how it's done

[ToddMalone]

The Vols fans re-created the Vol Walk down in Jacksonville, FL today.

Every road game I have followed the Blue Raiders to -- and there have been a bunch I have been to --, I have tried to encourage other MT fans to greet our players on the road as they arrived to the stadium. We Blue Raider fans did a pretty good job back in Dec 2009 before the New Orleans Bowl. We had a great crowd in the hotel lobby cheering the team on as they boarding the buses for the short ride over to the Superdome. And back in 2002 in Knoxville I did my best to get a large group to gather for the team where the visiting teams arrive, but was able to get only about 50 fans to join me and my kids. The few of us that greeted the team were loud, though.

Too bad MT fans seem to have such a difficult time creating tradition. Heck, UT has been around for more than a hundred years and they are STILL coming up with new ideas to add to their already-rich tradition. This past season, they did the orange-white checkboard in the stands (something I bet they'll do at least one game each season from here on out). And they also started a tradition where the players interact on the field prior to warmups with members of the Pride of the Southland drum corps. The crowd loves it.

How it's done...

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

They also got rid of coach with a .417 winning percentage. Very close to our guy sitting at.509.

#stuckstill

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Happy for our beat writer.

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

I think it helps to have a lot of fans. UTK has that, we don't. Its like the Chicken or the egg, which comes first?

Meanwhile, UTK is turning there program around. Our window to capture MT grads that are Vol fans is closed. I think Jones has them going...they are a young team with some serious talent. Good for them.

 

[MTFNBY5]

There is such a thing as "mob mentality" and we don't have enough casual fans who are anxious to jump on any bandwagon, much less form a Raider Walk on the road, even at a bowl game.

One interesting observation from yesterday: Before halftime of the Urenge bowl game yesterday I went to my local supermarket in a mid-state county. I counted 7 people wearing Urenge gear at the store - and this was during the game. Why the he-l do they choose to wear the gear if they don't care enough to watch their beloved Vauls playing in a bowl?

IMHO (and I have nothing to back it up) it's important to be part of the "tribe" even if you really don't care for sports and this is especially true in the south where cultural influences promote this mentality.

 

[MTLynn]

Originally posted by MTFNBY5:
IMHO (and I have nothing to back it up) it's important to be part of the "tribe" even if you really don't care for sports and this is especially true in the south where cultural influences promote this mentality.

Absolutely. People are sheep with almost everything - sports, politics, religion, fashion, health, finance, etc. and they experience cognitive dissonance if something contradicts what they and the other sheep are doing.







This post was edited on 1/3 4:25 PM by MTLynn

 

[ToddMalone]

hopefully Blue Raider Nation will reach this point someday -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdJi4ZI_3go

You'll notice at the end of the clip, the players are putting their headphone back on AFTER they are finished passing through the fans. I bet Coach instructed them to do this so as to encourage interaction between fan/player, as well as to give the players an opportunity to feed off the crowd's enthusiasm. It's been so long since I've attended a Raider Walk I cannot remember if MT players wear headphones or not.

Several MT fans have shared ideas with the MT admin about ways to generate pageantry and tradition. I think MT needs to try some of those ideas out. They may have tried and I missed it.
This post was edited on 1/11 8:19 AM by ToddMalone

 

[THEBLUERAIDER]

Why haven't you been to RaiderWalk? Fair weather fan?

 

[ToddMalone]

Originally posted by THEBLUERAIDER:
Why haven't you been to RaiderWalk? Fair weather fan?

Not exactly, but close.

Fair weather friends riding high horses.