Slammer1

Golf and Pops, I am no help on this one. I know just about all of the '57 team and after that till 1960 but don't remember anybody named Luna. Aubiefifty, could you be more specific on what year you are talking about? I do know his coach on the freshman team was probably Vince Dooley. We had several players back then from TN. Bobby Hoppe comes to mind first, also, Jim Jeffries, who passed away recently. There are others but can't remember them. Its been a long time!

Lambda, Google "auburn campus map". When you get there zoom in almost all the way in the sattelite mode. The dorm I was talking about is on the corner of Heisman Drive and Mell St. It is known today as Glenn Residence Hall. However, this map does have the old numbers in parenthises. I might have meant Dorm 6 and not 5. Golf, help me out here. My 72 year old brain is having a hard time remembering specifics. I Googled "Phi Mu at Auburn" and from what I saw nothing has changed. They are still a bunch of cuties.

Lambda, re your post on Lloyd Nix, he was a very classy guy as I remember him in 1957. He seemed more mature than the rest of us. He did not possess the talent of the players today. He just somehow out of sheer willpower got the job done. As you might or might not know they played both ways back then. He was a great defenive back when we were on defense. I often wonder how the players today would handle playing both offense and defense. Panty raids were a lot of fun. Just a little devilish fun that really didn't hurt anyone. I never witnessed any fights that broke out but I am sure there might have been some, I just never saw one. One of the favorite targets was Dorm 5 because that was where the Phi Mus lived. They had a lot of good looking girls in that dorm. There were cuties in every dorm but the Phi Mus seemed to have the most. I don't know what the deal is today. They wouldn't look twice at this old fart anyway . Getting old is sort of really weird, the mind thinks the same things but your body and your looks just can't stay up. Oh well, beats the alternative. Today is my anniversary of my 72nd trip around the sun. Just glad I made it.

To all my Aubies, check this guy out. Some of you might have seen this already but if this isn''t the typical "bama fan" I don't know what is. Make sure no kids are around if you watch this. This guy should be neutered. You probably won't make it all the way through the video but you will get the general idea after about 30 seconds. http://www.deadspin.com/5705678/natty-light-fueled-alabama-fan-gits-into-some-real-profane-talk-bout-auburn

Golf, I don't post on al.com, just lurk. I wouldn't be caught dead getting into those 3rd grade playground pissing contests. It is entertaining sometimes to just see the bammers having total meltdowns over AU's success though. 99.9% of those jerks have never spent one hour in the classroom at UAT and couldn't find Tuscaloser on the map with a GPS. I go there strictly for entertainment. I come here to find out what is really going on and even then this place can get rediculous

Old Timers, listen up!! Pops, Golf, AU60 and anybody else on here older than dirt. There is an article on al.com about a book written by Bobby Hoppe's wife, Sherry Lee, "A Matter of Conscience-Redemption of a Home Town Hero, Bobby Hoppe". It is about his struggle with killing the guy that had wronged his sister in the summer of 1957. Very interesting article. I didn't know he didn't attend the 1957 team reunion in 2007. What a shame. As his wife says in this article, he regretted missing that reunion to his dying day. Pops, as I had related my association with him to you earlier this year, he had already blown this guy away when I met him up close and personal and you could really tell he had some demons within him. I guess his conscience really ate at him all those years. Very tragic story. I am going to download the book to my wife's Kindle if it is available. Should make interesting reading.

My take on the Cam "wish I was still at FL" comment. I think he was relaying his thinking when he was at FL and has no bearing on his thinking now. Totally taken out of context. I am sure he had the same personality back then. IE, love my team mates etc. He was just very immature in how he handled the laptop situation but let's look at his situation back then. He was in trouble with the team because of the laptop incident, Tebow was coming back for his senior year and he was number three on the depth chart behind Brantley. It is my understanding that Auburn was his first choice out of high school but found out that Kodi Burns was our first choice so Cam took the best option and went to FL. FL was on top of the world back then. Two NCs, the cream of the SEC and loaded with 5 stars. What kid would want to leave a program with those credentials? The answer is - NONE!! Again, I think when he made the statement, "if it was up to me I would still be at FL." he was talking about his situation as it was back then, not now. The doors had all closed behing him in 2007 and he made the very wise choice to leave and get his act together which he did at Blinn. My hat is off to Gene Chizik for recognizing the talent that Cam now has shown the world. An old commanding officer once told me early in my Marine Corps career that the key to leadership is to surround yourself with talent and keep your mouth shut and let them do their jobs and only step in if the situation dictates to do so. I think that is exactly what Coach Chizik has done and we are now reaping the reward of that kind of thinking. Now, with all that being said, let's all get behind Cam and kick us some serious LSU butt. WDE y'all

Pops, Happy Birthday to you!! Wifey's is November 6 so we can have a double celebration!! Haven't posted in a while. I guess I like to lurk more than post but I thought your birthday was special so here I am. I hope Cam has his A game Saturday, we need this one. I am excited about this season but don't want put a mojo on it. One game at a time. I am old enough to know that nothing in this life is guaranteed. Golf, hope this finds you doing well. This seems to be a special season so far, just hope we can keep it up. Like everything else in life its not the destination, but the journey that is the thrill. Really looking forward to Saturday with cautious optimism. WDE y'all, kick em in the butt Big Blue!!!

I remember Tom Banks but I remember his daddy more. He was the football coach at John Carroll HS in Bham. I was in the service when Tom Jr. played there. His daddy was one mean sob. Good coach though. I am not surprised Tom Jr. did so well. As to Hoppe and his murder trial, here is a link. Very interesting reading. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-06-19/sports/sp-7806_1_murder-time/1

Well Pops I can only relate a personal experience I had in the 50s of meeting him. A fraternity brother of mine was on football scholarship and lived in Graves Center and was Hoppe's roommate (lucky him, my roommate I mean). Golf, Graves Center might have disappeared when you got there. It was a whole slew of wooden cabins the jocks stayed in. I don't know when Sewell Hall was built because I think I was still in the Marine Corps. Anyway my friend, Eli and I had just stopped by so he could change clothes. While he was getting dressed Hoppe came in. I'm not sure he even acknowledged my presence which was fine by me. He got a pistol out and proclaimed he was going to shoot the place up. Well I did not know if he was joking or not but I didn't want to hang around to find out. He was one very scary individual. Golf you mentioned Langner was bipolar, well I think they had Hoppe in mind when the shrinks came up with that term. I think both of you might be aware of him "allegedly" blowing a guy away that had done his sister wrong in Chattanooga. Pops like I said in an earlier post, if Darwin Holt had done to Hoppe what he did to Chick Granning he would not be alive 24 hours after Hoppe had gotten out of the hospital.

Now that you mention it golf he wasn't very friendly. Sort of stayed to himself and did not interact with the other students in the class. Being 15 years older than he was and having seen a lot more of life than a football field I didn't care one way or the other. He just sort of snubbed the younger folks in the class when they tried to strike up a converstation with him which I thought was a little trite on his part. But he is still a big part of AU football history. Right place at the right time.

Is this the one you want pops? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcp-ZV0Tw04 golf, I knew you would have that video but I have a question, was that the first block or the second? It was the second block punt. Gary Sanders was not near that excited about the first one. Here are his exact words and I believe it was Gusty Yearout you hear in the booth screaming Gary Sanders was the radio play-by-play announcer for Auburn football in the early 1970s, and his call of the blocked punts, particularly the last one, is familiar to many Auburn fans and has been available on several audio tapes and CD's sold in Auburn University bookstores through the years. The call of the first blocked punt was rather subdued, possibly because Alabama had dominated the game to that point. The call went as follows: “ Greg Gantt is in to punt, Johnny Simmons is going back as a single safety, Mitchell and Langner on the...uh...line of scrimmage coming from either side to try to block the kick. Auburn trying to go after it, here's the snap, they got it! Blocked kick! Ball's back to the 25, picked up on the bounce at the 25-yard-line, and in for a touchdown is David Langner! ” The call of the second blocked punt is heard more often, and was delivered with much more enthusiasm from Sanders. Additionally, others in the broadcast booth and press box can be heard screaming and yelling over Sanders call. Sanders, possibly due to being caught up in the moment, identified Roger Mitchell as the player who blocked the kick, when Bill Newton (who had blocked the first one) actually blocked it: “ Greg Gantt standing on his own 30, Auburn will try to block it. Auburn going after it, here's the good snap...it is blocked!!! It is blocked!!! It's caught on the run!!! It's caught on the run and he's gonna score!!! David Langner!!! David Langner has scored and Auburn has tied the game!!! Roger Mitchell blocked the kick! And it's 16 to 16! Thanks golf, I thought that might be the case. On a side note, I had a computer class with Langner. I was surprised on how little he was. All muscle though.

Is this the one you want pops? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcp-ZV0Tw04 golf, I knew you would have that video but I have a question, was that the first block or the second?

ZING!!!! Great post fish, made me lose my wine. Pops, he gotcha.

I think you are right golf. Up until that time he didn't miss. I guess that is why that loss hurt so much. Things just went down hill from there for me and my wingman. Long story.

I guess I just have to jump in here. api52 I have a hitchhiking story to see the Tigers play. It was 1969 and we were playing LSU in Baton Rouge for the game. Buddy McClinton was our All-American safety that year. A friend of mine and I flew our A-4s into England Air Force Base with the intention of renting a car to drive to Baton Rouge. There wasn't a car to be had. We wound up hitchhiking to Baton Rouge. There we were, two Marine officers with our thumbs out trying to get to the game. An old WWII vet picked us up in his Cadillac and took us all the way to the stadium. What a guy!! On the first play of the game Tommy Casanova handed off to the halfback (thats what they were called in those days) and he threw the half-back option to a wide receiver that took it to the house. Buddy McClinton bit on the play like a big mouth bass. Later with the score 14-7 we scored. MISSED THE EXTRA POINT AND LOST 14-13. The story continues but I won't bore people with it. It was an excursion I will take to the grave.

Welcome aboard api52. Looks like I have slipped to 3rd place but I am really not that enamored with holding the title. One thing about being old is you have the memories of all those years and there isn't enough money on this earth to replace them. Post often !!

22, great story but your last line made me lose my wine. Aint Auburn folks great!! I have been down that road. WDE!!

Golf, I know you had told me that you couldn't make the Auburn getogether in Gainesville for tonights game but I had no idea that your wife was having major surgery. Hope she is doing well. My mother had that same surgery and it was no picnic. Here's to her speedy recovery. Get back here when you can. I had wondered where you were. Take care my friend and WDE and kick em in the butt Big Blue!!!

Yes Pops, I sure do remember that incident. Unbelievable!!! Mr Holt better be glad his victim was not Bobby Hoppe or he wouldn't have lived to see another day. And anybody that knew Hoppe would have no trouble believing that. Those single bar face masks were a joke. I think the '57 team didn't even wear them. Well, maybe the RBs did. Can't remember but I don't think the linemen did. Different era! But no matter what era you want to talk about the Darwin Holt incident was despicable. They still talk about it over here in Georgia to this day.

Golf, thanks for the pic of the old Kopper Kettle. I can't begin to tell you how many times I went there late at night trying to sober up. Boy does that place bring back the memories. I think it opened in 1958. The old SPE house was down the street towards Glenn, just across from the Piggly Wiggly, so we had many occasions to go up to the "kettle" for a late night snack. I am sorry to hear about the explosion in 1979. I hope nobody was killed. What time of day/night did it happen? I sure hope it was when nobody was around. I was in Dallas, TX at the time so I know I would not have known about it. Anyway any time you want to have a brew or two let me know. We could really share some stories, however I don't know if you could tear yourself away from the puter long enough.

Yeah Pops you are right about the boarding houses. They fed and housed a lot of students. They were all over the place in '57. I had a room in the C&C dorm back then. It was AIR CONDITIONED!!! Probably the only one back then. It was located on Thach about 100 yards from South Gay away from the campus. I remember there was a great big white house on the corner that had a eatery in in the basement. Connie Cotton a drop dead good looking majorette used to eat there. I would go in there just to get a look at her. I remember I would play "Tequila" by the Champs over and over on the jukebox. This was before it hit the charts nationally. She rally liked that song. Oh the memories! Golf, thanks for the memory compliment but you would get one hell of a argument from those that know me, especially my wife.

BTW golf, I wish weegle had posted some pics of the drill field the niight that we both remember from back then but the sensors would have axed those. Unfortunate!!!

Pops, I do remember the Greenhouse very well. Are you sure it wasn't across the street from the KA house back then (south college and samford). I checked the satellite and it seems to be where the Bar-B-Que House is now. It looks like there is another restaurant called The Amsterdam Cafe where the KA house was or maybe it is the old KA house turned into a restaurant. I remember I would eat meals at the Greenhouse on occasion. I will definitely check it out when I go down to the Plains this season. I used to live right behind it on South Gay during my '73-'75 stay in Auburn. I lived right next door to our track coach at the time Wilbur Hutsell but I can't remember if he was retired or not, great guy!

Never mind guys, I am not as computer illiterate as I thought. I would love to be a fly on the wall when my bama buddy gets a gander at the "new and improved" version of wee man and the bahr. I am sure I will hear from him.