The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! I want this article to be happy, with just a sprinkle of controversy—especially with the beauty of spring just around the corner. Spring is the season during which the natural world revives and reinvigorates after the cold winter months. That’s beautiful, but first let’s sprinkle the controversy at the beginning of this article, and we will end on something a tad more inspiring!
My last article was for the most part about transgender athletics. My stance is simple—I believe allowing anyone born with a penis to compete with those not born with a penis creates an unfair advantage. Seems a reasonable point. Biological differences exist, and one of them, without doubt, is a competitive advantage for natural-born males.
In my last article I mentioned the Ivy League trans swimmer Lia Thomas who competed as “Will” for three years, putting up times that ranked around 500th nationally for the men. Then, boom—as a female we have Lia as the number one swimmer in the country! Make sense? Yeah, it doesn’t.
Weeks after I wrote that article, Lia became the first transgender athlete to win a Division I Championship. All I can say is, I told you! I was writing about this topic over a decade ago. I was once a true fan of female sports, and I gave it my attention back in the early ’00s, and passionately rooted for the strong women of Team USA.
I hate saying this, but I am officially done with anything involving women’s sports. The integrity of female athletics is dead! Gotta feel sorry for these women. I guarantee, 90-percent-plus have a problem with transgender athletes competing willy-nilly with them. Yet most of these females keep quiet because cancel culture is real and it’s toxic. But there comes a time when you need to stand up and call stupid stupid, and that time is now before this becomes more prevalent than it already is.
What’s sad is I have no intention to hurt the feelings of any transgender individual. I respect everyone’s right to live as they see fit to be free and happy and treated with due respect. And I wish happiness to every transgender person reading this. But that doesn’t mean the integrity of female athletics can be destroyed to satisfy the feelings of some. I am baffled we have come this far. I will continue to voice my opinion on this. I end on this: I would recommend those of you who agree with me yet keep quiet due to potential backlash, stop being cowards and speak up, but in a respectful manner, of course.
Dag-gum! I had no intention of my first 500 words of this article being about that. Hot topics get me passionate, I guess, but let’s talk about something a little more positive.
If you are a fan of Ole Miss or Vanderbilt, then you should stop reading now! University of Tennessee baseball is your Daddy here in the year 2022. Sweep, sweep! I am in absolute awe of this Tennessee baseball team.
Tennessee just made it through the toughest stretch of the season, and what did they do? Well, they went to Oxford against the at-the-time-number-1-ranked Rebels and swept them up. Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin thought it would be cute to throw the first pitch out Game 1 with a golf ball after that wild unfortunate night in Knoxville back in football season. That backfired as the Vols pounded the Rebels 12–1.
Tennessee Baseball is off to a historic start to the season. Tennessee is the first SEC team in 28 years to start 9–0 in conference play. The Vols stand currently after the recent Vandy series at 27–1 and are the unanimous number one team in college baseball. After securing the sweep vs. Vanderbilt, the first series sweep in Nashville since 2009, the Vols now have 19 straight wins, a program record.
The Vandy Boys have been one of the most dominant baseball programs in college baseball this entire decade, winning the tournament in 2014 and ’19 and runner-up in ’15 and ’21. Tennessee was a runner-up in 1951 and made an impressive World Series appearance last season, but clearly this program is enjoying new success under Vols coach Tony V.
Vandy’s one thing it has over Tennessee has been baseball. This series probably hurt worse for the diehard ’Dores than they would have you believe. This rivalry though, this almost-hatred brewing is great! After the ridiculous Game 1 bat incident with Jordan Beck, I mean Mike Honcho . . . stickers on bats, stickers falling off? Appropriate stickers? I don’t know who is to blame, but it was unfortunate—the umpires ruled Beck out after he hit a home run because he did not have a sticker designating his bat as legal.
At the end of the day, it was clearly something stupid. All I know is Vols Coach Tony Vitello, dude is a GOAT!
Coach Tony Vitello
Fact is, this rivalry is good for baseball in the state of Tennessee and for generating interest in the game.
Make no doubt about it, Rocky Top has some of the best, most loyal fans in the entire country. There are a lot of people who enjoy seeing Tennessee fans lose, yet one thing rings true. No matter what these Tennessee fans stay loyal. Everyone knows this to be true, and nationally Tennessee’s loyal fan base is well known.
Its impossible to argue; it doesn’t matter, football, basketball, baseball, Big Orange shows up. Did Tennessee fans go a little overboard that night vs. Ole Miss football when they were marked short of the first down? I’d say mustard bottles and golf balls equals going overboard . . . crazy passion!
Images courtesy utsports.com
Tennessee football hasn’t given its fans the proper return, given the fans’ investment over these long years. But make no doubt, the time will come and it will be that much sweeter for all these Tennessee fans who have been nothing but loyal through these hard times.
That’s it, the Train Daddy is rolling into the station! Yee-yee Tennessee! Rocky Top! And it wouldn’t be an article if I didn’t shout out my Tennessee Titans as well. Titan Up! Can’t wait for some FOOTBALL!!!
