It is a drizzly, dour, Saturday morning. i feel blessed to be in the Southwest California for the rest of California is getting smacked in the face with snow and rain. This little section of the state, nay, the country is usually like there is some kind of invisible shield.

The shield was admittedly down back around my January birthday when the lower areas od San Diego were flooded. Most of the time, those big storms veer around the Southwest corner.

Still, today is not a good day for tromping around a golf course, or long walks, and, although this is the kind of weather i enjoy for walks on the beach, it is not an attractive activity except for old salts, crazy ones like me.

So i arose for dreary day work stuff. Then my day changed when i read a sports article on line and got…Hope.

For the last several months, really stretching into a year or two, my buddies and i have had a running discussion on the state of college athletics, especially the major sports, and especially Vanderbilt. Including is this group are two former Vanderbilt basketball stars from my era. Jerry Southwood and Kenny Gibbs played on the Vanderbilt teams that excelled (and would have been in the NCAA finals in 1964-65 except for a horrible call in the last two minutes against Michigan — but i’ve sang this song before).

Our discussions have centered around recruiting, the Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) rules (which in my mind, makes the college athlete a professional athlete), the transfer portal (which, in my mind, throws loyalty and team spirit out the window). Then a month ago, Vanderbilt’s Vice-Chancellor for Athletics, Candice Lee, asked supporters to encourage their congressmen to look into the current practices in the NCAA, especially the NIL.

i forwarded that request to my brothers and several others. It struck me as appropriate Jerry and Kenny were more skeptical because, as Jerry, said, that horse is out of the barn. We also have been discussing something a late brother, Joe Francis advocated years ago: Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Stanford, Rice, Tulane, Wake Forest, and other good academic schools form their own conference and have true college athletics.

i have been a strong supporter of Vanderbilt succeeding in the SEC, even against very strong odds. A good deal of that comes from my belief in the late David Williams who preceded Candice as head of Vandy athletics, and Candice herself pursuing college athletics the right way or as David Williams coined, “the Vandy way.”

i have been losing faith in the possibility of success in the SEC.

This morning, i read “The Athletic” story on Ray Davis by Zak Keefer entitled “Ray Davis grew up homeless, now he seeks to be a ‘name you’ll remember forever.

My hope is restored.

i can’t come up with numbers of success stories that would make others feel Vanderbilt doing it the right way is worth staying the course, but i think Vandy being part of Ray Davis’ story is worth it.

Unfortunately, i cannot embed the link in the post. i’m sure this is because one must have a subscription to read. i hope you can find it. It’s worth it.