University of Tennessee Athletics
Rowdiest of the 'Rowdies'
January 10, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2011
BY JOSH PATE
UTSports.com
The orange top hat and checkerboard shoes are a staple. His mom gave him the hat when he was a freshman, and he and some buddies painted the shoes in his dorm room that first year of college. Since then, the cape has become a tradition, as have the orange overalls, pants, coats, whatever else he can muster up to wear to Tennessee men's basketball games.
To put it mildly, Sully Sullivan loves the Vols.
Sullivan, a senior biology major at UT, is nearly as identifiable at Tennessee home basketball games as Smokey, the pep band, or orange and white checkerboard on the baselines. Sullivan is always the first student at the game, and he always stands behind the basket to lead the Rocky Top Rowdies student section in cheers and jeers to both pep up the Vols and, well, distract the opponents.
He's the guy leading the students in opponent free-throw distractions, like shifting their hands from one side to the other as soon as a shot is released. Or when the students duck down as an opponent prepares for a foul shot only to be surprised when the entire student body jumps out of nowhere like a100-person jack-in-the-box. Or when the students simulate riding a roller coaster to try and dizzy the free throw shooter. Sullivan is the conductor behind the student orchestra of chaos.
"I don't want people to think I'm doing it because I get good seats," Sullivan said. "There are awesome perks, I'm not going to lie. But it's not about that to me. I'm just trying to show when students do what we can do, it really impacts the game in a big way. Not that I do it all, but when we're down there and there's that group of people, it's a totally different arena and different atmosphere than when we're not. It's not like I'm the only reason, because it's not. I think it really helps having someone coordinate what's going on."
That someone is Sullivan. And it's work.
DRESSNG THE PART
In high school back in Nashville, Sullivan played football. All the basketball players would dress kooky and attend the football games, and during basketball season Sullivan and his gridiron teammates returned the favor. When Sullivan came to UT, he wanted to continue the tradition.
Tennessee hosted nationally ranked Ole Miss that year to open conference play, and Sullivan and a bunch of friends decided to camp out to get the best seats, which are actually standing spots located on the hardwood baseline of the court. Sullivan took a tent, a generator and a television down to Thompson-Boling Arena despite a major rainstorm that drenched Knoxville. The marketing department's Doug Kose and Chris Fuller were notified that some students were soaking in the rain, waiting on tickets, and asked Sullivan and his friends to leave. And for good reason -Sullivan started camping two days before the game - although it only fanned his fandom.
"Sully was actually camping out in front of the wrong doors his freshmen year, which was pretty funny in and of itself," Kose said. "Hence, the sign `Tennessee Basketball Student Entrance' that we now have above the student section. Additionally, he was camping out two days in advance of the game, which the university was not comfortable with at the time."
Sullivan, once he got back to his dorm room in North Carrick Hall, fired off an e-mail to head coach Bruce Pearl "This is ridiculous, why can't we do it?" Sullivan wrote. "What's the deal?"
"For some reason at the very end, I put my number down and said, `If you just want to call me back instead of e-mailing me, that's cool,' " Sullivan said. "Literally, five minutes later, I'm walking to get dinner in Presidential Courtyard and he calls me and says, `Hey, this is Coach Pearl.' I was like, he did not just call me. He said, `I'm so sorry about what happened. We're going to take care of it. We'll get you seats next game.' He was super cool and said, `Thanks so much for everything that you do.' So from that point on, I had a connection that basketball was more special than football."
Now, Sullivan has his army of Volunteers who will be at every home basketball game. He can count about 60 who are guaranteed to be there with him when the gates open, filling the end zone of the arena, standing the duration of the game, and cheering in unison at his direction.
Now, Kose and the marketing department allow students to camp out inside the arena doors for one designated game. This year, it's the Vanderbilt game on Jan. 15.
"Yeah, I dress up and look kind of crazy and am noticeable," Sullivan said. "But the point of what I do is to get everybody to do the exact same thing. When we coordinate it and everyone is doing the same cheers, it's so much louder and has so much more impact. There are literally like 60 people that if they weren't helping out, I'm going to look like the idiot down there trying to start stuff, which a lot of people think I am. That's part of the job, I guess."
EMBRACING THE ROLE
Sullivan didn't just walk right into the position. Halfway through his freshman year, another senior was leading the students in cheers. But that person missed a few games, and Sullivan would fill in when needed.
That's when Kose asked Sullivan to fill the role all the time.
"I was only a freshman, so I was like, `Yeah, of course!'" Sullivan said. "I wasn't thinking that probably half the people in the student section are thinking that I'm an idiot. Literally, that game I left my seat and went back there and the rest is history."
Since accepting the mission, Sullivan's role has evolved quite a bit. He's gone from simply chanting "defense" when the Vols don't have the ball to helping the students get creative in their foul shot distractions, chanting during opponent introductions, and rounding up a select group to form the T that the team runs through before the game.
By no means is Sullivan's role a half-bit attempt at fandom. It's a commitment.
"On game days, I'll start getting texts at 9 in the morning like, `What time are you getting there tonight?' or `What time should we be there?'" Sullivan said.
For a 7 p.m. tipoff with an average opponent, the gates to the arena open at 5:30. Sullivan and his crew will be in line an hour before. Conference games move the schedule back slightly, simply because of the increased interest and larger crowds.
Against Kentucky last year, Sullivan worked with the marketing department to organize a camp out for the game. It became a sponsored event, and hundreds of students spent the night to get good tickets for the game. Pearl and some of the players showed up to deliver food to the students. And of course, the Vols upset the No. 2 Wildcats in dramatic fashion, 74-65.
"Sully is the liaison from the athletic department to the student body," Kose said. "He has the trust of his peers and can give us feedback on what promotions, giveaways, music, etc., that needs to be tailored to the students' liking. But what impresses me the most is he still is one of the first to be outside of the student entrance and freeze his tail off, with all the other die-hard fans."
Nothing is beyond possible for Sullivan and his crew. They once spent all day at the gates of the arena with a full camp site set up with a television and satellite prior to a 9 p.m. game against Florida. The group rotated shifts, allowing each person to attend class while also holding their spot in line for the battle against the Gators.
This year's first home SEC game just happens to also be a 9 p.m. tip against Florida on Tuesday night. No word yet if Sullivan and his crew plan on making it an all-day affair again.
"The longer it's gone on, the more communication there is," Sullivan said. "People recognize that I'm going to be there. So they've talked to me before about what they can do and how to do what I do or how to help. There's a lot of communication among the group with new ideas. Half the stuff we do is stuff other people have come up with."
And in that lies the question.
THE SUCCESSOR
Who will follow Sullivan's footsteps?
Sullivan graduates in May with his biology degree and plans to attend UT's dental school in Memphis, following his father's path but also completing his own dream of being a dentist. He's done the math: it's a five-hour drive from Memphis to Knoxville.
Everyone knows Sullivan's role has to be filled for next season, and a few students have been lobbying for consideration. But Sullivan warns that it's a legitimate role to fill and more than just wearing a hat and cape and yelling cheers.
"There are sweet perks, and I have one of the sweetest seats in the arena, I think," Sullivan said. "But you've got to understand that about half the crowd sitting down over there thinks you're a total loser no matter what you do. You've got to be able to take that. At the same, you can't be some crazy fan that's chaotic. You've kind of got to be a little professional. There are a bunch of people who want to do it. They've mentioned an interview process for it."
Kose said picking the successor won't be formalized to preserve the grassroots nature of the role.
"Certainly, Sully is a unique and special individual," Kose said. "Not anyone can pull off wearing a cape and top hat and at the same time get students and fans fired up and into the game. He will be a challenge to replace, no question. We have never had a formal process and hope that someone will step up to the challenge to fill his shoes. He has been an incredible asset for the past four years."
No matter who gets selected, a year from now, Sullivan will most likely be in Memphis forced to watch on television. For good measure, he may be in front of his big screen with the orange top hat, cape and, of course, the checkerboard shoes. If they last through this season.
"It's going to suck," Sullivan said about missing next season. "I've already thought about that."
Sullivan paused and thought about all the games he's seen: the upset of No. 1 Kansas last year, the Kentucky game last year with the camp out, the players and the phone call from Pearl. He'll miss this role. But he's still got a season's worth of SEC games to go.
"There's nothing like when the lights go down and they're introducing whoever we're playing on ESPN at 9 o'clock," Sullivan said. "Everything is just so loud. You don't have to do anything but just sit and listen. It gives me chills."
