A lesson in memory and a glimpse of the future...

Auburn given virtually no chance to win...

Say goodnight Auburn for about a decade...

     These may be the oddest pre-Iron Bowl conversations Tide and Tiger fans have ever had. I don't know about you, but when someone tells me I can't do something it gives me extra incentive to try harder. That's basic human nature. If that's the case with the Auburn Tigers, they have more incentive than any team in SEC history. The official line today is -32 in favor of the Tide. That is an unworldly type number. I'm not  a historian but this might easily be the biggest line ever for this hate filled rivalry. Auburn fans are not the least bit hopeful. I think they are more in the acceptance faze of their mpending death. Auburn has never lost 8 SEC games in one season. All I can say is - Tiger fans welcome to the great unknown. You are about to enter a land that records forgot. If the experts are  correct the Tigers are going to finish the season 3-9. The Orange and Blue will have NO SEC wins. And, things are about to get worse with the NCAA sniffing around. If they ever quit making inquires here and there after the great Cam Newton escape.

           All the statistics favor Alabama. I know there are a few Auburn fans that hold out hope that Tigers will win. 'Hope springs eternal' is how that old saying goes. Here's another old saying - Reality will stomp the living daylights out of hope. The reality of the level of the two respective programs is like comparing the living to the walking dead. The only kind thing to help your Auburn fans is shoot them in the head to put them out of there misery. If you can't bring your self to do that it is likely the NCAA is going to do it for you. Of course, there is that long extended tortuous period that the governing body sees fit to put a team and their fan base through. It is like Chinese Water torture but you have to listen to talk radio every day. Richard Nixon once said to the media "you won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore". Gene Chizik just joined the Nixon club. If I was Gene Chizik I'd want to leave. If you think things are bad at Auburn right now just stay tuned for the impending death bed scene and subsequent AU NCAA funeral. The finger pointing, the recriminations between the fans, the blame game, and all the other silly acts that make the NCAA experience so upsetting are at hand. . The healthiest thing in Auburn right now are the trees on Toomer's corner. At least those aren't likely to be draped in  Charmin' and set afire this weekend. In fact, you wonder when those famed trees will ever feel the gentle touch the white and fluffly stuff again. New Auburn Rule - no toilet paper thrown skyward unless you beat an SEC team.

       I talked earlier in the week with a prominent sports writer who is an AU fan. He told me that Bama will win 35-0 if the tide can get their team on the field sometime in the first half.  You have to go back to the early 1970's when people sensed a complete shift in the rivalry. Alabama is going to make it 4 out of the last 5, and who among us would doubt it could grow to 9 out of the last 10 It might be even more. It could be a lot more. It might be as long as Nick Saban coaches and the memory of "never again" remains. Elephants never forget. Tomorrow is going to be a lesson in memory, and a glimpse of the future. Bama 35-0, but then there is a second half. Saban will not run up the score. He may not be able to stop it though.


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