My Dad's View of College Football

     I highly respect my father's opinion on anything he tells me in life. I agree with him a lot on one main subject, College Football. I know that I learned everything I know about college football from my dad. He loves college football almost as much as I do. When I was given the opportunity to interview someone on my topic I knew exactly who I was going to interview. I asked my dad questions about his favorite and least favorite teams in college football, I asked him about his first game day experiences, and I talked about new college football uniforms. 

     When I asked my dad about his favorite college football team he immediately responded that his favorite team is the Tennessee Volunteers. I should have seen that one coming, knowing that he has taken me to Tennessee football games since the day I was born. I asked him if he had any other favorite football teams to watch besides Tennessee. His answer was very surprising to me. He said, "I liked Southern California before Kiffin started coaching there." I asked him what was so interesting about Southern Cal. He replied with the traditions they have at Southern Cal especially the mascots. He said the he loved the trojan riding into the stadium on the horse carrying the sword. I also asked my dad about his least favorite team. I already knew his answer before the words came out of his mouth. "I hate Alabama." I begged for him to give me a good reason why he hate such a hatred for Alabama. He replied with a story. "One year I took you, a friend of yours, and our neighbors daughter down to Tuscaloosa. And after being pelted with cups of ice and hotdog wrappers during a losing day I noticed some Alabama students smoking cigars. In most college football stadiums smoking is not allowed in the stadium, as it is at Alabama. At halftime I walked down to the police officer who was standing at the rail and I asked him if smoking was allowed in the stadium? He replied with a quick no. So I pointed up to the group of students who were smoking and said what about them?" The policeman looked at my dad and said "It's not my job to control them…It's my job to control you." 

The USC Trojan

     In the next part of my interview with my dad I talked to him about his earlier game day experiences. He couldn't remember his first game day experience but he told me it was at an Vanderbilt football game. He also said it was nothing like the Tennessee games that we go to today. He remembers when he was a freshman in high school and his brother was a freshman at Tennessee how the University would allow the fraternities to take care of the cannon that they would fire during every Tennessee touchdown. He remembers that Tennessee would give the people who helped fire the canon free access to the game. He remembers riding into Neyland Stadium on the cannon. He remembered how cool he thought it was to ride in with his brother and his fraternity brothers into the game on the cannon. I asked him about his favorite game day experience. He told me about a game when Tennessee and Alabama where playing on national television and how that was such a big deal to be on national television because it was not like today when every single college football game is on national TV. He told me about a key series in the game when Tennessee's defense stopped Alabama and Alabama was down by a touchdown with about a minute or two left in the game and Alabama was in a hurry up offense. He told me that Kenny Stabler in an effort to stop the clock threw the ball out of bounds. I asked him why that was so important in the game. My father replied, "It was fourth down!!!" He said everyone in the stadium erupted into a frenzy. Tennessee had defeated Alabama in Neyland Stadium and my father was there to witness it.

Ken Stabler on 4th Down

     The last topic that I talked with my dad about was the uniforms in college football. The first question that I talked to my dad about was what is your favorite college uniforms. He replied with a surprising but not surprising answer. When I first thought about what he was going to reply I knew he was going to say Tennessee's uniforms because that is his favorite team. But a surprising answer came, The Oregon Ducks. He told me that he loved the buzz that the new uniforms you see every weekend from them creates. "Everyone is talking about them." Not surprising his least favorite college football uniforms were Alabama's uniforms. He named them bland and boring. 

Oregon's Uniforms

     I have learned everything I know about college football from my dad. He raised me in Tennessee's stadium. I would ride on his shoulders from the parking lot to the seats and then all the way back after the game. I look up to him as a person and as a college football fan. One thing I learned from this interview was that if you want to have a successful football program you have to have great traditions, great fans, and great uniforms.