Football Time in Tennessee...

Well, the Vols came up short today against the Gators, but I got my first experience in Neyland Stadium...and my first experience of big-time SEC football.

I put on my bright orange and drove just a few minutes down the road from my apartment where I parked and walked about 1.5 miles to the stadium. It was definitely an electric atmosphere! I crammed into Neyland Stadium with 102,454 other fans to watch one of the SEC's biggest rivalry games.

Fun Fact: Neyland Stadium holds approximately 15x's more people than Samford's Seibert Stadium. And about 100x's more spirit. I mean, Samford's getting there, but I'm just sayin'...

Unfortunately, midway through the first half, there seemed to be a major bottled water shortage. All of the concession stands had run out, and it was HOT outside! I wound up buying a cup of tap water for $5.00, which seemed a little ridiculous, but after seeing a number of people pass out, it seemed worth it.

Back out in the sun, it was a very exciting game where Tennessee played very hard and stayed in the game much longer than expected. And yes...I admit, I sang Rocky Top...loudly. Still doesn't have quite the same magic and intimidation at the Seminole Warchant in my opinion, but still pretty cool. ;-)

On the subject of Rocky Top...I wish I had counted how many times it was played. It was a lot. Like seriously...a lot.

So I'll start off this post of pictures with a video of Rocky Top from the pregame show. Enjoy...

Approaching Neyland...it's big

Orange orange everywhere...

Quite a tailgate on the Tennessee River

Downtown Knoxville and you can see the "sailgating" down on the river

"T"

Gators takes the field...BOOOOOOOO

The Vols run through the "T"

Sea of Orange in Neyland Stadium

Student Section

I guess this makes me a Vol...

I love this shot

Neyland Stadium...very impressive

You can tell I was sitting very close to the visitor seating...a little too much blue in this crowd.

Heading home...not very happy fans in orange, but the Vols put up a good fight.

So my first Tennessee game was a lot of fun...even though they lost. Looking forward to the game next weekend against UAB, when I'm sure the Vols will do a little bit better.