OK...so I'm back in Texas now, and I can respond to the questions above + provide an AAR on the game.
But first...
Bristol is my home town. It's actually a split city (like Texarkana) with a Bristol TN and a Bristol VA. There's a street named State Street that has the state line running right down the yellow line in the middle - with
brass plaques every few feet indicating Tennessee on one side, and Virginia on the other. We have an iconic sign at one end of the street that indicates the state line for those who might have missed the plaques. The all-white bulb sign is well known in the region.
They changed out the light bulbs for this weekend, and made the Virginia side maroon, and the Tennessee side orange.
Generally, it's a very united town, even though there are two police departments, two fire departments, two sheriff's departments, etc. On a given day, you could see six different police cars (each from a different agency - county, city, state), all on the same street, and all have jurisdiction on exactly half the street (I have some interesting stories about that, but I'll save it for another time).
This week, it was like the War of Northern Aggression all over again - brother against brother as the two teams are both well liked across both sides of the border.
Bristol, TN has a population of 26,702, and the Bristol, VA has a population of 17,835. Effectively, the population of the combined city was more than quadrupled over the weekend.
The Annoyed Man wrote:....and the next three were spent in several countries on the far corner of the world.
Do tell. You've got me curious now.
PM Sent
RicoTX wrote:I watched the game and was wondering if the people in the stands could even see anything from that far away? Anyway, hope it was a great time!
They did it, and it was huge. 156,990 was the final count (just 10 hillbillies away from 157K!). Close to the end of the game, a representative from Guinness Book of World Records presented a certificate (shown on the jumbo monitors) that certified this game's attendance.
http://www.heraldcourier.com/news/local ... 537fd.html
http://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal ... -most-ever
RicoTX wrote:I watched the game and was wondering if the people in the stands could even see anything from that far away? Anyway, hope it was a great time!
Yeah, we were high up there. The high-banked track already lifts the stands high above the midfield, where the game was played. I was about halfway up the stands, about 15 yards back behind the Tennessee end zone. But we had a good enough view. The Colossus monitor system that was suspended over the midfield had four massive 30' x 63' video boards - and it was at eye level for us. We didn't miss a thing.
https://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com/fans/colossus/
This was apparently a mobile setup, and it'll be used at the Final Four games in Phoenix next.
http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/artic ... final-four
The center structure, according to ESPN, is roughly the equivalent of the 13,000 square foot, three-story house. Over 100 tons of cabling suspend Colossus, and the suspension cables are larger than some of the cables supporting the Golden Gate Bridge with a length that could circle Bristol’s track twice.
The game was awesome (although the Vols didn't seem to come alive until after Q1). After losing the first quarter almost completely, apparently the 4th string quarterback had a 'come to Jesus' meeting with the offensive line that inspired them to come alive:
http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/foo ... 17441.html
Tennessee's struggling offensive line received encouragement — heated encouragement — from an unlikely source Saturday night during its 45-24 win over Virginia Tech in the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol.
According to the ABC broadcast of the game, fourth-string UT quarterback Sheriron Jones jumped the offensive line on the bench after their struggles led to three punts on Tennessee's first three possessions.
"You promised you wouldn't do this," Jones told them, according to ABC. "I believe in you."
ABC sideline reporter Samantha Ponder reported that at one point Jones had to be held back by teammates while going after the offensive line, which struggled heavily in a 20-13 win over Appalachian State last week at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee's offense woke up not long after Jones got involved. Starting quarterback Joshua Dobbs played the role of hero.
It just goes to show you - you don't have to be 'in charge' to be a leader. If this story is true, then he was a strong peer leader, from the 4th string QB position. Good for him!
Apart from the record-setting, Colosseum-inspired, border battle, a few things about this will be forever burned in my mind.
#1: the fans
There was complete togetherness between the fans of both teams. Unlike other venues, where the 'home team' may have a pretty regular tailgate venue, this one was a traveling game for both teams. So all the fans were new to this area, and all the tailgaters were intermingled more than you might usually see. (Add to this the fact that the Vol tradition is more of a Sailgate than a Tailgate, because of the Vol Navy - all those who normally on their boats now had to become landlubbers for this game).
No animosity, no fighting, nothing at all. Everyone seemed to get along very well. I met a Hokie in the airport today on the way home, and his comment to me was that his best memory of this game was the fans. He said that because of how well everyone was, he's now somewhat of a Vol fan. I have to say I'm more of a VT fan now as well, because of the experience at the game.
#2 the patriotism
Nobody sat through this National Anthem. It was a show all in itself, with participation from about 3/4 of the crowd in the stands.
This article says it much better than I could:
http://ijr.com/2016/09/691058-after-wee ... mpaign=ods
If you look closely, I'm part of the second-from-the-top white strip that goes out of scene just around 0:53 in that video. I'm glad they got me from my good side.
But the halftime show was just as patriotic. The VT band did a great job, but the Pride of the Southland Marching Band blew it away. I know, nobody watches the game for the band performance, but this one is worth the watch.
If you've never heard 100,000 + people singing Rocky Top, it's pretty cool. The final song was 'God Bless the USA', and they had Lee Greenwood out there with them leading the UT band's performance. It was very moving, indeed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn5rij46LK4
