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#27
#27
Playing for a Coach who played with Gene McEver, Bobby Dodd, Herman, Hickman, Beattie Feathers and Coached by the General himself made it hard to pull for someone else.




someone else.
 
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#28
#28
I know I have posted this before. But, When I was a small child I lived on Hwy 58. It was the main road to Knoxville from Chattanooga before I-75. On game day I would sit by the road in my chair with my VOLS flag and wave at everyone headed to the game. They would blow their horns. I would sit and listen to John Ward do the play by play. I could see the game through his eyes. When the games started to be televised I would watch them and mute the TV so I could still hear John's voice. I just wish my Grandkids could have enjoyed that experience. To me John Ward will ALWAYS BE THE VOICE OF THE VOLS! Give him 6! Touch Down TENNESSEE!
 
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#29
#29
For me it's many things especially PMS 151, even tho Sandra Bullock despises it...."I will not wear that gaudy orange, I will not. It is not my color wheel and I'm not gonna wear it"

Other things.....
John Ward as others mentioned especially when deer hunting
Tennessee Walking Horse when they were permitted
Playing football before my teens in front of Stokley when it was the place and also on Shields-Watkins when the workers could not turn down freckled faced kids decked out in their orange !
Band leader struttin his stuff as the T opens up
Hell if I know why :)
 
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#30
#30
It's burned into our souls...we've tried to walk away, we want to walk away...but we can't, we won't.
Our love for the Vols has a hold on us that, no matter what, won't, can't be broken.

Walking into Neyland is like coming home...every time
 
#31
#31
Everything just sits perfectly with Neyland. I was fortunate enough that my dad carried me to games (literally) when I was in diapers. I'm hoping my son does that for me when I have to wear the other diapers.

Living 5+ hours away from there kind of makes it difficult to get back often. Once a year is perfect for me. I had an aunt who lived in Harriman. Beautiful house up on a hill. I remember being a little boy and going by there when we would go to games. Typically in October. I can remember the colorful leaves and walking around on trails back behind her house.

Bad seasons would never turn me away from Knoxville. 4-8. 6-6. 0-12. I'd still go back when I could and I know I'm not alone.

These things are what does it for me. Let alone being of the John Ward generation and listening to him during the games, those things speak for themselves. I've always said that I didn't care too much about world travel; just take me to east TN.
 
#32
#32
Used to sit on the tailgate of my dad's old pickup with him and one of his friends after deer hunting alot when I was a kid....eating a sammich and listening to John Ward.....good ole days!
That was tradition for us as well. Always went camping opening weekend of deer season. Everyone went to there tree and hunted a while then gathered back up at camp to here him call the game. He had a way of making everyone listening wish they were part of the "Tennessee Family" and that is what makes knoxville a speacial place. Go vols
 
#33
#33




Heard an interesting comment from Ubben today. Can't quote it verbatim, but he was talking about the support. And he said something like, "......even without a return on their investement. It's just different at Tennessee than it is everywhere else."

What do you think it is exactly? Or why do you think it is? Maybe a generational thing?


Vollygirl, I admire your dedication to the Vols and Neyland Stadium. But I feel the stadium experience could be better. If I were planning the renovations, I would do the most common sense thing it needs; Actual seats throughout. No need to cram 28 people on benches originally designed to seat 20. Any further luxury areas that sacrifice seating? Who needs it if you aren't packed in like sardines? My very first visit to Neyland was during the Dickey era. And it was special. But people weren't fidgeting to be comfortable. Actual seats throughout would decrease capacity, but it would enhance the comfort of sitting through the increase time fans are there to watch the game.

I would have the walking horse at every home game. I would find ways to expand tailgating areas. And I would find ways to make the pregame activities and post game activities around campus. I would have fans making a day of being there. If it is a night game, fans are there for breakfast. And if a noon start, fans are still there enjoying the atmosphere well into the evening. Until UT police finally say, "OK folks, thanks for coming." Exaggerating? Maybe, but you get the idea.

We have the potential to make the gameday experience more special than it has ever been. But I feel they are going in the wrong direction on a few things. Just glad I got to experience some of the best of it.
 
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#34
#34
Everything just sits perfectly with Neyland. I was fortunate enough that my dad carried me to games (literally) when I was in diapers. I'm hoping my son does that for me when I have to wear the other diapers.

Living 5+ hours away from there kind of makes it difficult to get back often. Once a year is perfect for me. I had an aunt who lived in Harriman. Beautiful house up on a hill. I remember being a little boy and going by there when we would go to games. Typically in October. I can remember the colorful leaves and walking around on trails back behind her house.

Bad seasons would never turn me away from Knoxville. 4-8. 6-6. 0-12. I'd still go back when I could and I know I'm not alone.

These things are what does it for me. Let alone being of the John Ward generation and listening to him during the games, those things speak for themselves. I've always said that I didn't care too much about world travel; just take me to east TN.

Do you realize they are gonna have to add some very big changing tables in the restroom for you?
 
#35
#35
Ok, well, my Daddy (RIP) loved him some UT football. He was a poor country boy who didn't go to college, because he got drafted out of high school before he even graduated to fight in WWII. He married my Momma on leave between basic training and shipping out. He got wounded and captured by the Germans at the Rapido River (you can google that). My Momma was working at an airplane factory in Ohio and got word he was MIA, before learning that he was alive and a POW. He got away when Russian tanks and artillery rolled into the town where he was being held at a POW camp in Poland. He and some other guys stole a tractor with a wagon and drove it to France where they eventually hooked up with U.S. forces and finally made their way home and he was reunited with my Momma. They had a restaurant at a boat dock in middle Tennessee, but moved to South Knoxville when I was six months old so my older sister could attend TSD. Daddy got his GED and went to business school on the GI bill, then got a job as an accountant at a local dry cleaning chain. He paid for Momma to go to beauty school and then she opened a beauty shop. We didn't have a lot of money, but they worked their asses off to provide for us and I never felt poor. My Daddy loved football, and became a huge UT fan. He couldn't afford tickets, but we could see the lights and hear the roar of Neyland Stadium from across the river, and we listened to John Ward call the games on the radio. Later on, my Daddy was able to afford season tickets, and went to every game except when he gave them to the then grown up me and my then newlywed Mrs. Later he could no longer go to the games, but he watched every one on TV or listened to them on the radio if they weren't on TV. (I played in band, and in high school actally got to march on Shields Watkins field before a game one time as part of some sort of high school invitational. My Daddy was proud.) I attended UTC on a band scholarship, but came back home after one semester because I missed my future Mrs. too much. I went to UTK, but later dropped out. My Daddy wasn't too proud of that, but he helped me get a job that kickstarted my career. My wife's Dad (RIP) was a professor at UT so her family was All Vol. Her Mom (RIP) was the world's greatest Lady Vols fan and went to every game. So we came from completely different backgrounds, but the University of Tennessee and the Vols are like a river that runs through our lives.

Thank you for taking the time to write and post that. Very inspiring throughout, capped off by a perfect final sentence. Best to you!
 
#36
#36
Vollygirl, I admire your dedication to the Vols and Neyland Stadium. But I feel the stadium experience could be better. If I were planning the renovations, I would do the most common sense thing it needs; Actual seats throughout. No need to cram 28 people on benches originally designed to seat 20. Any further luxury areas that sacrifice seating? Who needs it if you aren't packed in like sardines? My very first visit to Neyland was during the Dickey era. And it was special. But people weren't fidgeting to be comfortable. Actual seats throughout would decrease capacity, but it would enhance the comfort of sitting through the increase time fans are there to watch the game. Totally agree with everything you said about seating. In addition to the shrinkage in seat widths years ago, the game from kickoff to final whistle has gotten longer, as a result of constant TV timeouts, longer TV timeouts, official reviews of plays and, occasionally, overtime. Games that used to be 2:15 to 2:30 hours are now routinely 3 1/2 hours. That's a long time to sit on a small, uncomfortable bench.

I would have the walking horse at every home game. Have to respectfully disagree on this one. Hope to never see a Tennessee Walking Horse with their artificially enhanced, unnatural gait on that field again. I would find ways to expand tailgating areas. Agree. And I would find ways to make the pregame activities and post game activities around campus. Sort of agree, as long as it doesn't interfere with the basic function of the University. For example, in a perverse show of its priorities, bammer shuts down its library while their games are underway. Personally, I just enjoy walking around the campus marveling at all the new buildings and landscaping. I would have fans making a day of being there. If it is a night game, fans are there for breakfast. And if a noon start, fans are still there enjoying the atmosphere well into the evening. Until UT police finally say, "OK folks, thanks for coming." Exaggerating? Maybe, but you get the idea.

One other suggestion: nobody on this board enjoys the Pride of the Southland Marching Band more than me, but its March to the Stadium and pre-game and half-time shows have gotten stale and need more variety. And during the in-stadium shows, the announcer needs to quit talking over the band.

We have the potential to make the gameday experience more special than it has ever been. But I feel they are going in the wrong direction on a few things. Just glad I got to experience some of the best of it.

My responses in orange in your post.
 
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#37
#37
Welll, for many of us older Vols, I'd submit that this man has a lot to do with it. In the days before every game was on TV, he brought Tennessee teams to life to the legions of people across the state who couldn't be at Neyland Stadium, and he did it in a professional, classy way. He was certainly a Tennessee alum and fan but he was not outlandish like the oafish Larry "hobnail" Munson. And then when we were finally able to make it to Knoxville, we either still listened to him on transistor radios in the stadium or watched the coach's show with him as host the next morning.

View attachment 234998


I was at this Vanderbilt game where this farewell photo was taken (not my pix), sitting with my daughter in the North End Zone near where he was standing on the field while he was being recognized. Not ashamed in the least to say I shed several tears at the memories of listening to him in my small Midstate town all those years ago. He helped make it Home to me.

So SAD to see him like that. I will ALWAYS remember him at his finest; that perfectly toned voice; perfect enunciation, and smooth intellectual delivery. Simply the best ever. LOVE JOHN WARD. Tears now.
 
#38
#38
Vollygirl, I admire your dedication to the Vols and Neyland Stadium. But I feel the stadium experience could be better. If I were planning the renovations, I would do the most common sense thing it needs; Actual seats throughout. No need to cram 28 people on benches originally designed to seat 20. Any further luxury areas that sacrifice seating? Who needs it if you aren't packed in like sardines? My very first visit to Neyland was during the Dickey era. And it was special. But people weren't fidgeting to be comfortable. Actual seats throughout would decrease capacity, but it would enhance the comfort of sitting through the increase time fans are there to watch the game.

I would have the walking horse at every home game. I would find ways to expand tailgating areas. And I would find ways to make the pregame activities and post game activities around campus. I would have fans making a day of being there. If it is a night game, fans are there for breakfast. And if a noon start, fans are still there enjoying the atmosphere well into the evening. Until UT police finally say, "OK folks, thanks for coming." Exaggerating? Maybe, but you get the idea.

We have the potential to make the gameday experience more special than it has ever been. But I feel they are going in the wrong direction on a few things. Just glad I got to experience some of the best of it.
Especially since you only get six or seven a year.
 

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