Bryce Petty, ole buddy ole pal

As expected, Team USA was crowned the inaugural IFAF Junior World Champion, defeating Canada 41-3 in the Gold Medal Game. To earn their spot in the championship game, Team USA defeated France by 78 and Mexico by 55 -- both were shutouts.

Tennessee fans may find it interesting that the quarterback of the junior world champs was former Vol 2009 commit (and current Baylor signee) Bryce Petty. You might recall, Petty committed to Phillip Fulmer before his firing, but when Lane Kiffin took the reigns in Knoxville, he cut ties with the Midlothian, Texas quarterback citing that Petty did not fit the system that he planned to implement.

Granted, it doesn't sound like the other teams were very competive, but Petty had a very nice line. He was 14-14 for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns -- a pretty good day regardless of the competition.

Petty's comments after the game:

"It has been an amazing experience," said Petty, whose three-game totals in the tournament were 25-for-30, 382 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. "I can't even put into words what this has been like. I am extremely blessed."I have had good practices, but nothing like today. About 12 of those were five-yard hitches and they turned it up field. We have athletes on this team."

The best of luck to this young man in the future.

Sunday Quarterback Rumor Mill - Scroggins and Sims

So, it was a quiet Independence Day for the most part. Not a whole lot of news to blog about as most took some time off to enjoy the holiday. I hope both of you Vol Critic readers had a great weekend.

While there isn't any real news to report, there were a couple of interesting rumors floating around recruiting circles on Sunday.

First off, and I have no idea where this one originated, reports surfaced that Virgina four star quarterback Phillip Sims might decommit from Alabama and commit to Tennessee. I don't believe there was much to it, and to confuse the matter further, the rumor might have actually been about Blake Sims, who is also committed to Alabama. Blake attended Tennessee's camp over the summer and there was some thought at that time that he might be considering the Vols. Either way, there doesn't appear to be much substance here.

The other rumor generating some buzz on the internet is in reference to California signal caller Jesse Scroggins. Signing a top-rated quarterback is a must in this class for Kiffin and Scroggins appears to be on top of Tennessee's recruiting board. That's why these reports that he will commit USC next week are worrisome. This particular rumor has Scroggins following his childhood friend Dion Bailey to Southern Cal. There are many that have followed his recruitment closely that believe he is a USC lean, but in this case, I don't think this was anything more than a hunch by someone trying to up their 'street cred'.

Scroggins has said that he would not announce his college choice until July 25th. But recently, there has been some talk that it could be moved up to as soon as next week. Most believe, if that were to happen, it could be a result of the USC staff pressuring him to go ahead and pull the trigger.

Michael Palardy -- He's only a kicker.

Maybe it's just me, but when I think of kickers, the first thing that comes to my mind is the interview with Peyton Manning where he refers to the Colts kicker, Mike Vanderjagt, getting liquored up and running his mouth. I don't even recall what said, but I remember the incident. Regardless, it isn't a positive portrayal and I'm certain kickers don't prefer to be thought of that way.

Lets face it, kickers are odd characters. They are of a different breed -- at least that's the stereotype. For example, they don't like for teammates to talk to them before an important kick. I might even categorize them as loners. And I don't really consider them (or punters for that matter) to be athletes. At least not to the extent that I would other position players on the squad.

So it's easy to understand why fans typically don't get excited about a verbal commitment from a kicker. That is, of course, unless it's from one of the top kickers in the nation. And Michael Palardy from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida is just that, one of the best in the country. An astounding 98% of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks and he made 76 of his 78 extra point attempts. Not too shabby. In fact, Flavarsity.com referred to him as one of the best clutch kickers in the state of Florida.

Still not convinced that getting a commit from a top-ranked kicker is a big deal? Consider this: scholarships are valuable, and unlike most other positions, coaches aren't going to sign multiple kickers in a recruiting class, meaning there is no room for error. It's critical to bring in a guy who can absolutely get the job done. For Lane Kiffin and Tenneasee, Michael Palardy appears to be just that guy.

Palarady's commit has generated a lot of buzz this week, not just in Tennessee, but in recruiting circles nationwide. I've read multiple articles on his decision from throughout the southeast, including the enemy territories of Baton Rouge and Florida. On a Tennessee message board I frequent, a rival Alabama fan posted a congratulatory thread to Vol fans on the commitment. That's right, a Bama fan envious of a commitment from a kicker.

So yeah, even though this commit is from a kicker, it is great news for Vol fans.

Lane Kiffin and the case of Evan Berry

So, Tennessee headlines the national news again this week. Ho hum.

Evan Berry, 13-year-old eighth grader to be, brother of current Tennessee star Eric Berry and son of former Vol James Berry, has committed to play his college football at Tennessee.

It's the first commitment (and likely to be the only one for quite some time) of the 2013 class for Lane Kiffin and company.

So what's the big deal and why does this story continue to cross my news reader? Admittedly, 2013 is a long time from now and teams don't typically have players claiming to be committed to their school this far in advance. In fact, the NCAA doesn't allow coaches to even contact players of middle school age. But we all realize (well, most of us do) that the Tennessee staff is not out actively pursuing talent for the 2013 class. Berry is a Tennessee legacy - twice over - who believes at this point, he likely wants to follow in the footsteps of his dad and his brother and become a Volunteer some day. Sound reasonable?

Even though this particular absurdly early commit passes the "reasonability test", the media is still going to spin the fact that Berry is only 13.

Chris Low of ESPN.com labels this a 'recruiting stunt' by Kiffin, and while some may believe Kiffin is a mastermind of manipulating the media, I hardly believe that's the case here. More than likely, what we have is an overzealous reporter digging for headlines at a middle school track event.

Low tells us that this commit is insignificant and we should check back in five years - and I agree. Yet the story has headlined not one, but two of his blogs so far this week. Hmmm.

For now, Low says, we should just allow Evan Berry to be a kid. My question is, who is the "we" that he is referring to? I certainly hope that is directed toward himself and the other media who are trying to spin this into a major news headline while mocking Tennessee in the process.

Oh, one more thing Chris. If this was in fact a publicity stunt by Kiffin, he thanks you for your participation -- SUCKER!