Fans deserve better

[photovol]

Not sure we fans "deserve" anything. However there surely will come a time when we quit showing up. Or maybe we will just become like Ole Miss and talk as much about our tailgates and atmosphere as we do our footbal team.

Old Miss was never this bad, this teams gives Bad a good name

 

[Chitlin&theDude]

And I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. It starts at the top, and I don't mean Fulmer or Pruitt. Our leadership is pathetic. We have an interim chancellor and soon to have a interim president. (Both succeeding complete failures) No decisive effective leadership is possible when we're our trustees continually make bad decisions

 

[jakez4ut]

I was there, boys 'n' girls. The pregame atmosphere was as described by the OP. Vols fans' noted hospitality was evident. Pruitt's assessment of the Vols play - too many mistakes, didn't execute - is accurate.

Personal aside: Tennessee yielded 24 points on turnovers, a safety, and lost one scoring opportunity due to a fumble through the back of the end zone and another through a turnover in the red zone. It's hard to imagine a team that would overcome that.

it's hard to imagine that we'd field a team capable of that.

 

[37620VOL]

We "deserve" better. What are we, a bunch of welfare queens?

Football is tactical and our tactics have been terrible since we fired Fulmer. What kind of idiots fire Fulmer and hire someone of Kiffin's caliber. Every time since our hiring process has been terrible.

 

[VolRoger]

Great statement that I believe speaks what a lot of long time UT fans and alumni think. The fans have endured mediocre to just plain bad football since 2005. I think the emotions range from frustration for the diehard fans to apathy for some like me who have decided after almost 50 years of fandom that life is too short to live and die with this program. I am amongst the latter group. To think some people threw away 100s if not 1000s of $$$ to see that mess last night. To me, the blame is squarely on the folks who hire and pay the coaches. Totally inept leadership in the athletic department and administration since Dickey and Johnson retired.

that's complete BS. the vast majority of fans all off season saw this team for what it was, at best a 6 or 7 win team...just go to a bowl game. there are always a few on either side of that, but the majority of TN fans know what this team would be.

when i see posts like this, it does make me feel like we deserve better.

why are we the ones that have to watch us lose to all our rivals EVERY YEAR. we've 1 game against FL in the last 14. and these are NOT GOOD fl teams. we've lost to Bama 12 years in a row. we're 3-7 against UGA in the last 10. Vandy is 4-2 in the last 6.

enough is freaking enough. the fans are the ones that have been here going thru all this crap.

we're the ones being told to be patient year after year after year.

somebody get me a team that can at least LOOK LIKE It belongs on a field with another SEC team. screw winning the division. win one conf game for crying out loud.

win 1 game you're not supposed to. beat the teams you're supposed to. go to a bowl game.

we talk about having a standard? we haven't come close to that standard in 15 years. we talk about having expectations...BS. we get great hype videos, and lay eggs on Saturdays.

i've been a TN fan my entire life, i graduated from that university. i want to be proud of that program again. not continually embarrassed by it and then be told to keep my mouth shut when it's abysmal, and that i'm part of the problem and an unrealistic fan. bull.

i hope Pruitt is the right guy. i think at his core he's a good coach and we have staff of good coaches.

but they haven't been here the last 10-15 years... WE HAVE. so forgive me if i'm not on the "oh well, there's always next year" bandwaggon.

i wish i was to be honest, it'd be easier. but nope, i'll be watching every saturday like an idiot.

 

[Rebel VOL]

I agree the fans deserve better, I will not be making another trip to Knoxville this yr and I am a season ticket holder, just not worth it. I have truly put football on the back burner this year after the past few seasons.

 

[DownTheField]

Not sure we fans "deserve" anything. However there surely will come a time when we quit showing up. Or maybe we will just become like Ole Miss and talk as much about our tailgates and atmosphere as we do our footbal team.

Like it or not, there is definitely a market aspect to it. And the fans have shown their power in the not so distant past. They can do it again.

 

[jakez4ut]

We "deserve" better. What are we, a bunch of welfare queens?

Football is tactical and our tactics have been terrible since we fired Fulmer. What kind of idiots fire Fulmer and hire someone of Kiffin's caliber. Every time since our hiring process has been terrible.

kiffin had that team in 09 competing with the best teams in this conference. we didn't win like we wanted to that year, but there's no doubt in my mind that had he stayed we would have had a leg up on the rest of the East at that time.

now, if you want to blame the admin that fired fulmer and hired kiffin with such a weak buyout that made it so easy for him to say "c ya", then i'm on board. but i don't think kiffin, in and of himself, was THE problem.

THE problem was the decison making processes by those that make the decisions to fire fulmer, not give him the resources he needed/wanted, and then go make a hire like they did in the way that they did.

the rest, is as they say, history.

this is definitely a top down problem.

 

[jakez4ut]

Like it or not, there is definitely a market aspect to it. And the fans have shown their power in the not so distant past. They can do it again.

to what end? we played that hand. at some point, this whole program needs to rally around itself and everyone be on the same page. fans, alumni, boosters included.

what are we going to protest now, that will net the result we all want? we got what we wanted already.

we now have to live with those consequences. and that's another 3-4 years of rebuilding. it sucks. but it's real, and there's not a darn thing any of us can do about it. just gotta sit and take it until...............

which is where a lot of my frustration comes from. Logically, i know what has to happen, and what it will take.

but the last 10 - 15 years have already been long. i'm ready to see a freaking result. that doesn't mean i am ready to fire anyone. i'm a fan. i want to win. i'm tired of losing.

 

[DownTheField]

to what end? we played that hand. at some point, this whole program needs to rally around itself and everyone be on the same page. fans, alumni, boosters included.

what are we going to protest now, that will net the result we all want? we got what we wanted already.

we now have to live with those consequences. and that's another 3-4 years of rebuilding. it sucks. but it's real, and there's not a darn thing any of us can do about it. just gotta sit and take it until...............

which is where a lot of my frustration comes from. Logically, i know what has to happen, and what it will take.

but the last 10 - 15 years have already been long. i'm ready to see a freaking result. that doesn't mean i am ready to fire anyone. i'm a fan. i want to win. i'm tired of losing.

i agree--10-15 years has been a long time and i believe you'll really see those seats emptying. Tennessee fans have been incredibly faithful for a very long time but there's I think we're up against a hard limit. So, I'm not talking about an organized movement or something like that..I just think fans are over it. And at that point I think you'll really see what desperation in the administration looks like--they really haven't faced accountability because the fan support has remained so strong. They won't be able to take that for granted anymore imo.

 

[jakez4ut]

i agree--10-15 years has been a long time and i believe you'll really see those seats emptying. Tennessee fans have been incredibly faithful for a very long time but there's I think we're up against a hard limit. So, I'm not talking about an organized movement or something like that..I just think fans are over it. And at that point I think you'll really see what desperation in the administration looks like--they really haven't faced accountability because the fan support has remained so strong. They won't be able to take that for granted anymore imo.

maybe. i think most still will support pruitt. it's year one. it'll be hard to get the majority of the fan base to bail right even though many may feel like i and many others do, generally speaking..

but there's no doubt in my mind, that until there's a result that gives you some tangible reason for hope, you'll still see and hear folks express their displeasure, be it empty seats, on message boards, social media or on the radio.

we have supported this program thru all of this.

i'm ready to see something, anything, that says we're going to have a reason to be proud again.

 

[Alex10]

Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting Tennessee fans should expect an overnight miracle, or even that they should have won that game yesterday.

At this point, fans would likely settle for at least a little more effort. Or any at all. Any sign of getting better instead of worse. Not getting historically blown out in their own house by a similarly bad team.

Fans did their part.

Yep, I find myself wishing for something I thought I would never wish for.... a moral victory!!! Of course I can’t even get that.

 

[Vol_0311]

We were downtown yesterday taking in the game day atmosphere. There was orange everywhere. There was an air of excitement and anticipation.

On the way up, we drove along Neyland Drive. Tailgaters were everywhere. Millions of dollars worth of beautiful Vol Navy boats lined the docks four deep and the party was on at Calhoun's.

Downtown at the bars and shops and on the streets, there was a lot of friendly talk about the team, the new coach and talk of optimism, tempered by unknowns. There was good-natured jawboning with the few Gator fans around. A sign outside Clancy's said "feels like 98."

We saw families and kids from all over, all decked out in orange. As we made our way down towards Cumberland, we saw one kid wearing a Peyton Manning jersey walking with his dad towards Neyland Stadium. The kid was grinning from ear to ear.

When we got to Cumberland, there was a sea of orange. There were tailgaters in every available space. The mood was electric. Fans clogged the streets, sidewalks and bars. There was music and dancing. It was party central.

Then we came home to watch the game. The fans in the stands were loud and proud. 108 decibels, the announcers said. Then, disaster.

When it was all over, I felt bad for all those fans, especially the families and the kids.

UT puts on a grand spectacle. It is one of the greatest traditions in sports. The marketing and hype around the program is as polished and as good as it gets anywhere. People spend millions of dollars supporting the team. Little kids look up to the coaches and players for inspiration. And despite the downward spiral in recent years, they still believe. Little kids are still excited to go to the game with their dad sporting their Peyton Manning jersey.

The faithful showed up for the game.

The team didn't.

There's plenty of blame to go around. Fans get it that the program is in transition and that the path back to greatness is long and difficult.

Fans deserve better than what they got yesterday.

We don’t deserve anything. No one owes me or any of you anything whether in football or life. This sense of entitlement is ridiculous. You care about something & spend your time & $ on it so you deserve something?! Negative

 

[tbh]

We don’t deserve anything. No one owes me or any of you anything whether in football or life. This sense of entitlement is ridiculous. You care about something & spend your time & $ on it so you deserve something?! Negative

Bingo. The whole "fans deserve..." or "players deserve..." schtick is a load of manure.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

The fans have deserved better. We deserved an administration that actually cares about winning mire than fundraising and making our facilities look good. But guess what? We havent had that. The kast three hires before Pruitt are a perfect example of how a major D1 football program should not be ran. The incompetence of this administration since 2008 is borderline criminal. We can blame Butch for the complete underdevelopment of the players Pruitt now has. But the true blame for where we are as a program belongs with the administration.

 

[SKBubba]

We don’t deserve anything. No one owes me or any of you anything whether in football or life. This sense of entitlement is ridiculous. You care about something & spend your time & $ on it so you deserve something?! Negative

Was that supposed to be blue font?

Anyway, if I go to McDonalds and order a $1 cheeseburger and they serve me a sh!t sandwich, I deserve a cheeseburger. Not expecting a Big Mac, just the cheeseburger.

 

[Carl Pickens]

They've deserved better for a long time. No return on the investment for a time..There are more fed up fans at this point than i've seen at any point in the last 3 hires. They've been taken for granted, probably going to start biting back now. Not going to set any attendance records this year.

Nope.... I'm upset with myself for buying 2 UT vs Vandy tickets

 

[TrentVol]

Hope they lower the ticket prices until the team starts living up to the power T on their helmet and what it represents.

 

[lifeVol]

Yep. It's all CBJs fault. Totally to blame that this staff hasn't focused on fundamentals. He could not be more to blame that the admin provided a 3 ring circus coaching search and settled on our 7th choice

CBJ the man with more control than anyone deemed possible.


yep CBJ is apparently the devil

he should at least go back to selling used clunkers

 

[ptcarter]

There is absolutely nothing redeemable about the Bama game this year. Will be at least 50% Bama fans in Neyland. Upper deck my only be half full, rammer jammer nonsense will be blasted loud, and the team will get run out of the stadium. I really hope Pruitt doesn’t invite a single recruit to that game. It will be a Bona Fide recruiting weekend for Bama.

Bama can only take 25

 

[lifeVol]

The fans have deserved better. We deserved an administration that actually cares about winning mire than fundraising and making our facilities look good. But guess what? We havent had that. The kast three hires before Pruitt are a perfect example of how a major D1 football program should not be ran. The incompetence of this administration since 2008 is borderline criminal. We can blame Butch for the complete underdevelopment of the players Pruitt now has. But the true blame for where we are as a program belongs with the administration.

come on, we've had the same guys running this program that run the browns, a pro team (well, maybe sort of) lol

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Bingo. The whole "fans deserve..." or "players deserve..." schtick is a load of manure.

How so? Please explain why its a load of manure to want a return on an investment.

 

[goooooovols]

lol that will really be you. If your not optimistic then find another team to follow.

You know what they say... if you’re optimistic for too long it has become delusion.

 

[tbh]

How so? Please explain why its a load of manure to want a return on an investment.

Can you reasonably expect a "return on investment" at a slot machine? It's entertainment, with no guarantee of a payout.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Can you reasonably expect a "return on investment" at a slot machine? It's entertainment, with no guarantee of a payout.

You dont have any control over slot machine. Fans have some say over what happens to a football program.