Now that we’re on the home stretch of the campaign, most of my free time is taken up with canvassing. I spend two or three hours most weekday evenings, and six or seven hours every Saturday, knocking doors.

I enjoy canvassing, but as a long-suffering Vols fan—is there any other kind?—it has not escaped my notice that I’m missing their best football season in years, and that I won’t be able to watch what could be Tennessee’s first victory over Alabama since 2006.

In our family, I’m known for my ability to make beloved sports teams lose by predicting they’ll win. (“Don’t mom it!” is our equivalent of “Knock on wood!”) But I’m also known for my ability to make beloved sports teams win by not watching the game. That precedent was set in 1982, when as a student at UT, I refused to attend the home game against Alabama and suffer through what almost certainly would have been the Vols’ twelfth consecutive loss in the series—if I’d been there.

 This leads to some serious mental jujitsu. Will the Vols lose this Saturday because I just said they might win? Or will they win because I won’t be there to watch them lose?

Whether I’m talking to voters, speaking at rallies, or strategizing with other progressives, one thing is clear: good change is happening in Tennessee because more Tennesseans who want change are out there making it happen.

I’m glad to be there with them.

Allison
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