University of Tennessee Athletics
Inside The T -
October 03, 2014 | Football
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
Sure, most of you remember your first Tennessee football game. But do you remember your first "big" game?
I'm the rare fan that doesn't remember his first UT game. Saturdays in Neyland Stadium are something that I always remember doing - to a certain extent.
Every parent I know in Knoxville has had the discussion, how old is old enough for a son or daughter's first Neyland Stadium trip?
Some people start their kids with the Orange & White Game. It's a Neyland experience, without the risk of having to drive home with the game still in doubt. But for those that go ahead and lead with a real football Saturday, they rarely lead with a "big" game.
The risk factor is high with kids at football games. Can the combination of music, iPad games, candy and hot dogs entertain enough when the game outlasts the attention span? If it doesn't, then what do you do? So many parents start out with a game that likely won't take four quarters to decide.
I know that was true for me. My mom, a longtime UT employee, got her season tickets when the north end zone was enclosed in 1980. I came along three years later and was deemed fit for football attendance four or five years after that. But there was no Florida or Alabama game on my schedule. We had two tickets, so if I went, that meant one of my parents was staying home. If a game had any doubt, I was staying home. My schedule had a steady dose of Duke, Pacific and Temple. I had to be bribed with concession stand Reese's Pieces to stay beyond halftime. I wasn't ready for the big time.
In 1992, I begged for weeks to go to the Florida game. The fact that I was partially motivated by having been in the state of Florida on vacation was probably key in the decision to instead send me to stay with my grandmother for the day. But I sat transfixed by the images of the ABC television broadcast, unbelievably impressed that an event five miles from me was on TV. When the broadcast showed water from the torrential downpour running down the steps, I wasn't nearly as disappointed. I got to go to the Arkansas game two weeks later, blame me for that one.
My first "big" game was Florida two years later in 1994. Blame me for that one, too. But my dad taught me an important lesson that day: He never leaves early. We were going to get our money's worth for those two seats, no matter how hot, cold, wet or out of hand the game was. We were staying, regardless of whether I had effectively begged for the Reese's Pieces.
My mom, on the other hand, was not as much of a stickler for the 60-minute rule. If a game was well in hand, negotiations began as to what I would get if we went ahead and left early. I won't lie, food was also involved there. That's what you call a theme.
Alabama games were an even bigger deal. My mom was going to that game and it wasn't negotiable. I didn't get to see my first Third Saturday in October until 1998, so if you're going to blame me for '92 Arkansas and '94 Florida, I'll take credit for the Peerless Price 100-yd touchdown return.
Once I proved myself fit for fandom, you couldn't keep me away. After my mom took her best friend, a Texas Tech alum, to the opener against the Red Raiders in 1997, I saw every game in Neyland Stadium for the next seven years. I've missed five games since, all while on trips with other Tennessee teams.
I don't think my experience is unique. When I tweeted out a photo of Brent Musburger calling the Louisville game in 1993 earlier this week, five people responded with memories of that being their first game in Neyland. Look around next weekend at the Chattanooga game and I bet you'll see a lot of young kids holding the hands of mom and dad or grandpa and grandma, taking it all in for the first time.
Now, I'm not telling you what game to start your kids with, that's your call. Some friends of mine from high school had an extra skybox pass for the Florida game in 2010 and took their toddler son. I don't know if he'll remember that one day, but I know his parents will never forget it.
That's what it's all about. Wins and losses are how we measure success on the field, but in the stands it's about creating memories. Wins help. So do Reese's Pieces.
