I am a fan, not a sportswriter. I have been following the Sooners on the road since the 50's so Neyland was not my first rodeo. I will give you my honest, unvarnished opinion of the entire weekend and you can take it for what it is......one man's opinion who is first a Sooner but second a huge college football fan.
Let's start with Knoxville. What I saw was beautiful and I was particularly impressed with Market Square. The campus is not all that pretty. It reminded me of UT-Austin or T A&M. It looks more like a small city rather than a traditional college campus.
The Vol Navy is everything it is cracked up to be. We rented a houseboat and frankly I didn't know what to expect but I was thinking in-slip accommodations rather than tying off with other boats. The result is a cocktail party with people moving from boat to boat and Sooners and Vols intermingling in an harmonious salute to college football. It was a tremendous experience.
The game atmosphere was off the charts. I have followed the Sooners to numerous away games but when you take into consideration the entire package, including how the game transpired, this was the best away game experience I have ever had. I was not upset by the way our team celebrated after the game until I saw the replay and the obscene gesture. This unabashed joy is what we see from both sides at the end of our annual game with Texas so you might take it as a compliment. The victory really meant something to our team and they showed it.
Neyland is in bad need of renovation. I had been warned that you guys really pack 'em in but the seating was beyond ridiculous and the egress/ingress is terrible; as are the concessions and restrooms. You can be rightly proud of the size and the incredible fan generated excitement during the game but the amenities are very poor. You can joke about stadiums in the Big 12 that are smaller but many of them have modern easily accessible concessions and large up to date restrooms but they also have elevators and escalators and attached parking garages.....much like stadiums you see in the NFL. The TCU & Baylor stadiums are incredible from a fan friendly point of view.
Finally, I thought your audio/visual creative was very amateurish. Now, OU has been named the #1 audio/visual effect IT dept. in the nation for several years so I admit I am spoiled. The one thing I thought was absolutely terrible was the way the PA announcer would repeatedly announce the down and distance while we were calling out or O signals.....truly bush league.
The Tennessee fans were wonderful, welcoming us to Neyland and simple being very respectful overall. In the final analysis, it was the best away game experience I have ever enjoyed. The only other stadium that I would compare the noise level to is Kyle Field and that was before their recent remodel and expansion. They had 104,000 plus last Saturday and I cannot imagine how loud it was.
Good luck the rest of the way. I have said in other posts that I think you can win the East and I am not patronizing when I say it nor am I thinking in terms of it making us look good. Both teams will learn from this game and improve as the season goes along. Barring injuries, I think the rest of the 2015 season looks very bright for both the Vols and the Sooners.
