"Well the names have all changed since you hung around, but those dreams have remained and they're turned around. Who'd have thought they'd lead ya back here where we need ya?" - John Sebastian

As I sat in Thompson-Boling Arena Tuesday night, I kept hearing that song in my head.

Maybe it was the Gabe Kaplan factor. Kaplan, of course, starred with UT legend Bernard King in the movie, "Fast Break," back in the late 1970s. He was just coming off of the success of his TV show, "Welcome Back, Kotter," which featured the above theme song.

For those who don't remember the show and the song, then you probably don't remember the King of the Volunteers, either. No matter. The video highlights, the cheers, the FEELING in the arena on Tuesday let you know just how special he was as a player.

And as the halftime announcements were made and King's number retired, that song, the John Ward calls, the highlights, they all brought back a wave of nostalgia. I'm guessing I wasn't the only one feeling it.

It's so good that someone has finally opened the vault door in the Vol memory bank.

"I want you back where you belong." - 38 Special

In 1999 I had the great opportunity to attend Major League Baseball's All-Star Game at Fenway Park. You might remember that night from TV. Baseball welcomed back dozens of members of its All-Century Team.

Legend after legend after legend took his place around the infield at storied Fenway.

Bob Gibson. Brooks Robinson. Hank Aaron. Willie Mays.

Then Ted Williams was introduced.

He was frail and had to be wheeled toward the pitcher's mound on a golf court his last trot in front of The Green Monster was actually a ride.

Now, I'm not a Red Sox fan. And I'm too young to have ever seen Teddy Ballgame play live.

But when the other living legends left their positions around the field to circle Williams, thousands of Boston faithful cheering like children, well, I wasn't the ONLY guy wiping a tear from his face.

That moment, like the King tribute Tuesday, is what sports are about. It's not wins and losses. It's the history. The timeline. The memories.

"They say that these are not the best of times, but they're the only times I've ever known. And I believe there is a time for meditation in cathedrals of our own." - Billy Joel

Sports are our time markers. I think it's that way for all true sports fans.

There was a day when I could tell you the score of every game I'd ever seen. Age, dead brain cells and random mind-clutter make that ability a thing of the past.

But I can still tell you WHO I went to games with. I can tell you where we stayed and what we ate.

I can tell you stories about roadtrips, how much we paid for tickets and who bought the first round.

I can tell you about the most amazing shot I ever saw and who was sitting beside me when it tickled the twine.

That's sports. The feelings of nostalgia that wrap around you like a warm blanket. The "Oh, yeah" smiles when you remember a game or a trip from years prior.

"Thanks for the memory of things I can't forget. Journeys on a jet. Our wond'rous week in Martinique. And Vegas and roulette. How lucky I was." - Frank Sinatra

A friend of mine told me this week that he and his son always eat at the exact same place before every Tennessee football home game.

"If he's still going to games and that place is still open in 30 years, I bet you he'll be taking his kids there," he said.

I can relate. I remember having a Mozzerella Moe cheeseburger at the old Miller's building across from The World's Fair Park every time my family came into town for a game at Neyland Stadium.

I remember a few Sam Adams and a lot of funny stories with my Beantown buddies at the Cask n' Flagon. You've got those memories and stories, too.

And that, my friends, is sports. It's a chance to connect the first time around, and then to reconnect with old friends and old feelings the second time around when someone honors a player, a coach, or a team, for example.

"But my mind can't forget what my heart won't allow. It's all coming back to me now." - Keith Whitley

For years, Tennessee hadn't bothered to open the vault doors. Not for King. Not for Doug Atkins. Not for the four men who lost their lives in World War II.

But now the vault is open again. For coaches, announcers, players and teams the welcome mat is at the front door, and it's Vol fans who get to enjoy the reunion.

Athletic directors are never popular folks. They're remembered for raising ticket prices and bad coaching hires. That goes for every one of them across the country.

It's no different for UT's AD, Mike Hamilton. Upon getting the job, he talked openly about welcoming back past Vols and celebrating Tennessee's history. He's helped make that happen.

Trust me, he'll be remembered for the price hikes and parking woes just like the men before him. But the next time you're at a UT sporting event and the past comes to life right before you give Hamilton and the administration a couple of quick kudos.

They're the ones that finally opened up the Volunteer vault. And that's brought back a lot of good memories for fans all over Big Orange Country.

John Pennington hosts The Hall's Salvage Sports Source on Sunday at 11 a.m. on WATE.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.