RavinDave
Live to ride. Ride to live.
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Know what I miss? Seeing our trophy mod posting on a regular basis!I remember when the week before the Florida game was pure agony for me. I would scour the internet for anything that would give me confidence that we would win. I would drive my friends and family crazy asking their predictions and then getting mad if they predicted a Vol loss. I would send mean e-mails to poor sportswriters who had anything good to say about Florida and question their sanity. There was no sleeping the night before the game. Many of those pregame nights were spent right here on VN, making fun of the Gators and talking smack to any Gator fan who dared to rear their (ugly) head. My sister still teases me about calling me after a Vol victory over a Spurrier team and I was crying so hard I couldn't even talk.
Those days have been gone for years now. Maybe I just got old. Maybe I got used to losing to so many other teams that losing to the lizards ceased to matter. I still want the Vols to win. I still believe they can. But man, I miss the days when it mattered to me.
I remember when the week before the Florida game was pure agony for me. I would scour the internet for anything that would give me confidence that we would win. I would drive my friends and family crazy asking their predictions and then getting mad if they predicted a Vol loss. I would send mean e-mails to poor sportswriters who had anything good to say about Florida and question their sanity. There was no sleeping the night before the game. Many of those pregame nights were spent right here on VN, making fun of the Gators and talking smack to any Gator fan who dared to rear their (ugly) head. My sister still teases me about calling me after a Vol victory over a Spurrier team and I was crying so hard I couldn't even talk.
Those days have been gone for years now. Maybe I just got old. Maybe I got used to losing to so many other teams that losing to the lizards ceased to matter. I still want the Vols to win. I still believe they can. But man, I miss the days when it mattered to me.
Yes, college football goes in cycles but not every team is destined to be great again and UT has quickly become irrelevant. College football is littered with teams who never returned to their once prominent status: Pitt, Notre Dame, Michigan, Nebraska, UCLA, Rutgers, etc. There are no guarantees and this notion that UT is one coach away from relevance is nonsense. We have been saying we are one coach away for four coaches now. Fans of every team search for relevance and we are no different. Those of us who experienced the 90's and early 2000's are very lucky to have been old enough to enjoy some of UT's best years. The college football landscape has shifted because the nation has shifted in terms of where people live and how people communicate. Georgia is going to be a power for the foreseeable future no matter who the coach is because Atlanta is a massive population center and it continues to grow. Florida has experienced massive growth population wise and it will continue to be a major source of recruits. The Carolinas are growing as well as Virginia. UT used to dominate those areas in recruiting. Nashville has seen massive growth but it isn't an overly dominant area for UT athletics, Vanderbilt has benefitted greatly from it. We can claim that we are one coach away but until we produce lasting relationships in Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas it doesn't matter who the coach is. The only way we are going to make in roads back into those areas is by winning and the only way we are going to win consistently is through recruiting. It is a very hard cycle to break and some programs don't do it.
I didn't mean to stir up any negativity with this thread. I sincerely hope that this new generation of Vol fans someday gets to see another undefeated season. I hope they get used to being pre-season top 10. I hope they hear the Vols mentioned with respect and awe on every sports channel and radio show. I hope they see TV cameras torn down with the goalposts and thrown into the Tennessee river. But most of all, I hope they stay true through the good times and the bad. Yes, I've lost some enthusiasm and hesitate to get my hopes up anymore, but even if we never win another game, I will still say Go Big Orange and sing Rocky Top till I'm dead. ♥
I also miss caring about watching other teams and how well they do affect our ranking, standing, and projections. I used to enjoy watching other games because it affected us so much and it made it more fun and entertaining. Outside of a while in 2016 we haven’t had that in a lot of years.
When it comes to football, I miss the days before conference expansion. I remember when getting to the Sugar Bowl was the aim and national titles just weren’t all that important. I miss ties (hate overtime) and bowls that had meaning and were played in either Florida, Cali or New Orleans.I remember when the week before the Florida game was pure agony for me. I would scour the internet for anything that would give me confidence that we would win. I would drive my friends and family crazy asking their predictions and then getting mad if they predicted a Vol loss. I would send mean e-mails to poor sportswriters who had anything good to say about Florida and question their sanity. There was no sleeping the night before the game. Many of those pregame nights were spent right here on VN, making fun of the Gators and talking smack to any Gator fan who dared to rear their (ugly) head. My sister still teases me about calling me after a Vol victory over a Spurrier team and I was crying so hard I couldn't even talk.
Those days have been gone for years now. Maybe I just got old. Maybe I got used to losing to so many other teams that losing to the lizards ceased to matter. I still want the Vols to win. I still believe they can. But man, I miss the days when it mattered to me.
Thank you for being the voice of reason.I think everyone just needs to suck it up. Football goes in cycles, everyone knows that. Alabama had a brutal stretch as well, and for a long time, and look where they are now.
Just two years ago, even as down as we have been, we had College Gameday show up at our games more than anywhere else. At one point that year we were a Top 10 team playing a Top 10 matchup against Bama, and we had a team that by all means was a playoff-level squad. Do you know how many teams in football would give anything just to be somewhat within reach of that kind of relevance just one time?
Had our coaching staff been semi-competent, who knows what that team could have accomplished. During our worst years, we still found NFL talent and national relevancy. This program is a solid coaching staff away from that relevancy being consistent.
Everyone quit crying. It’s Florida week.
Oh get the heck out of here with that crap. It took Alabama time to finally get their guy as well. And as far as Georgia is concerned, they've always had great in-state talent. That's nothing new. Atlanta? Tennessee has two cities that are bigger (Memphis and Nashville) that are producing tons of talent. Heck, even the Knoxville area is starting to produce more talent. I think we will be 'Aight.' I sometimes wonder if you negative people are trolls. How can someone be so delusionally negative about a team they are a fan of?Yes, college football goes in cycles but not every team is destined to be great again and UT has quickly become irrelevant. College football is littered with teams who never returned to their once prominent status: Pitt, Notre Dame, Michigan, Nebraska, UCLA, Rutgers, etc. There are no guarantees and this notion that UT is one coach away from relevance is nonsense. We have been saying we are one coach away for four coaches now. Fans of every team search for relevance and we are no different. Those of us who experienced the 90's and early 2000's are very lucky to have been old enough to enjoy some of UT's best years. The college football landscape has shifted because the nation has shifted in terms of where people live and how people communicate. Georgia is going to be a power for the foreseeable future no matter who the coach is because Atlanta is a massive population center and it continues to grow. Florida has experienced massive growth population wise and it will continue to be a major source of recruits. The Carolinas are growing as well as Virginia. UT used to dominate those areas in recruiting. Nashville has seen massive growth but it isn't an overly dominant area for UT athletics, Vanderbilt has benefitted greatly from it. We can claim that we are one coach away but until we produce lasting relationships in Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas it doesn't matter who the coach is. The only way we are going to make in roads back into those areas is by winning and the only way we are going to win consistently is through recruiting. It is a very hard cycle to break and some programs don't do it.