Welcome to The Armchair Volunteer or ACV.
I’ve been excited to launch this project for a long time as a website that will be dedicated solely to Tennessee Volunteers Football.
When I was growing up (and even still today), one of the very best things in life was that 24-48 hour period after something amazing happened in sports. Maybe my team won a championship, maybe someone hit a buzzer-beater in a playoff game, maybe someone “defined their legacy” or “got over the hump” – you know what I’m talking about. THAT moment. Anyway, whenever THAT moment happened, I couldn’t wait to spend the next few days scouring the internet, newspapers, and magazines to read everyone’s takes. I wanted to read every angle of what we all just witnessed and re-live other people’s experiences in that period of excitement.
That’s the feeling that I hope that you, as fellow Tennessee Volunteers fans, get from this website.
The inspiration of ACV comes from one of my favorite sports columns of all time: Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback. MMQB was a weekly NFL column published by legendary sports journalist Peter King through Sports Illustrated from 1997-2018 and I read it every single week without fail from probably 2004 until his retirement. It was a time that still valued print writing. No paywalls. No ads bombarding the post until your app crashes and you finally give up and go on about your day. King never wrote clickbait nonsense. He used long-form writing that told real stories and provided real insight and detail into the sport while allowing his own fandom and personality to shine.
My intention for ACV is to be a bit of an homage to MMQB. I want to take you back to how I felt as a teenager every Monday – that anticipation of reading your favorite weekly recap about your favorite team and competitors. Every week during Football Season, ACV will publish a column that centers around a recap/breakdown of Tennessee’s game from the previous Saturday, a list of 10 thoughts and feelings from around College Football (and sometimes other sports or pop/culture), my awards of the week, some dorky sports facts that I find interesting, and end each column with a fun quip which King called his “Adieu Haiku”.
My hope is that one day, when the Vols win a big game or your favorite players breaks a record, you’ll feel that familiar flutter of excitement, waiting for that week’s edition of The Armchair Volunteer.
To be clear, I’m not a journalist or an insider like Peter King. I’m simply a fan who’s been watching and studying football (specifically Tennessee football) for 30 years – hence the “armchair” part. I put an Appalachian mountain’s worth of thought and love into each column in order to give you, the sports fan and reader, the best experience possible.
I hope you enjoy this work as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it.
Go Big Orange! Your Vol For Life,
Recent Comments