Maybe this will lift spirits

#27
#27
I think it helps that Tony set expectations early on. He was extremely vocal in February about how he thought this team was overrated. Which, turned out to be true for awhile. I never understood the Pre-Season #2 ranking to begin with. Felt like a typical over-reaction by the press, similar to the UNC #1 ranking in basketball and similar to all the analysts ranking FAU in the Top 5 for this upcoming season based off one good two week period. We replaced 8 of 9 guys in the lineup.

Back on topic of basketball though, very excited for this season and I think we will be pleasantly surprised. At the very least the offense should be a lot more fun to watch.
 
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#30
#30
Stoked said:
Just went down the rabbit hole of negativity of Vols Twitter. Our fans there hate Barnes. One of these days they'll miss him when we likely go back to bubble watching in Feb/March.
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They think that it’s easy to reach this level and going higher is a given. Like simply get another Bruce - while ignoring the risk of having somebody like him doing severe damage to the university’s reputation and the long term health of the basketball program. Barnes is the 3rd winningest, active coach in the NCAA D-1 and none of those wins were at blue bloods.
 
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#31
#31
bleedingTNorange said:
It’s kind of funny/ironic to me…something tells me if Barnes had a preseason Top 3 team that struggled during the year, got hot and made a run in the postseason but still failed to make the F4 that you’d have many of the same bashers using it as ammo and calling for his retirement…yet Tony gets applauded.

Again, I’m not saying I disagree with it being a good/great coaching job, wasn’t my point, just the irony/difference between the two perceptions.
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This baseball team never should have been rated #2 in the nation...Probably closer to #20, or #25...Finished middle of the pack in the SEC East...
 
#32
#32
malibuvol said:
This baseball team never should have been rated #2 in the nation...Probably closer to #20, or #25...Finished middle of the pack in the SEC East...
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They returned what was widely regarded as the best pitching staff in all of baseball, that alone probably was deserving of them being Top 5-10…various outlets agreed they were a Top 5 team, again it’s just another point that when looking at a team half way through a season Vitello gets benefit of the doubt about being “over ranked” where as Barnes would never get the same luxury. Many fans still bash the COVID year team and yet there are many excuses for that team/roster/season.
 
#33
#33
I’m sure many folks will disagree with me, but I think the reason Barnes gets so much criticism is people of faith are generally disliked by the masses. There’s no logical reason for anyone to bash him for the job he’s done at Tennessee as the program has never been more successful than it’s been under his leadership all without any problems with the NCAA and the athletes stay away from trouble off the court.
 
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#34
#34
walkenvol said:
I’m sure many folks will disagree with me, but I think the reason Barnes gets so much criticism is people of faith are generally disliked by the masses. There’s no logical reason for anyone to bash him for the job he’s done at Tennessee as the program has never been more successful than it’s been under his leadership all without any problems with the NCAA and the athletes stay away from trouble off the court.
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Good point. Plus there are a lot of naive, younger fans that fail to see that wisdom comes with age and experience. There’s a reason that the Final Four is over represented by coaches with the gray hair (Coach K’s was black, but it was shoe polish).
 
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#35
#35
walkenvol said:
I’m sure many folks will disagree with me, but I think the reason Barnes gets so much criticism is people of faith are generally disliked by the masses. There’s no logical reason for anyone to bash him for the job he’s done at Tennessee as the program has never been more successful than it’s been under his leadership all without any problems with the NCAA and the athletes stay away from trouble off the court.
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I personally think it’s personality more than anything…Tony V is very energetic, getting tossed out of games, bumping umps, cussing out other coaches etc etc. a huge part of the fan base blindly loves that, much like they loved Pearl going shirtless, banging coeds on Fort Loudon, or Kiffin partying it up at Roosters.
 
#36
#36
bleedingTNorange said:
I personally think it’s personality more than anything…Tony V is very energetic, getting tossed out of games, bumping umps, cussing out other coaches etc etc. a huge part of the fan base blindly loves that, much like they loved Pearl going shirtless, banging coeds on Fort Loudon, or Kiffin partying it up at Roosters.
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IMG_6147.jpeg
 
#37
#37
bleedingTNorange said:
I personally think it’s personality more than anything…Tony V is very energetic, getting tossed out of games, bumping umps, cussing out other coaches etc etc. a huge part of the fan base blindly loves that, much like they loved Pearl going shirtless, banging coeds on Fort Loudon, or Kiffin partying it up at Roosters.
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Walken makes a good point, and people won't want to admit it for a lot of reasons. However, I think just as much, or more, is personality-related as you said.

Tony V. is the baseball version of Bruce Pearl, and Tennessee fans have been pining for someone in that mold for 15 years. The same people who didn't follow basketball before Pearl, but loved his bravado and "us against the world" attitude. They love the same qualities about Vitello despite probably having never followed Tennessee baseball before last season.
 
#38
#38
cncchris33 said:
Walken makes a good point, and people won't want to admit it for a lot of reasons. However, I think just as much, or more, is personality-related as you said.

Tony V. is the baseball version of Bruce Pearl, and Tennessee fans have been pining for someone in that mold for 15 years. The same people who didn't follow basketball before Pearl, but loved his bravado and "us against the world" attitude. They love the same qualities about Vitello despite probably having never followed Tennessee baseball before last season.
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I sure hope that CTV doesn’t stay on the Pearl or Kiffin paths.
 
#39
#39
cncchris33 said:
Walken makes a good point, and people won't want to admit it for a lot of reasons. However, I think just as much, or more, is personality-related as you said.

Tony V. is the baseball version of Bruce Pearl, and Tennessee fans have been pining for someone in that mold for 15 years. The same people who didn't follow basketball before Pearl, but loved his bravado and "us against the world" attitude. They love the same qualities about Vitello despite probably having never followed Tennessee baseball before last season.
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I think that Tony V actually combines characteristics of Pearl (outgoing, engaging, bravado, sometimes mischievous) and Barnes (seems to be transparent, honest, promotes team as family). TV also seemed to tone down the antics after suspensions last year. The baseVol profile benefited from timing since that 2021 team emerged when the pandemic was winding down, more people were willing/able to attend (outdoor) sports for the first time in a while, other teams (I'm looking at you football) were bad then, and they came out of nowhere. So, circumstances were quite unique.
 
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