A View from Big Ben

#27
#27
I do enjoy your posts London, but I am afraid participle and scrum may perhaps be beyond the reach of most of us on VN. Remember you are addressing Tennessee rednecks and hillbillies. And we are damn proud of it.
 
#28
#28
tnutater said:
I do enjoy your posts London, but I am afraid participle and scrum may perhaps be beyond the reach of most of us on VN. Remember you are addressing Tennessee rednecks and hillbillies. And we are damn proud of it.
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Thanks for your kind words tntater,

I dont mind if you come from Beverly Hills 90210 or Beverly Hillbillies (I remember that programme from my childhood) ill try to remember who reads these posts although I do know they are the best, kindest and most knowledgeable fans in the sport
 
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#30
#30
London Vol said:
Thanks for your kind words tntater,

I dont mind if you come from Beverly Hills 90210 or Beverly Hillbillies (I remember that programme from my childhood) ill try to remember who reads these posts although I do know they are the best, kindest and most knowledgeable fans in the sport
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How dare you slander us so!
 
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#33
#33
London Vol said:
This week I wished to float an idea and I would very much appreciate your comments if I have a point or why it is a none starter.


INSTEAD OF THE O & W GAME HOW ABOUT AN ACTUAL GAME


As a fan I find the season far too short and the time from January to September far too long, so how about a “friendly” game or even two in Spring instead of the O & W game.

The O & W Game, whilst better under Pruitt than Jones, is still not much more than a glorified practice.

The actual match could be against a “cupcake” team such as Chattanooga (no offence to them) or if Michigan or UCLA for example wish to test their squads against stronger opposition, why not.

This game would not count as one of the 12 matches in the fall, after all The NFL has 4 pre-season matches before the season starts. I felt Pruitt used the Georgia State game as a trial for the Offensive Line as well as other positional places. This mistake, I suspect will haunt him for as long as he coaches football and he will never underestimate a team again. Those issues would be ironed out in this game.

The match would still have the intensity of a “Fall” match but you could still have a trumped-up trophy if you wish. I believe it would feel like a real match.

This match would allow the coaching staff to play the freshmen and squad members thus getting a real idea of what the players can offer without ruining red-shirts. Take Harrison Bailey, we are all intrigued to know what we have and this would be a great chance to see him in game time, or, has JT Shrout really been given a fair run in the 1st team?

The game plan can still be vanilla so as to not give valuable film for the Georgia’s and Florida’s of this world but isn’t that what they do in the “cupcake” games anyway.

Players getting hurt? Well don’t play Trey Smith, Henry To`o to`o and Josh Palmer if you don’t wish to risk them, you already know what you have, however if Bailey does become the quarterback how about some game time practice with Palmer. But remember players risk getting hurt every day of Spring practice anyway.

Finally, Tennessee could charge reduced ticket prices but still would make sure it made a profit, that should get their support.

I look forward to your replies either agreeing with me or enlightening me why this does not happen already.



GO VOLS
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When I played in high school we used to scrimmage our rivals at the end of Spring and Summer. However, this is not practical in the college game.

Also, don't worry about the semantic issues between "match" and "game" spouted by some. The difference is is negligible.
 
#34
#34
London Vol said:
This week I wished to float an idea and I would very much appreciate your comments if I have a point or why it is a none starter.


INSTEAD OF THE O & W GAME HOW ABOUT AN ACTUAL GAME


As a fan I find the season far too short and the time from January to September far too long, so how about a “friendly” game or even two in Spring instead of the O & W game.

The O & W Game, whilst better under Pruitt than Jones, is still not much more than a glorified practice.

The actual match could be against a “cupcake” team such as Chattanooga (no offence to them) or if Michigan or UCLA for example wish to test their squads against stronger opposition, why not.

This game would not count as one of the 12 matches in the fall, after all The NFL has 4 pre-season matches before the season starts. I felt Pruitt used the Georgia State game as a trial for the Offensive Line as well as other positional places. This mistake, I suspect will haunt him for as long as he coaches football and he will never underestimate a team again. Those issues would be ironed out in this game.

The match would still have the intensity of a “Fall” match but you could still have a trumped-up trophy if you wish. I believe it would feel like a real match.

This match would allow the coaching staff to play the freshmen and squad members thus getting a real idea of what the players can offer without ruining red-shirts. Take Harrison Bailey, we are all intrigued to know what we have and this would be a great chance to see him in game time, or, has JT Shrout really been given a fair run in the 1st team?

The game plan can still be vanilla so as to not give valuable film for the Georgia’s and Florida’s of this world but isn’t that what they do in the “cupcake” games anyway.

Players getting hurt? Well don’t play Trey Smith, Henry To`o to`o and Josh Palmer if you don’t wish to risk them, you already know what you have, however if Bailey does become the quarterback how about some game time practice with Palmer. But remember players risk getting hurt every day of Spring practice anyway.

Finally, Tennessee could charge reduced ticket prices but still would make sure it made a profit, that should get their support.

I look forward to your replies either agreeing with me or enlightening me why this does not happen already.



GO VOLS
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I find the idea quit intriguing to be honest . . . Maybe more in line with the NFL join team practices, line of scrimmage work, 7 on 7 and special teams work on a Friday then a scrimmage on Saturday. Both Friday and Saturday would count against your Spring Practice days and hours.

Great discussion @LondonVol . . . GBO
 
#35
#35
London, always enjoy your take on American football. You seem to have more insight as an Englishman than the majority of VN folk do. I'm not keen on your spring game idea, though. My desire would be to have a true intrasquad game. However, I would like to contribute to your linguistic diversity and"ejikashun" by offering a couple of examples from my old home state Alabama; "Jeet?" (Did you eat yet?) and "Co-Cola" (encompassing ANY soft drink that fizzes ie. Sprite, ginger ale, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper). I hope this helps expand your horizon.
 
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#36
#36
I like the suggestion. The concept of playing a "friendly" is well established in European football. All professional leagues in North America play pre-season games of one sort or another. Somehow, in my small mind, there's not much distinction between big time college football / basketball / baseball and any form of professional sport. A spring game (as proposed by LV) would merely be another emulation of what the pros do. Go Vols!
 
#37
#37
No...no injuries. More autographs. More freebies like schedules. More of a tailgating experience. No injuries.
 
#38
#38
I think this would be a good idea, but with a close team, maybe a Louisville or Georgia Tech. A team close enough for a no more than 4 or 5 hour bus trip. Might even be a good time to play Memphis, although that is closer to 6 hours. This would give the coaches a look with real competition. Also, I don't think a fee like $5 a head to help cover expenses would break anybody (students free). The real problem would be that you would probably have to have some of the games as away games, as other teams are not going to want to always come here. Not sure how well that would work unless they had 2 games home and home, or something like that.
 
#39
#39
mercuryvol said:
London, always enjoy your take on American football. You seem to have more insight as an Englishman than the majority of VN folk do. I'm not keen on your spring game idea, though. My desire would be to have a true intrasquad game. However, I would like to contribute to your linguistic diversity and"ejikashun" by offering a couple of examples from my old home state Alabama; "Jeet?" (Did you eat yet?) and "Co-Cola" (encompassing ANY soft drink that fizzes ie. Sprite, ginger ale, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper). I hope this helps expand your horizon.
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Thank you for the compliment but please I never think I have a better insight than my fellow Vols. All I write about is my insight and I am very interested if people agree or disagree with me (what is great about this forum is that when people disagree with me it is never offensive or personal). This topic shows exactly that, there are a number of points raised against it that had not thought of, so to me that helped me learn morel. So please feel free to comment.

On the whole I am still in favour, I just find it so frustrating waiting 8 months for the season that seems to then be over so quickly, although a revision of my original suggestion would be sensible.
 
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#40
#40
I like this idea. I read an article yesterday talking about how the SEC is pulling away from all other conferences in terms of money. The only conference that is close to us is the big 10. This should help the other power 5 conferences know where they stand and help them grow so we can actually have 5 powerful conferences.

As far as people getting hurt I agree there as well. You can easily wake up and trip on a shoe and hurt yourself as playing a contact sport. It's ridiculous to think no we shouldn't do this bc of players possibly getting hurt. Well if you think that then why play the sport?
 
#41
#41
Yep. You're not English my guy.
But +1 for the following:
Use of "friendly game"
Use of "match" when describing football games
Use of "whilst"
Use of "Fall" in quotations because its Autumn
Use of "offence" instead of offense

Props for selling it so hard tho 🤣
Go Vols
 
#42
#42
London Vol said:
Not sure if I understand all the examples, although I do know one statement we all understand GO VOLS
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Got to get you to a game in Neyland Stadium soon! Meanwhile, have you heard of this London pub? Hung, Drawn & Quartered. We saw in on a visit in 2004.
 

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#46
#46
Hurley Mooncalf said:
I think the biggest issue with this is money. It costs a lot of money to have a team travel. Normally, in season, you are able to pay a team like Directional U to come get a beating for a nice fat check. Without TV money, it's really just too expensive to pay out without that revenue to support it.
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Who says you wouldnt have tv money? ESPN /SEC netwrk already televises team intrasquad spring games, and exhibition games w other schools would draw much bigger audiences. Id watch other SEC schools April games to get a feel for the competition and to get my football fix during April. Id find that wayyy more entertaining than XFL games.
 
#47
#47
feathersax said:
Got to get you to a game in Neyland Stadium soon! Meanwhile, have you heard of this London pub? Hung, Drawn & Quartered. We saw in on a visit in 2004.
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Many thanks feathersax, during the Butch Jones era why swear box was filling up really fast but now Mr Pruitt is not helping me save for my first visit.

As for the Hung, Drawn & Quartered its near the Tower of London but have not frequented it. Hope you had a lovely trip to London.
 
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#48
#48
London Vol said:
Many thanks feathersax, during the Butch Jones era why swear box was filling up really fast but now Mr Pruitt is not helping me save for my first visit.

As for the Hung, Drawn & Quartered its near the Tower of London but have not frequented it. Hope you had a lovely trip to London.
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Gotta get a "swear box". Love it!:cool: Wife & I enjoyed London.
 
#49
#49
Fans take this game far to serious. ANY matchup with anybody other than the practice squad would result in a full blown game. Coaches don't want to lose even under the OP's terms, that is playing scrubs. The press would cover it. Highlights on ESPN .. Kessling would show up (He's there for the O&W isn't he?). No way you could put on a half a$$ UT vs. anybody game.

One caveat.. Back when I was in school, there were Freshman games. Freshman couldn't play varsity and they drew a couple of thousand. I remember walking to class on the hill on a friday afternoon and seeing a football game going on (Freshman). You could see the field from the hill then. Just listened to the "HOST OF VOLUNTEERS" podcast. Bill Battle and Condredge talking about news leaking about this great freshman black QB. UT played Notre Dame (Freshman game) and 30K or so people showed up to watch and Condredge lit it up that day.

That's a different era.. Can't do it today.
 
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