Peyton Manning Lights Victory Cigar After Tennessee Upsets Alabama

October 16, 2022 Jimm Sallivan

Moments after No. 6 Tennessee upset No. 3 Alabama 52–49 on a game-winning field goal as time expired, chaos ensued in Neyland Stadium, and for good reason.

After all, it was Tennessee’s first victory over Alabama in the last 15 tries, which is fitting considering that the Volunteers are in the process of putting together their best season in two decades.

As fans stormed the field, tore down the goalposts and celebrated their school’s monumental victory, Tennessee’s most famous football alum, Peyton Manning, was seen soaking in the victory celebration as well.

Manning was seen on video with a victory cigar as he exited the stadium on Saturday night.

Volunteers coach Josh Heupel told CBS in his on-field interview after the game that everybody in Knoxville was lighting a cigar tonight.

It’s clear that Peyton got the message.

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27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Lynette Woodard Asks NCAA to ‘Respect the History’ as Caitlin Clark Approaches Scoring Mark

Before there was Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, before there was Washington guard Kelsey Plum. Before there was even an NCAA-sanctioned women’s basketball tournament, there was Kansas guard Lynette Woodard.

Woodard, one of the best female players of her era, scored 3,649 points in a four-year career for the Jayhawks from 1978-81. That is the most in major women’s college basketball history, but it is not recognized as such by the NCAA because it took place under a previous governing body, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).

With Clark 32 points away from breaking Woodard’s mark—having taken the NCAA crown from Plum on Feb. 15 in a 106–89 win over Michigan—Woodard urged the governing body for college sports to respect her and her contemporaries’ achievements.

“I want the NCAA governing body to know that they should respect the (AIAW) players, respect the history. Include us and our accomplishments,” Woodard said during Kansas’s 58-55 upset of then-No. 10 Kansas State on ESPN2 Sunday. “This is the era of diversity, equity and inclusion. They should include us. We deserve it.”

With interest in the history of women’s college basketball at an all-time high as the sport explodes in popularity, the celebration of AIAW greats by the NCAA as a whole seems like a potential layup.