99.1 The Sports Animal is proud to announce the return of Sports Animal SportsFest on Saturday, June 28th, 2025 at Knoxville Expo Center!
Sports Animal SportsFest
Saturday, June 28th, 2025
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Knoxville Expo Center
Tickets are $5.00 at door.
*Free Admission for Children 12 and Under
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SportsFest 2025 Vendor and Sponsor Interest Form
Fill out this form for more information about becoming a vendor at SportsFest 2025 taking place Saturday, June 28, 2025 at the Knoxville Expo Center. We are searching for sports related items, activities and businesses.
Join us on Saturday, June 28th at the Knoxville Expo Center for Sports Animal SportsFest! This indoor festival celebrates all things sports! There will be multiple sports personalities doing Q&A’s, autograph signings, an awesome buy, sell, trade card show and more. Exhibitors will be on-site offering a fun-filled day for the entire family.
SportsFest has all your bases covered! Learn, play, watch or just get your picture with a VFL or other notable sports figure. From the novice sports fan to the diehards, SportsFest has something for everyone.
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More details coming soon…
Scheduled to appear…
Erik Ainge– VFL QB from 2004-2007 and spent two seasons with the New York Jets for 2008-2010 after being drafted in the sixth round of the NFL Draft in 2008. Sports Animal host of the Erik Ainge Show Weekdays from 9a-12pm on 99.1 FM.
Jayson Swain– VFL WR from 2003-2006 and NFL WR with the Chicago Bears in 2007. He is currently 6th all-time in UT history with 126 receptions. Swain is also 13th in career receiving yards with 1,721. Jayson also hosts the Josh & Swain show on 99.1 The Sports Animal from 12p-3p as well as his podcast The Swain Event.
On Wednesday night, members of the Knoxville Police Department’s Community Engagement Response Team took 18-year-old Robert Brabson into custody at an apartment on West Parkway Avenue.
Brabson was wanted for attempted first-degree murder and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, charges that were the result of a shooting that happened on Sunday, April 27 on E. Hill Avenue.
On April 27 at around 11:30 a.m., KPD officers responded to 1246 Austin Homes Boulevard, where they found a 16-year-old male who had been shot in the leg. The victim was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Further investigation revealed that the victim had been shot at an apartment complex at 1117 E. Hill Avenue before he fled to the Austin Homes apartment complex. It is believed that the shooting stemmed from a dispute regarding a stolen firearm.
Continued investigation led by the KPD Homicide and Violent Crimes Unit detectives identified Brabson as the suspect in the shooting.
Southern Skies Music & Whiskey Festival returns to Downtown Knoxville on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Produced by Dogwood Arts and curated by the Dirty Guv’nahs. 2025Lineup: Charley Crockett, The Dirty Guv’nahs, Willow Avalon, Devon Gilfillian, Southern Avenue, and Cruz Contreras & The Black Lillies.
Produced by Dogwood Arts
Dogwood Arts has a 68-year history of arts advocacy, environmental stewardship, and economic impact in East Tennessee. With the financial support of corporate sponsors, grant funding, local government investment, and private donors, we produce 20 year-round events and programs that help make Knoxville a great place to live, work and play.
With the exit of quarterback Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee will roll with UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshmen George MacIntyre as it’s quarterbacks, with a starter to be determined.
So, through our website poll question below, we’d like to know how you currently feel about Tennessee’s quarterback position. Are you nervous and believe they won’t be as good? Are you excited that one of those guys will upgrade the QB play? Or, do you think it will end up being about the same?
In 2024, Nico was 213 of 334 passing (63.8%) for 2,616 yards (202.2 per game) with 19 TDs and 5 INTs. He also rushed for 358 yards after sack yardage was removed at 3.3 yards per and 3 rushing touchdowns.
Please vote in our poll below and share if you can.
Photo of UT QB Jake Merklinger is courtesy of UT Athletics.
991TheSportsAnimal.com Website Poll
991TheSportsAnimal.com Poll Question
Will Tennessee be better, worse or about the same at QB this season?
DANDRIDGE, TN (WVLT / shared by WOKI) – When the remnants of Hurricane Helene ripped through East Tennessee, it impacted not only people, but also our wildlife.
On Wednesday, biologists with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority surveyed fish in Douglas Lake to learn how the fish are doing after the storm.
Biologists said it’s a critical study to conduct after Helene because they are the indicator of the water’s quality.
“The thing about fish is they’re the canary in the coal mine. They’re the indicator of what’s going on with water quality,” said John Justice, a TVA reservoir fisheries biologist.
Biologists said sport fish can be the most telling for the overall health of the lake. By monitoring those species, they can make assumptions about the food web below them.
“The whole fish community has to work together to have a good healthy fish community,” Kurt Lakin, a TVA reservoir fisheries biologist.
The biologists compared the checks they’re doing to an annual wellness exam you get at the doctor’s office, like marking down length and weight and also looking for any injuries or diseases.
“We enter all that information into a computer, and we track those trends over time to see if its improving, staying the same or getting worse,” Lakin said.
To get a clear picture after Helene is going to take some time, but they said the outlook is positive.
“From the few samples that we saw this morning and the samples TWRA did last week, it looks like the fisherie is holding up pretty well,” Lakin said. “From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like the fish look healthy, and there’s quite a few of them.”
Good news for the fish and the economy, counties surrounding the lake rely heavily on recreational tourism, like fishing.
The biologists say their work is far from over. They’re going to continue to look at the fish populations and keep track to decide if there are any large impacts from the storm.
Cuts to AmeriCorps funding from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency mean several nonprofit programs in East Tennessee have been cut.
AmeriCorps is a nationwide group that places volunteers with nonprofits all over the country, usually for a year of service and often with a stipend to cover their cost of living or help paying for schooling. Losing funding means that 286 people involved in AmeriCorps have had their programs eliminated, just in East Tennessee.
WVLT News received a list of affected programs from a representative for CAC AmeriCorps, which operates out of Knoxville and saw more than 50 people lose their jobs after the cuts came down.
AmeriCorps Program Eliminations in East Tennessee
PROGRAM OFFICE
ORGANIZATION
PROJECT
AWARDED PARTICIPANTS
ORG CITY
AmeriCorps State and National
CLINCH-POWELL RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL, INC.
Appalachia CARES / AmeriCorps
82
Rutledge
AmeriCorps State and National
TENNESSEE’S COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE CORPORATION
Community Cares
46
Morristown
AmeriCorps VISTA
Knoxville Knox County Community Action Committee
Knoxville Knox County Community Action Committee
19
Knoxville
AmeriCorps State and National
Knoxville Knox County Community Action Committee
Environmental Corps
43
Knoxville
AmeriCorps State and National
Emerald Youth Foundation
T.E.A.M.
73
Knoxville
AmeriCorps State and National
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University – AmeriCorps Planning Grant
0
Johnson City
AmeriCorps State and National
The Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness
Announced last year, East Tennessee State University received almost $75,000 for their program as part of the 2024-25 Volunteer Tennessee grant initiative.
That grant went towards a program that supported veterans by advising them academically and helping them and their families transition back into civilian life after serving.
ETSU sent WVLT News the following statement about the cuts:
Earlier this week, East Tennessee State University was notified that a $75,000 AmeriCorps Planning Grant that the university received last fall has been terminated. The terminated Planning Grant was focused on helping ETSU expand its services to veterans within seven counties in Northeast Tennessee in addition to supporting our student veterans. While this grant would have enabled ETSU to serve a larger population, its loss does not affect our current efforts to serve military-affiliated students who are enrolled at ETSU. East Tennessee State University
The Housing First program places volunteers at host sites across northeast Tennessee, Chattanooga, Morristown and Paris, Tennessee. Those volunteers work to reduce homelessness in the area by offering housing and social services.
“The purpose of the Housing First Program is to provide access points in every county we serve to provide the homeless with resources they so desperately need,” the program’s website reads.
The Knoxville-area AmeriCorps group works with several nonprofits in and around Knox County. Those nonprofits include programs run by the University of Tennessee, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the City of Knoxville and plenty of others. 52 positions were eliminated, including Megan Rockefeller’s at Beardsley Community Farm.
“It’s just really hard to watch that fall apart is the word or not considered to be as valuable as I know the program is,” she said about the farm, which helps get food into the hands of those in need. “I know these people really need help and they just lost 50% of their staff.”
Jason Scott is the director of CAC AmeriCorps. He spoke about why the cuts came down the pipeline.
“The reason consistently cited is that it was determined that our programs no longer effectuate the priorities of the AmeriCorps agency,” he said. “What we have been doing for three decades for the state of Tennessee and across the entire country is no longer in alignment.”
Those now-cut programs had a big impact on the area, according to Beardsley director Charlotte Rodina.
“It’s really hitting home for people that the cuts that are being made are really going to impact Knoxville and our community members, especially our most vulnerable community members,” Rodina said. “We won’t be able to do as much with half of the amount of people that we’re used to.”
Emerald Youth provided WVLT News a statement on the AmeriCorps cuts:
The AmeriCorps program has been a critical part of our work with young people for many years.
We were very surprised by its immediate termination, and yet, we press on because our mission for our community’s young people is so urgent.
Every child, in every neighborhood deserves the opportunity for the kind of full life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10, and now, more than ever – especially with this key loss of funding – we need the community’s help to make this a reality in our cityEmerald Youth Foundation
The Tennessee Community Assistance Corporation (TCAC) oversees Community Cares. The program helps out at-risk populations in rural East Tennessee areas with several issues.
Specifically, Community Cares works with those in poverty, seniors, people who are disabled and kids. The group facilitates after-school programs, distributes food an does more for the population around Morristown.
Krystal Gibbons, the executive director of TCAC, provided the following statement via email:
It is hard to say at this time what the impact of these cuts will be. We are heartbroken to have this program terminated so abruptly. For over 20 years this program has been a vital part of Tennessee’s Community Assistance Corporation. We will continue to work with statewide partners and members to lessen the impact of this abrupt termination.
Our Community Cares members were serving in various capacities through youth after school tutoring, assisting the elderly, and construction of affordable housing. Their service was very valuable to Tennessee’s Community Assistance Corporation and our partners. It is sad that this decision to terminate such an important program doesn’t echo that same gratitude.Krystal Gibbons, TCAC Executive Director
The Appalachia CARES program works across Tennessee with partner organizations. Volunteers get placed into an organization to help with housing support and education, home repairs for those in need and environmental initiatives.
Appalachia CARES’ website lists several of its partners, which include Habitat for Humanity, Tennessee State Parks and Appalachian Ministries of the Smokies.
WVLT News is expecting word from Appalachia CARES outlining the impact of the cuts.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee head men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Wednesday the signing of Clarence Massamba.
A guard from Paris, Massamba is currently part of the prestigious AS Monaco Basket organization. He is the fifth member of Tennessee’s 2025 high school class, including the first from overseas.
“We are happy to welcome Clarence and his family to the Tennessee basketball program. Once we identified Clarence as a player of interest, we immediately became excited about his impressive upside,” Barnes said. “He is a long, athletic, versatile guard who can really attack in the open court. He is good with the ball in his hands, yet also possesses the ability to excel without it. Clarence has a nice feel for the game and an excellent basketball IQ. He is a hard-working, driven young man who plays with a chip on his shoulder and our fans will love seeing the way he competes.”
Massamba has played in 22 games for Monaco’s U21 team in the LNB Espoirs league during the 2024-25 campaign, notching 15 starts. He is averaging 11.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 24.2 minutes per game, while shooting 45.9 percent (94-of-205) from the field.
The 6-foot-5, 185-pounder has scored in double figures 12 times, with 15-plus points on seven occasions and 20-plus in four outings. Massamba notched season bests in points, made field goals and made 3-pointers Feb. 22 against Espoirs Chalon-Saone, tallying 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting clip, including a 5-of-7 ledger from deep. He also tied season highs with seven rebounds and three steals.
Most recently, Massamba had 20 points April 27 versus Espoirs Limoges, connecting on all nine of his shots inside the arc and both his free throws.
Massamba has made three appearances this season with Monaco at the LNB Élite level, the top league France and one of the best in the world.
Labeled a three-star recruit by ESPN, Massamba takes high school classes through Edmentum. He spent the prior two seasons at The Rock School in Gainesville, Fla.
As a junior, Massamba led The Rock School to a Sunshine Independent Athletic Association (SIAA) title with a 58-47 win over DME Academy, en route to a 25-8 final record. He collected SIAA Second Team All-State accolades after averaging 13.0 points, a team-best 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, plus shot 53.0 percent from the field and 42.0 percent beyond the arc.
Massamba was named a 2023 Chick-Fil-A Classic All-Tournament Team designee after averaging 19.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game across three outings in Lexington, S.C. He shot 62.9 percent (22-of-35) from the field, including 60.0 percent (9-of-15) on 3-pointers. Massamba finished second in the elite tournament in made field goals, co-second in made 3-pointers, fourth in scoring, fourth in made 3-pointers (min. four 3PA) and sixth in field-goal percentage (min. 10 FGA).
Prior to committing to Tennessee, Massamba received recruiting interest from programs such as Duke, Kansas, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Xavier.
Tennessee has one prior letter winner from France in Yves Pons, a Fuveau native who competed under Barnes from 2017-21 and was the 2020 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. This is the second season in a row the Volunteers will have a European player, as Rovinj, Croatia, native Igor Miličić Jr., started 37 games for Tennessee in 2024-25.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
Tazewell, TN (WOKI) The Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help finding a missing 21-year-old woman they say was last seen Tuesday evening.
CCSO says Juliet Rose Morgado, 21 was reported missing from 193 Jennings Lane in Tazewell and that she had moved to Tennessee from Connecticut recently to escape an abusive boyfriend.
Officials add that Morgado was also hospitalized recently due to suicidal ideations.
Those with information on Morgado’s whereabouts are asked to call East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers at (865) 215-7165 or online at EastTNValleyCrimeStoppers.org.
Newport, TN (WOKI) The U.S. Forest Service announcing Wednesday that crews would be closing a portion of Rocky Top Road in the Cherokee National Forest for road repairs in June.
According to officials, Rocky Top Road, also known as NFSR 402, was damaged by stormy weather, prompting the need for work from mile 2.22 to 5.72. Crews will be removing damaged culverts, reconditioning the road and adding new surface aggregate.
Officials add that project funding is coming from Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads funds, a program created to help federal agencies fix roads affected by natural disasters.
Cherokee National Forest crews to close road for repairs. (Courtesy: WVLT)
