In the program's first postseason football game, the Signal Mountain Eagles showed some nerves Friday night.

There is a handful of accepted football realities for the Southeastern Conference and its followers.

Whether you're willing to admit it or not, Joe Q. Baseball Fan needed the New York Yankees to make it to the World Series.

The painful theme here is not Lane Kiffin's irresistible urge to say anything at any time, though that certainly is a theme in his first 10-plus months as the University of Tennessee football coach.

Lane Kiffin has talked, recruited and even occasionally coached his way into the headlines. Most of this was part of his plan in his first year as the head football coach at the University of Tennessee.

After every Baylor score at Heywood Stadium, the Red Raiders supporters fire a cannon from atop the press box. At halftime Friday night, they may have been scrambling for more ammunition.

Let's face it, other than Florida remaining at the top of the college football rankings, nothing has been predictable about the first half of this college football season.

1. Stephen Garcia, c'mon down Alabama and Georgia are on intriguing polar paths defensively against opposing quarterbacks. Alabama has tormented opposing passers such as Ryan Mallett and

1. Florida

What happened?

1. Florida Saturday at LSU, 8 (CBS) Will he play? That's the paramount question involving Gators quarterback Tim Tebow and this week's Game of the Year. UF officials have said the for

Playing without passion is a sure recipe for defeat. Now, playing with passion carries its own peril.

Baylor 24, McCallie 10. That's what the record book will show from this Friday night.

Pass after pass sailed over receivers' heads, landing meaninglessly beyond the sidelines at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Three weeks into the college football season, we already know more than we thought. And maybe more than we should.

It started with an announcement that this game was "Countin' on the Mountain."

1. FLORIDA

University of Tennessee interim president Jan Simek said Monday he had talked to Lane Kiffin about the first-year head football coach's highly publicized preseason actions, including comments about other coaches and programs in the Southeastern Conference.

Sporting events frequently generate catchy nicknames.

The quarterbacks had name recognition, but Baylor's defense delivered the early shots Friday night as the Red Raiders built a huge lead and held on for a wild 60-42 win over visiting Greater Atlanta Christian.

I want Mike Gundy to pick my lottery numbers.

David Elson left some room for interpretation, mixing modern-day political correctness with good-old-fashioned coach-speak. Not much, but he allowed for a little wiggle room.

A sluggish start put Signal Mountain football coach Bill Price in a foul mood early Friday night.

Five years and a day after winning the U.S. Amateur at Winged Foot, Ryan Moore earned his first PGA Tour win Sunday.

In an opening night that has been years in the making, the Signal Mountain Eagles did not disappoint. They dominated.

The Southeastern Conference announced its new media policies earlier this month. Three leading media associations Wednesday announced their displeasure with the SEC's new guidelines, especially the imposed restrictions on video, audio and photos from college games.

Almost everyone across the South can name the head coach at South Carolina or LSU or even Arkansas. Even casual fans know where Urban Meyer and Mark Richt reside.

It takes a case as bizarre as the Michael Vick saga for Terrell Owens to be the voice of reason, I guess.

Before the lights come on Friday nights, high school football practice has to start.

What to expect from SEC media days outside Birmingham this week?

Selected players of the University of Tennessee football team will meet with the media this afternoon.

The career of Steve McNair has been remembered, rehashed and re-created in the minds and hearts of his many fans in the days following his shocking death this weekend.

Tony Stewart has sped throughout all aspects of his career with the same heavy-footed, carefree-bordering-on-careless approach that has made him a championship driver in everything with wheels.

Floundering around the .500 mark, these Atlanta Braves are the game's ultimate paradox.

Recruits hear it. Programs sell it. Fans love it.

Less than three months from the start of the college football season, the three first-year SEC head coaches have paced, prowled and propelled themselves and their programs into perplexing positions of uncertainty.

Arguably for the first time in his professional career, Tiger Woods will not be the clear-cut fan favorite this week when the U.S. Open descends on Bethpage Black.

The Atlanta Falcons moved heaven and earth to acquire Michael Vick. With extensively less effort, they ultimately parted ways Friday with their former franchise poster boy quarterback.

In six months on the job with the University of Tennessee, football coach Lane Kiffin is headed for at least his fifth NCAA violation.

As we speed by the unofficial start of summer and the annual pause that should be a daily thanks to our servicemen and women, the holiday weekend, the school year and Spring Fling are memories.

Brett Favre’s career may be winding down, but until the NFL season starts and his name is not on a roster, it is not over. John Elway may have been the “King of the Comeback,” but Favre will always be “Keen on the Comeback.”

Rain 2, Sports 0

The governing bodies of high school athletics in two states have postponed all sporting events amid concerns of swine flu.

Two men, legendary golfer Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, created Augusta National Golf Club, home of arguably the world’s most famous golf event — the Masters.

For Claude Brown, this fish story can’t be overexaggerated. Brown, who lives in Chattanooga, and Freeman Mays, spent the better part of an hour wrestling in an 80-pound catfish at Riverview Park on Tuesday. “It was a two-man job,” Brown said as he pulled the fish from the trunk of his car. He was talking about landing the catfish, but he also described pulling it out of his red Pontiac.

Claude Brown and Freeman Mays caught this 80-pound catfish at Riverview Park on Tuesday. They used a 12-foot pole with brim as bait.

The heavyweight fight a few groups in front of Angel Cabrera was simply the undercard Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.

There were more celebrated Masters rookies in this year’s field, but none of the first-timers matched John Merrick at Augusta National Golf Club this week.

On a beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon, more than one player had his Masters’ prayers end at Amen Corner.

So often in sports the action fails to live up to the hype. The promise of greatness becomes a distant memory, the attention is fleeting and the results forgettable. Ask the BCS.