What’s to come

KYRA BOGDAN Copy Chief

After a long winter break, you might find yourself wondering what you can do back in Knoxville to occupy yourself during these cold winter months. With unexpected snow days and more frigid temperatures to come, leaving your warm bedroom may seem like the last thing on your mind.

However, if you find yourself feeling adventurous or just want to try something new, you’re in the right place. Throw on your favorite winter jacket, find your warmest hat and set out to try one of these five winter activities located in and around the Knoxville area.

Go ice skating

A fun winter activity and a perfect picture opportunity, ice skating is always an exciting way to spend the chilly months in Knoxville. Located just a few minutes from campus, the Ice Chalet is a good place to get your ice skating fix.

The public sessions in the rink are open to everyone, whether you’re a natural on the ice or it’s your first time lacing up the skates. Times for the public sessions on the rink and admission prices can be found on the Ice Chalet website.

See a hockey game

Knoxville has their very own professional hockey team, the Ice Bears. They’ve won the most titles in their league and are sure to make for a fun night out. Depending on where you sit, these tickets can be as low as $8 or as high as $28.

With plenty of upcoming home games and a variety of theme nights ranging from Star Wars night to wizards night, they are definitely worth checking out.

Visit the Winter Farmer’s Market

Do you love visiting farmers markets? Well, you’re in luck! Nourish Knoxville is holding an event every Saturday morning from Jan. 8 to March 26. This open-air market is located in Market Square and provides a plethora of season-appropriate goods all made or grown in East Tennessee.

So, whether you’re looking for a new coffee blend or an extra plant to make your apartment feel more like a home, you’ll be able to find it here.

Knoxville was covered with snow after an early cold front passed over the city on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019.

File / The Daily Beacon

Try skiing or snowboarding at Ober Gatlinburg

Looking for something a little more exciting? If you’re willing to travel a little further from the Knoxville area, take a visit to Tennessee’s only ski resort at Ober Gatlinburg. This resort is just about an hour away from Rocky Top, with skiing and snowboarding available and three different slopes to try, ranging from easy to difficult.

Ober Gatlinburg also has snow tubing for those who are looking for something a little more forbearing.

Check out Tennessee’s frozen waterfalls

You might think that hiking is better suited for the spring or summer, however, Knoxville has something special in store for its winter hikers. If the weather gets cold enough, Tennessee’s famed waterfalls have the potential to freeze over and often do.

You can check out the Roots Rated article on “5 best waterfalls in East Tennessee” to help you get started on your search for these winter wonders if this is an activity that interests you.

ERIN GWYDIR Opinions Editor

With winter break being a month and a half long, it may be hard to get back in the swing of things at UT. Thankfully, there’s a multitude of events for everyone this upcoming semester to help distract from academic pressures.

For all the fitness gurus, unwind with a few sessions of yoga and reward yourself with free milkshakes every Monday — consistency is key.

This semester is also looking ideal for music lovers with a visit from “Tiny Meat Gang” member Noel Miller on Feb. 15 — many also know him from YouTube and his podcast with Cody Ko.

Coming in a close second will be a recital by the world-renowned pianist Boris Berman in April. Rocky Top will also be hosting jazz nights, choral concerts, the World Music Series, the Blakemore trio and other musical events throughout the semester as well. Hearing speakers from all different departments of study and regions of the U.S. and the world is always so rewarding.

Michael Spector, a science writer from The New Yorker, will be giving a lecture on “people who refuse to believe well-established findings of science.” This 40-minute talk will definitely be a comfort for many going through similar anxieties during this era of widespread bigotry.

Adam Steltzner will also be joining us on Rocky Top for his lecture, “How great do YOU dare to become?” From the event details page on the UT website Steltzner is described as “an aspiring rock star turned Ph.D. rocket scientist ... praised as a cutting-edge innovator and a leader who brings out the very best in his teams.”

“(Steltzner) serves as Chief Engineer of the current Mars 2020 Mission & Rover Perseverance that has the ultimate objective of determining if life has existed on Mars.”

For the dreamers, scientists, existentialists, people who don’t know what they’re doing: These speakers are coming to Rocky Top this spring to inspire you.

Henry Skeritt will also present a lecture that “will complement the exhibition, ‘Shane Pickett: Djinong Djina Boodja (Look at the Land that I Have Traveled),’ which is on view at the McClung Museum from Jan. 14 through May 7.”

The exhibition will feature work from Shane Pickett known as “Western Australia’s most significant contemporary Aboriginal artists.” There is so much to be said about this exhibition, but I will leave you to see for yourself.

If you’re interested in comics, “A Serious Look at the Funnies” will be featured by the School of Art all semester to recognize 100 years of comics in America.

Mark your calendars because coming up soon on Feb. 5 will be the 17th Annual Black Issue Conference. This year’s focus will be “Black Health Matters: Moving Beyond Awareness to Action.”

Other interactive events will be held in an array of different areas such as Pizza and Politics, the Pride Center Open House, Drag Queen bingo, virtual Book Club meetings and, less importantly but just as enjoyable, a celebration of Feb. 22, 2022 with a Taco Tuesday in the Student Union.

After looking through all the events for this semester, I can confidently say my favorite dates will be March 12-20. Be sure to register for events on VolLink or by going to the UT events calendar site. UT will host YouTube star Noel Miller for a night of music pm Feb. 15, 2022.

Photo courtesy of UT Campus Events

Erin Gwydir is a freshman at UT this year studying global studies and political science. She can be reached at efgwydir@gmail. com.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

The start of the spring semester brings about new beginnings for everyone. Winter break is over and students are returning to campus with new schedules and new classes. The weather slowly but surely will start to warm up, and college sports will get back in the full swing of things. At Tennessee, several teams will kick off their spring seasons over the coming months.

Here is a look at all the biggest Tennessee sports happening this spring.

Basketball

Both the Vols and Lady Vols basketball teams will finish the second half of the season this spring, though their trajectories could not be any more different.

The Lady Vols are currently the No. 5 team in the country, sitting in first place in the SEC with a perfect 6-0 conference record. Head coach Kellie Harper has the Lady Vols off to their best start since the 2007-08 season, playing similar basketball to many of the late Pat Summitt’s teams — dominating teams with defense and rebounding.

Senior Rae Burrell recently came back from a knee injury that had her sidelined since the first game of the season, and she is building her way back into a spot in the starting lineup.

The Lady Vols have upcoming matchups this spring against No. 9 UConn (Feb. 6) and No. 1 South Carolina (Feb. 20) before the SEC Tournament in March.

The men’s team, however, is doing all it can to stay afloat. After starting the season with a 9-2 record, the Vols have lost three of their first five conference games, punctuated with a 28-point blowout at Kentucky.

Consistency has been the thorn in the Vols’ side. When Tennessee’s defense was ranked No. 2 in the nation, its offense was as stagnant as ever. When they finally broke out offensively against Kentucky, Tennessee’s defense took a massive step back.

The Vols will play Rick Barnes’ former team Texas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 29, host Kentucky looking for revenge on Feb. 15 and host the current No. 2 Auburn on Feb. 26.

Baseball

The Tennessee baseball team looks to build on a historic season in Tony Vitello’s fifth season on Rocky Top. The Vols made their first College World Series appearance since 2005 but were eliminated with losses in their first two games to Virginia and Texas.

Success won’t come as easy to the Vols in 2022, as they lost four of their five starting infielders to the MLB Draft. Super senior Evan Russell tried out at catcher in the fall with hopes to fill the hole, and redshirt senior Luc Lipcius will anchor first base for another season. The Vols will be relying on their experienced outfield and a promising pitching staff bolstered by transfers Chase Dollander and Seth Halvorsen to alleviate the growing pains of a questionfilled lineup.

The baseball season begins with a home series against Georgia Southern on Feb. 18-20.

Softball

Tennessee softball will look very different in 2022. After 20 seasons at the helm of the Lady Vols, Ralph Weekly stepped down from his position as co-head coach. His wife and former co-head coach Karen Weekly, will step into the role.

Tennessee returns most of its starters from last season, starting with star pitcher Ashley Rogers. An All-SEC First Team player a year ago, Rogers led the SEC with a 1.32 ERA. She looks to build on that in her senior season.

Tennessee’s top-two hitters Kiki Milloy and Amanda Ayala return to lead the offense along with a few key transfers. Tennessee’s battery will look different as catcher Ally Shipman transferred to Alabama, leaving a hole to be filled by newcomer Kelcy Leach up the middle.

Tennessee softball will begin the 2022 season at the Felsberg Invitational in Miami, Florida from Feb. 11-13.

Tennis

The men’s tennis team looks to build off one of its most successful campaigns in program history in head coach Chris Woodruff’s fifth year at the helm. Last year, the Vols won the SEC Tournament title, made a run in the NCAA Championships semifinals and ended the year as the No. 4 team in the nation.

Most of the Vols’ production from last season returns, starting with graduate student Adam Walton and senior Pat Harper. The duo combined for 31 doubles wins, including the Doubles Individual National Championship.

Along with talented underclassmen Shunsuke Mitsui and Johannus Monday, the Vols enjoyed a successful fall season and started their spring campaign off on the right foot, downing No. 5 TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, in a dramatic 4-3 win on Jan. 16.

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