Your love for Tennessee

#26
#26
When I was in elementary school our principal made us sing Rocky Top at least once a week, and we sang it during every school program.
 
#27
#27
SergeantVol said:
I grew up between Illinois and Wisconsin. I moved down to Tennessee when I was in 8th grade. I have never loved a place so much. I first lived in Knoxville. I never seen a fanbase so passionate about their team.

I proudly claimed Tennessee as my home without a second thought as that is where I wanted to be and where I felt I belonged.

All of this time I have never accomplished my long sought after dream of going to Neyland Stadium to watch my beloved Vols play.
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Your story is like mine.

I moved there in 7th grade. Never saw an energized fan base like that (and I had lived in Arkansas and Alabama...perhaps I just didn't pay enough attention). Started to get really interested in them then moved to Missouri.

Stuck it out with UT because most of the fans here followed Notre Dame football and not their home state's Tigers. Times have certainly changed, by the way.

Had a few opportunities over the years to go. A military deployment squashed one shot. Had a girl buy tickets for me, but I loved Tennessee and not her...so I let her and the tickets go.

My brother and I did get to go to the basketball games here in St. Louis last year. I sat in peaceful silence watching the practice...I had never seen UT athletics in person before. Then at the games we screamed our heads off, dressed in orange and wishing we had orange and white poms (since rectified).

A quarter of my clothing is orange. My car has an orange T on the hood so big it takes up most of the hood. Friends call it the Tennesseemobile. I'm sitting here at work with an orange polo and orange watch on. My Iphone with the UT skin on it is right beside me.

Married now and we're going to the Georgia game. Neither of us have been to Neyland before. I personally haen't been to Knoxville since 2000. Can't wait. She has no collegiate affiliation. I'm hoping she will by the end of the weekend. She understands I love Tennessee. I'm hoping she will too.
 
#28
#28
I enjoy reading these stories! Freak, what made you start Volnation? Where did it all begin for you?

FYI: I had my Fiance read this thread so she could better understand.
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#29
#29
I was born In Chattanooga and now live in Valdosta. I remember living in Tennessee and watching the games with my Dad. I wear my orange with pride in the heart of Bulldog country. Actually, I am typing this with a Tennessee shirt on. My heart and soul are in Tennessee...always have been no matter where I live. To explain WHY I love Tennessee football the way I do would be unexplainable. I have only been to two Vols games ( One in Knoxville...the other in Tampa for the Outback Bowl against Wisconsin) but the feeling I got when i heard 100,000 fellow Tennessee fans singing Rocky Top at the top of there lungs was life changing. Go BIG ORANGE!
 
#31
#31
Born and raised in Tennessee. My mom and dad met at UT and dad lived on the Ag campus and used to walk to the stadium.(now it's a shuttle bus ride) The first game he took me to, I don't remember who was playing but I remember the walking horse and the cannon in the north corner endzone in a grassy area. Dad was a season ticket holder for over 30 years until his passing and now mom orders and we split the cost. Same seats for 30 years. Now me and my two sons argue over who's going to get the Bama or Fla tickets. I was hoping that we could keep the tickets after mom's gone but UT says no, mo money, mo money.
 
#32
#32
Spent my early years in Monterey. I went to a one room schoolhouse. Miss Edna Pugh was my teacher. Great years and special times.
 
#33
#33
Tennessee football is everything to me, if you havent figured that out by now. People that know me, and have known me for years, know how much of a fanatic i am about ut football!!! Everything about the campus gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Everything from the hill, the strip, the vol navy, and storied neyland stadium, ranked the number one stadium in the country to watch a college football game. The vol walk, smokey, checkerboard endzone, the cold crisp fall mornings of tailgating on the banks of the tennessee river, the feeling you get right when you walk into the stadium and see the field, and the intimidating presence of 107,000 people dressed in orange, the hot 3:30 fall afternoon cbs kickoffs, the espn primetime games at night, there is nothing like neyland stadium and running thru the "t" on saturday night, the booming fireworks that go off over head after each score, the announcement right before kickoff of .."its football time in tennessee..", the third saturday in october, the pride of the southland band forming the "t", the cold foggy tennessee mornings, and the endless chant of rocky top till the wee hours of the morning after a big win. This is why i bleed orange, this is why i love the university of tennessee
 
#34
#34
IBLEEDORANGE16 said:
I was born In Chattanooga and now live in Valdosta. I remember living in Tennessee and watching the games with my Dad. I wear my orange with pride in the heart of Bulldog country. Actually, I am typing this with a Tennessee shirt on. My heart and soul are in Tennessee...always have been no matter where I live. To explain WHY I love Tennessee football the way I do would be unexplainable. I have only been to two Vols games ( One in Knoxville...the other in Tampa for the Outback Bowl against Wisconsin) but the feeling I got when i heard 100,000 fellow Tennessee fans singing Rocky Top at the top of there lungs was life changing. Go BIG ORANGE!
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very off-topic I know but does Valdosta and McEachern(spelling?) have a rivalry?
 
#36
#36
I love reading all of these. My mom went to Alabama...and she cheers for the Vols every game. She cant stand Bama. That's a true fan right there. I'm attending UT in the fall and I can't wait to get up there. I'm from East Tenn and its more than just a college team. Half of my t shirts are orange, my room is filled with memorabilia, and I've been to almost every home game since I was 3. I don't know how to explain it, it's just always been around me and I can't wait to be in the midst of it for 4 years!!
 
#37
#37
VolintheBrier said:
You can't really describe it with words. No matter what problems you have in life, when you walk into Neyland they seem to fade away for a while. The pride swarms your body when the T opens up, the chills roll up your back when 100,000 belt out rocky top, the sharp pain in your stomach after a tough loss, the adrenaline after a victory, there is truly nothing like it. Not many people understand this passion, but its just a way of life for us.

Very well said.
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#38
#38
cbbowlingmd said:
Well said. I consider myself to be a pretty tough guy. But there has been several times that I have had to fight back a tear when that "T" opens up. I love my Volunteers. :good!:
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I get wet eyes, and goosebumps EVERY time I see it live.
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#40
#40
(I think I've posted this once in a similar thread, so apologies to those that have seen this)I'm "only" 32, but so much of LWS's post is like "my" Vol story. My Papaw grew up across from Neyland, on Hawthorne, right there off of Henley. He used to walk to games across that railroad tressel over the river. Most of "his kids" live in Huntsville (or thereabouts) now, but we still have lots of family in those hills of East Tennessee. Since I was old enough to remember, my Papaw has been taking me "to the Smokies" as he calls it and making sure I had Orange and White on and knew how to say "Go Big Orange" (in fact, most of my birthday cards growing up were signed, Love Papaw and Granny.....G_ B_ _ O_ _ _ _ _!) . SO like most of you, my love for Tennessee is so much deeper than just a song... or a color... or a stadium... or a tradition as rich as ours.... or all of the things that make up gameday. Its in my blood. Its who I am. It only takes a back seat to my love for God, Family and Friends.....I asked my wife to marry me on that train tressel, on gameday.
Long story short, Papaw's not in good health right now, so the last couple of seasons have been tough in more ways than one. Not only can he not make it to Neyland as often as we'd like, but we also haven't had very much to talk about when it comes to "our team". I have two boys now, 5 and 7, and you can bet your ass they're VOLS, and so is their mom-who has it almost as bad as I do for all things Orange (and her family is bammer die hards-haha). They've been to Neyland, MULTIPLE times. The day we got engaged, Peyton led the band at his last home game. Every time we go, especially now, I'm reminded of those good ole' chili dogs we'd get at the Smokey Mountain Market on the way to THE stadium, and of John Ward on the Hill (Papaw would ask me if I had my "head-set radio"), and walking those tracks on the way back to Papaw's old house (where his sister still lives by the way). I could go on and on....but I'll end with this, I can't help but get a lump in my throat and goosebumps when that T opens. It's just in my blood. Thank God for Papaws....
 
#42
#42
There is no better place than Neyland stadium on Saturdays in the fall! The GREATEST place on earth. Something very special about being a VOL! There are no words to describe my love for TN football!
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#44
#44
12voltTNVOL said:
I had 3 great-grandfathers that fought in the war of northern aggression here in middle Tennessee. I live in the house my dad built in 1939. His dad was a street car conductor here in Nashville. My mom's dad was the oldest of 13. They all went to Texas but after mom was born he came back to southern middle Tennessee. (If it weren't for Tennessee there would be no Texas)So you can see it's in the blood. I am very proud of my heritage and my native state. TENNESSEE:salute:
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Well said my friend.
 
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