The VOLS sign on the concourse outside Gate 21 yesterday

[PirateVOL]

I believe soon these letters will resume their position above the South endzone

Also, it would be cool if they were lit up next week!

[Tnphil]

Question....were the colors reversed on the old sign. I read that it was but cannot remember even though I had season tickets in the North end zone and starred at them for years. 

[PirateVOL]

Question....were the colors reversed on the old sign. I read that it was but cannot remember even though I had season tickets in the North end zone and starred at them for years. 

I always remembered Orange letters

[Black Diamond Vol]

Those aren't the letters I want atop the stadium. Give me the old White letters on an Orange background, from the pre-jumbotron era.

[Tnphil]

Those aren't the letters I want atop the stadium. Give me the old White letters on an Orange background, from the pre-jumbotron era.

That's what I thought.

[Coupe De VOL]

Those letters are iconic, for sure.  I think I can remember being at Neyland before the upperdeck horseshoe was complete.  1974 Memphis St, I think it was...The first UT game I ever saw.  I'll never forget getting free pom poms and I'll never forget the spectacle of toilet paper raining down from the east sidelines upper deck.  I also remember a few times later on that decade sitting in the N endzone grandstands.  I loved those seats.  In the early 80s I spent a week on the UT campus in the summer for some camp and stayed in the old Morrill Hall - which I think got torn down.  I loved eating in the cafeteria and being able to use the student center.  Jeez, we played a ton of ping pong in our free time.  

One of the cooler things we did was "break" into the Neyland Stadium construction site.  They had just completed the renovation where they made the full double bowl in the stadium.  It was just incredible to see first hand after going to all those games earlier in the 70s.  We even were able to find a football and played some pitch and catch.  I was really amazed how big the crown of the field was.  I think we still had the Tartan Turf back then.  I few years later I got to play a couple of HS games in Vandy Stadium, on the turf, and that field had a sizable crown as well.  It is pretty weird to play on such a surface.

Anyway, the old VOLS sign always reminds me of the old stadium and the way it used to be.  There is something really special about that.  

[Coupe De VOL]

another pic I found

[Tnphil]

Coupe De VOL.....good read.

[PirateVOL]

When the put the original jumbotron in the letters became orange over white I have a 2006 picture this way), which are the letters at Gate 21



So, they have been both ways:  White over Orange and Orange over White

[Tnphil]

I had season tickets until 1995...Guess that's why I remember the orange background.

[VinnieVOL]

When the put the original jumbotron in the letters became orange over white I have a 2006 picture this way), which are the letters at Gate 21



So, they have been both ways:  White over Orange and Orange over White

Lol, this is like looking back at the 32” TV I used to have that I thought was “big” at the time.   

[Black Diamond Vol]

Lol, this is like looking back at the 32” TV I used to have that I thought was “big” at the time.   

Our current Jumbotron is tiny by today's standards. Especially for such a huge stadium.

[TallVol]

It was cool to see the letters.  It would be great to the Orange letters back where they belong and if the white letters could be permanent somewhere around the stadium, even better. 

[Cobbvol]

another pic I found

Love that picture with the UT on the hillside. Look at the parking in the lower right. Hopefully you are not in a hurry trying to leave with all those cars jammed together.

[PirateVOL]

Love that picture with the UT on the hillside. Look at the parking in the lower right. Hopefully you are not in a hurry trying to leave with all those cars jammed together.

That is an amazing picture
I don't remember the Northern of the 2 bridges to the parking deck on the South side of the Student Union, the deck being the VOL Shop these days
The engineering department infrastructure looks really empty compared to today (to & from the game I walk down Middle drive amongst the engineering buildings and since I am an engineer I tend to notice these things)
Alumni Gym looks far better than it does today IMO
Same for the South side of the stadium
On the flip side, the Gate 21 plaza is a huge improvement over the then parking lot
Lot 9 is packed, these days maybe half full at game time

The 2nd creek area looks radically different than today, after the world's fair