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Posted on 6/1/12 at 11:49 am to blzr
Personally, I think the Iron Bowl is a bigger game and the big rivalry. Saying that, I do hate UT much more than AU. Auburn is sort of like my one cousin, he's a complete dick that I can barely stand, but we are related and in the end the family wouldn't be the same without him. UT on the other hand is like the a-hole neighbor that you can't stand in any way shape of form. This is the guy that you wish his house would burn down so he would get the hell out of your neighborhood.
Posted on 6/1/12 at 2:36 pm to blzr
I'm only 30 and while I will not discout the Iron Bowl the UT game is probably my favorite. I hate those bastards. Below is an email I sent to a non SEC friend before I took him to the TSIO game last year.
Yeah, tldr
UT Hate Primer
The History of Hate
The game is known as the Third Saturday of October, due to its traditional date on the calendar before the SEC started shuffling schedules in an attempt to give every opponent an open week before playing Alabama. One could set their watch to it, and in the states of Alabama and Tennessee, it was just known not to pick that weekend for a wedding. It is among the oldest rivalries in the south, with the first game being played in 1901. I believe it is the finest, edging out the slightly older Auburn/Georgia rivalry due to the fact that the Third Saturday has historically hosted more games with higher stakes than Auburn/ Georgia. The series is probably most notable due to its uncanny knack for streaks, which of course tend to elevate tension and hate. The biggest streaks include Alabama's 7,11, and 9 (unbeaten) game streaks starting in 1905, 1971, and 1986, respectively. Tennessee reeled off 7 wins starting in 1995. Alabama is currently riding a 4 game streak. The game has produced countless legendary examples of individual heroics from its participants. Upon having his ear half torn off during the 1913 game, an Alabama lineman had to be restrained as he tried to rip it completely off so that he could finish the game. A young Paul Bryant played the 1935 edition with a broken leg. Cody blocked two field goals to preserve the title dreams in '09. I'm sure some UT jackass did something at some point to help his team. Back in the day the tradition was started that the players on the winning team of this game would smoke cigars in the locker room after the game. In its infinite wisdom the NCAA, considering this an extra benefit, banned the practice a few years back. Of course, the tradition continues to this day with the fans.
Calls for Help from the Hills
UT's defacto fight song, Rocky Top, is played approximately 1,000 times a game. The lyrics, no shite, glorify moonshine and not having telephones. While most schools play their fight song only after scores,Tennessee doesn't find the endzone often. Not ever one to be deterred by societal norms, the Vols have found a creative solution to this problem: they play it after all scores of any kind, first down conversions, or whenever the defense successfully sends 11 men out onto the field(this happens less frequently than you might think In Knoxville). It is a point of contention among Alabama fans that Peyton Manning climbed a ladder to lead the band in a rendition of Rocky Top after beating Alabama, which, really, is just a pretty dorky thing for a quarterback to be doing.
Philip Fulmer / Hate Reaches a Breaking Point
It is impossible to mention this rivalry without discussing Philip Fulmer, who polluted the sidelines as head coach of UT in the 90's and 2000's. True to form, Fulmer, an assistant at UT hired by their then head coach Johnny Majors, began his head coaching career by promptly stabbing his boss in the back while he recovered from heart surgery. In the early 2000's, despite the NCAA's best efforts to hide the facts of the case, it was revealed in subsequent litigation that Fulmer had served as a primary 'secret witness' in the NCAA's investigation and following probation of Alabama for recruiting violations. While Alabama did in fact have a rogue booster who needed to be taken down, it is the nature of this investigation that many found to be unacceptable. First of all, the 'secret witness' route is simply limp-wristed and flat out un-American. In the past, the standard was for a coach to call another school if he saw a problem(or at least have the fortitude to do it openly, ala Spurrier in the 90's), not work with the NCAA and the conference behind closed doors like a little bitch in a concerted effort to try to take a rival down. Those days may be over now, but the obsessive zeal Fulmer undertook in his involvement was outrageous by anyone's standards. Fulmer secretly provided the NCAA with dozens of allegations against Alabama, running an extreme gauntlet of plausibility, even levying at least one which he later confessed to knowing even at the time was not true as he faced the threat of litigation himself. Given the above, it is crucial to make this distinction: Philip Fulmer wasn't trying to clean up college football, he was trying to take down Alabama. The anger was magnified by the numerous allegations of impropriety in Knoxville, which the NCAA seemed to consistently ignore. Fulmer's credibility again came under fire in early 2010 when he, along with Charlie Weis and Michael Moore, was implicated in a high profile Krispy Kreme insider trading allegation.
Tennessee's Saving Grace
It is impossible to have a truly great rivalry without at least a tiny shred of respect between the two teams, whether the two fanbases will ever admit it or not - I will begrudgingly acknowledge this now. Enter the universally respected badass General Robert Neyland, who coached at Tennessee from the 20's to the 50's. Neyland, a West Point graduate, had his coaching career twice interrupted as he served his country oversees, ultimately reaching the rank of brigadier general. He and of course Coach Bryant are generally regarded two of (In Bryant's case, if not the) finest and most successful coaches to have walked a sideline in college football. It should be noted that Neyland said this about the series: "You never know what a football player is made of until he plays against Alabama."
Kenny Chesney
Every positive in Knoxville is met by at least 10 negatives, so it should come as no surprise that UT's 21'st century answer to General Neyland is Kenny Chesney. If it wasn't enough that this arse-clown is single handedly destroying whatever remaining respect country music has left in this country, he has somehow positioned himself as some sort of symbol of the SEC and college football in general. And who is his team? You guessed it, the Tennessee Volunteers. Despite his endless love for his Vols, he has always been partial to any SEC quarterback. It should be considered telling that Tennessee fans are actually possessive of this guy and express a descent measure of jealousy when Chesney exhibits goodwill towards UT's rival players. It is a well known fact down in Gainesville that Chesney was once hospitalized after Gary Danielson broke a pool cue over his head when a nasty bar fight erupted after one of his shows down there. Witnesses say the two had become entangled in a heated argument over who would make the better lover: Time Tebow or Peyton Manning.
Conclusion
I would like to conclude by simply pointing to the words of a wise man. This guy much more eloquently and concisely summarizes the relevant issues at hand than I ever could. The Bama fans will have already seen this, but for the love of god watch this classic with volume before the weekend if you haven't seen it already.
LINK
Yeah, tldr
UT Hate Primer
The History of Hate
The game is known as the Third Saturday of October, due to its traditional date on the calendar before the SEC started shuffling schedules in an attempt to give every opponent an open week before playing Alabama. One could set their watch to it, and in the states of Alabama and Tennessee, it was just known not to pick that weekend for a wedding. It is among the oldest rivalries in the south, with the first game being played in 1901. I believe it is the finest, edging out the slightly older Auburn/Georgia rivalry due to the fact that the Third Saturday has historically hosted more games with higher stakes than Auburn/ Georgia. The series is probably most notable due to its uncanny knack for streaks, which of course tend to elevate tension and hate. The biggest streaks include Alabama's 7,11, and 9 (unbeaten) game streaks starting in 1905, 1971, and 1986, respectively. Tennessee reeled off 7 wins starting in 1995. Alabama is currently riding a 4 game streak. The game has produced countless legendary examples of individual heroics from its participants. Upon having his ear half torn off during the 1913 game, an Alabama lineman had to be restrained as he tried to rip it completely off so that he could finish the game. A young Paul Bryant played the 1935 edition with a broken leg. Cody blocked two field goals to preserve the title dreams in '09. I'm sure some UT jackass did something at some point to help his team. Back in the day the tradition was started that the players on the winning team of this game would smoke cigars in the locker room after the game. In its infinite wisdom the NCAA, considering this an extra benefit, banned the practice a few years back. Of course, the tradition continues to this day with the fans.
Calls for Help from the Hills
UT's defacto fight song, Rocky Top, is played approximately 1,000 times a game. The lyrics, no shite, glorify moonshine and not having telephones. While most schools play their fight song only after scores,Tennessee doesn't find the endzone often. Not ever one to be deterred by societal norms, the Vols have found a creative solution to this problem: they play it after all scores of any kind, first down conversions, or whenever the defense successfully sends 11 men out onto the field(this happens less frequently than you might think In Knoxville). It is a point of contention among Alabama fans that Peyton Manning climbed a ladder to lead the band in a rendition of Rocky Top after beating Alabama, which, really, is just a pretty dorky thing for a quarterback to be doing.
Philip Fulmer / Hate Reaches a Breaking Point
It is impossible to mention this rivalry without discussing Philip Fulmer, who polluted the sidelines as head coach of UT in the 90's and 2000's. True to form, Fulmer, an assistant at UT hired by their then head coach Johnny Majors, began his head coaching career by promptly stabbing his boss in the back while he recovered from heart surgery. In the early 2000's, despite the NCAA's best efforts to hide the facts of the case, it was revealed in subsequent litigation that Fulmer had served as a primary 'secret witness' in the NCAA's investigation and following probation of Alabama for recruiting violations. While Alabama did in fact have a rogue booster who needed to be taken down, it is the nature of this investigation that many found to be unacceptable. First of all, the 'secret witness' route is simply limp-wristed and flat out un-American. In the past, the standard was for a coach to call another school if he saw a problem(or at least have the fortitude to do it openly, ala Spurrier in the 90's), not work with the NCAA and the conference behind closed doors like a little bitch in a concerted effort to try to take a rival down. Those days may be over now, but the obsessive zeal Fulmer undertook in his involvement was outrageous by anyone's standards. Fulmer secretly provided the NCAA with dozens of allegations against Alabama, running an extreme gauntlet of plausibility, even levying at least one which he later confessed to knowing even at the time was not true as he faced the threat of litigation himself. Given the above, it is crucial to make this distinction: Philip Fulmer wasn't trying to clean up college football, he was trying to take down Alabama. The anger was magnified by the numerous allegations of impropriety in Knoxville, which the NCAA seemed to consistently ignore. Fulmer's credibility again came under fire in early 2010 when he, along with Charlie Weis and Michael Moore, was implicated in a high profile Krispy Kreme insider trading allegation.
Tennessee's Saving Grace
It is impossible to have a truly great rivalry without at least a tiny shred of respect between the two teams, whether the two fanbases will ever admit it or not - I will begrudgingly acknowledge this now. Enter the universally respected badass General Robert Neyland, who coached at Tennessee from the 20's to the 50's. Neyland, a West Point graduate, had his coaching career twice interrupted as he served his country oversees, ultimately reaching the rank of brigadier general. He and of course Coach Bryant are generally regarded two of (In Bryant's case, if not the) finest and most successful coaches to have walked a sideline in college football. It should be noted that Neyland said this about the series: "You never know what a football player is made of until he plays against Alabama."
Kenny Chesney
Every positive in Knoxville is met by at least 10 negatives, so it should come as no surprise that UT's 21'st century answer to General Neyland is Kenny Chesney. If it wasn't enough that this arse-clown is single handedly destroying whatever remaining respect country music has left in this country, he has somehow positioned himself as some sort of symbol of the SEC and college football in general. And who is his team? You guessed it, the Tennessee Volunteers. Despite his endless love for his Vols, he has always been partial to any SEC quarterback. It should be considered telling that Tennessee fans are actually possessive of this guy and express a descent measure of jealousy when Chesney exhibits goodwill towards UT's rival players. It is a well known fact down in Gainesville that Chesney was once hospitalized after Gary Danielson broke a pool cue over his head when a nasty bar fight erupted after one of his shows down there. Witnesses say the two had become entangled in a heated argument over who would make the better lover: Time Tebow or Peyton Manning.
Conclusion
I would like to conclude by simply pointing to the words of a wise man. This guy much more eloquently and concisely summarizes the relevant issues at hand than I ever could. The Bama fans will have already seen this, but for the love of god watch this classic with volume before the weekend if you haven't seen it already.
LINK
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