Fans of both teams started pouring into Knoxville earlier than normal on Saturday for the big rivalry. Sara and I left Franklin at 6:30. We met Chris and Landon in a Methodist church parking lot about a mile from Neyland at 10:30. We walked through the campus to Thompson-Boling to watch the UT
mens' team practice. Looks like we've got alot of really good athletes on the team this year. After lunch, we headed for the Vol Walk.We got Sara and Landon on the inside of the line so they could high-five the players as they went by. Sara had a HUGE smile on her face as she slapped both Erik Ainge's and Brett Smith's hands. She even got to chest-bump Trooper Taylor. Even though it was just an accidental one. See, Trooper chest-bumps any and all willing participants. He bumped one guy, and his momentum carried over to where Sara was standing. Didn't matter to her - she considered it an official chest bump.
The first half wasn't pretty on the offensive
side of the ball, to say the least. And even though we didn't take the lead until about 2+ minutes left in the game with a 1-yard dive by Foster, a win's a win. The defense stepped up and preserved the victory with a couple of big sacks by Antonio Reynolds and Jerod Mayo. And most of Neyland was standing and yelling for the entire fourth quarter. The line of the day had to go to the guy I heard talking on his cell phone in the men's room. He was standing there and here's what I heard: "Huh? Yeah. No, actually I'm peein'. Huh? Yeah, I said I'm peein'! Heh-heh-heh!"
Sara called the bride when we got to the car and the first thing she said was, "Mom! Guess what? We saw, like, three fights after the game!" It never fails during a rivalry game. Combine the hatred some fans have for the other's team with a bit of liquid refreshment and the trouble could start at any time.
My first UT/Bama game at Neyland was one to remember, that's for sure.....
No comments:
Post a Comment