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Will stadium score as site for UT fireworks?

Development forces relocation of base for touchdown pyrotechnics

By Jim Balloch (Contact)
Originally published 11:49 p.m., March 17, 2008
Updated 11:49 p.m., March 17, 2008

If you hear a lot of explosions near the University of Tennessee this afternoon, don't duck.

Don't even worry.

It won't be al-Qaida, Florida fans or some other terrorist group setting off bombs.

It will be a testing of Neyland Stadium as a potential new site for launching the fireworks that traditionally accompany Vol touchdowns.

The old site, along the south bank of Fort Loudoun Lake, will become unavailable when development of a nearby marina and condominiums is completed, said Lansden Hill, president of Pryo Shows, the LaFollette firm that has handled touchdown fireworks displays for 20 years.

The state fire marshal's office, Knoxville Fire Department and University of Tennessee Police Department will be present for today's tests, UT spokesman Jay Mayfield said.

Tests will begin around 5 p.m. and should conclude by 5:20, Hill said.

"They want to test what that will look and sound like in advance of the season," Mayfield said.

"We will test a variety of pyrotechnics from several locations around the stadium to see if any of them offer any possibility of being a substitute for what we do now," Hill said. "There will be some loud noises. You can guarantee that the pigeons will be getting their exercise."

Fire codes prohibit use of the old site once the marina is in use and the condos occupied.

"There are fewer and fewer places where we can safely - and safety is always a consideration - fire the size of fireworks we've been using from the south bank," Hill said. "So it's either move farther down river, or out into the river, or do something else."

Last year, Pyro Shows experimented with a floating platform attached to the riverbank.

"We could always shoot from a barge out on the river, but that would drastically increase the cost because you have to pay for the barge," Hill said. "And that would potentially impair normal traffic up and down the river. Because of the impediment to water traffic, we wanted to explore the idea of doing things from the stadium itself, which would be similar to what we have done for NFL teams and some bowl games for the last few years," Hill said.

In addition to safety, other considerations include how impressive an effect can be produced from the stadium at how much of a cost.

Ultimately, Hill said, UT officials and corporate sponsors will have to weigh those and many factors to reach a decision.

Jim Balloch may be reached at 865-342-6315.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

       65 Comments

Posted by matrosscbc on March 17, 2008 at 11:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

insert your John Adams comments here...

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on March 18, 2008 at 12:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Interesting......A firework goes high up in the air, explodes, and then falls back down to being of no use. Remind anyone of a certain coach and program?

Posted by newtonrail on March 18, 2008 at 12:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Yes, your Alabama Team PLEASE-----

Posted by andy112382 on March 18, 2008 at 1:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Unlike you football IQ, PLEASEGETRIDOF..., which at no point was never high up, instead was a dud from the begining.

Posted by andy112382 on March 18, 2008 at 2:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)

**which at no point was ever high up......apparently like my typing ability after 1am!

Posted by hcjournals on March 18, 2008 at 5:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Please-

Are you still around? We thought we ran off you ungrateful, negative unwanted types a while back. You are not welcome here. Please change or leave. We like our football program. Deal with it.

Posted by T0MMYJACK on March 18, 2008 at 5:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I heard your woman make a very similar comment about you, PLEASE....

Posted by wjackson on March 18, 2008 at 6:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

No PLEASEGETRIDOF it reminds us of you.

Posted by pdhuff on March 18, 2008 at 7:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

TJ-Up early this am? Bet its not as quiet as it is here at 6:30. Even the possums have went to bed.

If you think the doldrums aren't here, mull over a fireworks story!!

And it being tied to ol' Phil or journalist Adams.

I rest my case.

Posted by GreerVol22 on March 18, 2008 at 8:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

To heck with fireworks, put 7 cannons in the courtyard on the hill and let the ROTC boys handle it. Its cheaper, builds character with a dash of new tradition thrown in.

Posted by sjt18 on March 18, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

pdhuff, What do you farm?

TJ- why is your screen name in all caps now? Is that still you?

Posted by BigMikeUT on March 18, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Love the comparison of Florida fans to terrorists...its perfect...

Posted by juicetke on March 18, 2008 at 9:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)

So we have reached the point that Al-Qaida is used as a joke?

Posted by GerryOP on March 18, 2008 at 10:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hmmmmm, TJ, do we have an imposter here?

Posted by pdhuff on March 18, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)

GerryOP- you may be on to something.

Sjt18 - to say I farm would be a stretch. My current stock on over a 100 acres consists of a big barn cat, a big sleeping Lab and a wandering beagle. We do have about 20 acres of alfalfa. Hay is high. And 100 or so whitetails. HeHe!

Oh, and await the doldrums. Fireworks story????

Posted by vol_in_lsu_land on March 18, 2008 at 11:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe there was a sale on capital letters at the Wal-Mart In Boerne? Can I buy a vowel?

Posted by TommyJack on March 18, 2008 at 12:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

PD: It ain't me...I guess I should be flattered??

Posted by pdhuff on March 18, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Good 'ern, vol in lsu land- Great that ol' TJ being cloned.

He may have opened some charge account he's not familiar with.

Posted by TommyJack on March 18, 2008 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

PD: Could the guy do more damage than my wife?

Posted by pdhuff on March 18, 2008 at 1:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Tj, the only one that could deal a harder blow than your current war department is a once-removed war department.

To wit: In the seventies, my now-ex insisted on the Vol season tickets. I added a rider that I would get them back if she ever didn't use them.

She dropped them after marrying a nice Vandy fan and somehow it slipped her mind on renewal.

Life goes on........

Posted by TommyJack on March 18, 2008 at 1:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

PD: A Vandy guy? She marry up? :)

Posted by invisiblekid on March 18, 2008 at 1:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Soooo....I guess Spring Practice is going well?

Posted by TommyJack on March 18, 2008 at 1:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Kid: Not going at all right now..don't think.

Posted by TommyJack on March 18, 2008 at 1:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

PD: A woman that would take your vol tix would steal your dog. That's low-down.

Posted by invisiblekid on March 18, 2008 at 1:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

A couple of quotes to make you feel better about the season tickets pdhuff:

"Son, a woman is a lot like a... [looks around] a refrigerator! They're about six feet tall, 300 pounds. They make ice and, um... [spots his can of Duff] Oh, wait a minute. Actually, a woman is more like a beer. They smell good, they look good and you'd step over your own mother just to get one! [downs the beer] But you can't stop at one. You wanna drink another woman! - Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

"Woman is the most fiendish instrument of torture ever devised to bedevil the days of man." Ulysses McGill, O Brother, Where Art Thou

Posted by invisiblekid on March 18, 2008 at 1:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ahhh...thanks TommyJ forgot about the glorious days of spring break.

Posted by TommyJack on March 18, 2008 at 1:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Kid & PD: Here's another. "A woman that would take your dog would cut you"....Lewis Grizzard

Posted by GoVol on March 18, 2008 at 2:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I think we need to worry about scoring more than the fireworks. Maybe the fire marshall has some ideas on how to score TD's?

Posted by thesavageorange on March 18, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I have an idea that the phrase "weaker sex" was coined by some woman to disarm some man she was preparing to overwhelm. ~Ogden Nash

GoVol ,I hope we score so much they run out of fireworks.If not........uh ohh!

Posted by IPOrange on March 18, 2008 at 3:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"Women - they're all nuts." - Barney Fife

Posted by IPOrange on March 18, 2008 at 3:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

TJ, I see your poser/stalker is back on the scene.

Posted by pdhuff on March 18, 2008 at 5:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

TJ, IPO - also, Hell hath no fury like a .......

Yep she married up, but still hugs me at grandkids get-togethers. Newer hubby has a glazed look but I silently remind him that he signed up for that cruise. LOL

Lastly, always remember who does the killing in a lion pride. The maneless ones.

Beat American U. Please.

Posted by TommyJack on March 18, 2008 at 5:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

IP: Yeah, I be da stalkee.

Posted by invisiblekid on March 18, 2008 at 6:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I would've posted some Oscar Wilde or Napolean Bonaparte quotes but they were downright sexist. BTW, did I hear someone mention glazed??

Posted by IPOrange on March 18, 2008 at 6:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Here's one from one of my all time favorite guys:

"We have a good time together, even when we're not together." - Yogi Berra, when someone asked him about his wife.

Posted by thesavageorange on March 18, 2008 at 7 p.m. (Suggest removal)

IPOrange ,Now that's funny!

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on March 18, 2008 at 7:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Sorry guys but I bleed orange. What I don't bleed though is an overpaid, overweight, and underdisciplined coach who has not finished in the top 10 in the past 6 years. Expect more/get less.

Posted by IPOrange on March 18, 2008 at 7:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Yeah, savage, ole Yogi is a trip. One of my all time favorite Yogi-isms was this conversation between Yogi and his wife Carmen (Tim is their son):

Yogi: "Where have you been?"
Carmen: "I took Tim to see Dr. Zhivago."
Yogi: "What the h*!!'s wrong with him now?"

Posted by General_Watermelon on March 18, 2008 at 8:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

OMG - Is Tim sick?

Fulmer will hold the Sears Trophy very soon.

Posted by General_Watermelon on March 18, 2008 at 8:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

OMG - Is Tim sick?

Fulmer will hold the Sears Trophy very soon.

Posted by General_Watermelon on March 18, 2008 at 8:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

OMG - Is Tim sick?

Fulmer will hold the Sears Trophy very soon.

Posted by General_Watermelon on March 18, 2008 at 8:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I'm holding two fingers up (3 times).

Posted by IPOrange on March 18, 2008 at 8:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Is there an echo in here?

Posted by pdhuff on March 18, 2008 at 9:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

How many trophys is Phil gonna get? And for what?

Splain, General, if you please.

Does he get a riding mower with the Sears Trophy?

Inquiring minds want........

Posted by ThurmondEppy on March 18, 2008 at 10:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

So we've had spring practice for like two weeks and we get an article on fireworks? WTF? Glad I'm not paying for this site.

Posted by IPOrange on March 18, 2008 at 10:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

pdhuff, I think Phil receives a Die Hard battery with his trophy. :-)

Posted by pdhuff on March 19, 2008 at 7:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

IPO 10:33 pm - Hmmmmm, The "Die Hards", might be some potential there, have to file that one away for this fall..........

Posted by sjt18 on March 19, 2008 at 9:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Thurmond, They've had two practices in shorts and helmets.

Your point about the fireworks article is valid though. Why not an interview with Lattrell Scott? How about the new TE's coach?

There are many better uses of time and space than this or the article about UF's wonderful team.

Posted by TommyJack on March 19, 2008 at 10:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

yeah General, you can splain it all down at city hall...

Posted by pdhuff on March 19, 2008 at 10:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)

sjt18- first you have to get some information about the subject. Apparently the KNS gets little or naught from ol' Phil. Thus the dearth of articles except those furnished by other sources, such as KPD, friends of the university, etc.

No one has played it closed to the vest than PF to keep doing the same thing. We'll see soon how much impact Clawson will have as far as changing anything. I suspect he views this as the opportunity of a lifetime.

Did you ever work with Heywood Harris?

You would be good fronting the program.

Posted by vols1314 on March 19, 2008 at 3:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Does anybody know how it turned out???

Posted by philfan on March 19, 2008 at 4:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

There should be no fireworks display until after the SEC trophy is in the hands of Fulmer and his assistants, which may be sooner than you think. I was just thinking of the fireworks display that Clawson will provide when Tennessee is on the attack, come September when Florida comes visiting.

Posted by sjt18 on March 19, 2008 at 4:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

No. But I have read competent sports pages before.

If they'd hire me... I'd take it. Of course that would only last until they needed me to lie or bend the truth about something.

Posted by mjaichele on March 19, 2008 at 8:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Some of you like to quote stats, winning percentages, # of wins Fulmer has, etc. I suggest you look at one simple stat. the won/loss records of the teams Tennessee beats. Total up the wins and losses, and you will see its all true, Fulmer is excellent at beating a lot of very mediocre teams. As an example, last season the total won/loss record of the teams the Vols beat was 62 and 49, take out the Georgia win and it was 51 and 49. At least they were above .500. And last year they won 10 games, if you look at some of the prior years, I am sure it gets even better.

Posted by pdhuff on March 19, 2008 at 8:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

sjt18 - if that's your criteria, stay the course you're on. You would not make a "I did not have sex with that woman" front man.

If you couldn't call a full-blown retreat - attacking in another direction- you're not the man for the job.

mjaichele - 8:09 Believe Fulmer has won 10 of his last 28 vs top 25 teams. At least that's close. Lose the facts or don the kevlar. LOL

Posted by sjt18 on March 20, 2008 at 10:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

mjaichele, That's valid. His record since the NC and especially while Sanders was around against quality opponents is one of the reasons I think he should not be allowed to plateau or backslide. I don't even think a return to the 90's level of success is good enough.

Back in the "good ol' days" (which were as good as its been for UT since Neyland), UT was still dominated by UF and Spurrier.

I don't think CPF should be allowed to get back to a consistent 2nd place and then rest.

I do believe this should be a credible process where the guy gets an opportunity to finish the turn around.

BTW, did you look at any other team... UGA for example? The combined record of the teams they beat was 78-62... 56% just like UT's. Take out Hawaii who we all know was a joke and possibly the worst 13-0 football team to ever play the game and UGA's defeated opponents combined for a 65-61 record.

I'd argue that it is alot more legit to drop UH from UGA's list of accomplishments than UGA from UT's... wouldn't you?

Posted by sjt18 on March 20, 2008 at 10:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

BTW, the combined record of UF's wins was 62-51- 55%. UT was the only opponent they beat with more than 8 wins. Three of their 9 wins came against teams that didn't finish with a winning record... another came against WKU who is in the process of converting from FCS to FBS.

Posted by mjaichele on March 20, 2008 at 3:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

And UF crushed UT. What does that say? Schedule more North Ill., MTSU, UTC, Tiger High, Wyoming, S. Miss., any directional school from Lousyana, throw in a Troy every now and then, and you'll get your 10 wins, keep your job, get a contract extension, pay raise, and retire fat and happy without ever having to update your resume. What you won't get is a BCS Bowl, Conference Championship, National Championship, or rated in the top 10. Besides, if I was paying for season tickets, I sure would rather see a guaranteed win against NIU instead of perhaps, Oh I don't know, maybe the game of a lifetime against a Texas, Oklahoma, or So.Cal., but, the probability of a loss would be much higher, yeah the cost of that seat demands a win, even if it is against a team I could care less about.

Posted by sjt18 on March 20, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"Schedule more North Ill., MTSU, UTC, Tiger High, Wyoming, S. Miss., any directional school from Lousyana, throw in a Troy every now and then, and you'll get your 10 wins, keep your job, get a contract extension, pay raise, and retire fat and happy without ever having to update your resume. What you won't get is a BCS Bowl, Conference Championship, National Championship, or rated in the top 10."

Your post was a little hard to follow but... you are dead wrong about this part. tOSU has been exposed in two consecutive NC games. They got there by playing a weak schedule.

Hawaii road a schedule with only 3 teams with a winning record on it to the Sugar Bowl. They were in the top 10 before getting smacked by UGA.

If UT had scheduled WCU instead of Cal... they might have gotten a BCS bowl instead of UGA.

UT has a long history of not scheduling FCS schools. UGA, UF, Aub, and LSU almost always schedule them... it hasn't hurt their SEC championships yet.

One of the bigger problems I have with the way things are done now is that teams aren't punished for scheduling light weights.

BTW, UT crushed UGA after getting crushed by UF and before UGA soundly beat UF. What does that say?

Posted by mjaichele on March 20, 2008 at 5:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I am not sure, maybe "Stupid is as Stupid Does"!

Posted by kimzy1961 on March 20, 2008 at 11:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey VOL fans!
How about helping a BIG ORANGE BROTHER out!
Click or copy and paste the link below and vote for awVols1985, the TENNESSEE representative on CBSsportsline's Member Mayhem contest! Let's keep UT in the essay tournament too!
Thanks for your interest and participation!

http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/message....

GO VOLS ! ! !

Posted by kimzy1961 on March 21, 2008 at 5:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Once you get to the sight, look for the page 1 button and click on it to go to the voting box ! Thanks for the vote and . . .

GO VOLS ! ! !

Posted by VOLS85 on March 23, 2008 at 1:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

...and we digress...that never happens though, right?

Posted by kimzy1961 on March 23, 2008 at 7:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Real tight battle going on over here at CBSportsLine.com. Tennessee still trails Dayton by
1 percentage point in the tournament! C'mon VOL fans ! Let's get out and vote! Call your family, call your friends call any other SEC fans and tell'em to help! Let's take down the Flyers of Dayton. Surely there are more TENNESSEE fans out there than there are Dayton fans.

Click here http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/message....

If you have already voted, THANKS, and check back for the next round Monday.

GO VOLS ! ! !
GO LADY VOLS ! ! !

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