HEADLINES

Blink, and you'll miss her. But, pay close attention when the Lady Vols are on a national television and you might catch a glimpse of a Madisonville native hard at work on the Tennessee bench. She isn't a player or a coach, but student trainer Lori Plemons has one of the most important jobs in the huge University of Tennessee athletic support staff, she helps keep the world-class athletes on the court healthy. Plemons is half-way through her final year as a graduate student at UT and has worked with the Lady Vols since the beginning of the season.

"Basketball holds a special place for me," Plemons said. "I grew up watching the Lady Vols, it definitely makes it more enjoyable."

"Lori is a professional," the Lady Vols team trainer Jenny Moshak said. "She's hard on herself…, she'd dedicated. I think she loves the profession and she'll be great at it."

Plemons is a graduate of Madisonville High School and played basketball and ran cross-country for the Tornadoes. Like most other young East Tennessee lady hoopsters, Plemons looked up to the Lady Vols program and players. However, a knee injury her junior year opened her eyes to another option in the sports world. Plemons worked with the Lady Vols softball and track and field teams before going to work with the basketball team this season.

Working with the players every day, Plemons and the other trainers form a first line of defense as they watch for warning signs of an athlete that's having trouble with some of the mental pressure of the game, student life or rehabilitation.

"One thing with female athletes, you have to keep your eye out for warning signs," Plemons said. "Just clues for something that's going on, we're just that outlet to talk to."

After college, Plemons hopes to go into the lower profile world of high school athletics where she can hook on with a school and get involved with the students.

"Some states have a full-time position mandatory at high schools," Plemons said. "I want to be more involved"

by Michael Thomason, Staff Writer Madisonville

Robert Plemons has been selling mobile homes for a long time. When a man called wanting an old trailer - a "junker", as he called it - it seemed like a transaction that had taken place a thousand times at Monroe County Mobile Homes in Madisonville. The difference: the man represented the "Jerry Springer Show" and said he needed the trailer for a segment they were going to film locally - a transaction that resulted in Plemons filing suit against the nationally syndicated "shock talk" show.

"It was about two months ago," Plemons said, "and this guy said he wanted to buy the trailer, they were going to have a couple come in from out of state, and they were planning on filming a segment for the show."

Plemons said the man came by and purchased a 30-year-old trailer for $1,350. "He actually paid $450 down," Plemons said, "and told me he would send me a check from the show when he got back to Chicago." Plemons didn't feel worried, this was a major television show, after all, but the trouble soon began.

"I should have known when he didn't want to pay anything for the trailer until he got back to Chicago," Plemons said, "that the deal might not go too smoothly. I told him that the trailer wasn't leaving my lot until he produced some money." The man went to an ATM machine, came back with $450 and had his trailer hauled to Lankford's on the Sweetwater/Vonore Road.

A production crew taped an episode in which a woman comes home and catches her husband with another woman. The wife became so enraged, she commandeered a bulldozer, conveniently located nearby, and ran through the trailer with it. Lankford's no longer has the trailer.

Plemons waited a while, heard from some friends that the episode had aired, and began to wonder when he would see a payment. "We never heard anything," Plemons said. "We tried calling the guy, paged him, called the show, but no one will talk to us or return our calls."

So, Monroe County Mobile Homes has filed a suit against the "Jerry Springer Show" asking for the $900, court costs, and legal fees. "It's not the money," Plemons said, "I'm not worried that much about the $900. The truth is, I feel like we've been scammed. There's no doubt this guy worked for he Springer Show, the episode did air. But I kind of get the feeling, whether it's true or not, that he was given a certain amount of money and he's trying to pay as little as he can so he can pocket the rest. I doubt there may be anybody else associated with the show that know about this." Plemons said the Springer representative allegedly cheated an Athens woman out of some money also.

"The woman who told him about us," Plemons said, "was hired by this guy basically to scout out locations and people for him. From what I understand, he hasn't paid her either." Plemons said he and his company are still waiting to hear a reply to their lawsuit filed in the Monroe County Chancery Court.

"I'd like for everybody to know about this," he said, "This guy could be doing this all across the country." Phone calls to the Jerry Springer Show were not immediately returned.

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