70 Straight Games of Big Orange Memories and the lessons they taught me.
By Scott Felts
Tennessee Football may not be exactly where a lot of fans want it to be, but on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium this fan will be exactly where he wants to be. Wins aren’t coming in as many bunches as we would like, but when it really comes down to it, there aren’t many better places to be on a fall night in hills of Tennessee than Neyland Stadium watching the Vols play.
A lot of friends and coworkers probably don’t understand why I make such a fuss over Tennessee Football. They don’t understand how someone could put “a game” ahead of so many other things in life. Simply put, they probably think I’m crazy.
My thought however is that Tennessee Football is more than just “a game”. Tennessee Football, and in particular Tennessee Football inside Neyland Stadium only happens for seven to eight Saturdays a year. Tennessee Football is something that brings friends together, it brings strangers together and it serves as an outlet of both emotion and energy.
All year long that energy and emotion builds up, and you only have seven to eight chances to get rid of enough of it to survive until the seven to eight opportunities next year. You only have those seven to eight chances to meet new friends that may sit around you, or tailgate next to you. You only have each of those few chances to spend time with those close to you, doing something that you both love.
It is in those chances that I learned to enjoy every day, even the bad ones, like I savor every play. When that interception comes in the fourth quarter, are you even thinking about that argument from two days earlier? When Rocky Top roars after a touchdown are you thinking about that deadline at work?
Use Tennessee Football for more than “a game”. Use it as a lesson for how to live your life. If you can suspend the importance of those issues for seven to eight Saturdays a year, why can’t you change the way those and any other number of things affect you the other 357 to 358 days a year?
A friend of mine recently lost his nineteen year old daughter to illness. As I sat down to write this article, it was only going to be about stats and scores and wins and losses. But as I sit here typing, I realize that Tennessee Football is more than all of that. Tennessee Football is an opportunity to share time with loved ones doing something that brings smiles to children’s faces and tears to old timer’s eyes. Tennessee Football is a moment in time that can’t be faked. No matter how many straight games you go to, each moment stands on its own and unfortunately can’t be duplicated.
Don’t you think that if it could, my friend would go to every game wanting to see Tennessee play UT Martin and win 50-0? That’s the first Tennessee game he and his daughter ever went to together. It was also the last. I was lucky. I was able to see that moment. I was able to see a father spending a beautiful fall day with his little girl. I was able to see a father struggle and be in pain to keep up with an excited tour guide named Scott all so he could share that moment with his little girl. I was able to take their picture as they embraced and smiled as only a father and daughter do when they are together. I was able to go to a Tennessee Football game.
Seventy straight games.
Wins over Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Arkansas and more.
Overtime thrillers and last-second chillers.
Three head coaches and more players than I could begin to count.
But most importantly, one father and one daughter; sharing one moment that may not be able to be repeated, but will certainly be remembered….forever.
