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by Noah Bowman

Sunday’s night game against UNLV was my first real football experience as an East Tennessean. New to the state, having recently transplanted from all of north, central and south Florida—and a devout fan of the apparently widely-detested Gators—I was pretty skeptical of the supposed “superior” love and devotion the Volunteer fans have long claimed to possess for their sacred team of athletic brats.

Well, come Monday morning, the day after the Vols’ somewhat impressive 42-17 season-opening victory over the Rebels, I was a little ashamed and embarrassed to admit (but will, if only for my personal integrity and sense of self-worth) that after witnessing first-hand how the city of Knoxville celebrates its pride in the university’s football players, school history and precious home games at Neyland Stadium, my faith in what is now Ron Zook’s (and was once the great Steve Spurrier’s) has faltered.

Is it possible, after merely one gameday, to have been turned after so many years of enthusiastic gator-chomping and the most extreme feelings of SEC elitism? I hesitate to admit it, but I think so.

All that “Volunteer Country,” “Orange Nation,” “Smokey the Hound,” “Fulmer Fanatics,” “Peyton’s Place” hype I previously thought of as cheesy has strangely become appealing. I woke up the next morning wondering how I could inexpensively—yet tastefully—cover up or possibly erase the blue from my extensive collection of Gator shirts, baseball caps and jackets.

My God, what have I become?

In all my life, I’ve never witnessed a more impressive showing of support than that of Sunday’s all-day event. I arrived on the Cumberland Avenue strip somewhere around 3 p.m. and was immediately awash in a living sea of bright orange. Everywhere I turned, there was orange: orange flags, orange faces, shirts, hats, station wagons, infants, pets! I was caught like a helpless blue leaf in an intense surge of extreme Volunteer devotion...and secretly, down deep, kind of enjoyed it.

At one point, from the busy sidewalk, I watched in pure amazement as a checkered-orange pick-up truck honked by with a skinny old woman dancing around on its flatbed. She had a crazed look in her eyes and was singing “Rocky Top” into a (you guessed it) orange bullhorn while little Volunteer flags poked out from within her special orange wig.

That “Rocky Top” anthem was everywhere! It pumped out from crowded sidestreet bars, portable radios and blown-out car speakers. It fell out of the garbling mouths of drunk frat-boys and tipsy sorority sisters, and I marveled at a marching gang of 7-year-old girls dressed up like miniature Tennessee cheerleaders who out-sang all the others.

The mood was unlike any university town that I’ve ever experienced; it was high-spirited, yet still light-hearted. There was no aggressive yelling or name-calling. No one was looking for a fight. And the few UNLV fans who made the trip east were greeted and treated like family, albeit third cousins who are never really taken seriously at the annual reunions, but family nonetheless. I can’t tell you how many times, and not only at Gator games, I’ve seen fans of opposing teams pelted with beer cans, glass bottles, half-eaten hotdogs and whatever else could be used as a missile.

Everything from the famous Vol Walk, to the scores and scores of impressive tailgate parties, to the way UT’s head coach made a point of walking up and down the field’s sidelines during the pre-game warm-ups and shook all of the extended hands of the fans, left me in awe. There I was, among thousands of orange-obsessed people, people young and old, educated and not-so-educated, attractive and, well, not-so-attractive, all brought together by a simple, unbreakable bond: the unconditional love for a college football team made up of virtually the same ingredients as all other college school football teams. Yet, it was different, and I truly loved it.

So I guess the answer to the question I keep asking myself is a loud and affirmative, “Yes.” I have, in the course of only a single day, been turned. From this point on, I’ll be a proud UT fan and will remain one, until, at least, my Gator friends come up for the Sept. 18 game against the dreaded University of Florida.

September 16, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 38 © 2004 Metro Pulse