Good Ol' Rocky Top!!

It's Football Time in Tennessee (don't we miss John Ward??) This week's season opener was also an era opener for Coach Lane Kiffin. I was anxious to see if it would "feel" different with a new coaching staff. I was a student at UT when Coach Fulmer took over the position from long-time coach Johnny Majors. Coach Fulmer had been interim coaching for Coach Majors so that transition was pretty benign and I don't remember a definite "different feeling." We were at Fulmer's last game last year and it was a somewhat sobering experience. Regardless of whether you agreed with his termination or not, you had to respect the amount of time he had spent there, what he had accomplished while there, and that a chapter in Tennessee Football was coming to a close. Sniff, sniff. Fast forward nine months and the atmosphere for this season opener was anything but sobering. The sea of orange was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L and the crowd was ready (and a little drunk. Okay, a lot drunk).

We decided to try something a little different to get to the game this week. It was a beautiful, sunny, hot - and I repeat HOT, day. So why not take the boat? We had never done that before, and it was only Tony and I since the kids went to West Virginia with my mom and dad, so this was the perfect opportunity to try out something different.

This is how we knew we were getting close. The closer you got to the stadium, the more boat houses had these messages on them.

This is a perspective not everyone gets to see. Thompson Boling Arena, Neyland Stadium, and the Sunsphere.

The Vol Navy is an amazing site. There are not actual slips to tie up to, you just tie up to the boat on the end, then a boat ties up to you, etc... and you walk across everyone's decks to get to the dock. We didn't do this, we had an actual parking place - after all this is our maiden voyage.

A beautiful picture of the library and the new Glocker Business Building. I'm sure I own at least a small piece of this building... I wonder if the new building is hot in the summer and even hotter in the winter?

My beautiful niece and her boyfriend, Holly and Ryan.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band.

Coach Kiffin talking to QB Crompton.

The SEA OF ORANGE

I had trouble getting a whole video. I got parts of a touchdown, parts of Rocky Top, parts of the crowd, but never all together. This is as good as it gets on the video front... I think this is a touchdown in the 3rd quarter, either 42 or 49 but only got the beginning of Rocky Top. Oh well, I will try again next time.