Tennessee Vs. Virginia Tech Rumor

#1

TNFanBornandRaised

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#1
Guys didn't know if anyone else has heard this but this is a rumor I've been hearing around Johnson City for nearly 2 years.....Any of yall that follow Nascar know about Bristol Motor Speedway up in Bristol, Tennessee right on the state border of...you got it.....Tennessee and Virginia. It seats 162,000 people and the folks at Bristol motor speedway said they would do whatever needed to happen to get these teams there to play a game. Could yall imagine 162,000 fans? My understanding is they would half up the tickets and play there every year, 81,000 of us 81,000 of them.....as Rabid as our fans are and their fans aint bad....that would be quiet a fun rivalry.....but the last I heard VA. Tech shot it down but one of my friends (Huge VA. Tech fan) said that we shut the idea down because why play there when could have 108,000 at Neyland......basically he said we were ducking them, I think the idea is ingenious and Tech and Tennessee play surprisingly similiar. Vols and Tech both are run first teams with shut down D's....What would ya'll think if this happened? I personally would love to see it...seeing as how I live in JOhnson City and it would take 15 minutes to get there but 162,000 people in ONE STADIUM!!!! :rocks: thats insane....gimme your thought if this were to happen and if ya'll ever heard anything about it
 
#2
#2
I live in Abingdon and have also heard these rumors before. How would that work though? Would the game count towards the season? When would they play it? I am only for it if UT was a shoe in to win. A loss to Tech would make life hard here with all the Hokies around. My father is a Hokie grad and he is always talking about how the Vols are scared to play Tech. Yeah right! Bring on the Chokies!
 
#3
#3
The last I heard anything about this is that we turned down the home and home due to already brutal schedules. If we didn't have such a schedule in the SEC, we might entertain higher profile D1 schools. At the time I heard this we still had Miami on schedule, who has since been replaced by Notre Dame. Maybe someday it'll happen, but we will only take one high end D1 at a time. The otehrs are sub-D1 opponents. Then again, the ACC is definitely on the rise, and FSU still keeps Miami and FLA on their rotation, so I guess it's what you want to open yourself up to week after week.
 
#4
#4
Bristol Motor Speedway started this talk about 10 years ago. Nothing ever came of it.

 
#5
#5
I had a friend that worked in the Athletic Dept. a few years ago tell me that UT wouldn't do it b/c they want all the attendance records to stay at Neyland.
 
#6
#6
Is it just me, or do the logistics of playing football inside a race track seem odd to anyone else?

First off, I doubt the infield is perfectly level, with turf comparable to a quality football surface. Second, the straightaways are 650 feet, which is over 200 yards, PLUS the turns, PLUS 40 feet of pavement. That puts fans a long way from the field.

I don't know, it just seems like a dumb priority to see how many fans you can pack into an area for numbers' sake. I'd rather tailgate by the river and watch 'em play in Neyland, thanks.
 
#7
#7
It's just a rumor...nothing else. Supposedly, Tech wanted UT to move their home game to Bristol, which will never happen.
 
#8
#8
I think the idea is great....I mean that would be a big non conference rivalry for us.....but yall are also right......there so many freakin hokies here we'd never here the end of it if we lost.....Its nearly halfway between both schools and I think it would be a huge rivalry....the already established SEC against the up and coming ACC.
 
#9
#9
As close as the 2 schools are, I'm honestly surprised they haven't played more.
 
#10
#10
UT turned down the idea to play a game at Bristol Motor Speedway because we would have to give up a home game to play a game at a neutral site. Basically, it all comes down to $$$.
 
#11
#11
Personally, I've always wanted to see us play the Tarheels of North Carolina. I checked my media guide,m and the last time we played them was 1961. It is just over the mountains from Tennessee, and we recruit North Carolina pretty hard every year. That's just a game I've always wanted to see on our schedule. Doubt that it will ever happen though.
 
#12
#12
Just an odd fact...but Tennessee is surrounded by 8 other states.....we only have so many football games a year...we literally could make local state-state rivalries out of Virginia, VA. Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, South Carolina, Clemson, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi State, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas even Missouri I think lol........that was fun
 
#13
#13
I always heard that Dickey nixed the BMS idea because it would have cost us a home game and he felt that it was unfair to the Knox businesses to lose the business
 
#14
#14
Nope, don't think it will happen....would be way more to the advantage of the Hokies.....we don't really need to increase our numbers....we have them.....they don't.
 
#15
#15
BMS could make the field out of natural grass if they had to. Their facilities mgmnt are some of the brightest in the business.

But like ^he^ said, it would be a bigger benefit to the turkeys than it would to the Vols.

However, I think that since EA Sports does both NCAA Football and Na$car Cha$se for the Cup games, they should put a football field in BMS on NCAA 2006.

Speaking of NCAA by EAS, how come it doesn't have the "nuetral site" feature available anymore in the custom schedules for the teams in the dynasty mode? I loved playing Tennessee vs Vanderbilt at Nashville Colisseum.
 
#16
#16
im ready for espn college football 2k6 espn blew madden out of the water this year and ea went and bought exclusive right instead of making a better game.....i loved the pro game cant wait to see the college one this year
 
#17
#17
EA Sports really needs to do something with the graphics on the NCAA series. They are pretty bad, showing little improvement since the first year of PS2 games. I have been pondering the idea of a neutral field as well.

Or perhaps the idea of a mixed crowd at a bowl game. For instance, I was playing Dynasty with the Boise State Broncos, and won the WAC Championship. For it, I made the MPC Computers Bowl which is held on Boise State's home field, against Georgia Tech. But for whatever reason, Georgia Tech got the home field, and the crowd was all behind them. ON MY OWN DAMN FIELD.

It was weak sauce.
 
#18
#18
A long time ago, like on NCAA 99 or 00, you when setting the upcoming season's schedules you could toggle the location as well as the home/away feature. I always put the Vandy/UT game in Nashville Colisseum, and once put VaTech/UT in a game on the nuetral field at Charlotte.
 
#19
#19
Originally posted by kiddiedoc@Jan 27, 2005 1:48 PM
Is it just me, or do the logistics of playing football inside a race track seem odd to anyone else?

First off, I doubt the infield is perfectly level, with turf comparable to a quality football surface. Second, the straightaways are 650 feet, which is over 200 yards, PLUS the turns, PLUS 40 feet of pavement. That puts fans a long way from the field.

That's the sticker. If they really want to play us and feel they can compete with us anywhere, then why try to bargain out a game location to where our fans are totally out of touch with the game. Why not say you'll come play us in K'ville.
 
#20
#20
The trend is going away from neutral site games. Some of the oldies that used to exist that are now home-and-home....

Tennessee vs Alabama in Birmingham
Tennessee vs Auburn in Birmingham
Tennessee vs Ole Miss in Memphis
Alabama vs Auburn in Birmingham (Iron Bowl)

However, the Georgia vs Florida game is still held in Jacksonville.

And yes, BMS started this over a decade ago. The rumor pops back up from time to time, but I don't think they'll ever play at BMS. However, a home-and-home is not out of the question.
 
#21
#21
At least I think a home and home with Tech would be wonderful......one of my friends offered me a ticket to a thursday night game to see maryland at Tech (55-3 was the final score, I thought I was hunting I heard so many freakin turkey calls) They are a pretty crazy crowd but my friend took it over the line when he said......and I QUOTE: "Lane Stadium gets louder than Neyland" I was like my friend you have just crossed the line and you'll never have the chance to step back over to the other side now. 1st off lane stadium holds about 81,000 people....they are extremely loud but compared to Neyland? CMON....we sit nearly 108,000 in a CLOSED stadium......theirs is open........I'
ve yet to meet a Hokie fan that isnt just obnoxious about that dang team.......sorry to vent just felt I would get that off my chest........

Also on NCAA football '05....I hated it this year.....like I said earlier ESPN blew madden out in my opinion....ESPN will do the same to NCAA this year in the college game......especially since the college games are gonna be all ESPN will have here soon
 
#22
#22
I live fifteen minutes from Hokieville and the Turkeys are all over me all the time. I'd love to see a home-and-away series or even more because my Vols would get-r-done on those Neutered Turkeys.

The Speedway idea is not a good one. It is just not conducive to football. The respective campuses add too much to the day of the game.

I would love to roll into Lane Stadium to see my Volunteers this close to my domicile.

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble! BOOM!!! Get it Smokey...

 
#23
#23
I live about twenty minutes from BMS and it wasn't just a rumor. Not sure when it was exactly, but Dickey did indeed kill the idea because of losing a home game. I wish we could do it without losing a home game, though. Would be pretty cool. BMS made the offer to do it. They would have hauled in dirt, or whatever was required, to accomodate the game. They have hauled in dirt just to have a dirt track race before, so it wouldnt be a big thing for them. Look at what he would make on parking alone. It would look good on our non conference schedule indeed, but with that comes the chance of losing. Didn't we crush them in the Gator Bowl one year? Peyton's freshmen year maybe...... I don't remember....... getting old, maybe.
 
#24
#24
I agree. Techs turning into a real good football team up there....... i was really impressed with them last year.......their D is phenominal........if Vick can keep his hands off of all those girls they got a chance to be very good next year........but id really like to beat them and shut all those teckies that say we're duckin them
 
#25
#25
I have respect for Virginia Tech. Excellent team. I only know one Hokie around here, his pops went to school there. He's a cool enough guy, so I'm lacking any of that spite for them. Plus, they're an actually respectable team in the ACC. I'll pull for them if they're taking on F$U and The U.
 

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