🏈 The Decline of the Alabama-Tennessee Rivalry

[Max]

Im not a fan of BR, but I've always liked Walsh and his perspectives...

The Decline of the Alabama-Tennessee Rivalry | Bleacher Report

 

[alabama mike]

When one team goes through a long dry spell of winning seasons and or games against another team, the rivalry loses its luster. Bama and the viles is a good example along with Ohio St. and Michigan and USC/UCLA.

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

I used to have a healthy respect for UT. Live in Chattanooga for 7 years, my little brother born there. Some of my best friends are UT fans.

However, after Fulmer's fellatio of the NCAA...my stomach churns at them.

 

[UAgrad93]

That was a good read. I too don't care for BR, but this article seemed to sum up the "Third Saturday in October" best.

 

[RollllTide!]

Fulmers gone because what goes around comes around. I want to hate the Viles but it is hard to hate someone that you have beaten so many times and makes you feel like you are bringing the gun to a knife fight. I just think this game is a trap game if the team doesn't take it seriously.

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

Fulmers gone because what goes around comes around. I want to hate the Viles but it is hard to hate someone that you have beaten so many times and makes you feel like you are bringing the gun to a knife fight. I just think this game is a trap game if the team doesn't take it seriously.

I feel you on this but I started following Alabama in 1990 when they were amid stride an 11 game win streak:eek1:...Then this Krispy Kreme eating fat (bleep) tied 'Bama & then they went on a 7 game win streak, which was utter hell especially considering the sanctions. uke:

So...

 

[BigCrimson]

I lurk on some rival boards and this topic is on a vol message board right now, minus the article. The majority of Vol fans on that board think the rivalry isn't what it used to be (from a national perspective and conference perspective) and Bama is so far ahead of them right now in talent it could be several more years of beat downs before it becomes competitive again. All it's going to take is Tennessee winning ONE time and the rival will be "on" again between the fans. For it to be a nationally recognized rival the two teams are going to have to start "being good" at the same time rather than the cycle of one team being good and the other team being bad for numerous straight years.

 

[TheChief]

Has the game lost its luster for this Alabama fan living in TN? NOOOOO! IT HAS NOT!! If the Tide wins by 70, it's not enough for me. I have a severe hatred for that team, that university, the fans, the town, the food in the city, the buildings, the traffic, trees, birds, small woodland creatures, local news outlets, high schools in the area, four fans I met shopping at Sam's, a cabbie, and of course for obvious reasons the checkerboard outside the Cracker Barrel off Kingston Pike.

 

[rick4bama]

The hate that some have for UT and AU I think most started right here. Not RTB.com but this thing we call the Net. That is the reason that I dislike these teams. UT because of Fulmer, AU well it AU but it Dye, Ole Siss that fan that put that make believe hammer on ebay when the NC** . Back to Fulmer. We all know that the Net makes us all brave into writing what we feel than what we do face to face.

 

[TheChief]

Oh no @rick4bama , face to face I am the same. I don't care. For instance, I got into an argument with a Tennessee fan at a game once upon a time. I told him exactly what I thought of his so called "team".

"Saaay whuuut?" he asked.

"Oh, my goodness, your breath," I replied.

"Whudyousay? Dat's whudIwuzaskin,"

"No really, dude, you need to try a toothbrush."

That's really the whole conversation because his oral hygiene was pathetic. But, I don't care to tell these guys how pathetic their shining beacon on the hill is. Their hound has fleas. They put artificial turf in Neyland because their cheerleaders continued to eat all the grass. The place stinks, and I'm not just talking about the body farm.

 

[im4uainva]

I moved to Charlottesville 10 years ago. Right at the end of UTn's streak. I was living in NW MS at the time, working in Memphis. I had to eat crap for 7 years from those Vol fans. In the end, they were getting so used to beating my beloved Bama in that they weren't quite as obnoxious. I don't miss being there. I do wish I could be able to walk around there amongst them all with now that my Bama pride has been restored. I dislike them almost as much as I do west Georgia cow college. Only because wgcc had gotten super lucky a couple times over the past few years. It wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit if either of them never came close to beating Bama ever again. I can't stress that enough.

Roll Tide!

 

[Bamabww]

Has the game lost its luster for this Alabama fan living in TN? NOOOOO! IT HAS NOT!! If the Tide wins by 70, it's not enough for me. I have a severe hatred for that team, that university, the fans, the town, the food in the city, the buildings, the traffic, trees, birds, small woodland creatures, local news outlets, high schools in the area, four fans I met shopping at Sam's, a cabbie, and of course for obvious reasons the checkerboard outside the Cracker Barrel off Kingston Pike.

I don't live in tn, thank God, but @TheChief sums up my feelings for the viles exactly. Lost it's luster my ass! I love beating them whether they're up or down.

 

[psychojoe]

I do think that one thing that has detracted from the game is the SEC taking over conference game scheduling. For many years this game was always on the third Saturday in October, now it drifts in the month, most often it is the 4th Saturday, occasionally the second one. Playing it on the third Saturday was a big part of the tradition, a special time set apart for just this game.

 

[PhillyGirl]

It's no fun if there's no competition. If Tennessee was good, like Auburn has been as of late, the rivalry would be more bitter.

 

[psychojoe]

It's no fun if there's no competition. If Tennessee was good, like Auburn has been as of late, the rivalry would be more bitter.

Heresy

 

[PhillyGirl]

Heresy

Don't get me wrong, I love destroying them, but the games do not have the drama of Auburn games as of late (ranked games, determining the West, etc.).

 

[TheChief]

@PhillyGirl This week I'm sort of like the Romans watching the lions eat the Christians. The outcome can't get too bloody for my palate. I haven't smiled at a "whooooo" during their fight song since one of their fat pom pom girls fell over her seat-back chair into a fans' soothing, Jack Daniel's spiked, Big Orange souvenir cup during the 1990 game in their God-awful structure they call a stadium. Smokey should be a girl dog, and she should always belong to Bama- if you know what I mean.

 

[We All Bleed Crimson]

And speaking of the 3rd Saturday in October, why can't we get it back to the 3rd Saturday? SEC should accommodate that tradition.
As for the rivalry, it still is. And, to me, 2nd only to the barn by a very small margin. Fulmer turned my respect for ut into pure hate.

 

[im4uainva]

It's no fun if there's no competition. If Tennessee was good, like Auburn has been as of late, the rivalry would be more bitter.

I think Bama gets enough competition from the other SEC teams they play. Enough to make it interesting. I prefer to see UTn and *u much like we do Charleston. Something to amuse us between the really important games.

Roll Tide!