ALL IN THE GAME: Black and Gold on a roll

March 15, 2012

ALL IN THE GAME: Black and Gold on a roll

By Jim Butler Chronicle correspondent The Crossville Chronicle Thu Mar 15, 2012, 03:13 PM CDT

CROSSVILLE — I'm not just talking about the Vanderbilt Commodores in this instance, but there are three cases of these colors standing tall and I'll address them in order of their happening.

First of all, I have to give some props to the Lady Bulldogs of Clay County High School who wear these colors with a little purple thrown in. After four previous attempts in the final game of the state tournament, they were able to pull it off this year and claim the title with a win over Jackson County.

Clay County was defeated four times over the regular season and tournament play by the Lady Blue Devils.

Oh yeah, Clay County is the county of my birth and where I now reside,

Then comes the big Vandy win over the Kentucky Wildcats. They had come close in the two previous outings and were able to pull it off in their third attempt. Hopefully they can continue their good play in the NCAA tourney. They get to play Harvard, (the Vanderbilt of the north) in their first tourney game. The Commodores have been very inconsistent this season but maybe they can keep it together.

One basketball analyst, Hubert Davis, has them making it to the final four. That expectation may be a little high but who knows? Stranger things have happened.

Next come the Stone Memorial Panthers and their advancement to the state tournament and a big hot-shooting win over Livingston Academy in the first round game. Go Panthers. It would be great to see a title come to Cumberland County and I believe that it will.

Of course, the Volunteers are involved in post-season play also and they came up with a win over Savannah State in first round NIT action. I think a win over Ole Miss in the SEC tournament would have put them in the big one, but it wasn't to be. Still their season has been much better than what was expected.

The Peyton Manning saga continues and apparently Bud Adams is willing to let him write his own ticket to become a Titan. I know Jane Way would make her donation to see that happen. I'm sure that many Volunteer fans as well as Titan followers would join her. Jake Locker has to be their quarterback of the future but what better tutor could he have than Manning?

Everybody have a great week and get down to the 'BORO' and support the Panthers.

GO PANTHERS!!! GO JETS!!! GO USA!!!

(Jim Butler is a Chronicle correspondent and his column appears regularly).

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