I am always proud to have attended Auburn University. The degree I received there gave me many opportunities and has been the foundation of my professional life. This past weekend amidst the roar of the crowd. I became even prouder of MY university.
I know, I hear most of you groan and say “But Football?” Yes, football. It has nothing to do with the fine education you receive from attending Auburn. It has to do with what we call the “Auburn Family.” When you meet a fellow Auburn fan, you say “War Eagle.” Not because of the football but because we are family. It's our greeting to each other. We aren’t a nation or a club – we are family. We love the Plains, Toomers Corner, the eagle flying, Aubie and our proud traditions, just as any college alumni would. We are proud to be the Auburn Family.
At the beginning of this year I hardly hoped that our football team would win eight games. I have attended every home game and some away games for years because I love Auburn. I never expected what would happen this year. All I could hope for back in September (sorry Jean and Stephanie) was that we would beat Alabama. Throughout adversity this year, we never lost hope – not during all the close games or the snide comments about our quarterback. We took the criticisms and we held our head high. We are Auburn. You don’t desert family if there is a problem. And yes, even now, I can hear the comments that this may still end badly for Auburn (shades of USC) BUT so what? We will still have our family, our love of the university and our pride in that university. We will still be FAMILY. For a moment, when Wes Byrum kicked the winning field goal with two seconds left, we all became one, jumping, screaming and hugging complete strangers. We were National Champions! WE WERE AUBURN!
As most of you know, I had the privilege of attending the BCS bowl this past weekend in Glendale, Arizona. Such a surprise, I took a lot of pictures. I thought I would share some of them with you.
I was at the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. I got to the point of if you've seen one cactus, you've seen all of them.
The views were beautiful out there on the desert.
Darling hubby who surprised me with the trip and bought me lots of jewelry in old Scottsdale.
A few Quackers in front of the stadium before we went inside. The stadium is nothing compared to the SEC stadiums but it was nice.
Clicked this banner as it flew over the stadium.
The view from our seats before the game started. We were offered five thousand a piece for those seats before we came inside.
Gee, maybe we should have taken them and gone to the hotel to watch. Nah....
The ESPN crew were right below us. Note "Mushmouth", as I fondly call him, in the center.
The band, which is near and dear to my heart, spelling out Auburn.
The coin toss. You can't see it from this photo but those Oregon shoes were neon yellow, atrocious.
We'd won! Confetti everywhere!
The championship trophy being awarded to Auburn.
I have lots more but didn't want to bore you guys. I had a great time and just wanted to share.
Weagle Weagle, War Cam Eagle!! It's GRRRR-eat 2 be an Auburn Tiger! ;)
ReplyDeleteWow, Cheryl! Looks like you had a fabulous time at the BCS Championship Game. While you were there experiencing the awe of WINNING #1 in the Nation, I was at home with my peeps celebrating Byrum's fabulous save. Oh, the joy! I was delighted to see my daughter's school end an unbeaten season in such a spectacular fashion and kept in constant contact with her as she texted me her excitement.
Every champion experiences highs and lows. Why? The world hates winners! Let's face it. There is a lot of jealousy and envy in our world. It doesn't matter what success you find. There will always be someone who has a negative take on it. Now I don't want to go into a long debate about the rumors going 'round about Auburn these days, but I think it's clear in almost every venue that this kind of thing happens. (I believe Alabama has experienced this kind of bad publicity in the past.)
Here's something that disturbs me. Look at the homeless man, Ted Williams, and the way the Today show and various other t.v. programs USED him to get ratings. The poor guy was barely able to take care of himself. But after he rose to public awareness, and the media closed in, he relapsed. If the media had just left this poor man alone to begin with, he might have been able to assimulate back into society without experiencing added stress. Now the media is asking professionals 'why?' this happened. Am I not the only one who saw this train wreck coming?
My point is this: we all need to think before we act or speak about an issue, be it sports related or leading to defamation of character. Auburn's team is full of worthy and talented players. One man doesn't make a whole team. But a group can become unbeatable given the right leadership. No matter what can be said about our quarterback, he lead Auburn to victory, exuding the kind of leadership everyone envies.
Cheryl-I am glad you had a good time and that the game ended so well for you and your family.
ReplyDeleteI looked for you as I watched the game and for your #1 son when the band was on the field. :-)
Love the "Mushmouth" nickname. Can I use that?
Always glad to see more football blogs!
Welcome home :-)
I love the photos. Looks like you had a great time! My darling daughter and I toured Auburn in August. She fell in love with it because it did feel like a family of students. I loved the tour and the campus is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteShe may become a War Eagle when she goes to college.
:-)
Cheryl--So glad you're home and that it went well for you! We ordered this snow to welcome you back.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great feeling isn't it? (Winning and snow.)
Kathy--So true. We know about some jealously. And yes, Alabama has experienced bad publicity, most of the them because somebody made a bad decision. But it's my team and I love it, win, lose, or bad decision. And that's what love is.
PS--I want to see ALL your pictures. I love pictures. People make jokes about running when people pull out pictures of their kids, animals, and vacations. Not me. Love them. I don't even all the time care if I know the person.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in my previous post, I meant "time" instead of "them".
Grrr... did my tiger fangs show? Hey gang, I hope you don't think I meant to put more bacon on the fryer when I posted what I did about Alabama having difficulties too. What I meant was that things have been said in the past about other teams and nothing came of it. (I've gotta let everyone know that we are evenly balanced at Okay, Listen Here. And support each other.) ;)
ReplyDeleteI only meant to point out that it is so easy to click or send suppositions nowadays. And before you know it, your opinion is on Wikipedia! Truth is oftentimes corrupted for the sake of glory and glory is often tainted by the corrupted.
No! No, fangs.
ReplyDeleteIt's the truth. And I hope I didn't come off as argumentative. Sometimes when things are said, they are true; sometimes not. I was owning up to my team's 2002 debacle. That was a mess of our own making. (Well, not me personally; I didn't do it. But you know what I mean.) And on the other hand, this past fall, there was a bunch of talk about Ingram accepting transposition to a party and it absolutely was untrue. He attended the party but he paid for his own ticket--or I guess his mama did. Anyway, he had cleared it with the University before he went.
Winners get talked about it. And there's not a team alive that doesn't have fans that have behaved despicably. That's football, baby!
Just enjoy the championship. Don't worry about talk. There's absolutely nothing to be done about it.
And for all the times you and Cheryl have texted me Roll Time, Roll, I will say:
War Eagle
NOTE: We are a football equal opportunity blog here--except for those few teams we all agree we hate, which we will never own up to in print!
Hey Kathy! Yes I had a wonderful time in Glendale. We stayed in Scottsdale and I did a lot of jewelry shopping (hehe). Everything was fun and I would do it again despite the crowds.
ReplyDeleteYes Stephanie, feel free to use my term "Mushmouth." The man drives me crazy! He has insulted both Auburn and Alabama in the past and that, to me is unforgivable. He just can't stand to see an SEC team do good despite his short tenure at South Carolina.
Jean, I am so glad to be home even though it was nerve-wracking getting up the mountain to Arab from the airport. I love to look at snow but hate dealing with it. Yes, I am proud of my team and especially of Cam Newton who played the last quarter with a back injury. They still haven't said exactly how bad it is but he showed remarkable determination not to let it interfere with his playing. I am proud of all the boys, they hung in there as they always do and we won.
Christine, I sincerely hope your daughter decides to attend Auburn. She would love it! Auburn is a good place to feel a part of something. We love our family. The faculty takes care of the students. It's a good place to be.
Cheryl, I'm so glad you had a great time and that your team won. I enjoyed your pictures, too.
ReplyDeleteHey Jean, you didn't come off as argumentative. I was afraid I'd posted something that would hurt feelings, when nothing of the sort was intended. You know me. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd since you have laid the gauntlett of comradry down, I shall meet you halfway.
Roll, Tide, Roll!
Cheryl, jewelry shopping! I hope this means you found a lot of turquoise!! :D
I knew Cam was hurt but thought he'd hurt his foot. My hubby said, he never takes that long to get up. We knew something was wrong from the get-go.
And of course, Cheryl and I dearly hope your daughter will choose Auburn, Christine. ;)
I didn't grow up in Alabama so first, I couldn't understand this religious-like fervor over football and second, I managed to stay neutral for seventeen years. That neutrality stopped when #1 son went to Auburn to study architecture. Then I became a part of the Auburn family. I have nothing else to compare it to since it was the only school he applied to, but I was impressed with the school. I remember getting tickled when folks would ask him if he was going to Auburn because of the football team and he'd reply, "Uh, no. I'm going because they have a highly respected architecture program." Smart kid.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, he met his wife there and they were married about a year and a half after he graduated. So now we have a bigger Auburn family -- #1 son, DIL and even the granddaughter is a War Eagle fan.
I'm not a huge football fan. I understand the absolute basics of the game, but I watched the game Monday night and was glad no one was home upstairs because I was whooping and hollering throughout it all. I'm proud to say I'm an in-law of the Auburn Family.
Thanks for sharing your pictures and your account of the experience. I have a friend who drove to Nashville and flew to Phoenix just hoping to get tickets. She didn't and watched the game at a shopping mall. Then she flew home and had to stay over in Nashville til the roads cleared enough to drive back home. Now THAT'S being an Auburn fan.
Marilyn
Loved the photos, Cheryl! What else is there to say, but WAR EAGLE!!!
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