TJIKIEECUTDZPCG_20071006214702Never let it be said that A Free Man doesn’t welcome opposing points of view. As the Georgia Bulldogs head north to Knoxville for a date with the Tennessee Volunteers this Saturday, I’ve brought the enemy to my bosom and given them a chance to speak.

For the three years I was at the University of Georgia, Tennessee beat our football team every year. They were the only school to accomplish that feat. Even the vile Florida Gators fell to the Dawgs once during my time at the University. After having my heart broken every October for three years straight, I left Athens in 1999 with a loathing of all things orange and all things Tennessee.

But my attitude towards the University of Tennessee has mellowed a bit since then. Where they were 9-0 against Georgia in the 90’s, they have been a bit of a pushover in the last decade, rolling over six of nine times since the turn of the century. And lately, the Vols just suck. And when a team is that bad it isn’t much fun to mock or loathe them. It’s kind of like teasing a disabled child. In fact, with the ascension of clownish head coach Lane Kiffin, it is exactly like mocking a disabled child.

OK, OK. Old habits die hard.

Through bloggin over the last couple of years, I’ve come to ‘meet’ a few Vols and I’ve discovered that they aren’t the toothless, corn cob pipe smoking, hillbillies that I was led to believe they were. In fact, they are a lot like Georgia fans – passionate about their football, intelligent, well spoken and even classy. Hell, they even hate the Gators nearly as much as we do. Who would have thought?

I’ve asked one of them, Cindy of the excellent Here In Franklin, to come aboard to explain to us just what would possess one to dress up in Creamiscle orange every autumn Saturday to go and watch their team get, well, licked.

Cindy?

In 1921 a baby boy was born in Knoxville, Tenn. He came home from the hospital and lived with his parents on White Avenue in the Fort Sanders neighborhood, just a few blocks from the University of Tennessee.

QORYPZJGLIPMPAY_20071006214844He grew up loving the university and its orange- and white-clad football team. The coach for a good part of his youth was General Robert Neyland. Under the General’s tutelage, the football team prospered and built themselves into a national powerhouse.

The boy grew up and moved to Nashville for his senior year in high school. After he graduated, he went to work instead of college, and then he went to war.

Fast forward to 1976. A teenage girl graduates from high school near Nashville and goes to college in Knoxville. She loves the orange- and white-clad football team. In the fall of her junior year she moves to White Avenue in the Fort Sanders neighborhood, just a few blocks from the University of Tennessee and the home her father grew up in.

Full circle.

Before Middle Tennessee became inundated with people from places like California and Michigan, you could pretty much divide football fans into two camps—they either supported Vanderbilt (the private university in Nashville) or the University of Tennessee—the Volunteers (Vols for short). Despite my mother’s family’s long association with Vanderbilt, we were a Tennessee family through and through.

I never wanted to go anywhere else.

800pxNeyland_Stadium_nightToday, I’m not just a fan of the school’s sports, I’m a fan of the school—period. As a large public university in a state not exactly known for its educational system, UT is the butt of a lot of jokes regarding its academic prowess. Fact is, the school’s rankings are exceptional in many areas. No, they don’t compete with Harvard or Stanford. But they’re not exactly the University of Chopped Liver either. It’s galling to hear people who really know nothing about my school disparage it.

I know that a lot of you reading this are unfamiliar with American football. One thing you need to know is this–tradition and ritual are sacred on football Saturdays in the South.

The coronation of a new monarch or the investiture of a pope are ritualistic events filled with pomp and circumstance. But those traditions can’t compare with what you’ll find on a dozen college campuses on a Southern football Saturday. Keep your champagne and communion wine, I’ll take bourbon and beer. And no matter if my team wins or loses on Saturday, I’ll still be a fan on Sunday.

This week, my beloved Vols take on A Free Man’s Dawgs. Both teams are coming off tough losses. I have to give Georgia the edge though—they’re just better. We’re in a rough patch now, but we will be back on top in a year or two.

If you happen to see the scores over the weekend, think about me and Chris—two true fans. I’m the one wearing orange. I think you already know what color Chris prefers.

Ah, shoot Cindy, almost makes me feel bad that the Dawgs are going to salvage their season by systematically dismantling the Vols this weekend.

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Image credits:

Game photos

Neyland

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