Sentimental Ruminations

I’m currently reading “Orange-Blooded: The Veins of My Life.” The back cover proclaims, “Relive the joy and pain of each [UT] game since 1982 through the memories of the author!” A decent premise, but the author is an utter failure. The prose so bland, it didn’t take me three pages to figure out this was the work of a vanity press. I want so badly to chuck it but: 1) it was a gift, so I feel duty bound to finish it, 2) it raises some interesting points about Vol fandom, and 3) not even prosaic writing can cover how gosh-darn glorious it is to be a Tennessee Vol.

It’s the middle point on which I want to elaborate. The book actually begins in 1970 with the arrival of Bill Battle. The book ends in 2007, just before our maelstrom of turmoil began. However, I’ve only gotten to the 1985 season. 1970-1985 is before my time both as a football fan (that happened in 2001) and as a person (that happened in 1984), but it’s a tale all too familiar. Narrow victories, heartbreaking losses (either because we fell short by seconds or we were completely blown out), lack of confidence in coaching decisions, and one marquee win that leaves us clinging on to hope.

I read about our team under Battle and Majors and know where we are now, and think to myself, ‘Ay me, is there any fan so put upon as the Vol fan?’ (I know there are- South Carolina and Kentucky come immediately to mind, but please don’t interrupt my despondent fantasies with facts.) I wonder how we could languish generation after generation with such die hard devotion to a team seemingly mired in overachieving mediocrity, on a team that cycles as the cicada, that teases us with what it could be and settles for what it is.

Then I remind myself- this book begins a mere three seasons after we won a national championship. Another one is in the not so distant future. Our program may ebb, but it will survive. We may be entering our darkest age, but we are Tennessee, and we have much to fight for. (I can’t find the exact stat, but it’s something like we have the fewest losing seasons, or something. We definitely have the longest active winning streak against one team to hang on to.)

So trying to hold on to this hope, I stumbled upon the bizarrest play in UT history. For those of you who don’t know this story, it’s 1998. We went into the Arkansas game undefeated and riding high in the polls. With less than two minutes to go, the Razorbacks had this game wrapped up. All quarterback Stoerner had to do was take a few knees. They did this instead. UT maintained their perfect record, including beating Florida State in that season’s National Championship.

I’ll admit, when the band struck up Rocky Top after the fumble, I got a little teary eyed. I thought about my Dad who as that game, and how much this program has meant to my family, and the hours I spent in the stadium with my best friend and the miracle plays we saw together, and the similar moments I have to look forward to the future.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is why it’s great to be a Tennessee Vol.