Kate’s pie was awesome. Thanksgiving was awesome. Now it’s time to get ready for the Iron Bowl. I’m not going to puke up countless Iron Bowl memories. Instead I offer several links to various sites to get you ready and up to speed (below).
Just know we hate bama. We hate bama because they represent all that’s wrong with the state of Alabama. The hiring of Mike Shula and Nick Saban are great examples. Passing on Sylvester Croom for Mike Shula was racially motivated. When the state pays a job hopper $4M a year to coach football it’s a fleecing of taxpayers starving for greater education spend to give kids hope. (I understand the economics of college football, but its a hard argument justifying Saban’s compensation. An absolute demonstration of waste over the needs of others.)
We love our family who are either fans of or alumni of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Don’t get us wrong, we’re only human. My grandfather was a huge Alabama fan with framed photos of the Bear in his home. Heck he named his treeing walker hound Bear for crying out loud. I have family who went to Alabama including Mom who attended during the Joe Namath era.
It was the 1987 Iron Bowl game that caused me to apply to Auburn. I have to thank my brother Jayme for taking me to that game. He choose Auburn for college even though he nicknamed himself “Bama” as a kid. Although the record indicates an Auburn win I don’t remember who won that game (I’ve told this story many years recounting the Auburn “loss”). My memory of the game is of Auburn people being in such stark contrast to Alabama people. Bammers chastised Auburn and hurled obscene insults our way.
It’s ironic that Paul Bryant labeled Auburn “that cow college down the road.” In doing so he created the haves and have-nots of Alabama society. What a visionary this man was. I find it ironic because most of the bama fans I knew when I was younger were rural folk. Auburn was the Ag school of Alabama, but there was a time, at the height of Alabama’s glory where fans in rural Alabama wore crimson and white more than orange and blue. Alabama was and still is predominantly a blue collar state.
Alabama alumni tend to stay near home. They need to work their good-ol-boy networks and feed off of those less fortunate. Auburn graduates leave, go out into the world and continue to learn, evolve, and contribute. That’s right. Auburn people read and are evolving, have thumbs, and are free thinkers.
Now I don’t want this post to turn ugly. So I won’t let it. If you recall from my posts about the Georgia game, losing to them is like losing to a brother. You are upset of the loss but happy that people you care about got the job done. The Alabama rivalry isn’t like that. True Auburn people want to see the bammers lose every game but in particular this game. We all wish for the bully to get beaten and this is our one time a year where we can redeem the past and build for the future.
And in that statement lies the essence of the difference between Alabama and Auburn: Bammers live in the past and want to stay there. Auburners look to the future and are getting there.
I may post some additional thoughts on this one but for today I’m done. I have too much to try to accomplish: yard work, running some errands, going by the office for fire patrol – you know the usual stuff.
Enjoy the day off everyone. WAR EAGLE!
Get ready for the Iron Bowl links:
1) Phillip Marshall’s Blog: Auburn beat writer for the Hunstville Times.
2) Track ’em Tigers Blog: I particularly liked Jay’s posting from Thanksgiving.
3) Video highlights: YouTube videos presenting both sides of the equation.
