Alabama & Auburn Football: A Rivalry Like No Other
The Alabama and Auburn football rivalry is like no other. Call it a phenomenon. Freak of nature. One thing that Alabamians know is that it is intense, and it is serious. Those who take it lightly or mock it do so at their own risk. Alabama resident and Inquisitr writer Terri LaPoint recently wrote about the maltreatment some have received for infringing on the reverential alliances among Alabama and Auburn fans.
The electric atmosphere leading up to and following yesterday’s Iron Bowl is the stuff that legends are made of. Alabama’s Birmingham metro area was saturated with fans in their colors—Alabama’s red and white and Auburn’s blue and orange. Team flags were flying, vehicles decorated, and the city was abuzz with shoptalk—the football kind.
For someone with no clue about the Alabama and Auburn football rivalry, perhaps a tourist or someone simply passing through, need not be told. The pride of nearly all of Alabama residents hung in the balance awaiting the game.
Last night, the college football season culminated with a record-setting game at Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium. The final score: Alabama 55 Auburn 44.
The celebratory, carnival-like atmosphere continued through the night all across the state, and even in rural areas cheering, shouting, and blowing horns peppered the air.
ESPN reported yesterday that the “Iron Bowl wins coaches’ poll for college football’s fiercest rivalry.”
The history of the Iron Bowl isn’t well-known these days. However, Rolling Stone calls the Iron Bowl “the archetypal rivalry setups in college football, an agricultural institution versus a prestigious university, a farm college versus a society school.” It goes on to tell about last year’s Iron Bowl game with its “inherent improbabilities” that shocked everyone.
The Rolling Stone calls Alabama Coach Nick Saban, “the greatest coach in twenty-first-century college football, and maybe the greatest coach who ever lived.” And, he has a paycheck to match. The Inquisitr reported that Nick Saban is the highest-paid football coach in college football.
Here is a video that portrays the rivalry between coworkers, it’s called “Iron Bowl Office Feud.” When asked about his inspiration for the video, its producer Josh Snead of SEC Shorts told Saturday Down South, “Office arguments over the Iron Bowl are usually pretty tame, but we think they all secretly wish they could grab a crowbar. I’m a Bama fan, and Robert is an Auburn fan, so we tried to make a video that captures the pure hatred we have for each other this week.”
For those who wish to get a glimpse of the dark, gritty underworld of the Alabama and Auburn rivalry, look no further than the Paul Finebaum Show. It is a forum for callers to vent vitriol and hurl deep-seated hatred for the two teams, which sometimes involves expletives. To his credit, Mr. Finebaum consistently and unceremoniously takes the criticism and meltdowns with a poise.
For an in-depth look at the two teams, there is the documentary “Roll Tide/War Eagle” in which Finebaum appears. The Alabama and Auburn rivalry is one that is perhaps the most intense in the world of college football, and it is certainly like no other.
[Image via All In All Sports]
