Was in Knoxville for a college visit for my daughter this weekend and had some quick observations both football-related and in general:
--The atmosphere--if you have never been to another SEC venue, it is completely different than Vanderbilt. I know Vandy is the smallest SEC school in the biggest SEC town, so I get the small fish/big pond vs. big fish/small pond that most of the other SEC schools swim in but man, it is just a completely different atmosphere. Basically the whole town shuts down and it is an all-day event. I always am jealous of that when I go to other SEC stadiums.
--The traditions--when I see the Vol Navy, see the Vol walk, watch the Pride of the Southland Band perform before the game and hear the announcers get everyone stoked, it's another thing I'm envious of. What is our best tradition? The Star Walk? The Horn? Even during the game, in between almost every play, there was music playing and things going on to keep the crowd involved. Yes, it was annoying hearing "3rd down for what" on every 3rd down, but it got the crowd into and created a hostile environment. Their QB was having trouble communicating.
--The fans--they were 3-5, a coach with one foot out the door, a #firebutch and a #emptyneyland campaign and they still had nearly 100k fans there--and they were into it. Say what you will about their fans--I can't stand UT but their fans are diehards. I have zero respect for some of our supposed "fans" that won't go to games because they don't like the coach or something the administration did or didn't do. Instead of being part of the problem, be part of the solution instead of pouting like a baby that everything isn't the way you want it to be. Let's band together and support our team and then you can start demanding things. My father was a pastor and the people that griped and complained the most were the people who never gave a tithe. Seems like that is true in other places too. I wish we had 1/10th of the diehard support they do. I am sure it is disheartening to our players to see opposing fans take over our stadium.
--As for the game--Guarantano went out but he is looking better and better. He made some good throws and looks more confident. They were doing a lot of zone read stuff where we will have to defend the whole field if they get it down. I'm pretty worried about that game because I saw something in him before he got injured that I hadn't seen before. He's not there yet, but he is making strides.
--Referees called the most slanted game I have seen in a while. I've seen some mention on here but it was brutal. We left at halftime and even Kesling was saying they had gotten a friendly whistle.
--I sported a VU polo and got about 10 comments. Only one guy said "F Vanderbilt" right in front of both of my daughters, the rest were nice. TWO people even said they wanted to trade coaches with us lol. Thought some might get a kick out of that.
--The atmosphere--if you have never been to another SEC venue, it is completely different than Vanderbilt. I know Vandy is the smallest SEC school in the biggest SEC town, so I get the small fish/big pond vs. big fish/small pond that most of the other SEC schools swim in but man, it is just a completely different atmosphere. Basically the whole town shuts down and it is an all-day event. I always am jealous of that when I go to other SEC stadiums.
--The traditions--when I see the Vol Navy, see the Vol walk, watch the Pride of the Southland Band perform before the game and hear the announcers get everyone stoked, it's another thing I'm envious of. What is our best tradition? The Star Walk? The Horn? Even during the game, in between almost every play, there was music playing and things going on to keep the crowd involved. Yes, it was annoying hearing "3rd down for what" on every 3rd down, but it got the crowd into and created a hostile environment. Their QB was having trouble communicating.
--The fans--they were 3-5, a coach with one foot out the door, a #firebutch and a #emptyneyland campaign and they still had nearly 100k fans there--and they were into it. Say what you will about their fans--I can't stand UT but their fans are diehards. I have zero respect for some of our supposed "fans" that won't go to games because they don't like the coach or something the administration did or didn't do. Instead of being part of the problem, be part of the solution instead of pouting like a baby that everything isn't the way you want it to be. Let's band together and support our team and then you can start demanding things. My father was a pastor and the people that griped and complained the most were the people who never gave a tithe. Seems like that is true in other places too. I wish we had 1/10th of the diehard support they do. I am sure it is disheartening to our players to see opposing fans take over our stadium.
--As for the game--Guarantano went out but he is looking better and better. He made some good throws and looks more confident. They were doing a lot of zone read stuff where we will have to defend the whole field if they get it down. I'm pretty worried about that game because I saw something in him before he got injured that I hadn't seen before. He's not there yet, but he is making strides.
--Referees called the most slanted game I have seen in a while. I've seen some mention on here but it was brutal. We left at halftime and even Kesling was saying they had gotten a friendly whistle.
--I sported a VU polo and got about 10 comments. Only one guy said "F Vanderbilt" right in front of both of my daughters, the rest were nice. TWO people even said they wanted to trade coaches with us lol. Thought some might get a kick out of that.
