Okay I am going to start off by saying I absolutely love college football. I enjoy the talking about it, I enjoy the lively debates and I love the way fans are absolutely enamored with their teams. But there is one set of fans I think are worse than any other team when it comes to dilusion of dominace and that is Vols fans. I have had the privilege of serving with someone from almost every fan base over the past 13 years so this is not just a one time incident that made me feel this way.
Every year I hear the same thing up and down my facebook wall, "SEC championship this year!", "This is the year we are back!"....and normally I just let it go and don't point out the fact that they are the Purdue of the SEC. Yesterdays hiring of Butch Jones was another classic example. I have one friend in particular who showed the extreme:
"Why did we hire a coach from Cincinnati? A guy who has never won a meaningful game or stepped into a stadium as big as the SEC provides? Why did we not just hire Charlie Strong or Jon Gruden?"
Well besides the obvious answer to those comments/questions, I sat back and let this play out. I knew by the end of the day he was going to be proclaiming they got they next Bert Bilema....and at about 10pm it came:
"At first i was upset that we signed Butch Jones. Now after hearing his press confrence i am convinced we are back! Coach Jones gets it. He said this is his "dream job" and that is what we need! Not a guy who is going to use us as a stepping stone to his real dream job! I wanted Gruden or Strong but this could be better.....SEC championship here we come! Go Big Orange!"
Anyone else fans with Vols fans and have always thought the same way? Or do you think another fan base is worse?
N. Lame fans have been notoriously delusional though they regrettably have something legit to crow over this year.
I'd say fans of The U are taking their place as everyone but them realizes they aren't even close to what they used to be.
As for the B1G, it's hands down Penn St. This has been belabored enough in many other threads.
I feel you on the Miami fans. I hadn't really dealt with them too much until I moved to South Florida 2 years ago. So now I am surrounded by all 40 of their fans, whereas in N. California they were non-existent.
I'm just wondering...as a head coach, what big game has Charlie Strong won? I guess the game against Rutgers was kind of big. But you could also argue that UofL underachieved this year, even with a BCS game in the works. Losses to Syracuse and UConn (at home). Although, even if they'd gone 12-0 I don't think they would be in the championship game.
Isnt that the way any fan base would react? You always hope for the best...
All fans bases are delusional, including our Ohio State fans.
Every University thinks there the best, just the way it is.
I could care less, I just enjoy the Buckeyes and as long as they are winning, it's AWESOME!
Go Buckeyes!
But our university IS the best!
True bruh...
I get what you are saying but I think delusional isn't the right term for our fan base or at places like Bama, LSU, etc. Annoying, Fanatical, Embarrasing, Rude might be better terms given the conversation. Conference championships and National Titles are legitimate results on a constant yearly basis. When you've lost 70+games in the 2000's you are more on the verge of delusional than when your team loses 15-20 during that same span.
All fans bases are delusional, including our Ohio State fans.
Every University thinks there the best, just the way it is.
I could care less, I just enjoy the Buckeyes and as long as they are winning, it's AWESOME!
Go Buckeyes!
^This
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
Every fanbase has its delusional fans. Some fanbases have higher percentages of delusional fans than others.
I don't know much about Vols fans, but I have heard that they thought Lane Kiffin going to USC was a lateral move. Uhh...not quite.
Class of 2010.
As for Butch Jones he has shown to be as good as Charlie Strong. Both are good coaches but I agree with post above. What makes one believe Strong is elite? Time will tell but I do not see the IT factor just yet. I do have to give him thumbs up on his loyalty however.
Gotta agree with post, have a cousin in NC who is born & bred Vols fan. Annoying as hell - had to defriend my own family when he started douching my home page with troll commentary during Tat gate attacking Tress un provoked by myself.
Tennessee is the 10th winningest program of all time (right behind Bama) and has four national championships. Their facilities are top notch and they have the fourth largest stadium in the country, just behind ours.
They may not have won a title since 1998, but they aren't anything at all like Purdue.
They're more like Nebraska about five years ago- a once truly great program in a long down period.
Tennessee is among the true blue blood programs though. With their fan base, their history, and their facilities, they frankly SHOULD be in the title hunt every year.
I don't blame their fans for wanting to see what the program has always been and should be, rather than what it is right now.
If they were to get the right coach, that school could be back to annual title contender in no time.
I freaking hate orange and that darn fight song, but give them their due.
I have a close buddy in Knoxville, and I feel really badly for their fans. If OSU were on that kind of skid, we'd be acting just as badly - worse, probably.
UT should be a top-flight, top-ten program every year, but a string of circumstances has caused the whole thing to get derailed. This Jones hire is key.
CPLUNK I had this exact conversation with someone yesterday on a Reds' blog I frequent. One of the guys is a big Purdue fan and he kept saying Tennessee needs to realize they are roughly equal to Purdue and will never win a title.
I said hold the phone. I used the same comparison to Nebraska. It amazes me, how short people's memories are in the 90's and early 2000's Tennessee was on the short list of EVERY major recruit. It hasn't been that long since they were an elite program.
Yeah, I'm often surprised by people's perceptions of programs. Tennessee is, overall, a stronger program than Georgia, South Carolina, and maybe even LSU. They're on a down period the likes of which I hope we never experience, but every thing a program can have in its favor (fan base size, fan passion, facilities, stadium, money, recruiting area, famous NFL alums) they have.
Our most recent down period was really tough to swallow and I am glad it is behind us ... I hope we don't have to go through that 2011 year every again. :D
All very good points but I just want to put out there that I said they were the "Purdue of the SEC". As in they are not a team the big SEC teams take seriously for a Conference title or NC but they have the ability to sneak up and beat one of the big boys. I realize straight up Purdue is not even close to the caliber of the program Tenn. is and never will be and I apologize if that is the way it came across.
Well yeah, that's how I took it. It's a good comparison if you're talking about the present, but a bad comparison if you're talking about the past. Maybe Butch Jones can make it a bad comaprison in the future.
Class of 2010.
It's a terrible comparison as it isn't always about results on the field. Resources, stadium, facilities etc. They are like Michigan during the Rich Rod era.
That comparison is still wrong. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Tennessee was to the SEC what Alabama is right now- a dominant power expected to win it or be in the top couple teams every single year.
If you're talking about the last five years then maybe your not a serious contender but sneak up and beat a big boy comparison works, but for the majority of the SEC's history Tennessee has been a big boy- better tan LSU, better than Georgia, better than almost anyone but Bama. Florida is a relatively recent phenomenon - mostly due to Spurrier and then Urbs- but prior to that was always good, never great.
Sorry, but you are just missing what Tennessee is. They're the second most dominant team in SEC history on a five year down time. They are absolutely nothing like Purdue.
My vision of Tat Gate was different than most. I did not find it surprising that players tried to find a way to make cash or barter. What annoyed me most was the willingness to part with keep sake items. You would think it would mean more too them than a tattoo. Im not a Pryor fan by the way. Prima Donnas are bad for any program.
Well written post. Great points (that I happen to agree with) especially the quib about parting with keep sake items i.e. gold pants.
Plus you spelled "Prima Donna" correctly, haha!....+1.
"I'm One Bad Buckeye, and I approve this message."
Oh definitely. That point got very lost in the shuffle.
Class of 2010.
If you have spent any time in TN, you have to admire the fanaticism of Volunteer fans.
Kevin
OH!!!!!
Proud parent of a Senior at The Ohio State University
I live in TN. I am surrounded by Vol fans every day of the week. Sure they're delusional, but no moreso than most fan bases I've come in contact with. If anything though, I think this past week or so has been a bit humbling.
The theme that kept playing out throughout this recent coaching search when UT fans would freak out about not getting Gruden or Strong is that the Tennessee job isn't what it used to be. That is something that the fans just can't seem to get their heads wrapped around. But it's true. Sure, its in the SEC and it's got great facilities, great fans, great tradition, and yada, yada, yada, but it's not what it used to be. And its not unlike many other programs out there that have history and tradition and have fallen on hard times. Recruiting there has been tough because many kids in the state don't even remember when Tennessee was good. They remember what's gone on in the last couple of years and it hasn't been good.
M*chigan fans.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
The only problem I have is that Tennesee's defense was downright awful, giving up over 30 points a game, and they hire Butch Jones an offensive guru? Not a good fit IMO
Wayne Woodrow Hayes
Cincinnati was 12th in the nation in scoring defense (17.2 points/game).
Why is John Gruden the answer to every team problems. If I'm him, I would have an auto message reply, "Currently not looking to return back to coaching for the your team. Please continue your search elsewhere."
Ohio State's band SLAUGHTERED Michigan's band. If this were a football game, it would have been Florida State vs. Savannah State. - SB Nation following OSU vs. UM 2012
Thank you for your service sir.
As a lifetime Browns fan, I can tell you that I've been this delusional way too many times.
"I like to kick Michigan's ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum."
I think it all has something to do with the color orange? It seems to make Browns and Bengals fans also think that every year is going to be their year... We're all lucky Ohio State didn't go with orange and black as the school colors as originally planned (only because they realized Princeton already used those colors)...orange isn't a color most adults would ever wear outside of Halloween (neither is school bus yellow all you Steeler and scUM fans).
D. Anthony