ESPN analyst pushes back on theory that Tennessee amplifies crowd noise at Neyland Stadium
On Wednesday, Alabama play by play announcer Chris Stewart attempted to walk back his comments that he made last Saturday that the Tennessee Vols pipe in crowd noise during games. “What I should’ve said is that they amplify noise,” said Stewart during an appearance on “The Opening Kickoff” (via AL.com). “I’ve been on the sidelines before […]
On Wednesday, Alabama play by play announcer Chris Stewart attempted to walk back his comments that he made last Saturday that the Tennessee Vols pipe in crowd noise during games.
“What I should’ve said is that they amplify noise,” said Stewart during an appearance on “The Opening Kickoff” (via AL.com).
“I’ve been on the sidelines before they actually do have amplifiers, speakers, right by the benches, and, apparently, they have them all over the stadium at field level,” added Stewart. “They will amp up their music, and I think it is tied into their band. It’s right in front of our band, which is right behind the team bench. I don’t know if anyone else does that or not. It doesn’t matter.”
Stewart's clarification left room for some conspiracy theories that Tennessee amplifies crowd noise via speakers on the sideline.
ESPN analyst Cole Cubelic, however, refuted that claim, tweeting on Wednesday afternoon that he's walked by the speakers on the sidelines at Neyland "100 times" and never heard crowd noise coming from them.
Cubelic has served as a sideline reporter for ESPN/SEC Network broadcasts at Neyland numerous times over the years.
I've also been on the sidelines plenty of times at Neyland before, during, and after games — including for some games that were incredibly loud (such as the 2015 game against Oklahoma) — and I've never heard crowd noise coming from those speakers, either.
It's bizarre that this has become a talking point this week. I have no idea why Stewart made the accusation. There are several SEC stadiums — Alabama, LSU, Florida, Texas A&M, etc — that can get incredibly loud when they're at their best. And when those stadiums are at their best, they're all tough to communicate in. I don't think a couple of decibels makes much of a difference when you're trying to snap the ball in the fourth quarter of a close game.
If you're going to accuse Tennessee of piping in crowd noise or amplifying crowd noise, you might as well accuse every SEC stadium of it.
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