I do believe it was Mac Davis who sang “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble.”
I am flattered to report that the Jim Martin family and friends in Charlotte (plus others on a conference call) will again read out loud a 1978 Marvin West column, UT football is many things to many folks.
For at least three decades, this has been an annual ritual on the eve of the Tennessee football opener.
“When this article came out, I had just graduated from UT and was living in North Carolina,” recalled Martin, a long-time, long-distance friend. “I had been going to UT games ever since I was 8 years old and I had always felt that UT football was bigger than the game itself.
“Your article completely articulated the feelings I had at that time and continue to have about UT football. It reminds me why I have chosen to travel four hours each way for most every home game for the last 40 years.”
Jim sent a copy of the old newspaper clipping and invited me, because I am also old, to be the official reader tomorrow evening. I declined. But I will sit in on the call and tell the group how much I appreciate them using a few westwords to restore the mood for another season.
