In case you missed it, a new name for UT’s student section will be announced during the Aug. 31 season opener against Utah State.
You might wonder why the student section does not already have a name, or why it needs one. But consider, instead, who the request for a name came from.
In a closed-door meeting at the football complex with several dozen student leaders nearly a year ago, head coach Butch Jones said he wanted students to create an identity for themselves in Neyland Stadium.
A year later, the ballot is set. From hundreds of submitted suggestions, Tennessee Athletics whittled the pool down to five possible names.
Here’s a look at the contenders and my take on their strengths and weaknesses. Voting ends Sunday at nameourhome.com
Smokey’s Howl – A decent choice because it incorporates UT history. The unique howl of a bluetick coonhound at halftime of a game in 1953 birthed the tradition of Smokey.
Unfortunately, this name is tainted by the Greek cheering competition, also named “Smokey’s Howl”, which awkwardly infiltrates various UT athletic events each fall semester.
General’s Quarters – Certainly a usable option because of the significance of Gen. Robert Neyland within UT football lore. Considering the name of the football stadium, it would make sense to call the student section the “General’s Quarters.”
But just like “Smokey’s Howl,” this name is also not original. Right now it is the name of the most popular forum on Volquest.com, a website that covers UT sports. Heck, there might even be some copyright issues in play.
Vol Army – It builds off the tradition of the Vol Navy nicely but has a strange ring to it when said too quickly. “Vallarmy” sounds more like a type of rodent than an SEC student section.
Rocky Top Rowdies – Probably as solid a nickname for a UT student section as there ever will be. It flows, incorporates UT’s unofficial fight song and ends with a word which defines what an SEC student section should be.
For the last several years the basketball student section has gone by this name. So no, it’s not original, but the promotions department could probably reuse old posters and bust out some boxed T-shirts to save money.
Big Orange Crew – Boring. But hey, UT’s student section is sometimes too.
Regardless of what it is named, the student section will be under scrutiny in 2014. All student seating has been moved to the lower bowl of the stadium, placing more pressure on the student body.
Splotches of empty seats are an eyesore when they’re in the upper deck, but they’re an embarrassment in the lower bowl.
Though student attendance improved dramatically in 2013 compared to 2012, an average of more than 4,000 tickets per game went unused during seven home games last season, according to data from UT’s ticket office.
In a stadium with a capacity of 102,455, those unused tickets could be the difference between a five-digit attendance total and a six-digit total.
If UT students can’t stomach the $10 ticket price and fill their section, maybe regular fans who pay much more for entry into Neyland Stadium will come up with their own nickname for the empty bleachers that represent absent students.
How about, “Butch’s Buttchuggers?”
Sports columnist David Cobb is a senior in Journalism & Electronic Media. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @DavidWCobb.
