Great outcome today! Bucket list #64 scratched off. I admit I fell in the trap of letting hometown fans influence my confidence going into this game. I am overjoyed by the outcome. Cut me some slack though. I am a longtime Missouri fan. The trepidation that I had was made worse when I entered into Neyland Stadium and heard 90,000 orange clad fans cheering their team as they entered the field. It wasn't sellout (approx 102,000 capacity). I thought this game could easily swing in the Vols favor if we let the fans stay in this game. I made myself get a close up look prior to the game to watch Mizzou players warm up. They seemed very loose. Too loose actually. I saw a lot of dancing around to the loud hip hop music blasting over the magnified PA system. I thought this was either a really good sign of confidence or they were way too loose and maybe a taking the Vols too lightly. I totally forgot that we blew out these guys 50-17 last year. After the first few drives I really got nervous. Fast forward to the second half (after Tenny's opening drive that started with another sample of horrid MU kick coverage) and I grew relieved, confident and darn well proud. Very pleased with this victory, my experience in Knoxville, Drew, Dline, Oline, running game, coaching (Golden Girls) and most everything.
I highly recommend making this trip to anyone wanting a really good away game experience. The stadium is very spirited and makes you proud to be in the SEC. The pre-game Vol Walk is really special. It's a parade with tens of thousands of people watching and cheering and just being happy. The stadium is cool but not like NFL cool. It's piece-mealed after years of expansions, etc. The food in the stadium is surprisingly unremarkable. The Vol Navy lined up along the Tennessee River for pre and post game tailgating was neat but not at all what I was expecting. I guess I was thinking 'party cove' but it's not quite that. Still pretty cool and very unique. I did get sick of hearing 'Rocky Top' but they didn't get to play it as much as they probably would have liked to. Thank goodness. It's still less annoying than Boomer Sooner! I will share something that I thought was cool. The UT band played Fight Tiger to welcome Missouri fans to Neyland. This is a tradition that they do for visiting teams each week. Very classy. I also found the fans and natives around Knoxville to be extremely pleasant. My wife was blown away by how many people welcomed us to Tennessee and thanked us for visiting. Two people asked us after the game if we knew how "your boy is doing" referring to our player who was helped off the field. We should have reciprocated by asking about how their injured players were doing but there were so many that we knocked out of the game I couldn't remember their names and didn't want to leave any out! That would be such a Yankee move.
Are the Vols fans delusional? I don't think so. I think they are still in shock that they have had such a long sustained down period. Yes, just like Nub fans except with more courtesy and passion that only the SEC can bring. I think they are still surprised that a team from the Big 12 can actually compete in the SEC and has surpassed them, Ole Miss, Arky and others and holds its own against Florida and others. And isn't just a flash in the pan. Part of it is denial. Part is a deep longing to be relevant again. As a Royals, Chiefs and Mizzou fan I know what that feels like. But the Vols have 6-7 national championships. Just ask them they will tell you. They haven't won one in 20 years and have only won two in my life time (I think 1967 was the most recent before 1998). It's very similar to Nebraska but we just don't have to hear about their glory days as much as we do from our neighbors, the children of the corn. Just enjoy that we are more relevant than either program and meanwhile, Kansas, K-State, Illinois and Arky all suck. Next week will be fun to watch Vandy beat Tenny for state bragging rights and knock the Vols out of bowl eligibility. Go black & gold brethren (Commodores)!
I was also blown away by the great food I devoured throughout Tennessee. My culinary conquest started in Nashville at Tupelo Honey where I dined on sweet potato pancakes with southern fried chicken and great biscuits with homemade blackberry jam. They have one in Knoxville and a few others located in the South. I'm a pancake nut so I was in heaven eating my way across East Tenn doing damage at these famous flapjack havens: Log Cabin Pancake House (blueberry); Little House of Pancakes (I mixed pecan with blueberry and banana pancakes which was a genius move); and Crockett's Breakfast Camp (cornmeal that were over one inch think, dense, buttery...). I had already defeated the Pancake Pantry on a previous trip to Nashville (cinnamon-apple) so I skipped the one in Gatlinburg (until next trip).
As for southern, spicy fried chicken you have to eat at Myrtle's in Knoxville's Market Square. Unbelievable! We got a few orders to go and 'tailgated' on the top deck of the parking garage next to Neyland while watching the Vol Navy and listening to Rocky Top a few dozen times.
I really thought Gatlinburg was very nice. Much better than Branson. It's surrounded by the Smokey Mountains, has waterfalls and roaring rivers cutting through the town and looks more like a mountain village in Europe than Branson's mishmash. We drove through the Smokey Mountain National Park, hiked, saw two black bears, 20 turkeys, and amazing foliage. Great peaceful trip, excellent food, amazing game and great memories for my family.
Enjoy this season. It could have been better and it could have been worse. Enjoy America's great college football tradition. It's what ties us PMers and millions more together every autumn Saturday. Hope to see you all next Friday. MIZ...
I highly recommend making this trip to anyone wanting a really good away game experience. The stadium is very spirited and makes you proud to be in the SEC. The pre-game Vol Walk is really special. It's a parade with tens of thousands of people watching and cheering and just being happy. The stadium is cool but not like NFL cool. It's piece-mealed after years of expansions, etc. The food in the stadium is surprisingly unremarkable. The Vol Navy lined up along the Tennessee River for pre and post game tailgating was neat but not at all what I was expecting. I guess I was thinking 'party cove' but it's not quite that. Still pretty cool and very unique. I did get sick of hearing 'Rocky Top' but they didn't get to play it as much as they probably would have liked to. Thank goodness. It's still less annoying than Boomer Sooner! I will share something that I thought was cool. The UT band played Fight Tiger to welcome Missouri fans to Neyland. This is a tradition that they do for visiting teams each week. Very classy. I also found the fans and natives around Knoxville to be extremely pleasant. My wife was blown away by how many people welcomed us to Tennessee and thanked us for visiting. Two people asked us after the game if we knew how "your boy is doing" referring to our player who was helped off the field. We should have reciprocated by asking about how their injured players were doing but there were so many that we knocked out of the game I couldn't remember their names and didn't want to leave any out! That would be such a Yankee move.
Are the Vols fans delusional? I don't think so. I think they are still in shock that they have had such a long sustained down period. Yes, just like Nub fans except with more courtesy and passion that only the SEC can bring. I think they are still surprised that a team from the Big 12 can actually compete in the SEC and has surpassed them, Ole Miss, Arky and others and holds its own against Florida and others. And isn't just a flash in the pan. Part of it is denial. Part is a deep longing to be relevant again. As a Royals, Chiefs and Mizzou fan I know what that feels like. But the Vols have 6-7 national championships. Just ask them they will tell you. They haven't won one in 20 years and have only won two in my life time (I think 1967 was the most recent before 1998). It's very similar to Nebraska but we just don't have to hear about their glory days as much as we do from our neighbors, the children of the corn. Just enjoy that we are more relevant than either program and meanwhile, Kansas, K-State, Illinois and Arky all suck. Next week will be fun to watch Vandy beat Tenny for state bragging rights and knock the Vols out of bowl eligibility. Go black & gold brethren (Commodores)!
I was also blown away by the great food I devoured throughout Tennessee. My culinary conquest started in Nashville at Tupelo Honey where I dined on sweet potato pancakes with southern fried chicken and great biscuits with homemade blackberry jam. They have one in Knoxville and a few others located in the South. I'm a pancake nut so I was in heaven eating my way across East Tenn doing damage at these famous flapjack havens: Log Cabin Pancake House (blueberry); Little House of Pancakes (I mixed pecan with blueberry and banana pancakes which was a genius move); and Crockett's Breakfast Camp (cornmeal that were over one inch think, dense, buttery...). I had already defeated the Pancake Pantry on a previous trip to Nashville (cinnamon-apple) so I skipped the one in Gatlinburg (until next trip).
As for southern, spicy fried chicken you have to eat at Myrtle's in Knoxville's Market Square. Unbelievable! We got a few orders to go and 'tailgated' on the top deck of the parking garage next to Neyland while watching the Vol Navy and listening to Rocky Top a few dozen times.
I really thought Gatlinburg was very nice. Much better than Branson. It's surrounded by the Smokey Mountains, has waterfalls and roaring rivers cutting through the town and looks more like a mountain village in Europe than Branson's mishmash. We drove through the Smokey Mountain National Park, hiked, saw two black bears, 20 turkeys, and amazing foliage. Great peaceful trip, excellent food, amazing game and great memories for my family.
Enjoy this season. It could have been better and it could have been worse. Enjoy America's great college football tradition. It's what ties us PMers and millions more together every autumn Saturday. Hope to see you all next Friday. MIZ...
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