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by Mark
11-21-06
The week before the Georgia game in 2004, Jacob and I had the opportunity to meet with then Athletic Director David Housel in his office. We talked with him about the upcoming games with Georgia and Alabama. At that point, we had two wins over Alabama and a likely third on its way. He told us he would like for Auburn to win three out of every four games against Alabama. In early 2005, we had lunch with him again and since we won, he changed his mind - he’d like to see Auburn win four out of every five games. We haven’t talked to him since, but I assume he changed his mind again.
He made those comments as a college football purist. It’s true that some of the magic of the Iron Bowl is gone due to recent domination. Despite recent history and plane rides, I’m a fan of Mr. Housel - he’s a fantastic writer, speaker and was a great AD. He’s also an inspiration. If a guy as unathletic as David Housel is can become the head of Auburn’s athletic department, then it might be possible for a guy as dumb as I am to one day become president of a major telecommunications corporation.
His comments were completely valid though. Auburn has now beaten Alabama every single year of my college career. I don’t deserve that. The magic of the iron bowl is starting to deteriorate into Auburn hilarity.
I usually despise it when CBS covers Auburn games – they have far too many commercial breaks. However, Auburn owes CBS a huge thank you for covering the Iron Bowl. With the Ohio State – Michigan game being played at the same time, they already knew nobody outside the state of Alabama would be watching the game. Furthermore, they had to know that everyone in Alabama would be switching to ABC during all commercial breaks. Had CBS not picked up the game, we might’ve had an 11:30 LF Iron Bowl. Thank you CBS.
If you want an idea on how insignificant an Alabama loss is in the eyes of the media, consider this; ESPN.com didn’t even mention the game on their college football page Saturday night. Auburn beating Alabama is now a given. Even so, Lee Corso picked Alabama to win the game. In fact, Lee Corso has picked Alabama to win the Iron Bowl every year for the past five years with the exception of 2004.
John Parker Wilson was the starting quarterback at Hoover High School a few years ago. I think it can be safely said that his level of fame took a step back when he went to Alabama. You know your school has fallen from the top when your quarterback has a brother in high school that is more famous for being a quarterback.
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fans seem dedicated on placing the loss on the shoulders of a lineman
named Chris Capps because he allowed Quentin Groves to sack John Parker
Karr twice. This is ridiculous. To the right is a picture of Quentin Groves.
How is a coach supposed to tell a mortal 20 year old it “Get in
that guy’s way” and then expect results? How can a fan blame
a kid for participating in the inevitable? Quentin Groves is by far my
favorite Auburn football player. At the start of the season, Alabama celebrated their recent success by completing a multimillion dollar stadium renovation which included bronze statues of some of Alabama’s more successful coaches. Included were the likes of Coach Bryant, Coach Wade and Coach Richards. |
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Here’s a picture of Tommy Tuberville and Al Borges
after the game. Some credit needs to be given to Alabama’s defense
because they caused Borges to have pit stains through three or four
layers of clothing. Al Borges’ play calling turned out to be perfect.
Courtney Taylor was out of the game and Brandon Cox was at “80%
health”. Al Borges strategic and gutsy play calling won the game
for us. Those reverses were nothing short of borgtastic. This website
is going to have to launch a massive smear campaign against Borges during
the off-season to keep other schools from trying to hire him. |
E-mail
mark at mark@theauburner.com
