Who sold cokes/hot dogs at Neyland as a kid?

#28
#28
VeeOhElEsYes said:
My brother and I sold cokes and hot dogs(Smokey dogs) at Neyland for several seasons as kids. My dad would drop us off at the stadium a couple hours before games and we’d go in and pay $20 for a rack. You’d sell them all keep the profit and go buy another rack. Pretty great way to make money as a kid and watch the games. I can remember going in and seeing the field early in the day and it just being the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It’s a great memory of mine and part of what makes me a lifelong Tennessee Volunteer. Any of y’all do this?
Go Vols!
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Yes!!! I sold cokes when I was in middle school In the early 80's. Best job I ever had! I made 10 cents a for every coke I sold. A cup of Coke was a buck in those days. My parents would drop me off hours before the game and myself and other kid vendors would go out onto the turf field to throw the football around and pretend we were Vols playing in Neyland Stadium.

Usually, I got to watch much of the game while I worked in the stands. If the game was really close, I would quit selling during the 4th quarter and find a place to stand and watch.

The most cash I ever made during a game was when UT played Auburn in September of 1983 it was extremely hot. I sold over a thousand cokes that day and brought home more than hundred bucks. The worst game that I ever worked was against Ole Miss in November it was cold and Icey and I think that I made two bucks. Hahahaha. But, It was still the best job that I ever had!

I recall some great Vols playing in those days including Reggie White, Allen Crocrell and Willie Gault just to name a few.

Best job I ever had!
 
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#30
#30
I sold peanuts in 53 or 54. Didn't make much but it got us in the game. Leter decided it was easier to just sneak in. Me and litle brother sneaked in behind a ticket taker--just walked behind him-- to see Miss State game and watch Johnny Majors incredible touchdown in 1954-his jr or soph year. (WAS HOOKED FROM THAT GAME FORWARD)

We later developed a plan where we would go into the restaurant under east stands which was inside the gates and when we were leaving, we just bolted up the ramp and out of sight with security yelling but they never chased us and we would hop over rail and hide under stadium until about noon and it was safe to join the crowd.

A much different scene back then. Stadium had about 50,000 capacity but lucky to get 35,000 for a game.

It's memories like that that will make you a VOL FOR LIFE!
 
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#33
#33
My fifth grade science teacher (Mrs. Shanton Belle Morris elementary) was a friend of a Vol and she arranged to have him visit our class one day. After riding the Number 9 bus over to North Knoxville, he and a teamate joined our class and talked football. It was Hank Laurecella and a friend--name escapes me, and they talked with the awe struck class for about an hour then walked back over the bus stop for a return to campus. Could that happen today! Laurecella was everybodys All-America and he was riding a bus across town to meet with a 5th grade science class. Looking back, what a nice young man he was! This happened in 1951.
 
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#36
#36
GUNTERSVOL said:
Had a better deal than that. For a couple of seasons as a HS so and jr I got to wear a white jacket and a hard hat with a red cross on it and carry around a giant walkie talkie as a spotter for the Red Cross.... Coach Cotton Jackson left Bearden HS to run the local office and gave me the chance. I was assigned specific areas but found through experimentation that I could go anywhere I desired and security would even open the gates when necessary. I once prior to kickoff pushed the envelope and got up in the pressbox area.. but not for long.

One of the neatest things about this deal was every game day an hour or so before kickoff in the headquarters area first door under section A, Dr Andy Holt would join us for a hotdog out of the pot (a popcorn popper I think) that was there for the crew. Most cordial guy you could ever meet. This would have been for the 66 and 67 seasons. Among the many ORANGE blessings I had as a kid...
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Speaking of Dr. Andy Holt, I had the honor of meeting him a few times over the years. For me he was and still is UT. I am not the person to evaluate his job performance, but to me these were the best years of the school. Think of this guy often. What you say about his showing up "with the workers" is just what I would have expected from him. Now, lets see, could you imagine any of the recent "bunch" of intellectuals lowering themselves to this level??
 
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#39
#39
Thanks for the Arnold Zandi bio. I remember him well and was fortunate enough to have bought hot dogs off of him. He was a great guy.
 
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#40
#40
savannahfan said:
Speaking of Dr. Andy Holt, I had the honor of meeting him a few times over the years. For me he was and still is UT. I am not the person to evaluate his job performance, but to me these were the best years of the school. Think of this guy often. What you say about his showing up "with the workers" is just what I would have expected from him. Now, lets see, could you imagine any of the recent "bunch" of intellectuals lowering themselves to this level??
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I never encountered Joe Johnson, but have always held him in high regard also..... Always believed his head and his heart were in the right place...
 
#41
#41
GUNTERSVOL said:
I never encountered Joe Johnson, but have always held him in high regard also..... Always believed his head and his heart were in the right place...
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Agree!!! I had the same experience with him and likened him to Dr. Andy.
Once at a meeting I was attending the question was ask of Doc Johnson; " what do you think of our team (on of those bad years back then) he responded without hesitation, " I think they are really good, being in first place!" (Pat's team) It brought the house down.
 
#42
#42
I worked concessions while a student. I can honestly say that Vol fans (and I’m one) are assholes.
 
#43
#43
Yes, initially "lineups" outside the stadium (thanks to having a paper route), then after a few games I finagled my way inside and sold Cokes... did this for a couple of years in the late 60s...
 
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#45
#45
I sold them in '84 I believe and got to sell at the Jacksons concert at Neyland that year. Sold cokes till the concert started , then sat and watched the show.
 
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#46
#46
I sold drinks at games (sections A-C) while in high school ‘94-‘96. Liked that I could find a good seat in the 4th quarter and watch Manning while I counted my tips.
 
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#47
#47
I sold them back when they were $1.50. Had the shirt to prove it. Sold Cokes for the 1st half, watched the game during the 2nd. The money I made ($3 a rack, IIRC), plus tips was enough to buy me a couple smokey dogs and pocket a few bucks for the 2nd half.
 
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#50
#50
Sold cokes in the upper deck. Leg cramps are real!!! Next year sold hot dogs and talked to Arnold often. Helluva guy. Never made much money, but season ticket was sweet!
 
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