Finally, a win

The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! I am writing this article on the heels of success for Tennessee athletics! It’s rare you get a weekend where the Titans, Vols, Vanderbilt, MTSU and even the Nashville Predators all pull off a victory, but that’s exactly what happened on Nov. 2.

Shout-out to the loyal Vandy football fans. It’s been a bottom-feeding tough existence for them, but their team is playing some winning football in the SEC right now.

There are pros and cons to the name, image, and likeness system in college football currently, but there is no doubt that it has created a more balanced game. Some old heads claim loyal players and team players are a thing of the past now and instead only care about the immediate payday. Maybe that’s true, but I know the product isn’t suffering right now. College football is giving us, the fans, amazing games, passionate games and hard-hitting games, and the field is finally more balanced!

This new 12-team playoff is going to be so much more enjoyable than that small four-team window they had been giving us these past years. All of that said, Vanderbilt is indeed playing some winning football right now, and that regular season finale against my Volunteers is shaping up to be a good one.

The brackets are set for the TSSAA BlueCross Bowls. High school football isn’t exactly my forte, but I will always cheer football on in this state. High school football in Tennessee has been making statements on a national level. This state continues to offer a high number of quality athletes ready to take on the next level of football. Football just means more in the South!

It’s been cool over the years watching my old high school dominate in football. A shout-out to Murfreesboro’s very own Oakland High School—state champions in ’84, ’98, ’08, ’18, ’20, ’21 and ’22. This team has been a juggernaut in the big boy class of 6A football.

Good luck to Oakland (9–1) as the playoffs get underway and they have a very real chance at another championship. I imagine it will be Oakland or Ravenwood for the 6A title this year. Enough of that! I don’t like getting into too much detail about things I don’t consider myself an expert in, and high school football in many ways is a more complicated topic than college or professional football.

Warning: politically incorrect ramble ahead! I am so sick of this transgender debate in the realm of sports. I have been discussing it in this paper for over 10 years. I want to applaud all the colleges and female-led teams that have recently forfeited matches against San Jose State out of protest of their trans volleyball player Blaire Fleming. That’s what happens when you allow someone born with a winky to play with people born without winkies. You hear me?

The world needs more Riley Gaines to stand up and speak out. There is so much untapped potential in the world of female athletics. Watching what Caitlin Clark accomplished and the growth her play gave the WNBA was special to watch. I was fascinated and I watched nearly every Indiana Fever game this past season. Imagine if a Shaq-sized man felt like a woman and that person went to LSU and then hit the WNBA draft. Thanks to modern insanity, that scenario isn’t far-fetched at all. It would be allowed!

The world is tired of this madness and thankfully the polls show an overwhelming lack of support for this cause. I do believe the future will look back on this and laugh hysterically at the insanity of smacking biology in the face (with a wiener). We are way past the debate part of this topic because it’s getting us nowhere. Ridicule works! But to be honest, nothing will have more impact than these female athletes forfeiting and taking a stand together. That’s how they have to end this madness in female sports. Unfortunately, college leaders have no clue how to handle these situations. Many of these clowns are scared. They seem worried about bad PR and getting sued, so they leave it up to the coaches and kids and say “good luck.” Biology matters in sports. The end!

Let’s jump into making another matter-of-fact statement. The Tennessee Vols’ “dark mode” uniform is without doubt the cleanest jersey fit in the history of ever! The 50-second social media video was an instant hit as it amassed over 20 million views those few days leading up to the Kentucky night game.

Spooky Rocky Top is one of the coolest things in college sports. Now we have the black goo from Venom creeping over the beautiful orange jerseys of the Volunteers and the result is the coolest jerseys in college football.

I will end on this regarding the Tennessee Volunteers football team: if this team wants any chance at making some actual noise down the stretch, Nico and this offense better turn it up. This Vols defense is stout, and it’s a championship-winning unit. This team’s weakness has been the offense’s inability to score in the first half.

I keep hoping I will see more progression from the offense, because it’s a good problem to have with a young quarterback. You have a defense that is good enough to keep you in the game against anyone in the country and it has given this young quarterback time to learn and grow while also keeping them in the hunt for that final top 12 ranking and a playoff berth. Tennessee has a huge game coming up vs. Georgia, so they better get it together. The Vols are in good enough shape that they could lose a competitive close game against Georgia on the road and still be in potential contention. Time will tell as November wraps up.

Let’s talk Titans! I was happy to see Coach Callahan get his first victory in Nashville over the New England Patriots. It may be ugly football, but the beautiful thing about this game is the wheel continues to spin and the goal is to always get better.

Titans photos by Jessie Rogers / tennesseetitans.com

I was talking to another Titans fan who was upset they won that game and claimed they were doing nothing more than messing up their draft stock. Get that nonsense out of here! I don’t give a damn about draft stock midway through the season even if the season looks to be cooked. I will always cheer on and celebrate a victory. Moron fans who believe embracing the tank is a good idea fail to realize the importance of a young head coach attempting to create a culture as we move forward.

I have watched enough tape on this Titans team to realize Coach Callahan’s system is working and his scheme has potential. It just requires a smart quarterback, and that’s been sketchy at best this season. It is important to be patient, even if my own patience is short.

I will say one bad thing about Callahan here. It is ridiculous that he hasn’t fired the first-year special teams coach Colt Anderson. The Titans’ special teams units aren’t just bad, they are historically bad. The Titans rank near dead last in every category that matters in return yards given up, blocked punts and penalties. It has been a disaster. I guess Callahan has his former Cincinnati buddy’s back because any other team would have fired that guy midway through.

I told someone the other day that Titans DC Denard Wilson was the only coach in the building aside from Daddy Callahan worth a damn. I was angry that day! I blame Titans GM Ran Carthon for those feelings, though. He didn’t make off-season moves that had a rebuild feel to them. Nope, he put together a team on paper that had fans believing they could compete if Levis played good ball and I drank the Kool-Aid.

But my anger has subsided, and hopefully Ran can salvage this mess and turn it into something positive for 2025 and beyond, or his time will be short as a GM. If you have read these articles over the years, you know my passion for this team has always been ride-or-die, and my fandom will stay that way until they put me six feet under.

There is no other accomplishment in the world of sports fandom that I want more than the Tennessee Titans winning a Super Bowl in my lifetime. Please!

That’s all I have for you for this issue. Between now and the next issue we will celebrate Thanksgiving. I pray you all have a great one. I am thankful for my dad, who just went through prostate removal this month after a cancer diagnosis. He is doing well so far! I still have a few things to learn from the old man and I am thankful he will be around a bit longer. My motto remains a great recipe for life—the 5 F’s Faith, Family, Football, Food and Friends. The Z-Train is rolling into the station!