Soooo-it is officially football time!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have always butted heads with my in laws who are NFL/Titans fans. They think that the Titans are the end all and be all of football. In Tennessee.
I disagree-the Vols are the end all and be all-period. My Father in law said that the Titans are the biggest athletic institution in the state. Of Tennessee. I have no idea if this was a fact or a personal opinion, but I found myself outright stating-"No way." That is my opinion, not fact.
But, I got to thinking about it-are the Titans now the biggest athletic institution in the state?
Now, there are a lot of factors that go into this debate-first of all, Tennessee is filled with "transplants." Few people are "officially" from Tennessee. That means that these people bring with them all of their sport dedications. Those of us from Tennessee never knew the real dedication of being an NFL follower. We never had an NFL team to call our own. So, those NFL fans found an NFL team to follow. But, as for college sports, there were only 2 choice-the Vols or the Dores. Period. That was it.
You have to understand - these college followers are bred and raised to bleed orange and white or gold and something....... Point is, coming from a Vols family, it is a religion-you are bred to bleed the orange and white-for generations. It is truly a way of life. From my perspective, there is no way that you can bring a pro team into the area for only ten years and think that it is going to trump the pure dedication that we have to the Vols. No Way.
The transplants who were dedicated pro football followers might transfer their dedication to the Titans, but there is no way that it can replace the religion of the Volunteers. And-what kind of dedication is that? Transferring loyalties and all-geez. Just go to a Titans game when they play the Colts and see how many people are wearing Colts jerseys in honor of Peyton. Simply because he was a UT player.
Just go to a home game at Neyland Stadium. And-compare the seating capacity of the stadiums. No one can convince me that 10 years of NFL existence in this state can trump the generations of volunteer fans.
And-on another note-we are not even considering NASCAR in this scenario-did you know that on a race day in Bristol, TN, Bristol is the largest populated city in the entire Southeast? Let me remind you that on non-race days, the city is TINY!
So, opinions out there? Have the Titans out ranked the Vols and become the largest sport in the state?
Personally, I want the Titans to win. Sure I do-they are my team. But, do I follow them like I follow the Vols? No-I don't.
It's just me-and all of my idiosyncrasies. I work full time, I am married, and I love my dog. We just adopted a baby girl. I am completely contradictory, I am a girlie girl, and I am impatient. I like breakfast for dinner. I like apples and peanut butter. I like wine. I like entertaining. I like sleeping. I like labels and I can be a b-with an-itch when I want to be or am pushed. I want to give my baby every opportunity in the world, and I want to teach her values and the rewards of hard work. I want more children and am scared to death of the uncertainties of adoption even though I have already done it. I love my husband. I hate that I weigh the most I ever have in my whole life. I want my husband to make a zillion dollars a year, and I want him to put up his laundry and clothes when I ask. I want what most people want-and here is my story-day by day!
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