The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,500 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported this website in any way, it means so much to me. All of you really make a difference in my life and put a smile on my face because I know that people appreciate what I love to do. Have a happy start to this new year, and I hope you will continue to support this site! Go Vols!

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Follow @teens4tn on twitter, like us on Facebook, or subscribe in the sidebar! ->

by Griffin H.

It’s kinda amazing, just sitting here and wondering where I was almost two whole years ago when I started this small sports blog that now has a Twitter and Facebook. I was only a sixth grader at the time. And it’s crazy to me that I’m sitting here writing my 200th post. I could NOT have done this without you. Your views, email subscriptions, follows on Twitter, likes on Facebook, or whatever else you did to contribute is important to me. Right now the site is sitting at 2,630 views. That’s awesome, and I just wanted to take this milestone to say thank you to everybody, and I hope this site continues to grow and flourish with your help.

Thank you.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Follow @teens4tn on twitter, like us on Facebook, or subscribe in the sidebar! ->

by Griffin H.

Last week I interned with Tennessee Sports Radio, a  local sportstalk radio station (1180 AM).  The shows include the Erik Ainge Show, the Chris Brown Show, the Chris Treece Show and the Swain and Rucker Show, all of these guys are ex-Tennessee football players or media guys and have great insight into the sports landscape.

I really want to thank Jason Bailey, the GM, for giving me this opportunity, and Chris Treece for letting me voice my opinions on his show as well as the hospitality of everybody there.

On Tuesday, for lunch, Mr. Bailey took me to Ott’s to meet Kris Budden, the sports anchor for WBIR, to talk about her job and the TV sports field. One day Seth Stokes, the producer, let me pick the bumper (intro and outro) music for Treece’s show, so I picked a bunch of Rock songs, which was fun. On Thursday I brought in two dozen doughnuts for everyone as a token of my appreciation. Chris Brown even gave me a new catch phrase “The Bomb.com”  when he talked about the food at Genghis Grill (Thanks Breezy!).

The highlight was the fact that I was actually “living the dream” so to speak. When people say to you “If you love what you do, it isn’t work” they mean it, because I found out this week that is true. The low light was having to leave on Thursday.

I learned a great deal of information from how to host a radio show, to how to sell a company efficiently, to how to produce a show, and be a TV anchor. I had an absolute blast! The people were extremely nice and helpful, they didn’t seem annoyed with me, and they really welcomed me and showed me what to do, instead of making me fetch them coffee, and I’m appreciative of that.

All in all I would like to say thank you to everyone at the station. You guys are all awesome! And for anyone that enjoys talk radio, I would highly recommend these guys! For even more information on what they do you can visit their website, tnsportsradio.com, or follow them on twitter too. Thanks guys!

Keep listening, I know I will.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Follow @teens4tn on twitter, like us on Facebook, or subscribe in the sidebar! ->

by Griffin H.

I have reached my 100th post, from Welcome to Now, what a ride. I remember last July,when I started the blog. I sent emails to my friends and family, hoping to start with a bang. In August, I had my busiest day with 48 views. This January I received 1,000 total blog views. So many mile marks have been passed this year, and approaching the anniversary of the blog, I want to give thanks to each and every one of you that has stopped by Teens For Tennessee, even if you aren’t reading this, and if you are, I still  thank you for your contribution to the site. Please don’t forget to keep checking out the latest in Tennessee sports and beyond.

I am taking any suggestions for this Fan Friday, which will be the 26th and 27th, the second Fan Friday, in May. I would love any ideas. I also would love to hear from you guys on any feedback in general that you guys have for the site.

Thanks so much to all of you,

Griffin

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Enjoying teens4tn.com? Subscribe in the sidebar and receive instant, daily, or weekly notifications of freshly pressed posts on teens4tn.com.

by Griffin H.

Pitiful: evoking or deserving contempt by smallness, poor quality,etc.

Synonyms: abject, affecting, afflicted, arousing, base,beggarly, cheap, cheerless, comfortless,commiserate,

compassionate, contemptible,deplorable, despicable, dismal, distressed,distressing, grievous, heartbreaking,

heartrending, inadequate, insignificant, joyless,lamentable, low, mean, miserable, mournful,moving, paltry, pathetic,

piteous, pitiable, sad,scurvy, shabby, sorrowful, sorry, stirring,suffering, tearful, touching, vile, woeful,worthless,

wretched.

Antonyms: excellent, happy, superb, superior, wonderful,worthwhile.

Sounds about right to me. After playing a close first half, the Vols “unraveled” in the second half. I did not watch much of the second half but I’ll tell you what I did see. I saw a 4 point halftime deficit. Then, I took a break for halftime. The next thing I saw was a 17 or 18 point deficit, then I saw 23, and finally saw a final score of 75-45. I also saw that meant that Michigan outscored the Vols 42-16 in the second half. And let me tell you, everything that I saw was indescribable, and not in a good way. Tobias Harris scored 19, the only Vol to score double-digit points. Scotty Hopson had 4 points. Michigan will play Duke on Sunday. As for the Vols, they will not play again until November and perhaps without Bruce Pearl, Harris, or Hopson. The future is definitely cloudy for the Vols, no one really knows how next year’s team will shape up, but we do know this: This year’s team’s ending was pretty pitiful.

In Other UT Sports:

• The Lady Vols beat Stetson in the first round of the Tournament. They will play Marquette on Monday.
• Tennessee finished 12th at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship.
• The Lady Vols tennis (#18) lost to #17 Notre Dame.
• The Baseball team beat Kentucky 12-8.
• The #16 Lady Vols rowing team beat Minnesota to open the spring schedule.

Factoids of the Day:

• The game was the most lopsided margin of defeat under Bruce Pearl (30).
• Michigan is the first team to win an NCAA Tournament game without making a free-throw
• The game was the largest ever margin of victory of an 8 seed.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. You can also check out my new Youtube account: teens4tn.

Guest Columnist-Griffin’s Dad, Griffin is out of town.

The Vols looked good for a half at home not unusual if you have been following them this season, the second half is a different story. This is the eighth home loss of the year at Thompson-Boling. They took a seven point lead into halftime over the 20th ranked Kentucky Wildcats and looked good doing it with defense and a rocking crowd but as the second half began Kentucky turned the seven point deficit into a seven point lead and ended up on an 18-4 run.  The Senior Day that woulda, coulda, shoulda  been slipped away and the Vols fell to 10-8 at home this year and from a 2nd seed to a 5th seed in the SEC Tourney playing Arkansas on Thursday at 7:30pm. Many are wondering where this puts the Vols for the Big Dance, well it does not help, but I think they still get an at-large-bid between an 8 and 10 seed. Especially if they can win one or two in the tourney. I think a 10 seed might be better for this team they seem to play better as underdogs and especially away from home.

One of the big stories within the game was the inability of Brian Williams being able to play due to a back injury, Kenny Hall did most of the work in his absence and he finished with 6 points and 6 rebounds, if Brian played would it have made a difference? Who Knows? But the Vols were still bigger inside than Kentucky, but their length and agility seemed to bother the Vols as they were out rebounded 38-31.

The other scoring highlights included Tobias Harris with 18 points/6 rebounds, Hopson with 13 points/3 rebounds, and Goins and Tatum both with 9 points.

The other big news on Sunday was the Lady Vols winning the SEC Tournament Championship, their 15th. They did it by beating Georgia 90-65 and by hitting 16 three pointers, a single game record.  It was the third time they have won the tournament after going undefeated in regular season conference play. The Lady Vols are 31-2 and should be a top seed in the NCAA Tourney.

Factoid of the Day: Eight home losses are the most since the 1994-95 season, under Kevin O”Neill, whose team went 7-8.

In Other Vol Sports:

The Big Orange beat the Other Big Orange, The No. 8 Lady Vol softball team beat the Dutch National team,6-5.

The Baseball team beat Morehead St., 10-7

The No. 2 ranked Men’s Tennis team beat the No. 21 Auburn Tigers on Sunday.

The No. 18 ranked Women’s Tennis team also beat the Auburn Tigers in their SEC opener.

by Griffin H.

I wonder how many teams in the SEC could win without their head coach and their star player in a conference game? At least one, and that team is Tennessee. The Volunteers continue to prove they can win by beating the Auburn Tigers 69-56 in Auburn. While Auburn is the worst team in the SEC, Tennessee continues to be one of the best. After an 0-2 start, the Vols have won 5 in a row staying a half-game behind Florida for the East, and third in the conference overall. The Tigers were never really in the game, and the Vols led by as many as 22 points in the second half. Brian Williams led the team with 15 points, and 8 rebounds. Cameron Tatum put up 15 points, and pulled down 7 boards. Tobias Harris scored 14 for the Vols. The key for the Vols was rebounding, they out-rebounded the Tigers 38-24, and everyone who played for the Vols pulled down at least one. The Vols jumped from a 9 seed last week, to a 7 seed on the newly released ESPN Bracketology. The Vols next opponent will be the conference-leading Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday at 5pm. Scotty Hopson, the Vols leading scorer is expected to play, but there is no official ruling. Tony Jones will also coach his last game before Bruce Pearl returns. Let’s send him out on a bang!

Signing Day: The Vols received 27 letters of intent, including the number 1 and 2 players in the state, as well as many other great players. The Vols seemed to fill lots of voids at the offensive and defensive line. One issue, there will be a lot more freshman playing next year. But that’s okay, there will be 27 of them.

In Other UT Sports:

• The Lady Vols softball recruiting class was ranked # 1 in the nation.

Factoid of the Day: The football recruiting class was ranked #12 in the nation by Rivals.com

by Griffin H.

This website has come so far! My friend Ryan emailed me this picture, and I wanted to share it. At first it just looks normal, it looks like my website. But on a second look you will notice that the counter tells you that 1,000 people have checked out this site. I encourage you to look at the About page to see how it all started. I remember starting it in the summer. Then, I had my most viewed day August 3, 2010 (48 views). I continued to keep the site going, this happens to be the 70th post (One by Ryan). 39 comments have been added to the site, and I appreciate all feedback and criticism you may have. 13 people have subscribed to my blog, and if you should want to it is on the sidebar if you scroll down. The site averages 3.5 views per day, and 160 views a month. With 46 views so far in January, I hope to have a very awesome 2011!

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment!

by Griffin H.

As a sold-out Thompson-Bowling Arena crowd and a national ESPN GameDay TV audience looked on upon a team down 30-13, they must have said to themselves, “It’s Over.” I know I did. However, the Vols and Tony Jones, wearing the Orange Blazer just as Ray Mears and Bruce Pearl have, would not have it that way. The Vols closed the first half on a 7-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 30-20 at halftime. Somebody must have gotten this team fired up in the locker room, because Tennessee started right out of the gate gaining speed and momentum along the way. Skylar McBee hit two back-to-back three’s, one of them turning into a four point play. With very little time left, Tobias Harris hit the eventual game winning basket with 1:05 left in the game, putting the Vols up 65-64. Melvin Goins missed a shot got his own rebound and missed again, but it would be Tennessee ball under the basket. Harris was fouled again, and hit both crucial free-throws to give the Vols a 3 point lead with 2.7 seconds left. After Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings called a timeout to set up a play, Brian Williams intercepted the inbounds pass and the Vols won! Scotty Hopson, who missed a wide-open dunk which jump started a Vanderbilt run as well as being 0-for-7 to start, finished with a team high 16 points. Harris had 15 and 9 rebounds, Cameron Tatum had 12 points, and Skylar McBee finished with 10 points. Brian Williams grabbed a team-high 12 boards off the bench, as well as putting up 8 points. The Vols improve to 1-2 in the SEC, and 11-6 overall. This was the team that beat Villanova, Pitt, and Memphis. That is the team that needs to cruise to the Big Dance in March. The Vols will find themselves in Athens taking on a talented Georgia Bulldog team on Tuesday.

In Other UT Sports:

• The Lady Vols made GameDay a sweep beating the Lady Commodores 68-56.

Factoid of the Day: The Lady Commodores have a 26 year losing streak in Knoxville.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment.

by Griffin H.

I asked the Magic 8 ball on my mom’s iPhone, and my dog, Mac about the season, and the results are in!

Magic 8 Ball: 8-5, 7-1 SEC, 5-0 East

Oregon: Yep, Florida: 100% yes!, UAB: Don’t count on it, LSU: True That, Georgia: You may rely on it, Alabama: Outlook not so good, South Carolina: You may rely on it, Memphis: Very doubtful, Ole Miss: Yep, Vanderbilt: Without a doubt, Kentucky: Outlook good.

Will they play in the SEC Championship? Are you kidding me? (good or bad, I don’t know), Will they win? Don’t count on it.

Will they play in a major bowl? You may rely on it, Will they win? My sources say no.

Mac the dog: 9-5, 5-4 SEC, 2-3 East

Oregon: Yes, Florida: Yes, UAB: Yes, LSU: Yes, Georgia: No, Alabama: Yes, South Carolina: No, Memphis: No, Ole Miss: No, Vandy: No, Kentucky: Yes

Will they play in the SEC Championship? Yes, Will they win? Yes

Will they play in a major bowl? No, Will they win the bowl they play in? Yes.

Which predictions reign supreme?

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment