I sat in front of the TV and watched the lifeless blue chip athletes, that my school went out of their way to recruit, jog onto the field and promptly give up to the more determined Gators. An inexperienced team featuring athletes from their own state willing to fight for extra yards and taunt the best of the high school ranks play after play. It seemed familiar to the experience two-weeks ago when I traveled to see the heartless wonders play Cal. This team, representing a school I love and am proud to be an alumni of and state I was born and raised in, lay down and show little energy or determination during an embarrassment both on the field and in the stands. I sat right by their entrance and saw their eyes at the beginning and half, save Eric Berry and Demonte Bolden, most looked beat.(fans that were there have more than talked about the treatment they got from the tree hugging hippies) While the team seems hellbent on repeating 2005, it would seem the tradition of blowout losses to classless, arrogant rivals continues as it had time and again during the Fulmer era. How long will it be until we realize that, while our coaching staff is full of quality individuals, they lack the intelligence and ability to motivate these athletes or even recruit players that will fight back in a game. (It is obvious that previous accomplishments came from determined individuals that succeeded inspite of poor coaching) This administration (coaches, players and AD) seem content to be a midlevel SEC team that merely recruits out of a sears catalog for high school athletes. Our school has some of the greatest statistical accomplishments in football history, accomplished by outstanding Tennesseans or people with ties to the area. Now we have been reduced to a triva question for jeopardy or bar room drunks. If this school will not recognize the intense loyalty of its alumni and the thousands of loyal Tennnesseans who spend their hard earned money on their tickets or appearal, then we should insist that they are replaced by a staff that will encourage heart and loyalty to match that of the people of the state that supports and PAYS them. I think we can all live with losses, but this continued heartless play is an embarrassment to the state, school and former players that made this university a place where these sunday wannabes chose to come. Sorry for the long rant, but I would hate to think that I would let someone get in my face and taunt me and not do anything about it. This is something I cannot believe the majority of the people of our state or even the families of these athletes taught. Yet somehow it is evident in the coaching methods of the current football staff. I pray it is changed for the sake of those young athletes who will soon be apart of the adult world, shaping the society we live in.
lol: