You know what they say… if you can’t beat ’em, might as well make a YouTube video about it. Guest blogger Kelly Hastings returns this week with some much needed comic relief for Vol fans. Enjoy! – joy
Tennessee Football as a DIRECTV Commercial: A Guest Blog by Kelly Hastings
In recent years, the plight of the UT football fan has been similar to that of a lover who is wholeheartedly committed to a bad relationship. Every Saturday, our hearts are filled with hope and excitement as the Volunteers take the field with full force during the first quarter. By the end of the fourth quarter, we’ve been let down once again, as the Orange and White have miraculously managed to blow yet another comfortable lead. We turn off our televisions and tromp out of Neyland Stadium with spirits low, but we always come back for more each week. This is the struggle of the “Vol for life.”
When the Vols suffered a heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma at their first game in Neyland Stadium this fall, fans were forced to face their fears that this season would continue the same trends as the last. After the Vols threw away a 13-point lead during the second half of a recent loss to the University of Florida, media producer and entrepreneur Andrew Spencer does what any orange-blooded Tennessean would do: create satirical video content and numb the pain of defeat with a little laughter. According to Spencer, “When it happens once, it’s sad, but when it happens a second time, it’s comical.” In his DirecTV commercial parody, Spencer contrasts a first half UT football fan to a second half one with hilarious and painfully true statements like, “In the first half, you’ll actually like our coach. During the second half, you’re going to be texting and tweeting about how much you hate our coaches.”
Spencer probably never imagined just how much other UT fans relate to his pain. As of this post, his video has over 200,000 views on YouTube. In addition to making football parody videos, Spencer has a media production business named 3BC PRO that specializes in photography and video content, including aerial production. With any luck, his newfound fame and viral YouTube video will result in more business for his budding start-up.
WBIR reporter Mary Scott covered Spencer’s viral video on Channel 10News this past Friday. At the end of her story, Scott said, “Spencer says he’s not giving up on Team 119, as long as they don’t turn him into this guy again.” As we all know now, they did turn us into that guy again by blowing a 14-point lead against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday. I have not reached out to Spencer to see if he has given up on the Vols for letting him down once again, but I have a pretty strong feeling he has not, because I haven’t, and you haven’t either. For those of us who bleed orange, it seems like we’ll never learn. Until next Saturday, folks, go Vols!
– Kelly Hastings, 2015 KEC Guest Blogger
