Could the battle at Bristol be annual?

#1
RoaminVol

RoaminVol

Dat Ninja
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#1
Why not? Its the biggest college football game in the world. Just imagine how much this rivalry would increase. Forget the Florida and Alabama rivalry as our biggest rivals. Alabama and Florida already have Auburn, FSU, and UGA as their biggest rivals. I want somebody that is equal in talent and stability to make a competitive rivalry. I feel as thou Virginia Tech is that team. Viriginia Tech is similar to Tennessee as of the past 20-30 years. They have a one sided rivalry in Virginia as we do in Tennessee. Vandy doesnt deserve to be our number one rival.

So what do you guys think? Is there a way we can make this happen?
 
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#2
#2
RoaminVol said:
Why not? Its the biggest college football game in the world. Just imagine how much this rivalry would increase. Forget the Florida and Alabama rivalry as our biggest rivals. Alabama and Florida already have Auburn, FSU, and UGA as their biggest rivals. I want somebody that is equal in talent and stability to make a competitive rivalry. I feel as thou Virginia Tech is that team. Viriginia Tech is similar to Tennessee as of the past 20-30 years. They have a one sided rivalry in Virginia as we do in Tennessee. Vandy doesnt deserve to be our number one rival.

So what do you guys think? Is there a way we can make this happen?
Click to expand...

Only if VT joined the SEC east, but even then good luck filling BMS year after year.
 
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#4
#4
RoaminVol said:
They fill it up for Nascar where the same people drive in a circle for 500 something laps.
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A lot of work goes into changing a nascar race track to a football stadium. May not be worth fooling with annually. Then again, maybe it is. Really dunno, but $ is the obvious deciding factor.
 
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#5
#5
Doubtful, but would be cool if we were to develop a rivalry and/or miniature border war with them for a trophy of some sort.
 
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#6
#6
I'm as excited about this game as anybody but I hope not. Maybe once evey 15 years or so.

As someone else said good luck filling that place evey year.
 
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#7
#7
RoaminVol said:
Why not? Its the biggest college football game in the world. Just imagine how much this rivalry would increase. Forget the Florida and Alabama rivalry as our biggest rivals. Alabama and Florida already have Auburn, FSU, and UGA as their biggest rivals. I want somebody that is equal in talent and stability to make a competitive rivalry. I feel as thou Virginia Tech is that team. Viriginia Tech is similar to Tennessee as of the past 20-30 years. They have a one sided rivalry in Virginia as we do in Tennessee. Vandy doesnt deserve to be our number one rival.

So what do you guys think? Is there a way we can make this happen?
Click to expand...

The bms manager dude said that they would probably do it again, but he didn't say it would necessarily be ut/va tech.
 
#10
#10
I could see Bristol hosting an annual game every year, but I doubt it would be between the same two teams. It'd be more like the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff and Cowboy Classic games. I think, once the novelty wears off, it'd be tough to sell 150k+ tickets to the same two fanbases every year.
 
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#12
#12
RoaminVol said:
Why not? Its the biggest college football game in the world. Just imagine how much this rivalry would increase. Forget the Florida and Alabama rivalry as our biggest rivals. Alabama and Florida already have Auburn, FSU, and UGA as their biggest rivals. I want somebody that is equal in talent and stability to make a competitive rivalry. I feel as thou Virginia Tech is that team. Viriginia Tech is similar to Tennessee as of the past 20-30 years. They have a one sided rivalry in Virginia as we do in Tennessee. Vandy doesnt deserve to be our number one rival.

So what do you guys think? Is there a way we can make this happen?
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? Our program is over 100 years old and Alabama is our biggest rival. Now all of a sudden we want Va Tech to be our biggest rival? I hope we are NOT similar to Va Tech or else my VOLS have hit rock bottom.
 
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#13
#13
I think it loses the appeal after the first game, maybe possibly a second. We gain a lot of attention by playing this game in 2016, and I think that's a big part of why we're moving forward with the game, but after the first year it won't be nearly as big a media circus. I think you do it once. Maybe once every 5-10 years. But that's about it. Otherwise you lose the attraction and it's just another game.

Moreover, it's just another game that takes up a potential home game slot each year. I just don't see that happening. Don't really think I'd want to see it, either. There's something to be said for having true home games.
 
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#14
#14
We started playing Alabama in 1901 and have played a total of 95 times. Actually, I am not that excited about a game at Bristol. I would prefer to play at Neyland anytime.
 
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#15
#15
RoaminVol said:
Why not? Its the biggest college football game in the world. Just imagine how much this rivalry would increase. Forget the Florida and Alabama rivalry as our biggest rivals. Alabama and Florida already have Auburn, FSU, and UGA as their biggest rivals. I want somebody that is equal in talent and stability to make a competitive rivalry. I feel as thou Virginia Tech is that team. Viriginia Tech is similar to Tennessee as of the past 20-30 years. They have a one sided rivalry in Virginia as we do in Tennessee. Vandy doesnt deserve to be our number one rival.

So what do you guys think? Is there a way we can make this happen?
Click to expand...

I hope UT is playing in it every year. But what about the fence up around the track. It will be like watching the longest yard. :eek:lol::dance2:
 
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#16
#16
Just see how it goes. It makes $$$$$ it'll happen again. If it does okay, or worse, flops, then it'll be a one time event and we can all say we tried it.
 
#18
#18
RoaminVol said:
Why not? Its the biggest college football game in the world. Just imagine how much this rivalry would increase. Forget the Florida and Alabama rivalry as our biggest rivals. Alabama and Florida already have Auburn, FSU, and UGA as their biggest rivals. I want somebody that is equal in talent and stability to make a competitive rivalry. I feel as thou Virginia Tech is that team. Viriginia Tech is similar to Tennessee as of the past 20-30 years. They have a one sided rivalry in Virginia as we do in Tennessee. Vandy doesnt deserve to be our number one rival.

So what do you guys think? Is there a way we can make this happen?
Click to expand...

I think your idea is dogsh#@. Forget bama and uf rivalry? Are you serious? Bama is our biggest rival, always will be. A game with va tech is cool and all, but will never replace the bama or Florida rivalries. How long you been watching the vols?
 
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#19
#19
The two things that make the Battle of Bristol a success to Bristol will be the television money and attendance. As fired up as I am about this game, I don't see this happening very often. The beauty of this one is the proximity of the two schools to Bristol and our historic very competitive programs with very few times have played one another. This might be unique for this venue. Let's say that Virginia Tech and Tennessee are willing to trade years where each one played there and brought in a traditional rival which would require giving up a home game, e.g., Alabama at Bristol instead of Neyland or Florida State at Bristol for Virginia Tech instead of Blacksburg. While it sounds great, would there be that many Alabama or FSU fans traveling to fill up the other half of the stadium? Even with Alabama and FSU traveling well, there will not be the crowd there that there will be when Tennessee and Virginia Tech plays. Possibly the only other team that might come in there and do pretty well against either Tennessee or Virginia Tech is Clemson since their fans travel well, too. And then again, it is the tv money along with attendance. Maybe once a decade?
 
#20
#20
I don't really see it working with any other pair of teams, but I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed to see a UT-VT series started where we do a home-and-home and then play in bristol once every 5-10 years or so.

The first time is a big draw because we never play each other. If we started a consistent series the game would become a big draw because of the rivalry (which is what the OP is hoping for, I think).

It all depends on the $ though.
 
#21
#21
This game is happening for 3 reasons that are important at the moment:
1. Money
2. RECRUITING
3. Publicity for the program, leading back to number 2.

Probably just a one time dog and pony show. Butch sees the media/recruiting value in it as do the folks at VT.
 
#22
#22
I think an annual game at Bristol would be great. Part of the thing that made TN Tennessee was it lead the SEC in attendance every year, well at least until Hamilton decreased the stadium. Anyway I would like to get back the yearly attendance record that TN held for 75 straight years.
 
#23
#23
GlockVol said:
This game is happening for 3 reasons that are important at the moment:
1. Money
2. RECRUITING
3. Publicity for the program, leading back to number 2.

Probably just a one time dog and pony show. Butch sees the media/recruiting value in it as do the folks at VT.
Click to expand...

Everything tracks back to reason #1.
 
#25
#25
Absolutely right, it all goes back to $$$.

Anybody wonder who has been advising CBJ on all these Vol traditions he has embraced since Hart is fairly new. He was grand marshall at a race this past summer and I wonder if it was a scouting trip to check out the track or if he heard about it while he was there? So many people around him are new to Vol Land but he seems to have learned a lot of our traditions in a hurry and done a good job utlizing to his advantage. GO CBJ.
 
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