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Good morning.
We’re now down to 28 days until Vanderbilt’s season opener against Middle Tennessee. #28 on the Commodores’ roster is redshirt freshman cornerback Allan George. George is one of two members of the Vanderbilt defensive backfield from Andalusia, Alabama, which is a fun fact. Also from Andalusia: Robert Horry, who has seven NBA Finals rings.
Yesterday was an eventful day at Vanderbilt, the first we’ve had in months. Adam Sparks fired the opening shot with a report that pretty much confirmed what we’ve suspected for a while: Vanderbilt is actively preventing the athletic department from raising money to renovate Vanderbilt Stadium. Joe Rexrode chimed in as well, and then they published some fan opinions.
Then some others got into the game via Nashville sports radio. There were some friendly voices:
Former #Vandy QB @JRodgers11 earlier today w/ @JaredStillman & Floyd Reese: "There has never been any foresight from the top-down when it comes to Vanderbilt and their administration.”https://t.co/EjDJd9SKYf
— ESPN 102.5 The Game (@1025TheGame) August 4, 2018
And there were some... not friendly ones.
“Vanderbilt football has essentially collapsed since James Franklin left. They don’t have a fanbase. That’s why they aren’t interested in building a stadium.”- @ClayTravis
— The Midday 180 (@Midday180) August 3, 2018
In any case, we all know this won’t get done any time soon, though a lot of former players were sounding off about the neglect of the football facilities on Twitter. (That said, if you cross the line into criticizing the university for building new dorms instead of a new football stadium, well, that’s where you lose me.)
We do have to give credit to Adam Sparks for the quality reporting on this one, by the way. Gannett may be bleeding the Tennessean dry, but Vanderbilt still has one of the best beat writers in the business.
Vanderbilt held its first football practice of the preseason on Friday, and Zac Ellis’s practice report has interviews with LaDarius Wiley and Bruno Reagan, plus a tidbit that junior walk-on Ryley Guay (somewhat surprisingly) has the early edge for the starting kicker job. But can he tackle? Over at the Hustler, Cutler Klein also talks special teams.
Today, Vanderbilt will be having its annual Dore Jam fan festival — named, of course, for Anchor of Gold commenter DoreJam. Admission is free and the event is from 4-6 PM.