University of Tennessee Athletics
From the Desk of Mike Hamilton
August 31, 2004 | General
Aug. 31, 2004
Game week is finally here and activity on campus has picked up considerably over the past couple of weeks as one of the largest freshman classes in Tennessee history has arrived on campus. Fall brings new energy in college athletics and that is certainly the case this year. We have seen the Orange Nation, our student support group, grow from about 100 members to over 1,300 members so far this fall. We enter our home opener with freshman as co-number one starters at the quarterback position. The names of the players may change every four to five years, but one thing remains constant. They all put on their orange and white, show unbelievable time commitment to their task and go out and represent our University in a first class manner.
The City of Knoxville and the University of Tennessee campus will be on a national stage this weekend. As many of you know, we have slated opening weekend this year as a celebration of our tradition in Tennessee football. We invited back football lettermen and their families and I am happy to report that about 450 former football lettermen will be back for a great weekend of activity. There will be over 1,100, when their families are included, to celebrate the weekend at numerous special functions throughout Saturday and Sunday.
I hope you will come early for the "Vol Walk" and be there as, not only we celebrate the 2004 Vols, but we welcome these football lettermen who have been the foundation for the great tradition that is Tennessee football. These former lettermen will also be honored at halftime of the football game along with four living head football coaches, Doug Dickey, Bill Battle, Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer.
In addition to a great reunion weekend, Knoxville's riverfront will be alive on Saturday night. Those of you who have never attended Boomsday will want to be on the riverfront Saturday evening for what is the South's largest fireworks display. On a typical Labor Day weekend over 325,000 people come out to enjoy this event. We hope you will be there as well.
Finally, most importantly, we kick-off the game on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. to a national audience in retro uniforms again giving credence to our past. You will note that this Sunday the permit parking lots for the football games will open at 1:00 p.m. instead of our normal 7:00 a.m. This is not only to allow staff to clean up lots after Boomsday but to give respect to the local and campus churches who are affected by our move to Sunday evening. I expect that our crowd Sunday evening will be standing room only. I am very hopeful that you will come early, cheer hard and respect our opponents. Certainly, I want to encourage everyone to wear orange. I am looking forward to seeing you in Neyland Stadium on Sunday evening. Go Vols.
| Expect to win! |
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| Mike Hamilton |
