
To rephrase Lawrence Thayer‘s “Casey At The Bat”:
There is no joy in T-Town—mighty Bama has been beaten by the Vols.
In a game of arguably controversial officiating, the Crimson Tide football team on the “Third Saturday in October” lost a game against the University of Tennessee Volunteers for the first time in fifteen years. The final score was 52-49. At one point there was actually a heated dispute among the officials about which down was being played that led to a lengthy video review. There was a record of seventeen penalties for Bama. In the first quarter alone the Crimson Tide was penalized for fifty-four yards.
Many fans in T-Town, unable to travel to Knoxville, watched the CBS Game of the Week on their flat screen televisions. Coverage began with College Game Day. The pre-game show featured former Volunteer quarterback Peyton Manning leading the Pride of the Southland band’s rendition of “Rocky Top.” The song originated as a bluegrass Christmas tune in 1967. According to Wikipedia the song is about a “city dweller’s lamentation over the loss of a simpler and freer existence in the hills of Tennessee.”
As a taunt to Bama fans, the song Dixieland Delight, a staple at Alabama games, was played over the stadium’s loudspeakers after the Tennessee victory. Its lyrics contain: “Rollin’ down a backwoods, Tennessee byway…”
During the College Game Day broadcast before the game, there were a couple of scatological signs held by Tennessee fans. One said that Alabama Coach Saban sits on the toilet when he urinates. Another said that Bama fans wipe before they defecate. Tennessee fans are uniquely rabid and are infamous for pelting opposing teams with beer cans, mustard bottles and other projectiles. Some fans were dressed as mustard bottles during the Game Day show.
After the game Tennessee fans, either under the influence of alcohol or drunk with the joy of victory, stormed the field and tore down the goalposts. This resulted in a South Eastern Conference fine of $100,000 for “violating the league’s access to competition area.”
As enthusiastic as Bama fans are, it is very unlikely that they will ever tear down goalposts, hold scatological signs or pelt the field with cans and bottles. Leave that to fans from a “backwoods Tennessee byway.”
Yes.. my daughter and self weren’t too thrilled about the hoopla from TN fans. Kinda a feeling of disbelief. We were attending my grandson’s night baseball game when TN parents went into celebration overdrive…However, I do like these rolling hills and beautiful countryside and even the hillbilly mode is kinda a nice variation to my home state of AL. Enjoyed the article! Makes me feel less homesick hearing news from Tuscaloosa.
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2022’s UofA Homecoming Queen Ellery Hill is from Michigan. She has apparently bought into the “Dixieland Delight” mythos.
The song “Dixieland Delight” is about “Rollin’ down a backwoods, Tennessee byway…”
For some reason the hokey country paean to backwoods life is popular with UofA students who writhe in the strobe lights in the stadium when it’s played.
In the Crimson White, Hill said, ““My hometown is exactly what you would picture when listening to a country song. Cornfields line my dirt road, I spent my childhood camping in my backyard…”