How was your week? Mine was...

It's been a busy week for the Jeter family. Last Friday I learned that I passed the Bar exam and had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. No more studying for me! Congrats to all of those who passed and for those who will have to take it again, I feel for you but you can do it. We went to Panchos to celebrate and we had a party of 23 people. I guess they were all estonished that I passed the first time! Panchos did not do a good job accommodating such a large party and they have slowly declined in my book ever since my boy Eliezer went back to Mexico. Let's hope he decides to come back to Franklin soon.

On Saturday we had our first baby shower and I could not believe how much baby stuff we got from friends and family. After weeks of discussion, Autumn and I let everyone know that we are naming our little man Cooper Knox Jeter. I think about 40 people came out to the house and Chris and I hid upstairs and watched some football. Thanks to Lauren, Leah, Kristen and Jena for putting the shower on and to everyone for the nice gifts. Cooper already has more clothes than I do!

The Vols had a week off after showing the Dawgs who their Daddy was. The staff did some great recruiting and Lane made headlines for taking a chartered helicopter to a game in Georgia. I hope they also worked hard on getting in a good game plan in for Bama because they are beatable.

The highlight on Sunday was getting to go to church for the first time in a while because we were not in Knoxville or on our way to the Titans game. Speaking of the Titans, they failed to show up and embarrassed our city and state by losing to the Patriots 59-0.

Monday began as a great day and quickly went down hill when I got home around 5. I began the day getting my temporary law license from the Board of Law Examiners, registering for my Board of Professional Responsibility number, returning my Barbri books and beginning to get my law office in order. When I got home i went out back and threw a ball for my dog Wyatt and he fell on his back/neck and got up all "crooked." I thought he had broken his neck and I rushed him to the vet. Autumn was in Georgia and we decided that it would be best if she came home to see Wyatt just in case something happened overnight. I really thought we were looking at having to put him down because of a spinal injury. The local vet was about to close so they gave him a steroid injection and advised me to take him to the emergency pet vet so they could take x-rays and keep him overnight for observation. The x-rays did not reveal any structural damage so we had to wait until Tuesday for a brain scan. Autumn got home around 9:30 and we were able to visit him and he was sedated and looked pretty pitiful. We did not sleep much on Monday night without Wyatt at home. It was the first time in 7 years that he did not sleep at our house.

Tuesday was a terrible day because we still did not know what was wrong with Wyatt. We received a call at 10pm and the vet advised that there was no brain damage or tumors present. He told us that the only test left was to take a brain fluid sample to check for infections. That test also did not reveal anything and he said that it was more than likely a vestibular disease that would cure with time.

We decided to take Wyatt home on Wednesday afternoon and have been on round the clock care for him because he still has a bad neck tilt and has trouble balancing himself. He was glad to be home and enjoyed watching the Phillies wrap up the National Leauge Championship Series and looks for the Phils to repeat as World Champs. He is doing much better tonight(Friday) but he still can't straighten out his neck and has trouble keeping his balance. We are hoping for a full recovery in the next few weeks. Thanks to Dr. Birdwell at Beauchamp Animal Hospital, Dr. Lisa Martin at Pet Emergency Treatment Service in Cool Springs and Dr. Murphy at Affiliated Vet Specialists in Cool Springs.

This has been a roller coaster of emotions for us this week. From passing the bar to thinking that we lost our first "kid" Wyatt. We are just glad to have him home and to know that he will be ok. The quote from the end of the movie Marley and Me really hit home this week:

"A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see."

- John Grogan (Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog)

I also take a new found appreciation for the following quote from the late Jim Valvano:

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.”

I guess we have had a few special days this week. A funny thing just happened as I am writing this blog; Wyatt, who is basically unable to get around by himself, just jumped right up in the chair next to me and is resting contently as he watches me type. I guess they were right when they said a dog is man's best friend!

Let's hope the Vols beat Bama tomorrow and finish this week with a high! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers this week.

Waiting....

I am trying to keep myself very busy this week because Friday is one of the biggest days in my professional life. All I need is to find my name on a list around lunchtime on Friday. That's right, the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners lets you know if you passed the Bar Exam by putting your name on a successful list on their web page. It is the culmination of 5 years of law school, 3 months of Bar prep and 2 days of taking the Bar Exam in late July. I haven't started to get nervous yet but I'm sure Thursday will be one of the longest days of my life and who knows how I will feel on Friday morning.

I do take comfort in the fact that my job will never define who I am as a man and there are worse things in this world than taking the Bar Exam again. I also know that I did everything I could have done to prepare myself for this test. That being said, I really don't want to spend another 3 months preparing for that test. My short term fate will be decided in less than 4 days. If I pass, I look forward to jump starting my own practice, long work hours and lawyer jokes. When I started this journey to go back to school after being graduated from college for 5 years, I decided I wanted to do something that would allow me to be self-employed and also provide for my family. I was done with the days of someone else telling me what to do and how to do it. It is a little nerve racking thinking about starting a practice from scratch but that is what I signed up for. Add in the fact that our son will be here in December and the pressure rises just a bit.

I have been blessed that my wife Autumn has had a great job for the last nine years and has afforded me the opportunity to go to lawschool and chase this dream. I think my desire to go to lawschool started when I was working in a job that required me to crawl under houses and sell foundation repair and water drainage systems. I can remember going to my friend Chris' lawschool graduation and being somewhat inspired to go back to school. Maybe I should have skipped that graduation and saved myself all the reading, stress and time it takes to complete a law degree. I took the route of going to Nashville School of Law at night and it is a 4 year program that I crammed into 5 years. I thought I was smart enough to cruise through my first year of school and because of a slightly lower than required GPA, I was advised that I would need to retake the 2 classes that I received Ds in. I buckled down for the next 4 years and worked a 40 hour a week job and went to school at night. Needless to say, I have been very busy over the last 5 years. Hopefully Friday will be the beginning of the next chapter of my life.

I have several friends that are in the same boat as me and we will all be looking for each others names after we, hopefully, find our names on the list. I know all of you guys are just as anxious as I am for Friday to get here. We are just tired of waiting and we want to now if our future holds starting our law careers or 3 more months of Bar preparation. Either way, I am a blessed man with a great wife and family. I am going to be a dad in 2 months and that little boy probably doesn't care if I'm a lawyer or not. I just hope that I can be a great father and husband like my dad is and everything else will work out in God's time.

Welcome Back Tennessee Football

Yesterday reminded many Vol fans of the way things used to be in Neyland Stadium. The Volunteers dominated the Georgia Bulldogs for four quarters and Jonathan Crompton played like the highly touted recruit from the hills of North Carolina. It's a good thing that Coach Lane Kiffin doesn't listen to the fans when they called for a change at QB over the previous weeks. During the 6th game of the season, Crompton and the offense finally looked comfortable in the Lane Kiffin system. Kiffin dismissed wide receiver Brandon Warren from the team earlier in the week and the Vols responded with an offensive explosion. Not only did Crompton play great, his receivers made big plays that brought back memories of Peerless Price, Willie Gault, and Carl Pickens. Gerald Jones and Denarius Moore decided "It's Time" and both made spectacular plays for touchdowns.

Neyland Stadium started to sound like the stadium that I remember when I was in school during the late 90's. The students saw a glimpse of what we were used to every Saturday in Knoxville. One of my friends sister is a current student and made the comment that yesterday was the most fun she has ever had at a UT home game. All I could say is that is the way it was all the time when I was at UT and hopefully it will be that way for the home games in the future. The current students don't expect the team to win and are not very upset at losses. Tennessee rarely lost a home game and everyone expected victories against SEC rivals and blowouts against everyone else. I think Lane Kiffin took a big step towards bringing that excitement back. One of my favorite quotes of all time came after the game: "[Kiffin] basically made a promise to us that we wouldn't lose to them anymore, forever or until he leaves," Volunteers safety Eric Berry said. "He's not going to let Georgia beat us." That comment is just Next Level! Kiffin expects to win and he is bringing that mentality back to our program. He is truly one of the Tennessee Wild Boyz! Go Vols.

Baby Names

We are taking suggestions for baby names. We have a pretty good idea what we like but all suggestions will be considered. A couple of my favorites are Peyton Neyland and Nukeese Marsalis Jeter. Please give us some great sports names!

Kiffin's Way or the Highway

Like him or not, Lane Kiffin is the new sheriff in Knoxville. He might be arrogant and say some things that he probably shouldn't but he has laid down the law for his football team and if you don't follow his rules you are not going to wear the orange and white. This is just another breath of fresh air from the new staff that we did not have with the prior regime. Fulmer would give guys 4th and 5th chances but Kiffin does not have the same patience with the players. Sure, he will give guys an opportunity to turn things around after mistakes but he will not tolerate guys who don't get in line with his system.

Brandon Warren was the latest prima donna who learned the hard way that Lane Kiffin does not stand for players who think they are bigger than the program. Here is a local hero who transferred to UT after a freshman All-American season at Florida State, another program that tends to let its athletes run the program. He came back to Knoxville and was allowed to play immediately because his mother was diagnosed with cancer. He arrived with huge expectations as the TE who could be the next Jason Witten. Under the Clawson offense last year he rarely played and many wondered why the coaching staff was not utilizing this prodigy. He finished the year as a disappointment, 10 catches for 85 yards, and the Vol Nation believed that the change in the coaching staff would do wonders for Warren. The first thing the new staff did with Warren was move him to wide receiver to give the offense a big physical receiver that could be a match up problem for defenses. I sat next to some of Brandon's family at the Orange and White game in the spring and they were ecstatic at the coaching change. They told me that the former staff had bad mouthed Brandon in the media and lied about him not being able to pick up the complex Clawson offense. Things appeared to be back on track for this kid.

During the summer there were reports that Brandon was stripped of his #1 jersey. Kiffin said it was an honor to wear #1 and Warren was not doing the things necessary to keep that number. Apparently he did enough to get his number back and he caught his first TD in the first game against W. Kentucky. Things appeared to be back to normal for Warren. Brandon did not play much against Florida or Ohio (he did have a TD reception in the Ohio game) and he finally lost it against Auburn. To be fair, it would be very difficult to be a receiver on this Tennessee team because you know that any balls thrown your way are going to be behind you, too high, too low, or just nowhere near you. Mr. Warren decided to take out his frustration on the wide receivers coach Frank Wilson by having a verbal spat with him on the sideline during the Auburn game. There is speculation that he took a swing at one of the coaches. He also lined up incorrectly in the 4th quarter and caused a delay of game penalty near the goal line. He was seen throwing his helmet in frustration on the sideline during the game. Those are the images that will define the career of Brandon Warren at Tennessee. He had 7 catches for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns through five games this year.

Vol fans were waiting to hear how long Lane Kiffin would suspend Warren after the incidents in the Auburn game. The answer came yesterday afternoon when Lane Kiffin dismissed Brandon Warren from the program. Kiffin is going to feel the heat from the Vol Nation if he continues to ride Jon Crompton to a horrible season. You can criticize Kiffin's playcalling and decision to play Crompton but this guy understands how to run a program. These guys are getting a free education, free room and board, and closets full of free clothes from Adidas. It is an honor to play football at the University of Tennesee. Lane Kiffin requires these kids to do the right thing and he does not tolerate any deviation from the straight and narrow. He suspended starting cornerback Dennis Rogan for the Ohio game for skipping class! Tennessee fans should be elated that we have a guy running our program that requires the best from our players. It might not show in the win-loss column this year, but Lane will turn this thing around if we give him a few years to weed out the problems like Warren and bring in guys that understand what an honor it is to play at Tennessee and who will do what it takes to win! Go Vols and let's beat the Dawgs!

Tennessee v. Auburn Recap

It started out as a great day in Knoxville. We had a great tailgate with good food, good fellowship and great weather. Chris won the award for best gameday attire, he wore the checkerboard pants and they were a great conversation starter with many strangers including Erin Andrews and Phillip Rivers dad. Here is Chris in action:




Many Auburn fans had invaded the UT campus and we were hoping to send them home with their first loss of the season. Most of us were very nervous about the game and were looking for ways we could win the game. We needed a solid performance from our defense and hopefully a couple of turnovers. Jon Crompton had to play solid and not turn the ball over. As game time approached, we headed to the Stadium to see the Vol walk a 6pm. Someone forgot to tell the fans that the Vol walk would be coming through about 10 minutes early so we missed it. We were lucky enough to have pregame field passes and Autumn, Chris, Carrie and I walked the sidelines during warmups. We got up close with big time recruits like Jeff Luc and Matt Elam. Below is a picture of Jeff Luc:




We also got our picture taken with Erin Andrews. As I said earlier, she was a big fan of Chris' pants and we told her bodyguard that he should look into the checkerboard pants next time he visits Knoxville. Here is Chris and Me with Erin:

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The team came out in all orange uniforms and I love the all orange uniforms but we have trouble winning when we wear them, see SEC Championship game from 'o7 and Memphis game from '99 or '00. After the game began, we realized that we were in trouble because Crompton and his receivers looked like they had never played football before. There were bad passes, dropped balls and a cloud of confusion around our offense. Our Defense was playing hard but began to get tired in the second quarter. The offense showed us a glimpse of life right before the half a got a touchdown on the board but the extra point was blocked. We went into halftime down 13-6. In the second half, our defense was worn out and the offense did not do anything until it was too late in the 4th quarter. The final score was 26-22 and the game probably was not that close. We look like a team that has forgotten what it takes to win ballgames and there appears to be several problems with our receivers. Crompton is not great but the receivers dripped somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 passes. We need a cleansing of this team to get all the Fulmer out of the program. We have a few guys who do what it takes to win but I do not think that everyone on this team has bought in to the Kiffin way of life. This season is of no consequence to me. Kiffin needs to be given until year three to determine how well he can run a program. He has to have ample time to get his players in here and teach them how to win. This year will be a very long season and it is looking like a 4-5 win year. I think next year will be more of the same and hopefully we can go to a bowl game. The third year is when TN fans should expect to compete for the SEC championship again.

I am a very lucky guy, Autumn is over 6 months pregnant and she was a trooper yesterday. We got home form the game at 3 am and she did great! She made the day better by being there with me. Yesterday was a good day for football in the South but it would have been perfect with a Vols win. Hang in there Tennessee fans, we will be back but we have to be patient with this team and coaching staff. Let's find a way to shock the Dawgs next Saturday! Go Vols!

p.s. - The Titans are just terrible. What happened to them? More to come later this week.