Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......
• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......

• Corey Haim dies at 38; actor was a teen idol in the '80s [/caption] Corey Haim was in full teen-idol mode in 1988, swamped with letters from adoring young female fans and his face on the covers of teen magazines. But it was acting that was foremost on the mind of the Canadian-born 16-year-old, whose growing list of credits included “Lucas” and the......
• Unexpected Winner at Sawgrass One of the most flawless and brilliant games this weekend was played by Henrik Stenson in the Players Championship in Florida.  It was one of the richest tournaments played at a whopping $12.6 million. In the beginning of the day, Stenson was working with a five stroke shortfall behind the......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......
• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......

• How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke [/caption] by PABLO S. TORRE SI Recession or no recession, many NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball players have a penchant for losing most or all of their money. It doesn't matter how much they make. And the ways they blow it are strikingly similar What the hell happened here?......
• Omission a Mistake According to Spurrier Steve Spurrier recently confirmed upon appearing at the SEC media days that he was in fact the person that snubbed the Florida Gators player Tim Tebow during the coach's voting for the preseason All-SEC player team. Ole Mississippi football coach, Houston Nutt, says that he voted for Tebow as All-SEC.......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• Headlinin': A&M is committed to the Big 12, as it long as it pays Making the morning rounds. • Oh yeah, this is going to work out just fine. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe promised big bucks last month to save his disintegrating conference at the last possible second, and Texas A&M is taking the man at his word: University president R. Bowen......
• Headlinin': A&M is committed to the Big 12, as it long as it pays Making the morning rounds. • Oh yeah, this is going to work out just fine. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe promised big bucks last month to save his disintegrating conference at the last possible second, and Texas A&M is taking the man at his word: University president R. Bowen......

• Pentagon Hacker - Gary McKinnon [/caption] Gary McKinnon (born 10 February 1966) is a Glasgow-born systems administrator and hacker who has been accused of what one US prosecutor claims is the "biggest military computer hack of all time," although McKinnon himself states that he was merely looking for evidence of free energy suppression and a......
• Wrong video of health protest spurs N-word feud [/caption] Three Democratic congressmen — all black — say they heard racial slurs as they walked through thousands of angry protesters outside the U.S. Capitol. A white lawmaker says he heard the epithets too. Conservative activists say the lawmakers are lying. What does the video show? Not much. Indeed, new......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......
• Headlinin': A&M is committed to the Big 12, as it long as it pays Making the morning rounds. • Oh yeah, this is going to work out just fine. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe promised big bucks last month to save his disintegrating conference at the last possible second, and Texas A&M is taking the man at his word: University president R. Bowen......

• Panel Attempts To Debunk Myths About Online Predators Misguided common wisdom about online predators often leads to ineffective efforts to protect young people, according to researchers. By Mitch Wagner | InformationWeek | Jun 15, 2007 06:00 AM Myths and misperceptions about online predators are driving adults to misguided efforts to protect young people, according to researchers. The public......
• Why Athletes Can't Have Regular Jobs Why Athletes Can't Have Regular Jobs 1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me." 2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......
• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......

• Bascome: Stem cell regulations will be in place Image via Wikipedia Health Minister Nelson Bascome on January 28 said his Ministry will not be doing anything about Bermuda's lack of adult stem cell regulations at this stage — but pledged to ensure good practices would be in place before a stem cell clinic opens. At a news......
• Michael J Fox ends film career and dedicates himself to stem cell research Image by cliff1066 via Flickr “During filming for ‘Doc Hollywood’ in 1991, I noticed spasms in my left pinkie finger. In about 6 months most of my hand was shaking and my shoulder was sore”. Michael J. Fox, an internationally renown star since “Back to the Future”, told weekly......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• Ole Miss is willing to admit Jeremiah Masoli. But first, the paperwork. Break out the Adderall, the T.A. applications and the post-structuralist critiques, everybody – ESPN says ex-Oregon star Jeremiah Masoli is going to grad school: Former Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli is expected to be admitted to one of three graduate programs at the University of Mississippi, which should make him......
• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......

• Michael J Fox ends film career and dedicates himself to stem cell research Image by cliff1066 via Flickr “During filming for ‘Doc Hollywood’ in 1991, I noticed spasms in my left pinkie finger. In about 6 months most of my hand was shaking and my shoulder was sore”. Michael J. Fox, an internationally renown star since “Back to the Future”, told weekly......
• Unexpected Winner at Sawgrass One of the most flawless and brilliant games this weekend was played by Henrik Stenson in the Players Championship in Florida.  It was one of the richest tournaments played at a whopping $12.6 million. In the beginning of the day, Stenson was working with a five stroke shortfall behind the......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• Sarkisian 'serves' Kiffin from Times Square How did Lane Kiffin find out he was being sued by the Tennessee Titans for poaching assistant coach Kennedy Pola? Straight from the world's largest news ticker, courtesy of a former colleague and a reliable photo messaging plan, according to the New York Times:When the Southern California Coach Lane Kiffin......
• Headlinin': A&M is committed to the Big 12, as it long as it pays Making the morning rounds. • Oh yeah, this is going to work out just fine. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe promised big bucks last month to save his disintegrating conference at the last possible second, and Texas A&M is taking the man at his word: University president R. Bowen......

• Unexpected Winner at Sawgrass One of the most flawless and brilliant games this weekend was played by Henrik Stenson in the Players Championship in Florida. It was one of the richest tournaments played at a whopping $12.6 million. In the beginning of the day, Stenson was working with a five stroke shortfall behind the......
• Unexpected Winner at Sawgrass One of the most flawless and brilliant games this weekend was played by Henrik Stenson in the Players Championship in Florida.  It was one of the richest tournaments played at a whopping $12.6 million. In the beginning of the day, Stenson was working with a five stroke shortfall behind the......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......
• Sarkisian 'serves' Kiffin from Times Square How did Lane Kiffin find out he was being sued by the Tennessee Titans for poaching assistant coach Kennedy Pola? Straight from the world's largest news ticker, courtesy of a former colleague and a reliable photo messaging plan, according to the New York Times:When the Southern California Coach Lane Kiffin......

• Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dies at 80 [/caption] NEW YORK —George Steinbrenner, who rebuilt the New York Yankees into a sports empire with a mix of bluster and big bucks that polarized fans all across America, died Tuesday. He had just celebrated his 80th birthday July 4. Steinbrenner had a heart attack, was taken to St. Joseph’s......
• Unexpected Winner at Sawgrass One of the most flawless and brilliant games this weekend was played by Henrik Stenson in the Players Championship in Florida. It was one of the richest tournaments played at a whopping $12.6 million. In the beginning of the day, Stenson was working with a five stroke shortfall behind the......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......
• The running game is back at Texas. But is it really necessary? Part of the Doc's Big 12 Week. The last two years notwithstanding, I've always viewed Mack Brown as a fundamentally old-school hardass who built his offense on burly I-formation workhorses and clouds of dust/vulcanized rubber: Between Ricky Williams, Hodges Mitchell and Cedric Benson, Texas produced a 1,000-yard running back......

• Obama hails 60th Senate vote for health care - Yahoo! New WASHINGTON – Jubilant Democrats locked in Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson as the 60th and decisive vote for historic health care legislation Saturday, putting President Barack Obama's signature issue firmly on a path for Christmas Eve passage. In the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid smiled broadly when asked if Nelson's......
• Al Qaeda claims responsibility for failed terror attack [/caption] Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack on a plane about to land in the U.S., saying it was in retaliation for alleged U.S. strikes on Yemeni soil. In the statement, published on radical Islamist Web sites, the group hailed the......

Bryce Brown has remained conspicuously silent in the media since he went AWOL at the start of spring practice in March. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Brown’s odyssey over the last year from melodramatic blue-chip recruiting coup to freshman afterthought at Tennessee that he’s wanted out of Knoxville for months – at least since April, according to his father, Arthur, who told ESPN’s Joe Schad today that he’s repeatedly, unsuccessfully asked UT coach Derek Dooley to release his son from his scholarship since Bryce left the team. Those requests began long before Bryce reportedly sent Dooley a much-publicized text message requesting a release after leaving Tennessee last weekend.

As of Tuesday, a Tennessee spokesman said that request had come without a face-to-face meeting with Dooley, who seemed to confirm to the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he hadn’t talked with the younger Brown at all throughout the saga: "The reason it has continued on (since the spring) is because Bryce has not come to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want a release to so-and-so school.’ At some point, that’s got to happen." Arthur Brown told Schad, however, that there was a meeting between Dooley and Bryce last Saturday, before Bryce returned home to Kansas, which Dooley mysteriously asked the family to keep under wraps. And it’s been clear from the beginning that the family wants Bryce to transfer to Kansas State to join his brother, Arthur Jr., another former five-star recruit who made a bee-line for KSU in January after two disappointing seasons in Miami.

But Tennessee, Schad writes, isn’t budging:

…Vols coach Derek Dooley said Friday that he will not release Brown from his scholarship.

"I have a lot of respect for Bryce as a person and a player," Dooley said. "This is a professional decision, not a personal one."

Dooley said he makes decisions on who to release based on three criteria: what was the player’s personal investment into the program; what harm the player’s departure would cause the program; and how the player handled the situation as a person.

"I have an obligation to protect the program," said Dooley, who has released some players and declined to release others since taking over the Vols. "Bryce can still go to Kansas State but I’m not releasing him."

In practice, that would mean Brown would have to walk on at KSU and pay his own way for a year, until his scholarship agreement with Tennessee (renewed on an annual basis) expires.

Tennessee’s deceptive comments about the meeting last weekend are frankly baffling, unless their goal was specifically to paint Brown as a petulant flake. (My post on Brown’s cold-shoulder exit on Wednesday, based on the apparently false statements and implications by Dooley and the UT spokesman that there had been no meeting, collected 750 comments, most of them criticizing or outright insulting Brown for skipping town. The Knoxville News-Sentinel story that post quoted drew almost 300 comments in the same vein.) Dooley’s insistence on denying Brown’s transfer also seems petty, even moreso than when he required offensive lineman Aaron Douglas to transfer at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville before he’d grant Douglas’ release earlier this year. Kansas State and Tennessee aren’t scheduled to play one another over the next three years. The elder Brown said he offered this week to fly Bryce back to Knoxville for another face-to-face meeting with Dooley, but the coach texted back "No need to come back out here." (Dooley confirmed the text to Schad.) If Dooley’s waiting for a face-to-face request to clear this up, as he said earlier in the week, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to facilitate it.

On the other hand, between the extended recruiting drama, the relationship with sketchy "mentor" Brian Butler, the immediate recruiting probe upon arriving on campus, the uninspiring debut on the field and now the protracted, unexplained exit from the team, Brown hasn’t done much up to now to counter his flaky reputation. His status has been a constant distraction and – for Dooley, anyway – frustration. And just like his recruitment last year, it’s painting everyone in an ugly light.

At this rate, if ever gets on a field again, this kid better be as good as advertised for whoever’s willing to take him in.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

• Headlinin': A&M is committed to the Big 12, as it long as it pays Making the morning rounds. • Oh yeah, this is going to work out just fine. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe promised big bucks last month to save his disintegrating conference at the last possible second, and Texas A&M is taking the man at his word: University president R. Bowen......
• Ole Miss is willing to admit Jeremiah Masoli. But first, the paperwork. Break out the Adderall, the T.A. applications and the post-structuralist critiques, everybody – ESPN says ex-Oregon star Jeremiah Masoli is going to grad school: Former Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli is expected to be admitted to one of three graduate programs at the University of Mississippi, which should make him......

• Mental barriers hamper obese women’s efforts to get exercise Tailored programs could help curb aversion and improve adherence to weight loss plan For arachnophobes, it’s difficult to kill a spider as it scurries across the floor. Those who are scared to fly might not ever set foot on a plane. While nothing physically stops people with these aversions, a......
• A Year Back: What Was Important We don't look back at history as often as we should. As an amateur student of history, with a focus on finance and economics, I want to start looking back at what was important to us a year ago. In many cases, what we thought was important no longer matters.......