LARGETONY Blog

You know the anticipation that kids feel when Christmas is around the corner and they can hardly wait for Santa to arrive? I’m feeling that. You know the nervous excitment a bride is feeling on her wedding day, thrilled and scared all at the same time? I’m feeling that. You know that feeling that a virgin boy is feeling just before he’s about to dip his wick for the first time, where he knows he’s going to score, but is unsure of just how big? I’m feeling that, too. Hell, I’m feeling a lot of things: excited, nervous, psyched, anxious, stoked, proud, and maybe even a little aroused. Why? Because it’s “Football Time In Tennessee!”

That’s the phrase the radio announcer uses at the opening kick-off of every University of Tennessee game. And one week from today a crowd of around 108,000 live and millions across the nation will errupt with cheers over the opening kick-off at the opening game of 2005. See.. for all you gay men who turn your noses up at football, there’s lots of openings. And tight ends, and wide receivers, and tackles, and rushing, and end zones, and yellow hankies, and men down, and ball handlers, and quarterback sack, “penetrating the line,” and “putting it through the uprights.” Think about it, even if you can’t enjoy the game, you can at least enjoy the puns.

And you can enjoy hot images like the one above that really have nothing to do with the actual game.

The college football season officially begins with some games this Thursday, but college games are traditionally played on Saturday and none of the major schools or football programs play until this Saturday, so the ones on Thursday and Friday of this week don’t count. (O.K. I admit I am a bit of a snob, favoring dynasty and Top 25 teams. If I have offended any of you who attended small colleges or non I-A division schools, I apologize. I’m sure they are very good schools…but they can’t play football for shit!)

By Top 25, for those of you who don’t know, I mean the polls that rank teams throughout the season based on wins and losses (and who they played, and how much they won by….I could go on and on about how the polls work, but you’d stop reading for sure). There are three major polls: The Coaches Poll (voted on by the college coaches and sponsored by USAToday); The AP Poll (Associated Press, voted on by sports journalists); and the BCS Poll (Bowl Championship Series, which is a mathematical combination of various polls…very convoluted and very controversial) which is, in a way, the most important poll because it determines who goes to the 4 top bowl games (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, andOrange) at the end of the season and, in turn, determines who is the National Champion.

So, I am doubly excited and nervous about this season because the pre-season polls are out and the Coaches and AP Poll both have Tennessee ranked at #3 in the nation! Can I get a “HELL, YEAH!??” (The BCS doesn’t begin ranking until mid-season). Many of the polls in the sports magazines have Tennessee as high as #2! I think every poll on the planet has University of So. Cal (USC Trojans) ranked at #1. And they deserved that ranking. They have virtually every top player, who led to their National Championship last year, returning. Including their Heisman trophy winning quarterback Matt Lienart. The preseason polls are pretty much determined by who is returning from last season and which top high school players have been recruited the freshman class of which teams. Apparantly, Tennessee is looking strong in both cases.

You read any sports writer and everyone pretty much says that USC is #1 (and will probably remain that way) and that the only hope for other teams to get into the national championship game is to gain the #2 spot, held preseason by University of Texas. (That’s the other UT. ) Most feel that #2 is pretty much up for grabs among the top 5 or 6 teams, particularly Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, Oklahoma, and LSU. All strong teams, so it’s going to be a hell of a roller coaster ride. In a sense, Michigan just might have a bit of an edge in that Texas and Oklahoma play each other, so one will knock the other out. The same goes for Tennessee and LSU. But before you Michigan fans get too cozy, keep in mind that rival Ohio State is not far out of the Top 5 (depending on which poll).

You know, of course, that I did not go to college, but that’s the great thing about Tennessee Football. You didn’t have to go to school there to get caught up in one of the most exciting football programs in the nation. You don’t even have to live near Knoxville (but it helps). People drive from all over the state and many other states every Saturday just to watch the Vols play. And all those who can’t drive/fly/Segway in listen on the radio and/or watch it on TV. Almost all of Tennessee’s games are televised nationally. That’s because Vol fans are EVERWHERE.

And don’t confuse the UT of Tennessee with the UT of Texas. To the layperson, it’s easy to do. First there is the obvious “UT” initials, but they also have similar school colors. Both orange and white. But Tennessee’s orange is a bright somewhat yellowy orange. Texas’ is a darker burnt (read:ugly) orange. So if you see someone wearing a cap with an orange “T” on it…check the shade before you offend the wearer by referring to the wrong school. If they are wearing something with a bull’s head on it, that’s Texas. They are the “Longhorns.” See, more puns! And if you hear people talk about Tennessee football, they mean the Vols. Not the Titans. The Tennessee Titans are NFL pro team. If people are talking about the Titans, they say “the Titans,” not “Tennessee.”

While it’s thrilling to see Tennessee start the season ranked so high, it also has my stomach in knots already (if you read any of my posts from last season, you know how these games tend to effect me physically). When you start lower in the polls like 8 or 10 then you claw you way to the top and just the fighting spirit keeps you going. But when you start in the top 3, there is no place to go but slightly higher, or waaaaaaaaaaaaay down. It’s like working out. It;s most exciting and you work harder when you are making gains. Once you are starting to achieve something and need to maintain it, it’s not always as much fun.

To stay on top, and make it into that magic #2 spot, Tennessee has got to win all its games….and win BIG. It’s not just enough to win when you are ranked high. You have to dominate your opponent and prove that you belong there. That has me a little nervous becuase Tennessee has traditionally been one of those teams that comes from behind to squeaked it out, or to stay the course and hold on to a win in danger situations. Domination has never been the style of the Vols. Even in 1998 when we won the national championship, it was because it was tough win after tough win, scratching and fighting, until when all the dust settled Tennessee was the only undefeated team in the nation.

Whether Tennessee can do it again remains to be seen. But the tools are there to do it. In fact, we’ll know pretty early whether there is a national championship possibility. There are a couple of games that are key to success. And, unfortunately, each of them is an away game. But if the polls have Tennessee ranked high even without the home field advantage, maybe things look good. Here’s what to look out for:

September 17- TN vs. Florida Gators (at Florida).
Bitter rivalry is at play here from the days when the hated Steve Spurrier (who wrote the book on humiliating domination) coached at Florida. Emotions always run high in this game…whihc sometimes can lead to stupid mistakes. Florida and Tennessee have the 2nd and 3rd largest stadiums in the country, so home filed advantage can be a big factor, whether in Knoxville or Gainesville.

September 24- TN vs. LSU (at Baton Rouge).
This is Tennessee’s toughest opponent and it comes one week after a highly emotional game (Florida) and it’s away. And what compounds it more is that LSU is after that #2 spot in the National rankings, too. Which ever teams loses this one will pretty much be out of the national picture, and most likely out of BCS bowls.

And if that’s not enough, these are the two teams considered the best candidates to face each other in the Southeastern Conference Championship in December. So, it’s very possible that TN and LSU will play each other twice this year. So, in essence, we have to beat them twice. Because if we win the first time (and do well the remainder of the season) it will put us in good position to go to National Championship game. I know that they will do anything to knock us out of the running in that 2nd game. We would do the same. It’s that kind of thing of, if we can’t go to the big game, we’re going to make sure you can’t either.

So, since those are our 2nd and 3rd games, we’ll know pretty damned quick what Tennessee is made of this year.

Wow. I never intended to write so much. But you all know how I tend to drone on sometime. Especially if its something that excited me. So, just consider this a primer to understand what I’ll be talking about the next several Saturdays.

I’ll let you all off the hook now and go somewhere and to quitely and meditate on it all. Maybe I can send some fan energy down the lockeroom in Knoxville. Visualize victory and make it so. (Chanting) Be the game…Be the ball.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 27th, 2005 at 11:53 pm and is filed under football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.