Mirror Images

The orange-clad horde of Big Orange fans have had their hopes and dreams for a Southeastern Conference Championship, dashed annually for almost a decade. The mantle over the fireplace is bare and fans want something they can be proud of, to fill its barren span. Could this be the year that Vols coach, Phil Fulmer brings home some hardware to share with his admirers and critics?

Considering that the University of Tennessee Athletic Department and its puppet-masters are content with winning just enough games to keep the ovine-like fans from canceling their tickets and donations, the program - its goals, and the reality surrounding the program's direction, is truly an enigma.

How can UT fans solve this mystery of football faith? The puppet-masters have lowered their expectations of excellence. Like it or not, "Eight Is Enough" is now the company line. Coach "Phil "Tom Bradford" Fulmer will continue to carry out his patriarchal duties as he has been for the past few years. Fans once bragged about his "fishing prowess", are now scratching their heads and asking themselves if he is using the proper bait?

Consider that the Vol's football teams have enjoyed graduation rates of 58%, 49%, 38%, and 41% over the past four years. Is the "Big Fisherman" reeling in keepers? There is evidence that this trend is not going to change as the "Big Fisherman" has hooked several athletes who have struggled to graduate from high school and are not yet eligible to be admitted to the University of Tennessee. One of those athletes is reportedly submitting dual applications for admittance to UT for his third time and an assisted living nursing home at the same time. Does anyone think that these athletes have a desire to be student athletes and graduate with a meaningful degree much less get through two years of remedial classes in order to stay eligible until they are eligible for the NFL Draft?

Despite reeling in and landing great athletes at Tennessee over the past ten years, the "Big Fisherman" has not been successful in molding his annual string of talent into Southeastern Conference champions on the field or into graduates off of the field. Even Dick Van Patten in his role of "Tom Bradford" would have questioned the results of those fishing trips and their end results.

Maybe all of us have been looking at the "big picture" all wrong and from the wrong angle? Is our perspective of our favorite program upside down? After-all, we are only expected to win eight games a season, moral victories have become a norm for many fans, and Southeastern Conference championships are not expected. Heck, we haven't won one in almost ten years.

If you look into the mirror and turn it upside down, you would swear that the University of Tennessee football program was the Vanderbilt football program, except that Vanderbilt graduates a large majority of their players. It makes a Tennessee fan believe that Neyland Stadium is really McGuigan Field/Vanderbilt-East. You can almost hear Bobby Denton announce over the loud speaker, "Tennessee fans, show your orange!"

Now, we know what Charleton Heston's character in "Planet of the Apes" was thinking when he got a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Its a mad upside down world!