Tennessee Boy

I understand that college kids complain. I know I complained about the food in college. The president of the NCAA makes $4 million a year. The commissioners of the major conferences make between $2-$5 million a year. College sports are big business. There's a story in the book I mentioned above about a kid who had a half track scholarship. He was home for Christmas and went with some friends to a basketball game. He was selected to take a shot at halftime to win a car. He hit the shot and won the car. The NCAA found out and told him he had to give the car back or he would loose his eligibility. They go after athletes for very stupid violations of the rules when everyone knows there are major violations happening everywhere that go unpunished. Who knows what's going on with boosters? It's a problem that needs to be stopped but how do you stop it? If I give a Tennessee football player $100 and he accepts it, is that the schools fault? John Wooden is revered for his basketball success at UCLA. We now know a booster was providing all kinds of payments and benefits to players and recruits. That came out years later. Who knows if Wooden was aware of it or not. Similar situation happened with Miami football. How many other things big and small are happening with boosters that no one knows about? I don't think rules should exist if they can't be enforced. Most of the NCAA's rules are not or cannot be enforced. Personally, I'm ready for an above board bidding war for top players. The schools and fans that are willing to pay the price will win. Some players will get rich. There will be a lot less money left over for coaches, conference commissioners, and gaudy athletic facilities. It will be a big mess. Then maybe someone will figure out how to fix it. In the mean time, I think I'm gonna start going to some games at Cumberland University. I doubt if any of the players will be signing deals with Nike. The stadium is 10 miles from house and tickets are $8 with my senior discount. ?

Are that many complaining? They are getting paid. Just under the table. If you want to hate the currently system read "The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football". I'm hoping the supreme court's ruling will stop players from being paid under the table. Now they can be paid above the table and we'll see where that takes us. We might end up with something similar to what happened in Tennessee with high school football. There used to be rules against recruiting. A team here in middle Tennessee was found in violation of those rules. They took it to the US Supreme court and won. Now there's a separate division of private schools in Tennessee that recruit and provide athletic scholarships. They play each other and similar powerhouse schools around the country. The rest of the state plays high school football the way it's always been played.

In my non lawyer legal opinion. It would be fine for a school to do that but they would never get another quality recruit again. If the NCAA or a conference tried to do it it would be illegal (a violation of the Supreme court's ruling).

I'm sure you're aware that all three brands are owned by Johnny Morris. This is just my opinion but I'm not sure he's committed to the Triton brand. It doesn't matter if you like the boat but it could affect the resale value of the boat in the future.

For 42 years ending in 1976, the College All Stars from the previous year's senior class played the Superbowl Champion in a pre season game. Not exactly the same as the best college team playing the worst NFL team but it was still interesting. As I remember, the games were always competitive. The college all-stars were always more motivated than the super bowl champs. The NFL team was more prepared as a unit since they had been through preseason practice together. Most of the all stars were on NFL rosters and left their team to play this one game. The Superbowl champs won 31 of the 42 games.

Very well said Tom. When I was in my 20s and early 30s I expected the rod to detect the strike for me and I spent a lot of money in search of the most “sensitive” rod. It didn’t work.

How much would you pay to be able to cast to 132’?

I completely agree but the football tail has been wagging the college dog for a very long time.

Here’s were it gets crazy. Players can now get paid by sponsors. Schools have lucrative shoe sponsorships. Do they give those up so the players can sign their own shoe deals? It would be better for recruiting but bad for the bottom line. Then there is the possibility of booster driven sponsorships. Some rich fan has a business that doesn’t do much advertising but he starts telling 5 stars recruits that if they sign with his school he will give them a lucrative sponsorship with his paving company. Then there’s less rich fans like me. I can’t afford to pay the players but I can buy my next car from a dealership that does. I lot of the money in the sport is going to start going to the players. I think that’s probably a good thing but it’s really going to shake things up.

Adding Texas an Oklahoma increases the size of the SEC’s television market and thus the size of the television contract. There are many great schools in the south that would love to join the SEC. They never add schools that are already in the existing market. It’s all about money. It’s only about money. I predict college football will change more in the next 10 years than it’s changed in the last 50 years.

I can also tell a noticeable difference in my feel when I put down one rod and pick up another. I’ve found that the biggest factor is the amount of bow in my line. The weight of the lure and the size and type of line make a big difference in how much bow is in the line. Do yourself a favor and rig up two rods with the exact same line and lure. This will reduce all the other factors except the rod. This will help you determine for yourself how important the rod is in determining sensitivity.

These questions get debated often on here and sometimes get heated. I think it boils down to this question. What is your goal? Do you want a nice rod that you can marvel at the quality of workmanship and impress your friends with? If so go high end. Do you just want to catch fish? Go with the two middle of the road rods. My most expensive rod is a St Croix Legend Xtreme. My cheapest is a 30 year old Lew's rod that I paid $20 for back in the day. I've never caught a fish on the Xtream that I couldn't have caught on the old Lew's rod. The Xtreme is pretty though.

The recent Supreme court decision to allow players to accept sponsorship money has the potential to change college sports more than anything in decades. It's gonna be interesting to watch.

I just read that Tennessee is going to be wearing some more stylish uniforms under the new coach/AD. Apparently, the old uniforms were the problem. ?

Duck hunting and crappie fishing is all I’ve ever heard about on Reelfoot.

Very sorry for your loss. Beautiful dog. Labs are the best.

You will need a port like this one on your units.

It looks like a thermocline to me but your screenshot says the water temp is 30 degrees so I don't know. I knew it was cold in Michigan but I didn't think it was that cold in July. ?

Yeah. I've had two. The worst part is prep. The procedure is just a good nap. Interesting story. With my second colonoscopy, I did all the prep and then arrived on schedule at the clinic. I walk up to the desk and told them my name. The lady looked at the schedule then gave me a funny look. She ask if I had done all the prep and then said I was not on the schedule. I had all the paperwork they had sent me and showed her I was scheduled for that date. She told me to have a seat. I sat down and watched as the staff started freaking out. They messed up somehow and did not have me scheduled. The doctor had already left for the day. They were able to call him and he came back to do my procedure. I would not have been happy if I had done the prep for nothing.

Here are the different ways I have done it over the years as technology has progressed 360 Imaging - So easy it's cheating. Side Imaging - If you're paralleling the weed line you can see how far you are from it using side imaging. You need to be able to understand how to read the side imaging when you're not moving or moving slowly. GPS Waypoints - as @Dens228 suggested. Marker Buoys - as @A-Jay suggested. The old school waypoint. I bet I have dropped and retrieved a marker buoy 10,000 times in my life. With new technology, I haven't used one in years. I don't miss them but still carry a couple.

No need to remove the tadpoles. Adult bass will eat just about anything if they’re hungry. Mice, birds, frogs, etc. Give him time. Sounds like a lot of fun. So how big was this bass when you put him in the tank?

Yeah I get that. I’m not gonna be going out of State to catch bait. I almost never fish with live bait. I thought it was illegal to transport fish from one body of water to another. I guess there’s an exception for baitfish ( the legal ones).

I've never fished on a natural lake so my experience might not apply. My experience is that finding offshore fish takes time that is best done when prefishing. If it was me, I would use any pre fishing time searching offshore for fish. If I didn't find any or didn't get a chance to pre fish, I would hit the docks hard and try catch enough to win the tournament. Many tournament have been won fishing docks, even at the highest level. Nothing wrong with doing the obvious, the key is to do it better than everyone else.

Yeah.... Cat hair and keyboards. That can't be good.

Wow. So a licensed angler (like me) can harvest their own bait, even in another state, and use it in Tennessee.