SMOKEY VII CANNED FOR "SNIPPING" AT UT TUBA PLAYER

SMOKEY VII CANNED FOR "SNIPPING" AT UT TUBA PLAYER
                                  

Knoxville, TN  (HOUSEOFNEYLAND) SMOKEY VII, a.k.a. "PB Brooks Blue Smoky VII", was mascot of the BIG ORANGE from 1992-1994.

The VOLS, under Coach Majors & Coach Fulmer, went 27-9 during that period for a .750 winning percentage.

Tom Mattingly & Earl Hudson tell us that SMOKEY VII was called the "black sheep" of the line as he had to be replaced in 1994 "after nipping at the heels of a band member, a tuba player named Tommy Chase, when the VOLS ran through the 'T'..."

Apparently this was not SMOKEY VII's 1st offense.

Earl argued that the band guy "obviously stepped on his foot (but) nobody ever explained that in the paper."

Just a personal observation here but the band guy was a TUBA player....those are usually big guys...& if, indeed, he stepped on SMOKEY's paw, I don't blame him at all for "nipping at his heels."  In fact, in my opinion, he should have bit him.

I guess the number VII was not a lucky one for this SMOKEY.

SOURCE

"Smokey: The True Stories behind the Univesity of Tennessee's Beloved Mascot," by Thomas J. Mattingly & Earl C. Hudson. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 2012.