Thanks, Shane for giving us the true inside scoop. On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 5:36 PM, Shane Ford <[email protected]>wrote:
> The highway patrol officers at that Subway were hilarious! We also ran > into a mom & her son who told us that all of his friends went up to > Knoxville the night before to try and get on ESPN.****** > > ** ** > > The part about the tickets that made me nervous was it didn’t seem like > too many people were selling, but everybody was trying to buy. It didn’t > help much that the first ticket scalper we ran into wanted $800 for a pair. > I was about ready to jump back in the car and race home to watch the game > in High Def. He says as Shane got tired, but that was after walking for > over an hour. He abbreviates this quite a bit! J It was also > disheartening with all of the curses and ugly things I was called as well. > I thought I had thick skin, but goodness gracious! The savior of the > afternoon was definitely the Georgia graduate. Wow! Whoever would have > thought a Georgia Graduate would do anything nice, worth while, help us out > in any way, or let alone make out day? Definitely not us!!!!! J They > were extremely nice to us during the game, which I hope that they felt the > same from us. We tried, believe me. It was rough for Oliver to. I could > tell. :-) **** > > ** ** > > We didn’t even make it to the stadium before we went through more insults, > more drunks yelling at us, and even more obscenities. Oliver’s right > though, I was taking notes of the curse words, as they were using a few in > a way that I wanted to remember for use later. ;-) I don’t even care to > remember the drunk “idiot” who pulled my face over to his mouth so he yell > the lovely chorus of Rocky Top more directly into my ear. Why he felt > the nerve to do that is beyond me? Why I didn’t haul off and punch him > in the face is another mystery? J**** > > ** ** > > We did walk around the stadium for a little while, but there were so many > people it was hard to move around. I wanted to sight-see some, but it > was futile trying to move around and get somewhere in a timely fashion. We > did finally park on the hill and "watch" the Vol walk from a far. There > really wasn't much to see but a see of pumpkin orange. They promptly > opened the gates at 4:00 right after the Vol walk and we made our way into > Gate 21. The seats were amazing! I could have never dreamed of sitting > so close to the action. WOW! I don’t think I’ll be too quick to rush > back to Neyland Stadium, but I’m glad we were so lucky on this trip. **** > > ** ** > > Leon and Paula, it was very nice to see you guys again, even though the > hike up the million steps nearly killed me. J The view of downtown > Knoxville, the Tennessee River and the Vol Navy was incredible from up > there. The conversation is always good and hilarious. I even enjoyed > the looks from people when they saw Leon's favorite team and his Obama > button. It was priceless! HA HA!!!! J**** > > ** ** > > I think the Vol fans were a little delirious about winning. It’s been > extremely quiet at work. A few have come up to me to talk about it, but > most have chosen to ignore me and the fact that the Vols played a game on > Saturday. J**** > > ** ** > > The noise in the stadium was incredibly deafening in the first half. I > don’t think I’ve ever been in a stadium that loud. I wonder what it > sounded like on TV? I taped the game, so I hope to find out tonight when > I re-watch it, hopefully. I have to admit into the 3rd quarter, I was > losing faith in our Gators and brother Oliver had to keep sending me > positive vibes. Luckily, between Oliver’s positive vibes and his lucky > shirt, the Gators responded in the 2nd half and pulled out a very > glorious victory. The game was incredible and we couldn't have asked for a > better game. A good, close game in the first half and then a near blow out > in the second. > > > > The rest of the trip was about the way I remember it to. I just had to > add a few of my memoires and comments as well. I would have done it > earlier, but my boss decided having me in several meetings throughout the > day was more important??? I know? I know? I tried to tell him. J > > > > Later, > > > SHANE > > * * > > ** > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* Oliver Barry <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Mon, September 17, 2012 11:18:27 AM > > *Subject:* [gatortalk] The Tennessee Game > > Before my diminishing usage of brain cells prevents further > recollection of it I will offer my observations of the game. > > Shane and I started from my house in Hendersonville at about 9:30 am local > time on Saturday. Perfect weather. > > Stopped for Starbucks in Gallatin and were off! > > We saw quite a few cars locally sporting Gator flags, etc. I took it as > an omen. > > Next stop was at a gas station at about mile 300 on the interstate. A > large van pulled up with all UT fans who mostly ignored us. > > One of their brighter members shook his head at us. I think he may have > already been into the sauce. That was about 10:30 am. > > Next stop for lunch at a Subway. Two highway patrol officers came in > while we were eating. One joked that he didn’t want to see any Gator fans > yet. > > We talked for a while about football predictions, etc (he was a really > nice guy) then moved on. > > Got to Knoxville where the fun started. Found a parking place for $20 and > headed to The Strip to find tickets. > > We walked for a bit holding up 2 fingers. Found prices at $200 to $250 > apiece. Kept walking. > > Just as Shane was getting tired we walked up to an older gentleman who > said he had 4 tickets and wanted to get rid of 2. > > He asked what we would pay. I offered $100 each and he accepted. I think > if I had offered $80 he would have been ok with that too. The face value > was $75. He told us he and his son were up from Chattanooga and his son is > a Gator. > > He was looking for someone his son could talk to. Then he dropped the > bomb. He is a Georgia Graduate!!! > > But, we accepted the tickets anyway and sat with them at the game. They > turned out to be two of the nicest people I’ve ever met. (that was > difficult to admit to) > > Next, off to the stadium. We had about 2.5 hours before game time at that > point, but I didn’t know what else to do. My whole mission up until that > point was to get tickets and we landed the best ones we could have possibly > gotten. Oh yes, the best part… They were on row 25 in the lower bowl. We > were just above the UF band in the middle of the Tennessee section. They > were great seats!!! > > We walked toward the stadium through back streets. There we walked past a > high rise apartment building with balconies. > > There were young males standing on the balconies shouting bad things. I > learned a couple of new words. Shane already knew them. > > I responded to one guy in a car who was giving us the one finger salute > and hurling un-nice comments with, “Hey, I can see you’re a UT graduate!” > > That didn’t go over well. Shane complained someone screamed in his ear > while we were on The Strip. I’m sure he must have provoked the guy. > > On to the Vol walk. We watched from quite a distance. I was impressed at > that point with so many Tennessee fans who walked by, offering to shake > hands and wishing us good luck. > > Then into the stadium to find Leon . He had texted me his section and we > walked up (way up) there. > > Found him and Paula hanging out at the underside of their section. There > was a beautiful view of the Tennessee River from behind the cameraman who > took our photo. > > Stood with them awhile and on to our seats. > > Lots of Tennessee fans around us. I was impressed with how much they > really expected to win that game. When the Knoxville police posted the > news that anyone caught storming the field after the game would be arrested > it was clear there was no option or consideration for losing. I must have > seen over a hundred posters during the day that said something about, “It’s > our year!” > > Everyone was very friendly and no one seemed to mind us cheering for the > Gators. I refrained from using any of my newly learned words. > > Of course you saw the game. It was as loud as UF can be at several points > during the game. Fortunately, I had worn my lucky shirt. > > > > I was very impressed with Jeff Driskell. To be able to keep us in the > game through the first half handling the ball the way he did, as a > sophomore, was truly admirable. > > After we went ahead 27-14 the mass exodus was on. The way the game had > gone I was surprised to see it begin there. But, the aisles weren’t nearly > big enough to get them all out. > > After that you could see lots of blue. The team came over to the band > after the game and they played the Alma Mater, but as close as we were we > could only hear the Tennessee band playing. They were miked to loud > speakers! I still have that damned song going through my head! > > Anyway, after the Alma Mater Will Muschamp ran over and did a couple of > Gator chomps, you’ve seen the photos, and that got us all worked up again. > > Long wait to get out of parking. Long wait to get on the road. Then > smooth sailing to home. No bad fans on the way back. J > > > > > > Oliver Barry CRS,GRI > > Real Estate Broker > > Bob Parks Realty > > 1517 Hunt Club Blvd > > Gallatin TN 37066 > > Phone: 615-826-4040 > > Fax: 615-822-2027 > > Mobile: 615-972-4239 > > > > > > > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > -- Helen Huntley (727) 823-3801 www.helenhuntley.com -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
