If this didn’t happen… But I was ther… I was a freshman… I had a sports coat on and…

If this didn’t happen, then maybe my freshmen year didn’t happen, and if my freshmen year didn’t happen, maybe high school… dear GOD do I exist? Has anything I’ve seen and felt and remembered ever happened? What if ME never happened

Then if I didn’t happen this computer didn’t happen and if this computer didn’t happen… dear god someone get me a physicist and a psychiatrist I need psycho therapy and someone to explain the time space contin…conteniu…. I need CHRISTOPHER LOYD

Do people even make Delorians any more? I’m laying down….need… to breathe

Isn’t it kinda like your best friend wanting your girlfriend for himself? Come on….admit it….you really want it!!! Sad thing is that Bama would have most definitly hailed this as there 13th National Championship and hung a banner for it,,,,probably some type of parade….had a statue of the winning coach built. But it didn’t happen for Bama……because between the 2 of us….WE were the last ones to win the Sugar Bowl.

Really? What does that mean? How did you guys do in your bowl game last year?

…..It’s major news when your archrival gets smacked by the law. Even when it’s just a smack with a wet towel. I can’t necessarily answer for Jay, but I know that when I was a kid growning up during the 1960s and 1970s, answering the phone in December meant a huge “ROLL TIDE!” at least 80 percent of the time. That was in the days before telemarketers… Both my mother, a die-hard Auburn nut, and my dad, a 1956 Bama grad, taught me that when you lose, you must do so with good sportsmanship, and grace. We smiled all those years, and congratulated the Tide family members on their success. My father was profoundly embarrassed by all of the antics of fellow Tide fans, I must say.

……So finally, come fall after the Summer of Love in 1969, Bama was struggling a bit under Bear Bryant. All of the media, pundits, and armchair quarterbacks were CONVINCED that the game had passed the Bear by. Come Iron Bowl time, the upstart Auburn Tigers, led by sophomore quarterback Pat Sullivan, led the Tide 42-26, deep into the 4th quarter. It was looking to be Auburn’s first win in the Iron Bowl, after 5 straight losses. Late in the game, punter Connie Fredrick took off on a called punt, and raced 84 yards for a late, salt-in-the-wounds Auburn touchdown.

……You have no idea what an outcry ensued. Family gatherings were actually dangerous, after that. Bama fans DECRIED the awful sportsmanship of Auburn, and we actually feared for my mother’s safety. Fortunately, my dad was known as a man of temper and violence, and his threats were enough to keep an uneasy peace.

…..In 1970, Sullivan, Beasely and Co. overcame a 17-0 first half deficit, and roared back to win, 33-28. I was still a (nominally) unbiased observer at that time, and to me, it was the best college football game I had ever sat through. Both teams deserved to win that game, and it was a shame anyone lost! Bama family member’s universal reaction? “Auburn cheated! They paid the refs!” Yeah.

……In 1971, heavily favored Auburn laid an egg after Pat Sullivan’s Heisman award. Bama’s wishbone rolled, and Auburn was dumped, 31-7. Again, my mother accepted the ribbings and “Roll Tides” with humility and grace. A year later, a hugely favored Bama squad squandered a 16-3 lead with 5 minutes left in the game. Auburn roared through, and blocked two punts for touchdowns, in the waning light at Legion Field. Bear Bryant had called Auburn a “Cow College” before the game, and refused to shake Shug Jordan’s hand afterwards. From my relatives, our house was egged, and cars spray-painted red and white.

……From what I understand, my experiences were hardly unique. I can’t speak for Jay, but for me, it’s hard for me not to snicker when Bama suffers misfortune. I’ve long said that a Bama game is a beautiful thing to watch. More often, its a state of Alabama team doing well, which we all can enjoy. Sometimes, it’s Bama losing, and I can imagine all of those long-dead, egg-throwing, Roll-Tiding relatives harking up another lung in their graves! Can’t lose, really.

……Intellectually, I can accept that both schools have produced some great individuals. I hold no malice towards any of the players. And for that reason, the worst of the penalties, to me, was the loss of the Cotton Bowl victory after the 2005 season. Joe Kines and Co. engineered a masterful defense of the Leach AirRaid, and that was a fun game to watch, compared to Auburn’s tank job in the Citrus, or whatever bailed-out Commie bank sponsors that thing, now.

……Best I can determine, the Utes were the last one to win the Sugar Bowl. SEC-wise, LSU and Georgia won the thing after Auburn last did. Auburn’s Bowl Game last season, was getting Trooper Taylor, Gus Malzhan, et. al, to come to the Plains. We’re pretty ecstatic about it.

Thank God Acid Reign, WEA, Gumptown, and others make thoughtful contributions to this site – and are pretty damn good people as well – in spite of the author’s efforts.