Wilson Post Blogs

I always thought college basketball coaches had a screw loose.

See Billy Gillispie. He lost the best job in the business, Kentucky, because he had a habitual drinking problem.

Or Bruce Pearl, whose bright future at Tennessee came crashing down after he told NCAA investigators he did not recognize some people in a picture they showed him. Not only did Pearl fail to identify one of his assistant coaches, he could not identify his own house. Cheatin’ and lyin’ don’t pay. 

Another fall from grace case was Louisville’s Rick Pitino, who came close to the firing line after his sexual fling with a woman in a Louisville restaurant. It made headlines all over the country. The female went to prison, but Slick Rick managed to keep his job at the expense of his reputation.

I believe their football-coaching brethren may be catching up in the demolition derby.

As much as a number of fans have relished Tiger Woods’ personal and professional demise, the golf world needs him.

Woods is the Babe Ruth, the Muhammad Ali of golf. He set the golf world on fire when he won his first of four green jackets, symbolic of the Masters champion. He was 21 years old and smothered the field by a whopping 12 strokes.

For years he dominated the game. When he showed up on the first tee, everyone else was playing for second. Some players publicly acknowledged it to be true.

After accruing 14 major titles, Woods’ house of cards fell on top of him like an avalanche. He was labeled an adulterer. His marriage dissolved. He lost valuable face time with his two young children. He was mocked by late-night comedians.

He is now 36 years old, beset in recent years by a variety of health issues. His knee. His Achilles. His head.

He parted ways with longtime caddie, Steve Williams. He split with swing coach Hank Haney, whose book on Woods was recently released and paints him in some unflattering lights. There is a pornographic movie released early this week that features three or four of the girls Tiger allegedly cheated on his wife with. They reveal more of whom the real Tiger Woods was, far from the Teflon-coated image constructed by his close circle of management and PR types.

He seemed rejuvenated three weeks ago when he won on the Tour for the first time since 2009, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five strokes. Was this the real Tiger? Or was it fool’s gold?

Augusta National will go a long way in deciding the answer to those questions this week. It can bring even the best golfers in the world to their knees.

Woods has not won a major since the 2008 U. S. Open, which he won basically on one leg at Torrey Pines.

Woods enters a comfort zone at Augusta. It is his favorite course in the world. He knows the greens and danger spots equally well. His game appeared sound coming into this week, but golf is a sport that provides unexplained surprises just when you think you have it conquered.

The Masters champion must hold up through the final nine holes on Sunday. Even the best have tripped and fallen on their way to the green jacket ceremony. Greg Norman felt Augusta National’s wrath two years in a row.

The Australian could not stop a 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus from getting his sixth green jacket as Nicklaus caught fire on the back nine on Sunday to win the 1986 Masters. Norman returned the following year, only to lose in a playoff when homegrown and raised Larry Mize sank an improbable chip-shot on the 11^th hole in a playoff, leaving Norman in shock.

Based primarily on resume and the recent win at Bay Hill, Woods has been installed by Las Vegas wiseguys as the favorite in this impressive world-class field.

Eyes will be on young Irishman Greg McIlroy to see if he can overcome a monumental Masters meltdown a year ago. They always wonder which Phil Mickelson will show up. Names such as Lee Westwood and Luke Donald are expected to be on the daily leaderboards that dot the course.

But the story will be Tiger Woods. Whether he succeeds or falls short, it is his story we all want to read.

Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For the second year in a row, Kentucky has made it to the last weekend.

I think this is the best chance the Cats have had for Coach John Calipari to win it all in the one-and-done era.

Kentucky starts three freshmen and two juniors. They have a bell cow in freshman Anthony Davis, who is the national player of the year after two semesters in college.

Although Calipari has seen two previous Final Four schools (Massachusetts, Memphis) he coached have to vacate NCAA Tournament achievements, Calipari has never been charged with any major NCAA rules violations.

My NCAA Tournament bracket was really bad after the first two rounds. How bad was it? It was so bad that when I tried to feed it to the shredder, the machine rejected it.

While the state of Ohio placed four teams in the tournament field, they are sending all four teams to the Sweet 16. That is playing some hoop.

Ohio State, Xavier, Cincinnati and Ohio all advanced to the next round.

Tennessee did not fare as well. Far from it.

The Volunteer state had three teams make the field -- Belmont and Vanderbilt from Nashville and the University of Memphis.

Belmont and Memphis were one and done. Vanderbilt bowed out in the second round. Not very impressive.

ESPN college basketball analyst Greg Anthony projected Vanderbilt to make the Final Four. He must have based that pick solely on the Commodores beating Kentucky for the SEC Tournament title.

My NCAA Tournament bracket was really bad after the first two rounds. How bad was it? It was so bad that when I tried to feed it to the shredder, the machine rejected it.

While the state of Ohio placed four teams in the tournament field, they are sending all four teams to the Sweet 16. That is playing some hoop.

Ohio State, Xavier, Cincinnati and Ohio all advanced to the next round.

Tennessee did not fare as well. Far from it.

Maybe Bud Adams can’t help himself.

And you can’t teach an old dog, new tricks.

The Titans owner didn’t learn from his last misguided order. That missive was for the Titans to take Texas quarterback Vince Young with their first round pick of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Bud may have been the only one in the Titans building that wanted to take Young. The head coach didn’t want him. The offensive coordinator didn’t want him. The general manager didn’t want him.

That didn’t matter to Bud.

There are two ways Tennessee’s basketball team can get into the NCAA Tournament.

One, they can buy tickets and serve as spectators.

Two, they can get hot and stay hot.

They pretty much cooked their goose with early season losses to Oakland, to Austin Peay, to College of Charleston. The Vols lost twice to in-state rival Memphis, once in double overtime.

While the SEC basketball tournament is just around the corner as of Monday, there were four games remaining in the regular season.

That is one-fourth of the 16-game SEC schedule, enough time for some fence-straddling teams to fatten their resumes.

With four teams in a knot for fourth place with 6-6 SEC records, there are plenty of candidates to join the Top Three – Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament field.

After watching top-ranked Kentucky take Vanderbilt to school at Memorial Gym Saturday night, I came away overwhelmed by Kentucky and underwhelmed by Vanderbilt.

After all, the Commodores were ranked No. 7 in the country in at least one preseason poll. Some thought they would be a Final Four team, based on a senior dominated roster that had depth and players with SEC experience.

It was Eli Manning’s coming out party.

No better place to have it than in the House that Peyton Built.

Little Brother took the spotlight away from Big Brother.

And, for the record, Eli is an elite NFL quarterback.

It was played out before a packed Lucas Oil Stadium, whose fans were treated to one of the most competitive, exciting Super Bowl games since the idea was hatched 46 years ago.

During Super Bowl week, it was Peyton Manning who commanded much of the attention and press coverage generated prior to Super Bowl Sunday.

Eli grew up in Peyton’s shadow. Peyton was five years older, getting a five-year start in athletics. Five years is a distinct advantage when one boy is 12 and the other boy is seven. They used to compete in basketball where Peyton would beat Eli up.

The first time Eli won was a day when the game was tied and it was next bucket wins. Eli drove around Peyton and dunked on him.

That’s the day Eli knew he gained Peyton’s respect.

Eli grew into a hotshot high school quarterback at Newman High School in New Orleans, where Peyton set records but never won the big one.

Eli chose Ole Miss, where father Archie had been a folk hero. Eli beat Florida as a senior, a feat Peyton never accomplished at Tennessee.

While Peyton is at a crossroads in his decorated NFL career, Eli has risen to the elite class of NFL quarterbacks with two Super Bowl rings, one more than Peyton.

Peyton deserves some credit for Eli’s success. Most little brothers hate being picked on by big brothers. It does one thing, however, makes the little brother fight back, toughens him in the long run.

We see that toughness in Eli. We saw it in a playoff game when he got hammered. When he picked himself off the ground, he had grass and mud wedged in his facemask. His helmet was twisted half-way around his head.

While Peyton specializes in getting rid of the football before the posse arrives, Eli hangs in there until the last second, taking a smack-down in order to give his receivers a chance to get open.

Peyton often walked away from a game with his uniform clean as the Board of Health. The Giants equipment staff doesn’t have enough stain remover to get rid of all the blood, grass and mud from Eli’s uniform.

With yet another come-from behind 21-17 victory Sunday, Eli has built a legend as the Comeback Kid. Games are never over until Eli says they are.

Will history reflect that Eli is the most productive quarterback in the Manning family? After all, he could have an extra five years to catch and pass Peyton.

I don’t think Eli will have all the glitzy numbers that Peyton accrued as an Indianapolis Colt. Remember the Colts offense was built specifically for Peyton from the first day he stepped on the field. Peyton played home games indoors on artificial turf while Eli has to battle the elements of New York’s raw winters. Swirling winds and icy blasts are tougher on a quarterback.

Where Eli can pass Peyton is on the NFL’s biggest stage. Fairly or not, quarterbacks are often judged by how many Super Bowl rings they have. The game-winning 88-yard touchdown drive took nine plays. Five of them were passes completed by Eli Manning.

New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees gave Eli his props before the game.

“I absolutely do think (Eli’s) elite. I have a lot of respect for Eli,’’ Brees said. “He plays in a tough market and handles himself with a lot of class.’’

It takes an elite quarterback to know one.

Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

Nashville’s Brandt Snedeker has become the PGA Tour’s Comeback Kid.

Earlier in his career the former Montgomery Bell Academy and Vanderbilt golfer would find ways to lose tournaments on Sunday.

Snedeker has managed to come roaring out of the pack on the final round to win three tournaments.

None will go down in history as more improbable than what Snedeker pulled off Sunday in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in sunny Southern California.

It wasn’t so much what Snedeker did, as it was what 24-year-old former Clemson golfer Kyle Stanley didn’t do.

I have watched and covered a lot of golf tournaments through the years. None had a more bizarre finish than the chapter Stanley wrote.

Stanley came to the final hole with a three-stroke lead over Snedeker, whose birdie on the final hole left him alone in second place and in the media tent going over his tournament with Stanley still on the course.

You know what happened. Stanley shot a snowman, an 8 in golf parlance. Eight strokes on the par-five. In the water on his third shot. Back of the green on his fifth shot. Two putts to get his ball in the cup and claim his first PGA Tour win.

Stanley 3-jacked the green and Snedeker shockingly found himself paired against Stanley in a sudden death playoff.

Snedeker has a knack of pulling these Sunday stunners. He came from five shots back to win his first Tour event in 2007 with a 63 at the Wyndham.

Last year, he fired a final round 64 to make up six shots, knocking off the No. 1 golfer in the world, Luke Donald, at the Heritage.

Sunday he pushed the envelope to a 7-shot deficit, only to get unexpected help from Stanley and make Snedeker’s 67 put him in the playoff.

Snedeker has had his share of Sunday heartbreaks during his career. No one can forget the 2008 Masters. After an eagle on the second hole, Snedeker grabbed a share of the lead. Could this be a signature win, his first major? Eight bogeys later, we had the answer.

Snedeker’s emotions got away from him that day in the interview room afterwards. He choked back tears, could not get his words out. He covered his face with a towel, sobbing. It was heart-wrenching to see the pain in his face.

But even Snedeker had never lost a tournament the way Stanley did, triple-bogeying the final hole when he had led the tournament from the first day until the final hole.

“I haven’t quite done one like that yet,’’ Snedeker admitted, “but I’ve had a couple where I really had some devastating finishes. You never want to see anybody go through that. … not even your worst enemy on the planet.’’

It was only Snedeker’s second start of the season, having left the Tour last fall to have a second hip operation Nov. 1. He was born with a congenital condition that would eventually require surgery on both hips. Two months ago, Snedeker was still relying on crutches to navigate around Nashville.

Media looked at the finish and made the story Stanley’s collapse, which it was. But it was also about a 31-year-old Brandt Snedeker who found a way to win what would be a two-hole playoff.

I’m not sure there has ever been an ending where the champion conducted a media interview about his runner-up finish, then an hour later re-appeared in the media tent with a trophy.

“Round two,’’ Snedeker informed the media.

Someone in the media called his victory “tainted.’’

Snedeker bristled.

“If anybody wants to see the trophy, it will be at my house the rest of my life,’’ Snedeker smiled. “It’s not tainted at all. Winning out here is hard to do.’’

Kyle Stanley found that out the hard way.

Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

It started with a tweet on Twitter.

Joe Paterno is dead.

The tweet went viral, a growing problem that happens all too frequently in this digital journalism world when a supposed news source puts out stories that are not edited, nor checked for facts.

In somewhat of a rare departure in this era of take the money and run, former Titans football coach Jeff Fisher chose the fit over fortune.

In taking the St. Louis Rams offer, Fisher may have left some money on the table in Miami. He may have missed out on scenic sunsets and warm winters, but Fisher made the right choice.

You take a legal pad, draw a line down the middle and put the pluses and minuses down for both teams and St. Louis, downtrodden as it has been since 2007 (15-65), comes out on top.

So, I ask you, what does Tim Tebow do after he leads the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl? In his rookie year, no less. Republicans are struggling to find a candidate they feel can defeat President Barack Obama. Tim Tebow is the man. Who can balance our country’s budget after so many have tried and failed? Tim Tebow, naturally. 

Who can erase the national debt, which at last glance was bigger than the Grand Canyon? Tebow is the man.

Although the college football season generates a lot of interest from fan bases and television networks willing to play Monopoly money for ratings, it is the recruiting season that is the lifeblood of college football.

Vanderbilt put the wraps on its football season, with a 31-24 loss New Years Eve in the Liberty Bowl. The Commodores got bowl eligible on the final regular season game.

It was a must-win game, played on the road at Wake Forest and the Commodores wasted little time in securing what I consider its most impressive win of the season.

Wow, did the fat man with the red suit and white beard make this my best Christmas ever?

Saint Nick dropped off a dozen Air Jordan 11 Retro Concord sneakers and left them under our tree. You know, the $180-a-pair Nike Jordans that first came out when His Airness and the Chicago Bulls were at the top of the NBA world.

I understand they were hot items in stores around the country this month.

Stop with the excuses

The theme running through the Titans locker room after laying a giant-sized omelet Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium was all too familiar.

“We just came out flat.’’ No joke.

A lot of athletic teams use that as a flimsy excuse.

Tell me you stunk the joint up like a 24-hour cigar bar. I would buy that.

Is Tim Tebow for real?

Is he from another planet? If you cut him, would he bleed? Seriously.

He is becoming Rev. Billy Graham in shoulder pads.

He’ll run over you one minute and pray for you the next.

Just hours after the Titans botched an opportunity to post a signature win at LP Field Sunday, I was driving home and tuned into the final minutes of the Denver-Chicago game.

Down 10-0 with some five minutes left, Superman, uh, Tebow found another improbable way to rescue his team from the jaws of defeat.

With 2:08 left in regulation, here he was again. With all his mechanical flaws, with all the naysayers harrumphing that there was no way he could pull out this game.

After all, the Bears aren’t called the Monsters of the Midway for nothing. Surely Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, who eats quarterbacks for breakfast, would put a knot on Tebow’s head the size of a grapefruit.

But, no. Tebow gets Denver to the outer limit of field goal range and kicker Matt Prater nukes a 59-yarder through the uprights with three seconds to spare. It forced overtime and the Broncos were still breathing.

After Chicago failed to score on its first possession, here came Tebow riding in on a white horse. This time Prater needed only 51 yards to decide the outcome. It was just another chapter added to Tebow’s legend, which is spreading around the NFL world like kudzu.

“If you believe, unbelievable things can sometimes be possible,’’ Tebow told reporters afterwards.

Can I get an Amen?

Adjectives fall short of describing what Tebow has done since his arrival in Denver. Doubters included his coach, John Fox, and Broncos executive vice-president of football operations and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.

The Oklahoma Cowpokes are bellyaching in their beer this week. They don’t get to play undefeated LSU in the BCS Championship Game.

Ah, the BCS. An imperfect system at best.

The Harris Interactive Poll, comprised of 115 voters (including this writer) from various walks of life, submitted their final top 25 votes Sunday.

LSU was a consensus No. 1. The brilliance of the panel is overwhelming, no?

No.

Alabama came out second, with Oklahoma State third. That’s the way my poll read, but I recognize there is legitimate room for debate that Oklahoma State deserved to jump an idle Alabama and grab the coveted second spot at the table.

Tennessee Coach Derek Dooley could not have had his players pick a worse time to quit on him than the final game of the season.

Vols fans has to be embarrassed by the fact players mailed it in against a woeful Kentucky team that beat Tennessee for the first time in 26 years.

The story is even more worrisome because Tennessee had something meaningful to play for – a post-season bowl game.

If successful, it would mean an opportunity to finish with a winning record in a season where a lot of things went wrong.

More importantly it would have given Dooley and his team another four or five weeks to practice. Heaven knows that team could have used more practice.

But the players were admitting they weren’t into the game. Some said they didn’t want to go to some minor bowl game, perhaps referring to last year’s Franklin American Mortgage’s Music City Bowl game in Nashville.

So they bailed out. They didn’t compete. For athletes, that is the cardinal sin.

So they lolly-gagged around while Kentucky used a wide receiver that had not played quarterback since he was in high school five years ago. Unlike Tennessee’s football team, Matt Roark took advantage of the opportunity he was given. Roark ran for 124 yards, as Kentucky won, 10-3.