Anchor Of Gold
The Unofficial Vanderbilt Commodores Blog * Now With Fewer Law Degrees!
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Soccer Preview and Gamethread: SMU
We have survived the national nightmare that exists between May/June and August every year as we all pine for college sports to return. Vanderbilt’s soccer team gets the action started tonight at home against SMU. Having already broken down the different positions groups (goalkeepers and defenders, midfielders, and forwards), how does it all come together […]
Vanderbilt Soccer 2026 Position Preview: Forwards
Vanderbilt’s front line is terrifying for opponents. In the 3-5-2, the 2 forwards/strikers have a lot of freedom of movement. They can stay central or drift into wide spaces to let the CAM replace them centrally or have onrushing wide midfielders overlap or underlap. That freedom being given to very intelligent players is a recipe […]
Vanderbilt Soccer 2026 Position Previews: Midfield
Moving up the field one “line,” the midfield will likely be composed of 2 wide midfielders (one on the left and one on the right), 2 holding midfielders, and 1 attacking midfielder. The holding midfielders and attacking midfielder will roughly form a triangle. That shaft may twist and elongate during play, but that general shape […]
Vanderbilt Soccer 2026 Position Previews: Goalkeepers and Defenders
The Vanderbilt Commodores kick off the 2026-27 sports calendar on August 12th when they welcome the Southern Methodist University Mustangs to West End. The majority of the roster will be very familiar to any fans who watched last season’s team. Head Coach Darren Ambrose will have 67% of his minutes played back from last season’s […]
Vanderbilt Football 2026 Position Preview: Tight Ends
The second most difficult to fill hole on this roster from 2025 is at Tight End. Eli Stowers went in the second round of the NFL draft as the 54th overall pick. He won the John Mackey Award as the country’s top TE and was named First Team All-American by nearly every major outlet, including […]
Vanderbilt Football 2026 Position Preview: Wide Receivers
Vanderbilt’s aerial attack will have a new starting QB, which is getting most of the attention, but the players on the receiving end will be largely different, too. TE Eli Stowers was the leader in receptions at 62, and WR Tre Richardson was the yardage leader at 806. Both of them are gone. For today’s […]
Vanderbilt Soccer: Black-Gold Scrimmage
Vanderbilt soccer has decided to open the public access portion of the pre-season early in 2026. The annual Black vs Gold contest comprises of a number of on- and off-field contests ranging from silly party games to competitions at practice that culminates in an intrasquad match. Until this season, this has been a closed doors […]
Vanderbilt Football 2026 Position Preview: Running Backs
Moving along in these position previews, we stay in the backfield. The player closest to Vanderbilt’s new starting Quarterback will be a familiar face. Of the 185 carries and 1,195 yards gained by Commodore Running Backs in 2025, the squad returns 165 attempts and 1,132 yards. Diego Pavia was the leading rusher with 167 rushes […]
Let’s Get Weird Again—All World All Time Best Song Competition: Ottoman Empire
Previous Result See our list of all previous winners. The New states gave us another widely divided field! Eventually the Singing Sisters of Syracuse, with their ragtime piano and kazoo-laden version of “Shine On Harvest Moon,” managed to outpace a strong group of contenders** for the win. You know what wasn’t a widely divided field? […]
Vanderbilt Football 2026 Position Preview: Quarterbacks
The Vanderbilt Commodores are 40 days from kicking off the 2026 football season to defend the first 10-win season in program history. They have a number of impactful players to replace, and the backfill for Diego Pavia is receiving the most attention. The 2-year starter and 2025 Heisman runner-up quarterbacked Vanderbilt in a way that […]
Let’s Make Spirit of Gold Play Jozin z Bazin
So I was scrolling after dinner and saw this: …to which I replied: …and just like that, I give you all your marching orders. Now you give those band nerds those orders. Fill up that tweet with likes and replies also suggesting the classic Ivan Mladek song about a Prague monster until we bend them […]
Clark Lea isn’t naming a starter because he doesn’t have to
As Vanderbilt’s 2026 football season approaches, the biggest question facing the Commodores is who will replace Diego Pavia, who led Vanderbilt to its first 10-win season in school history in 2025. And Vanderbilt has, by some accounts, the top-ranked freshman quarterback coming in to fall camp. This should be an obvious answer, right? And yet […]
Let’s Get Weird Again—All World All Time Best Song Competition: The New States
Previous Result See our list of all previous winners. “Ha-He” by Kenya’s Just a Band won the mixtape competition (MAKMENDE AMERUDI!), but with a paltry 5 votes. Granted, there was a 5-way race going on, but only 16 votes total. Not sure if I erred by posting mid-week, or if we just didn’t have any […]
The Spice Returns
After the most disappointing season in the Tim Corbin era, resulting in the first time the Diamond Dores missed the postseason since most of the team has been alive, Corbs famously said something to the effect of, “Fuck that noise. Hail Pinman” (possibly misquoted) and then refilled Jobu’s rum. Since then, The Diamond Dores got […]
Let’s Get Weird Again—All World All Time Best Song Competition: A-M Country Mixtape
Wasn’t it nice to have actual sports content for a weekend thanks to the MLB draft? Were you expecting a follow-up article on the bowling team’s recruiting? Actually, so was I. We don’t have any news on that front though, so let’s get weird again. Hopefully you didn’t read the “A-M Country Mixtape” title and […]
2026 MLB Draft: Day Two Live Thread
Sunday, July 12: Rounds 5-20 • 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. ET (MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+) Yesterday certainly could have gone better for the Diamond Dores, as no current players were chosen in the first 4 rounds (yeah… we earned that postseason miss this year), but 6 commits were. The latter part of that sentence likely frightens you, but […]
2026 MLB Draft: Day One Live Thread
Saturday, July 11: Rounds 1-4 • 1:00-2:30 p.m. – Picks 1-10 (NBC and Peacock) • 2:30-4:30 p.m. – Picks 11-40 (MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+) • 4:30-7:45 p.m. – Picks 41-135 (MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+) It’s Draft Day. For most sports, it’s a celebratory day where you’re glad to hear the names of your boys, cheering them on as […]
2026 MLB Draft Primer: The Commits
Day One of the MLB Draft is Saturday July 11th (1pm ET; 12pm CT) on NBC, Peacock, and MLB Network, and will be rounds 1 through 4. Day Two (rounds 5-20) is on MLB.com at 11:30am ET; 10:30am CT. Here are the names you will be praying not to hear called. Get 4-5 of these […]
2026 MLB Draft Primer: Current Players
Day One of the MLB Draft is Saturday July 11th (1pm ET; 12pm CT) on NBC, Peacock, and MLB Network, and will be rounds 1 through 4. Day Two (rounds 5-20) is on MLB.com at 11:30am ET; 10:30am CT. Don’t expect to hear any of these names on Day One, but here are the current […]
Let’s Get Weird Again—All World All Time Best Song Competition: Missouri
Previous Result See our list of all previous winners. Hank Sr. and “Jambalaya” held on to a slim but consistent lead, holding off a challenge from Ernie K-Doe’s “Mother in Law.” (If the letter “O” was for “One Hit Wonders,” I’m pretty sure “Mother in Law” would’ve been a strong contender there too. Should there […]
Let’s Get Weird Again—All World All Time Best Song Competition: Louisiana
Welcome to the land of Louisiana! Where crawfish are crawfish, “crawdad” will get you a “you’re not from around here, but we’ll tolerate you” look, and “crayfish” will get you a “where in God’s name did you come from, and how quickly can you go back there” stare. The Pelican State ought to have some […]
I’m tired of paying the players being the meat shield
Back in the 1980s, the Universities of Oklahoma and Georgia sued the NCAA over its television contract. More specifically, they were mad that the NCAA limited the number of games that were televised and distributed the revenue from its television contract in an even-handed manner. In 1981, Oklahoma played USC on national television, except for […]
The SEC and Big Ten bullied the rest of the sport all the way to this
I’ve made no real secret of the fact that in spite of the fact that the school I root for plays in the SEC, I hate what the conference has become. It’s a 16-team morass of some of the biggest brands in the sport, whose every move seems to be dictated by cash grabs, whether […]
There Are No Good Guys Here
The headlines tell you things like “Congress may finally fix college sports.” The actual substance, though, is not what I would call a “fix.” It is the people who broke the sport — and there are many, many involved here — telling you that we have to “fix it,” but where the “fix” looks nothing […]
Let’s Get Weird Again—All World All Time Best Song Competition: Kentucky
Come, my Anchor of Gold parsons! What were you fine editors doing all week? This should’ve been an easy article to throw together! Anyway, you equally fine readers voted for Kentucky over the Klingon Empire. Previous Result See our list of all previous winners. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” beat out Boston’s “More Than a […]
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