Yesterday was a very sweet day. I got up before the crack of dawn to head out of town with my friend to Iron Bowl 2005. We got down there around 9 am and headed straight for campus to find a parking place. Wow! There were already a ton of people there… we finally found a spot to park and we let the tailgating begin. Coors Light at 9:30 am. Nothing better. For lunch, we headed over to Cheeburger Cheeburger for lunch. If you’ve never been, you should. They have the best burgers and shakes! (I’d say the fries too, but unfortunately, on this trip the fries were not cooked all the way). Afterwards we hit the bookstore for souviners and then on to the stadium!

As usual, my section was surrounded by Bama fans… all yelling “Roll Tahd!” and making a general nuisance of themselves. Today, just prior to kickoff, Tiger flew again for only the second time this year. Rumor has it that Tiger has had health issues this year (she’s 26 years old) and that she won’t be making the flights much anymore. Spirit (the bald eagle) and Nova (the two year old Golden Eagle), the younger birds will be doing most of the flying before home games. I really enjoy watching Tiger fly. You can tell she enjoys it after not being to fly for most of her life. Whenever they let her go, she flys around the stadium in several loops, almost showing off, before finally coming down to get her supper.

Then there was the kickoff. Auburn looked unstoppable, with the defense taking the field and stopping Bama after only three downs and sacking the QB. Then, the Tiger offense just marched down the field and scored the first touchdown. This continued two more times, and in no time at all, the score was 21-0, Auburn.

Poor Bama fans, had all but shut up now. They just stood there, shocked that their once mighty team (even Sports Illustrated declared last month “BAMA IS BACK”) had been decimated so early by Auburn.

There were some ups and downs during the game, but when it was all said and done… and Auburn had won. We headed over to Toomer’s Corner and let the rolling begin. For those readers who are not familiar with Auburn traditions; after gameday victories, fans head over to the front corner of campus and TP the entire corner. Yes, that’s right… we toilet paper the entire corner… trees, street lights, whatever is in the way. God forbid your car sit there for too long, for it might get TP’d as well. Even by the time we got up there, it was already a mess. Toilet paper streamers everywhere. So, we added to the fun!

Enough said. WAR DAMN EAGLE! Special thanks to screamingtiger.com for the image.

Today is the day. It is the day of the Iron Bowl. It is the day that all Auburn and Alabama fans live for. It is why I buy season tickets. It is a special day in the minds and hearts of Auburn fans everywhere. The Iron Bowl always brings out the most outrageous fans. I cannot believe that I am leaving my house in six short hours to get to a game seven hours prior to kickoff. But you almost have to just to find a place to park. It is total pandemonium.

I remember the Iron Bowl as a college student. Quite an experience, it was probably the first time I got so shitty drunk that certain parts of the day are forever blacked out. It may be why I can no longer drink tequila, although I’m not sure about that.

The hatred between Auburn and Bama fans becomes most prevalent in the week before the Iron Bowl. For example, this past week, I spent some time on the road doing some training at a customers site. One of the employees was wearing an “Alabama Crimson Tide” t-shirt. As I made my training presentation, anytime I needed to refer to the complexity of a situation, I would take a cheap shot at Bama fans not understanding it. Everyone else realized I was kidding, but the Bama fan took it personally. They took their own cheap shots a couple of times at my expense. Being that I was representing my company, I just let it slide.

For another example, one of the managers was a Bama fan, and after taking some more of my Bama jabs, offered to bet on the game with me… so we have a bet going…. I didn’t know what the point spread was, so being that Auburn is ranked lower than Bama, I figured Bama was the favorite… and asked her to give me points. She said no… straight up win. I went with it, knowing Auburn will win. It was only afterwards, I looked up the spread and was amazed to find that Auburn is favored to win by seven points. So… War Damn Eagle! Go Auburn! I need to win the bet!

Probably the best example I can give of this hatred actually took place in the middle of last summer, not even football season. I drove my car through Tuscalooser, Alabama (where UA is) with my Auburn stickers on the back window. I can’t even tell you how many people honked their horns and showed me their IQ level (in the form of a single raised finger). Lots of people with an IQ level of one there, that’s for sure. Figures. It is the University of Alabama.

So, good luck Auburn… this game is in our house. Let’s make it a winner!

I just have one thing to say to all the Georgia Bulldog fans who thought their precious DJ Shockley was the best thing since sliced bread and that UGA wouldn’t lose to Auburn.

WAR DAMN EAGLE

Nothing was sweeter than watching grown men and college girls cry on national television. Boo-hoo, our precious Shockley isn’t as good as we thought he was. Wahhh, Auburn won. Bunch of damn babies. I predicted this win months ago, when UGA could barely pull it out against the likes of Arkansas and South Carolina, both teams that Auburn mightly destroyed in earlier games.

In case you missed it… here’s the details:

The Deep South’s oldest rivals came into their 109th meeting separated by one point.

Now make it Auburn by two. Auburn and Georgia first met in 1892, and with the win Auburn pushed its record against the Bulldogs to 53-48-8. But the closeness of the series is best exemplified by the cumulative score — Auburn 1,650, Georgia 1,648.

In a wild game that came down to the craziest play of all, Devin Aromashodu went 62 yards with a fourth-down pass, setting up John Vaughn’s 20-yard field goal with 6 seconds left that gave the Tigers a 31-30 win over No. 9 Georgia on Saturday night.

Aromashodu fumbled at the end of his big play, but teammate Courtney Taylor bailed out the 15th-ranked Tigers by recovering the ball before it rolled out of the end zone.

The touchdown didn’t count — the fumble couldn’t be advanced — so Auburn got the ball at the Georgia 3. That was actually better for the Tigers, allowing them to run the clock down before Vaughn’s chip shot.

“It will go down as a classic,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said.

Or just another Auburn-Georgia game.

War Eagle guys… you deserve that win! May LSU lose a game and we beat Alabama next week! Sweet revenge would be UGA losing to Kentucky. I think I’m rooting for the Wildcats next weekend.

Well, as predicted, Auburn came back from the sad loss to LSU and kicked the crap out of Ole Piss. I really enjoyed watching Auburn beat up on them, even though the referee crew was obviously paid off by an Ole Miss Alum.

Not much to report on the actual game though, the best part of the day came later when FLORIDA BEAT GEORGIA! What a great day! Finally someone put UGA right where they belong; out of the top ten in the AP poll. Too many Georgia fans were walking around with the heads up their asses, they needed a good beating. I actually listened to the last five minutes of the game on the radio. I listened with glee as old Larry Munson sounded as if he was going to cry when UGA lost.

If you’ve never heard Larry Munson broadcast a Georgia Bulldog game, you aren’t missing much. In fact, I can guarantee that for 20 minutes or so (at least until you get to a commercial break) you won’t even know who’s playing the football game. Here’s a sample of how he calls a game.

Munson on Offense: “And we’ve got the ball on their 46 yard line… we’re lined up in sort of an I formation, with two running backs on either side. Here comes the snap and he steps back, back and passes the ball to the right. They tip the ball!! and it falls down to the ground.”

Munson on Defense: “And we’ve got them on their 20 yard line. The quarterback hands off to his guy and they run up the left side. And Smith knocks out of bounds after they gain about two yards.”

And so on and so forth, ad nauseum. You won’t even know who’s playing until Munson takes a break for a commerical, then you’ll get “You’re listening to the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network”. So, unless you happen to know the UGA football schedule, you still don’t know who “they” are. Boy, this is quality radio. I remember my first experience with it many years ago. I knew I wanted to listen to the UGA game on the radio, but, I wasn’t even sure the game I had on the radio was the right one and they didn’t break for a commericial for like thirty minutes!

With quality radio like this, who needs television?

Now, I didn’t go to the Auburn-LSU game…. I almost did, but I got outbid on eBay. After watching the game on TV, I’m really glad I didn’t.

Last year, Auburn beat LSU 10-9 on Courtney Taylor’s touchdown with 1:14 remaining. Field Goal kicker, John Vaughn initially missed the extra point, but a penalty gave him a second chance. In this season’s rematch, he missed five field goals, including a 49-yarder in the final seconds of regulation that would have won it.

How does a starting kicker miss five field goals? That’s 15 points… Auburn could have won the game with points to spare if not for Vaughn.

So, Coach Tuberville… do you have a replacement? After that display, you really need a new field goal kicker, because John Vaughn sucks.

If you’re desparate, I think I still have four years of NCAA eligiblity… you can call me with scholarship offers. The athletic office already has my number.

Yesterday I spent all day down at Auburn, waiting for the kickoff of the Auburn v. South Carolina football game. I know I’ve said it before… but damn, what I wouldn’t give for another four years in college. Those are the best times of your life (notto mention all the hot women there too!) Is it my imagination or do the women get hotter every year?

Auburn had not played South Carolina in long time. So long, in fact, I had never seen Auburn play South Carolina before. So, being that I’ve never seen a South Carolina Gamecock fan at a football game before, I was quite surprised (and mildly annoyed) when the legion of South Carolina fans behind me started in on their little cheer: One group yells “Game” and then another group shouts in reply “Cocks!”. I tell you, there’s nothing more amusing than watching a bunch of grown women yell “COCKS” over and over.

Auburn certainly did “Beat Mor Chiken” last night… beating the Gamecocks 48-7… and the only way South Carolina could score was when Auburn pulled most of it’s starters and played the freshman defensive line.

This certainly bodes well for the rest of the season since UGA could barely handle South Carolina… I’ll be looking forward to a much better season than I anticipated.

War Damn Eagle.

Yesterday I went to see the Auburn Tigers play Ball State University High School for Wayward Girls, and we beat up on them with a final score of 63 to 3. It’s fun to watch those kinds of games, where the Auburn offense can score without even trying.

As it was quite the interesting day, I had a few thoughts and shots from the digital camera….

First of all, I want to know when it became acceptable not to remove your hat during the playing of the national anthem? I saw no less than four guys immediately around me who did not remove their hats when the band started playing the national anthem.

Look carefully at the name on the back of this jersey. All the concession vendors are wearing them this year. Say the name with me out loud… “Sodexho…. Sew…. deh…. ho….” Soda Ho. I wonder if the vendor company realized this when they named themselves “Sodexho”. At four dollars for a 24 oz bottle of water or three fifty for a 20 oz bottle of soda, I guess *AM* getting screwed pretty hard, so I guess that’s an appropriate name for the vendors… Soda Whore.

Ball State University School for Window Lickers fans are very determined. They all stayed until the bitter end. I realize this picture is hard to see, but I took it with my cell phone and it doesn’t “zoom” that well. This section was on the other side of the stadium. You can still make it out, as they were the only ones wearing red or white. Everyone else in the stadium was wearing orange. This picture was taken in the fourth quarter, when the score was 56-3. See how many fans are still in their one little section. Out of the 77,000+ people that attended that game, there had to be at least 500 Ball State fans!

I noticed that in the third quarter, the security detail removed the fences from the student section… so, my friend and I (along with a bunch of other people) made our way down for a better view. Here’s a picture from the endzone… I have hadn’t a view like this since I went to Auburn… damn, I might go back to school just to get the better seats! Sitting with the college students was fun too… watching the crazy shit that they do… see how many of them are drinking and smell like a distillery…. totally reminds me of my college daze at Auburn.

We stayed until the end of the game… and what could make the day even better? Walking to the car behind this the whole way…. those shorts are riding up, and I’m fairly certain there was no underwear.

This made for a perfect day…

God, I miss college.

Auburn’s nickname is the TIGERS.
Auburn’s battle cry is “WAR EAGLE!”

Through the years, these two Auburn terms have often been used interchangeably and incorrectly. There are hats and T-shirts with Auburn War Eagles on them. Even the news media has been known to refer to an Auburn team as the War Eagles or to an Auburn player as a War Eagle.

In fact, when the Tigers play a game on the road, there is often an article written in the local paper wondering why Auburn has three nicknames — the Auburn Tigers, the Auburn War Eagles and the Auburn Plainsmen.

To set the record straight, Auburn has only one nickname — the Auburn Tigers.

“War Eagle” is a battle cry, used by Auburn fans in the same manner Alabama fans yell “Roll Tide!” and Arkansas fans yell “Woo Pig Sooie!” You never hear Alabama referred to as the Alabama Roll Tides or Arkansas as the Arkansas Sooie Pigs, and to call Auburn teams the Auburn War Eagles would be just as incorrect. The battle cry “War Eagle” should never have an “s” on the end of it.

The nickname “Tigers” comes from a line in Oliver Goldsmith’s poem, “The Deserted Village,” published in May 1770, “where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey…”

The term “Plainsmen” comes from a line in that same Goldsmith poem, “Sweet Auburn, loveliest (sic) village of the plain…” Since Auburn athletes were, in the early days, men from the Plains, it was only natural for newspaper headline writers to shorten that to “Plainsmen.”

It may be confusing to an outsider, but to Auburn people, it is very simple. That’s why War Eagle VI, Auburn’s golden eagle symbol, is named Tiger!