Those that attended The Battle of Bristol

Tidewater area is a hotbed

 

Yes

 

They would routinely mention and liken VT as being amongst schools like USC, Notre Dame, Bama, Tenn, etc. and with absolute equivocation, in all things. And talk of firm statistics, such as all-time wins, bowl results, student enrollment, national titles by conference, etc. just completely fell on deaf ears. When pressed to support some outlandish position, by-and-large, they would just stammer / blankly stare...and re-assert their original argument.

It wasn't a scientific study, by any means, but we spent considerable time over two days talking to maybe a few dozen of them - young, old, white, black, current students, alum, sidewalk alum - and they were as sincerely and consistently stupid as any similarly sized collection of fans from any other school I've ever encountered.

Miraculously, they were even dumber after the game, almost as if they were certain of being the only people to have seen it, and left me wondering what exactly they had been watching. Imagine if you were speaking to a USC fan after their season-opening drubbjg against Bama, and all they talked about were the tackles they made on second down, how the Bama RB could have easily tripped while streaking untouched down the field for a score, how lucky Bama was to have sacked their QB 12 times, etc. etc. It was that surreal. And, as we all know, everyone loves their team and wants to rep their colors, and is guilty of saying stuid shit all of the time in the heat of fending off opposing fans, but that such usually and quickly abates in legit personal conversation, but it didn't with these guys, and at any time before or after the game, and without a single exception that I personally encountered.

They made Memphis fans seem downright thoughtful, in comparison. They were like Branch-Davidians but with less charm, self-awareness and a greater religious-like zeal for a turd-idol of their own making. I lack the ability to more perfectly or succinctly describe my interactions with VT fans, than that.

 

we played them in a bowl game in 03 and it was the same thing. of course they were decent then.

 

Last story: After the game, one older guy (maybe late 50's) was jawing with us and was easily (but politely) beaten back on every point he made about VT's "dominance", he made some statement about what Tennessee fans would think of VT after the game, than before, basically wanting to know if we'd also sing their praises to others. I told him that we'd be the same going forward as we were coming in - that VT was just what we thought they were coming in - an average team firmly on the second tier of the ACC, and that we would quickly revert back to completely ignoring them as a non-entity after the game, just as we, and most everyone else in the SEC had seen them before. I don't think he would have punched me, but the fleeting thought undoubtedly crossed his mind. His friends just lead him away quickly thereafter, likely to join them in a healing group of self-affirmations.

 

my brother in law lived in DC and was always blown away by the delusion of their and Maryland's fanbases. He's a usc guy and he'd get arguments that vtech would beat usc during the carroll years.

 

Didn't USC crush VT to start a season under Carroll?

 

It was 2004, but I think it was relatively close iirc.

Edit: yeah, 24-13

 

They beat the shit out of Auburn, then.

 

i'm sure that's where this conversation came from. probably preseason.

 

yup. on the road with a qb in his first start.

 

National title year when the title was vacated. I believe the game was fairly close.

 

Eh. They may have, but I'm not a huge fan of the transitive thing. Let me put it this way, I think if you sub AU for OU in the title game Auburn might win, but them losing by 14+ is still a far more likely outcome.

 

Oops. Sorry to talk bad about family. I've got them in my tree, too.

 

I think that was Reggie Bush's premier. He was pretty impressive. Might have been a loss without him.

 

No problem, the last time I saw her, I told her we were distantly related , and her general demeanor was "you got to be kidding me". So just to mess with her, I went into a long litany about how we were related to Bob and Alfred Taylor, brothers who were both Tennessee governors, going into detail with the names of our mutual relatives. She struck me as a pompous, better than you type. Her mother was there too, and she confirmed with her all of our mutual relatives.

That's my one and only interaction with her, most likely the last.

 

Let me add this, the most important part of my Bristol trip -

My oldest son (age 11) and I were waiting in the concession line (my wife and what she alleges is my youngest son, age 7 had went to our seats, when the dull din of the stadium was shattered by the blast of 1,000 victoriously trumpeting horns and the simultaneously violent shaking of the earth as an army of angels ran at full charge toward us, separating the sea of humanity by an indescribably brilliant and beautiful light that filled all who felt it with a timelessly perfect peace and - and from the center of that heavenly light emerged the living embodiment of all that is good, right, decent and worthwhile in Tennessee legend - one Mr. Al Wilson.

Fearing our certain blindness, I dared not look directly at him, and shielded the eyes of my son as I simply waved and said hello, content that we would simply feel his aura as he passed by. Miraculously, he remembered me from my days as a tutor, and walked over to say hello. He was gracious, kind and generous in reminiscing for a moment, and especially for genuinely taking his time in speaking to my son. My son described a large poster of Al that we made and framed especially for his room, and which still hangs there to this day. Al asked if he'd like to take another one to hang beside it, of just the two of them, and to which my son readily agreed. We said our goodbyes and he quickly disappeared amidst an entourage of Vol handlers, assumedly, to go to the locker room and just menacingly stare at Butch Jones and the team.

So, the Battle of Bristol would have been more than worth it, if we'd have left right then, having won or lost the game, at any cost, and had we been required to crawl to and from it. To see my son meet Al Wilson was one of my favorite Tennessee moments ever, gents. It was like introducing my best friend to the love of my life, but better. Gave me legit chills when he asked my son for a picture - especially since I had no intention of troubling him to ask for one. Maybe he knew that I wasn't going to ask. Of course he did, he's Al ****ing Wilson, and he knows everything.

 

Awesome, TD

 

Your son is now destined for greatness, having been touched by Al ****ing Wilson. Did your son's shirt smell like Badass after that?