Bruce Pearl and his Tennessee Volunteers Basketball Team opened their season tonight in Knoxville against the Blue Raiders of MTSU. The outcome was a resounding 83-52 win for Pearl and his team.

This year’s team is very young and a little undersized. Tennessee signed a consensus Top 5 class and all eyes were on the 3 big stars of the class, Ramar Smith, Duke Crews and Wayne Chism. Well, apparently, not all eyes….

A quick glance at a few Tennessee message boards reveals that eyes were certainly focused elsewhere. Instead of discussing the post play, Dane Bradshaw’s versatility or the play of the new freshman class, what is the topic of discussion? The length of the players’ shorts.

Yes. Of all the things that could be discussed, one finds people talking about the style and length of the Vols’ basketball shorts. It looks like the Fashion Club has returned.

What exactly makes someone focus their attention to the shorts during a game? I mean, with all the action going on, how does one zone-in on that particular item? Then… to voice your displeasure with the length and say they’re too long?!? What is it that you’re really hoping to see? Are the long shorts somehow obscuring your enjoyment of the game? Better yet, where exactly are you getting your enjoyment?

Is this length better? Do you want to see more leg? Hoping for a wardrobe malfunction? What gives?

At any rate, I think this is really fucking creepy. You have grown men fawning over 17-18 year-old high school boys in recruiting, adding them to their MySpace friends lists, calling them “studs,” and now complaining that their shorts are too long. I seriously wonder how many of these people are registered with Megan’s Law.