Parker: Trouble at Rocky Top (09/22/08)
KNOXVILLE -- Somebody needs to tune up Rocky Top. There's a note or two off that's making the fight song sound a little sour. Point fingers wherever you want and toss out all the 'What ifs' but at the end of the day the Tennessee Volunteers are unranked, carrying a record of 1-2 and hearing boos in Neyland Stadium...

Parker: Florida week poses challenge (09/15/08)
KNOXVILLE -- "We can, we must and we will play better as we go along." Coach Phillip Fulmer's message after his Tennessee Vols dispatched UAB 35-3 at Neyland Stadium on Saturday rang clear. The Blazers stood on the schedule as a way for the Vols to rid themselves of the bitter taste left behind from losing in overtime to UCLA in the season opener and as a practice game prior to the Southeastern Conference over against rival Florida...

Parker: Franchise QB not as advertised (09/09/08)
After battling out numerous debates with friends and fellow football lovers for the last two seasons, it's starting to look like my original diagnosis of Vince Young was correct. One friend and fellow journalist said Young would be hoisting either an MVP trophy or Vince Lombardi Trophy within his first five years...

Parker: New chapter in Hamilton story (07/15/08)
You don't write a story about Josh Hamilton. You tell the Josh Hamilton Story. Coming out of Athens Drive High in Raleigh, N.C., in 1999, he was all the rage. Tampa Bay anguished over the decision to take either him or Josh Beckett, a hard-throwing right-hander out of Spring (Texas) High, with the first overall pick of the draft...

Parker: Draft left me out...again (06/27/08)
Well, one more major sport's draft has come and gone. Does the name Semih Erden ring a bell? No, I didn't think so. He is one of about 10 Euros whose name was called during Thursday night's NBA Draft, with his being the very last of the 60 selected...

Parker: Candace's legacy lengthens (06/24/08)
The slam dunks just keep on coming for Candace Parker. The former Tennessee Lady Vol added yet another piece of hardware to her trophy case on Monday morning, taking home the Honda-Broderick Cup for being the nation's top female athlete. Parker was honored only hours after becoming the second WNBA player ever to throw down a dunk in a game as she helped her Los Angeles Sparks take down the Indiana Fever over on the west coast...

Parker: 'Point'ing out success (02/29/08)
Whether it be a starting pitcher or a star quarterback, the typical position of limelight for various sports falls on the athlete who handles the ball the most. Basketball is somewhat different. The point guard brings the ball down the floor more times than not and initiates the offense, but the headlines range based on who's scoring the most points. ...

Parker: Vols enjoy taste of the big time (02/24/08)
MEMPHIS -- Looking at the big screen on the scoreboard at the FedEx Forum and around the crowd of 18,389 in attendance, it was apparent that anybody who is anybody in the state of Tennessee wanted to be there. From the face-lifted Priscilla Presley to former Memphis Tiger star Penny Hardaway to NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, nobody wanted to miss this one. ...

Parker: Corbin's favor a treat for locals (01/29/08)
If you didn't join the crowd at Cascade High School, and judging by the numbers you probably didn't, then you missed out on a fine meal and a great opportunity. Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin ventured down to Wartrace to speak to parents and adolescents about everything from the national pasttime to how precious life really is...

Parker: Vols get their act together (01/02/08)
TAMPA, Fla. -- Was Huckleberry Finn added to the coaching staff just prior to kickoff? Between suspensions and injuries, Tennessee looked like the character from Mark Twain's novel on a raft floating aimlessly down the mighty Mississippi with some twigs and mud sewn and thrown together...

Parker: Titans still need to work on formula for success (12/10/07)
NASHVILLE -- Some teams simply know how to win. Check out the communication on the sidelines and while players return to the huddle when the New England Patriots are losing in the second half of games. Are they whining? Do they toss helmets? Are coaches getting an ear full of trash talk from any egotistical superstars?...

Parker: Fate doesn't shine on Vols' ring hopes (12/03/07)
ATLANTA, Ga. -- In a college football season where the insane became a reality and the impossible turned likely, it only seemed fitting that a Tennessee team that many deemed fortunate just to be in the Southeastern Conference championship would persevere over an LSU squad that spent several weeks ranked as the No. 1 team in the country...

Parker: Same setting, different destination (11/26/07)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- There he stood behind the same particle board table while resting in a plastic, hard-back chair at the front of a crowded interview room in the bowels of Commonwealth Stadium. Flashback two years ago. The Tennessee football program was thrown a knee-buckling curveball to finish a bowl-less season 5-6 after competing in Atlanta for the Southeastern Conference title in 2004...

Parker: Vols execute with precision (11/12/07)
KNOXVILLE -- For any quality coach in any sport, the same philosophies appear to be implemented when facing a game-changing performer. Coach Phillip Fulmer and his staff knew coming in that the more they could keep the ball out of the hands of Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden, the greater their chances were of winning on Saturday...

Parker: Foster's ball security needs fixin' (10/31/07)
Just when you think it's safe to drive back over to Knoxville to watch some good, ole-fashioned Tennessee football, they go and break your heart again, only to lift up your spirits and return to the pedestal with some of the best in the country. The 2007 season for the Volunteers has been as up and down as the rest of the college football world. ...

Parker: Polls not an exact science (10/23/07)
Sometimes it just amazes me how much hype and media attention can alter the public's perception of teams and athletes. Sports reporters from around the state are asked each week to cast their votes for the Associated Press Top 10 high school football poll. The results are released each Tuesday (see page 6)...

Parker: Vols starting to clock in (10/08/07)
KNOXVILLE -- The words and notes of "Rocky Top" are starting to sound a little clearer. After dropping two of their first three games in embarrassing fashion, the Tennessee faithful were starting to slur while attempting to bellow out lyrics to their fight song...

Parker: Good luck beating the heat (08/09/07)
All the talk lately has been about the heat. Guess I'll chip in my two cents as well. After working through over 20 years of summer baseball, the heat bothered me the least last year by a long stretch. It may sound weird, but spending 8-15 minutes in the sauna after lifting weights prepared me. Sitting through temperatures well past 100 degrees in the steam made 95 seem like nothin'...

Parker: SEC coaches speak out at Media Days (07/27/07)
HOOVER, Ala. -- The sweet smell of pigskin is again hitting the atmosphere as Southeastern Conference Media Days commenced on Wednesday. A coach and a pair of player representatives from every football program in the SEC man the microphones, strap on the radio headsets and grace the camera to talk about the offseason and what lies ahead...

Parker: Big Tuck's friends think back to happier times (07/05/07)
I took off my dress shoes, tie and suit on Tuesday afternoon, threw them in the closet and cussed at how I didn't want to see them again. With the exception of church, a wedding or a job interview with ESPN, I want no part of trying to look fancy. These funerals are really starting to make me angry...

Parker: At least NBA thinks highly of Tennessee natives (06/29/07)
And who said they don't play good basketball in Tennessee? The NBA draft came and went on Thursday evening at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and the Volunteer State was well represented. In fact, a quarter of the first 12 picks all played their high school basketball in Tennessee...

Parker: Players taking time to talk (06/14/07)
As a 180-pound Alabama boy works his way through Major League lineups with relative ease, handing out several U-turns along the way, I can't help but smile. Thousands of miles away, a 24-year-old digs into a box in Detroit as part of a new wave of talent that is giving a downtrodden city something to cheer about...

Parker: Emotions pour out in family affair (05/22/07)
Life carries with it a series of firsts. From the time we enter this world, it seems like it's one new thing after another. People tend to remember their first day of school, first kiss or where they were when a national event took place. As I knock on the door of my 30s, I realize the firsts just keep on coming...

Parker: Big plays led to con-Vince-ing award (01/04/07)
The first season's in the books, the writers have spoken and Tennessee Titan quarterback Vince Young was tabbed the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year on Wednesday. A whirlwind of hype and optimism hasn't surrounded the Midstate's pro football fans like this since coming into the 2004 season...

Parker: Media horde missing the point (08/01/06)
HOOVER, Ala. -- Anytime I am upset about something, I try to give myself some time to simmer down. I just can't keep from shaking my head when I think back about the questions thrown out at coaches and players at SEC Media Days last week. Upon my first trip to the Wynfrey Hotel just outside of Birmingham, I had hopes of compiling plenty of information for the Times-Gazette's annual football section coming up in September. ...

Parker: We'll get together soon Dad (06/18/06)
As fathers all across the country force a smile at their pocket screwdriver sets and gaudiest of ties, the holiday takes me back to memories of my father and I. Without breaking into a rendition of "Cats in the Cradle," let me take you back a bit. I can remember trying to pry him off the couch and away from some race in Pocono long enough for us to get some throwing done in the yard...

Parker: Eagles have reason to hold their heads high (03/21/06)
MURFREESBORO -- As an athletic, wiry young man walked down the ramp out of the Murphy Center's Monte Hale Arena, he humbly kept his head fixed to the ground with a medal around his neck and a huge chunk of hardware in his arms that read "Mr. Basketball" and told everyone he was one of the top three players in the state this season...

Parker: Different methods, same result (03/10/06)
MURFREESBORO -- Comparisons between the past and the present are never fair to all parties involved. Conversations about the Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes are no different. Missing today from the hardwood of yore are USA Today photo shoots, NBC television crews and a coach of legendary status...

Parker: Eagles still have unfinished business (03/01/06)
The cogs are in place. Momentum's in their favor. The town's excited. Despite it all, Shelbyville Central coach Kevin Thomas just won't smile. Why not? Well, for starters, he's a coach. They don't tend to smile no matter how good things are going. They're a superstitious type...

Parker: Coach's loss puts life in perspective (12/28/05)
"You have got to be able to hit your free throws. Otherwise there's no way a coach is gonna let you on the floor when trying to protect a lead late in the game." Those words echo through the mind of the next district player of the year. Shot after shot, nothing but net...

Parker: Rocky Top has men's hoops? (12/01/05)
NASHVILLE -- If you don't have weak kidneys and made the drive over to Knoxville to see some Tennessee football this past season, you might have noticed the "It's a whole new ballgame" commercials on the JumboTron. During the occasional time out, the university displayed an inside look at men's basketball practices for the Vols in preparation for the 2005-06 season...

Parker: UT's problems go beyond Sanders (11/01/05)
There's a continuous grind to life that shows up at the worst possible times. You wake up, peel yourself out of bed and try to attack a tough day after just a handful of hours of sleep. Your day reaches its conclusion long after everyone else's and questions arise in your head about whether or not you got the allotted 24 hours...

Parker: Rare opportunity for departing seniors (10/28/05)
So many times in our lives we only get one chance to make things right. The window of opportunity opens and shuts faster than the speed of light. Looking back on things, I know there are definitely more than a few things I would have done differently...

Parker: Nightmare is never-ending for UT (10/26/05)
Ever have a day so bad you just knew you were bound to wake up any minute relieved that it was all just a dream? One of those 24-hour spells where things could not have possibly been scripted any worse? That's the way Saturday, heck the whole darn season, has gone for the Tennessee Volunteers...

Parker: Soccer teams on the rise (10/20/05)
Ever look up in the sky and wonder where the jet on top of that long, straight, cloudy puff is heading to? Well, the pilot may as well have the crop of talented, young soccer ladies in the cockpit with him because they're on the rise. As much as traditional sports fans like myself may hate to admit it, soccer is the fastest growing sport in the United States...

Parker: Performance, not publicity, is what matters (07/25/05)
"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words and names won't hurt me." Before coming to tears as a small boy after being degraded in some way, I always kept those words close and shrugged off the remarks. In small towns like this one, it always seems that any sort of criticism is heard county-wide...

Parker: SCHS vs. county teams: why not? (07/13/05)
For those of you out there with siblings or relatives close in age, was there ever a situation where they told you that they weren't going to compete against in you some fashion because they were worried about how bad they may beat you or how big of a blow it would be to their ego should they be defeated?...

Parker: It's time for some unity in local softball (06/29/05)
The segregation has gone on long enough. We must emancipate the barriers that divide a select group of athletes in Bedford County. A division of men on the softball diamond must be no more. For years now, the Church Softball League has played on one side of Shelbyville at Never Rest Park...

Parker: More options needed for adult athletes (06/16/05)
As a writer covering all the local, young athletes, it sometimes makes me uneasy to just sit around and swallow my competitive juices. What's a person to do to find more competition in Bedford County? A large contingent of men appear to be enjoying competing in the Shelbyville Church Softball League. They typically compete four nights a week...

Parker: Banks denied another chance (05/26/05)
Recently former University of Tennessee wide receiver James Banks asked for yet another chance at lining up in orange and white. Not surprisingly, UT coach Phil Fulmer and athletic director Mike Hamilton shot down the idea before it ever really even got started...

Parker: The anabolic athlete (03/11/05)
The gloves, bats and balls are out again in the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues of Arizona and Florida, respectively. Mitts are popping. Wood cracking echoes across spring training facilities. Groundskeepers are back on their tractors. The national pastime has again scraped off the hibernation of winter and arisen with the chirping of the birds...

Parker: Remembering Reggie White (12/27/04)
Bloodshot eyes and a runny nose make this one tough. I'm not sick from taking pictures of the sad Titans' defeat in the bitter cold Saturday night. But, I am hurting from the passing of a legend. Reggie White passed in his sleep at age 43 Sunday. The exact reason is yet to be determined. Some have suggested a heart attack and others have said respiratory complications due to sleep apnea...

Parker: 'Cats in trouble if Vols mesh (11/26/04)
Remember that scene in "Jerry Maguire" where the deaf couple is in the elevator while Jerry (Tom Cruise) and Dorothy (Rene Zellweger) watch quietly as the happy pair sign to one another? After they exit, and Jerry inquires about what was being said, Dorothy confesses that she had a deaf relative and admits that the man in the elevator signed to his significant other, "You complete me."...

Parker: Weary Titans can't find the answers (11/18/04)
Three points. Every team in the National Football League would have claimed a victory in Week 10 had they held their opponent to just three points. The Titan defense did just that last Sunday in Nashville. Unfortunately, special teams gave up a punt return for a touchdown to Chicago. The Bear defense also scored a defensive touchdown and a game-winning safety for a 19-17 overtime victory...