University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones couldn't quite snap and clear his mind of Saturday's Battle at Bristol victory over Virginia Tech by Monday's media luncheon.
Said Jones to the assembled media: "I don't normally like to do this, but I would like to step back a little bit and talk about the Battle at Bristol. First of all, thanks to Bristol Motor Speedway, everyone associated with their organization and our administration.
"I hope everyone here really appreciates what just occurred. I don't think that could ever be duplicated when you look at everything from top to bottom: the way they handled the teams, to the national anthem, to our great fan base coming out to the environment, the fireworks to the RVs, the campers and the Vol Walk."
He soon added: "You look at how far we've come in three years, to be able to play in front of that audience, to have our student-athletes be able to play in that type of environment. That'll be something that they'll remember for a lifetime."
And Jones was right on every one of the above points he made. Well, maybe all but one. For as good as it was, and the whole weekend might have been as good as it could ever be, an attempt should be made to do it again.
Quite possibly with different schools. And perhaps on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend to allow the maximum number of fans to get there for both a concert on Saturday evening and navigating a long drive home on Monday.
But this was an event too good to stage but one time. In fact, other than the traffic jams before and after the event - and it would be all but impossible not to have traffic jams when more than 150,000 people are pretty much trying to funnel their way into the speedway on two or three feeder roads - it was pretty much perfect from start to finish.
Or as Jones also noted, "I think sometimes we take it for granted, and you can never take anything like that for granted. 'College GameDay,' national TV audience. To be able to play in front of that audience, to have our student-athletes be able to play in that type of environment, that's a lifetime of memories."
It was. It should be again for two different schools. Maybe Alabama and Notre Dame, as someone suggested. Maybe Texas. Or Nebraska. Or Ohio State. Or Clemson. Maybe even Florida State. Pretty much anyone with a giant fan base able to reach Bristol in an eight-hour drive (not counting the traffic jam) or less.
Just make sure Jennifer Nettles can be booked again to sing the national anthem.
Also make sure former Volunteers running back and current Miami Dolphins rusher Arian Foster doesn't represent UT during the coin toss, as Peyton Manning so expertly did Saturday night.
I would almost never disagree with Foster's decision to kneel during the national anthem as a protest for how he and others perceive blacks are treated in this country, especially by law enforcement.
As Foster eloquently explained of his Sunday decision to kneel during the anthem on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks: "This is exactly what this country is all about. We have people in other countries that if they speak out they get beheaded, they get killed, they get tortured. That's not what this is about. If somebody disagrees with it, they can disagree with it - but respect that right to protest. Those same people who fought and died for our right to protest fought for your rights."
On a general level, on 362 days a year - excluding Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and 9/11 - it's hard to disagree with Foster's stance.
But Sunday was 9/11, a day when love of country and appreciation for those who have risked or lost their lives to protect this country's freedoms should always trump personal frustration over this nation's shortcomings.
And while many of us see problems that need to be solved, unfairnesses that must be erased, this is also the country that will allow Foster to make somewhere between a guaranteed salary of $800,000 and a possible salary of $1.5 million for a single NFL season.
Yes, he stood during the president's speech to honor those who lost their lives in 9/11, as he was quick to tweet. But is it too much to ask that Foster refrain from protesting our national anthem for at least two or three days a year to show respect for all those who died to allow such protest and civil disobedience?
We like to believe that that which unites us is far greater than that which divides us. And we can hope that belief is still true. But to see Foster and a handful of other blessed Americans unwilling to put country over self for a single afternoon is at the very least disconcerting and disappointing.
"Don't put your hatred in our hearts," Foster tweeted late Sunday. "I love this country. Don't let the love for a symbol overrule the love for your fellow human."
Unless, of course, it's a symbol of protest. In that case it's apparently OK to disrespect all those fellow humans who sacrificed so much to allow your protests.
Fortunately, on a pretty much perfect September Saturday night inside Bristol Motor Speedway, such disrespect was nowhere to be seen or heard. It was 156,990 football fans united in their love of sports, tailgating and the United States of America.
And at the risk of offending Foster, anyone lucky enough to be inside that venue and experience those moments surely hopes we get to see that scene duplicated time and time again.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.