I know people who are already putting up their Halloween decorations and I’m sure there are even more who are planning Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. At the very least, I’m hoping my parents are getting those menus together because I’m already to eat.

Still, that’s no reason to look past Labor Day, which hopefully gave all my great readers a little bit of a break Monday. I know I took advantage by recovering from a whirlwind weekend full of football. Let’s hit on some of the highlights of a holiday weekend that feels like the unofficial start of pigskin mania.

No more Memphis trips, please

I have nothing against the Bluff City, other than my feud with the Grizzlies as a die-hard Spurs fan. So forgive me Memphis when I say that I’ll be OK if I never have to make another four-hour trip there for a football game. It was just a little bit too much.

Kudos to the Pioneer football program, and especially the parents and boosters, for making it as easy as possible though. Catching "Top Gun: Maverick" Friday with the team was a great highlight, as were the BBQ nachos before the game (the win, of course, was cool too).

Let’s just get back to five home games soon – I know everybody can agree with that.

The Vols looked good

Did I text at least a few people Thursday night while Tennessee was destroying Ball State and say, “this is our year?” Of course I did. Preemptively celebrating the Vols after one good game is like how they market the Masters – it’s a tradition like none other.

It was meant as tongue-in-cheek for the most part, but I do believe the Vols can win 8-9 games this year. I’m not going full homer unless the Vols win the next two weeks.  

If Tennessee beats Pitt this weekend, I may have to let my new boss know that I’m going to Baton Rouge in October (he probably just found out like you did by reading this column).

Fantasy football drafts are fun

If you don’t come out of your fantasy football draft with at least 2-3 stories that aren’t suited for work, then I don’t think you’re doing it right. I’ll spare everybody a lot of talk about my fantasy football league, but I will say that the Simmons brothers were at each end of the spectrum when it came to the obstacle course for draft position.

Brett rushed through flip cup, can jam frisbee fling, cornhole toss and football throw in 16 seconds to win the first pick. It took me nearly a minute and I got the eighth pick, but compensated with my slowness by drafting Tyreek Hill.

It was a fun weekend, but I’m glad I had a day to recover.