Is the Iron Bowl becoming just another game?

selmaborntidefan

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I read an article the other day written by a young man who grew up in an Auburn family (3 generations of Auburn grads). He later went to college at USCe. It was an interesting read. It offers the perspective of the other side of this type of rivalry, twice over. Reading it, I can understand why they celebrate their wins over their rivals with such passion, and I can understand why they would view their rivals as arrogant.

http://www.garnetandblackattack.com/2017/1/19/14328404/my-personal-sports-hell-the-clemson-alabama-national-championship-conundrum
That's a good article but there's another psychological element to it as well: Auburn fans adopt the posture that so many fans so in other sports like the NFL. The reasoning goes like this: anybody can be a bandwagon fan and pull for the Dallas Cowboys/Pittsburgh Steelers/New England Patriots but it takes REAL fans to support perennial losers like the Jets.

So they sorta assume that most Alabama fans have adopted the team BECAUSE they were big winners back in the day. Of course, there's a more sociological element to it as well - Alabama just did not have a whole lot to boast about as a state back in the early 1960s at least at the national level. We had a nationally known chief executive (of the state) for all the wrong reasons and the state wasn't known for much else. Some folks no doubt latched onto the ball team as a way of finding some sort of state pride in accomplishment. But the assumption is the old "anybody can pull for a winner but it takes a REAL fan to pull for a team that only shows up in the national picture about every ten years." Thus, there IS a 'we're the real fans' mentality as well. That's where the whole "most Alabama fans didn't go to school there" came from.

Does anyone seriously think most Notre Dame fans (back when they were a big deal) have ever even been on the campus of Notre Dame much less attended there? Now it's TRUE that an Auburn fan is far more likely to have gone to school there.

But so what?
 

TIDE-HSV

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I read an article the other day written by a young man who grew up in an Auburn family (3 generations of Auburn grads). He later went to college at USCe. It was an interesting read. It offers the perspective of the other side of this type of rivalry, twice over. Reading it, I can understand why they celebrate their wins over their rivals with such passion, and I can understand why they would view their rivals as arrogant.

http://www.garnetandblackattack.com/2017/1/19/14328404/my-personal-sports-hell-the-clemson-alabama-national-championship-conundrum
There's a lot more to the UA/AU rivalry than just football. They point to the once monopoly which UA had in the legislature, bar and bench, as a result of having the sole law school for so many years and claims that it has always restricted AU's funding and, according to them, even tried to put them out of existence a couple of times. It's really a universal, 24/7 inferiority complex and it has to do with much more than sports...
 

tusks_n_raider

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It's FAR from another game to me. They are petty, smug, tacky, sarcastic, they jeer and mock, thumb your eye and equally show poor sportsmanship in winning or losing. They always come up with 'cute' little catchphrases to rub things in especially. They roll their stupid trees with TOILET PAPER not only when they win but when bad things happen to US!!! I will never....NEVER forgive or forget that '4 fingers...Fear the Thumb' crap.

I started really following things when I was 5 in 1983..... and through 2001 it was a pretty back and forth series. We won some and they won some but things were fairly cordial even though they were more likely to brag in victory even then. But light ribbing for the most part was the protocol. But when that 6 game win streak happened that fanbase REALLY REALLY rubbed it in.....like unprovoked get in your face with 4-6 fingers waving around aggressively. They went NEXT level insane.

It's ALL I could do not to get into fights with people as a 24-29 year old at the time. It just got under my skin so bad because I was always gracious when Alabama won the game and there they were basically taunting you up close and personal. It was pretty much demeaning behavior. Now I HATE them....H.A.T.E. HATE them. Not the players but the fanbase. I've never met a rational decent humble Auburn fan in real life....ever.

I'm still HOT about losing/blowing the 2010 and 2013 games because every time we drop a game to them we have to win 2 in a row JUST to gain 1 game back in the series lead. We are 7-3 under CNS which means after a DECADE we have only gained back 4 of those games from the 6 game streak. We have to win 2 more in a row (5 Total since 2014) just to finally gain those games back in the All-Time W/L difference. I want 6 in a row though or more now. It's the only way I'll be able to let that Tuberville led period go.
 

B1GTide

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There's a lot more to the UA/AU rivalry than just football. They point to the once monopoly which UA had in the legislature, bar and bench, as a result of having the sole law school for so many years and claims that it has always restricted AU's funding and, according to them, even tried to put them out of existence a couple of times. It's really a universal, 24/7 inferiority complex and it has to do with much more than sports...
Thanks - was not aware of the other stuff. I just assumed that it all stemmed from football.
 

TideEngineer08

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From a national perspective, it pretty much has.

2013 has proven to be the anomaly. 2014 turned out to be an exciting game with a high score, but Auburn wasn't in the running for anything and the fourth quarter actually turned out to be a dud, from a competitive standpoint (we dominated it). Other than that, you can look back at 2009 and 2010 as exciting games but the losing teams weren't in the running for anything before the games began. We have dominated the series under Coach Saban. The game has less luster today than it even had during Auburn's run under Tubby, because folks loved seeing Alabama lose that game every year.

I agree that it ceased being the Iron Bowl when the game went to the campuses. You won't find a stronger proponent of having games in Tuscaloosa vs. Birmingham today than me, but back in the day Legion Field was truly a special, electric atmosphere when this game was being played. Selma had a great point about how the game became synonymous with the Thanksgiving weekend along with the UT/TA&M and OU/Neb games. Back then, those were just about the only games being broadcast and we often had Keith Jackson doing the game. By the way, about the game and Thanksgiving how many remember this gem? (What does Auburn stand for? Alabama Usually Beats Us Round November).

Today, the game's national relevance will always depend on how well the two teams are playing going into the game. Under Nick Saban, it's really difficult to see us having less than 10 wins going into the game and being in the running for the West division title. I don't take anything for granted, but it is what it is. But Auburn, under Malzahn and especially if they end up having to fire him, is more often than not going to be out of the running for anything by the time the game gets here.

Now, that is national relevance which I think does play a part in the local relevance on game day, but to me, it's always going to be a game that I hate to see us lose, probably more than any other.
 

The Ols

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They rolled TC when we lost to Clemson...it matters to them...and to be honest, that display made it matter a little more to me too. I love the IB...Love beating the barn rats...and now I'll LOVE it a little bit more! Roll Tide! Class of '89
 
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