Big Orange TipOff

BOB & BERT SPEAK AT THE BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB TODAY!

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Don’t forget to join us today for our big luncheon meeting at Calhoun’s on the River in Downtown Knoxville, Wednesday, January 16, 2008. The Big Orange Tip-off Club is proud to have Bob Kesling & Bert Bertelkamp, the Voices of the Vols, the UT men’s basketball broadcasting team, as our featured speakers. The buffet line will open at 11 a.m.

If you have not already done so, please download the attached membership form, fill it out, & bring it with you with your 2008 membership dues today. We had several people who came last week thinking they had paid their dues who had not. We offered a joint membership in our club & the Knoxville QB Club last fall, but if you did not take advantage of that, please make sure that your Big Orange Tipoff Club dues have been paid so that we can continue to bring you the nation’s best speakers. For your convenience, please also note that you can pay your dues online by credit card via the Paypal link we have established on our website at www.utfan.com/tipoff

Also, please be aware that our next bus road trip will be to Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, February 16, 2008, to see our men put an old fashioned East Tennessee dawg-whuppin’ on the Bulldogs that afternoon at 3 p.m. This will be day-only trip. Our first day trip to the Xavier game in Cincinnati and the overnite trip we took to Columbia for the South Carolina men’s & women’s games last weekend were both smashing successes, & everyone had a super time, so don’t be left out of this one as we take over Stegeman Coliseum & make it a sea of Big Orange for the third year in a row. If you want to sign up for that trip, please do so by downloading the attached signup sheet & bringing it with you to today’s meeting with your check or by doing so online by credit card at our website, www.utfan.com/tipoff

We will also have Coach Bruce Pearl to speak briefly at today’s meeting, just a day before our big home game with the Vanderbilt Commodores Thursday night, as well as honor the local high school players of the week with the Knoxville News-Sentinel. We will also be honoring some of our corporate sponsors and recognizing some of the local charities we support. Don’t forget to take advantage of some great prizes by participating in our weekly Pick’N'Win contest as well.

Our men’s team is ranked #3 in the RPI nationally and will be starting a 3-game stretch in which we will be televised nationally all 3 times on ESPN & CBS. The Ohio State home game on Saturday afternoon will be followed by the big road game at Lexington to face the Kentucky Wildcats. A member of the 2nd-ranked Lady Vol basketball staff will also be on hand today to discuss their own road trip to Lexington Thursday night, as well as their always-big home game against Vanderbilt that is coming up Sunday afternoon. Never before have both our men’s & women’s teams been ranked so high at the same time nationally. It’s truly a great time to be a Tennessee basketball fan!

We look forward to having you there with us for all of the fun & excitement. With both our UT men’s & women’s teams being ranked so high nationally, we expect to have another standing-room-only crowd today, so make sure & get there early!

Go Big Orange!

ALL ABOARD THE BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB BUS TO SOUTH CAROLINA SATURDAY!

Sunday, January 6th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

The Big Orange Tipoff Club is sponsoring another trip to Columbia on Saturday, January 12, to see both the Tennessee-South Carolina men’s game that night, which tips off at 8 p.m., & also the Lady Vols-South Carolina game on Sunday afternoon, January 13, which starts at 3 p.m.

We will leave the UT campus from the UT Faculty Club at the corner of Neyland Drive & Kingston Pike at 12 Noon on Saturday, have a box lunch on the way down to Columbia, check in at the Marriott, & go along with the Lady Vols to the men’s game that night. Dinner will be on your own at any number of great restaurants within walking distance, or you can eat at the arena itself. A hot cooked-to-order buffet breakfast is available on your own on Sunday morning at the hotel & there are several churches within walking distance for you to attend.

We will leave to come back to Knoxville immediately after the women’s game & will be back home no later than 10 p.m. on Sunday. We will have a box dinner on the way back.

Tickets to both games, a Big Orange shaker, & satellite TV & UT basketball highlight videos are also all included on the trip, along with snacks, soft drinks, & all taxes & tips.

Everything in the entire package is only $200 per person double occupancy, meaning that you would share a room with someone else. If you want to have an individual room of your own, there is a $75 supplement for that.

Our first bus trip to Cincinnati for the Xavier game last month was a super success & everyone had a great time. Don’t miss out on our first overnite bus trip that we’ve ever sponsored & enjoy a great time with fellow Big Orange fans.

Join us as we take a luxury motorcoach across the Great Smoky Mountains to beat the Gamecocks this coming weekend! You can sign up online with your credit card or download the form on our website & mail it in with your check.

We will be accepting reservations up until Wednesday, January 9, the date of our first luncheon meeting at Calhoun’s on the River at 11:30 a.m. in Downtown Knoxville, where Pat Summitt, Head Coach of the 7-Time National Champions, will be our featured opening speaker. Everyone is invited to go on our trips & attend our meetings, & you can join our club online as well.

Again, all of this is open to the general public, whether you are a past member of our club or not. Here are the website links to sign up for both the upcoming bus trip & to join the Big Orange Tipoff Club:

http://www.utfan.com/tipoff/

http://www.utfan.com/tipoff/paypal.htm

If you have any questions, please call 865-588-5433 or 865-599-2959.

GO BIG ORANGE!

A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO TENNESSEE BASKETBALL COACH RAY MEARS, FOUNDER OF BIG ORANGE COUNTRY, MY MENTOR & FRIEND

Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments

A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO TENNESSEE BASKETBALL COACH RAY MEARS

By John Mark Hancock
Copyrighted – All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

When I heard early yesterday afternoon that Coach Ray Mears had passed away into eternity at a nursing home in Knoxville at age 80, my mind raced back over 40 years to the first time I ever met him as a wide-eyed UT fan when I was just nine years old. That was my first exposure to Big Orange basketball, in 1966, the year that his Tennessee Volunteers basketball team beat the Kentucky Wildcats at Stokely Athletics Center to end the season in a rousing way, 69-62.

It was that game that got me hooked on UT basketball. I had no idea at the time that it would come to be such a big part of my life, and that the head coach of that team, his 4th in 15 seasons at the Vol helm, would come to have such a big influence on me as an individual.

My Dad took me to cavernous Stokely to watch those 1960’s games in which Mears battled the legendary Baron of Bluegrass, Adolph Rupp. Ray became the only coach in basketball history to finish with at least a .500 record against Kentucky that had coached against them as many games as he had (15-15). No one else did better over time challenging UK.

As the years went on, I became at usher in the Orange Tie Club section at Stokely when I was in junior high. I got to meet all of the major supporters of the program Mears was building. When I started school at UT early, after graduating from high school in two years, I worked part-time as a Sports Information intern with men’s basketball, helping Haywood Harris with media days and traveling on the road with the team in the famous Ernie and Bernie days, still the Golden Age of UT basketball.

In those days, the SEC schedule had you go on the road for a Saturday-Monday two-game road trip. We would leave on Friday afternoon on a chartered jet and wouldn’t get back home until early Tuesday morning. I helped John Ward do statistics sometimes on the radio. I especially remember a game in Alligator Alley at Florida that was exciting.

Since there wasn’t much to do in places like Starkville and Auburn on Sundays, I got to know the players, coaches, administrators, etc., very well, spending time with and eating all my meals with them. Coach Mears always insisted that the team go to church on Sundays on the road. He also wanted to find something for them to do to keep busy on Sunday afternoons, too.

Coach had me go scout around town in Starkville one weekend to find an event. When I came back and reported that a rodeo was in town, he ordered the team bus to pick us up and take us there to get everyone relaxed and keep their mind off the intense basketball game they had ahead on Monday night.

Most of all, I remember that Coach Mears was intense. His fiery eyes flashed, darted, and twinkled. He never lost that intensity and never lost those unique eyes as long as he lived.

Ray saw to it that the Tennessee basketball program went first class. He was as classy a man as I’ve ever known. He told us that we would stay in the best hotels, eat at the best restaurants, order the best thing on the menu, and ride in the best transportation.

However, he made it clear that all of us on all of those trips were to conduct ourselves as first class citizens, too. He told us before every trip that we were expected to be ambassadors not only representing ourselves and our families and The University of Tennessee, but also the entire State of Tennessee. He made it clear that if we did anything that reflected badly on any of those things, we wouldn’t be going on future trips.

Another thing that Coach Mears made very clear to us is that we were never to react to the taunting of the crowd at away games. He was a master at firing up the opposing fans.

Perhaps he is best known for parading around the court in his Big Orange blazer before every Vanderbilt game at Memorial Gym in Nashville. There is a story to that one that needs to be told as to how it began. However, he would engender the wrath of the fans everywhere we went.

The key, in his estimation, was to fire up the team, to motivate them to believe it was an “us against the world” situation that we had to overcome. It promoted team cohesiveness. It was the reason UT had such a great road record during his tenure.

He wanted the crowd fired up, and most of all, he wanted us to totally ignore them, to show them that we were totally oblivious to them and above the fray. That frustrated them even more when we wouldn’t look at or even acknowledge them in any way. That was also a part of Ray’s master plan to win games.

I was there when Tennessee won the last UT-UK game at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. That was the game where Mears showed off some excellent coaching skills and gamesmanship, and Ernie Grunfeld may have shot more than his share of free throws. It was Kentucky’s last loss in their venerable old venue. I was also there when we won the first UT-UK game the very next year at famed Rupp Arena. It was the first Wildcat loss in their new place, too.

Once Rupp opened, Mears started the campaign to build an arena in Knoxville. The plans for it languished until Mears suggested that the UT administration should build something bigger than what Kentucky had. Once that decision was made, the entire state, city, and county governments got behind it as a matter of pride to best our rival.

When I was a student at UT, my favorite place to hang out between classes was at the UT basketball offices. I got to know the coaches and secretaries well. It was always a beehive of activity. The phone, by edict of Coach Mears, was always answered with the greeting, “Big Orange Basketball!” I was privileged to answer the phone a few times in relief that way.

I also got to attend what were all closed practices during Mears’ coaching career. Very few people were allowed behind the curtains that stretched across the portals at Stokely Center in the afternoons. It was there that I saw the reasons why and how Tennessee basketball was so special.

The practices were intense, even moreso than many games. However, Coach Mears showed everyone that they were loved and appreciated as individuals. He never used profanity. He was always true to his moral principles.

Many of us knew that Mears had “Big Orange Forever” tattooed in Big Orange ink on his wrist after he retired. That was the way he lived his life, dedicated entirely to the school that made him famous.

I haven’t said much in this piece about Ray’s phenomenal success as a coach. Had his career not been cut short by health issues, he might today be in the Top 5 in wins all-time. As it stands, he is still in the Top 20 all-time among basketball coaches in terms of winning percentage.

He was a master motivator and a genius at promoting the game and the program he built. He was also a brilliant offensive tactician who complemented the brilliance of his top associate all those years, Stu Aberdeen, who was the defensive guru, who ironically passed away this same week 28 years ago.

Perhaps the reason I haven’t dwelt on his success as a coach is that I got to know him as a man. I coached under him at his Camp of Champions in the summer. He was a stickler for detail and made it clear that we were expected to be on time for all our meetings, as well as see to it that our teams followed the rules explicitly.

Much of the self-discipline I have in my life now, over 30 years later, is as a result of the principles that he instilled in me. He will forever be a part of me in that regard. I viewed he and Coach Aberdeen as my mentors and later as my friends.

On one particular road trip, I was flying on a private plane with oilman and pilot Harry Bettis, a friend and big UT donor. We had played Auburn on Saturday afternoon on TV and Florida, the team we were going to play on Monday night, was playing on Saturday night in Gainesville.

Coach gave me some scouting sheets and I was given the assignment of scouting the game for them, since the team plane wasn’t going to arrive until later. That confidence he placed in me to do that was something I’ll never forget and for which I’ll always be appreciative.

I got to know Coach Mears’ sons, Mike, Steve, and Matt, when I attended school with them at UT. I also got to know his wife, Dana, much better during his illnesses later in life. I know the struggles they all had and tried to keep encouraging all of them.

Ray was only able to attend two games this past season, the Texas game, at which I got my photo made with him at his courtside seat that UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton provided for him, and the Kentucky game, honoring his most famous recruit, Bernard King. Both were big wins for his beloved Volunteers, and I can tell you from my personal talks with him at both games, he was very satisfied and happy.

One of the things that made Coach Mears happy the most is that he was able to live to see those who didn’t appreciate him enough pass from the scene, and to be recognized for his unique contributions to the entire Big Orange Nation. Anyone who ever saw him tooling around town in his Big Orange Mercedes, with “Wizard of Orange” painted on the driver’s door, knew how much he loved Tennessee.

On the occasion of his 80th birthday, Knox County Commissioner Larry Smith and I had the good fortune to be his only visitors that day at the nursing home where he was recuperating from his stroke this past November. Larry, who is also the Historian of the Big Orange Tipoff Club and serves with me on the Steering Committee, brought Ray a proclamation from Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, naming that special day “Ray Mears Day” in Knox County. I brought he and Dana a similar proclamation from Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam from the city government. His eyes twinkled and brightened when I read from those proclamations to him all of his accomplishments.

One thing I had almost forgotten about Coach Mears is that he was the inspiration for me taking the Military History 101 class that was offered by the UT ROTC program when I was a student in the 1970’s. Of course, I thought it was kind of cool that the class met in Stokely Athletics Center itself, since that’s where I liked to hang out anyway. But Coach Mears’ lifelong passion for military history, and especially for General George Patton, whose photos he put in the UT basketball locker room just down the hall from the ROTC classrooms, was the reason that I wanted to learn more.

Ray viewed basketball as a war, and he had his troops ready for battle and on the attack for every game. He had SEC Championship rings for his players inscribed with Patton’s brand from his huge Texas ranch, which was “Triple A Bar Zero.” That signified that he wanted his teams to believe that they could win “Anywhere, Anyhow, Anytime, Bar Nothing.” That was the way he lived his life, as a winning coach, as a winning soldier, as a winner in life, until the end.

When I became involved on the Steering Committee of the Big Orange Tipoff Club a couple of years ago, it was to give back a little of my time to a man and a program that has given so much to me. Ray Mears built UT’s basketball program from nothing to something really special. We owe him a debt of gratitude for that, and I also owe him and will be forever grateful to him for what he meant to me personally as a man, far beyond what he did as a coach.

As most of you know, the Ray & Dana Mears Scholarship Fund was started in his honor at UT. I hope all Vol fans will join me in designating their donations to the University to it.

One more unfinished thing that needs to be done is to honor Coach Mears in a more permanent way. I’m campaigning for the Tipoff Club and UT to present a Ray Mears Award to a deserving basketball coach annually, one who not only was a great coach, but who was also a great man who promoted the game as he did.

However, his most lasting legacy needs to be having the UT Board of Trustees rename the building that he alone was truly responsible for having built, “Ray Mears Arena at Thompson-Boling Assembly Center.” It would be just a minor alteration in its name that would mean so much to every Tennessee basketball fan everywhere. It would be an altogether fitting tribute to the man who founded a country, “Big Orange Country.”

Coach Bruce Pearl is the epitomy of Coach Mears. He wears the Big Orange blazer in his honor during the Kentucky and Vanderbilt games every season. He promotes and represents the program well. Some have said that from the upper deck at the arena, Pearl looks just like Mears prowling the sidelines as he used to at Stokely Center.

Pearl respects the tradition that Mears built. Ray is already a Hall of Famer, having been inducted into both the Tennessee and Ohio Sports Halls of Fame. However, Bruce is pushing to get Ray inducted into the both the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City. He is most definitely worthy of both honors, having won a National Championship at Wittenberg in his native Ohio before coming to UT, and winning many more championships here on The Hill.

In summary, no matter what you thought of him, Ray Mears was a winner. He provided me with countless hours of marvelous, wonderful memories of great victories in Knoxville and on the road. The 103-98 win over Kentucky at home, billed as the “UT-UK Shootout,” was a classic.

The excitement of going to a game during his era is almost indescribable. The UT Pride of The Southland Band would parade around the court before every game. The lights would dim and the team would burst through the giant “T” at the south end of the floor.

The crowd would be literally hanging from the rafters, as every game saw Stokely Center filled to overflowing with people and excitement for a decade and a half. It was a happening, an event. People came early to see the spectacular warm-ups that Mears initiated. It was better to be there an hour too early than a minute too late, because you didn’t want to miss seeing and hearing what he might do next.

Ray Mears was intense, but he also had a heart of gold. He truly cared about other people. He made you feel special, like you were a part of his family. He made the common man feel like they were a part of the UT family, too.

No matter what is or isn’t done to honor him, and there is much more that should be done by the Governor, as Chairman of the UT Board of Trustees, by the UT President, and others, as I’ve related above, his legacy will live on in the minds, hearts, lives, and souls of every true diehard Tennessee fan, whether they loved basketball or not, as well as his players and everyone he touched in his extraordinary life. He now belongs to the ages as a legend who will never be forgotten.

GET ON BOARD THE BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB BUS TO GEORGIA SATURDAY!

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Contact: Mark Hancock, Media & Public Relations, Phone (865) 522-8547,
or Hilary Phillips, E-Mail: tipoff@utfan.com

TOMORROW IS DEADLINE TO SIGN UP FOR BIG ORANGE TIPOFF BUS TRIP TO U.T.-GEORGIA MEN’S GAME IN ATHENS ON SATURDAY, MARCH 3RD!

The Big Orange Tipoff Club is proud to have completed its second successive successful season of weekly meetings for the year. We appreciate all of your loyal support, encouragement, and publicity, and look forward to making next season even better.

BUS TRIP TO GEORGIA MEN’S GAME IN ATHENS: The Club is sponsoring a bus trip to the Georgia men’s basketball game in Athens, on Saturday, March 3. Coach Bruce Pearl has encouraged all Vol fans to go on the road to support the team as they attempt to sweep the Bulldogs this season. Everyone who went on the trip to South Carolina had a wonderful time. We have arranged through our corporate sponsor, Premier Transportation, for nonstop luxury motorcoach roundtrip transportation, meals and entertainment en route, and tickets to the games, all for only $99 per person. This is a day-only trip that leaves Knoxville mid-morning before the game and returns immediately after the game.

For those who are interested in going to Georgia, tomorrow is the deadline for signing up, and we will take your check or credit card number to secure your place. We would also encourage you to download the form from the link on the main page of our website, www.utfan.com/tipoff and to email Hilary Phillips at tipoff@utfan.com immediately or call Lloyd Richardson at 588-5433 or fax him at 588-2083 if you have an interest in making this weekend’s Georgia trip, so that we can secure enough game tickets for everyone.

BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB PHOTO GALLERY: We have been working on getting our photo gallery online. We have all of the archives up now from last season and some of the highlights from this season, too, courtesy of our website host, Carl “Meathead” Swanson, of utfan.com. Most of the photos from last season are courtesy of Big Orange Tipoff Club Charter Member Jerry Upchurch. You can download any of them that you want from the following link:

http://www.utfan.com/volgallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3118

You can also access the “Club Photo Albums” Gallery from our main website, www.utfan.com/tipoff , as there is now a featured link to it from the main home page. We are working with Megan Ellis to get all of the photos from this season online, too, as well as with both Jerry and Megan to get all of our photos from bus trips to the away games online. We hope you enjoy this pictorial record of our club’s activities. Please feel free to use the photos to accompany any media coverage about our club. We will have all of them captioned soon, so please keep checking back for identification of those pictured in the photos.

THIS WEEK’S VOL & LADY VOL BASKETBALL CALENDAR: The men are playing their last regular season game in Athens this weekend, a game which may decide whether they are invited to the NCAA Tournament. The women will be playing in the SEC Tournament, which for the first time will be played in Duluth, Georgia, only 50 miles away from Athens, northeast of Atlanta, in the same suburb where former UT star Bernard King resides.

OFFICIAL BIG ORANGE TIPOFF PHOTOS: Many of you may not be aware that we now have an official Big Orange Tipoff Club photographer, Megan Ellis. You may have seen her roaming around our big meeting room taking pictures before, during, and after our meetings. To view and purchase pictures from any of our Big Orange Tipoff Club meetings this season, please go to www.meganellisphotography.com and click on the “TN LOGIN” page. The password is simply “tipoff”. You can also e-mail Megan with any questions you may have at megan@meganellisphotography.com .

2008 CLUB MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE: The club is soliciting individual members for next season at only $75 and discounted senior citizen memberships at only $60. Spouses of members are free, making this an excellent deal. In addition, corporate memberships, which include up to 5 members of a firm, are being offered at only $250.

Annual membership applications are also available by calling Club President Lloyd Richardson at (865) 588-5433, by faxing a request to (865) 588-2083, by e-mailing us at tipoff@utfan.com , or by visiting the website at www.utfan.com/tipoff . A membership application for downloading with the Big Orange Tipoff Club logo on it is available on the website.

All former UT men’s and women’s basketball lettermen, former UT Orange Tie Club members, Knoxville Quarterback Club members, VASF donors, Boost-Her Club members, UT students, UT alumni and friends, as well as the general public, are invited to attend and join as well. Legendary former UT Head Basketball Coach Ray Mears is an Honorary Member. Many members of the UT athletics administration, coaches, etc., are in attendance regularly.

MEDIA INFORMATION: All media are invited to attend all of our meetings. Each of our meetings so far has been covered extensively by print and broadcast media, including TV stations and several newspapers. Local talk show hosts have live remote radio broadcasts for some meetings.

All media are also invited to call J. Mark Hancock at (865) 522-8547 or e-mail Hilary Phillips at tipoff@utfan.com to schedule radio, television, and newspaper interviews with various Big Orange Tipoff Club steering committee members, including Charles W. Morgan, Barry J. Smith, Michael J. Turner, Christy Gentry, J. Mark Hancock, and Club Historian R. Larry Smith regarding the club, its promotion of UT basketball, its purposes, its sponsoring of awards and contributions to scholarships, and its charitable endeavors in supporting college and amateur athletics in East Tennessee. Steering committee members have been making radio and television appearances and doing newspaper interviews regularly, and are available for speaking engagements to any groups.

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE: The Big Orange Tipoff Club is offering special merchandise for sale with the distinctive club logo on it, including T-shirts and caps, each for the low price of only $10. Only a limited number of each is available, and they are quickly becoming collectors’ items.

NEXT YEAR’S SPEAKERS AND FEEDBACK: We invite you to send us email suggestions on future speakers and to make other comments through our feedback form that you can download from the main page of our website and return to us. We are always interested in getting suggestions from anyone to improve our meetings.

WIMP SANDERSON TO SPEAK AT BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB

Thursday, February 15th, 2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Contact: Mark Hancock, Media & Public Relations, Phone (865) 522-8547,
or Hilary Phillips, E-Mail: tipoff@utfan.com

FORMER ALABAMA MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH WIMP SANDERSON TO BE BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB SPEAKER ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH

The Big Orange Tipoff Club is proud to announce its next scheduled meeting this coming Tuesday, February 20, at 11:00 a.m., at Calhoun’s on the River in Downtown Knoxville, where a buffet luncheon will be served for only $12.50 for members and $15 for guests, including a variety of entrees and side dishes, drink, dessert, etc. That is the day before the UT-Alabama men’s game in Knoxville, with former Alabama head basketball coach Wimp Sanderson as the featured speaker. It will be our last weekly luncheon meeting of the year, since the meeting following that one will be the evening pre-game gala dinner event on February 27.

Due to the overwhelming demand for parking at Calhoun’s, please plan to arrive as early as possible for this meeting. Calhoun’s will open the buffet line at 11:00 a.m. to accommodate what is expected to be another overflow standing-room-only crowd to hear Wimp, who has had a wonderful career as a coach and is now a television analyst.

THIS WEEK’S VOL & LADY VOL BASKETBALL CALENDAR: UT Men’s Head Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl is also expected to be in attendance to say a few words about his team’s big game with Alabama coming up the next night, as well as reviewing the big home win over Kentucky, the game on Saturday at South Carolina, and also looking ahead to the trip to Arkansas a week from this coming Saturday. UT Lady Vols Head Coach Pat Summitt will also hopefully be in attendance to speak to us, to review tonight’s big nationally-televised home game with Ole Miss on ESPN2 and fresh from her team’s trip to LSU on Monday, as well as give us a preview her team’s upcoming trip to Arkansas a week from tonight and the final Senior Day game at home against Vanderbilt a week from Sunday afternoon.

The fact that both UT’s men’s and women’s basketball teams are drawing capacity crowds and are ranked high in the college RPI, will drive attendance upward for this meeting. UT Men’s and Women’s Athletics Directors Mike Hamilton and Joan Cronan are also expected to be on hand.

BUS TRIPS TO SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA MEN’S GAMES IN COLUMBIA AND ATHENS: The Club is sponsoring bus trips to the South Carolina and Georgia men’s basketball games in Columbia and Athens, this Saturday, February 17, and Saturday, March 3, respectively. Coach Bruce Pearl has encouraged all Vol fans to go on the road to support the team as they attempt to sweep both the Gamecocks and the Bulldogs this season. We have arranged through our corporate sponsor, Premier Transportation, for nonstop luxury motorcoach roundtrip transportation, meals and entertainment en route, and tickets to the game, all for only $99 per person per trip. These are day-only trips that leave Knoxville mid-morning before the games and return immediately after the games.

We will have sign-up forms at the meeting for those who are interested in going to Georgia, and will take your check or credit card number to secure your place. We would also encourage you, however, to download the form on our website, www.utfan.com/tipoff and to email Hilary Phillips at tipoff@utfan.com immediately or call Lloyd Richardson at 588-5433 or fax him at 588-2083 if you have an interest in making this weekend’s South Carolina trip, as today is the deadline to sign up for it, so that we can secure enough game tickets for everyone. The form is also attached to this email for you to print out.

FEBRUARY 27 SECOND-ANNUAL PRE-GAME BASH AND SEASON FINALE EVENING DINNER GALA EVENT TICKET ORDER FORM ATTACHED: The Big Orange Tipoff Club is proud to announce its second-annual pre-game bash and season finale evening dinner gala event, on Tuesday evening, February 27, at 6:45 p.m., at The Foundry at World’s Fair Park in Downtown Knoxville, where a buffet dinner will be served. UT alumnus, Denver Post journalist, and nationally-known ESPN television personality Woody Paige will be speaking just prior to the final Senior Night home UT men’s basketball game against Florida, which tips off at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27.

The UT cheerleaders and Big Orange Banditos Band will be there as well, making it a festive pre-game pep rally. Dress is “game casual”, so whatever you plan to wear to the game, jeans, sweater, etc., is fine. We are keeping things very informal and prices low so it is affordable for the whole family or all your clients. A special commemorative “thank you” collectible gift will be given to everyone that you don’t want to miss.

Tickets are only $20 for members, $25 for guests, and $250 for a reserved table of 10, and are now on sale. Many tables have already been reserved and space is limited. The cash bars will open at 5:30 p.m. and the buffet lines will begin at 6:00 p.m., with the program to start at 6:45 p.m. The event will be over by 8:00 p.m., in plenty of time to get to the big game, since it has a late tipoff time and it is only a short 5-minute ride through Fort Sanders from the Foundry to the arena. We expect this event to be a sellout, as was last year’s, so please get your tickets early so that you won’t get left out.

Parking will be free and plentiful. Jacqui Pearl, daughter of Coach Bruce Pearl, has tentatively agreed to sing the National Anthem for us at this event. Roving photographers will be there to take individual, group, and candid photos that you will be able to purchase as souvenirs.

We expect many former players to attend. There will be a silent auction of autographed UT basketballs signed by our speakers for the year, as well as by the UT men’s and women’s basketball coaching staffs and lettermen.

Attached please find a ticket order form for that event for you to print and mail, fax, or e-mail back, or bring it with you along with your check to the meeting to purchase your tickets, which are going fast. The form is also available on our website.

We encourage you to get your order in as soon as possible to secure your seat. Since it is Senior Night, we hope to host Dane Bradshaw’s family and a contingent from Memphis, and the Chris Lofton’s family and friends from Maysville, Kentucky, have also indicated they may attend.

OFFICIAL BIG ORANGE TIPOFF PHOTOS: Many of you may not be aware that we now have an official Big Orange Tipoff Club photographer, Megan Ellis. You may have seen her roaming around our big meeting room taking pictures before, during, and after our meetings. If you would like Megan to take some photos of you, the people at your table, your guests, etc., please don’t hesitate to flag her down when you see her and her camera, as she will be most happy to do so for you. To view and purchase pictures from last week’s Big Orange Tipoff Club meeting and those for future meetings from her, please go to www.meganellisphotography.com and click on the “TN LOGIN” page. The password is simply “tipoff”. You can also e-mail Megan with any questions you may have at megan@meganellisphotography.com .

THIS WEEK’S SPEAKER: Wimp Sanderson began his coaching career at Carbon Hill High School, where he went 25-4. The next season he became a graduate assistant to Hayden Riley at the University of Alabama for the 1960-61 season and was elevated to a full-time assistant’s post the following year. He held that spot until C.M. Newton’s retirement in 1980.

Then, after 20 years as an assistant coach, Sanderson was named Alabama’s 16th head coach on April 15, 1980. In his first 11 years (1981-91) as head coach, Sanderson took Alabama to nine NCAA Tournaments, one NIT and reached the NCAA’s “Sweet Sixteen” six times. He also took the Crimson Tide to the finals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament eight times and won five (1982, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991).

Wimp had seen almost 50 percent of all basketball games in which Alabama participated in up until 1991. He was named “SEC Coach of the Decade” for the 1980s by the Lexington Herald-Leader. During his first 11 years at Alabama, Sanderson compiled a 241-110 record at the time of his induction in 1990 into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Sanderson went on to coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and now hosts a TV show, “Talkin’ Hoops,” with former Auburn Coach Sonny Smith, one of our Big Orange Tipoff Club speakers last season. He also does television commentary for various games around the South.

HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: The Big Orange Tipoff Club will also be hosting the Knox County boys and girls high school basketball players of the week, as they do weekly, who will be awarded certificates by prep sports Editor Jesse Smithey of The Knoxville News-Sentinel and will be honored along with their coaches.

PICK AND WIN: One lucky member each week will win a pair of tickets to each of the next home UT men’s and women’s basketball games by participating in the club’s weekly Pick’N’Win Contest for only $1 and picking the winners of a selection of men’s and women’s SEC games. The club will have several surprise celebrity guests on hand regularly, including former players, coaches, and other nationally-known basketball personalities.

CLUB MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE: The club is still soliciting individual members at only $75 and discounted senior citizen memberships at only $60. Spouses of members are free, making this an excellent deal. In addition, corporate memberships, which include up to 5 members of a firm, are still being offered at only $250.

Annual membership applications are still available by calling Club President Lloyd Richardson at (865) 588-5433, by faxing a request to (865) 588-2083, by e-mailing at tipoff@utfan.com , or by visiting the website at www.utfan.com/tipoff . A membership application for downloading with the Big Orange Tipoff Club logo on it is available on the website.

All former UT men’s and women’s basketball lettermen, former UT Orange Tie Club members, Knoxville Quarterback Club members, VASF donors, Boost-Her Club members, UT students, UT alumni and friends, as well as the general public, are invited to attend and join as well. Legendary former UT Head Basketball Coach Ray Mears is an Honorary Member. Many members of the UT athletics administration, coaches, etc., are in attendance regularly.

MEDIA INFORMATION: All media are invited to attend and will have the opportunity to record and film any portion of the meeting, ask questions of Tom Boerwinkle in a public forum at the conclusion of his remarks, and will be able to interview him, as time allows, on both a group and individual basis. Each of our meetings so far has been covered extensively by print and broadcast media, including TV stations and several newspapers. Local talk show hosts are planning live remote radio broadcasts for some meetings.

All media are also invited to call J. Mark Hancock at (865) 522-8547 or e-mail Hilary Phillips at tipoff@utfan.com to schedule radio, television, and newspaper interviews with various Big Orange Tipoff Club steering committee members, including Charles W. Morgan, Barry J. Smith, Michael J. Turner, Christy Gentry, J. Mark Hancock, and Club Historian R. Larry Smith regarding the club, its promotion of UT basketball, its purposes, its sponsoring of awards and contributions to scholarships, and its charitable endeavors in supporting college and amateur athletics in East Tennessee. Steering committee members have been making radio and television appearances and doing newspaper interviews regularly, and are available for speaking engagements to any groups.

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE: The Big Orange Tipoff Club is offering special merchandise for sale with the distinctive club logo on it, including T-shirts and caps, each for the low price of only $10. Only a limited number of each is available, and they are quickly becoming collectors’ items.

NEXT WEEK’S SPEAKER: Next week’s Big Orange Tipoff Club meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 27, with ESPN’s Woody Paige as the featured speaker, at the special evening dinner event gala mentioned above at the Foundry, just prior to the Florida men’s game.