To whom it may concern...

[1allvol]

I have been a member of the "Vol Nation" and reading threads and getting information here since last years "belly up" 5-6 performance. Last year, the theme was, Ainge sucks, Clausen sucks, CPF sucks, Mike Hamilton sucks, the stadium vendors suck...One of my proudest moments as a Vol fan came this years Cal game. The crowd was great, the players were pumped up, the band sounded better than it ever has, even the stadium hotdogs tasted good. I felt like we were back and it felt good. Most of all, I saw pride in the team, and in the fans. We were back were we belonged. I am not mad at the coaches any more, or the players, or even other fans, we have had some breaks go our way, and have had some not go our way, injuries have definatly hurt us. who's to say were we would be with Inky, and Harrel, and a healthy Ainge, and healthy Arian and Swain...we may well be undefeated right now. One or two more breaks our way and we probably would be. Im just tired of seeing us get our tails kicked, and then bashing everyone from players to coaches to officials, weve even blamed each other at times. There is no bigger Tennessee fan than myself, I love UT, I love Knoxville, I love the State of Tennessee, the greatest state in the union IMO. FSU and Miami, UGA and Bama, Penn State, all traditional powerhouses that are struggling right now, we are not alone, and honestly, Im not sure we are really struggling, we are probably right were we should be, which is much better than last year, and we should be much better next year than we are right now, I dont know if we will be, but we should be. I hate losing, whether its by 1 point or 50, it hurts, so those of you that are right now saying that I dont care about winning or losing, youre wrong, Id love to be National Champs every year, who wouldnt? Our recruiting has been decent, according to the "experts". Our coaching, on both sides of the ball, seems magnificent at times, and at times I have wondered were they are hiding Sanders. I am just tired of all of the moaning and finger pointing, and "firecoach.com" and to be honest, Im sick of having to pay scalpers whatever they want for tickets, and then finding myself sqeezed into a tiny space that UT has labeled a "seat". I dont like having to pay $25 to park, I dont like sitting on Cumberland for 2 hours after a game to get back to the Interstate, but I do it because in the end, it is all worth it. There is no greater experience for me and my son than spending Saturdays in Knoxville watching the Vols play. I dont know, I guess I just needed to vent a little. BTW, sorry I didnt post this Friday, but Happy Vet's Day, and thanks to each of you Men and Women for your service. You are the real Heroes in my book.:salute:

 

[General Jack]

Great post. I think those who proclaim "no longer proud to be a VOL" are in the minority. Things are cyclical, shoot USC and Oklahoma had some miserable years in the 90s. All programs have a few down years.

The key here, is will Tennessee rise back to the top or continue to be merely an above average program. I think we're on the way back up, but we will need a big recruiting haul this year.

 

[Fine Vol]

Great post

 

[KSVOL]

Thank you for taking the time for your well thought out post. I agree with most. The fire Fulmer crowd does not realize that if your not ready to fire the coach after one losing season you must not care if we win or lose. How far from the truth they are. We all want a winning program and a championship team. But you are setting yourself up for some major dissapointment with any team with unreasonable expectations. How many fire Fulmer people want Spurrier or Richt? Fulmer has done a little better than them this year. All teams will have their ups and downs. I personally think we are moving in the right direction, which is back up. Hopefully EA will be back for the next two games.

 

[Volmania]

I agree with you, great post.

The Vols had a tremendous streak in the mid 90's when we lost only 5 games in a 4 season span, won a national championship and two SEC championships. Very few teams in the history of college football have enjoyed such a period, but it was a perfect storm of events which allowed that to happen, not someting anyone has ever been able to sustain.

All in all, in the decade of dominance (the 90's) we had four seasons with 10 or more wins.

Already in this dismal decade we have had three seasons with 10 or more wins and have a good chance to have a fourth 10 win season this year.

 

[volfanbill]

we're also getting that 10th win because we get an extra game.

 

[allvol]

we're also getting that 10th win because we get an extra game.

At least where some of the SEC teams scheduled really bad lower tiered teams, the Vols at least try to add competitive football teams to the schedule. Cal was preseason top 10, Memphis was coming off of 3 straight bowl games, Marshall is one of the top 10 programs in winning percentage in the past 10 years, and Air Force consistantly is at the top of the Mountain West. It didn't work out that way for the Vols this year, with Memphis not beating a I-A opponent, and Marshall and Air Force struggling to get back to .500.

The Vols strategy is actually pretty good, but sometimes hit or miss. Schedule 1 proven ranked opponent from one of the BCS conferences, and then pick up teams from the non-BCS conferences that typically go to bowl games. The winning percentage of those non-conference teams typically helps out in the computer ranking portion of the BCS. Even as bad as some of the Vols opponents have been thus far this season, the Vols' Strength-of-Schedule (SOS) -- as used to be calculated in the BCS as a separate component-- is #4.