Tennessee fan Victoria Caldwell said she was speechless after receiving a call from the UT Athletic Department on Thursday. Fans seated near her in Neyland Stadium would have a hard time believing that.

Caldwell, a first-time season ticket holder, said UT's Bill Higdon called her at home and said other fans had complained about her.

Their complaint? She cheers too much.

"I thought he was kidding," was her first response when requested to "tone it down."

Her next response: "I didn't have any words. I was shocked.

"I couldn't believe Tennessee was calling their fans and telling them not to cheer excessively."

Higdon could appreciate her surprise. He admitted he didn't feel comfortable making the call, but that's part of his job as an assistant athletic director for event management.

"I make these calls all the time," said Higdon, who received six complaints about Caldwell after the Florida game. "I don't like them."

In Caldwell's case, Higdon even asked the complainants: "What would you say to her? I can't get on her for cheering. They said, 'She's disrespectful to the people around her.' "

UT athletic director Mike Hamilton said, "We want (fans) to be involved in the game. We want them to be a proactive force. But we want them to be respectful of the people around them. That's the goal we are trying to accomplish.

"We can't manage 107,000 relationships among people in the stands. We'd like people to cooperate among themselves."

Danny Arnold of LaFollette sits about three rows behind Caldwell. He was surprised by the call from UT to Caldwell but not surprised by the complaints.

"I thought she was drunk the first time I saw her (at the season opener against Cal)," said Arnold, who has been attending UT football games for 34 years, since he was 6. "But she wasn't."

Caldwell, 40, doesn't drink or use profanity at the game. The Powell resident is a mother of two who attends the games with her husband, Joseph.

As a UT graduate and longtime fan, she describes holding season tickets as a lifelong dream. She lives the dream very loudly.

What's wrong with that? you might ask. After all, the message on the JumboTron reads: "Get loud." Isn't Caldwell just following instructions?

Arnold noted the hypocrisy.

"One message says, 'Let's get loud.' Another message coming from UT says, 'Hey, shut up,' " he said.

Callers to the News Sentinel radio show, The Sports Page, were almost unanimous in their support of Caldwell on Friday morning. Several callers invited Caldwell to join them in their section.

"That lady is not any louder than I am," Arnold said. "Her enthusiasm is what you want. You want those people to get off their butt and actually do something."

It's more the timing than the volume that annoys fans, Arnold said.

"She was yelling when our offense was out there - 'Go all the way, all the way.' - That's not the appropriate time to be cheering."

Most of the stadium fell quiet when UT cornerback Inky Johnson was injured late in the Air Force game. Not Caldwell.

"Pay them back!" she shouted as Johnson lay motionless on the field.

That upset a number of fans in the section, Arnold said.

"I don't want anybody to get hurt," Caldwell said. "I just wanted to root our team on. I meant 'pay them back' by winning, not hurting them."

Another fan, who asked not to be identified, said many of the fans in the section find Caldwell annoying because of the repetitiveness of her yells. And the criticism doesn't just come from older fans.

"I've been in my seats for three years," he said. "Nobody has ever told me to sit down, and I cheer loud. There's a difference in cheering for your team versus being obnoxious to everyone around you.

"She just yells the same thing over and over. It was funny at first, but an hour later I looked at her and tried to figure out how she was breathing between cheers."

Caldwell's favorite cheers are: "All the way (not just for a touchdown but to the SEC championship)" and "Take the lead (when the Vols are behind)."

On request, she repeated both cheers on Friday's radio show. And yes, she was very loud.

"God gave me these lungs and voice, and I'm going to use them," she said. "I'm a passionate fan."

But she's also sensitive. After the complaints from fans, she's having second thoughts about attending UT games. She already had made plans for her 7-year-old daughter, Tori, to take her seat for this afternoon's game against Marshall.

"At this point, I don't know if I would feel comfortable going to the games," she said. "I might change my mind for LSU because everybody will be cheering real loud and I'll blend in more.

"I don't want to make people miserable. I'm hurt and embarrassed. But I'm also shocked.

"You expect people to complain. You don't expect UT to call you at home and ask you to tone it down. I don't understand why UT is holding its fans back."

As Caldwell prepares to sit out today's game, she wonders how her daughter will handle the Neyland Stadium experience.

"She really doesn't like loud places," Caldwell said.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.