt recalls, “So, it would have been sometime around 2016 or so. I got my dad for his birthday tickets to go out to the Barrett Jackson auction out in Scottsdale, Arizona. We’ve always watched it on TV and we’ve always been really into cars and stuff like that. I got to go out there with him and a couple of his buddies and man that’s a memory that always stuck with me and he since passed, but that’s something that every time I think about it, I smile because we had a great time. And you know that that love of cars and things like that is is still with me today.”
The University of Tennesseeâs incredible baseball season full of âfirst time sinceâ accomplishments has led to the Vols first College World Series appearance since 2005.
As a part of the Vol Network broadcast, alongside the legendary longtime voice of UT Baseball John Wilkerson, Tennesseeâs season has led to a first for me, everâŚthe College World Series in Omaha.
Check on a bucket list item.
99.1 THE Sports Animal’s coverage of the Vols in the College World Series in Omaha is presented by: Senior Benefit, AG Heins Company, Bobcat of Knoxville, Mercedes Benz of Knoxville and Chattanooga Whiskey.
Friday was travel day for me and my first day in Omaha. Here’s what Friday looked like from “Vince’s View.”
Vinceâs CWS Trip Day 1
Vince’s dog Daphne resting after a day of fun / Credit: Marina McLaughlin
*Leaving my precious rescue dog Mini Goldendoodle, Daphne, for more than half a day for the first time since I adopted her last October was tough but my neighbor is taking great care of her with pictures to show it.
*Headed to McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville to start my journey
*Being a little stressed boarding an airplane for the first time in years and yearsâŚmaybe 7 or 8
*Taking some deep breaths, talking to some passengers on the short flight connecting to Atlanta and doing some CWS prep eased the stress and made the flight easy to manage
*Talking to Vols fan Sam after the flight about Tony Vitello
Enjoyed the small banter at the airport with @VinceSports , hopefully he can find out about Tony V's superstition with the tape. #OmahaBound#InquiringMinds
*Downing a Kosher Dog from Five Guys at Atlanta International Airport during my two-hour layover
*A longer flight to Omaha that went fairly quickly and smoothly
*Appreciative of the hotel shuttle to take me to the Tennessee team hotel where Iâm staying.
*Joining John Wilkerson on SportsTalk for the last hour and a half of the show
*Doing some station work from the hotel
*Dinner with John Wilkerson at DJâs Sports Bar downtown
*Seeing some Vols players at a convenience store down the street (well behaved and polite of course)
Notable Happenings From Friday
*Vols head coach Tony Vitello was named National Coach of the Year by both NCBWA and Perfect Game…yes, he wasn’t SEC Coach of the Year by some outlets, as many believed he should have been but this is scoreboard
*Vols team, thatâs been practicing at Creighton University, practiced at TD Ameritrade Park for the first time
*Took a team photo outside in their sharp practice jerseys
*Tennessee coach Tony Vitello spoke at the NCAA Press Conference and confirmed what many of us expected, that Jr. RHP Chad âCheeseâ Dallas (11-1, 4.10 ERA) would get the ball to start vs. Virginia on Sunday
*Virginia coach Brian OâConnor named Friday guy Andrew Abbott (8-6, 3.04 ERA) as their starter vs. Tennessee
*Evan Russell spoke at UTâs Media avail held by the NCAA and said this season has made him think a little about how good it would be to return next season with another year of eligibility but said he would wait until after the season to make a final decision
PULLMAN, Wash. â Tennessee head baseball coach Tony Vitello has been named the 2021 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Mike Martin National Coach of the Year, the organization announced on Friday.
Vitello becomes just the second head coach in program history to earn National Coach of the Year honors, joining legendary Vols’ skipper Rod Delmonico, who was named National Coach of the Year by Baseball America in 1995. Delmonico led Tennessee to three of its previous four trips to the College World Series (1995, 2001, 2005) and is the program’s career leader in wins with 699 during his time on Rocky Top.
Vitello was also named National Coach of the Year by Perfect Game on Friday, making him the first coach in program history to earn coach of the year honors from two separate organizations.
With an 11-6 win over Georgia on March 19, Vitello became the fastest head coach in program history to win 100 career games with the Vols, overtaking Delmonico’s mark of 163 games. Vitello needed just 153 contests to accomplish the feat.
Vitello has guided Tennessee to one of its best seasons in program history, leading the Big Orange to a 50-16 record and their first College World Series appearance since 2005. The Vols’ 50 wins are the most in a season since a program-record 54 victories in 1995.
Under Vitello’s guidance, UT won its first SEC Eastern division title since 1997 after posting a 20-10 record in league play and winning eight of its 10 conference series, including all five series on the road. Tennessee also made its first appearance in the SEC Tournament Championship Game since 1995.
The Vols will begin their run in Omaha on Sunday afternoon against Virginia following a perfect 5-0 record in the NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals. UT hosted its first regional since 2005 and its first-ever super regional.
The NCBWA Coach of the Year Award, introduced in 2008, is voted on by the NCBWA Board of Directors, and chosen from a list that includes all Division I conference coaches of the year and the coaches of the eight NCAA College World Series teams.
In 2020, the NCBWA board of directors voted unanimously to name the annual award after Mike Martin, the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I baseball history after he retired at Florida State in 2019 with a 2,029-736-4 mark over 40 seasons in leading the FSU program from 1980-2019.
To read the complete release from the NCBWA, click HERE.
Inspiration for songs come from all different places…sometimes it’s a thought you have, or a phrase you hear, or it’s a response to a TikTok video.
When it comes to George Birge‘s “Beer Beer Truck Truck,” he says “This was a song I never meant to finish, I started writing it as a tongue in cheek response to Erynnâs video and could have never imagined the support that listeners showed me. Itâs been a wild ride and I canât wait to show the world what we turned this song into.â
Responding to that video with his new song “Beer Beer Truck Truck” has been a life changer for George – with over 3 million views, hundreds of thousands of new followers and now signed to the label RECORDS Nashville, he’s excited for whatever comes next, “I have never been more ready to start this new chapter in my life. These songs, this opportunity and the team around me are everything Iâve ever dreamed of, and I hope this gives you a glimpse into who I am and where Iâm headed.â
Get to know a little more about George Birge right here…
George adds, “I play live music so that I can write songs and get in the studio, because that’s where my passion is…I love that rush you get when you find something magical.”
Watch the music video for “Beer Beer Truck Truck” from George Birge – available now…
Kenny says âWhen we hit pause on our 2020 tour, I never thought we would go much past the fall, let alone into 2021, the idea that it would be three years before I would stand in the end zone of Gillette Stadium, where No Shoes Nation was born, wasnât something any of us could conceive. I still canât really believe it. But in the middle of all of this, I know itâs true… and I know how much I miss being out there, being in the thick of the most passionate place in the world: No Shoes Nation. Anywhere they plant their flags, bring their passion, their friends and their will to rock, it reminds me that to be in the moment is everything No Shoes Nation is about!”
Kenny says that he held off making a tour announcement until he knew that he could set things is motion, âWith every city, county and state having their own protocols, with capacity numbers shifting every day, I didnât want to announce until we knew we could come full on… strong… and without a care in the world. I always want to be that place where you can let go, feel safe and have the time of the summer. After a lot of work on a lot of peopleâs parts, a lot of cooperation from the folks at the stadiums, the places weâre coming and the teams we share those venues with, weâre ready to announce the Here And Now 2022 Stadium Tour.â
Blue Chair Bay Rum Presents Here And Now 2022 Fueled by Marathon
April 23 Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Fla.
May 7 Busch Stadium St. Louis, Mo.
May 14 American Family Field Milwaukee, Wis.
May 21 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Ga.
May 28 Nissan Stadium Nashville, Tenn.
June 4 AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas
June 11 Heinz Field Pittsburgh, Pa.
June 18 Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, Pa.
June 25 Soldier Field Chicago, Ill.
July 2 GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, Mo.
July 9 Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, Mont.
July 16 Lumen Field Seattle, Wash.
July 23 SoFi Stadium Inglewood, Calif.
July 30 Empower Field at Mile High Denver, Colo.
August 6 U.S. Bank Stadium Minneapolis, Minn.
August 13 MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, N.J.
August 20 Ford Field Detroit, Mich.
August 26 Gillette Stadium Foxborough, Mass.
August 27 Gillette Stadium Foxborough, Mass.
Kenny is just as excited for these concert dates as the fans are, âLike it does for everyone, the idea of music, live music, fills me up. Nothing is so in the moment, so completely alive. I want to start 2022 with the awesome rush that embodies everything playing for No Shoes Nation is. Weâre calling the tour Here And Now 2022, because when we get together, there is only the present â and itâs so electric and good, I know I donât want it to end. I just want to be 100% there with all of you.â
Kenny also thinks the name of the tour is perfect, âLiterally, here and now. In the moment. All of us together, like weâve been so many times, but fresh and alive and in the music. Thatâs why weâre calling it Here And Now 2022. Itâs the perfect name for this tour – I canât wait!â
This is one of the songs that fans will finally get to hear Kenny sing live and in person in 2022…”Knowing You.”
This past weekend Jordan Davis returned to the concert stage for a show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Jordan reacts to playing his first show back after the shutdown of 2020, “You know, being back playing that first show, having a full crowd, full band, feeling like it was normal again, it was crazy.”
He adds, “I donât think we knew how much we missed it, and I havenât been that nervous, since…I canât tell you the last time I had nerves like that walking on a stage. But man, after that first song, it really did feel like we were back.â
Jordan will have more shows throughout 2021, with many festival and fair dates – as well as his own Buy Dirt tour.
Of course fans singing along to this one helped calm those nerves – check out the music video for Jordan Davis’ “Almost Maybes’ right here…
As fans eagerly await the August release of Chris Young‘s next album, Famous Friends, they can get one more piece of the musical puzzle right now with “Rescue Me” – a song that Chris says just “kind of fell into my lap.”
Talking about the track, Chris says “‘Rescue Me’ is one of those songs that kind of fell into my lap. The other four guys that I wrote it with had kind of started the idea. They shot me a short little clip was like, âhey, seeing if this something youâd be interested inâ And I was like, âabsolutely.â And actually, if you go look at the production credit, part of the reason why itâs me and Mark Holman is a lot of that was from the original track that he built a lot of stuff that he played. And I actually sing that in one of my mics in my little downstairs studio. So when I tell you guys that this song is something that jumped off the page and was really special and made during the whole craziness of the past year and a half, itâs 100% true.”
Chris cowrote “Rescue Me” with Mark Holman, Josh Hoge, and Christian Davis Stainecker – and it’s one of the 14-tracks on his upcoming album Famous Friends that is available August 6th.
Listen to the new track right here…
And you can also check out the music video for the album’s title track that features Kane Brown, here…
