ESPN May Not Hate Tennessee? Huh?

#27
#27
roosterjbh said:
It just seems like the teams ESPN likes are the teams that...uh...win. When we start winning with our crazy fanbase and tradition I have a feeling people will get tired about hearing them talk about UT.
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In case you weren't around, we won our share in the 90's and still espn treated UT like dirt. 1997 is the year Peyton got robbed out of the heisman
 
#28
#28
I Love Lamp said:
I saw somewhere where Phil Steele had said that this would be the last rebuilding year for Butch Jones and we would be competing for the SEC next year. Closet Vols fan?
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Doubt he's a closet Vols fan. I think it was the 2005 season that he predicted us to fail to live up to expectations and we know what happened then(Don't remember him predicting us to fail to reach a bowl, but I'm pretty sure he had us no where near the national title like our pre-season ranking indicated). He's usually been pretty close to spot on when predicting us. Obviously has had years where he's been off, that's going to happen, but for most part he's one of the few analysts worth listening too, and when he says your team is going to be good or bad, it's a good idea to read what he has to say, cause it will have merit.
 
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#29
#29
roosterjbh said:
Do people really think ESPN hates us? Or is this just a long running joke?
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ESPN hates everyone who isn't the current champion or right near the top. They wrote the book on jumping on a bandwagon
They are also solely responsible for Peyton not winning the HeisTman in 97. Their hype GAVE it to Woodson
 
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#32
#32
UTwild82 said:
One reason was a year or two after the Peyton Heisman episode, there was a commercial that pretty well made Vol fans out to be hillbillies. I vaguely remember it, something about a fat woman and a pig.
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Was it Chris Fowler that called us trailer trash?
 
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#33
#33
knoxvols11 said:
Was it Chris Fowler that called us trailer trash?
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Yes...sort of. He said that there was a "trailer park frenzy" of hate mail directed at ESPN following the '97 Heisman Trophy Show. He later went on Mike Keith's talk show and apologized for it and also sent an open letter of apology to Vol fans that was printed in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, who had been critical of his choice of words.
 
#34
#34
I remember listening to a pre-game call in show in 2000 and the caller, in a southern Tennessee drawl, commenting on it and stating we should beat Fowler like a borrowed mule. That was the first I'd heard of the trailer comment and the borrowed mule comment as well.
 
#36
#36
roosterjbh said:
Do people really think ESPN hates us? Or is this just a long running joke?
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Yes, they hate us and welcome to the longest running joke on this site. :eek:lol:

Edit: I stand corrected; second longest running joke. Rod Wilks is the first. There, done, and done. :clap:

GO VOLS!
 
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#39
#39
ESPN started in Connecticut originally applied to broadcast Connecticut area sports. Then their owner found out a National License was same cost. Started out doing a lot of re-broadcast and Big East Bball was big then and they were 1st to start showing college Bball through the week the rest is history. I would say their core and culture is Northeast biased and a few outliers have their teams (i.e. Herbstreet OSU). Do they hate... some do and some are like someone else said... they bandwagon.... to try bring in Ad $$ and be a good employee. SEC envy is apparent and keeping us down is apparent to a certain age group ESPN broadcasters.
 
#40
#40
Another data point that ESPN might not hate us was last night. If any of you could stomach the Spurrier documentary on SEC network last night, they spent a good 10 minutes on the 2001 UT/UF game. Basically showing how we ran the ole ball coach out of the swamp....
 
#41
#41
ManchesterV said:
Another data point that ESPN might not hate us was last night. If any of you could stomach the Spurrier documentary on SEC network last night, they spent a good 10 minutes on the 2001 UT/UF game. Basically showing how we ran the ole ball coach out of the swamp....
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They also aired a clip (it wasn't in the show, may have been on SEC Now or a commercial not sure) of him talking about South Carolina's 'door closing' because Tennessee would be back soon.

Love him or hate him, he always speaks the truth. He knows SC has taken UT's spot in the pecking order the past few years.
 
#42
#42
I for one like the fact that Espn finds it easy to look over Tennessee Football as giant of the past. We have found one serious " individual " in CBJ that loves to compete and hates to lose. We be all the sweeter when he forces a giant Power " T " up their collective prognosticating , money grubbing ar$e$ . :rock:
 
#43
#43
BowlBrother85 said:
Back in September of 1999 UT suspended four players including Leonard Scott and Keyon Whiteside just before the Memphis game due to a hit piece on ESPN.com alleging that tutors, most notably Victoria Gray, had written papers for football players. A member of our English dept. named Linda Bensel-Myers contributed heavily to their story as did a former UT player named Tory Edge who claimed that he was quoted out of context in the story. We were the hot program in the SEC at the time and many Tennessee fans still bitter over the campaign that ESPN had mounted for Charles Woodson for the Heisman took it personally. The story that ran in ESPN.com was largely discredited and Linda Bensel-Myers left the state...but it did some damage to our reputation and hurt our momentum coming off a National Championship.
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This. Great summary. That article actually did more harm than people think.

ESPN hates us.
 
#44
#44
ESPN has had an agenda since the early 1990's. It has been to tear down the SEC but even then you has UF and UT spanking all ass that came their way.

UT was a main stay in the scheme of things then but not now. Why do you think Chris Fowler dogged the TN fan base as he did? Why do you think Peyton lost the Heistman?

Woodson was a media favorite and while his numbers were not equal to Peyton's they decided that he was worthy of a Heisman.

Peyton's number exceeded Woodson's by leaps and bounds but didn't persuade the voting public.

ESPN had a campaign to adhere to and decided on their own Woodson was the better player. Mind you there was no proof, but Peyton didn't fall into the QB abyss as did others.
 
#45
#45
Peyton was jobbed. I could be a bit off here, but it seems like UT was given the blame for ratting out Bama on the Means infractions. Local sports shows all reported that multiple SEC schools had filed the complaints about Bama, but it was all UT and "Phil" in much of the media and ESPN. ESPN sux...now we have the SEC network!
 
#48
#48
roosterjbh said:
It just seems like the teams ESPN likes are the teams that...uh...win. When we start winning with our crazy fanbase and tradition I have a feeling people will get tired about hearing them talk about UT.
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They hated Tennessee in 1998 and were rooting for UCLA and Kansas State.
 
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