If you stop believin'...

#76
#76
Okay, admittedly I read the OP, but not the entire thread. I just wanted to say, that some folks (myself included) are real fans, true fans, loyal fans. We believe, until it becomes PAINFULLY apparent that there's nothing to believe in any more. For instance, I really, really, tried to give Butch the benefit of the doubt. He even had a couple of pretty good seasons (albeit severely underachieved). I was starting to believe, until there was no hope. Then the botched coaching search. Then the AD firing. You know the story if you're a fan (see what I did there?). But then, at least in my opinion, the first ray of hope in a while ... we hired Fulmer as the AD. Of a truth, his hiring of Pruitt was underwhelming, but it's a new hire, and with that, a fresh start. Well, the first season didn't do a lot to instill confidence or hope, but we did get a couple of wins verses ranked opponents. Shoot, one of them was from the SEC West! The beginning of this season took all the wind out of my sails. The first game debacle took away all hope for me. To this day, I've still not seen the BYU game. But I was still a fan. A passionate fan that could not bear to see what had become of his beloved Vols. I kept up with things. I don't know why, but parts of the UGA game gave me a glimmer of hope. The
Bama game (for me) was the last moral victory I would give coach Pruitt (kinda like the OU game in Neyland was the last moral victory I gave Butch). It showed me that we were improving, and gave me more hope than I'd had in a few years. Then we went on a streak, beating the teams that we're supposed to beat, qualifying for, and winning the bowl game. That meant something to me. That did something for me. The way the season and the team came together, gave me hope.

Okay ... tl/dr ... I'm still a fan, always have been, even though I lost hope in my beloved Vols. We ain't back, but in my humble opinion, we're on the way. At least, that's what I ... believe.
 
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#78
#78
I will never be a Tennessee Titans fan.

I hate them because I'm a Bengals fan and I went to see the Titans VS Bengals game Week-15, Dec 10th 2000.

A little history. Memphis got snubbed(Memphis deserved it, but still got snubbed) by the NFL when the league expanded to Carolina & Jacksonville in the 90's. As a teenager, I really wanted Memphis to get a team.

So what does Bud Adams do in 1998, a few years after the NFL's expansion? He stops by Memphis with the Oilers, not to reconcile the NFL's defaulting(admitedly deserved) of their promissory expansion letter to Memphis, but to park his team for a year while Nasheville built his new stadium...... Essentially the Oilers just stopped by because they were out of toilet paper....

Yes I was bitter about Memphis not getting a team and the Oilers relocating to Nashville...
'F$#K You NFL', 'F-You Bud Adams', 'Oilers YOU SUCK', and 'Nashville you can tongue kiss my rear cheeks.'

Then what happens? Nashville gets handed the 1999 AFC champion Super Bowl team on a silver platter.

Now we get to 2000. The Titans are 10-3 needing a win to wrap up homefield advantage. The Bengals are 3-10 and wrapping up the worst 10 year run in NFL history.

I should have received a medal for being willing to go to the game!!!!

I got heckled and ridiculed relentlessly all throughout a 35-3 slaughter by 65K obnoxiously drunk, mullet headed, Nashville rednecks who were all pretending to be lifelong fans. It was like I'd died and was stuck in a Busch beer commercial being filmed in hell.
 
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#81
#81
I'm not trying to be snarky or flippant to the OP, but this absolutely makes no sense. If you "don't stop believin'" then we should still have Dooley or Jones. I really don't see a lot of "negavols" around this board. There are people like myself who simply say that CJP and his staff have not proven anything yet. If you believe he and his staff have proven themselves, then good on you for your contentment. But I haven't seen one poster (and perhaps I've missed it) say CJP should be fired, he should mix up his staff, he has no chance, etc.

CJP has made some pretty big mistakes since he's been here. Off the rip, he criticized our fans for the Spring Game attendance. That really alienated me. We have had a dismal decade, but our fans have been fabulous. I also think that he was preparing for UF before Georgia State, which is just bad. Lastly I'll throw one out that hasn't happened yet but could. He kicked Banks off the team. If Banks comes back, it's not a great stigma/look. As I've said before, it won't cause controversy. It will be forgotten by the time toe meets leather, but it's something that reeks.

CJP has also done some very encouraging things. To'oto'o's signing last year was incredible. He's going to anchor our team for at least two years. He spurned the evil empire. Purloining Chaney from Georgia when Chaney had a returning junior in Fromm and studs at every position was just an absolute coup. The recruiting class this year isn't perfect, but if we win nine regular season games next year like we should, then it's a spring board to an elite '21 class.

A lot of posters are going wild over the back half of our schedule. This enthusiasm from our fan base for the second-half of the season is played out like an old VHS. It's our version of UGA's "next year" redundancy. Mississippi State was a shell of a team it was in '18. Kentucky lost almost every important player they had in '18. Vanderbilt is rapidly descending. South Carolina was a good and important win.

Sports aren't about believing unless you play them and believe in yourself and your teammates and your coach/s. For fans and administration, it's about analysis. By January 20, 2021, you will know absolutely everything you need to about the direction of this program. Frankly, I think you will know everything you need to know by the time the final whistle blows in September against Florida. If I could waive a wand, I would just ask Fulmer to one thing and one thing only. Do not inhibit nor promote CJP. Wait until next year to decide about extensions/raises.
 
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#83
#83
bray2milton said:
The Tennessee Volunteers are from Tennessee. The franchise known as the Titans are from Houston. I don’t do the NFL. My Orange is too strong. But....you Titan fans who have groveled over the former ALABAMA running back need to turn your card in.
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The Derrick Henry thing is stupid. Do you apply that same logic to coach Pruitt? He grew up a bama fan, played for bama, and coached bama to victories over the vols multiple times. So should you turn your card in? What an all around stupid argument you have 😂
 
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#84
#84
615vols said:
The Derrick Henry thing is stupid. Do you apply that same logic to coach Pruitt? He grew up a bama fan, played for bama, and coached bama to victories over the vols multiple times. So should you turn your card in? What an all around stupid argument you have 😂
Click to expand...

:eek:

Savage
 
#85
#85
dcm3w said:
JP,

I believe in those words but I love that our fan base has so much passion that in one game it can completely "flip the switch." We truly have passionate fans and passion is often ahead of logic but it's what makes this sport great. The pure hatred for teams, players, states is amazing and that's why I don't have a pure favorite in the NFL (I pull for the Titans but I don't have a favorite). College to me is so real.

On that note, if you believe in those exact words then I'm sure that everyone of us has given up at some point in a way. It's okay because it's a relationship to us. A legit gf/bf to us that we have to cope with lmao

I've had a few so I don't know if this makes sense.
Click to expand...

This post makes more sense than the several before yours.
 
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#86
#86
GetYouSomeofThat said:
Nope.


Folks who think the team in Tennessee is the Oilers....way worse.
Click to expand...

Are you also a Memphis Grizzlies fan because "they are a Tennessee team?"

If your most hated MLB team relocated to Nashville and became the Sounds (or some other stupid nickname) would you suddenly become a fan?

That's the point
 
#88
#88
VFL-82-JP said:
"If you stop believin', you're no longer a fan."
Click to expand...

Why engage in identity politics and divide the fan base? “I’m a bigger fan than you!” is just a terrible idea. People are different and express themselves in their own way. Anyone who wears the colors and sings Rocky Top is a friend. Embrace them.
 
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#89
#89
Bob Neyland said:
Why engage in identity politics and divide the fan base? “I’m a bigger fan than you!” is just a terrible idea. People are different and express themselves in their own way. Anyone who wears the colors and sings Rocky Top is a friend. Embrace them.
Click to expand...

There's a small segment of each fan base that lust for affirmation and nurture. The status quo is the easiest route cultivate those things. "Love it or leave it," etc.
 
#90
#90
I don’t want to get too deep, but most believe when they love something because there is no choice.

If you love (fill in the blank) you have to believe.

If you don’t believe, it means you have accepted a less than optimal fate for the thing you love
 
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#95
#95
615vols said:
The Derrick Henry thing is stupid. Do you apply that same logic to coach Pruitt? He grew up a bama fan, played for bama, and coached bama to victories over the vols multiple times. So should you turn your card in? What an all around stupid argument you have 😂
Click to expand...
Pruitt is the coach of the Tennessee Vols. Alabama starts play in the fall so you can fan boy over a Gump running back if you want.
 
#97
#97
bray2milton said:
Pruitt is the coach of the Tennessee Vols. Alabama starts play in the fall so you can fan boy over a Gump running back if you want.
Click to expand...

So you don’t like titans fans cheering for a guy because he has ties to bama, but it’s ok if you cheer for a guy with ties to bama because he’s with the Tennessee vols instead of the Tennessee Titans? That’s the best argument you have? 😂😂😂
 
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#98
#98
Volatility said:
Anyone who’s been a fan of UT throughout the past decade is a real fan. Go Vols
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I have been a VOL Fan for 51 years seen the bad seen the good but this past 10 years has been the worst i have seen in those 51 years as fan, i am running out of years when i hear wait till next year it won't be long before grass is growing over my old azz, but i really think we are going in the right direction this time i don't know if coach JP is the coach to get us back to the top or not but i think he has a shot to do it but we will know after this year.
 
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#99
#99
99gator said:
I don’t want to get too deep, but most believe when they love something because there is no choice.

If you love (fill in the blank) you have to believe.

If you don’t believe, it means you have accepted a less than optimal fate for the thing you love
Click to expand...

This at least partially explains why faith is so important to God.

Hebrews 11:6
 
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#100
#100
615vols said:
So you don’t like titans fans cheering for a guy because he has ties to bama, but it’s ok if you cheer for a guy with ties to bama because he’s with the Tennessee vols instead of the Tennessee Titans? That’s the best argument you have? 😂😂😂
Click to expand...
The Titans aren’t from here. And surely any self respecting Vol fan wouldn’t cheer for a Alabama player. But you may be the exception. Lol. We will have to agree to disagree. Pruitt is the head coach of the University of Tennessee. Henry is the running back of the Oilers.
 
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