Literary contributors see humor in Tennessee football cheating scandal | Adams

Tennessee’s recruiting scandal dominated the local news last week. My columns on Casey Pruitt and Phillip Fulmer also generated plenty of responses from my email group.

Mike writes: Since you introduced Randy Travis and "cheatin" into the cast, may I submit: Casey is the walking, talking, belly-crawling personification of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man."

My response: Tammy stood by five different husbands. Miraculously, she lasted six years with George Jones.

Mark writes: OMG-your article today was hilarious and the best yet.

I just wonder how Casey will do with that, "....for richer or poorer..." part?

John, you're our GOAT.

My response: I don’t think Casey signed up for being married to a high school coach.

Mark writes: Well, you just had to do it, you went full, all out NUKLEAR, total scorched earth, on VFM in that article.  And I thought my comments about those Brandy Whistlers was harsh, hoo boy, you make me look like a sensitivity trainer.  I'd recommend a nice cup of herbal tea and a yoga mat.

The SEC should just change its name to the ATM CONFERENCE, because that is the only thing that matters at this point.

My response: No one who follows your creative prose would accuse you of being too sensitive.

Jim writes: Genius. Keep up the good work.

My response: Thanks so much, Jim. Until that email, Jeremy Pruitt and I had something in common: No one had ever called us a genius.

Adam: How could Phillip Fulmer not have noticed Tennessee Vols were cheating? Here's how

More: You might call Casey Pruitt a cheater. I call her a coach's perfect wife 

Mary writes: Enjoyed your column on Fulmer and Pruitt!! You hit the nail on the head.  Fulmer has always been a little shady.

My response: I’m sure Fulmer knew nothing about the NCAA violations piling up behind his football coach.

That last sentence was a test. I wanted to see if I could write it with a straight face.

I did.

Kudos to me. Or, as Fulmer would say, “k’dooze" to me.

Michael writes: Coach Fulmer doesn’t want success at UT. If UT football ever succeeds, what happens to Coach Fulmer? No more invites to parties with old alums and donors where he can talk about his old glory days and tell again the story of when Peyton Manning called to tell him he was staying.

UT failures just keep Fulmer’s own glory alive.

My response: If he were that concerned about preserving the “glory days,” he never should have coached until he left the program in dire straits. And he definitely shouldn’t have taken the athletics director’s job.

Britney writes: John, Finally someone gets me the real "daily agenda" that Fulmer had in his pseudo AD role. I have been asking for this for a long time. I believe that Fulmer was completely unaware of the violations that were going on because he was just "too busy". There are mistakes in hiring coaches and mistakes in hiring ADs.

Let’s not put too much blame on Pruitt. He just wanted a job that he was obviously unqualified for and got it from a truly unqualified AD. When you make a much larger mistake of hiring a truly unqualified AD, everyone pays the price.

My response: Beverly Davenport, who hired Fulmer, was an unqualified chancellor. Notice a trend?

Think how much better off UT is in those positions now with Donde Plowman as chancellor, Danny White as AD, and Josh Heupel as football coach.

Donald writes: I enjoyed your breakdown of Fulmer's day as AD. I started a Ph.D. at UT in 2006, and have watched this whole sad, slow-rolling, catastrophic, hilarious disaster from the beginning of Fulmer's demise.

I'd love to be able to root for UT, but that's like rooting for a car, loaded with clowns who had just robbed a bank, to run into a group of preschoolers crossing the street, while one of the clowns inside that packed clown car is trying shoot a bee with a .44 magnum.

Yeah, that's a complicated metaphor, but it rings true to me.

My response: Give the Vols a chance. Josh Heupel is a step up from their previous coaches, and his offense is extremely entertaining.

As for the metaphor, don’t apologize. That will challenge my other literary readers to take more chances.

Terry writes: John, thanks for all the years of laughs.

My response: If you have a dark sense of humor, you could thank Pruitt for the same thing.

Linda writes: I must admit to not reading your column very often.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed your column on Casey being the perfect wife for a coach.   I laughed out loud at the last paragraph.  Did Fulmer really have 500+ slips?  Thanks for the humor.

My response: Thanks, but I was just the messenger. Fulmer and the Pruitts provided the laughs.

Mike writes: I enjoyed your column regarding Phil Fulmer's failure to pay attention to what was going on in the UT Athletic Department. I especially liked the comment about Casey Pruitt wanting an office with an ATM!

I still wonder how John Currie would have performed as AD if he had been left alone to do the job, with the full support of UT administration and without the second guessing and vicious backbiting that was taking place at that time.

My response: Currie was outnumbered and never had a chance. But he still hired an outstanding baseball and tennis coach.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Literary contributors see humor in Tennessee football cheating scandal