Traina Thoughts: Desmond Howard Perfectly Summed Up Tennessee's S---show

Watch ESPN's Desmond Howard pull no punches on the Tennessee football program

1. The embarrassing Tennessee football coaching circus took another turn on Friday, with athletic director John Currie getting axed as the school turns its attention to Washington State's Mike Leach to fill the vacancy. With candidate after candidate turning down the job this week, ESPN's Desmond Howard used one hell of an analogy to describe what has been going on in Knoxville the past several days, saying, "If you have a child, if you've been around kids, they have this one incident where they have a massive poop in their diaper, coming out the sides, it reeks, you can be at home, you can be in public, it's just as nasty as it can be no matter where you are. I think you can draw a parralell to what's happening at Tennessee to that situation because it stinks and it's very messy."

The poopy diaper comparison is nothing, though, compared to this dagger.

2. This week's Off The Board podcast features a fun interview with Rams linebacker Connor Barwin, who pulled the curtain back on some funny locker room stories (He once blinded -- sort of -- a teammate with an Icy Hot prank and Brian Cushing used to throw up before every game), weighed on whether L.A. has "Rams fever," discussed Josh Gordon's old habit of doing shots and ripping bong hits before a game and much more. You can find quotes here and listen to the show below or on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher.

3. Tough spot for Justin Verlander here. As of this writing, he still hasn't answered this question from his wife, Kate Upton.

Yeah @JustinVerlander we all want to know ??? https://t.co/4CmabMHUDi

— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) December 1, 2017

@JustinVerlander which is better: winning the #WorldSeries2017 or a Honeymoon with @KateUpton ?

— David Rivera (@DavidRivera564) November 27, 2017

4. J.J. Watt showed off his nasty knee surgery scar today.

We walkin!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/PYg4MdZQBv

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 1, 2017

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5. This story from The Rock about catching Hulk Hogan's headband as a kid is pretty awesome.

This is an amazing story!

When I interviewed @TheRock for JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, I brought him my original JUMANJI ticket from when I saw it in January of 1996.

I asked Johnson if ever collected anything special as a kid and he told me this amazing @HulkHogan story. pic.twitter.com/o3sDERNfGn

— Kevin McCarthy (@KevinMcCarthyTV) November 30, 2017

6. Knicks center Kristaps Porzingis was on the Tonight Show Thursday and Jimmy Fallon was blown away to discover that Porzingis' sneaker are basically the width of Fallon's torso.

7. LeBron did this last night.

.@KingJames is out here trying to end careers... 😳 pic.twitter.com/dqWGXpaT8I

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 1, 2017

At 32 years old, with a ton of games under his belt, he is not slowing down at all.

LeBron James will enter December averaging at least 28 PPG, 8 RPG and 8 APG for the 1st time in his NBA career. pic.twitter.com/fIbqdKNiXZ

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 1, 2017

The best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts. And check Jimmy Traina's weekly podcast, "Off The Board," on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher.

BONUS ITEM: These are my three Sunday picks I gave out on this week's Off The Board: Giants +9, Colts +9.5 and 49ers +3.