Against my better judgment, I started Saturday’s Iron Bowl with a trip to Walmart. After about 30 seconds of fighting with the shopping cart there, I was ready to pack up and drive a little further down the road to Target. I convinced myself that things were even better (Target has a Starbucks).
But one older woman approached me with a smile as I struggled and asked, “Are you ready to play soccer for a day?”
Let me tell you, playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, I wasn’t dressed in any way to suggest I was a fan of either team. In fact, I wasn’t wearing anything that suggested I was a football fan at all. And neither did she.
But it didn’t matter. She said that if I was shopping at Auburn’s local Walmart on the morning of the Iron Bowl, I might be visiting Auburn to go to the game or I might be an Auburn resident. I knew I had better be prepared for the game because it was expensive.
“That’s the plan,” I answered her as I handed her the cart I finally freed, but ended up fighting to free another cart.
After we went our separate ways, I remember thinking: “Of course I’m ready to play soccer all day. I’ve been looking forward to this game since I took this job in July.”
Of course she didn’t know that. But even if she had, had she known that Saturday would be my first Iron Bowl experience, she might have patted me on the back and politely said, “Stay strong, Buttercup.”
Still, I would probably think to myself, I’ve been in a lot of rivalry games by now.
Back home in Florida, I was in the stands when the Gators played the Florida State Seminoles on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Heck, I even experienced what I thought was one of the best atmospheres in college football when the Gators and Georgia Bulldogs played against each other on the banks of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville.
But if my fellow Walmart patron had stayed there to hear my explanation — assuming she had been through the Iron Bowl — she probably wouldn’t have changed her position one bit. Probably.
And rightfully so.
On September 2nd, I wrote about my first game experience at Auburn. From Tiger Walk to Eagle Flight to Toomer’s Corner, after growing up hearing that “Auburn is Auburn,” I decided to experience it all firsthand.
(Beware of spoilers if you choose to visit that story: I was blown away by the game day atmosphere)
But then the Tuscaloosa team came along and took everything we went through in Week 1 and turned it up about 10 levels.
True, a lot of work was waiting for me inside the press box, so I could not participate in the Tiger Walk on Saturday. However, I heard that it was a spectacular event.
Next is Eagle Flight.
Aurea (may God bless her) had a longer than usual and lower than usual flight, foreshadowing an interesting afternoon ahead, but nonetheless as fascinating as ever. was.
But after all the pregame festivities, I was brought back down to earth and wondered if Jordan-Hare Stadium had enough magic to make up for what Auburn lacked against Alabama. -Especially after seeing the Tigers stunned before the game. New Mexico Aggies last week.
However, Auburn was not hosting New Mexico State on Saturday afternoon.
Auburn was hosting Alabama. And the home crowd reflected that.
Unlike previous weeks, stadium seats were slow to fill. Auburn’s student section was nearing capacity, with more than an hour left until kickoff.
And when the game clock started running, the butts were not in their seats. If they could have done that, they would have stood up. And they stayed that way throughout the game as Auburn and Alabama traded blows in the game. Already knew It was becoming another Iron Bowl classic.
Midway through the fourth quarter, when Auburn had jumped out to a four-point lead over the nation’s No. 8 team, my co-workers and I began making postgame plans. Much of it centered around expected field storms. Brewing at The Plains.
Before I knew it, I was standing on the sidelines right in front of Auburn’s student section, hunched over and just watching the next moment unfold.
As time passed and the Tigers held a four-point lead, my cell phone started ringing with messages of disbelief from friends and messages from family telling me to be careful.
Meanwhile, all around me, anxious but hopeful eyes stared at the videoboard atop the south end zone of Pat Dye Field.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe threw an illegal pass beyond the line of scrimmage to steal fourth-and-goal from the Auburn 31-yard line with 43 seconds left. The play, which was incomplete at best, ended with Obie the Tiger and Auburn mic man Dalton Odom exchanging a hug, after which Obie remained clutching Odom’s shoulder.
Many of the Auburn fans in the stands did the same, clinging to the fans next to them, whether they knew them or not.
On the Tigers’ sideline, Auburn associate head coach and running backs coach Cadillac Williams paces and gestures toward the crowd, finding whatever noise and energy is left in the tank and throwing it onto the field. I was begging. Alabama faced what appeared to be an almost impossible situation.
ESPN’s winning probability algorithm gave the Tigers a 99.9% chance of winning at that point.
But as sports has proven us time and time again, all a team needs is a chance. Whether it’s one play or one second, even the smallest opportunity can completely change the outcome.
And after experiencing my first game, I’m not sure there’s a game in all of sports that exemplifies that more than the Iron Bowl rivalry.
That being said, when the kind lady at Walmart happened to be reading this and asked me if I was ready for a day of football, I answered in the affirmative, but I wasn’t ready. I would like to add that. that football day.
But surely you already knew that. Because no one is coming to the Iron Bowl on Saturday.