(Login OneManGang) from IP address 152.163.204.179
Ok, guys, we've done reasonably well with the Maxims thing this week. Now is the time to more carefully craft our message. As an old-time rabble rouser and political organizer I offer the following:
MAXIMum TALKING POINTS
We want to use the General's Maxims as part of the PRE-GAME activities. We don't think they should be used as some kind of "cheer" throughout the game. The point of the Maxims is to get the fans into the proper mind set for the game. Specifically, we want to replace that LAME "2Vol, 4Vol" embarrassment with a real tribute to the man who made Tennessee football.
Too many of our current fans have no understanding of who Neyland was or why his name is on the stadium. The UTAD simply has done nothing to educate the legions of Vol fans who have come on board in the last 10-15 years regarding Tennessee traditions, legacy, and legends. If you really want to feel old, the current crop of UT students have no living memory of any coach at UT other than Phillip Fulmer. Today's 20-year old student was 9 or 10 years old when Johnny Majors was excused from the program and Fulmer elevated to his current position. What they know of Tennessee lore before that point is problematic. Which leads to our next point: viz:
This is also an educational movement: to teach our fan base what it really means to be a Volunteer and why many of us get misty-eyed during the Alma Mater. A nicely done 2-3 minute video/audio tribute to the old coach would be a nice beginning.
Think about it, at the moment when otherwise the cheerleaders would be embarrassing all and sundry with "2Vols," how about having the band play softly "Down The Field" or "Rocky Top" as the JumboTron comes on with John Ward or some other legend saying something like the following:
"From 1926 to 1955, a legend stalked the sidelines of this very field. His name was Robert Reese Neyland. During the 21 years he guided the Volunteers his teams went posted 173 wins versus 31 losses and 12 ties. They also won 2 Southern Conference Titles, 5 Southeastern Conference Championships and the 1951 National Championship. An officer in the Army reserve throughout his career, he achieved the rank of Brigadier General during the Second World War. "The General" as he was known in later years, applied military principles to football. He translated the Principles of War into seven "Game Maxims" that are recited by Tennessee Volunteer football teams to this very day (if no video of the General, cut to a contemporary video of the team saying the maxims). .... (Narrator again) As the team leaves the locker room each player touches a sign with a pledge on it. We ask you to join the team in that pledge: ‘I will give my ALL for Tennessee Today!' (Words on J-tron and scoreboards)."
I think if we can stay on message here maybe we can not only do this but also perhaps get the statue and J-tron picture working as well. Neyland is the bedrock upon which all Tennessee football tradition flows. I hate to bring this up but just as Notre Dame without Rockne is Xavier, Tennessee without Neyland is Eastern Kentucky. we need to show the "stylers and profilers" just what this is really all about.
"Too many of our current fans have no understanding of who Neyland was or why his name is on the stadium. The UTAD simply has done nothing to educate the legions of Vol fans who have come on board in the last 10-15 years regarding Tennessee traditions, legacy, and legends."
No truer words have ever been spoken. The reason though is quite simple, Al. Tall Guy wants an uneducated fan base that is willing to fork over everything in their pocket to acquire tickets & parking while promoting a mediocre product. This way TG gets to see
1) HIS ALMA MATTER Florida continue to own UT
2) His good ole boy network of coaches kept at full strength, garnering him many residual kick backs in the future
3) His corporate logos on the jumbo tron & dummed down cheers (lending evidence to the fact that Traitor tall hasn't put much meaningful money into helping shape Neyland Stadium as the nation's elite place to watch a game.
The TSN voting Neyland stadium #1 is the absolute worst thing that could have happened. This will keep SHEEP like wool hunter happy for years, hell he won't even expect another SEC East title. When in reality Neyland stadium needs to have upgrades in the concession area, ramps, restrooms, so forth.
It's a damn travesty that we can drumm up wax statues of Manning & Martin while not constructing one of RRN. I am very embarrassed with my alma matter & the way the UTAD is pissing on something as precious as "Neyland tradition".
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DEMAND EXCELLENCE
From your University!
If we're forunate enough to gain an audience within the UTAD, our plead/argument for honoring the General needs to be no more than what was written in your post. I got cold chills sitting here reading those words on the computer. Hell, I ALMOST think not even Bob Kesling could take the steam out of that message!
Seriously, your post needs be our presentation. I'll be making calls throughout the day to keep this thing pressin'.
MP, I agree with what you have to say as well. I want Neyland to always be "old-school", but the ole stadium could certainly use some cleanin' up at the least.
To me, Tall Guy is nothing more than a Florida sellout bastard. Period. I can't wait for the day to come when he heads back to where he came from.
Guys, I got to thinking tonight about this and I just have to tell you, as great an idea as this whole thing is, even if Tall Guy himself thought it was a good idea, here are a couple of reasons it won't happen, at least this year:
1) It's too late in the game to get this produced in time for the first game, or this season for that fact (remember, these will be their reasons, not mine)
2) Our wonderful cheerleading staff has been working extra, extra hard on getting their routines down for the new season and we just can't expect them to change at this late date.
3)
4)
5)
They don't matter. One and Two will be enough excuses. You know me, the eternal optimist, but reality is...
It wont matter if we can't get it to go this year because this something that we want to go on for forever. We want this to be another tradition. We want to be the proudest team in the nation and not because of just the team but "Our Yard" too.We can make this happen guys so if you with me lets keep talking about it if your not then drop it.
Man, what we need right NOW is for the word to go forth, at work, on the call-in shows, e-mail the UTAD, letters to the editor. Contact anyone you know at the UTAD, or even someone who knows someone. It is only through our combined efforts that anything will occur. This is almost an exercise in Newtonian physics. The only way we can move the listless mass of the UTAD is to put enough pressure on them to overcome that inertia. Important reminder, though: Stay on message!
This is why I started checking this site out and participating in chat. You guys really care about UT and it shows in the hard work and dedication guys, like yourself, put in to make this the best place to watch a sporting event!
I only wish that DAD wasn't in charge, then I would believe things could get accomplished to make our university better. DAD is nothing but a piece of garbage that has been ruining the traditions and total enjoyment that is UT sports.
I am too young to remember anyone other than him as AD, but listening and reading about guys that do, I can only imagine how much better UT would be without him.
I was really psyched about his retirement date(6-30-02), because that was going to one day before my 30th B-day. What a birthday present that would have been!
Anyway, keep the word out there guys, and maybe things will change for the better.
That the General is not around anymore. If he were still here to donate some coin to the Tall Guy Machine, then I would bet he would at least have a street named after him.
Hotty Toddy !!!!
Mighty Rebels.....87 Mighty Rebels 86
The Big White.....71 The Big White 73
Oh, I wish I was in the land of Cotton, Ole times their are not forgotten look away, look away, look away, DixieLand.
for the negativity, but in reality, you're probably right. Even my contact told me Wenesday, "if this doesn't happen, it doesn't mean it wasn't a great idea, it just means it was eaten up by the beaurocracy (sp?) of our athletic department". However, I refuse to give up until I hear a flat out "no" from a decision maker.
If the UTAD can't give us any better reasons than your nos. 1 & 2, then that just gives all of us a reason to rip 'em up & do our best to humiliate them publicly, because that is what they'll deserve.
I thought maybe you were the D.D. that CALLS Swampy, not Swampy himself.
You asked what you could do to help with the Maxim project. I was suggesting if you had $100,000 to become the sponsor of the Maxims, Tall might listen a little more intently.
Instead of beating our heads on the wall with UT administration, I suggest we pinpoint the big-money advertisers at The Knee and propose the idea to them. Ask them to use their advertising dollars to support the project, tell UT that's what they want to spend their money doing, and let them take 100% credit for the idea. I honestly think one of them will bite. Like I told you the other night, one of the uppity-ups at Sea Ray told me he got cold chills when I described the video idea. I think the reaction would be the same with the guys spending big bucks just to get their name blurted out over the P.A.
One other thought, what does one of those banners trailing behind a plane during the game cost? That might be a cool way to get our message out to the masses.
I think approaching big-money sponsors is a great way to go. That having been said we also need to keep beating on the front door as well. If you think it would help, I can clean up my proposed script and forward it to you to present to your guy at Sea Ray. If anybody else has any contacts at these sponsors, Hell, call 'em. The worst they can do is say "no!"
again. It's a shame this idea wasn't thought of back in May or June (OMG you're going to have to step it up in the future!) when we really had the time to press advertisers & have them go to UT with the idea. Unfortunately, if there is any chance this could get done for this season, I think we just about have to go to UT first & have them go to advertisers. I realize this may not be the best plan of attack, but at this point I'm not sure we have a choice. What do you guys think?
to schedule my unforeseen opportunities better in the future! I just had another thought: why don't we name this thing the "General Neyland Project" as an unbrella for all our ideas regarding honoring the old coach. Maybe put it on the website, PV? I see this as a long-term effort not just a one shot deal. BT and Carter, you are probably be right, the window for getting this done by 1 Sept. is vanishing like smoke in the wind. That doesn't mean though that we give up. (Pour on more steam!) We can work towards getting it done later in the season (maybe for Homecoming?) and, of course, there is always "Next Year."
If we can't do the audio/video thing this year how about this: CharterVol once told me that it only costs about $2000 or so to get one of those roadside historical markers made and placed and that basically anyone with the money can do it. I don't believe there is one of those honoring the General anywhere near the stadium. How about we do a little fundraising and see if we can't get that done before the end of the season (or maybe on the General's birthday) and really play it up. How great would that be, SPS, RRN jr, the Senseless, the Snooze, Basilio, TV, all there for the unveiling. Great props for all concerned! Hell, I'll commit $25.00 to get it started - if the SPS family can come up with $600 or $700, we can probably get some business sponsors to step up for the free pub at the unveiling.
CV, I'm calling you out on this, find out how much one of these things really costs and get back to us. This way the only real dealing we have to have with UT is getting the clearance to place the thing!
OMG
This message has been edited by OneManGang from IP address 152.163.205.73 on Aug 11, 2001 1:12 PM
We will fight them in the mountains. We will fight them in the streets. We will fight them in the bleachers . . . we will never surrender.
OK, Churchill I'm not.
I guess it's too late to get anything good done this year, but we've just got to keep pushing and presenting and promoting. It will happen.
If nothing else, there will be a window of opportunity when the buzzard Dickey is finally run off the gut wagon. The new AD, unless he's an internal hire, will spend at least 15 or 20 minutes "listening to the fans."
OMG, you go boy. Our younger fans and our frontrunners don't know diddly about the things that MATTER. Our players don't get it, either, to wit: that fractured fairy tale Jamal Lewis uttered about RR Neyland being a great Civil War general who used to walk his troops around the perimeter of the battlefield. What a nitwit.
the nail on the head on this one. I'll just about guarantee you the reason King & Grunfeld have never been honored appropriately is because their not dropping jack into Tall's coffers. It doesn't matter what you've done for the ole U of T, if you aint sending $$$, then you don't mean anything to Tall.
I was at a UT baseball game back in the early 90's & I stood right beside Tall & Mitch Barnhardt. The actor (I'll say that loosely) David Keith came strolling in & I could here the convro between Tall & Mitchie. What they had to say had nothing to do with the way Keith tried ever way he could to promote UT in the recent movies he'd been in. No, they first discussed Keith being on the sideline for the football games, and then, of course, Tall had to ask the proverbial question, "by the way, how much money does he donate?". Well, Barnhardt proceeded to inform Tall of the $$ DK was sending, but he about broke Tall's heart when Mitchie told him Keith's money was earmarked for the LADY VOLS! Man, I had to turn away to laugh due to the sickened look on Tall's face! I mean it really got to him. Tall the proceeded to say he didn't understand why Keith was on our sidelines anyway. Classic.
listening to that little repartee between DAD and Barnhart must have been like a "Dilbert" episode. I am reminded of the story of a female project manager who submitted a letter of resignation and had it returned red-marked for corrections. One of the items HR objected to was a passage about "clueless management!"
In the immortal words of Frank Goad Clement, "How long, O Lord, how long!" Maybe we should start referring to the UTAD as "Occupied Tennessee!"
I intend to add OMG's most excellent post as the starting point. I need images of Neyland and and links to the audio from our other links to make it . Title of the page_THE NEYLAND PROJECT. It will be linked to other BB's and sites through an aggressive campaign of posts and keeping it alive on boards with convro!
any input from my end, it will have to wait. I will be out of the hunt and the mix until Wednesday at ther earliest. I'll be in the land of the CommonHo's and the Nashville Oilers. Or as we know it now, CharterVol Country.
