So sweet, so Orange

True, the basketball Vols have another game to play in the SEC tourney and it promises to be a toughie against Auburn this afternoon.

But what a great night Friday was! Tennessee slam dunked Alabama (always a good feeling) and Florida lost too. The cherry on top is that Georgia lost the night before. No matter what happens today, the glow from Friday will last well into next week.

To celebrate, I am breaking out one of my treasures: This 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago. True disciples of the BOVB may remember this was the vehicle that launched the blog. (Click here to see the first ever posting.)

A perfect vehicle in perfect Orange — perfect for UT's awesome weekend (so far).

Jeff

Seething outrage, soothing Orange

The latest dispatches from Wall Street will turn your face Gator red.

It seems a Merrill Lynch executive John Thain doled out billions of dollars in bonuses to company executives even as the failing firm was about to acquired by Bank of America and was reporting 4th quarter losses in 2008 of more than $15 billion.

Most infuriating, the pre-eminent DB apparently spent $1.2 million refurbishing his office, including having a $35,000 toilet installed. Click here to see the other items he lavished on himself.

To make up for it, the feds should jail Thain and use his golden parachute to buy every taxpayer an Orange Lamborghini like the one pictured here!

These photos were submitted to The Big Orange Vehicle Blog by Konrad in Indianapolis. He was fortunate enough to get to drive this Tennessee-Orange Gallardo for a column he writes for the Indy Star newspaper.

"Do you collect pictures of Orange cars with Australians posing on the hood?" he asked in an e-mail.

Of course! (Though it would be better if that Australian were an attractive model instead of a newspaper columnist, but we'll take what we can get!)

Jeff

PS -- This isn't the first truly-Orange Lamborghini featured on the BOVB. Click here to see the first one.

Kiffin: Lamborghini or old Beemer?

It's one thing to read about all the great coaches Tennessee has hired since the end of the 2008 season. It's quite another, though, to see how much they are being paid as a group: $5.3 million, according to the Associated Press. That's about $12 million for coaching salaries when you count the $6 million it cost UT to get Coach Fulmer out the door.

Some are understandably displeased, especially after tuition increases and cuts in faculty pay. It may not be apples to apples, though, because AD Mike Hamilton says the money generated by a winning program will help fund all athletic programs and thereby free up university dollars for other expenses.

Whatever. But here's my point: The embarrassment of 2008 will pale compared to the grief and humiliation we'll feel if Kiffin and Co. don't come out strong in 2009. Kiff might — might — be allowed to lose to Florida one time, but that's it. But he better whoop everybody else. For $5.3 million, I don't see how we can expect anything less.

Let me explain it in terms of Orange vehicles. Let's say you put up the money for the sweet Lamborghini Murcielago pictured here, but when you went to the lot to pick it up, you found this weathered old BMW instead? Yes, they're both sports cars. But you'd be pretty PO'd, I reckon (especially since the Beemer is closer to UF Red than true Orange).

Jeff

Orange Sweet Orange

Oh so sweet.

Yeah, I'm talking about this 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago.

But I'm also talking about it's color: Orange. Beautiful, gorgeous, pure Orange.

In other words, Tennessee Orange.

Look, those of us who hail from Rocky Top disagree on some things. Did Coach Fulmer get a fair shake in 2008? Was Lane Kiffin the right guy to replace him? Should the Vols wear the all-Orange uniforms at some or all home games?

But what we do agree on is that our Orange is the one, true Orange.

In my opinion, this Lamborghini is that Orange — or dang close to it.

The Big Orange Vehicle Blog is meant to be a showcase of that Orange. Using photographs of vehicles (planes, trains, automobiles, boats, whatev) we'll show the world what is — and isn't — Orange.

So e-mail those pics to orangevehicles@gmail.com. Be sure to include where and when you saw the vehicle. Also include your 2 cents on whether and why it is or isn't Real Orange.

Fans of other schools claiming Orange in their colors — Florida, Texas, Syracuse, etc. — are welcome to post pics, too. Tell us why you think your Orange is really Orange.

We'll tell you why it ain't.

Have fun.

PS — I spotted the Lamborghini Murcielago in the San Marco section of Jacksonville the first week of January, 2009.