Cutler selected to Pro Bowl

Congratulations to former Commodore quarterback Jay Cutler for being selected to the NFL Pro Bowl in just his third season with the Denver Broncos.

With two games remaining in the regular season, Cutler leads the AFC with 3,851 passing yards and is second with 24 touchdown passes. He also has the Broncos (8-6) on pace to earn their first AFC West division title since 2005.

“With as many talented and deserving quarterbacks as there are in the AFC, I was honored and a little surprised this morning when I found out I was named to the Pro Bowl,” Cutler told DenverBroncos.com. “It’s a great individual award that definitely should be shared among a lot of my teammates, especially the offensive line for how well they’ve protected me, and our coaching staff for preparing me to play every week. My primary concern right now is winning Sunday against the Bills and getting into the playoffs, but to be recognized by the league and fans with getting voted into the Pro Bowl is special.”

Quarterbacks Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts) and Brett Favre (New York Jets) will join Cutler on the all-star squad.

Learn more about USF

I just browsed through Vanderbilt's and South Florida's basketball game notes and thought I'd post some tidbits to get you ready for tonight's game.

DO I KNOW YOU?

You might remember a few faces when looking at the opposing bench tonight.

First, former Arkansas head coach Stan Heath is in his second year with the Bulls. In 2007, USF finished with a 12-19 record. Before arriving in Tampa, Heath guided the Razorbacks to two NCAA appearances in five years. He also led Kent State to a record-setting 2001-02 campaign which included an Elite Eight.

Also, junior guard transfer Mike Mercer made his USF debut Sunday with 12 points in a loss to Niagra. In two seasons at Georgia (2005-07), Mercer averaged 12.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 51 career games, which included 27 starts. He scored in double figures 34 times for the Bulldogs.

USF PLAYERS TO WATCH

Senior guard Jesus Verdejo leads USF in scoring at 17.6 ppg. He's scored 20 or more points in three games this year. He has connected on at least two 3-pointers in every game and is shooting 45 percent from long range.

Also, sophomore guard Dominique Jones averages 17 ppg and has scored 30+ points four times in his career, which ties him for second all-time at USF. Jones had arguably the best freshman season in Bulls history last year, earning All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention accolades and a unanimous selection on the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team after averaging a team high 17.1 ppg.

And keep an eye on Mercer and another transfer, Gus Gilchrist. The 6'10 freshman forward/center had eight points and six rebounds in his debut against Niagra Sunday. The Maryland transfer was one of the top-rated post players in the country coming out of high school in the 2007 class.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

The Commodores are only allowing opponents to shoot 36.6% on the year, and only two opponents (VCU, UIC) have shot higher than 40% in a game. Vanderbilt has only allowed one opponent, UIC on December 3, to score 70 points or more (74). Five of Vanderbilt’s opponents have failed to crack the 35% mark from the floor.

300 MARK

With a victory tonight, Coach Stallings would reach the 300 victory mark in his 16-year head coaching career.

Nashville Sports Council speakers lunch

The star-backlit stage, line dancing floor and honky-tonk atmosphere of the Wildhorse Saloon was transformed into a sports talk paradise earlier today as head coaches from the SEC and Big East spoke to the Nashville community.

The Nashville Sports Council presented the Comcast Spotlight Sports Speakers Series earlier this morning at the Wildhorse Saloon on Second Avenue, and what a delicious event it was. Not only did I get to hear four outstanding coaches speak, but the food wasn’t half bad either.

After strolling into an unfamiliar setting – I’ve only been to this line dancing-palooza on the weekends or for a show (the Gin Blossoms rocked that place two summers ago) – I was greeted with the image of Bruce Pearl in his gray UT sweat suit and the intoxicating aroma of free food.

Naturally, I headed toward the meal, which was just as good as the Gin Blossoms performance awhile back, and waited to hear Pearl, Kevin Stallings, Buzz Williams, Marquette head basketball coach, and Stan Heath, South Florida head coach, speak.

The Nashville Sports Council used this event to create publicity for tonight’s SEC/BIG EAST Invitational pairing Vanderbilt vs. USF and Tennessee vs. Marquette, and these coaches headlined this luncheon special.

ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes introduced the four men, after admitting that he had tried to make it in Nashville as a country singer some years ago (no joke – he really confided that to us), and led a question and answer session with coaches.

Stallings fielded quandaries about his favorite country music song (“It’s hard to kiss the lips at night” by Vince Gill, which he clarified didn’t relate to his personal life at all), and whether he’d rather recruit a post player or a point guard (a point guard, seconded by Coach Heath). He also tackled the debate on how the extended 3-point arc has affected the game this season.

The Vanderbilt coach explained that he couldn’t compare this season’s team with last year’s when it comes to shooting, because of the personnel and style differences (after all, the 2008-09 squad doesn’t have one of VU’s all-time great 3-point shooters, Shan Foster).

Stallings and his counterparts did confide, however, that they have seen teams refuse to guard players taking the shot now, since the distance has created a lower percentage attempt, and that it’s actually harder to penetrate the lane now with defenses refusing to defend the new 3-point line.

VU’s lead man told the audience to look out for A.J. Ogilvy, Jeffery Taylor and Brad Tinsley tonight against USF. He noted that Ogilvy has tried to do too much in the past few contests, and that they’ve worked on focusing his game, while Taylor and Tinsley have produced well in the first nine tilts of their VU careers.

Stallings even addressed an audience member's question about whether North Carolina is unstoppable this season. He testified to the ability of the UNC team and acknowledged that it’ll take the moon and stars lining up correctly to defeat the Tar Heels, and that Roy Williams has really motivated his players to commit 100 percent to his defense.

The highlight of the event, however, actually came from a UT perspective. At one point during the Q/A, Pearl looked at Dykes and asked if the two of them had missed a message or something, since the three other coaches (Stallings, Williams and Heath) all were bald. Everyone got a good laugh out of that.

December Issue of Commodore Nation

The December issue of Commodore Nation is now available online by clicking below. You can toggle between pages by clicking the arrows or you can zoom into the document by clicking it. The January 2009 issue will be mailed next week.

Get your own - Open publication

Call-In Show Notes

Vanderbilt will take on South Florida tonight in the first game of a Big East/SEC Invitational doubleheader at 6 p.m. CT at the Sommet Center. Tennessee and Marquette will play in the second game.

Tickets are still available so bring your friends and family downtown to root on the Commodores. The contest will also be televised on ESPN2 and Joe Fisher's radio call will be streamed live on vucommodores.com.

Here are some quotes from Coach Stallings call-in show last night.

Status of Lance Goulbourne and Andre Walker

"Andre had successful surgery Monday afternoon according to the doctor. It was a completely torn ACL with no other problems and no meniscus damage. Andre's probably 6-8 months away from being full speed and will obviously miss the remainder of the season. He'll be able to comeback and get a medical redshirt because it happened early enough in our season. We miss his versatility and what he brought to our team tremendously, especially his defensive ability and the things he gave us on that end of the floor.

"Lance will be back in uniform Tuesday and he's practiced the last couple of days so he's a far cry from being at 100 percent. He can come in and give us a few minutes here and there. He's worked very hard to try to get back in condition and come back as quickly as possible but he's still not where he was when he got sick. For those that don't know he's recovering from mono. We could be well into next month before we really feel he's back at 100 percent."

On rebounding:

"I thought in the first half of the Alabama A&M game we really exerted our physicality on the boards and I'll be very interested to see what happens against South Florida because we're playing a team that has some size and athleticism. Again rebounding could very well be the key component in the game.

"Some teams have guys that rebound well outside of their area and those are the guys that can really rebound. We don't really have outside of our area rebounders. Jeff Taylor is a guy that rebounds outside of his area but most of the time that's offensively.

"Because we don't rebound out of our area, I think we're going to have to do the job boxing out and it's going to have to be something we're very consistent at relative to our approach. If we're not, then obviously that's going to get us beat and we just can't have that."

On A.J. Ogilvy:

"I think the defensive schemes begin and end with defending A.J. so it's not as though A.J. is the second option like last year when you had Shan Foster to take away a lot of the pressure. A.J. is the focal point of everybody's defensive game plan, and I think the maturation of our freshmen as well as the continued good play of Jermaine Beal will be the key in alleviating some of that pressure off of A.J.

"I think the thing that A.J. has done to compound that problem is maybe he's putting a little too much pressure on himself and trying to do too many things. Last year he didn't have to try to do as much and when he did more, it was obviously noticed. This year as he tries to do more, he gets himself in trouble because again, the defenses are loaded up to stop him first. I think he has to take more of an approach of taking what the defense gives him and then counting and trusting his teammates to do their part and then it will all flow together."

Click Here to listen to the entire show.

9,000 and Climbing

We're making excellent progress with our Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl ticket sale. In round numbers we are at about 9,000 tickets when we factor in our needed tickets for the marching band, team families and a few other internal personnel. We've still got a ways to go to hit our VU quota of 14,000 and we want to exceed that significantly to be a great partner.

There are a lot of projects toward that end. Wednesday night we will telephone all of our football season ticket holders (or as many as we can reach during a reasonable hour!) to be sure they are set.

We are also working on a big outreach with Vanderbilt alum and Nashville sports talk icon George Plaster. Few people can match George's enthusiasm and expertise in generating momentum toward a project, just as the Charles Davis Foundation or our Nashville Predators. We'll get specifics out as they are known but the target date is a week from Tuesday, the 23rd.

If you've been waiting for the bandwagon over the years, the time to act is now. Especially for those of you close enough to easily get to LP Field, don't be planning a block party or a trip to the sports bar. We need you live and in person - come join us and have some fun!

High-flying freshmen in the SEC

The SEC recently recognized VU freshman Jeffery Taylor, men’s basketball, with its Freshman of the Week Award for his 18-point performance against Alabama A&M last week.

Here’s a look at freshmen from other SEC Eastern Division schools, who are performing well thus far:

Erving Walker
Florida guard, No. 11, 5-8/161 lbs.

The youngster from Brooklyn, N.Y. was averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists up to the Gators’ contest with Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 10. Walker has also earned a starting position in UF’s last three games, including the Florida Gulf Coast matchup.

Trey Thompkins
Georgia forward, No. 33, 6-9/247 lbs.

The freshman forward from Lithonia, Ga. comprises one of the Bulldogs’ top-two scorers, averaging 11.8 points with 5.5 rebounds in four games (updated to UGA’s game against Virginia Tech on Dec. 9). Thompkins has started the last two contests for Head Coach Dennis Felton. The SEC recognized the UGA forward as FOW on Dec. 1.

DeAndre Liggins
Kentucky guard/forward, No. 34, 6-6/202 lbs.

The newcomer from Chicago totals 20.9 minutes per game with 7.4 points and a combined 34 assists -- tallied up to the Wildcats’ tilt with Indiana on Dec. 13. The SEC recognized Liggins as FOW on Dec. 8.

Scotty Hopson
Tennessee guard, No. 32, 6-7/185 lbs.

Hopson, out of Hopkinsville, Ky., totals 9.5 points per game with 1.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists. The SEC recognized Hopson as FOW on Nov. 17 for his 17-point, debut performance against UT-Chattanooga. The UT freshman has also been acknowledged as SEC Newcomer of the Year.

* South Carolina hasn't listed a freshman player on its roster.

Has anyone seen the above freshmen, including Taylor, play, and if so, how do they look?

“Taylor claims SEC FOW Award” Read

Taylor Soaring

Congrats to Jeffery Taylor for earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors for his 18-point effort against Alabama A&M last Wednesday.

Taylor has had an outstanding rookie season in only his first two months on West End. He's second in scoring (13.8), rebounding (6.3) and steals (10) for the Commodores. He's also electrified the crowd with several jaw-dropping dunks.

Coach Stallings touched on Jeff's natural talent in David Boclair's story in the Nashville City Paper this morning.

“Jeff’s ability to get up and play above the rim, his explosiveness to the basket – all of those things are key ingredients to our team,” Stallings told the Nashville City Paper. “It’s something we’ve not had a lot of around here, and he gives us a different dimension that way.”

I have a feeling this won't be the last time Taylor's recognized by the conference. And in case you missed last week's victory over Alabama A&M, here are a couple of Taylor's highlights.

Hatch Show Print?

I'm going to be honest with you.

When Rocket mentioned the cool "Hatch Show Print" to promote the bowl game in his Friday blog, I had no idea what he was talking about. No clue whatsoever.

Hatch Show Print?

I am new school. I just call them posters.

Maybe Rocket can enlighten us on why they're called that (or you can chime in, too).

Anyway, here's what the bowl "poster" looks like. These are being distributed to businesses all around town.

I'm not trying to be a homer, but I think it looks great. I might just have to frame one and put it in my man cave. (Note: I currently don't have a man cave, but am working hard to get one).

And don't forget to purchase your bowl tickets today! What better way to say "I love you" than by surprising your significant other with some seats at LP Field for New Year's Eve (or maybe something from Spatula City could be good, too).

TIme Change for MBB Game on Dec. 31

Due to Vanderbilt’s participation in the Music City Bowl on December 31st at 2:30 p.m. against Boston College at LP Field, the men's basketball home game with St. Francis (Pa.) has been moved to 11 a.m. on that day to accommodate fans wishing to make both events. The game was originally scheduled for noon on New Year’s Eve.

Jenkins featured on WSMV

On WSMV's Inside Sports Sunday, Rudy Kalis had a nice piece on men's basketball signee John Jenkins.

The 6'4 sharpshooter from Station Camp (Gallatin, Tenn.) inked his National Letter of Intent with the Commodores last month and is averaging 44 points per game in his senior season.

Here's what John had to say to Rudy:

On defenses keying in on him:
"We work on that in practice a lot. I have triple teams in practice and quadruple teams. It helps me a lot in the games."

On being unselfish:
"I'd rather pass the ball and get my teammates involved. That's the most important thing since we're a young team. It's all about winning."

On watching Davidson's Stephen Curry:
"The way he moves on the court is so smooth. He's a great player. I like his game a lot."

Testing Testing 1-2-3

Since campus has been relatively quiet due to final exams, I thought I'd offer my top five memorable television and movie moments that involved a big test or some kind of academic hiccup.

These are all guilty pleasures (of course). When I flip across them on the tube, you can bet I won't touch the clicker until the show concludes.

I know there are other great moments that I left off the list, so please let me know in the comments section.

5. Necessary Roughness - Dean Elias does everything he can to end Texas State's football program after NCAA sanctions depleted the team, including trying to sabotage test scores before the Fightin' Armadillos final home game against the top-ranked Texas Colts. What happens? Elias is fired for tampering and Paul Blake leads State to a comeback victory with a last-second two-point conversion. Blake also gets the girl. Predictable ending? Of course.

Memorable quote: "I hope you stay tuned as the Texas State marching band does its salute to gun racks and open beverage containers; which is only legal in Texas." -- Chuck Neiderman

4. Saved by the Bell - If Zack's dad finds out about his failing grades, then Zack won't be able to go on the school ski trip. Principal Belding wants to talk to Zack's dad about the poor grades, but Zack instead hires James to play his father, which ultimately backfires and keeps Zack off the trip. This all leads to one of the greatest closing scenes in TV history.

Memorable quote while talking on his extremely large cell phone: "Is this the only way I can get through to you? " -- Zack to his workaholic father

3. 90210 - Squeaky-clean Donna won't get to graduate in the spring with her West Beverly High classmates because of an alcohol incident at senior prom. Brandon plans a school-wide walkout which ends at the school board's hearing. You know what happens from here.

Memorable quote: "Donna Martin graduates." (Duh) -- Entire student body

2. Back to School - Millionaire Thornton Melon goes back to school. Well, not any school.... it's his son's college. Melon lives the total campus experience and uses his resources (money) to hire professionals to write his papers. Dean Barbay discovers Melon's cheating, which leads to a final exam composed of one question... in 27 parts. Melon does the impossible and passes the test, and then does another impossible... He completes the “Triple Lindy,” to win the championship swim meet.

Memorable quote: Pretty much anything by Dangerfield or Kinison (which I can't reprint)

1. Summer School - "Mr. Shoop!" Freddy Shoop has to cancel his vacation to teach a summer school English class to a bunch of underachieving misfits. Vice-Principal Gills puts the heat on Shoop by promising to fire him if his students don't pass. Shoop uses a bunch of unorthodox teaching methods to help the kids learn. Not all the students pass the final, but their parents stand up for Shoop since the overall grades improved. Shoop keeps his job and we have another predictable (and happy) ending.

Memorable quote: "Hey, I remember you. Where have you been?" -- Shoop to the student that passed the final exam even though he left during the first day of class to use the bathroom and never returned.

Well, that wraps up my list.

Since we're on the topic of academics... Congrats to Josie Earnest (Bowling) and Cara Giordano (Lacrosse) for being named the December Student-Athletes of the Month.

Here are their rituals before taking a big test:

Earnest: "I try to study a few days before the actual test and the night before get a good night's rest."

Giordano: "My ritual before a test is to study as much as I can the night before, get a decent night's rest and wake up early to get a coffee and study some more with a friend. It really helps the information sink in if I look over the material the morning of the test and if I talk out the information with someone else."

Working Together in Music City

Wow, what a super busy and exciting week as Vanderbilt focuses upon its Gaylord Hotel Music City Bowl preparation! Specialists from every corner of the University are pitching in to help sell tickets, promote the fun and unite alumni and friends during this special week. It's a massive effort and it's just gaining momentum.

Very soon you are going to see announcements for special events surrounding the big game, Commodore parties that will enhance the bowl's own agenda.

The enthusiasm has quickly spread beyond our campus borders. Town and Gown are promoting ticket sales - notice that's the second time I've mentioned that and it's for a reason! We are probably at about 8,500 tickets from our block of 14,000 when adding team and marching band needs into the mix. I just heard that rumor on the street that we've sold a thousand or two tickets - totally false. We want to help make the bowl a success and to do that we need you!

There's a very cool "Hatch Show Print" type poster that we'll be busy putting in area businesses this weekend. If you see one, thank the store manager for displaying it.

We've sent several hundred thousand email alerts to a wide variety of lists. Because of the tight sales timetable, most of the sales have been on-line. You might want to teach Grandpa how to use the internet and order on-line because this is the way of the future if not the present.

Student-Athlete Holiday Party

Vanderbilt’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee hosted their annual Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 10th for first-graders from Ross Elementary. In the middle of finishing up the semester and studying for exams, the student-athletes took time out provide a special day for area youth.

All the teams were represented, as each team provided gifts for the kids. In addition to the presents, children had the opportunity to play games the chance to interact with Santa Claus, Vanderbilt Football’s own Adam Smotherman.

For a link to pictures taken by Steve Green at the Holiday Party, visit:

http://onlyfans.cstv.com/schools/vand/view.gal?id=39564

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) holds different events like this throughout the year for children in the Nashville community. Comprised of two student-athlete representatives from every sport, SAAC's goal is to connect student-athletes with their campus and community. SAAC is an extension of the CHAMPS/Life Skills program of Vanderbilt Athletics. CHAMPS stands for CHallenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success and is an NCAA supported program.

Watch Chantelle Anderson on MTV's Made

Chantelle Anderson, Vanderbilt women's basketball's all-time leading scorer, has added coach to her resume as a mentor on MTV's Made. Anderson helped an Atlanta-area high school student discover his dream of playing basketball.

If you missed the show, which premiered on Dec. 6, there will still be opportunities to catch up with the former Commodore great and current member of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream.

Anderson's Made episode can be seen tonight, Dec. 12, at 6 p.m. CT. Check out MTV's web site for more details on the show, and additional info on re-airs.

Snedeker and Price on ice

Former Vanderbilt All-Americans Brandt Snedeker and David Price will be the featured guests during the Nashville Predators home game against the Dallas Stars Saturday at the Sommet Center.

The Preds will team with Snedeker, the 2007 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, to host Play Golf America Night. The evening invites fans to come and enjoy a night of hockey while working on their golf game. PGA professionals will be set up throughout the arena to give fans free tips, with Snedeker taking part in a pregame question-and-answer session at 6:30 p.m. on the main concourse.

Area PGA Tour professionals will be honored during intermission and a number of lucky fans will win related prizes.

Price is also scheduled to be recognized on the ice during the second intermission. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native stormed onto the Major League Baseball scene last season after being added to the Tampa Bay Rays roster in September. He was a key cog in the Rays postseason run, earning a save in Game 7 of the ALCS and a win in Game 2 of the World Series.

Discounted tickets are available through the official site of the Predators nashvillepredators.com/golfhouse (enter the code “golf”). One lucky winner who purchases tickets through the online offer will win two weekend passes (Saturday and Sunday) to the 91st Annual PGA Championship on August 10-16 at Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minn.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Are you coming to the Bowl Game?

While I sit here wondering if Friday will be a snow day in Nashville... I thought I'd let you know about a few web applications we are using to promote the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (including this amazing blog).

If you like to waste away your days on facebook, then take a second to let us know you plan on attending the game - facebook events page.

Also, we have a facebook fan page that serves as a branch of vucommodores.com, so join that while you're at it, too!

Finally, relive several of the great moments from the gridiron by watching highlights from most of our games on our YouTube page.

Oh, and make sure you don't stick your tongue to a flag pole tomorrow because of a triple dog dare. It's just not worth it. (Whatever happened to Flick, anyways?)

SEC Coaches' All-Freshmen Selections

Freshmen Chris Marve, a unanimous selection, Brandon Barden, Kyle Fischer and T.J. Greenstone were named to the SEC Coaches' All-Freshman Team today.

Let us hear what you think about the selections, and whether any other VU freshmen deserved to join the conference squad.

"Marve unanimously named to All-SEC" Read

Commodores awarded guitar in Music City

In case you missed it .... During halftime of last night's men's basketball game against Alabama A&M, Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl representatives awarded head coach Bobby Johnson and the football team with a special guitar to serve as a key to the city.

Johnson addressed the crowd after receiving the keepsake:

"On behalf of our team and our fans we accept this wonderful gift. This is fantastic. We are really excited about playing in the (Gaylord Hotels) Music City Bowl this year. I hope you'll come out and join us and have a great time, because I know our team will. So thank you very much for your support all year long. Let's beat Boston College."

Click Here to watch video of the presentation.

Tickets are still available to the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl on December 31. Call 615.322.GOLD or click here to make your purchase online.

Welcome

Welcome Vanderbilt fans to VUcommodores.com's new blog. This blog will be an extension of our official athletics site and a place to find quick news and blurbs on the latest in Vanderbilt news.

I plan to extend my old blog (Barca Blog) into this new format. I will also be joined by other bloggers from our McGugin staff, so stay tuned.

Check back for regular updates!