All Vol!
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- Aug 31, 2006
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On paper and on the field, there is every reason to be confident that UT, barring a horrific breakdown on all cylinders, will simply be more than Bama can defend this Saturday. There is every reason to be confident that we are the better team by quite a bit. There is every reason to be confident that we will cover the spread (what is it, -12.5?)
But for some reason, buried in my psyche, I continue to be scared of being confident. Maybe it's the fear of knowing that disappointment hurts worse when you were assuming victory. Maybe it's that Vol fans over the years have had to get used to coming up short in "big" games, especially at Neyland over the past few seasons. Maybe it's the unpredictability of rivalry, regardless of team expectations and reputation.
No one get me wrong here...I am predicting and believing in a Vol victory against the Tide this Saturday, but I am scared and feeling unsettled - not of losing, but of being confident. Sometimes I'd swear I'd rather have the feeling of knowing we are expected to lose...that capacity fuels me and pumps me up sometimes more than justifiable confidence.
After the UGA game (if not before), I like to believe that mainly David Cutcliffe has instilled something in the team's psyche that we haven't seen in a long time, and that is the feeling that victory is NEVER out of reach, and indeed, I can recall few Vol teams in my lifetime that possessed the composure and cold-eyes confidence to do the remarkable thing they did in Athens two Saturdays ago. I do believe we are witnessing history and perhaps a turning point in the psychology of this program, and that perhaps the talent can translate to true dominance with the introduction of that one missing element - supreme confidence. It seems our team has it, so I've decided to choose it too.
It's hard to get past the old psychology of being afraid to be confident, but I think this team is beginning to show us it's ok to believe...completely.
But for some reason, buried in my psyche, I continue to be scared of being confident. Maybe it's the fear of knowing that disappointment hurts worse when you were assuming victory. Maybe it's that Vol fans over the years have had to get used to coming up short in "big" games, especially at Neyland over the past few seasons. Maybe it's the unpredictability of rivalry, regardless of team expectations and reputation.
No one get me wrong here...I am predicting and believing in a Vol victory against the Tide this Saturday, but I am scared and feeling unsettled - not of losing, but of being confident. Sometimes I'd swear I'd rather have the feeling of knowing we are expected to lose...that capacity fuels me and pumps me up sometimes more than justifiable confidence.
After the UGA game (if not before), I like to believe that mainly David Cutcliffe has instilled something in the team's psyche that we haven't seen in a long time, and that is the feeling that victory is NEVER out of reach, and indeed, I can recall few Vol teams in my lifetime that possessed the composure and cold-eyes confidence to do the remarkable thing they did in Athens two Saturdays ago. I do believe we are witnessing history and perhaps a turning point in the psychology of this program, and that perhaps the talent can translate to true dominance with the introduction of that one missing element - supreme confidence. It seems our team has it, so I've decided to choose it too.
It's hard to get past the old psychology of being afraid to be confident, but I think this team is beginning to show us it's ok to believe...completely.
