Thoughts from the 9th row...

[crazyguy]

I wasn't really surprised to come back to read the nation and see all the sky is falling threads but I was dissapointed. Some things I noticed from my seat in the orange nation on a rainy day in Tampa...

1. #31 was by far the best linebacker we have faced all year...his speed and reads were outstanding. He was on the ball on every play-very impressive...made me miss the days when we had outstanding linebackers.

2. Foster looked good until the fumble. I wish that coker had gotten some more time however foster was running better than he had in a long time.

3. PSU has the most annoying cheer in the history of football..."we are...penn state" is retarded. I'm glad that you know who your school is and stuff but, it did get really annoying...

4. I think that meach is gone...and I think Eric knows it. Why? Eric was eyeing him looking for a big strike all game. I don't think it was just because meach is our big play guy either.

5. There must have been an awesome halftime speech. The vols D looked terrible in the first half, in the second we had some big stops. Much more noticable however was that pass protection up front seemed to get better in the second half.

6. It was nice to be able to have an adult beverage at the game but I can see the problems that it might cause at daily college games.

7. Penn State seemed more excited to be there...not sure if it is true or not...just seemed that way.

8. Is there a limit to the number of plays that can be reviewed?? shesh, every other play seemed to come under review...it was a little crazy.

9. Tailgaiting was a little dissapointing...I could have just been in the wrong spots but we showed up at 8am looking for some people to hang out with...didn't happen.

10. Vol fans showed up. Tons of vol fans at the game. I was impressed. We were well represented...

 

[Rizzo924]

Thanks for the report! What did you think of the pirate ship? I think it looks lame in every pic/TV shot I've ever seen - like it should be at an amusement park -but everyone says it's impressive in person. I just can't imagine, but I'm old school. From watching on TV your game observations look right on (tho' I didn't notice Polusky (sp)-#31 as much as I thought I would -

 

[crazyguy]

Thanks for the report! What did you think of the pirate ship? I think it looks lame in every pic/TV shot I've ever seen - like it should be at an amusement park -but everyone says it's impressive in person. I just can't imagine, but I'm old school. From watching on TV your game observations look right on (tho' I didn't notice Polusky (sp)-#31 as much as I thought I would -

The pirate ship is cool in that there is a pirate ship in the stadium. It looks like something you would see at disney, which given that Tampa is competing for some of the same dollars makes sense. The stadium as whole is pretty small so it makes the huge ship look cool. I thought it was neat in person...but not so much that I went up to it for a closer look, and i was seated in the endzone where it was located. I think that they shoot off the canons when the bucs score at regular games however and that would increase the coolness factor by a thousand.

 

[cotton]

I didn't quite have your view from the ninth row (I was in R) but I agree with your analysis. A few more thoughts on your points:

1. He was very good, although so were some of the other LBs we've faced. I can see why he is so revered nationally.

2. Foster looked good; Coker looked good; Hardesty should move to LB or safety. He is a tremendous athlete that is missing something to excel at tailback.

3. Their pawprint also has too many toes. Maybe "Nittany" means "extra-toed."

7. I thought our offense looked flat the entire game. It is strange to be able to protect the passer, get open receivers, and run the ball effectively and still put only 10 points on the board. The offense was out of sync and played sloppy football. Where was the crispness from early in the season?

8. The officiating was poor, although I don't think it was slanted in any particular direction, and it certainly is not the reason we lost. There were, what, 3 overturned calls? Both offensive intereference calls looked bad live.

9. That may be because of the terrible traffic management outside of the stadium. I was 3 miles away on 275 at 9:30. I walked into the stadium as Charlie began to sing the national anthem. If Bucs' game day traffic is handled in the same manner, it is amazing that anyone bothers to go.

One more note: two Vol players (David Campbell, Fr, PK, and Ryan West, Sr, DS,) were on our flight back to Nashville. They conducted themselves very well, both to annoying Vol fans asking about the game and a lone Penn St idiot who was talking smack until he learned they were players and not just fans. They both represented program well.

 

[kptvol]

1. #31 was by far the best linebacker we have faced all year...his speed and reads were outstanding. He was on the ball on every play-very impressive...made me miss the days when we had outstanding linebackers.

Posluzny and the Penn State linebackers didn't exactly have a breakout game against. Every coach in the nation knew it was a great unit. We need to gameplan around superstars like Posluzny.

 

[Brojan]

9. That may be because of the terrible traffic management outside of the stadium. I was 3 miles away on 275 at 9:30. I walked into the stadium as Charlie began to sing the national anthem. If Bucs' game day traffic is handled in the same manner, it is amazing that anyone bothers to go.

Don't know what route you went in...but I also took I-275 to MLK and drove right to a parking spot around the stadium and never even stopped (except for red-lights). I was shocked that I NEVER even stopped in traffic. I parked at 10 AM and couldn't believe traffic was that light 1 hour before the game.

 

[crazyguy]

did anyone else see the vols tank? I just got a glimpse but it looked pretty dang cool.

 

[Ooltewah Vol]

I wasn't really surprised to come back to read the nation and see all the sky is falling threads but I was dissapointed. Some things I noticed from my seat in the orange nation on a rainy day in Tampa...

1. #31 was by far the best linebacker we have faced all year...his speed and reads were outstanding. He was on the ball on every play-very impressive...made me miss the days when we had outstanding linebackers.

2. Foster looked good until the fumble. I wish that coker had gotten some more time however foster was running better than he had in a long time.

3. PSU has the most annoying cheer in the history of football..."we are...penn state" is retarded. I'm glad that you know who your school is and stuff but, it did get really annoying...

4. I think that meach is gone...and I think Eric knows it. Why? Eric was eyeing him looking for a big strike all game. I don't think it was just because meach is our big play guy either.

5. There must have been an awesome halftime speech. The vols D looked terrible in the first half, in the second we had some big stops. Much more noticable however was that pass protection up front seemed to get better in the second half.

6. It was nice to be able to have an adult beverage at the game but I can see the problems that it might cause at daily college games.

7. Penn State seemed more excited to be there...not sure if it is true or not...just seemed that way.

8. Is there a limit to the number of plays that can be reviewed?? shesh, every other play seemed to come under review...it was a little crazy.

9. Tailgaiting was a little dissapointing...I could have just been in the wrong spots but we showed up at 8am looking for some people to hang out with...didn't happen.

10. Vol fans showed up. Tons of vol fans at the game. I was impressed. We were well represented...

The View from 16 rows up was pretty much the same as yours. The thing that really has me worried is that we had no fire to us at all. I was surprised by that. I'm not so sure Mach is gone. I think EA was looking at him because he is our big play guy. However they PSU were bracketing him with the LB, corner and safety. Georgia did the same to us but we had Smith running the crossing routes to counter the coverage on Meach. I believe not having Smith had more of an effect than we thought it would have. EA just didn’t have the confidence in our other slots in those crossing patterns, so he was looking more for Meach and Swain.

The Sky is not falling, and I am ready to count the days till I leave for the opener in California.
GO VOLS!

 

[allvol123]

The Sky is not falling,

It already fell, last year.

 

[Ooltewah Vol]

It already fell, last year.

Your opinion, which you are allowed to have. I’m truly sorry you are missing, whatever it takes for your sky to stay put, but look around. This time last year we were setting home with other VN members and wondering had it. I can assure you it hasn't, but if it has in your area of the world please come back to visit those of us in the Vol Nation who will be backing the VOLS

 

[allvol123]

Your opinion, which you are allowed to have. I’m truly sorry you are missing, whatever it takes for your sky to stay put, but look around. This time last year we were setting home with other VN members and wondering had it. I can assure you it hasn't, but if it has in your area of the world please come back to visit those of us in the Vol Nation who will be backing the VOLS

Good one skippy, I am not supporting the Vols because I don't think everything is back on track. You logic made even more impressive by the fact you capitalized all the letters in Vols.

 

[kptvol]

Your opinion, which you are allowed to have. I’m truly sorry you are missing, whatever it takes for your sky to stay put, but look around. This time last year we were setting home with other VN members and wondering had it. I can assure you it hasn't, but if it has in your area of the world please come back to visit those of us in the Vol Nation who will be backing the VOLS

How would this year's team have done with last year's schedule? I don't think we've improved as much as you think.

 

[Ooltewah Vol]

How would this year's team have done with last year's schedule? I don't think we've improved as much as you think.

As for last years Vols, and last year’s schedule, it is what it is. Last years and no one knows how or what would have come had that team with the problems we had then, would have played out this year. I am just proud that I had the chance to be at a bowl game with them this year., but yes we have improved, and if you do not wish to admit it, I believe most on this board will say we made improvement.

 

[Ooltewah Vol]

Good one skippy, I am not supporting the Vols because I don't think everything is back on track. You logic made even more impressive by the fact you capitalized all the letters in Vols.

Again your opinion and for the record Gilligan I had VOLS all caps to make a point, and I never said anything about why you weren't supporting the Vols, only that you said "the sky had already fallen. Must have been you who thought you were not supporting them. You are just a very negative individual and that isn't healthy at all, be it in supporting the Vols or in life with anything you do. Football is a game and one we have a great opportunity to be fans of. Enjoy what we have and hope that it is always something you can enjoy watching. 9-4 sure does beat what we had last year.

Now when you graduate from childhood come on over to where the ADULT VOL fans are. Until that time I have no more comments or time to waste with or on you. Trust me I know more about the improvements than you wish to believe. I don't have to be all happy with 9-4 but I am proud to have been with the VOLS at another bowl game just as I am sure you were to be watching them on TV. It sure beat last year now didn't it? Now want to know what really is tuff to swallow this year. It is that for the first time in 45 years I didn't have my dad to watch the Vols with, yet even with that, my sky has not fallen
GO VOLS !

 

[allvol123]

Again your opinion and for the record Gilligan I had VOLS all caps to make a point. When you graduate from child hood come on over to where the ADULT VOL fans are. Until that time I have no more comments or time to waste with or on you. Trust me I know more about the improvements than you wish to believe. I don't have to be all happy with 9-4 but I am proud to have been with the VOLS at another bowl game, just as I am sure you were to be watching them on TV at one. It sure beat last year now didn't it?

Is child hood where poor kids live?
Beat last year? Wow lofty goal there. maybe he should go 3-9 next year, then he can blow the doors off that record in 2008.
You are so much more a VOLS fan because you go to a bowl game and watch them stink the joint up. Why do you even watch the games, as blind as you are?