Attitude: Vandy linebacker duo bring Memphis muscle
NASHVILLE — The coffee maker on the second floor of the McGugin Center, which houses the athletics offices at Vanderbilt, looks unexceptional at first glance, bearing an unmistakable resemblance to thousands of other coffee makers at thousands of other workplaces. Except this coffee maker has a sign:
ATTENTION COFFEE DRINKERS: DECAF DOES NOT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!
And neither does the Vanderbilt football team, which — and this provides some perspective — continues to seek its first winning season since 1982. As the only private school in the Southeastern Conference, Vanderbilt has long labored against the behemoth programs of the region while battling its own rigorous academic standards The result? The Commodores have never won an SEC title, and nobody on the planet expects them to claim their first this fall.
But gone are the excuses, so often used as an easy crutch to explain away the legacy of losing, replaced instead by goals and determination. A new attitude appears to be brewing in Nashville, where the Commodores are undefeated, thanks in part to two young linebackers from Memphis who typify the changes here.
commercialappeal.com
9/19/08
Magnolia Tribune
