So last Saturday I wrote a small article on Alabama Pride, a short article on how serious the State of Alabama takes football. Well I happen to work with a gentleman that wanted to remain nameless so for this article we will call him Bob, but Bob was a walk on for Auburn football were he made the team and played. He was also a former major league baseball player for a few years until he threw out his arm, he was a pitcher. Bob is little older and has lived in Alabama his whole life, and I asked him a few questions about the “pride” in Alabama.
Me: So “Bob” me being new to Alabama, I did not realize how seriously you guys take college football here in Alabama; can you elaborate why it is so serious?
Bob: See most people in other states have other things to grasp onto, like professional sports, soccer, hockey in the north, and Alabama being a relevantly small southern state has its football.
Me: Do you care to elaborate?
Bob: Well when I was growing up, I lived on a farm that my father worked on and me and my brothers helped out, and we were not poor but definitely not rich. We had what we needed and that was good enough. The thing we could always look forward to was the local high school football games and most people don’t know how serious we take that and our college football. See most people think of Alabama as a backwards hillbilly state that is not as smart as the rest of the country or not as good. So when we play them in college football it is like saying how does it feel to lose to some sorry rednecks.
Me: Well I never have really looked at it that way, now I will say before I moved to Alabama I thought it was much worse than it really is, but I’m not saying it is great. Let me ask you this being an Auburn fan, how does Alabama being the more popular school of the two effect you?
Bob: Well not a damn whole lot, look Bear Bryant did more for college football and Alabama than I think any other coach in history has done, so I respect them for that, but the real fans of this State our Auburn fans, the rest are all on the bandwagon.
Me: Interesting that you put it that way, would you say Alabama fans would have a different take on it?
Bob: Well I sure bet they do, but that is the fun of this State, is the rival is so heated and so alive that I could say the sky is blue, and because I’m an Auburn fan an Alabama fan would say no it’s purple.
Me: So do you think Alabama vs. Auburn is one of the biggest rivals in the country?
Bob: Yes, no doubt about it. I think we are playing Louisiana Munroe this week and the stadium will be sold out and the towns will shut down, but against Alabama everybody in the State will be glued to their television, schools will shut down early that Friday to get ready it is that serious.
Me: So how serious is that?
Bob: As an Auburn fan I would rather go 1-11 and Beat Alabama than go 11-1 and lose to Alabama. I can’t stand hearing them brag about how good they are, and how they are just the best ever. Losing to Alabama leaves a bad taste in my mouth all year long, and can’t wait to get them back on the field to beat up on again next year.
Me: Well you’re saying there is no love lost between the two teams?
Bob: Absolutely not.
Bob: I will just say playing pro ball I have traveled around the country and I have seen some great cities that love their baseball teams, but those are cities, this is a whole State. This State loves it’s football and it is divided but the love for the teams are equal. People here have Auburn weddings, Alabama Weddings, and I even heard of a Nick Saban wedding. The kids in the state get named after the football greats, and I got tickets to Auburn or Alabama football game is an acceptable excuse to miss work. We love our team just like we love our state.
We went on to talk about a few more things but I just wanted to give everybody a gentleman’s perspective of how he looks at football in State of Alabama. He has lived here his whole life except for his travels and he is 64 years old. On his request I kept his name anonymous and not sure why he wanted that but If I had to guess it’s because recognition is not something he is looking for, just wants to show his love and pride for his State and Football team.
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