What is this "Fear the Thumb" thing?

[BamaFanatJSU]

Zombie thread...

 

[BamaMoon]

Blast from the past...

So in the midst of a pandemic you dig up a thread about some of our worst times???

I'm just kidding...really it's kinda funny now...hiring CNS changed everything!

 

[TiderJack]

So in the midst of a pandemic you dig up a thread about some of our worst times???

I'm just kidding...really it's kinda funny now...hiring CNS changed everything!

I did not realize how old this thread was and was wondering where this came from. Saw posters I either had not seen them post in a long time or had never heard of them.

 

[We_are_Bama]

What a weird day that the 2006 IB was. We actually came VERY close to pulling what would have been a massive upset that day. We were extremely over matched, just as we had been against the like of tennessee, lsu, and the barn for several years at that point. I was on the fence because dumbo ears had made a career off us being in the cellar thanks to debilitating probation, so beating him, especially after he had been holding up four fingers and a thumb for over a year at that point, would have been beyond awesome. Plus, we had nothing else to really look forward to in those days, other than possibly playing spoiler to the barn's season, which never happened. On the other hand, I knew that the Shula era was slowly grinding to a halt. Had he somehow pulled off the upset that day, there is no way that they could have followed through with his dismissal. It would have bought him easily two more years. So, needless to say, Saban stays put in South Beach.

So, I was also looking at it this way. As bad as another loss to those half wits would have been, we had had one arm tied behind our backs for years at that point, so what was one more loss to the barn if it meant a coaching change, and this time, not another Franchione or Price, but an actual GOOD coaching hire. Unlike our previous hires during this dark period, this time we were nearing the end of the probation tunnel, so this hire would have brighter days ahead at least. It was a hire that simply could not have happened had we won that day. As I looked at the TV and shook my head at the barn players flashing those thumbs, I said "let this be the last. Dear Lord, please let this be the last." Well, as it would turn out, it wouldn't be the very last, as we had to suffer through one more loss to them the following season, but the next time the barn came to Tuscaloosa, we were light years beyond where we had been two years earlier. Their next trip to Tuscaloosa would be a different story entirely. And, how appropriate was it that BDS was where the Tuberville era at auburn came to die. I'll bet he wasn't thinking back in 2006 that the next time he came to T Town, it would be his last day with his beloved auburn. They sure didn't waste anytime backing that U-Haul up to his front door after 36-0.

 

[Chukker Veteran]

What a weird day that the 2006 IB was. We actually came VERY close to pulling what would have been a massive upset that day. We were extremely over matched, just as we had been against the like of tennessee, lsu, and the barn for several years at that point. I was on the fence because dumbo ears had made a career off us being in the cellar thanks to debilitating probation, so beating him, especially after he had been holding up four fingers and a thumb for over a year at that point, would have been beyond awesome. Plus, we had nothing else to really look forward to in those days, other than possibly playing spoiler to the barn's season, which never happened. On the other hand, I knew that the Shula era was slowly grinding to a halt. Had he somehow pulled off the upset that day, there is no way that they could have followed through with his dismissal. It would have bought him easily two more years. So, needless to say, Saban stays put in South Beach.

So, I was also looking at it this way. As bad as another loss to those half wits would have been, we had had one arm tied behind our backs for years at that point, so what was one more loss to the barn if it meant a coaching change, and this time, not another Franchione or Price, but an actual GOOD coaching hire. Unlike our previous hires during this dark period, this time we were nearing the end of the probation tunnel, so this hire would have brighter days ahead at least. It was a hire that simply could not have happened had we won that day. As I looked at the TV and shook my head at the barn players flashing those thumbs, I said "let this be the last. Dear Lord, please let this be the last." Well, as it would turn out, it wouldn't be the very last, as we had to suffer through one more loss to them the following season, but the next time the barn came to Tuscaloosa, we were light years beyond where we had been two years earlier. Their next trip to Tuscaloosa would be a different story entirely. And, how appropriate was it that BDS was where the Tuberville era at auburn came to die. I'll bet he wasn't thinking back in 2006 that the next time he came to T Town, it would be his last day with his beloved auburn. They sure didn't waste anytime backing that U-Haul up to his front door after 36-0.

The older I get the more I realize how time flies away. I enjoyed your writeup very much. It seems to me like just yesterday when Tubby was rivaling Fulmer to be Bama's top public adversary. Back then Tubby's nickname here was Wingnut, in honor of his big ears.

 

[We_are_Bama]

This continued lockdown is doing two things. One, it's making me feel like the longer it goes on, the less of a chance we have college football in 2020. And two, out of boredom, it's causing me venture over to the aufambly board LOL. I'm kind of glad I did because I am having the best laughs I have had in a LONG time. All the quarantine humor and toilet paper and hand sanitizer jokes have gotten stale don't do the trick for me anymore. Not that they did to begin with. But, the aufambly board, now there is a spirit lifter!

Those clowns have a thread about the Kick 6. As in a current thread. They've beaten us two more times since then. Why no mention of those games? Why that 2013 game? I knew that they based everything on winning the IB, but it's like that ONE game defines their existence! I was already laughing so hard that tears were in my eyes, but then I read where one of them posted how they will be "right back in the thick of it in 2020" and they felt "confident in saying that they would be in the football final 4", and I REALLY lost it.

The "back in the thick of it" is what gets me. The word "back" implies that they were there before. So...are they referring to the 2013 BCSNCG and now...they think that after 7 years of mediocrity, they will be back in the thick of it? And apparently, Gus will be the coach they always knew he could be. This year. This is the year....Gus finally does it. And one of them has a name for the offense...Malzorris! Hope it works out as well as "GusChamp" did

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Those clowns have a thread about the Kick 6. As in a current thread. They've beaten us two more times since then. Why no mention of those games? Why that 2013 game? I knew that they based everything on winning the IB, but it's like that ONE game defines their existence!

For many years, it was the 1989, "we showed them Bama snobs by moving the game to JHS."

It works like this: if you're Auburn, you have two things to celebrate:

1) 2010 national title - but Alabama has won not one, not two, not three, but FOUR since then - and come within a play of winning five.

2) 2013 - because it prevented Alabama from becoming the first team to ever three-peat as national champion.


Auburn measures itself by Alabama; the difference between the schools is - so does Alabama.

I was already laughing so hard that tears were in my eyes, but then I read where one of them posted how they will be "right back in the thick of it in 2020" and they felt "confident in saying that they would be in the football final 4", and I REALLY lost it.

The "back in the thick of it" is what gets me. The word "back" implies that they were there before. So...are they referring to the 2013 BCSNCG and now...they think that after 7 years of mediocrity, they will be back in the thick of it? And apparently, Gus will be the coach they always knew he could be. This year. This is the year....Gus finally does it. And one of them has a name for the offense...Malzorris! Hope it works out as well as "GusChamp" did

Auburn is a school more like Penn State of the 1980s or WVA of the the Don Nehlen era. Their championship attempts are few and far between. Penn State won the 82 and 86 national title and in between had two years with an overall record of 14-9-1 and a lost national title in the final game.

After winning the 86 title, they went 21-15-1 over the next three years and start of the fourth.

Then they went on a run of 20-3 (game 3 of 90 through end of 91).
They followed this with a 17-7 record across two years before putting an excellent team on the field in 1994.

1982........1986......1991......1994

That's about Auburn's schedule of trying to be big deal.

2004.....2010......2013.......2017 (they did end with four losses, but they were #2 entering the SECCG).

 

[We_are_Bama]

@selmaborntidefan I remember being frustrated once the game was moved to JHS every other year. Some auburn fans would ask me "ohh...scared to play in Auburn, eh?" And I would reply that it wasn't so much about being scared to play there per se, but I didn't like the fact that we had to go to their campus and they didn't have to come to our campus. We still hosted the game every other year, as we were the home team whenever the game was in Birmingham, but to me that didn't feel any different than the days prior to that when it was a neutral site game.

Of course they begged to differ saying that Birmingham was always our home stadium discounting the fact that they too played home games there from time to time. But to me, it just felt like we had to be the true road team in odd numbered years while they only had to come to a neutral site in even numbered years. That finally changed in 2000 when we moved our home games in the series to Tuscaloosa, which turned out to be the thing that ultimately got Bama out of Birmingham completely.

I always enjoy your posts, Selma. Your insight is absolutely incredible. I was wondering if you could shed some light on something I've always wondered about. Why was it so difficult for us to break free from Birmingham? Was it all contractual? I know that the powers that be didn't necessarily hold a special fondness for Legion Field. In the final few years, we were still tossing Birmingham one game a year and it was against the likes of UTEP or Southern Miss. There were some rumblings in the 1990's that the city was going to file a suit against the university once the 1999 schedule was out and they saw that the Tennessee game was in Tuscaloosa. I can only imagine what the city felt when they got a peak at the 2000 schedule and saw where the auburn game was going to be LOL

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Wingnut is long gone...

 

[selmaborntidefan]

@selmaborntidefan I remember being frustrated once the game was moved to JHS every other year. Some auburn fans would ask me "ohh...scared to play in Auburn, eh?" And I would reply that it wasn't so much about being scared to play there per se, but I didn't like the fact that we had to go to their campus and they didn't have to come to our campus. We still hosted the game every other year, as we were the home team whenever the game was in Birmingham, but to me that didn't feel any different than the days prior to that when it was a neutral site game.

Of course they begged to differ saying that Birmingham was always our home stadium discounting the fact that they too played home games there from time to time. But to me, it just felt like we had to be the true road team in odd numbered years while they only had to come to a neutral site in even numbered years. That finally changed in 2000 when we moved our home games in the series to Tuscaloosa, which turned out to be the thing that ultimately got Bama out of Birmingham completely.

I'm one of the few Alabama fans (I think) who will admit that Auburn did have a point - up to a point. The Auburn argument that "we have a right to play our home games in our home stadium" is absolutely correct. And allegedly - I don't know if this is true - there were 5,000 bond holders with seats at Legion Field that (slightly) skewed the ticket sales to a little less than 50/50.

But the REAL reason, of course, they wanted the game on campus in Lee County was simple - money. I just wished they'd been honest enough to come right out and say this. "Hey, if we can force you to come to our little village every other year for a guaranteed sellout, it will pump X million dollars into our local economy." Not that Pat Dye, Bobby Lowder, or David Housel would have ever said such a thing, although I see Charles Barkley as the kind of man who would.

They turned it into an "us against them" battle for fambly pride. Turning it into "we'll show them Bama snobs" rather than, "We want that money" got a whole lot more fervent support.

As I've said - I think Auburn was completely justified in their demand, thought so the first time I heard the idea in 1985. Personally, I think most of the critique from "our side" misses that critical point. But I've heard from some fans who attended the IB when it was in Bham say that it was almost a religious experience type thing, particularly in the moments where it gets quiet right before the National Anthem. But CFB survived no longer having an annual OU-Nebraska game, so it will survive this, too.

I always enjoy your posts, Selma. Your insight is absolutely incredible. I was wondering if you could shed some light on something I've always wondered about. Why was it so difficult for us to break free from Birmingham? Was it all contractual? I know that the powers that be didn't necessarily hold a special fondness for Legion Field. In the final few years, we were still tossing Birmingham one game a year and it was against the likes of UTEP or Southern Miss. There were some rumblings in the 1990's that the city was going to file a suit against the university once the 1999 schedule was out and they saw that the Tennessee game was in Tuscaloosa. I can only imagine what the city felt when they got a peak at the 2000 schedule and saw where the auburn game was going to be LOL

I'm not 100% certain of what went on, and it's probably something that some of the long-termers would know better than I. For starters, our use of Legion Field (of course) was mostly for the "big marquee" games because the stadium held about 11,000 more seats. And it was more accessible back in the day than BDS was. I also don't know what role UAB playing there might have had, either.

My suspicion was that it was probably contractual and the failure of Bham to do some necessary upkeep/upgrade made the move to all-Tuscaloosa inevitable.

 

[FitToBeTide]

I've wondered how much influence a large number of alumni in 'ham had in keeping the game there over the years.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I've wondered how much influence a large number of alumni in 'ham had in keeping the game there over the years.

They wouldn't have needed much.


Seating capacity through 1987:
BDS 60,220
LF 71,594

11,394 extra fans (plus God knows how many who sneak in by bribing cops) is serious coin.

Plus, B'ham (by contrast with T-Town) had a much larger airport for long distance game attendance (since we're talking rich folks here).


It's my understanding that the construction company that did some of the upgrades back about 25 years ago went a lower price in exchange for more games being played in BDS. (Don't hold me to that if I'm wrong).