I’ve long said that the University of Tennessee athletics program is one of the douchiest in college sports, and yesterday afternoon there was news on that front. Six women filed suit against UT, alleging that they were sexually assaulted by UT athletes, mainly football players. The university uses an unusual adjudication system, the six “Jane Does” alleged, that is biased against the victims and is designed to protect the athletes. Among the school officials acting with indifference toward the allegations, it was said in the lawsuit, were the university’s chancellor, athletic director, and head football coach Butch Jones. The women claim that the university’s procedures violate the Title IX gender discrimination statute.
I hope the women get the justice they deserve, and I hope the university gets the NCAA sanctions it deserves. As for Butch Jones, I wonder if he’ll be trading one shade of orange for another. The University of Tennessee athletic department is just an embarrassment to the other 13 schools in the SEC. Perhaps the conference should dump UT and look to the other end of the Volunteer State for a 14th member.
(Updated: From the Washington Post: Tennessee football players are said to have beat up a teammate after he assisted a woman who accused two players of rape. Athletic coaches were said to be present during the attack. In a November 26 interview, it was said that members of the team had a “hit” out on that teammate.)
Damn, this could turn into the biggest scandal in college sports since Jerry Sandusky. I will monitor this story as it develops and post updates.
Not a good day for my other least favorite university athletics program either: Ole Miss received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA listing 28 violations, 13 for the football program and 9 that occurred under current head coach Hugh Freeze.
Nor is there good news for my favorite NBA team. Marc Gasol is out with a broken foot indefinitely and could be out the rest of the season. This SUCKS.
There will be a sushi class at Memphis Made Brewery, 768 S. Cooper, Saturday, February 27 at 7 PM. $40 to sign up. Make your reservation here. Class cost includes sushi. Class will last 2 hours.
Former strip club king Danny Owens is out of federal prison. He is in a halfway house in Memphis and is expected to be released in a few months.
Early voting for the March 1 primaries begins today. Downtowners can easily early vote at the Election Commission at Second and Poplar.
I prefer to #FeelTheBern, but if you’re a Hillary supporter, her husband and former president Bill Clinton will be in town tomorrow night to campaign for her at Whitehaven High School.
The Memphis Black Restaurant Week (March 7-13) website is now live. Four Downtown restaurants are participating, including DeJaVu, Onix, the Office @ Uptown, and Scoops Parlor.
The annual Valentine’s Day glass goes on sale at the Flying Saucer tonight at 7.
The Hotties issue of the Memphis Flyer has hit the stands.
I will lead off at the Silly Goose after work. Some of the people who go there are UT fans, and my guess is that they will want to talk about anything other than college sports. I’ll drop by trivia at the Blind Bear later. With Charles getting done at 11:04 last Wednesday, my guess is my newly-employed trivia teammate won’t make it until the end. Neither will I; I’ll be heading out a little before 10 to catch Charvey at the Goose. Time to go brave the cold and run errands. If I learn of any more Downtown news or UT douchery I will do a second post after work.