The conversation on here this morning was people talking about their favorite TN teams. To me, this is my favorite team of all time. It is even better than the National Championship team. Let me tell you why.
My daughter has never understood my passion for the VOLS. She never even liked college football. She used to laugh that I would get so upset about, in her words, "just a silly game". Sadly, she had never watched a game with me. This year she finished grad school and started a great job. Since she was finally working and making her own money, she told me she would get me anything I wanted for my birthday within reason. I immediately thought of VOL tickets.
Since we live in Louisiana, I wasn't going to let her spend what it would cost for us to go to a game in Neyland. That was just too much money for her since she had only started her job a month before this. I have only been to Neyland once. Unfortunately, I had a heart attack at the start of the game and spent the entire game in a medical room. Didn't get to see even 1 play. Sorry, I digress. I knew we played at LSU this year, so that was the perfect game. My best friend's 60th birthday was also that weekend. She told me to invite him, so I did. I was like a little kid at Christmas time when she told me the tickets showed up on her phone. The game was all I could talk about for nearly 2 months.
The Friday before the Florida game, she invited me over to her house to watch the game. I was stunned and so excited. We watched the VOLS play together for the first time ever. She laughed at me when I warned that even up 17 the game wasn't over. She did not know the last 20 years of VOL football like I did. She was so excited when we won. Now she was talking about the upcoming LSU game as much as I was.
The day finally arrived. We headed to Baton Rouge. It was myself, my best friend, my daughter, and her fiancée. Love everything about that boy except for the LSU shirt he wore that day. It was a climb to the nose-bleed section, but we had a blast. It was fantastic day.
During the Alabama game she kept calling me for updates while she drove home. When she made it home, we spent the last 30 minutes on speakerphone yelling and cheering for now OUR VOLS. She was out eating with friends during the Kentucky game but she still texted " what a way to start" and "Go VOLS" when we went up 30-6. This morning I woke up to a text inviting me over to her house to watch the Georgia game.
I obviously want us to win next week, but in my mind we have already won. No amount of W's in the win column will ever match the joy of seeing my daughter become a VOL fan. Hopefully I live to enjoy many games and maybe even national championships with her. I will never forget the coaches and the players on this team. I wish I could personally tell them all just how much a "silly game" can mean in life.
GO VOLS
