When I was just getting started in college, I decided that an Early Greek and Roman Mythology course would be a cool way to take care of one of the humanities electives. It was. In that class I learned the word “kleos” which is, as far as how I remember it, a Greek word that basically means “glory”. It’s how much of a reputation you make for yourself through your actions, your heroism. And the hero of the story doesn’t gain any kleos of his own by beating up on a bunch of patsies with none of their own. He gains it by toppling titans, right? That’s been in the fabric of western thought for thousands of years.
Our Vols are on their own heroes journey. And if someone told us back during the summer that there would be bitter disappointment, in late November, at falling out of national championship contention, we’d have told that them they were out of their minds. We are still strongly on the high end of the range of stories of the 2022 season that we thought were remotely possible, given the starting point.
The bigger the characters in this story, the better the story is. Nobody is rushing the field for Alabama, if Alabama isn’t who they are. Nobody cares about Florida, if they haven’t been such a big part of our story for a few decades now. So now South Carolina has a bit of kleos of their own, for us. And let’s be honest, they gained a lot of renown for beating us, more than anyone thought possible just a few months ago. South Carolina dumped Gatorade on Beamer and stormed the field, for our game. How many people nationally, this summer, had us being a team you storm the field over, this soon? And we already have threads circling a date with them on the calendar next year. Personally, I love that. The heights we can climb are higher, when more of our opponents are mountains.
This story didn’t end last week. And it doesn’t even end in January, either, not for any true fan. And sure, hate losses. But recognize that there’s even upside in pitfalls, if you know where to look for it.
Short version: go Cocks, beat Clemson. It makes our games bigger. SEC, SEC! etc etc
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and Go Big Orange!
