There is no game on the Tennessee schedule with more tradition and meaning to me than the Tennessee and Alabama game. This game is different than all the rest. It is no wonder the SEC has always made sure these two teams play one another each year. They are the two most winning programs in the history of the SEC. Basically, if it had not been for the success of these two programs, the SEC would probably not be the power conference it is today.
This game is not like the Iron Bowl nor is it like the UT and Florida game. It simply cannot be described in a few words. You have to live this rivalry to understand it. You have to be on the side of a losing streak year after year to know what this game means, and there have been plenty of those. Since these two teams met in 1901 Alabama leads the series 47-38-7 and there have been 13 streaks in this series where one of the teams has won at least three games in a row. It truly is a storied rivalry that has plenty of stories from both fan bases. This week I want to share with you just a little piece of what it means to be a part of this history as a common fan.
True Story
You may recall the ESPN commercial last year where there are all these people carrying out everyday tasks and you hear them say “Roll Tide”. A couple years ago a man in our Church passed away and I had to do his funeral. About half of his family lives in Alabama so when I pulled into the parking lot of the funeral home I saw the Bama tags. Often times we take the family out of the Chapel and talk with them when the directors are closing the casket. This was a little challenging because half of the people there with me are folks whom I have never met. Sometimes you have to be serious because people are so broken. This man was a joker and loved life that had passed away, but I did not know about the rest of his family. So I took a chance. I said, “Before we go any further I need to know are any of you Alabama fans” then half of the people standing there in harmony said “Roll Tide”.
When it began for me
My first memory of the Tennessee & Alabama game was in 1983 and I was six years old. Tennessee was playing at Legion Field and the game was on TV but we did not get the channel it was on because we only got a couple channels. So we drove from my home in Tazewell to Knoxville (1 hour) and we stayed at the Holiday Inn on the World’s Fair Site. My brother and I got to swim at an indoor pool for the first time. That Saturday Afternoon my dad a lifelong Vol fan set on the edge of the bed glued to that 19” Hotel TV. All I remember is he began to yell as Johhnie Jones ran a 66 yard TD run to put UT ahead 41-34 that would go down in UT history as “The Run”. We all sat there and watch the clock run down and my dad was so happy we had beat the 11th ranked Crimson Tide. During that time Tennessee had been down for several years and had not been ranked since the mid to late 70’s, and now we have beat them two years in a row and this time at Legion Field. However I still did not grasp what had happened after all I was only six. Then my mom walked my brother and I out of the room so we could go to the pool and then I saw what the Alabama game meant. People were running around that Hotel everywhere yelling a screaming “How bout them Vols”. I remember some guy picked me up and was throwing me in the air saying “We Won We Won”. On that day I learned that the Tennessee and Alabama game was a big deal.
Check back this week as I share some more thoughts on what this game means and why we must always play one another.
Go Vols
RR
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