This article was written for Ed Dyas who is ill with stomach
cancer but scheduled to be inducted in the National Football Hall of Fame in a
couple weeks....A great Auburn football hero
and scholar!
It was a lowkey day. Alabama was
suppose to dismantle Auburn.
Their heisman candidate had a national stage to take center spotlight. But
something unexpected happened.
Our tailgate was a fun morning. We hosted many Bama friends who
came by. The food was fabulous, the music was toe tapping, and the weather was
perfect.
We went to our traditional "TIger Walk" and cheered the
team and coaches into the stadium- like gladiators into their arena knowing a
hungry undefeated opponent was on the other side pacing and suiting up for a
David and Goliath moment. But something unexpected happened.
The sea of orange filled the sun kissed stadium. Every seat
was filled. Our Eagle,Tiger, flew around the tops of our heads and landed
midfield The teams entered to thunderous applause, fanfare and frenzied
fans. Bama fans wore stickers that said " Fear the shutout". But
something unexpected happened.
Auburn, fueled by the fans and faith of spirit with hard work,
threw everything they had at Alabama.
And for 56 minutes Auburn
prevailed. The score, the stats, the noise, the pride- For 56 minutes we owned
it. But something unexpected happened.
Alabama put together a successful
last minute drive and scored the go ahead points. The TV announcers loved the
battle for ratings. No one in the stadium moved. But something unexpected
happened.
The Alabama
fans stayed and "sabaned" their victory. Their band played. Their
victory ended a perfect scheduled season. But something unexpected happen.
What possibly could be wrong?The Bama fans had suffered, sweated,
cursed, paced and prayed for 56 tortorous minutes and their team finally pulled
it out and won. But what they saw next was not suppose to
happen...either.
The Auburn family stayed. They
were suppose to flee in defeat but alas the opposite happened. We stayed in our
seats and waited for our team to walk off the field. 80,000 family members
escorted them off with thunderous applause and chants of "It's great to be
an Auburn Tiger". The recruits stayed and
watched this family of ours lift up our team who served up a whole humble pie
to #2 Bama.
It reminded me of the scene in "How the Grinch Stole
Christmas" when the Who's in Whoville gathered after their presents and
decorations were missing but lifted their voices loudly anyway to lift up their
gratitude and celebrations. For us it was about thankfulness, honor, and
family. For 56 minutes we were fans, but as our team walked off the field for a
few minutes we were all one family. It was a great feeling and we had not even
won the game...on the scoreboard.
We walked out of the stadium chanting AU cheers down the ramps. Alabama fans were quiet
and shocked. Their Heisman candidate was disposed of. Their defense was
embarrassed. Their haughtiness was silent.
I have not mentioned the crudeness and ugliness that I witnessed
or was a part of from Alabama
fans prior and during the game. Their reputation for being rude fans lived
on-not pulling for their team and being good fans but being jerks to others-
even to children. However after the game they were silent. Eerily quiet.
One would have thought they lost the game. The lack of the cries of
"Roll Tide" was noticeably absent.
But something happened. Auburn contined to make us proud,
played their hearts out, made idiots out of the sports announcers who
proclaimed earlier this was a waste to play, and silenced the visiting fans.
Yes, something happened. Auburn won everything but the scoreboard.
This was not suppose to happen!!! Alabama
was not suppose to allow this!! It was just Auburn for goodness sakes, right??
Wrong.
Not a perfect day but an AUsome day. And with already picking up
some of the top recruits in the nation (#8 class in the nation), a new coaching
staff that have eyes of the tiger, and an AU family ready to support them all,
we only have one question- when does the 2010 season start?
--
A high station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace.
