First, I have to say this. I don't think it is fair to judge all Auburn fans. There are people who have a legitimate connection to the Auburn, perhaps they or someone close to them went to Auburn, or they grew up near Auburn. Likewise, if your parents were Auburn fans, then it's pretty normal for that to be passed on to children.
Secondly, I am one of those that believes that Auburn is not Alabama's true rival. Tennessee is Alabama's true rival, Alabama went decades without playing Auburn (and much longer without playing in Auburn), and did Alabama miss that? I think not. It was pressure on the part of Auburn that enabled both of those things to happen. Auburn needs Alabama, they feed off of Alabama, they're like a bum who waits for someone to throw away what's left of their food and eats it. The Alabama/Auburn game is the season for Auburn. It's why they have their bye before they play Alabama, it's how they decide whether to keep or fire their coaches. Geographically, and logically they should switch places with Missouri (and go to the SEC East), but Auburn would never give up playing Alabama because Alabama makes Auburn relevant.
I live in Mobile, and that's about as close to neutral ground as you're going to find within the state. I've seen more Auburn gear in the past two days than I've seen in the past month. Why is that? I see people wearing Alabama stuff year round, if I go virtually anywhere I'm assured of seeing someone in an Alabama shirt or Alabama hat. Auburn though? It fluctuates wildly, and that is derived from what motivates a majority of Auburn fans to become Auburn fans. For instance, on Saturday morning I saw a Florida fan wearing an Auburn hat. He has much more Florida gear than Auburn gear, but he dug up his Auburn hat to wear before the game, to show that he's a not Alabama fan.
As I discussed the game, I couldn't help but notice that the Auburn fans I encountered were mainly women, and mainly people who showed no interest in college football on other occasions. I'm talking about people I'd known and talked to for a couple of years, and the first war eagle I'd heard from them came on Saturday morning. You couldn't get them to discuss football before then, and in most cases if you quizzed them on Auburn's season I'd surmise they'd mostly be ignorant. For instance, I noticed a split family, Alabama fan man, Auburn fan woman. I asked them after the game how that went, and she said she hung the Christmas tree up during the game.
I'm not trying to say women don't care about football, but generally they don't care about football as much as men do. Auburn, for people in the state that are tired of hearing about college football, and tired of hearing about Alabama, represents the perfect way to get revenge. My father was an Alabama fan, my siblings were Alabama fans. My mom, who was from Florida? She declared she preferred Auburn because Alabama cared more about football than academics (I guess she was ignorant of Auburn's priorities). My brother-in-law is a huge Alabama fan, and he's a popular, outgoing guy. His slightly less popular identical twin brother? He's an Auburn fan. My brother-in-law's daughter (despite her parents and brother being Alabama fans), decided she was an Auburn fan for a while. Same thing with my brother's emo daughter, who surrounded by Alabama fans decided to say she was an Auburn fan.
There have even been a lot of Auburn players that basically ended up there because they couldn't get an offer, or immediate playing time from Alabama. Auburn is the team you cheer for if you don't like Alabama, Auburn is the school you go to if you can't cut it at Alabama. That might not be the case 100% of the time, but it's the case a majority of the time. You cheer for Auburn because you're tired of hearing about Alabama. You cheer for Auburn because you're tired of hearing about college football. You cheer for Auburn, like one friend's mom (who lives in Missouri and knows nothing about football really), because you want the underdog to win. The key point here is that Auburn fans are for the most part have based their relationship with Auburn, on how they feel about Alabama football.
This is why Auburn fans would rather both teams lose than both teams win. This is why Auburn fans celebrate Alabama losses as much as Auburn victories. This is why for most Auburn fans, they'd rather beat Alabama and lose the rest of their games, than lose to Alabama and win the rest of their games. They are not fans of Auburn football, they're just not Alabama fans. I've said it before, but most Auburn fans would gladly see Auburn football commit murder suicide with Alabama football.
As for Alabama fans, I saw a few posts about needing the NFL in the state, or about caring too much about Alabama football. Well, this loss is a heck of a lot like the loss to LSU. When Alabama lost to LSU, it seemed like they had virtually no chance at a championship, and virtually no chance at the SECCG. The impact was virtually the same, and in a lot of ways the game was a lot like the loss to Texas A&M as well. So, what was so different? Why did this game make people rethink how much they cared about football? Well, the issue is how much they cared about Auburn football. I don't really think it's that Alabama fans care too much about Alabama football, it's that some fans care far too much about another team.
I noticed this behavior to a lesser extent the past couple of years. As we went over scenarios that got Alabama into the BCSCG, some of them involved Auburn winning games. I saw multiple fans, including my brother state that they would never cheer for Auburn, period. I saw that a lot here as well, but what is that ultimately saying? That's saying you care more about Auburn than Alabama. That you'd rather something bad happen to Auburn, than something good happen to Alabama. Likewise, I saw multiple posts on this board after the loss to Auburn stating a National Championship would be meaningless because Alabama lost to Auburn.
Seriously? That could negate the championship? The loss to LSU didn't negate it, the the loss to A&M didn't negate it, but somehow, for some reason, Auburn matters more. That is a problem, that is an issue. Many Alabama fans care far too much about Auburn. Auburn is just another opponent, and Alabama needs to beat them in all facets, in particularly because of proximity. But, Auburn shouldn't mean too much to us. We're Alabama fans, and that's what should be important.
Secondly, I am one of those that believes that Auburn is not Alabama's true rival. Tennessee is Alabama's true rival, Alabama went decades without playing Auburn (and much longer without playing in Auburn), and did Alabama miss that? I think not. It was pressure on the part of Auburn that enabled both of those things to happen. Auburn needs Alabama, they feed off of Alabama, they're like a bum who waits for someone to throw away what's left of their food and eats it. The Alabama/Auburn game is the season for Auburn. It's why they have their bye before they play Alabama, it's how they decide whether to keep or fire their coaches. Geographically, and logically they should switch places with Missouri (and go to the SEC East), but Auburn would never give up playing Alabama because Alabama makes Auburn relevant.
I live in Mobile, and that's about as close to neutral ground as you're going to find within the state. I've seen more Auburn gear in the past two days than I've seen in the past month. Why is that? I see people wearing Alabama stuff year round, if I go virtually anywhere I'm assured of seeing someone in an Alabama shirt or Alabama hat. Auburn though? It fluctuates wildly, and that is derived from what motivates a majority of Auburn fans to become Auburn fans. For instance, on Saturday morning I saw a Florida fan wearing an Auburn hat. He has much more Florida gear than Auburn gear, but he dug up his Auburn hat to wear before the game, to show that he's a not Alabama fan.
As I discussed the game, I couldn't help but notice that the Auburn fans I encountered were mainly women, and mainly people who showed no interest in college football on other occasions. I'm talking about people I'd known and talked to for a couple of years, and the first war eagle I'd heard from them came on Saturday morning. You couldn't get them to discuss football before then, and in most cases if you quizzed them on Auburn's season I'd surmise they'd mostly be ignorant. For instance, I noticed a split family, Alabama fan man, Auburn fan woman. I asked them after the game how that went, and she said she hung the Christmas tree up during the game.
I'm not trying to say women don't care about football, but generally they don't care about football as much as men do. Auburn, for people in the state that are tired of hearing about college football, and tired of hearing about Alabama, represents the perfect way to get revenge. My father was an Alabama fan, my siblings were Alabama fans. My mom, who was from Florida? She declared she preferred Auburn because Alabama cared more about football than academics (I guess she was ignorant of Auburn's priorities). My brother-in-law is a huge Alabama fan, and he's a popular, outgoing guy. His slightly less popular identical twin brother? He's an Auburn fan. My brother-in-law's daughter (despite her parents and brother being Alabama fans), decided she was an Auburn fan for a while. Same thing with my brother's emo daughter, who surrounded by Alabama fans decided to say she was an Auburn fan.
There have even been a lot of Auburn players that basically ended up there because they couldn't get an offer, or immediate playing time from Alabama. Auburn is the team you cheer for if you don't like Alabama, Auburn is the school you go to if you can't cut it at Alabama. That might not be the case 100% of the time, but it's the case a majority of the time. You cheer for Auburn because you're tired of hearing about Alabama. You cheer for Auburn because you're tired of hearing about college football. You cheer for Auburn, like one friend's mom (who lives in Missouri and knows nothing about football really), because you want the underdog to win. The key point here is that Auburn fans are for the most part have based their relationship with Auburn, on how they feel about Alabama football.
This is why Auburn fans would rather both teams lose than both teams win. This is why Auburn fans celebrate Alabama losses as much as Auburn victories. This is why for most Auburn fans, they'd rather beat Alabama and lose the rest of their games, than lose to Alabama and win the rest of their games. They are not fans of Auburn football, they're just not Alabama fans. I've said it before, but most Auburn fans would gladly see Auburn football commit murder suicide with Alabama football.
As for Alabama fans, I saw a few posts about needing the NFL in the state, or about caring too much about Alabama football. Well, this loss is a heck of a lot like the loss to LSU. When Alabama lost to LSU, it seemed like they had virtually no chance at a championship, and virtually no chance at the SECCG. The impact was virtually the same, and in a lot of ways the game was a lot like the loss to Texas A&M as well. So, what was so different? Why did this game make people rethink how much they cared about football? Well, the issue is how much they cared about Auburn football. I don't really think it's that Alabama fans care too much about Alabama football, it's that some fans care far too much about another team.
I noticed this behavior to a lesser extent the past couple of years. As we went over scenarios that got Alabama into the BCSCG, some of them involved Auburn winning games. I saw multiple fans, including my brother state that they would never cheer for Auburn, period. I saw that a lot here as well, but what is that ultimately saying? That's saying you care more about Auburn than Alabama. That you'd rather something bad happen to Auburn, than something good happen to Alabama. Likewise, I saw multiple posts on this board after the loss to Auburn stating a National Championship would be meaningless because Alabama lost to Auburn.
Seriously? That could negate the championship? The loss to LSU didn't negate it, the the loss to A&M didn't negate it, but somehow, for some reason, Auburn matters more. That is a problem, that is an issue. Many Alabama fans care far too much about Auburn. Auburn is just another opponent, and Alabama needs to beat them in all facets, in particularly because of proximity. But, Auburn shouldn't mean too much to us. We're Alabama fans, and that's what should be important.
