Maybe I'm Part of the Problem

Discussion in 'Vols Football' started by MG1968, Oct 30, 2011.

  1. MG1968

    MG1968 New Member

    Maybe it's because I consider myself more of a "casual fan". Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of the UT Volunteers. I want to see them win every game they play and there is no other college team I want to see succeed at the expense of the Vols.

    However, I am not going to wrap so much of my identity around the actions of a group of 18-25 year olds that I would ever seriously consider killing myself when they fail miserably when playing a game.

    Sorry, but I have never drank the orange Kool-Aid. I don't use the term "we" when referring to the team's actions, both on and off the field. I'm not on the roster of either players or coaches, their success or failure is not because of me nor in spite of me. I don't get personally offended when a player is accused of committing a crime, although it is offensive when a player is actually convicted of a crime but is allowed to continue playing, I do not believe in success if it means sacrificing your reputation.

    Maybe it's because I wasn't raised in Tennessee and was never brought up in the culture of UT sports. My oldest son is certainly a bigger fan than I am and is far more emotionally attached than I ever will be.

    Or perhaps it happened during the Peyton Manning era, when I let myself buy into the hype, only to be crushed every time he lost to Florida. My cynicism was rewarded the year after he left and UT runs the table on their way to a National Championship.

    Now, with a coach in his second year and a team that's lost two of its brightest stars, I am supposed to jump on the bandwagon and ride it over the cliff in an act of mutual destruction? Give me a break, it's only a game.



    edit: I am also going to post this at VN where I am sure some of the 50-post-wizards are going to erupt in apoplectic rage at my heresy.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2011
  2. 615 Vol

    615 Vol Chieftain

    well said MG, I know I take it too serious at times. I guess I take the losses so hard because i enjoy seeing them win so much.
     
  3. Snakeonia

    Snakeonia Active Member

    everyone wants to win, hates to lose. but i'm not going to let it ruin my day/weekend/week if UT loses. when i was in college i def. had more emotion during the games. probably because my two teammates/roommates were bama fans.
     
  4. vollygirl

    vollygirl Guest

    But every part of life is like that, right? Some people are more invested or passionate about some things. I'm not a big food person. I really don't get some people who won't "lower" theirselves to eat at certain places. Or rave about a particular place this far above the rest. It's just food. To me.

    Everybody's extremes are different. That applies to men and women. Not that big of a deal.
     
  5. hallowed_hill

    hallowed_hill Active Member

    I say "we."
     
  6. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    Not true fans.


    But you're right, it is what it is: a game that I have no direct participation in. Still sucks, still willing to murder if it meant they'd be great again.
     
  7. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    We do too.
     
  8. vollygirl

    vollygirl Guest

    I'm making another pair of pompom pants to wear to work tomorrow for Halloween. I'm going as a Glutton for Punishment.
     
  9. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    I don't understand this post. To whom is it directed?
     
  10. That settles it. MG is the problem. Get the torches and pitchforks.

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Lexvol

    Lexvol Guest

    To some extent I wonder why people get all that upset this year. To me there really isn't a huge difference between 8-5/5-7. Both are mediocre results. It certainly isn't worth losing sleep over....even if the product is shit like it was last night.
     
  12. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    I hate you and your voice of reason, Lex.
     
  13. Beechervol

    Beechervol Super Moderator

    Reason goes out the window when we lose for me.

    Fire the staff, run the players off and padlock Neyland until we are worthy to walk back on that field.
     
  14. tvolsfan

    tvolsfan Chieftain

    It's not about the thrill of being 8-5, it just bothers me that we aren't seeing much which indicates we may be competing for championships anytime soon.
     
  15. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    Perhaps there is not much difference in reality, but perception matters and is not the same as reality.
     
  16. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    Same here brother
     
  17. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    I understand and appreciate the OP - but I take it personally.

    It's wrong. It's stupid. It's not healthy. I shouldn't do it. But I do.

    I haven't been able to sit through an entire game all season. Not one. We're either beating someone that we should beat, or getting the shit kicked out of us by someone who we have no prayer of beating.

    I love my mom, and while i would hope for the best for her - i also understand that she is an adult and could choose to be a truck stop whore - but that doesn't mean I have to watch it.

    I dont let it ruin my life, but losses definitely sting beyond the sound of the final whistle.
     
  18. vollygirl

    vollygirl Guest

    It's Tennessee football. Expectations have never been rational. We weren't raised that way. We just usually don't have to wait this long to see what we think we should. We really are a spoiled fan base.
     
  19. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    When Tennessee basketball suffered under Wade Houston and Buzz Peterson, it didn't make me feel any better that we stunk, so I should just say to myself "get over it, it isn't worth it, it isn't life or death, etc."

    We invest a lot of time, effort and money in supporting our teams and I think it is reasonable to expect something in return, even if they aren't very good. More to the point, being from the state of Tennessee I do believe the flagship university and its football team are reflections upon our state and its people, good or bad. So, yes, it is personal and thus, it brings into the conversation a world of emotions and perspectives otherwise sane individuals might find silly.
     
  20. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    I kind of take it differently. I didn't grow up loving the University's engineering department, even though a t-shirt I saw at a game spoke of its aerospace program. I didn't grow up loving the University's number of noble prizes, astronauts or computer science department.

    I grew up loving the University of Tennessee because of the football. It is what drove me to enroll in Tennessee as a young buck, for all the good that did me. It drove me to develop a love for the school. Love of the school didn't produce love of football. It was the other way around. Ever since watching my first Tennessee game, I wanted to attend UT. My one and only year on campus was a great year. And it is a huge regret that I didn't finish undergrad there, but that is life.

    And though my true "alma mater" is elsewhere, UT was my first mother. Because of the game, the fans, the tradition. And that devotion to the school is what led me back to the system for another type of education.

    So yea, what those kids do on Saturday does not directly affect me. It probably isn't going to change tuition, or the education, or maybe not even the educators, but you know what it does change? The people who attend the University of Tennessee. And that is worth being angry about when UT just goes out and looks foolish.

    Now let's all sing Kumbayah.
     

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