20 Facts!

I'm singing...

T-E-double N- E- double S- double E

TENNESSEE!

In honor of Tennessee Football this week I thought I'd do a Top 20

rundown of the best Knoxville, Tennessee Traditions & Fun Facts!

1. The  University of Tennessee made its first football debut in 1891

For over 100 years, this college football team has been turning the Tennessee Vols fans into some of the most hardcore football fans you will ever meet!

2. When football season arrives, the Vol Navy lines the banks of the Tennessee River with hundreds of boats prior to home games for one of the best "floating" collegiate football tailgates parties there is. The Vol Navy began in 1962 when George Mooney, the Volunteers' broadcaster, found a quicker and more exciting way to get to Neyland Stadium other than fighting the notorious Knoxville traffic!

 

3. Running through the "T"... When Doug Dickey became the Vol coach in 1964, he moved his team's bench to the west side of the stadium, allowing the Vols to enter the field just before the opening kickoff through a giant "T" formed by the "Pride of Southland" Marching Band. Even through the numerous stadium changes this tradition has lived on!

 

4. Tennessee's Alma Mater was selected in 1928, and written by Mrs. John Meek (formerly Mary Fleming).  It goes a little something like this...

On a Hallowed hill in Tennessee
Like Beacon shining bright
The stately walls of old U.T.
Rise glorious to the sight.

So here's to you old Tennessee,
Our Alma Mater true
We pledge in love and harmony
Our loyalty to you.

5. Smokey the Blue Tick Coon Hound has been the Tennessee mascot since 1953, when the school held a contest to pick a new live mascot...  the ad read "This can't be an ordinary hound, he must be a 'Houn' Dawg'.  Reverand W.C. Brooks’ Blue Smokey drove the crowd wild with his howl and UT had found its mascot.  To date there have been nine Smokey Dogs.

6. "Rocky Top" isn't the official Tennessee school song, but you'd never know that based on the way it's played nearly nonstop anywhere and everywhere on campus.  Vols love it, and opposing fans hate it; It's the perfect school song! Boudleaux and Felice Bryant wrote 'Rocky Top" in 1967 in less than 10 min. in a Gatlinburg, Tn hotel room.

7. Before each game, just before the Vols run out the tunnel, and run thru the T, they touch the Vols sign that says " I will give my all for Tennessee Today". This sign remains just over the doorway in the locker room at Neyland Stadium.

8. The Pride of the Southland Band is UT's marching band. At every home game, the Pride performs the "March to the Stadium" which includes a parade sequence and climaxes when the band stops at the bottom of The Hill and performs the "Salute to the Hill", an homage to the history and legacy of the university.  The Pride is also known for the famous "Tennessee Circle Drill"... it is only performed  at one home game a year.

9. "The Hill," the original part of the campus, is symbolic of higher education in the state of Tennessee. UT, founded in downtown Knoxville in 1794 as Blount College, moved to "The Hill" in 1828 & quickly grew around it. The main part of UT's old campus stands on this rising bank above the north shore of the Tennessee River. 

10. The Tennessee Volunteers were nicknamed even before Tennessee officially became a state because of residents like John Sevier and other "overmountain men" who volunteered in the early 19th century during the Revolutionary War. The Vols nickname became even more prestigious when Gov. Aaron V. Brown issued a call for 2,800 men to battle in the Mexican war and about 30,000 volunteered!

11.  Neyland Stadium is the third largest football stadium in the United States. It is still the largest football stadium in the South... the stadium can seat over 102,000 fans.  Another fun fact is that UT's Stadium is only 1 of 3 college football stadiums located on the water. 

12. Tennessee's official fight song is "Down the Field", which is played when the Pride "Opens the T" for the team to run through at the end of their pregame show, as well as after a Vols score.

13. The checkered End zones are a Tennessee trademark dating back to the mid-1960.  When Doug Dickey took over as coach in 1964, he had the end zones of the football field painted with the checkerboards. The colorful and popular end zones are still a big part of Tennessee football!

 

14. In 1999 Tennessee installed a Sony video screen dubbed the "jumbotron" that back in the day was the largest of its type in the country.  In 2008, parts were basically non-existant to fix the historic jumbotron and the university began having to buy scraps from other stadiums with similar equiptment.   However now, the game-day experience for UT football fans has entered into the high definition era. When the Vols kicked off their 2009 season, Neyland Stadium featured a brand new, state-of-the-art jumbotron, with a price-tag of four-million dollars... The "jumbotron" is even more  gargantuan now measuring in at 41' x 127'  (that’s 5,207 sq. ft.).

 

15. Unearthed in the 1960s, from the old Calvary Baptist Church & moved to "Fiji Island", the Rock became the unofficial message board for the UT campus. The Daily Beacon has editorialized: “Originally a smaller rock, The Rock has grown in prestige and size while thousands of coats of paint have been thrown on its jagged face."

16. Tennessee's Biggest college football rivals are the Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, and the Kentucky Wildcats.  These are four games that no Tennessee Vol's fan would ever miss!

17. The Vol Walk (formerly named the walk down Yale Avenue) became somewhat a new tradition in 1990 when the walk was moved to Peyton Manning Pass, to honor Peyton's achievements!  The walk allows fans to get up close and personal with the team as they walk from Gibbs Hall to the stadium, two hours prior to the game. It has become a fan favorite.

 

 18. Smokey the dog won the 2000 Mascot National Championship title sponsored by the Universal Cheerleaders Association at Disney! (ps. Smokey was my roommate in college, true story)

 19. Orange and White became UT's school colors when Charles Moore, president of the university's athletic association, chose them on April 12, 1889. His inspiration came from the orange and white daisies which grew on the Hill. To this day there are still orange and white flowers grown outside the University Center

 

 

20. Cumberland Avenue (The Strip) was one of the original Knoxville streets surveyed and platted by Charles McClung in 1791. The street and the surrounding area were home to wealthy business owners, but by the late 1920s, Cumberland Avenue became increasingly commercialized when the street became more of a student run street.  Cumberland Avenue first earned its nickname "The Strip" after a drug raid during the 1960s.

 

And a side note...

UT is ranked 47th amongst the public universities in America!

Also, UT's College of Architecture and Design school is ranked #2 in the nation according to the journal DesignIntelligence in its publication "America's Best Architecture & Design Schools"!!!