Against Bama: Total Implosion

I've never experienced anything like it. Tennessee fans had mostly vacated Neyland Stadium early in the fourth quarter. As time expired against Alabama, Crimson Tide fans had taken over. There had to be at least 30-thousand. Their cheers and chants reverberated off the bleachers and high-priced club seats usually occupied by Vols fans. It was an impressive show of force. 

It wasn't much better outside Neyland Stadium. Most Tennessee fans had long-since left. On Phillip Fulmer Way of all places, I pressed head-first into a staggering flow of giddy Alabama fans celebrating a 29-9 win. 

They had come. Their team had conqured. It felt more like Tuscaloosa than Knoxville.

A good friend and colleague who's a life-long East Tennessean estimated the crowd at 60/40. Bama fans, smelling a national championshiop, obviously snatched-up tickets. Can't blame Tennessee fans. In tough economic times, they're just trying to recoup their losses. Too bad the Vols can't do the same.