April 8th was Tennessee's Orange & White Day (intra-team scrimmage along with Fan Day)
We took our daughter up again but this year they had the autographing inside Thompson-Boling Arena (basketball gymnasium) instead of out on the football field. It was a fiasco. I don't know how many thousand fans showed up and lined up (some in the rain) but I know that less than half got in to get autographs*. The Fan Day started at 11:00 and was scheduled to run until 12:30. At 12:15 someone came out to the line and announced that they were shutting down the autographs inside and that we'd probably just want to move over to the stadium. There were some grumblings 'cause we'd all be in line at 11:00 and every other year they could have easily gotten all of us onto the field within 15 minutes of opening the gates so that we could all have seen the players and talked with them about the season and their spring training and whatnot. As it was, the Great Pumpkin himself and some of the senior leaders decided to come outside the arena and walk the line and sign autographs for fans. I got Coach Fulmer's autograph on the commemorative football (my third consecutive) along with several players. They turned what could have been a bad experience (especially with a three-year old) into a satisfying trip. Well, Katie liked it 'cause she & Mommy got to watch a video and play in the van while Daddy waited in line but everyone had some fun. We finished off by skipping the scrimmage (hey I did mention the three-year old, right?) and going to Chuck E Cheese's for lunch.
Some photos from today:
Just liked this shot with the ubiquitous "T" cap (yeah, I have several, too)
Gorgeous little lady
With Mommy
In front of the stadium
Coach Fulmer
Antwan Stewart
Demetrice Morley
With the cheerleaders & Sugar Vols
Ya gotta start 'em young.
Kev
EDIT - no "w" in Thompson-Boling Arena
* - for those who don't get college sports and why idiots will show up and stand in line to meet and talk with teens & twenty something football players - in the southeast the only professional teams we've had for several generations are the Atlanta Braves, Falcons and Hawks and as a general rule 2 outta 3 of those SUCK! College football outdraws pro football in the southeast (Alabama, Georgia & Tennessee) by tons. That's not to take anything away from the pro franchises but they've got generations of tradition to break (in terms of the Titans or the Preds at least). The Volunteers draw 108,000+ orange-clad fanatics every Saturday they play at home and that's even when they're having a bad season. In comparison I think the Titans complex seats something like 60,000. Just FYI.
As soon as I saw "orange and white" I figured this had to be about the VOLS...UT fans have to be the most devoted/crazy fans I have ever seen...Knoxville is a sea of orange in mores ways than one come autumn time...and thanks to Mr. Pearl, looks like the TB arena will be selling out alot more often too in the spring.
Go Vols! Good stuff Kevin. Thanks for posting. If this year is anything like the last you might be getting some shots of the new coach :). Didja ever think that basketball would be the men's sport of the year at UT?
How bout them Vols! I was born in Knoxville and have always considered it home even though I moved away when I was 4. My grandmother lived there her whole life (96 years). My parents moved back there last year. The whole family still bleeds orange. Nothing like Neyland stadium on a Saturday. Hoping last year was just an off year. The team was a couple of plays away from a much better season than their record showed.
Didja ever think that basketball would be the men's sport of the year at UT?
I hope they can keep that streak going. Obviously Pearl can motivate them at game time; they took care of business in Florida (national champs) but it looks in retrospect as tho they may have been playing over their own heads a little in those games.
