Tennessee Volunteers Know Healing Starts in One Place

They say that winning cures everything.

Let’s hope this is the case for the Tennessee Volunteer faithful who are still smarting from a year long sinus cold they would just as soon forget.

Even winning the final two games of the season, against perennially doormats Kentucky and Vanderbilt more than likely just moved the congestion from their head to their chest.

No, Volunteer fans need a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup, a big glass of orange juice, and, God-forbid, maybe a little Mentholatum rubbed on their chest. This is no ordinary cold they are trying to get past.

Sure they suffered through a losing season just a couple of years prior to the 2008 campaign, but this one really stung.

In seven of the 12 games last year, the offense scored 14 points or less.

We should probably tack on a vitamin B-12 shot to that list.

Maybe the Volunteers didn’t wash their hands enough. Maybe they shared too many water bottles or didn’t cover their mouths when they sneezed.

I can’t think of any other way that bacteria such as apathy and lack of discipline could spread to so many in such little time.

In 2008 Tennessee lost a home game to the Wyoming Cowboys, lost to "the old ball coach" again, lost its manhood to Florida, lost a stunner to UCLA, lost its right to celebrate its four-point victory over Northern Illinois, lost its legendary coach, and more importantly, lost its swagger.

The fans in the process lost a lot of fluids dealing with these infections.

The funny thing about being sick is it usually becomes the only time we actually take care of ourselves.

It’s only when we are sick that we actually eat the right kind of hot meals, drink the right amounts of fluids, and take the right vitamins.

For some of the returning players on this year’s squad the infusion of a new level of discipline by Lane Kiffin and his staff is a welcome site.

Being held accountable is something players desire deep inside, often time more than the perks of playing right away or preferential treatment.

Since Lane Kiffin’s arrival, the collective GPA of the football team has seen its highest spike in over four years. There have been no arrests either which means Kiffin has a long way to go before being nominated for the Fulmer Cup.

Blue chip recruit Eric Gordon, who was the first recruit signed by Kiffin at Tennessee, probably wouldn’t have signed with the Vols had the previous year’s staff still been in place.

According to Vols Xtra, Gordon referred to Phillip Fulmer saying, “You don’t want a coach that will let you get away with too much.”

This staff won’t let them get away with too much. They are more worried about winning.

Winning does cure everything. But it’s more than just winning the press conference, or winning recruiting battles. Tennessee fans need the hard drugs. They need the wins that come on the football field.

That starts with Western Kentucky on Sept. 5.

The recommended dose is a 30-point victory. Let’s hope for Volunteer fans that this medicine goes down easy.