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Vanderbilt Football - Loosing Ground in the SEC

The Commodores of Vanderbilt have called Tennessee their football home since 1890. As a matter of fact, the Commodores were the first football team to ever play the game. The Commodores, a Nashville-based team, are one of the many SEC, or Southeastern Conference, teams, which most sports fans consider to be the greatest conference in college football. This comes as no surprise since this conference holds many National Championship titles. And during the years between 1890-1932, Vanderbilt was a Southern football leader.

The Beginning of the SEC
In the year 1932, the Vanderbilt football team joined the brand new Southeastern Conference as its first team and was followed by fellow members Georgia, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Sewanee, Georgia Tech, Tulane, Florida, Alabama, and Kentucky. However, by the time Vanderbilt became an SEC member, the team's once powerful dominance began to wane. As of today, Vanderbilt has never been able to claim an SEC championship title and has only had the opportunity to play in four of the conference's bowl games, which makes many fans wonder where Vanderbilt went wrong.

What Happened?
Obviously, there is no one defining moment that pinpoints the 70-year fall of the once revered Vanderbilt Commodores. Perhaps one of the main contributing factors revolves around the shaky, ever-changing coaching staff. Because football team legends are founded on excellent, stable leadership, Vanderbilt has suffered due to sub par coaching, with most tenures having a four-year or less shelf life. In order to create a successful NCAA program, a team must have a long-lasting coaching staff. Of course, not all of the blame can be placed on Vanderbilt's coaches. It is also the quality of the players that impacts any team's overall success.

This fact leads straight to another one of Vanderbilt's problems--recruitment. Even though Vanderbilt is considered to be a highly sought after school complete with an historical football program, they are not the only team that can boast these features as many SEC teams are much like Vanderbilt in these aspects. However, while teams such as Alabama and Florida are duking it out for the next championship title, Vanderbilt will have to put their entire focus towards recruiting. Regardless, other SEC schools--LSU, Georgia Tech, and Georgia--all have similar recruiting issues but they are still able to achieve playing success.

A Comeback Almost on the Horizon
Many people who closely follow the SEC program believe that the Vanderbilt Commodores are poised for a major comeback. There were actually a few seasons during the last decade where they came extremely close to achieving a winning season, especially in 2008 when Vanderbilt appeared in the Bowl Championship. But even with the help of Jay Cutler, a future NFL prospect, Vanderbilt has still not been able to stomp its mediocrity into oblivion. And in 2009, Vanderbilt took several steps back by only winning two games the entire season. These facts coupled with the loss of several key players from 2008 have once again set the path for the Vanderbilt Commodores to once again lose precious ground in the SEC.

Missouri Tigers Football - The True Homecoming Kings

Football has been a sporting tradition at the University State of Missouri for years. The name of the team itself has been a historical icon and is of far better significance than anyone can imagine - the Missouri Tigers were heroes of Columbia and saved the city from the loyalist of Confederates during the Civil war. The Tiger's tradition is one that is proud may it be on or off the field. The other name for the Missouri Tigers is Mizzou, and they are the only team to have competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Their football history may have not included a National Championship, but they make their impression on the sport in other forms of championships and one of the most enduring traditions in football, and that is the homecoming.

What is the significance of the conference name?
The name of the conference where Missouri has been a member for a century has repeatedly changed; making it difficult for observers outside to track it down even if the purpose of changing the conference name was to reflect the alterations of the number of affiliated schools taking part in the structure. The first of its name was lengthy and indeed it was worth the change as it was known before as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association. As it gained more schools in its affiliations the conference made a lot of changes in its name. The first unofficial names were the Big Six in 1928 and the Big Seven in 1957, until the official name of the conference changed from MVIAA to the Big Eight Conference in the year 1964, and after some time it was expanded and renamed the Big Twelve in 1996, The conference affiliation of Missouri remains unchanged, however the literature on its school has undergone many revisions.

Victories and Defeats
The Tigers have been competing with the North Division of the Big Twelve since 1996. The school was able to win 15 championships in the conference they're in, and two division championships in addition. The Tigers are competitive in almost all conferences they were in, unlike other football teams that were considered as strong teams but were inconsistent and had suffered considerable losses. They even made a milestone in history ranking number one in the nation for two occasions that were separate. First was in 1960, and then the second was in 2007 where the team defeated Kansas. It was however unfortunate that neither two games on different occasions paved the way for a game leading to national championship. But the Tigers were close to achieving it in 2007, and they ranked four in the national level finishing the season.

Origins of the Homecoming
A lot of experts in Football admire the University of Missouri for starting a tradition that has endured through time - the homecoming. It was 1911, when the athletic director of the school made and distributed invitations for alumnus to return to their city of original to watch and enjoy their football game with Kansas. The affair was a celebration of the students returning to their Alma Matter, and it made beautiful impression that it was repeated the succeeding years. This was eventually emulated by other schools around the country, and it now becomes a universal tradition to almost all educational institutions in America.

Football Movies That Moved Me

Being a big sports fanatic it has been a hobby of to watch sports games on TV and specially sports movies. Since I was younger I have always enjoyed watching sports movies more than any other kind of movies - may it be drama, comedy, or whatnot. Of all the sports movies I am especially drawn towards football movies. I have listed here some of my favourite football movies where you will see players in football boots.

The Waterboy is one of my most loved football movies. It stars Adam Sandler. We all know that any movie with Adam Sandler in it is wacky and full of fun gags and whatnot. The Waterboy is not your usual football movie though. It doesn't just show players in football boots winning the games. The Waterboy is about the underdogs, hard work and triumph in the end. It also has a light element of revenge that somehow makes you feel good after watching it.

Another movie that I never miss to watch every time it shows on HBO is Remember the Titans. This movie stars Denzel Washington as the coach of a football team. This movie will show you more than just football boots, kicking, and screaming. This movie shows heart, unity, and inspiration. In addition, it is also based on a true story.Igre

When you utter Any Given Sunday in a crowd of sports loving movie buffs you will definitely receive quite a noise, and I am one of them for sure. This movie is hailed by many as one of the best football movies around. More than featuring a stellar cast that includes Pacino, Quad, and Foxx this movie carries the true spirit of players in a field wearing football boots. Any Given Sunday will show you the meaning of redemption and determination in very unlikely scenarios and it works well.

And my most favourite of all football movies is Rudy. This movie has set the standards in inspirational sports films. The film that stars Sean Astin tells the story of a poor boy who can't even afford to have his own football boots and his dreams of playing in the field. It wasn't a walk in park of Rudy as he had to face adversarial forces in the forms of his parents, brother, the priest, and even his team. But he broke them all, a real manifestation of determination and tenacity.

There are still a lot of football movies that I still have to watch; movies with football players in football boots fighting for their Flag football playbookdreams. These are movies that show pure human heart, determination, and tenacity; movies that will make anyone - sports lover or not feel good after.

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