Commodore Banter (7/28)

Here are a few links to enjoy as we celebrate the fact that the Commodores kick off their season at Miami (OH) exactly one month from today.

First, in baseball news, junior Mike Minor pitched 9.2 scoreless innings in Team USA's 1-0 victory over Japan in Sunday's gold medal game of the FISU World Championships. The Americans finished their summer undefeated (4-0) and set a national team record for lowest staff ERA (0.88) thanks in large part to Minor, their ace.

Minor faced the minimum through nine innings and gave up just four hits and struck out nine without issuing a walk in the finale. For the summer, Minor was 3-0 with a microscopic 0.75 ERA in a team-high 36 innings. He gave up just 21 hits and 13 walks to go along with 37 strikeouts.

In football news, Maurice Patton of The Tennessean talks to a number of Vanderbilt fans, including VandySports.com's Jesse Johnson and The Sports VU's own Andrew Hard, to answer these questions: Can Vanderbilt win? And does anyone care?

"We don't go into the season planning on being unsuccessful," said coach Bobby Johnson. "We plan on being successful. We do everything we can possibly do to make that happen. We've changed over the years. If there's something we're missing, we'll hunt for it and we'll keep hunting. We won't rest until we do get it done."

Vanderbilt vice chancellor David Williams is certain of that.

"To me, Bobby Johnson is as good a coach as I believe we're ever going to have here," he said. "We keep seeing improvement in the program. We're going to get this job done. I'm convinced of that."

Make sure to check out Ron Higgins' profile of John Stokes, Vanderbilt's starting outside linebacker, in the Commercial Appeal.

"I'm tickled to death," said Stokes. "There's no way I thought I would play as a true freshman and start as a sophomore."

You might want to take a look at the Knoxville News-Sentinel's Vanderbilt football preview.

In an age where college athletes are finding themselves in police reports far too often, Vanderbilt's George Smith is a refreshing reminder that there are some who get it, writes Christopher Walsh of Tidesports.com.

"We have a gift. We're playing on a collegiate scholarship," he said. "I just pray that guys don't try and abuse that gift, abuse their situation."

Finally, in recruiting news, the Commodores received a commitment from 3-star running back Zac Stacy of Bibb County [Ala.] High, reports Brett Hait via VandySports.com.

Stacy's stats are impressive. He averaged 10 yards per carry, scored 27 touchdowns and piled up more than 2,000 yards of all-purpose yardage in 2007. He is the nation’s No. 40 tailback by Rivals.com and first three-star running back to commit to the Commodores since Rivals.com started those rankings in 2002.