Tennessee Hate

[Stacmot]

I see people on here all the time saying how much the media and such don’t like us. I’m curious as to why? We haven’t been relevant in a very long time. Why do they not like us?

 

[whobethis16]

I see people on here all the time saying how much the media and such don’t like us. I’m curious as to why? We haven’t been relevant in a very long time. Why do they not like us?

People equate "hate" to honest opinion and get all riled up about it just because someone doesn't slurp the Tennessee bath water.

 

[MaxVolnGA]

We got the prettiest dog in the show…even when it’s crapping all over the place

 

[hjeagle1vol]

cause "We the Vol People" stood up and refused to allow our admin to hire a kiddy diddler protector from becoming our coach. We pitched a B!tch of epic proportions, stood up together, and said Ahhhh Hell NO!!

 

[ClockworkOrange]

I don't see it so much as a case of like or dislike. We have an enormous, passionate fan base -- for my money, the best in all of sports. We are emotional, crazed, loyal and often tend to do the unexpected as well. We're interesting and one of a kind. It makes for good copy.

There's a reason you don't see anybody poking Vanderbilt or Indiana or even teams like Michigan. We're the bear in the cave -- they want to see us come broiling out to see what we do next.

 

[volbound1700]

I don't really see the media hate. I thought ESPN and others gave us a lot of credit this year.

I still think it is Peyton Manning syndrome.

Issue with Manning is that he should have beat Florida at least once and should have done better against Vanderbilt in 1997.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I see people on here all the time saying how much the media and such don’t like us. I’m curious as to why? We haven’t been relevant in a very long time. Why do they not like us?

You're wondering why a fiction is real.

Part of the source of the fiction is human nature. When we don't know another person's motives, we tend to assume the worst. That way we're prepared in case things go south. So we all walk through life assuming strangers are against us ("stranger danger"), by default.

And part of it is unique to these modern "days of victimhood." It is fashionable, of late, to be a victim. To see one's self as persecuted. To believe others owe us reparations for the wrongs we have endured. It is a thing.

The second one is a sort of magnifying lens for the first. Just ramping human nature up to a whole new level of paranoia.

In other words, we're imagining it, by and large. There is no "Tennessee hate." It's a ghost of our collective imagination.

The media like us just as much as any other team. In fact, Georgia fans have spent the past month+ complaining about how the Vols are the media darlings, and everyone is watching us when they should be watching the reigning national champs.

See? UGa are victims, too. So are Clemson. And Ohio State. Bama, for sure (well, we all really do hate them, so it's not just their imagination). And Notre Dame. Florida. Miami. Oklahoma. Oregon. Everyone, basically.

In actuality, though, folks like us, a lot. If for no other reason, we knocked off the Evil Empire, Darth Saban, and his clone 5* army.

Go Vols!


p.s. Chris Fowler really does not like us. But that is actually because we don't like him. He started with a thoughtless comment, we declared a feud, and he decided to take the snide, passive-aggressive approach with us from then on. But he's a one-off. Most folks like us, even love us in some cases.

 

[1974Vol]

I don't see it so much as a case of like or dislike. We have an enormous,, passionate fan base -- for my money, the best in all of sports. We are emotional, crazed, loyal and often tend to do the unexpected as well. We're interesting and one of a kind. It makes for good copy.

There's a reason you don't see anybody poking Vanderbilt or Indiana or even teams like Michigan. We're the bear in the cave -- they want to see us come broiling out.

Never really thought about it that way but yeah poke the bear and hope you get a "story" - That whole "trailer park trash" thing was the start of 25 years of it.

 

[TnVol!]

I don't care. It's Great To Be A Tennessee Vol. Beat Missouri!!!

 

[Jeff Clark]

I see people on here all the time saying how much the media and such don’t like us. I’m curious as to why? We haven’t been relevant in a very long time. Why do they not like us?

A lot of people in Sports Media and College Football do not like the sudden rebirth of Tennessee

 

[savannahfan]

People equate "hate" to honest opinion and get all riled up about it just because someone doesn't slurp the Tennessee bath water.

This word is misused more than any other word used on this site!! When looking closely at the sentence and subject where this word is used, the right word would be "dislike". I dislike seeing "hate" used in nearly every topic on VolNation. Can we not do better than "hate"???

 

[9296potsguy]

I don’t know about news media, but social media REALLY hates us.
And honestly, I’ve seen a lot of toxic Vol fans that fuels that fire.

 

[VolPack22]

Johnny Majors and Peyton Manning should be Heisman winners. That’s why most Vols don’t like the media imo.

 

[JRich]

Opinions are like @$$ holes - everyone has got one. This includes the media. You're probably more sensitive to the criticism because you are a fan or have some sort of more personal connection with the school.

 

[UneducatedGuess]

Tennessee fanbase is a top driver of clicks and interactions in sports entertainment

Polarizing headlines drive interactions

Interactions drive advertisement dollars

Dollars drive revenues

It is the same concept as the way the rest of our world operates. It’s about how to get more money, regardless of the tactic.

 

[jps2194]

You're wondering why a fiction is real.

Part of the source of the fiction is human nature. When we don't know another person's motives, we tend to assume the worst. That way we're prepared in case things go south. So we all walk through life assuming strangers are against us ("stranger danger"), by default.

And part of it is unique to these modern "days of victimhood." It is fashionable, of late, to be a victim. To see one's self as persecuted. To believe others owe us reparations for the wrongs we have endured. It is a thing.

The second one is a sort of magnifying lens for the first. Just ramping human nature up to a whole new level of paranoia.

In other words, we're imagining it, by and large. There is no "Tennessee hate." It's a ghost of our collective imagination.

The media like us just as much as any other team. In fact, Georgia fans have spent the past month+ complaining about how the Vols are the media darlings, and everyone is watching us when they should be watching the reigning national champs.

See? UGa are victims, too. So are Clemson. And Ohio State. Bama, for sure (well, we all really do hate them, so it's not just their imagination). And Notre Dame. Florida. Miami. Oklahoma. Oregon. Everyone, basically.

In actuality, though, folks like us, a lot. If for no other reason, we knocked off the Evil Empire, Darth Saban, and his clone 5* army.

Go Vols!


p.s. Chris Fowler really does not like us. But that is actually because we don't like him. He started with a thoughtless comment, we declared a feud, and he decided to take the snide, passive-aggressive approach with us from then on. But he's a one-off. Most folks like us, even love us in some cases.

This is spot on!

 

[volbound1700]

Johnny Majors and Peyton Manning should be Heisman winners. That’s why most Vols don’t like the media imo.

I agree on Johnny Majors but I see some logic with Peyton Manning. It is hard to remove the NFL Career from the College Career but Manning had some bad games in College.

In the 1997 season alone, he struggled in a loss to Florida and struggled heavily against Vanderbilt. I also think he had a meh game against South Carolina. This was after the Heisman but he practically disappeared against Nebraska as well.

There really wasn't some great comeback performance or dominate game by Manning like you saw in his NFL career.

I think this all lead to the media turning against him.

I also think Tennessee has fallen flat on its face many times over last 15 years that makes people still not want to trust Tennessee. Even during our high point with Fulmer, we only claimed 2 Conference Titles and 1 National Title. Les Miles at LSU had more than Fulmer when it comes to actual championships.

Under Fulmer, we were not that great sometimes in major bowl games (1994 Penn State, 1997 Nebraska, 1999 Nebraska, 2000 Kansas State, 2002 Maryland, 2003 Clemson, 2009 Penn State).

We did not have that DOMINANT run. Take Spurrier at Florida who won the SEC in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2000. That is 6 SEC Championships to Fulmer's 2.

Tennessee just hasn't won consistently at the high level back to back to back years like other SEC programs. The only time we Tennessee even comes close to the dominance of Florida under Spurrier, Alabama under Saban, or Georgia with Kirby Smart was during the Bob Neyland era when no one really paid attention because games were not televised heavily.

So as a program, we tend to always be second or third fiddle to another SEC program when we have been up and we have been very bad the last 15 or so years. We have also played with people's heart. In 2016 we were preseason top ten and fell apart, in 2012 we got ranked and fell apart, in 2020 we were preseason top 20 and fell apart. Even going back to Fulmer era, we had two preseason top 5 teams that collapsed and finished outside the polls: 2002 and 2005.

If we look in the mirror, we have earned some of this hate.

 

[Arrested Devolopment]

I see people on here all the time saying how much the media and such don’t like us. I’m curious as to why? We haven’t been relevant in a very long time. Why do they not like us?

I don't automatically accept this as true, but if so it seems it would only matter in cases where a biased committee member somewhere chooses another team or player over TN for rankings, playoffs, awards, etc. What announcers say during games can influence public opinion, but does that matter? Maybe.

It feels better to be loved than hated, but nothing's worse than being ignored or pitied.

 

[Halph66]

cause "We the Vol People" stood up and refused to allow our admin to hire a kiddy diddler protector from becoming our coach. We pitched a B!tch of epic proportions, stood up together, and said Ahhhh Hell NO!!

But the blah blah blah dates back to the Peyton Manning days.

 

[Jeff Clark]

This word is misused more than any other word used on this site!! When looking closely at the sentence and subject where this word is used, the right word would be "dislike". I dislike seeing "hate" used in nearly every topic on VolNation. Can we not do better than "hate"???

No hate is a very legitimate way to describe a lot of it

 

[VolFreakJosh]

If Tennessee wins out and still doesn’t get into the playoffs despite being 11-1, it’s because we were never respected to begin with.

College football is slowly turning into politics.

 

[KoachKrab127]

I see people on here all the time saying how much the media and such don’t like us. I’m curious as to why? We haven’t been relevant in a very long time. Why do they not like us?

This is just my personal opinion, based on my observations as a teenage UT fan in the 90s. I started following college football closely in 1997, and honestly, I think Lee Corso hated Tennessee back then. Why? I have no idea, but there’s plenty if evidence based on his ridiculous statements on Gameday during the time. Of course Corso and other Gameday crew members were hyping Charles Woodson over Peyton in 1997 when it was clear that Peyton was the best player in college football in 1997. His numbers in college his senior year and SEC championship victory said enough, but Peyton being the 1st overall choice in the NFL draft and going on to be a top 5 QB of all-time is enough evidence to prove how wrong they were to push Woodson as a better player. They just really did not want an SEC QB to win the Heisman 2 years in a row. It was shameless the way they pushed the narrative that the Heisman winner must be on an undefeated team, and then the next year give it to Ricky Williams who played on a team with 4 losses (not that Ricky Williams didn’t deserve it, but the moving arbitrary standards as to what metrics need to be used to determine a Heisman winner were ridiculous). By their own standards in 1997, Al Wilson should have won the Heisman in 1998, but they never mentioned him once as a candidate.

Then in 1998, it was even worse. Corso predicted Syracuse, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Florida State would beat us that year. He even went as far as to say that UT should punt on 3rd down to avoid making disastrous mistakes against the mighty Florida defense. He also said that Houston would play us “very close” because their run defense was so good and we couldn’t throw the ball. In the Houston game, we had over 300 yards rushing and Tee Martin had over 200 yards passing with 4 TD’s. Corso also said Mississippi State would play us closer than everyone thought. This was the only accurate prediction he made on the Vols that season.

Well, I’ve rambled enough. Like I said, this was just my perception as a teenager in the 90s.

 

[MaxVolnGA]

I don't automatically accept this as true, but if so it seems it would only matter in cases where a biased committee member somewhere chooses another team or player over TN for rankings, playoffs, awards, etc. What announcers say during games can influence public opinion, but does that matter? Maybe.

It feels better to be loved than hated, but nothing's worse than being ignored or pitied.

Yeah Rocky Top being played with a Clogger and Peyton on the CMA awards, on a Wednesday after being shutdown by GA.
All that hate man

 

[J C Higgins]

This is spot on!

Yes. This especially:

"In other words, we're imagining it, by and large. There is no "Tennessee hate." It's a ghost of our collective imagination."

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

Civil War