My husband and I—both U of M grads and devoted Tiger fans—have two cousins who are HUGE Vol fans. Aside from that one significant character flaw, they’re pretty decent guys.
We don’t get to talk to or see our Vol cousins as often as we might like, as neither lives in Memphis and we all have very busy lives. Our fantasy football league helps us all keep in touch during the NFL season, but the rest of the year we typically have to call or email our hopelessly orange cousins a dozen times before getting a response. We know how hectic things are for both of them, so we don’t take it personally.
But this week, hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear from one or the other of them.
One lives in Knoxville (I’ll call him cousin D) and has called three times in the last six days. Cousin D is bubbling over with excitement and can’t resist the chance to do a little good-natured trash talking to his Memphis cousins. We mostly just listen, resisting the urge to boast too much on our undefeated, No. 1 Tigers or to throw the fear of Joey Dorsey into him.
The other one (cousin J) has been working out of state for months and is nearly impossible to get in touch with. Numerous emails I’ve sent him have gone unanswered, even the ones inquiring where I should send his fantasy football winnings. However, I sent out an email a few days ago with the subject line “What do you love about Memphis,” and Cousin J replied immediately.
“I love being big bad and ORANGE and picking on Tiger High.”
Ahhh, it’s so good to hear from those guys. In fact, I wish the Tigers and Vols played more often so we’d REALLY keep in touch.
My husband and I understand their giddiness. No. 2 is the Vols’ highest ranking ever, so Cousins D and J should enjoy it while it lasts. We don’t mind humoring them for three more days.
As for me and my husband, our trash talking can wait until Sunday, but I have no doubt we’ll have to deliver it via voice mail. It might be months before Cousins D and J answer another phone call or email from us.
I sure will miss those guys.
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3 comments:
cousin j says go vols!!!!!! too bad yall can't play all your games against those fearede conference usa foes. looking forward to our 1st #1 ranking. thanks tiger high
Lookin for #12! In the real world that's an 11-7 advantage for the BIG ORANGE FLAGSHIP University to your east. Don't save your trash talk til Sunday.It may spoil before you get to use it. Also, don't just waste it on obscure blogs. Cuzn D is always just a phone call away if you need to be consoled.
Funny thing, Cousin D’s phone isn’t ringing today. I’ve checked my voice mail and there’s nothing there either. I wouldn’t mind hearing from very blue Memphis cousins, in fact I’d love to, but I doubt I’ll be hearing any Tiger trash talk today. Cousin J is looking forward to some of the Sunday talk they spoke of as well. That’s the thing about THE BIG ORANGE. ORANGE is loud and proud all the time. We didn’t talk trash we just believed in who we are….THE TENNESSEE VOLUUNTEERS! That’s the #1 VOLS for you Tiger fans. It’s like Bruce Pearl said, “There may be better teams 1-5, but there aren’t a lot of them that can go 10 deep and play at the level the VOLS do.” Memphis might have been one of them. I said it going into the game…I didn’t think the Tigers could do it for 40 minutes. What a great team effort by the VOLS. You get 16 points combined from your top 2 scorers and beat the former #1 team in their house. Thanks Memphis for the showcase. The Forum that they let ya’ll play in with all of the blue really made the BIG ORANGE look good. No charge for the lesson on toughness or total team effort. Don’t give up hope Tiger fans. If you’re lucky we’ll give you another free lesson in March. From the entire VOL Nation……Here Kitty Kitty!
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