Third Saturday in October

[Noah.Dreams]

I found this little essay on the internet and it warmed my heart. If find you another one post about the Third Saturday in October, post it here.


I Hate Alabama
by John Keith Taylor


I HATE THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE - 1997 !!!

Fellow Volunteer Fans,

IT IS THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN. This is the week that I live for the whole year. The THIRD SATURDAY IN OCTOBER. For me, one of my main reasons for living and breathing as a Tennessee Volunteer Fan is sothat I CAN HATE THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE! As most of you know, I DESPISE THEM. I really don't give a rip about Florida. Someone asked me last year to right an equivalent post prior to the Florida game. I couldn't come up with anything more than a few sentences. I would like to begin my annual post by thanking the "network powers that be" for allowing this game to be played on its rightful day. The Third Saturday in October is my favorite day of the year. You know, there was never a book written titled Second Saturday in October. It just "ain't" right, and I would petition the SEC Commissioner to put a stop to some of this nonsense.

October is my favorite month of the year. It always has been, not just the last two years. It is when there is a crisp coolness in the air, and the colors Orange and Crimson splash on a field of Green. You know, I really wish that we could do away with the silly rule that states that the home team wears dark and the visitor wears white. This is only really necessary if both teams have the same color jerseys. I know that as recently as the early 1980s, UT wore orange jerseys and Bama wore their red ones. But, I digress. Some of my post this year is new hatred, some is warmed over hatred from last year and the year before. I hope y'all enjoy reading (or rereading) as much as I enjoy living it.

For me, this is HIGH HOLY WEEK and the Saturday of the Tennessee-Alabama game is the HIGHEST of my HIGH HOLY DAYS. It is bigger than my birthday, the 4th of July, or all of the Federal Holidays that I get all combined. It is the one day of the year that I literally think about every single day the other 364. Not a single solitary day goes by that I don't somehow, some way think about the Tennessee-Alabama game. Until recently, I lived in north Alabama, so I saw a lot of BAMA paraphernalia. Every time I see an Alabama Bumper sticker I think about THE GAME. Every time I see someone wearing an Alabama sweatshirt or T-shirt, I think about THE GAME. Every time I see the color red, I think about THE GAME. I hate the color red. Red is the one color that refuse to wear. My wife will pick out a shirt or a pair of shorts in a store that she thinks will look good on me. If it is crimson or red I will refuse to buy it. My wife bought a new car a year ago. A red one. It is a cool car, but I hate the color. Every time I see it, I think about THE GAME. If I pull up to a traffic light and the signal is red, I think about THE GAME. What makes it worse is there is usually some "bubba" in front of me with a BAMA bumper sticker. If I'm lucky enough to be first at the light, then the idiot on the other side of the intersection will have a BAMA license plate on their front bumper. GOD, I HATE BAMA!

Every single night when I used to watch the sports news in the Huntsville-Decatur area, there was going to be something said about the Crimson Tide and I would think about THE GAME. Every time I saw a Birmingham Paper and I saw Paul Finebaum or Bill Lumpkin's columns, you could bet that somehow they were going to work in at least one sentence about the Crimson Tide. It made no difference that they might have been writing a column about equestrian or water polo. There was a restaurant up the road from where I worked where I often had lunch. They had a picture of Paul "Bear" Bryant on the wall behind the cash register. I would see that DAMN PICTURE, and I immediately thought about THE GAME.

For me, BAMA not Florida, is Tennessee's nemesis. I HATE BAMA's GUTS. I HATE THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE with every word I speak, every blink of my eyes, every thought that I have, every breath I take, and every beat of my heart. I HATE THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE!!! I literally cannot stand the sight of 'em. When I first moved to north Alabama and was single, I glued an Alabama decal to the bottom of my commode in my apartment. It was a "natural law" on Saturday afternoon that you would sit around the apartment all day watching college football and drinking beer. It was a rule that you had to yell, "PISS ON ALABAMA" every time you went to the bathroom. (no, I didn't have a wife or kids at that time) It was even better when I had to sit down. 8-)

I HATE BAMA because most of their fans are a bunch of dumb ass, cousin dating, illiterate, rednecks who couldn't find Tuscalosa on a map of the State of Alabama if the Southeastern Conference Championship depended on it. Shucks, half of 'em probably can't find the State of Alabama on a map of the United States. They are so dumb that they proudly wear flip-flops and overalls out on the town to Walmart on a Saturday night because they can't tie their own shoes or zip up their pants. However, they proudly fly those BAMA flags from the window of their new 1997 Red Chevrolet or Dodge pick-up trucks with their BAMA bumper stickers on the rear bumper. The truck probably cost 3 times their annual income, but is worth 5 times more than the 1970's model house trailer that they proudly park it in front of next to a brand new satellite dish so they can watch their "beloved" CRIMSON TIDE play and fail to cover the spread against the likes of Bowling Green, Southern Miss, Tulane, etc., etc. on Pay-Per-View. Every once in a while, BAMA plays a really, REALLY, BIG GAME against seasoned, SEC opponents like Kentucky or Vanderbilt. Isn't it strange that one of BAMA's permanent SEC Eastern Division Opponents is Vanderbilt? Well, I guess the BAMA faithful can now say that their schedule just got tougher.

With the Tide's loss to UK this month, they suffered their first loss to the Wildcats since Calvin Coolidge (or was it Howard Taft) was President of the United States. I guess now Kentucky will become a "seasoned" Bama opponent. It is a good thing that Kentucky is in the SEC or Alabama would probably chose to never play them again. However, since UK is not one of their permanent East Division opponents, they will only play them twice every eight years. What is really sad is the idiot BAMA FANS who actually will engage you in a conversation about how the "Green Wave" or "Vanderbilt" could actually give BAMA a tough game. Then, after BAMA only beats one of these "bunnies" by one or two touchdowns, they get mad because BAMA didn't climb 6 places in the A.P. Top 25 Poll. Then, I HATE BAMA because I have to listen to these same BAMA FANS explain why the reason that BAMA didn't cover the spread against Vandy, Tulane, or Brownie Troop 247 is BECAUSE (Are y'all ready for this?), "Stallings didn't want Tennessee and Auburn to really see what BAMA has for a team. They were just sandbagging until later in the season when they bring out the big guns." UNBELIEVABLE!!! I will admit that I haven't heard much of this stuff this season since Mr. Dubose took over as head coach, but I think those two losses to "seasoned" opponents like Arkansas and Kentucky shut most of this up. However, if they had greased those games like they normally do, instead of losing, I'm sure I'd have heard any earful by now.

I HATE BAMA because of those two dipshit fans who go to games with a roll of toilet paper stuck on a box of Tide washing powder held with plungers. I don't think I've ever watched a BAMA game that those two idiots somehow don't wind up on television. I received an e-mail after last year's game. In case you think I'm kidding, here it is.

>In case y'all were at the game and didn't tape it. Guess what two guys were part of CBS' intro to THE GAME. That's right. Right there with the footage of General Neyland, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Johnny Majors (as the player not the coach) Reggie White, and all the other Third Saturday in October greats of the past...

[Noah.Dreams]

Oh well, I guess anyone who works that hard deserves to be on Television. At least they aren't wearing "HOG HATS". I HATE BAMA because in 1992 David Palmer got not one, but TWO DUI's and the BAMA GRAD JUDGE gave him "youthful offender status" so he could play football for the Crimson Tide when they won the 1992 national championship. If that had been you or I, we'd still be in jail. I HATE BAMA because they are a bunch of ARROGANT WHINERS. Two years ago when BAMA lost to Arkansas, they got upset because of a blown call by the officials. This happens all the time in football and is simply part of the game. Sometimes the breaks go your way, and sometimes they go the other way. BUT NOT FOR BAMA, THEY GOT THE WHOLE ENTIRE SEC OFFICIATING CREW SUSPENDED FOR A WEEKEND BECAUSE THEY HAD THE AUDACITY TO BLOW A CALL THAT WOULD HAVE GONE IN BAMA's FAVOR.

I HATE BAMA because they play over half their HOME games in Legion Field, but argued that it was a NEUTRAL SITE when it came time to play Auburn. I always felt sorry for Auburn fans for having to put up with that crap.

I HATE BAMA because they still talk about Paul Bear Bryant in the present tense. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the late Paul Bryant, but I am sick and tired of some dipshit redneck Bama Fan who, while pumping gas at the gas station, sees my "GO BIG ORANGE" license plate on the front of my car and starts telling me what THE BEAR would have done if he had been coaching the VOLS against Florida. I already know what the f*%$@#g BEAR would have been doing. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN MOLDING BECAUSE HE IS DEAD. Bama Fans are almost as bad as Elvis fans when it comes to this. I say "almost" because, to my knowledge, Bama fans don't dress up like the Bear and hold a candlelight vigil at his graveside the way fans of the King do in Memphis every year.

Q: How many Bama fans does it take to change a light bulb? A: 75,001 - one to change the bulb and 75,000 to sit in Bryant-Denny Stadium and talk about how good the old bulb was. Several years ago, I was listening to the Rush Limbaugh radio show and a lady called him from somewhere in Alabama. When Rush introduced her and said the name of the town, and state she was from she started talking about being raised in Alabama, and emphasized the fact that it was the same state that Bear Bryant made his famous coaching tenure. I'm driving along and wondering, "Does this lady actually believe that there is anyone with any intelligence whatsoever who doesn't know where THE BEAR is from?" Then I realized the point. She was honestly believed that she was supposed to be special and privileged because she happened to live in the same State as the late Bear coached. She didn't have anything to contribute to Rush's Show, she apparently just wanted to make that point. He rather quickly got rid of her. I was so white knuckled from gripping the steering wheel and cursing The Crimson Tide and her arrogance that I almost had to pull over. By the way, this was in 1991 only a few weeks after we had suffered our sixth straight loss to the Tide. There is a nice print available that shows different scenes of the Tide beating Miami in the Sugar Bowl to win the 1992 National Championship. These scenes in the print are contained within an area that is the shadow of Paul Bear Bryant's head wearing his famous hat.

WHAT IN THE HECK DID PAUL BEAR BRYANT HAVE TO DO WITH ALABAMA, COACHED BY GENE STALLINGS, WINNING THE 1992 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP? OH YEAH, STALLINGS WAS ONE OF THE BEAR'S BOYS!!!

I HATE BAMA because my wife is a BAMA FAN and she wears those stupid s#^t clothes with that dang elephant on them around the house which irritates me and really makes me think of THE GAME. But I got EVEN with her. I converted her 9 year old son, (my stepson) to the "Path of ALL THAT IS ORANGE AND WHITE AND RIGHTEOUS" and now it is all he thinks about. He wants to buy everything orange that he sees. If we pass a construction zone going down the highway, he says, "Cool, that guy had on an orange Tennessee vest!". My wife says we're sick, and I just don't have the heart or see the need just yet to correct my stepson. During the taping of our wedding reception a year ago, my brother happened to be standing next to the guy holding the video camera. Todd started whistling "Rocky Top" probably without even thinking about it. The camera picked up the sound and recorded it perfectly. So now, every time my wife watches our wedding video, guess what she gets to hear. Of course, Ashton and I
usually high five each other and start singing. I LOVE IT!

I HATE BAMA! Because after living in Decatur, Alabama for FIVE OF THE LONGEST YEARS OF MY LIFE, I FINALLY got the opportunity to move to Atlanta, GA. I figured this would be great. Since Georgia Tech chickened out and left the SEC, Atlanta is basically an "SEC Neutral" town much like Memphis (my original hometown). My wife and I got to Atlanta and we found a house that she and I both liked. When I entered the living room, my eyes about flew out of my head. The shelves were filled with ALABAMA paraphernalia complete with the "Paul Bear Bryant" Coca-Cola bottles. From there I walked out on the back deck. Sitting in a pool was a three foot tall elephant rared up on this hind legs with trunk in the air blowing water up and back down into the pool. The Elephant was sporting a RED A on his side. I about lost it right there as my blood pressure climbed 15 places in the top 25.. My first question was, "That does go with y'all, correct?". Of course, my wife loved the place and shortly after we moved in, I performed a full blown orange exorcism.

Unfortunately, the deck underneath where that damn elephant was sitting is permanently stained. So, GUESS WHAT COMES TO MY MIND EVERY TIME I SEE THAT DAMN SPOT? YOU GUESSED IT, THAT GOD FORSAKEN ELEPHANT AND WITH IT, THE GAME. I MEAN FOR NEYLAND'S SAKE, 4 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE IN THE ATLANTA METROPOLITAN AREA, WHAT ARE ODDS? BUT HEY, IT IS A GOOD THING, IT GIVES ME ANOTHER REASON TO HATE BAMA.

I HATE BAMA because I am sick and tired for the BAMA FAITHFUL spouting off about their 12 national championships. ALABAMA is an excellent program with a long football history and tradition and they have won more than several legitament national championships, BUT GIVE ME A BREAK! Some of those championships might as well rank right up there with the "MARTHA WHITE CORNBREAD TOP 25", or the "BIRMINGHAM TIRE AND BATTERY TOP 25".

I HATE BAMA because a BAMAFAN once told me that while the team they want to beat the most is Tennessee, the team they least like to lose to is Auburn. I know if he wasn't speaking for all their fans as a whole, and I guess playing Tennessee doesn't rank right up there with playing an instate rival like Auburn. I TAKE THAT AS AN INSULT. I UNDERSTAND IT, BUT I STILL HATE IT. I HATE BAMA JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE BAMA. BOTTOM LINE IS THAT I HATE BAMA BECAUSE TENNESSEE LOST TO THEM 9 TIMES IN A ROW FROM 1986 UNTIL 1995. IT LITERALLY COST ME THE BEST YEARS OF MY COLLEGE FOOTBALL VIEWING LIFE. I WILL NEVER FORGET THE 6-9 LOSS TO BAMA IN KNOXVILLE IN 1990. THAT WAS THE LONGEST DRIVE FROM KNOXVILLE BACK TO MEMPHIS OF MY LIFE. I DEMAND SATISFACTION. I WANT TO KILL 'EM. I WANT TO BEAT THEM SO BAD THAT THEY DON'T WANT TO SUIT UP AGAIN THE REST OF THE YEAR. I WANT TUSCALOSA ERADICATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH. I DON'T HAVE TO AVOID THE RUSH, I HATE BAMA 12 MONTHS, 52 WEEKS, 365 DAYS, 8,760 HOURS, A YEAR!!!!! I HATE THEIR GUTS.

IF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA WERE AN ACTUAL PERSON, I WOULDN'T PISS IN HIS BUTT TO SAVE HIS LIFE IF HIS GUTS WERE ON FIRE. A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO THERE WAS A JOKE ABOUT A BAMA FAN'S STUPID DOG. WELL I DON'T CARE ABOUT SOME MANGY, FLEA AND TICK INFESTED BAMA FAN'S DOG, BUT MY DOG HATES BAMA TOO!

A FELLOW VOLUNTEER FAN WROTE ME LAST YEAR AND TOLD ME HE FELT EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. HE SAID, "I HATE BAMA SO MUCH THAT IFWE BEAT THEM 212-0 FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS IN A ROW IN NEYLAND STADIUM, IT WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TO SATISFY MY HATRED OF THEM." I THINK HE SUMMED UP IN ONE SENTENCE EXACTLY HOW I FEEL AND IT TOOK ME SEVERAL PAGES TO EXPRESS, EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. I'D LIKE TO PLAY THEM ON THEIR HOME FIELD (BRYANT-DENNY, NOT LEGION FIELD) AND BEAT THEM JUST AS BAD. However, I do have more respect for BAMA than any other team in the SEC. Playing and beating truly means something to me. This rivalry dates all the way back to 1901. Alabama and Tennessee rank 1 and 2 respectively in all time SEC victories and winning percentage. We are the TITANS of the SEC. It is for this reason that I feel the way I do. I love poking fun at the Alabama fans as much as they love doing it to us. We have something that other schools in the SEC (such as Florida) will never have.

[AU Blaaaaaaaake]

Nice read, +rep =)

[VOLjlt]

Sheesh! Why doesn't he tell us how he really feels? LOL :uglyhamme :rofl: :beer:

[Gamecocks4Ever]

Q: How many Bama fans does it take to change a light bulb? A: 75,001 - one to change the bulb and 75,000 to sit in Bryant-Denny Stadium and talk about how good the old bulb was.

:rofl: :uglyhamme :yelrotflm :rolling2:

Priceless!

[Crimson Kicker8]

I don't have any other essays to add to this execpt my own experiences in Tennessee. First of all I think this is a great piece. The writer has kind of a love-hate relationship with Bama. It's obvious that he hates Bama for many reasons, most of them I found as harmless, playful examples instead of outright hatred. At the same time though I feel this guy loves Bama as well. After all, where would his favorite day of the year be without Alabama there to hate? He does like trashing the fans, I especially enjoyed the part where he's insulting Bama fans in the first sentence of the 6th paragraph by calling them illiterate, rednecks, ect and misspells Tuscaloosa. Classic Tennessee fan, so busy trashing Bama that he checked his own intelligence at the door and forgot to claim it when he was done.

He talks about how he lived in northern Alabama and hated all of the Alabama fans and paraphernalia he had to see everyday. I moved to Tennessee in 95 (lucky for me that fall began the "dark years" when Tennessee beat Alabama 7 years straight) and started high school there. Of course, I was born and bred an Alabama fan so I could have moved to the banks of the Tennessee river and still worn my Bama jersey without regret. And so it went. No matter what time of year it was, once a week I would wear my oversized (only size I could find was an XXL) Andrew Zow number 5 Bama jersey. God that pissed people off. Needless to say it didn't help my status as the new kid in school, but I didn't care. Somethings are more important than making new friends. Every Friday we had pep-rallies in the gym for our football team, of course our band couldn't play anything other than Rocky Top, probably because their Tennessee upbringing didn't allow for any diversity in the "Smokey Mountain Bubble". Everytime that hideous song began I'd sit back in the stands, a lone Crimson dot against the swarms of "I won't get an SAT score high enough to do anything else so I might as well wear construction worker orange now" orange and whistle Yea Alabama. I even went as far to bring a copy of the Million Dollar Band playing that great song in full splendor to school one day. Most of my "companions" didn't even recognize it as Alabama's fight song, tools. "I thawt Bamer's fite soung wuz Sweet Holm Alabama." I just sighed and sung the song to myself, hoping that this year would be the year Bama would turn the tide against the Vols and then I could look forward to being voted "most hated kid in school" award for the yearbook. Alabama never beat Tennessee during my high school tenure.

By the time I was a senior I had become a bit jaded against everything Tennessee, not because they had owned Bama (I did grow up during the Curry years and had learned at an early age how to deal with losing to a team multiple times, i.e. Auburn), but because of they way they conducted themselves as fans. I remember one morning riding on the bus to school the day after Peyton Manning lost the Heisman. Some Homers in front of me were describing Woodson with some shameful, inexcusable racial terms. Now in all fairness to Tennessee fans, this type of "trash" exists everwhere in the country and that same discussion could of easily taken place in Alabama, so I don't want anyone to think I'm associating this behaviour with Tennessee in general, but at the time it added fuel to the fire.

There was another time when a local radio station was having a "Gene Stallings look alike contest" the week before the Bama/UT game. They wanted people with bushy eyebrows and stiff demeanors to enter. I called in to explain to the DJ that no one in the state of Tennessee could win such a contest. When he asked me why I said, "Because Gene has a national championship ring on his finger and I doubt you'd find someone in Tennessee with one of those lying around" (This was before the 1998 season).

So finally I graduated high school and moved to Kentucky to begin college. By this point I was sick and tired of anything Tennessee. The Vols were public enemy number one on my list, outdoing even my life-long hatred of Auburn. It wasn't long before I started meeting new people in our dorm. Kentucky is a great crossroad for college football fans, folks from the SEC merge with Big 10 and ACC fans to create a great atmosphere on Saturday afternoons in the fall. So it came to pass that I met some folks who were UT fans. Of course I was a little leary of conversing with them but I soon found out we had alot in common outside of football and soon we became friends. We had playful banter back and forth about Alabama and Tennessee football. Soon after, NCAA 03 came out. We had stay up all night tournaments with folks playing their favorite teams as if it were life and death. My UT friend and I would play the Third Saturday in October atleast once a week. When he came to my room to play it was like he was walking into Bryant-Denny stadium, I had Yea Alabama playing on my stereo, Big Al and UA flags graced my wall, and, of course, Bama was the home team. Likewise, when I went to his room to play I felt like I was in Neyland Stadium. He had posters of Manning, orange and white checkerboard designs, and Rocky Top playing to complete his ensemble. He kept his windows open so the cold Kentucky air would fill his room, further adding to the Neyland atmosphere. That was some of the best fun I've ever had. Finally, my senior year, Alabama beat the Vols in Knoxville and I was in heaven. Since my UT pal was still around I told him it was a great game and I was glad Bama had finally beaten the Vols. He just responded, "we'll beat you next year." He was right. His last day of school we got together to play one last game in Tuscaloosa. He beat me 42-41 in a 3 OT classic. We still talk about that game today, 3 years later.

From that experience I learned to not judge the UT fan by his ugly orange sweatshirt, but by the character inside. I think that is true for all fans, it's easy to hate your rival, but don't hate the fan based soley on face value. Besides, it's the passionate rivalries that make football great. Alabama wouldn't be the same without Tennessee, or Auburn, or LSU. I'm grateful for those annual grudge matches and even though I hate UT Orange, Auburn's buzzard, and LSU's "Geaux Tigers" I've learned to respect the Fan.

[Noah.Dreams]

Wednesday, October 17, 2001

The third Saturday in October
By Beano Cook
Special to ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/i/classic/pixel.gif

If you are a fan of Tennessee or Alabama football there are two rules to live by: Don't get married on the third Saturday in October, and try not to die -- because in either case, the preacher might not show.

http://espn-i.starwave.com/media/classic/2001/0802/photo/a_bryant_i.jpg

Paul "Bear" Bryant coached Alabama to a 16-7-2 record against Tennessee.

When the SEC went to 12 teams and a new format for scheduling, the Tennessee-Alabama game wasn't always guaranteed to be played on the third Saturday in October like it is this year. For years, the best litmus test Tennessee had for a recruit was, "Will he be there to do the job on the third Saturday in October?" If the answer was yes, it was the highest compliment a coach could give a player.

This is one of the greatest rivalries in college football, mostly because of the great coaches and players who have taken part in it. Of course, the two coaches that come to mind are Paul "Bear" Bryant and General Robert Neyland.

I want to set the record straight about something. It was General Neyland who said, "When you throw the ball, three things can happen -- and two of them are bad." He doesn't always get credit for the quote, as it is often attributed to Woody Hayes. But it was Neyland.

There are two stories that exemplify the effect Neyland and Bryant had as the coach of their respective programs. Lindsey Nelson, the famous announcer and Tennessee graduate, was waiting for Neyland with two former Tennessee players after the 1952 Sugar Bowl, which the Vols had lost, 28-13, to Maryland.
One of the former players was smoking, and the minute Neyland came out of the dressing room, the player dropped the cigarette and stomped on it so Neyland wouldn't see him smoking. Nelson turned to the player and said, "You don't have to do that -- you don't play for him anymore." The player replied, "You know that, and I know that, but I don't think the General knows that."

After Joe Namath won the Super Bowl and was the toast of Broadway, Namath talked to Paul Zimmerman of the New York Post. In the interview he told Zimmerman, "The Bear always said defense won games." The next time Namath saw Zimmerman, he claimed to he was mis-quoted. Zimmerman said, "That's what you said about the defense." Namath answered, "Yes, I said that about the defense, but I never said 'Bear.' I either called him Coach Bryant or Mr. Bryant, but I never called him 'Bear'."

Alabama leads the series 42-34-7. Bear Bryant had an overall winning record against Tennessee (16-7-2), but there was a stretch (1967-70) where he lost four straight years.

You can't lose this game consistently and expect to keep your job as the head coach of either team. It's a bigger game to Tennessee than it is to Alabama, because 'Bama's true rival is Auburn. But for both teams, it has stood the test of time. It's not only a great rivalry -- it's always a great game.
Beano Cook is a college football historian for ESPN.

[Noah.Dreams]

Joe Namath is shown as he drops back to hit Benny Nelson (#28) for a 35-yard TD in the second quarter of the 1962 Alabama-Tennessee game. In this exciting 27-7 win in Knoxville, Namath passed for two TD's and ran one in himself.

http://www.thedowntowngallery.com/moore/thirdsaturdayclassic_large.jpg

[Noah.Dreams]

In 1990, Gene Stallings' first year as the Tide's head coach, Big Orange fans were eagerly looking forward to ending their four-year losing streak to Alabama. Late in the game, Stacy Harrison (#1) blocked a 50-yard field-goal attempt by Tennessee, sending the ball bounding back to the Vols' 37-yard line. Score tied and only four seconds left in the game, senior place-kicker Philip Doyle came on stage and did one of the best "Van Tiffin" impersonations since 1985. He nailed a 47-yarder, giving Alabama a 9-6 win.

http://www.thedowntowngallery.com/moore/thekickii_large.jpg

[VOLjlt]

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/8149/score1248lgbz4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The scoreboard says it all. Third Saturday in October - 2003 edition
5OT game that featured some of the best the SEC has to offer. The Vols came away victorious in a hard hitting, high scoring game. Tennessee became the first visitor to win three straight times at Bryant-Denny Stadium and snapped a two-game losing streak that featured losses to UGA and Auburn.

"Just when you think you've seen it all and been through a lot of ups and downs, all of a sudden there's a game like this," Alabama coach Mike Shula said.

"We all know what Alabama-Tennessee is about, we'd all like to be celebrating in there but we're not, and it hurts. But I truly believe this team will be better because of it."

[Noah.Dreams]

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/8149/score1248lgbz4.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

The scoreboard says it all. Third Saturday in October - 2003 edition. 5OT game that featured some of the best the SEC has to offer. It had been 12 years since I had been in Tuscaloosa, and I was unusually anxious on that October day. As a born and bred Tennessean, there was nothing unusual about my anxiety... except I was introducing my 15 year old son to Tuscaloosa for the very first time.

I have always been carefully not to over sale Alabama to my children. I even found it humorous as these children were dressed in blue and orange or orange and white by their relatives. But somehow, they knew.

Then out of the blue, an old friend of my Dad's offered us tickets to the Tennessee game in Tuscaloosa. His box was located in the far in of the end zone... away from the game for the first 4 quarters.

As luck would have it, overtime finally brought the action to the far end of the field, right in front of the student section. Pom-poms were brought out in full force... almost in a rehearsed made for TV drama.

Those five overtimes lasted longer than the previous four quarters. They were the most intense, gut check that I have ever seen any team endure. Time and time again goal line stands forced field goals. The subsitutions were particularly impressive when an injured player would limp off... while his substitution would limp onto the field. Classen hit a pass on 4th down and 23 yards to substain the game winning drive.

It was the most complete game that I have ever witnessed. Even tho Alabama lost, I applauded. On that day, I watch many boys take their first steps as men and Demeco Ryans and Roman Harper were among them.

Life is a journey and I have never been prouder of an Alabama team.

[UA0509]

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/8149/score1248lgbz4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The scoreboard says it all. Third Saturday in October - 2003 edition
5OT game that featured some of the best the SEC has to offer. The Vols came away victorious in a hard hitting, high scoring game. Tennessee became the first visitor to win three straight times at Bryant-Denny Stadium and snapped a two-game losing streak that featured losses to UGA and Auburn.

"Just when you think you've seen it all and been through a lot of ups and downs, all of a sudden there's a game like this," Alabama coach Mike Shula said.

"We all know what Alabama-Tennessee is about, we'd all like to be celebrating in there but we're not, and it hurts. But I truly believe this team will be better because of it."


i didn't know our scoreboard went that high :ohmy:

i'm in a weird place in the rivalry. my dad graduated from tennessee, and my mom is from tennessee also, but i'm at U of A right now. :laugh:

[Noah.Dreams]

i didn't know our scoreboard went that high :ohmy:

i'm in a weird place in the rivalry. my dad graduated from tennessee, and my mom is from tennessee also, but i'm at U of A right now. :laugh:It took a great deal of courage for your parents to make the right choice.

Congratulations.

[Noah.Dreams]

It's only Thursday and I'm already feeling a little geeky.... It's gotta be the third Saturday in October.



Alabama notes


Thursday, October 19, 2006

ALABAMA (5-2, 2-2) at No. 7 TENNESSEE (5-1, 1-1) 2:30 p.m. Saturday (WKRG/CBS) Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn. -- LINE: Tennessee by 11

-- SERIES: Alabama leads 44-37-8.

-- GAME WITHIN THE GAME: Will Alabama force feed its running attack on the Volunteers in an attempt to melt the clock, shorten the game and keep the potent Tennessee offense off the field? Or will the Crimson Tide lean on its so-far reliable passing game to move the chains? Obviously a blend is the best formula for a Tide upset, because if Alabama goes heavy for that second option it runs the risk of a dangerous shootout. One other issue to follow: Will Phillip Fulmer resort to the ultra-conservative offensive tendencies he's shown in recent games against Alabama?

-- STAT OF THE WEEK: Alabama's six sacks are the fewest in the SEC. Tennessee has given up five sacks, tied with Arkansas for the lowest figure in the conference, even though the Volunteers have thrown an average of 29.3 passes per game.

-- GAME NOTES: The teams have met every season since 1928, with the exception of 1943, when neither school fielded a team. ... Tennessee and Alabama have met 13 times when the Vols were ranked and the Tide was not. The Vols have a 9-2-2 record in that situation, including a 4-2 mark when ranked in the top 10. ... Tennessee has a 4-0 record against Alabama when ranked No. 7 ... Alabama WRs DJ Hall and Keith Brown and Tennessee WRs Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain are two of six pairs of teammates who have combined for at least 1,000 receiving yards this season. ... Hall set Alabama records last week with his fourth straight and seventh career 100-yard receiving game. ... Meachem ranks second in the country in receiving yards per game. ... With 165 rushing yards last week, Alabama RB Ken Darby became the third player in school history to top 3,000 yards in his career. ... Tennessee ranks eighth nationally in passing offense. ... Tennessee QB Erik Ainge's passer-efficiency rating leads the SEC and ranks seventh nationally. ... Tennessee's opponents have scored all 13 times they've reached the red zone -- nine TDs, four field goals. ... Tennessee has yielded 17.4 yards per punt return, the next-to-worst average in the nation. ... Tennessee's third-down conversion percentage of .595 is the second-best in the nation. ... Alabama ranks third nationally in time of possession.

-- QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Their offense is putting up a lot of points right now, so we have to be prepared to come out and light it up, you know. We're going to come out needing to score touchdowns, get on the board early. Their offense is good and they're going to make plays and score touchdowns. They put up (51 points) against Georgia last time they played. That's saying something."

-- Alabama QB John Parker Wilson



© 2006 The Mobile Register

[VOLjlt]

By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS, AP Sports Writer
October 19, 2006


With the way the offenses of Alabama and Tennessee have been playing, it's unlikely Saturday's matchup will produce another defensive battle like last year's 6-3 game.
Or maybe it will.





In a rivalry like the Third Saturday in October, nothing is certain.

Seventh-ranked Tennessee (5-1, 1-1 SEC) hosts the Crimson Tide (5-2, 2-2) in a border-state series that dates to 1901.

The Volunteers have won nine of the last 11 meetings, including seven in a row from 1995 to 2001. The teams have split the last four games with Alabama winning a year ago in Tuscaloosa 6-3, one of the lowest-scoring outcomes in the series.

"It's close pretty much every year. Is it going to be like last year 6-3 or is it going to be like '03 with the score when you add it up it's almost 100 points? I don't know which one it would be," Tennessee offensive guard David Ligon said.

The Vols won 51-43 after five overtimes in 2003, but this rivalry has also produced three scoreless ties. The first game played in 1901 ended 6-6 when the official made a controversial call and complaining fans rushed onto the field and started fighting.

Tennessee had last week off after winning 51-33 at Georgia, marking only the second time the Bulldogs had given up 50 points at Sanford Stadium.

The Vols, rebounding from having one of the worst offenses in the country during last year's 5-6 record, now lead the SEC in total offense, pass offense, pass efficiency and red zone offense. Tennessee has scored 21 out of 23 times inside the opponents' 20-yard line.

In last year's game, the Vols fumbled the ball through the end zone while the score was tied at 3, and the Tide won with Jamie Christensen's field goal with 13 seconds left.

"This is one of the best offensive football teams we have seen on tape in a lot of years. They have all of the ingredients right now," Alabama defensive coordinator Joe Kines said.

Tide coach Mike Shula, a former Alabama QB, says Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge is very different from last year. Ainge, a junior, has become one of the most efficient passers in the country now that he's under the tutelage of offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe.

"Their quarterback is starting to improve and improve greater and greater each week. He's the one that probably makes them even more dangerous than what they've been the last couple of years offensively," Shula said.

Alabama sophomore quarterback John Parker Wilson is making his first start in this rivalry on Saturday and is one reason there's talk about the Tide's offense. He has thrown for at least 200 yards.

Then there are receivers D.J. Hall and Keith Brown, who have combined for 1,116 yards to rank second in Division I among duos. They'll have a nice competition with Tennessee's duo of Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain, who have a combined average higher than their Tide counterparts.

And don't forget Alabama's running game led by Kenneth Darby.

"Their quarterback does a really good job of running their offense and getting the ball to their big-play wide receivers. It's kind of a double challenge there, trying to manage Darby and then Hall and Brown," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said.

Alabama has not scored as many points as the Vols, averaging 24.4 compared to 35.2 a game. But Wilson has come through under pressure. He completed a 2-yard pass to Le'Ron McClain to beat Mississippi 26-23 in overtime last week.

"Their offense is putting up a lot of points right now, so we've got to be prepared to come out and light it up," Wilson said. "Their offense is good and they're going to make plays and they're going to score touchdowns. They put up 51 against Georgia. If you put up 51 points against an SEC team that's saying something, so we've got to be ready."

www.knoxnews.com

[Noah.Dreams]

Class.... Our history lesson for today is....

There is a definite chill in the air. It's gotta be the third Saturday in October.

There have been all sorts of adjectives used to describe the Alabama-Tennessee football series over the years.

“Storied." “Intense." “Tradition-rich." “Classic."

And, for the better part of the last half-century: “Streaky."

From 1955 until 2002, one remarkable defining characteristic of the rivalry was that when a team gained the upper hand, it was probably going to keep it for quite a while. That’s understandable in a series where one program is markedly superior to the other, but was tough to understand when dealing with the two best programs in Southeastern Conference history. Still, the trend was so pronounced that it can be quickly summarized here.

Tennessee didn’t lose to Alabama from 1955 until 1961. Alabama then didn’t lose to Tennessee from 1961 until 1966 (There was a tie in 1965). Tennessee won in 1967 and didn’t lose until 1971. Alabama ruled the series in the ’70s, winning every game from 1971 until 1982. UT’s 1982 win started a four-game winning streak for the Vols (http://tidesports.com/section/sports&template=sports&mode=clubhouse&team=55900). Alabama snapped that string in 1986, and didn’t lose to UT again until 1995 (Again, there was a tie in the streak.) With its 1995 win, Tennessee was back on top, and stayed that way until 2002.

Things changed after that win. Alabama couldn’t win a second straight time against the Vols (http://tidesports.com/section/sports&template=sports&mode=clubhouse&team=55900) in 2003, although it took five overtimes to keep it from happening. UT won again in 2004, and Alabama answered in 2005. There’s no way of knowing yet what will transpire on Saturday, but UT is a double-digit favorite to reverse the trend once again.

That raises an interesting question. A year ago, Tennessee looked like a team in disarray and decline. A year later, and despite an early-season loss to Florida, the Vols (http://tidesports.com/section/sports&template=sports&mode=clubhouse&team=55900) may be playing as well as any team in the SEC. So how was UT able to make such a sudden about-face?

The answer, from both sides of the rivalry, appears to be confidence.

“It’s hard to say exactly," Tide (http://tidesports.com/section/sports&template=sports&mode=clubhouse&team=800) head coach Mike Shula said when asked what made Tennessee better than they were a year ago, when Alabama won 6-3.

“Their quarterback [Erik Ainge] is playing better. They seem to be more opportunistic. Last year, they had some tough things happen before they came into this game. This year, things have gone their way. They are a hot football team, and appear to be very confident."

That’s apparent from watching the Vols (http://tidesports.com/section/sports&template=sports&mode=clubhouse&team=55900) play. Even if it wasn’t, you would certainly get that sense from Ainge’s recent comments.

“There’s a difference between knowing that, 'Yeah, you can win,’ and knowing that when Alabama comes in, that we’re going to win the football game," Ainge said in an interview with the (Nashville) Tennessean earlier this week.

“That’s how we feel now. We are going to win the football game.

“That’s the attitude we have, and we didn’t have that attitude last year. We were kind of, 'Man, I hope we play good. I hope this. I hope that.’"

There’s nothing wrong with strong talk if you back it up with action, and Ainge -- the SEC’s top-rated passer -- has done that so far.

“He’s been more efficient," Shula said.

“He’s not trying to force the ball downfield, but they are hitting on some big plays. He’s matured, like a lot of good young quarterbacks do, and he’s got a lot of tools to work with in their offense."

Another factor worth mentioning is that Tennessee has a new offensive coordinator or, more precisely, an old offensive coordinator who is now back in the saddle. David Cutcliffe, in his second tenure tutoring the UT quarterbacks, deserves ample credit for the improvement in Ainge’s play.

But confidence can work both ways, and Shula says he thinks that Alabama will have its own fair share of that commodity.

“We’re going to rely on our veterans to tell our younger players about it," Shula said. “We have to keep our poise. We have to play with confidence."

If so, Alabama might even succeed in putting together a modest version of what was once so common in this series: a winning streak.

Cecil Hurt is sports editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Reach him at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0225.

[TaySC]

That has to be one of the dumbest write ups that I have ever wasted my time reading.

For starters, someone from Tennessee calling someone else a redneck is just dumb....

[VOLSVOLS17]

But I am guessing South Carolina has no rednecks?

[TaySC]

But I am guessing South Carolina has no rednecks?

Never claimed they didn't....

THAT's the point.

Thanks for making it for me. :whistle:

[Noah.Dreams]

http://www.al.com/images/birminghamnews/logo262x34.gifTIDE BUZZ


Saturday, October 21, 2006

This game will determine ...:

Whether Alabama can turn its third SEC road game into its first winning one. The team has wasted golden chances in the previous two.

Three things to look for::

1.How the three injured players appear in warm-ups. WRs Keith Brown (knee) and DJ Hall (shoulder), and RB Jimmy Johns (ankle) are among the wounded. If they look steady prior to the game, expect them to really contribute. If not, that's bad news for the Tide.

2.Anything weird. If there is one thing about this rivalry, it's that games are incredibly difficult to predict. Will it be high scoring? A field-goal fest? Who knows? But given the history, something odd will happen at the end to make a difference.

3.This is one to listen for: Rocky Top. If you are an Alabama fan, the playing of Rocky Top is not good. That means, usually, that the Vols have scored or at least done something noteworthy. If it plays a lot, chances are the Tide will be hurting.

Key matchup::

The Alabama cornerbacks vs. Tennessee's stellar receiving duo. Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain have combined for the second-most receiving yards in the country among pass-catching teammates. They've done it by breaking off huge plays. If Alabama's Simeon Castille, Ramzee Robinson, and Lionel Mitchell can keep them from busting tackles and racing down the field, the Tide's prospects brighten.

By the numbers::

102,038 - The number of fans expected to squeeze in Neyland Stadium, which will likely make it the loudest atmosphere of the year. Alabama players must stayed poised.

Significant injuries::

Alabama - RB Roy Upchurch (out, knee), WR Keith Brown (probable, knee), WR DJ Hall (probable, shoulder), RB Jimmy Johns (probable, ankle). Tennessee - WR Jayson Swain (probable, ankle), OL Arron Sears (probable, ankle, elbow, toe), DT Turk McBride (game-day decision, hip), WR/PR Austin Rogers (out, sick). Ian R. Rapoport --



© 2006 The Birmingham News

[Noah.Dreams]

Rumor is that the cheapest ticket in Knoxville for the Alabama vs UTK game is $200. I'm not surprised.... on the 3rd Saturday in October.

http://www.al.com/images/huntsvilletimes/logo313x34.gif

Alabama and UT looking for a hero


Saturday, October 21, 2006 By PAUL GATTIS
Times Sports Staff paul.gattis@htimes.com
It could become Ainge or Darby - or a defense

KNOXVILLE - It's about history and pageantry, tradition and memories.

It's a border skirmish that can get ugly, if more so in the stands than on the field.

It's a game that defines seasons, and the definition will be on the scoreboard.

It's Ala-bama-Tennessee, it's the Third Saturday in October (a game so big that the weekend has become a proper noun) and it's today.

"I'll be sure to express to them like I've always done about the history of the series," Vols coach Phillip Fulmer said of his team. "They'll know the importance of this series, I can assure you."

This game is so big that probation-burdened Alabama blatantly breaks NCAA rules in victory, handing out cigars to its players and then reporting the minor violation to the governing body of college athletics.

"I was at South Carolina when they came into the conference (in 1992) and they were talking about the division of the east and the west," Tide running backs coach Sparky Woods said. "And I remember one huge subject was that we can't mess up this Third Saturday in October.

"That seemed to be as big an issue as anything else on the table about this whole merging."

More than 100,000 people will cram themselves into the bowl that is Neyland Stadium, where Tennessee's Pride of the Southland marching band will play so many renditions of "Rocky Top," it'll start to sound a lot like "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall."

But above all the pomp and circumstance is a football game to be played.

And while the spectacle of the Volunteer Navy and volley of good-natured (hopefully?) taunting between fans is nice, it's still about players making plays.

Will it be Erik Ainge, Tennessee's dazzling junior quarterback who has led the Vols to a No. 7 ranking?

"The thing that is probably the highlight of the whole show is the play of the quarterback," Tide defensive coordinator Joe Kines said.

Will it be DJ Hall and Keith Brown, Alabama's spectacular receivers who are second in the nation with 1,116 combined receiving yards?

"We're just going in knowing they've got two really good receivers," Tennessee safety Jonathan Hefney said.

Or will it be receivers Robert Meachem or Bret Smith making plays for Tennessee? Or will it be quarterback John Parker Wilson or tailback Kenneth Darby making plays for Alabama?

Or will it be somebody's defense making their own big play?

Or will it be an unknown?

Will Brown and Tennessee receiver and Huntsville native Jayson Swain - both of whom have practiced little this week - be healthy enough to make a play?

Whoever it is, whatever happens, somebody in the future will be talking about it being a part of the history on the Third Saturday in October.

"We know it's going to be a tough SEC battle," Tennessee tackle Arron Sears said. "We dislike each other a little bit. But I'm sure everybody knows that."



© 2006 The Huntsville Times© 2006 al.com All Rights Reserved.

[thethrill]

It's finally here. The High Holy Day in Southern Football. The Third Saturday in October. This is what it's all about, let the hitting begin.
GBO

[TDArkansasOhmy]

Enjoyed the read Noah. Didn't know the meeting of the two was that big of a deal. I knew the hatred was there, but the long history, I didn't have a clue about that. Thanks.