Rising — Olympic fervor
The summer games are here and the biggest stage in global athletics is set for another thrilling round of upsets, gold medals and obscure sports.
Questions abound surrounding these Games: can Michael Phelps right the ship and start winning again, will the U.S. basketball team wear gold once more, will Usain Bolt return to his former winning ways after a disappointing Trials run in Jamaica, and who will win the hotly contested men's equestrian individual jumping finals (safe money is on Alvaro Affonso de Miranda Neto of Brazil based on nothing more than his incredible name)?
One thing is for certain, however: these Games will fill up two weeks of air-time better than almost any other summer programming.
Falling — England's failing economy
For all the pageantry of the Olympics, the Games don't come without a price, and that price for the host country England might be too much to bear.
Coming fresh off the multi-billion dollar extravaganzas that were the royal wedding and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the already cash-strapped United Kingdom is starting to feel the pressure of putting over 14 billion dollars into this Olympics cycle.
There are benefits to hosting the games, both economically and in prestige, but they pale in comparison to the future pains these games will cause (for an interesting similarity, go and see what has happened to China's formerly glistening Olympic fairgrounds).
Prime Minister David Cameron made headlines a few years ago when he promised a smaller role for the UK's presence on the international political scene (a reduction trend that has almost been in the works since the devastation of WWII), and with the burden of these games, the sick man of sick Europe is going to get a little sicker.
Rising — School Anxiety
Wednesday, August 22 will be the end of days.
Counting today, there are 23 days of summer left before school starts. That is only 552 hours, or 33,120 minutes, which is not a long time.
With classes closing in, many students are starting to wonder where the summer went and how they can possibly cope with their soon-to-be mounting pile of schoolwork that will be bearing down on them.
One certainty is that the start of school will come, but one big uncertainty is how students will handle it.
Falling — Tyler Bray's trash can completion percentage
59.5 percent. That was Tyler Bray's completion percentage in seven games played last season.
0 percent. That was Tyler Bray's alleged completion percentage two weekends ago at the Landing Riverside Apartments while throwing beer bottles at cars from a balcony (once more, allegedly).
Coach Derek Dooley made light of the situation last week when he quipped, "Obviously his accuracy isn't where it needs to be. He missed the trash can." But the allegations are much more serious than Dooley is letting on.
The fallout from "Braygate" has yet to come fully to fruition, but with the possibility of felony charges still looming, the lanky gunslinger's ability to get on the field might be in doubt. Without Bray, Tennessee's offense, which was poised to have one of the best passing attacks in the country outside of USC and Arkansas, might sputter like it did last year.
Bray's presence on the field will determine not only whether or not this team will reach its potential, but also whether or not Derek Dooley will get to wear his orange pants next year.