Lassie was lovable. Rin Tin Tin was pure hero. Benjie was a movie star. And Buddy has become one of the few signs of normalcy in the Clinton White House.

	Smokey VIII has suffered only two defeats in his tenure as the Tennessee mascot.

But how about trackin' a 'coon? Or leading 107,000 football-crazed fans in a pregame salute that shakes the state of Tennessee?

That special responsibility rests on one set of haunches. It's a role played out each week by the University of Tennessee mascot, a blue tick coon hound known as Smokey.

His lineage is a proud one, and it will continue with distinction this week in Tennessee's home opener against SEC rival Florida. His place in the end zone each Saturday may look like the epitome of a "dog's life," but there's more to being the only Big Man on Campus not wearing shoulder pads.

The BMOC status doesn't faze him, however. He's still man's best friend.

"For all he knows, every dog does what he does," said trainer Willis Jepson, a UT senior who handles the dog on weekends as part of a tradition tied to his fraternity, Alpha Gamma Rho. "In a lot of ways he's really like a family pet -- it's just a real big family. When he comes up and puts his head in your lap, you just can't not pet him."

On Saturdays in the fall, Jepson and assistant trainer Patrick Hamilton take care of Smokey VIII, entering his fourth season as Tennessee's top dog. They bathe him and feed him, and parade him through campus where fans shower him with affection.

They also try and keep him out of trouble, which as any dog owner will tell you, can be about as easy as getting high marks in obedience school. That is to say, not very.

Just ask the South Carolina receiver that accidentally spilled into Smokey after catching a touchdown two years ago. Smokey enjoyed a little taste of Gamecock jersey that day, a not-so subtle warning about treading lightly in the end zone.

Mostly though, it's been all fun. The dogs got their start following a 1953 pep rally. Announcements in the local papers called for a coon hound, a native breed of the state, one that "can't be an ordinary hound. He must be a 'Houn Dog' in the best sense of the word."

The late Rev. W.C. Brooks entered his prize-winning blue tick coon hound, "Brooks' Blue Smokey," in the contest. At halftime of the Mississippi State game that season, the dogs were lined up on the old cheerleaders' ramp at Shields-Watkins Field.

Each was introduced and the student body cheered for its favorite. When "Blue Smokey" was introduced, he barked at hearing the sound of his name over the loudspeaker. The crowd roared and he barked again. A lasting union was born.

	SMOKEY THROUGH THE YEARS
	Smokey: 1953-54 Smokey II: 1955-64 Smokey III: 1965-77 Smokey IV: 1978-79 Smokey V: 1980-83 Smokey VI: 1984-91 Smokey VII: 1992-94 Smokey VIII: 1995-present

Rev. Brooks supplied the school with the line of canines until his death in 1986 when his wife, Mildred, took over the caretaking role. She did so until 1994, when her brother and sister-in-law, Earl and Martha Hudson, took over responsibility for Smokey VII and eventually Smokey VIII. There already is a Smokey IX, but he's currently on the scout team.

By every definition, all eight have led exciting lives.

Smokey II was dognapped by Kentucky students in 1995. He survived a confrontation with the Baylor Bear at the 1957 Sugar Bowl that gave new meaning to the term "underdog."

More recently, Smokey VI, who suffered heat exhaustion in the 140-degree, on-field temperatures at the 1991 UCLA game, was listed on the Vol injury report until he returned later in the season.

Each Smokey's most significant responsibility is leading the team out of the giant "T" prior to each game.

"You run through the "T" and the place goes crazy," Jepson said. "You can't hear a thing except him baying like he's on a hunt. It's just a blur. And a real privilege."