We had two men sit beside us in our regular
seats last night all decked out in AU gear. As we visited with him
during the pregame warm ups he reminded us of how special Auburn really
is. He said he and his friend were from Oregon. They were Oregon fans.
They flew here for our game which puzzled us obviously so we asked if he
had family here. He said no, that he has a bucket list. (He never told
us if was sick but he didn't look like he felt well, he looked sick) he
said he was starting to mark off things on his bucket list and that one
of the things on that list was to attend an SEC night game. He picked
this one and his friend came along. He couldn't stand for very long at a
time, he was very sweaty and tired. He sat there and took it all in
with the biggest smile on his face. As the players warmed up and then
gathered together right before the run in the tunnel the crowd went
crazy and clapping ect., he clapped along and then leaned in and said
"what happened, why are we cheering" we explained and he said "wow, this
is amazing" As the videos played and crowd grew in size and volume he
joined right in. As we did the Auburn spell out he cheered loudly then
then starting chanting S-E-C S-E-C.
He asked when and from where would
"the bird" fly in. He said he has wanted to see this for years. As Nova
flew he joined with with the chant and the circling of his hands. When
Nova landed at midfield he cheered and leaped and as I watched his
experience he had tears streaming down his face. He said he had never
experienced any atmosphere like this and how lucky we are were to have
this and that we should make sure to always appreciate it. He couldn't
stay the whole game. His friend did stay and cheered right along, loud
as could be as if he had always been an Auburn fan. He may have came
there never have been an Auburn fan but I know they both left there
Auburn fans for life. I wanted to share this story because I felt so
strong about this stranger's message. I want to win always as much as
anyone but sometimes I take for granted what we have at Auburn. The
tradition, the atmosphere is unmatched anywhere. I am proud of our
players and I was even more proud of the crowd last night. If you
weren't there then let me tell you about after the game. The student
section and most of the lower sections cheered loudly with a standing
ovation to the players as they headed back into the tunnel. That made me
smile so big. Those players deserved that recognition. Even after the
loss I was damn proud to be an Auburn fan!!!
