A Student's Perspective (Warning - Long)

#26
#26
SmokeyX said:
A Student's Perspective (Warning - Long)

Dear Volnation,

I started writing this as a reply to another thread, but it got to be a little long so I decided to make my own thread.

I thought Volnation might enjoy seeing things from my perspective, so here goes...

Background

I'm 22 years old (born 1991)
I'm a Senior Mechanical Engineering Major at UT
I grew up in Knoxville
My parents were season ticket holders for most of my childhood
I played 10 years of football and have two state rings

Titles

The last time we won a National Title - 1998 - I was 7 years old

The last time we won a Conference Title - 1998 - I was 7 years old

The last time we won a Divisional Title - 2007 - I was 16 years old

Translation?

We have not been nationally relevant since I was a sophomore in high school

Let that sink in for a minute before moving on


Childhood Experience

Yah, we're awesome!

Everyone who was anyone was a Vols fan and proud of it!

High School Experience

Meh, we're ok.

Most of my friends were fans of other teams… including bama (ugh…)

It wasn't "cool" to be a Vols fan

College Experience

We are terrible. What have we done to anger the football gods?

Being a Vols fan has been downright embarrassing the past few years. Most of my high school friends went to either bama or georgia for college, so yeah… getting together to watch games for the last few years has been painful. Also, my mother's side of the family are all die hard LSU fans…

Just to hammer home my college experience, here's some bold face facts

Since I have been a student at UT...

We have not had a winning season

We have been unranked except for a single week as #25 in 2012

We have been to exactly 1 bowl game, which we lost

We were beaten by a combined 107 - 27 by Oregon in 2010/2013

We were beaten by a combined 122 - 29 by Alabama 2010-2012

We were beaten by a combined 132 - 77 by Florida 2010 - 2013

Until this year, I have not seen a single game where the Vols "gave their all for Tennessee"

Every year, I have watched as a flood of "fans" left the stadium in the 3rd/4th quarter

We didn't beat a ranked opponent until October of my senior year


So, for all of those repeatedly calling out the students and saying "well in my day…", heed this. I've sat in the student section in every home game for four years for every snap. For every student who came in when I did, all we've known is losing. All we've known is heartbreak. We didn't have the privilege of seeing Peyton play. We didn't get to see a nationally relevant team. We didn't get to enjoy beating any of our rivals. We didn't get to see the Vols win at anything. Instead we got Dooley and the amazing disappearing vols. It's been the norm for us to play for a half or a quarter of a game and then fold like a cheap tent. So excuse me if I don't blame my fellow classmates for not coming to games. or being apathetic.

Butch certainly has the team on the right track and is doing all of the right things. However, the taint of the last few years isn't going to magically disappear. We are going to have to build this team back "brick by brick", and teach this team how to win. This includes the fans! When we beat South Carolina, most of the students had no idea how to celebrate. Trust me, the excitement is there. The desire is there. We just have to let Butch show us the way to win.

For the student section to be back and rocking like it used to be...

We don't even have to win!
We just have to have a reasonable expectation to be competitive (i.e. not quit halfway through a game or get beat like dogs)

Moral of the story?

Cut us some damn slack. It's been a tough few years to be a student fan.

So, that's my $0.02. I hope it gives a few of you some perspective

Sincerely,

SmokeyX
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Good post op. From a older perspective everyone here has felt the pain if you are a true Tennessee fan.
It is hard to feel a winner without having wins, my hope is that, that day will soon arrive for you the students of UT. Keep the faith, good days will soon be had in Knoxville!
 
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#28
#28
9q5e.jpg
 
#29
#29
Playing competitive football will work wonders. I think a side issue is the lottery scholarship combined with the recession. Those two factors have done a lot to raise admission standards which undoubtedly creates downward pressure on the number of people accepted who have drinking beer, chasing skirts and going to football games as their top 3 priorities coming out of high school.
 
#30
#30
dimera23 said:
Respectfully, it sounds to me that your generation should learn to love something even when you don't win. It builds character that will benefit you greatly in life.
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Uh, sorry, but I think you missed his point. Might want to check that next time before going off on some sanctimonious tangent.
 
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#31
#31
I think he got his point, but in general, there certainly does seem to be a lack of testosterone among some of the student body. Even when we had some hard times in the 80's Tennessee fans and students got riled up. This "I'm too cool to get crazy up in here", stoic stuff is lame... I still see some of the kids getting into it though, may they become infectious for the rest of yaz.
 
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#32
#32
dimera23 said:
Respectfully, it sounds to me that your generation should learn to love something even when you don't win. It builds character that will benefit you greatly in life.
Click to expand...

Please tell me this is sarcasm...

"I've sat in the student section in every home game for four years for every snap."

Most games I bring upwards of 10 people with me. For Georgia, I brought 24. Can you say the same?
 
#34
#34
SmokeyX said:
A Student's Perspective (Warning - Long)

Dear Volnation,

I started writing this as a reply to another thread, but it got to be a little long so I decided to make my own thread...

When we beat South Carolina, most of the students had no idea how to celebrate.

Sincerely,

SmokeyX
Click to expand...

This concerns me. Are there no more small bars with names like "Ivy's" where they play Rocky Top and let you dance on the tables? Do you not know the words to David Allen Coe's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name"? Are there no young co-eds who find winning gives them a certain feeling in their nether regions? I weep for Knoxville.
 
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#35
#35
I was in school during the end of the Peyton Era. I sat next to him in a psych class for two weeks (that I was mistakingly registered for as a Freshmen) just to be in the same class.

I traveled to the SEC championship games and traveled to most of the games our National Championship year. I was a student during the best times (in not so recent history).

I hate it for you. Those college days were amazing. Do you guys ever sleep in a tent in ridiculously long lines outside the UC just to score STUDENT tickets to the Florida game???

Those were the days. Looking forward to the return to glory. It will happen! It will!
 
#36
#36
volgrl said:
I was in school during the end of the Peyton Era. I sat next to him in a psych class for two weeks (that I was mistakingly registered for as a Freshmen) just to be in the same class.

I traveled to the SEC championship games and traveled to most of the games our National Championship year. I was a student during the best times (in not so recent history).

I hate it for you. Those college days were amazing. Do you guys ever sleep in a tent in ridiculously long lines outside the UC just to score STUDENT tickets to the Florida game???

Those were the days. Looking forward to the return to glory. It will happen! It will!
Click to expand...

Thank you. That sounds awesome!

Nope, no more tents.

Well, I did have Psych with Tiny and Curt Magitt a few summers ago :)
 
#37
#37
I'm 24. I remember watching the national championship game in 98. I have always been die hard through the hardest times. Most people I know aside from my family think UT is a complete joke and make fun of me for being so die hard and can't comprehend it. The people younger than me have basically no reason to love UT football. There hasn't been anything to love lately. Its hard to love a team based soley on history.

Its easy for the older members to bash and say our generation is blah blah blah and loving them when they're down builds character because they remember the glory days quiet well I'm sure. But for our generation, there were no glory days. All we've expericed is losing and being a laughing stock and being made fun of for being UT fans.
 
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#38
#38
K-town Vol Fan said:
I'm 24. I remember watching the national championship game in 98. I have always been die hard through the hardest times. Most people I know aside from my family think UT is a complete joke and make fun of me for being so die hard and can't comprehend it. The people younger than me have basically no reason to love UT football. There hasn't been anything to love lately. Its hard to love a team based soley on history.

Its easy for the older members to bash and say our generation is blah blah blah and loving them when they're down builds character because they remember the glory days quiet well I'm sure. But for our generation, there were no glory days. All we've expericed is losing and being a laughing stock and being made fun of for being UT fans.
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This illustrates most of the points I was attempting to make in my original post. We love the Vols every bit as much as the older fans. We just have had a heck of a lot less to have pride in.

That being said...

I can't wait to Butch Slap Bama!
 
#39
#39
Excellent post and thank you for doing such a great job of laying out for us older folks who have great memories of UT plus football games in Neyland. Not only do I feel for you and your generation of students but, I continue to weep for the talented athletes that trusted the Big Orange coaches and were here during so much turmoil. We are far from being out of the forest but there is a clearing ahead. And remember that it is easy to love a winning team and character building to support a losing team.
 
#42
#42
seriously. Give plasma and pay for the whole year of games in one swoop. Plus, you can go over to Rallyburger and get a double combo for 99 cents.
My freshman year was '88 when we started 0-6. I spent a week in the hospital for alcohol poisoning from enjoying the first 2 games a little too much, though we sucked. No sympathy here. The issues are multiple, but iphones, pads, hdtv and other things today's students have access to make it easier not to go.
While on that subject, do students even have to walk to class anymore? I had my psych classes on the Hill and had to walk forever to get there. I've wondered if students even have to go to class anymore. Getting up and going at the crack of dawn is probably lost on many students today, if I had to guess.
 
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#43
#43
YorkVol said:
This concerns me. Are there no more small bars with names like "Ivy's" where they play Rocky Top and let you dance on the tables? Do you not know the words to David Allen Coe's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name"? Are there no young co-eds who find winning gives them a certain feeling in their nether regions? I weep for Knoxville.
Click to expand...

I went back this past weekend for only my 2nd game since graduating in 2003, so it had been a solid 10yrs since I was inside Neyland. The win was awesome. The after party...was not like I remembered them at all. I expected tons of cheering as everyone filed out of the stadium and onto Cumberland...but it was eerily quiet! We tried to get a "It's great to be a TN Vol" cheer going, but it sorta fizzled. :blink: I really think everyone was in a state of shock. Maybe a little dazed. The bars were not hopping, and I could definitely see that this was not the same student body that was around when I was there. That's ok, and I get what the poster here is saying. I think these young people have something to look forward to now, and I'm very excited for them, and I hope they get a chance to feel what I felt when I was at UT from 1999-2003. We never stopped screaming for the Vols, throats were sore 24-7, the strip exploded after wins, and every single student was pumped up and filled with pride. And, when I entered as a freshmen, we had just won the NC. It was easy to love the Vols then. Think these kids just have to taste the win a few more times.

It was great to be back. GBO. Brick by brick.

And, I agree w/ you completely re the goal posts- we were expecting it and waited for it, but...I guess not this time.
 
#44
#44
Yeah I kinda feel for my daughter she is 13. My son is 20 he switched to Bammer his frosh. yr. of HS. A couple of days age, "he said the Bama games are boring, since it's always a blowout."
 
#45
#45
dimera23 said:
Respectfully, it sounds to me that your generation should learn to love something even when you don't win. It builds character that will benefit you greatly in life.
Click to expand...

Or, you know, we can focus on getting a college degree, pretty sure that will benefit you greatly in life as well.
 
#47
#47
Spartacavolus said:
seriously. Give plasma and pay for the whole year of games in one swoop. Plus, you can go over to Rallyburger and get a double combo for 99 cents.
My freshman year was '88 when we started 0-6. I spent a week in the hospital for alcohol poisoning from enjoying the first 2 games a little too much, though we sucked. No sympathy here. The issues are multiple, but iphones, pads, hdtv and other things today's students have access to make it easier not to go.
While on that subject, do students even have to walk to class anymore? I had my psych classes on the Hill and had to walk forever to get there. I've wondered if students even have to go to class anymore. Getting up and going at the crack of dawn is probably lost on many students today, if I had to guess.
Click to expand...

what do you think we do, jetpack to class? Rockclimb up the hill??
 
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#49
#49
YorkVol said:
This concerns me. Are there no more small bars with names like "Ivy's" where they play Rocky Top and let you dance on the tables? Do you not know the words to David Allen Coe's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name"? Are there no young co-eds who find winning gives them a certain feeling in their nether regions? I weep for Knoxville.
Click to expand...

there's no real Knoxville bar personality down there anymore. I can understand them not knowing how to do it based on the resources available
 
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