Congrats goes out to Gabby Barrett and her husband Cade Foehner as they announce the birth of their daughter!
Gabby posted on Monday night January 25th, “Gotten to spend a very sweet week with our newest addition.. meet our girl Baylah May Foehner 1.18.21″
Cade added, “The Lord Jesus has given me so much that I scarce can believe it. Not only to be saved from sin because of His Gospel but to also be given a Wife who is not only my best friend in the whole wide world but who also has bore me a child. I am a blessed man beyond my understanding”
Barry Gibb has revisited some of his most iconic songs in the new album Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook (Vol. 1) — which is available now.
The 12 tracks include vocal contributions from Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Sheryl Crow, Little Big Town, and others, including Dolly Parton, who joins the former Bee Gees front man on “Words.”
In a behind the scenes video on the making of the track, Dolly admits that it’s one of her favorite Bee Gees songs. After asking Barry how long ago he wrote “Words,” he replied “40 years ago” to which Dolly joked that she’s heard it for 40 years, but never thought she’d get to sing on a version of it with him.
Also in the behind the scenes video, you can watch Barry and Dolly not only working on the song, but there’s a moment where Dolly thanks Barry for writing and producing her hit song “Islands in the Stream” which she sang with Kenny Rogers. The two also trade memories, and Barry notes that they are in the very same studio where Dolly recorded her own iconic songs “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.”
Check out the behind the scenes video with Dolly Parton and Barry Gibb, right here…
Kenny Chesney celebrated the 16th anniversary of one of his most personal, and favorite, albums with a special performance.
Be As You Are (Songs From An Old Blue Chair) was released on January 25th 2005.
Sitting in the “old blue chair” Kenny shared a special message “Hey everybody, it’s Kenny. Today is the 16th anniversary of the release of one of my favorite albums that I ever put out, the Be As You Are (Songs From An Old Blue Chair) is a collection of songs that I wrote over about a 5 or 6 year period on my boat down in the islands…and it was a lot of fun and inspiration, I can tell you that.”
He then proceed to sing an acoustic version “Old Blue Chair.” Finishing with a message of thanks to his fans for loving his music, Kenny also said he misses seeing them, and can’t wait to play live for the them again sometime soon.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee baseball team garnered its second preseason ranking on Monday, coming in at No. 19 in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25.
The Vols are also ranked 19th in the D1Baseball.com Preseason Top 25, which was released last week.
The SEC led all conferences with nine teams in Baseball America’s preseason poll. Florida enters the season ranked No. 1, while No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 6 Vanderbilt, No. 8 Mississippi State and No. 10 LSU all earned top-10 rankings to begin the season.
View Baseball America’s complete preseason top 25 rankings by clicking HERE.
Tennessee was ranked as high as No. 11 last year before the season was halted and eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vols were off to a 15-2 start and ranked among the nation’s leaders in a number of statistical categories.
UT led the country in runs (180) and ranked second in home runs (31) while batting .320 as a team (fifth nationally). The pitching staff was equally as impressive, ranking fifth nationally in ERA (2.00) and second in WHIP (0.94).
Tennessee returns the vast majority of its production from last season. Returning players accounted for 74% of the team’s hits and 69% of the team’s runs batted in. From a pitching standpoint, UT returns 81% of its total innings pitched and 79% of its strikeouts from last year.
The Vols are set to open their season on February 19 when they travel to Statesboro, Georgia for a weekend series against Georgia Southern. The 2021 schedule can be found by clicking HERE.
For the most up-to-date news and information on Tennessee baseball, visit UTSports.com/sports/baseball and follow the team on social media (Twitter & Instagram: @Vol_Baseball | Facebook.com/VolBaseball).
In the 1990s, Tennessee was one of the top 10 football jobs in the nation.
During that decade, only Florida State, Florida and Nebraska had more wins among the top-level programs, and UT won a national title and three SEC titles.
But Tennessee is no longer a top 10 job.
In fact, it is not even a top 25 job — now.
That’s why Tennessee has been turned down by so many coaches in the last dozen years.
The stock value of a job comes and goes in cycles, and UT is on a down cycle.
Not only has UT had eight losing seasons in 13 years, it has not won the SEC East since 2007 and it is likely to be hit with major sanctions due to ‘’ stunning’’ and ‘’shocking’’ and ‘’serious’’ NCAA rules violations. The words in quotes are from UT chancellor Donde Plowman.
Alabama wasn’t all that attractive when it hired Mike Dubose, Mike Price and Mike Shula.
Oklahoma wasn’t all that attractive when it hired Gary Gibbs and John Blake.
LSU wasn’t all that attractive when it hired Curly Hallman and Gerry DiNardo.
But look at those three programs now.
The Tennessee job can – and likely will be — very attractive again.
But considering the number of players that have entered the transfer portal, and that UT hasn’t won the SEC East in 13 years and that the NCAA is about to drop the hammer, the ‘’brand’’ needs some polishing before it shines again.
I’m not so sure UT’s program isn’t in the worst shape it’s been since 1963, when the Vols went 5-5, scored 168 points and were till running the Wing-T, which cost them two terrific quarterbacks prospects who won a Heisman Trophy (Steve Spurrier at Florida) and a national championship (Steve Sloan at Alabama.)
UT’s five wins in 1963 were against Richmond, Chattanooga, Tulane, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
John Majors didn’t inherit a lot of talent from a 6-5 team in 1977, but at least the Vols were not facing NCAA sanctions.
Lane Kiffin inherited two first-round draft picks (Eric Berry, Dan Williams) and four other NFL draft picks – all taken before Round Six.
Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt also took over teams that weren’t blessed with great talent, but, again, no NCAA cloud hovering above.
Tennessee’s next coach faces a monumental rebounding job.
If he puts together a quality staff and recruits well and finds a top-notch quarterback, he can become respectable and competitive in a hurry.
After all, Butch Jones won nine games in his third and fourth years.
NOTE: Tennessee’s new AD Danny White is expected to hire at least two from his Central Florida staff: Chris McFarlane and Cameron Walker (compliance). UT also recently hired from UCF Rhett Brooks (Dan’s son) as assistant strength and conditioning coach.
Parker McCollum ended 2020 strong, with his song “Pretty Heart” hitting the number-one spot on the country airplay charts.
Now, he’s getting his 2021 up and running in a big way – not only does he have a new single, and video, out, “To Be Loved By You,” but turns out he’ll also be making his Grand Ole Opry debut this year!
February 6th, 2021, Parker will be taking the Opry stage for the very first time. Of course this is an offer that he would never turn down, but getting asked was made a little sweeter because the invite was extended by Dierks Bentley.
Check out the moment when Dierks, who will also be there the night of the 6th, facetimed Parker to invite him to his Opry debut.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 25 Lady Vols rolled to a commanding victory over No. 12 Kentucky on Sunday, winning 70-53 in Thompson-Boling Arena.
The win was UT’s third victory over a top-15 team this season, its highest number of wins over ranked opponents since the 2017-18 season.
Tennessee (10-3, 4-1 SEC) was led in scoring by sophomore Tamari Key, who posted a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Senior Rennia Davis turned in a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. Junior Rae Burrell and senior Kasiyahna Kushkituah were also in double digits with 13 and 11, respectively.
Chasity Patterson was the high scorer for Kentucky (11-4, 4-3 SEC) with 15 points, and Rhyne Howard was close behind with 14, though UT’s stifling defense relegated the 2020 SEC Player of the Year into a 3-for-16 shooting day from the field.
Kentucky jumped out to an early 3-1 lead off a KeKe McKinney trey less than a minute in, but Marta Suárez tied it up with a quick jumper off the rebound on the other end, setting off an 11-0 run that put the Lady Vols up 12-3 by the media timeout. Following the break Howard hit a long-range 3-pointer to end the drought for the Wildcats, and Robyn Benton hit a 10-footer on the next possession to cut the UK deficit to four. The four-point gap held until Jordan Walker hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to extend Tennessee’s lead to six and send the game into the second period with the scoreboard reading 18-12.
The Lady Vols came out shooting cold from the floor in the second, failing to convert on their first six possessions while Kentucky tied it up at 18-all by the 5:32 mark. Burrell broke the slump for UT, converting on a trey 15 seconds later to make the score 21-18 at the media break. Following the timeout, Suárez and Burrell both added layups, stretching the lead to seven before Olivia Owens and Patterson combined to pull Kentucky within three with 1:09 left in the half. Burrell would add two more points before the final buzzer, making the halftime score 27-22 in favor of the Big Orange.
Horston found Key alone in the paint for UT’s first bucket of the second half, and Key followed it up with two more baskets over the next two possessions, putting the Lady Vols up by 11 just under two minutes in. Howard hit one of a pair of free throws for Kentucky, but the Lady Vols kept the pressure on, holding UK without a field goal for four and a half minutes while Davis and Key combined for five points to stretch the lead to 38-23 before Patterson converted on a trey to put the score at 38-26 at the media break. Both teams came out of the timeout hot, each scoring on their next two possessions to move the score to 43-31 by the 3:24 mark, but UT held Kentucky scoreless for the rest of the quarter while scoring eight unanswered points to take a 49-31 lead into the final stanza.
The Lady Vols kept the pressure on, opening the fourth with a 9-1 run to lead by 26 points with 5:53 left to play. The teams traded baskets through the 3:39 mark, with Tennessee leading by 25 points after Key’s final bucket of the game. UT’s reserves got some action in the closing minutes, and the Wildcats closed out the game with a 10-4 run to bring the final margin to 17, 70-53.
Up Next: UT will play its third-straight home game on Thursday, hosting Ole Miss for a 7 p.m. contest that will be streamed on SECN+.
Lockdown Defense: Tennessee held Kentucky to season lows of 53 points and 28.6 percent shooting from the field. Coming into today’s game, the Wildcats were averaging 77.7 ppg. on 45.8 percent shooting. It marked the ninth time in 12 games UT has held an opponent to 40 percent shooting or lower and it was the sixth time the Lady Vols have limited a foe to 53 points or fewer.
Key’s Hot Streak: With 19 points against Kentucky, sophomore Tamari Key has now been in double digits for five-straight games, averaging 14.0 ppg., 6.2 rpg., and 2.2 bpg. over than span.
Rennia Cleaning Glass: Senior Rennia Davis pulled down 11 first-half rebounds en route to a career-high 20 boards on the day. That total ties her for fifth all-time among Lady Vols for rebounds in a single game. It marked the most boards by a UT player since Glory Johnson collected 21 vs. DePaul on March 19, 2012, and the most by a Lady Vol at Thompson-Boling Arena since Daedra Charles carded 22 vs. Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) on March 16, 1991.
Double-Double Davis: With 15 points and 20 rebounds, Davis logged her 35th career double-double to tie Mary Ostrowski for fifth all-time among Lady Vols. She is now just one shy of catching fourth-place Glory Johnson.
Horston Dishing: Sophomore Jordan Horston tied her season high of seven assists against Kentucky. If the season ended today, her average of 4.15 apg. would rank sixth all-time among Lady Vol sophomores. She currently ranks No. 4 in career assists averaged at 4.48 through 44 games.
Legendary interviewer Larry King passed away this weekend at the age 87.
Known for his radio and TV career, including 25 years with CNN’s Larry King Live, the channel’s longest-running, and most-watched program, Larry interviewed thousands and thousands of people, and celebrities, including Tim McGraw.
Tim shared a clip of one of their conversations with this message, “I’ve had several opportunities throughout my career to sit and talk with Mr King. Some of my favorite discussions and interviews. Always welcoming, knowledgeable and generous with his interest in the discussion…Wish we had more shows like his to get to know folks on a different level. He was one of kind. #RIPLARRYKING”
