Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005
John Pennington yesterday asked readers to respond to six questions to gauge expectations of Tennessee Volunteers fans. Here’s what he found:
- 47% of fans expect the Vols to win 2 SEC Championships every 10 years.
- 47% of fans believe that three or more losses in any given season is “unacceptable.”
- A large majority of fans (83%) believe that Head Coach Phillip Fulmer has earned the right to turn this season around.
- 73% of fans think that even a win against Notre Dame this weekend won’t salvage the season.
- Fans were split on whether the fans at the game Saturday night with bags over their heads were fair weather fans or simply making a funny statement.
- 61% of the fans believe that Coach Fulmer would be on the same hot seat that former coach Johnny Majors found himself on after his three-game losing streak if Clint Stoerner hadn’t fumbled in 1998 and allowed UT to go undefeated.
Posted in Coach Fulmer, Coach Majors, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Tennessee Volunteer Football | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 18th, 2005
John Pennington’s random thoughts for the day:
- Is there a happy medium between a Johnny Majors-esque live-in-fear-for-your-job mentality with respect to assistant coaches and the Fulmer-ish we-are-all-a-family approach?
- Ohio State fans handle disappointment better than Tennessee fans.
OSU is a mirror of UT in almost EVERY way this season. But their fans packed the stadium and were IN the game from start to finish. Even when Michigan State was capitalizing on OSU special teams fumbles… the fans would immediately re-charge their batteries and begin screaming again with the ensuing kickoff.
That’s what Neyland Stadium USED to be. Personally, I think Vol fans grew spoiled during the Manning Era (and the immediate aftermath) and now they look at the game as they would a film or an opera. “Entertain me!” Sure that’s a fair assessment.
But Vol fans used to look at the games as THEIR chance to get involved. They seemed to believe that they were as important a part of a Vol victory as the team was. And that’s a far cry from, “Entertain me!”
- An outsider’s perspective on Neyland Stadium:
“The most uncomfortable stadium in America.” The seats are too small from side-to-side and there’s very little room front-to-back, either (according to [Pennington’s friend]). If you’re not driving your knees into someone’s back, then somebody else has theirs in yours.
- Volunteer bowl projections look disappointing.
- You know any Kentucky football coach has his work cut out for him when the local media has pre-game coverage of a basketball practice during football season.
- Calls to replace Randy Sanders with Trooper Taylor because Trooper offers a lot of excitement is like “choosing a doctor because he’s got good hair.”
- Gerald Riggs is “Cedric Houston Part 2.” Good, but not great.
- The guy who created firerandysanders.com (intentionally not a link) deserves the same treatment. Go read Pennington’s suggestions here.
- Tennessee might have been able to beat Alabama last week, but now that the Crimson Tide has had their wake-up call, it’s much more difficult to call.
Pennington, as always, is full of insight. Today’s blog is lengthy, but worth the read.
Posted in Alabama, Cedric Houston, Coach Majors, Coach Sanders, Coach Taylor, Gerald Riggs, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Peyton Manning, Tennessee, Tennessee Volunteer Football | No Comments »
