Darn Those Tennessee Vols
 

This year I had vowed to watch as little college football as possible. Then last Saturday Tennessee upset the apple cart and ruined my vow when they lost to a Georgia State team that was 2-10 last season. I don't know what it is but anytime those orange pukes and their obnoxious fan base lose it makes me feel good all over. I guess I'll be watching some college football after all unless Tennessee starts winning. That would make me feel awful.

Okay, spill the beans. Why do you detest the Vols?

I kind of like Tennessee and I really get a kick out of reading their forum at volnation.com. They hate everyone else, feel like should be good enough to win the national title every year, and want to get rid of the coaches and players after every lost. They are convinced they have the best football history of all time because of General Neyland.

And this is different how from every other band of young men, and women, who play sports and those who follow them these days? Not very admirable traits, I assure you, but there you are. I am interested in why OP specifically abominates these Vols. There must be something.

Since Buster hasn't responded yet, I thought I would take a guess as to why he abominates those Vols. My guess is that he lives in the Tennessee area, but isn't native to that region. He probably moved there some time back and upon doing so, was instantly bombarded with Vol love, hype and boring rude behavior by Volunteer fans. He tried at first to ignore it, but with each year that went by, such behavior started grating on his very last nerve...………………….oh and if I'm wrong, just use that to describe why I abominate the LSU Tigers. :o:o

Is there an actual fan base in the SEC that is likeable? I think Vandy is the only group that has never touched my nerve. They've been especially obnoxious trying to claim Bama lost to Clemson because they had to go thru the SEC gauntlet.

THEY LOST BY 4 TOUCHDOWNS!!!!!!!!!!

That's reasonably close. I don't live in Tennessee but I do live in an area where there are a lot of Vol fans and they are all the most obnoxious a-holes you'll ever meet in your life. Plus, I detest the color orange which should be reserved for convicts picking up trash on the side of the road.

I'll also agree with another poster above in that UT message boards are a hoot to read. Their fanbase really does feel they're entitled to contend for a national championship every year despite the fact that it's been down for over a decade and doesn't look like it's going to return to prominence anytime soon.

Kentucky football fans, aka The Fellowship of the Miserable, aren't too bad but their basketball fans more than make up for it. Fans of the two Mississippi schools are tolerable although Ole Miss fans have a bit of an entitlement mentality from when they were good back in the 50's and 60's. Fans of conference newbie Missouri seem okay too but that could change if they ever get their basketball program going again. I remember an opposing hoops coach once said their fans were the nastiest in the country and none of them know who their mamas are. As for Vandy they don't have that many fans in football so that works in their favor but Memorial Gym has long been a feared destination for SEC basketball foes. After Rupp Arena, it's probably the toughest road trip in the conference. That tells me that there have to be plenty of obnoxious Vandy fans out there at least in hoops.

Thanks. This resonates with something I read about Kirk Herbstreit that I linked to in that thread: "Herbstreit and family moved from his home in Ohio in 2011 because of harassment by vocal Ohio State fans accusing him of directly criticizing his alma mater. Herbstreit was quoted as saying 'It's the vocal minority that make it rough. They probably represent 5 to 10% of the fan base but they are relentless.'"

It's sad, really, because it has to do with the dumbing down of life and the uncivilizing of society. I scarcely think that this type of behavior is unique of Tennessee fans, or Ohio State fans, or any others that you may name. College and high school sports should be put back in their place and people should be kind and considerate to each other. Root for your team, yes, but stop this rabid hatred, victory at all costs, no holds barred stuff.

Sure, and Meg Ryan should have married me when I telepathically asked her to, way back when. :rolleyes:

You echoed my position. If the football fans aren't obnoxious the basketball ones are. They have a Paris Hilton "famous for being famous" quality about their football programs. THey don't have all the substance to back up the rep they've garnered. They think being in the SEC makes them automatically great. "It just means more". "There is speed and there is SEC speed". The audacity to claim a program that can't even win their half of their division is worthy of being among 4 teams playing for the national title. It is nauseating. The arrogance. The entitlement. Ugh.

College sports fandom was always bizarre to me when I lived there. People would become fans of university sports, wear there apparel and keep up with them. But they were not alumni, knew no one that was and in most cases had never set set foot on the university campus.

Here university sports is mostly ignored so it was weird to go soenwhere where it was followed so closely.

I always feel sorry for those who feel the need to root "Against" something instead of "For" something.

The ones that annoy me are the fans of different schools in different sports. Locally, there are ton of dook basketball fans but ignore them in football. They used to claim Miami & Florida State. They probably now are all Bama football fans. Bunch of bandwagon-hopping, front-runners.

You reminded me of the old joke: What's rarer---a Duke football fan or a Virginia Tech basketball fan? The answer was that nobody knows because nobody has ever seen either.

From following European, mostly Premiere League, football for quite a while now, I think that, maybe because there is not a European equivalent of the US college sports scene, support for the local football club is very similar in nature to how Americans root for their college teams.

• While there are passionate supporters for US professional teams, they are nowhere near as crazy as support for college teams.
• Fans of both tend to accept, to some degree, the team's station in life. West Ham supporters are not expecting to win the Prem anytime soon. they want to improve, avoid relegation, perform well against regional rivals, but they know that they are not a Big Six team. Similarly, a team in a smaller conference isn't expecting to make the College Football Playoffs; they want to do well in their conference, get into a Bowl game and win that.Conversely, every NFL team is on fairly level terms, financially, and should expect to make the playoffs every few years.
• Related to the previous point, European teams do not pack up and move to another city. As fortunes wax or wane, they move up and down through the pyramid, but Notts County is still Notts County. they may have once been in the top league, not they are 3rd or 4th division, but they are still the same team, in the same place, with the same history.

Also, pro teams weren't as widespread 25 yrs ago like they are now. Only the largest of metro cities had teams. But small towns can have colleges. Thus, teams. And they breed fans. Students get wild at the games for 4 years. Each incoming class is a new bumper crop that will stay in touch w/their school after graduation thru homecomings and donations. They will pass that love onto their kids. So Chapel Hill, NC may only have a population of 60,000, but the university has alumni that numbers in the millions.

Not to mention locals love it when the team does well because it "puts them on the map." Who would know anything about Tuscaloosa, Ann Arbor, Norman, South Bend if it weren't for the athletic programs?

Well, Buster Cherry, I hope you were watching BYU vs. Tennessee on ESPN tonight. The Cougars handed the Vols a heartbreaking loss in double OT. Right after the game, there were several shots of Vol fans stunned, holding their heads in their hands. Quite gratifying to you, I would imagine. :)

You've obviously never dealt with Florida fans in mass.

You failed to mention where Herby moved to...…………...yep, that's right. Tennessee.

Oh gosh. Well, maybe he's learned his lesson about dissing the home team. :p