I think I pretty much covered my feelings for UT last year so I thought I'd let the old-timers take it over this year. Below is a thread of comments from Ian Rapoport's blog on al.com and I think it perfectly encapsulates our fanbase's collective opinion of Tennessee.
PS: Feel free to start your own thread here! ROLL TIDE...
Posted by 69alumni on 10/20/08 at 8:48PM
Well I hope they know the rivalry of the UT game, if the new ones don't they will by Sunday morning. I grew up 3 miles from the TN state line and from the time I new what a football was, I have hated UT. I don't hate Auburn but I HATE UT. I pull for Bama and who ever plays TN. Too many fights I guess back and forth across the state line in my younger days I guess. It would make me happy if we beat them 100 to 0. Yeah, I grew riding the school bus with that dumb a$$ Wendell Smith and graduated from high school with the other dumb a$$ R. Keller that were part of the probation mess. I personally always thought Smith was a TN fan but my wife ( a cousin of his) says he wasn't. Anyway, Roll Tide Beat the hell of UT
Posted by lebowski1 on 10/20/08 at 8:58PM
I remember when before the game the other teams band would play the other teams fight song. That's before Alabama cheated and Phil turned them in and this game got ugly.
Posted by joelarbear on 10/20/08 at 9:07PM
Yep, Bama cheated. Thank goodness Tennessee never did. T Martin never accepted a dime, did he lebowski1, you hypocrite. This game's always been ugly. Study your history. Check into the first time these two teams played. I know what happened, do you?
Posted by probama on 10/20/08 at 9:08PM
So Ian.....a TuPac photo. Im impressed....... R.I.P. It strikes me as (something?) that the picture is from a cd with a title that could, in a sense, describe the Alabama football team this year.For those of you who dont know, it is: ALL EYES ON ME!
Wasnt it Donta Hightower who came up and stopped the OM runner on 4th and a half-yard? His effort on that play alone was worth a couple of game-balls if you ask me.
The taste of koolaid should now be thoroughly washed out after these last two weeks. The offensive line just had their first game where they really didnt win their battle at all, so they should be really fired up. Like CNS said, OM is a good football team. Very physical.More physical in their lines than I expected. UT will be ready sat, butI expect Bama will be hitting on all cylinders for this one. If so - The Tide is gonna roll big.
Roll Tide!!!
Posted by lebowski1 on 10/20/08 at 9:24PM
Hey bear, did I say Tenn was clean? Fact is we got caught they didn't. Everyone cheats but the NCAA was out to get BAMA along with fat Phil. As I said earlier, out of respect (and you true BAMA fans that have been going to games a long time) each teams band would play the other teams fight song before the game, at that time it was pretty cool. Now both teams and fans hate each other.
Posted by joelarbear on 10/20/08 at 9:38PM
As I posted, read your history. This is a quote from Al Browning's book THIRD SATURDAY IN OCTOBER. "The first meeting between Alabama and Tennesse set the stage for the series. It ended with two thosand fans on the field fighting. Nothing was resolved that day. The teams played to a 6-6 tie. But Birmingham hosted a red-letter event in sports history on November 28, 1901, and wounds were opened that have never been totally healed."Read your history. Alabama and Tennesse have always hated each other. I personally consider it a bigger rivalry than Bama - Auburn.
Posted by Whahoo35124 on 10/20/08 at 9:46PM
Damn right "WE" BAMA fans hate Tennessee ! Fullmer is a back stabbing low life cheating snitch.
Posted by joelarbear on 10/20/08 at 9:59PM
As far as your "true Bama fans" comment goes, I was selling cokes, programs and parking cars to get in to the games in the 70's. The first game I attended was in the 1968 season against Miami. I am a TRUE Bama fan from way back.
Posted by Crimsonwood on 10/20/08 at 10:22PM
(Editor's Note: This comment was deleted out of respect to my Aub friends.)
Posted by IanRRapoport on 10/20/08 at 10:59PM
Pro: What can I say? I grew up on it. I Get Around was my favorite song for about four years... Between him and Biggie, that's all I needed... (Editor's Note: Ian, seriously?!?!? I bet you also do the white boy frat-daddy dance in your Newbies at parties. Monticeto... where you at?)
Posted by tiderollsga on 10/20/08 at 11:11PM
I never remember the bands playing each others fight song. The Tennessee band only knows one song and they play it over and over. This game was the first football game ever televised, sometime back in the 50s I think. Alabama and Tennessee are both in the top 10 in all time wins so are considered among the elite of college football traditions (Sorry War Eagles you have had some good years, but only 1 NC. even Ole Miss has 3 NCs, not sure how many Tennessee has, but its more than 3 ). It is one of the great rivalries and will always be so. When SEC divided in to two divisions, Alabama-Tennessee was the reason for at least one permanent opponent from the other division. Most Alabama fans love the rivalry, and don't hate Tennessee, they just hate Fat Phil.
Posted by probama on 10/21/08 at 12:49AM
Ian. I hear you. Me too. I really liked and appreciated his work thatwas a little more um...serious though. I can still dig some Biggie. (Editor's Note: Ha.Ha.)
tiderollsga - Speak for yourself...I hate Tennessee. Always have.Always will. No matter who's ever been coaching. In fact, UT is theonly team in the country that I truly despise.
Roll Tide
Posted by jarrekk on 10/21/08 at 5:40AM
re: Tenn, Ala. rivalry; wasn't it these games ( regardless of the home team) that "first" started these "record-breaking crowds?" How anyone could not know that Tn used to be (and still one of) our biggest rivalries is beyond me. I'm not even from here and I knew this.
Posted by tampabama66 on 10/21/08 at 6:55AM
TENN -v- BAMA is a big game and all the players know it. These teams played in the first nationally televised college football game in the early 70's. I think 1971.
Having said that, the game took on more significance in the late '60s because of D-Coordinator Coach Ken Donahue. He was a lineman at Tenn in the 50's with my cousin Charley Stokes while Jim Goosetree was a trainer at Tenn at the time. Coach Donahue went on to be Coach Bryant's D-Coordinator for over 20 years and Goostree was the head trainer at Bama for many years.
Coach Donahue and Goosetree did not want to lose to Tenn and they would talk about the significance of the game all week leading up to the game. I can hear him now, "Here come the Vols, they're coming after you Saturday, you better be ready". Coach Donahue brought the cigar tradiation to Alabama and he really pumped the rivalry up. In fact, if we won, Coach Donahue would do a little 'victory dance' in front of the whole team on Monday before afternoon practice. It was very out of character for him, so we all wanted to see that dance.
This game meant a lot to Coach Bryant, Coach Donahue and Goosetree and therefore, it was a big, big game for us as players too.
My favorite story is that in the Tenn game in 1981 our center Steve Mott got player of the game because NG Reggie White didn't make a tackle all day. The secret is that White didn't even play over Mott that day. He played over the guard because of their defensive alignment that day but because he didn't make a tackle all day, Mott got the award that should have gone to Doug Vickers.
I'm ready for the Vols! Let's put toe to leather. When we win Coach Donahue can do a little irish jig in heaven.
Posted by keith03582 on 10/21/08 at 7:25AM
Ah finally the 3 saturday in October, well the 4th this year but still its time for some serious football. This is the type of game where records dont matter, TN is only a 6 point underdog. Good thing we run the ball alot, that should make Berry a bit more useless and since our special teams is our weakest link, dont kick it to him. ROLL TIDE!!!!
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3 comments:
I remember one year I was warming up with the band outside Neyland Stadium when a few ladies my mother's age who were tailgating started throwing baby carrots at us. Surreptitiously, like we were too stupid to figure out where they came from! When I was there in the late 90's, the Tennessee band still played Yea Alabama as part of their pregame show. Fortunately, I never had to suffer the shame of playing Rocky Top (although I will admit it has a good Mellophone part).
On a related note, I was playing in the pep band at the SEC woman's basketball tournament once when a Tennessee player warming up in front of us asked if we could teach her band some new songs! Evidently it grates on their nerves as well.
Tom, you seriously should have hollered out to these ladies that judging by the size of their cankles, they might want to consider keeping the baby carrots and tossing their fun-size Snickers bars at y'all instead. The benefits would have been two-fold... 1) You would have instantly cut to their collective quick by playing on their superficial insecurities 2) You would have procured a much tastier snack than the baby carrots! Sadly, I'm not surprised in the least by this story and have my own stories of "altercations" with folks at least one generation my elder at Neyland Stadium. I believe that was in 1992... ahhhh, high cotton.
Anyway, I think that guy was wrong about the MDB playing Rocky Top though I certainly remember their band playing Yea Alabama. Whatever their band plays, you can rest assured it is still being piped into the visitors' section via portable speakers (at least when Bama is in town) as I've seen it with mine own eyes!
ROLL TIDE!
Of course my favorite part about the Tennessee marching band is their drum major who dresses up like a used Q-tip, complete with authentic UT-orange ear wax. Ewww!
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