Readers think Tennessee football only cares about wealthy fans, take shot at Smokey Grey uniforms | Adams

Excitement is building among some Tennessee football fans as the Vols prepare to face Ball State or Bowling Green or Akron in their season opener Thursday.

Sorry, but I get those MAC teams mixed up. The Vols played Bowling Green to open the 2021 football season and will play Akron in a couple of weeks.

Ball State is this season’s opening opponent.

You might have noticed I didn’t write “Excitement is building among "all" Tennessee fans" in that first paragraph. That’s because I’ve been reading my emails.

Mark writes: Smokey Grey Uni's, have they ever won a game wearing those ugly uniforms? Funny thing, Bama seems to do just fine wearing the same apparel they have for well, EVER!

Maybe, spending a little more time on actually winning football games vs how you are gonna look running around out on the field and losing 5 or 6 football games might make more sense.

My response: You always will be disappointed if you compare Tennessee to Alabama in anything football related. But don’t confuse coach Josh Heupel with former coach Butch Jones.

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I doubt Heupel spends much time thinking about what uniforms the Vols will wear. I also doubt he spends much time thinking whether fans like or dislike the uniforms the Vols wear.

He has an offense to run and a defense to fix.

Larry writes: The funniest part of UT’s spin about football season tickets sales was omitting that 10,000 or so were not renewed. They sold 16,000 new tickets. Wow, but had net increase of only 5,000 or so. Wow.

Either a lot of people died, moved away, or just balked at the crazy increases in price. I gave up my 2 tickets we had for 68 years. Price went from $800 something to $3,700.

UT only cares about millionaires and corporate donors.

My response: Tennessee and administrators constantly remind us that a large, passionate fan base is a vital part of their athletic department and a great selling point for the entire university.

So, I wouldn’t say UT only cares about millionaires and corporate donors. It just cares a lot more about them.

Joel writes: I just canceled my football season tickets, which would have been my 52nd season. I didn’t miss a single game in Neyland Stadium. In a precarious economy with my retirement accounts losing money, I felt it necessary to save this money ($1K) to assure I can continue to live comfortably in the future.

My response: Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about saving money. Once I’m no longer able to work, I know I can count on contributions from my loyal readers to carry me through what otherwise might be a bleak existence.

I thank them in advance.

Glad to hear you will be comfortable, too. And although you might lament giving up those season tickets, at least you won’t have to worry about fighting traffic, long restroom lines or a nearby drunk falling on you.

Christopher writes: Recently, Roman Harper’s prediction (on the SEC Network) for the Vols to go 10-2 has been met with a lot of challenges. However, when you replay the 2021 season, it is not a stretch of the imagination to conclude Purdue, Pitt and Ole Miss games were just a few whistles away from turning into wins.

So that begs the question: Why not 10 wins in 2022? We are better all-around.

My response: Your optimism isn’t farfetched. Only Alabama and Georgia have a significant talent advantage on the Vols. And they have a significant talent advantage on just about everybody.

Tennessee is certainly capable of winning the rest of its games. But the odds are against it, which is why I’m on board with 9-3.

Like last season, you can’t expect every close game to go your way – unless you are the 1998 Vols.

John writes: I live in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and subscribe to the KNS. I wanted to pass along a note to let you know how much I enjoy the time you are on the air with Tony Basilio. It’s radio gold. Thanks for the entertainment.

My response: I have so much fun being on radio with Tony, Brian Hartman and Matt Dixon every Thursday, I forget I’m on radio. In fact, I probably should be more careful about that.

Mike writes: After listening to you on the Tony Basilio Show for months, I now realize that the decision to join Tony on Thursdays was sheer genius on your part. You two really complement each other so well. It is really entertaining radio.

My response: Thanks. It’s also great publicity for my column.

Tony spent an entire show ridiculing me for writing a column on Tennessee baseball a month before the start of UT’s football season.

You can’t buy publicity like that.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Readers thinks Tennessee football only cares about wealthy Vols fans