To all my family members in the AU Family...

[DKW 86 7,440]

The tired, wore out SunShine Pumping is wearing real thin now. A cow chip is a cow chip. Shreiking and Shrilling that it isnt doesnt change a thing. It just wastes server space. Some are going to get their lil panties in a wad with what I am about to post here. FYI, I really dont want a response.

There have been gross over-generalizations about what many board members have said. So far I think I actually count ONE poster questioning CTT. I think almost everyone is very happy with the Offensive production. We didnt score on a total of only 2? drives all night long? The Special teams played superb. CTT's call for the onside kick was brilliant. We played and coached excellently on those two phases and I think most would agree. So please, why dont we get off our pompous-righteous rear ends with the overblown defense of the whole team and staff?

My own notes on the Defensive effort is not in any way a whiny bitchfest. I gave 9 very specific critiques of the D last night. They played horrible. No sense to rehash it again.

What I am very annoyed and very tired of the "I dont care about the polls" BS.

We play in DivI NCAA College football. We do not have playoffs. We do not get to name our own national titles based on what happened 20 years ago. You get the BCS Title based on Polls to some degree. It is just how the rules are laid out. If you dont want to play by the rules, please exit through the rear door.

IMHO, to say that you do not care about the polls means that, logically, you do not care if we ever win anything of any importance. Dont get me wrong. I have and will support Auburn through the thick and the thin. Some of my best writing was based on defending the Auburn Family back in long dark days of 1998 and 1999. Maybe only WarTim and JeterMary can remember me from the old AOL boards back then but I defended AU when we were awful. I have spent my own money to keep this site going for about 3+ years by myself. I think I have a little cred here. I have openly supported CTT even in his darkest days of Jetgate. I wrote a column after the Ole Miss loss saying that we should keep CTT. I have been thanked in notes and face to face for writing it back then. I dont see but maybe one poster on this board blaming him for Thurday night.

All that is to say this: If you dont really watch the polls, then why exactly are you here? Is this just another Tee Ball League to you? Everybody doesnt get a trophy! Thank God! No one but the parents and family would show up to watch that. Whether you like it or not, whether I like it or not (and I do not like it) the polls are the BOTTOM LINE in DivI. If you say you dont care about the polls, then do us all a favor and please sign this thread and then forever more SHUT UP about them. Do not comment on them, nor reply when others comment on them.

I will always support Auburn just like I did in the past. Just like I will in the future. Just like I do today. I, and many more like me, can show concern for our D play last night. I have met CTT and spent time with him, CAB, CHN, etc. If you guys think for one moment that they work their butts off, sweat and bleed for this team, and are just in this for the fun of "Supporting Auburn" you need to put down the crack pipe. I dont care if you dont watch the polls, THE COACHES DO!

CTT came here promising a MNC. From e-mails I have just shared with friends of CTT I know he thinks we could win one this year and maybe do more later on. The reason he wont leave AU is because he sees the talent we already have stockpiled and knows half the work is done.

I posted this before:

We have more FR and SO on our two deep than any of the top 5 teams (AU, UGA, LSU, UT, UF). Throw in Bama for comparison sake too - not because they are a powerhouse, but because they keep telling themselves that they suck because they are young - AU is younger and much much better.

TEAM------OFFENSE------DEFENSE------TOTAL

Auburn--------10------------11-----------21

UT------------10------------10-----------20

Alabama-------11-------------8-----------19

UF------------11-------------7-----------18

UGA------------9-------------8-----------17

LSU------------5-------------8-----------13

That is the FRUIT of finishing #2 in 2004. Our recruiting quality went UP after 2004. We had players on the role before then, but now we have more talented players that are playing ahead of older, less talented recruits.I dont care if you dont watch the polls, THE RECRUITS DO!

We have museums, special edition magazines, and prints hanging on our walls. We cherish the great things in life and try to forget the bad. We have a whole industry to produce memorabilia. WE DO KEEP SCORE guys. I dont care if you dont watch the polls, HISTORY DOES, FANS DO!

We scoff at programs like Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Kentucky, and So. Carolina. SC has only been to twelve total bowl games guys. They have NEVER been a champ at anything....NEVER. We hold them lower than us because our team has accomplished far more than they have on the football field. Why was the game last night of natonal importance? Because of SC and their tradition? NO! Because the Auburn Tigers were ranked #2! I dont care if you dont watch the polls, THE REST OF THE WORLD DOES!

Some of the greatest moments in college football history are upsets. Upset of......highly ranked teams. Anyone remember Florida 01? Great memories!!! But those memories are great because WE BEAT A HIGHLY RANKED GATOR TEAM!!!! I dont care if you say you dont watch the polls, THE REALITY IS THAT YOU DO!

Just like the scoreboard, the polls do matter. I support CTT fully in not running up the score on some hapless teams. We have at times. I leave that to CTT though. I am not sure I really support the style points concept either. I do know this however, that at the end of the day your Success will be measured and recorded. This is not a Tee Ball League where everybody gets a trophy. This is real big league college football. If you didnt want that pressure, you need to go support a Tee Ball League.

We, the team and the fans, took a huge hit against Carolina. The D play and D coaching were just awful. No excuses. SC almost beat us with 2 FR OL and a WR throwing the ball. The INCREDIBLY BOGUS "perfect game" comments are just beneath anyone on this board. SC didnt have us lining up in the wrong formations. SC didnt have us missing tackles all night. SC didnt refuse to blitz when it was working. SC didnt stand there and watch a ball pass 18 inches from our shoulders and not even try to intercept it, etc. It was not SC's "perfect game' that made us look so bad on D last night. We did it all by oursleves thank you.

I count everyone of you as my friends. I love almost all of you. I love everyone I have met. It breaks my heart to not be able to go to Auburn because of my surgery. Probably the best time I have had at AU was the GT tailgate and we lost the game.

However, if you do not expect to get everybodies' "perfect game" when you are rated #2, then you just dont understand college football. Every team that has stood the test of being highly ranked knows that. We are just now getting consistent at this level. We have to learn that we are going to get 'perfect gamed" by everyone. Imagine us being perfect gamed like USC and OU were all season in 2004. They stayed #1 and #2 all season. Kind of makes our complaining about being left out sound a bit hollow now, huh?

No more taking a game off.

No breezing through x number of games a year.

Everybody has set a big bullseye on us and we have to learn to play like a champion everyday. I dont care if you dont watch the polls, ALL OF OUR OPPONENTS DO!

We are still 5-0, but we need to desperately grow up fast. We are no longer just Top Ten. We are no longer just TOP 5. We are now within striking distance of the Promised Land. The mountain has been topped before. We can do it now and again later on too. But please folks, dont rip oursleves apart from either extreme. Dont be too whiney and negative and please do not go so overboard self righteously SSPing what was obviuously a very bad day for the D. Support the team and hope that we can solve the problems and come back stronger.

[Ranger12 46]

[Sthrndream 63]

he's right.

nuf said!

WDE

[Ranger12 46]

David, I think you just opened up the floodgates for every whining, doom and gloom fan to post whatever they wanted on the board. Can't say I am happy about it either. I have never seen you like this, especially after a win. I think you are overreacting.

[Weagle98 119]

Thank you DKW.

[AUChizad 0]

The tired, wore out SunShine Pumping is wearing real thin now. A cow chip is a cow chip. Shreiking and Shrilling that it isnt doesnt change a thing. It just wastes server space. Some are going to get their lil panties in a wad with what I am about to post here. FYI, I really dont want a response.

There have been gross over-generalizations about what many board members have said. So far I think I actually count ONE poster questioning CTT. I think almost everyone is very happy with the Offensive production. We didnt score on a total of only 2? drives all night long? The Special teams played superb. CTT's call for the onside kick was brilliant. We played and coached excellently on those two phases and I think most would agree. So please, why dont we get off our pompous-righteous rear ends with the overblown defense of the whole team and staff?

My own notes on the Defensive effort is not in any way a whiny bitchfest. I gave 9 very specific critiques of the D last night. They played horrible. No sense to rehash it again.

What I am very annoyed and very tired of the "I dont care about the polls" BS.

We play in DivI NCAA College football. We do not have playoffs. We do not get to name our own national titles based on what happened 20 years ago. You get the BCS Title based on Polls to some degree. It is just how the rules are laid out. If you dont want to play by the rules, please exit through the rear door.

IMHO, to say that you do not care about the polls means that, logically, you do not care if we ever win anything of any importance. Dont get me wrong. I have and will support Auburn through the thick and the thin. Some of my best writing was based on defending the Auburn Family back in long dark days of 1998 and 1999. Maybe only WarTim and JeterMary can remember me from the old AOL boards back then but I defended AU when we were awful. I have spent my own money to keep this site going for about 3+ years by myself. I think I have a little cred here. I have openly supported CTT even in his darkest days of Jetgate. I wrote a column after the Ole Miss loss saying that we should keep CTT. I have been thanked in notes and face to face for writing it back then. I dont see but maybe one poster on this board blaming him for Thurday night.

All that is to say this: If you dont really watch the polls, then why exactly are you here? Is this just another Tee Ball League to you? Everybody doesnt get a trophy! Thank God! No one but the parents and family would show up to watch that. Whether you like it or not, whether I like it or not (and I do not like it) the polls are the BOTTOM LINE in DivI. If you say you dont care about the polls, then do us all a favor and please sign this thread and then forever more SHUT UP about them. Do not comment on them, nor reply when others comment on them.

I will always support Auburn just like I did in the past. Just like I will in the future. Just like I do today. I, and many more like me, can show concern for our D play last night. I have met CTT and spent time with him, CAB, CHN, etc. If you guys think for one moment that they work their butts off, sweat and bleed for this team, and are just in this for the fun of "Supporting Auburn" you need to put down the crack pipe. I dont care if you dont watch the polls, THE COACHES DO!

CTT came here promising a MNC. From e-mails I have just shared with friends of CTT I know he thinks we could win one this year and maybe do more later on. The reason he wont leave AU is because he sees the talent we already have stockpiled and knows half the work is done.

I posted this before:

We have more FR and SO on our two deep than any of the top 5 teams (AU, UGA, LSU, UT, UF). Throw in Bama for comparison sake too - not because they are a powerhouse, but because they keep telling themselves that they suck because they are young - AU is younger and much much better.

TEAM------OFFENSE------DEFENSE------TOTAL

Auburn--------10------------11-----------21

UT------------10------------10-----------20

Alabama-------11-------------8-----------19

UF------------11-------------7-----------18

UGA------------9-------------8-----------17

LSU------------5-------------8-----------13

That is the FRUIT of finishing #2 in 2004. Our recruiting quality went UP after 2004. We had players on the role before then, but now we have more talented players that are playing ahead of older, less talented recruits.I dont care if you dont watch the polls, THE RECRUITS DO!

We have museums, special edition magazines, and prints hanging on our walls. We cherish the great things in life and try to forget the bad. We have a whole industry to produce memorabilia. WE DO KEEP SCORE guys. I dont care if you dont watch the polls, HISTORY DOES, FANS DO!

We scoff at programs like Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Kentucky, and So. Carolina. SC has only been to twelve total bowl games guys. They have NEVER been a champ at anything....NEVER. We hold them lower than us because our team has accomplished far more than they have on the football field. Why was the game last night of natonal importance? Because of SC and their tradition? NO! Because the Auburn Tigers were ranked #2! I dont care if you dont watch the polls, THE REST OF THE WORLD DOES!

Some of the greatest moments in college football history are upsets. Upset of......highly ranked teams. Anyone remember Florida 01? Great memories!!! But those memories are great because WE BEAT A HIGHLY RANKED GATOR TEAM!!!! I dont care if you say you dont watch the polls, THE REALITY IS THAT YOU DO!

Just like the scoreboard, the polls do matter. I support CTT fully in not running up the score on some hapless teams. We have at times. I leave that to CTT though. I am not sure I really support the style points concept either. I do know this however, that at the end of the day your Success will be measured and recorded. This is not a Tee Ball League where everybody gets a trophy. This is real big league college football. If you didnt want that pressure, you need to go support a Tee Ball League.

We, the team and the fans, took a huge hit against Carolina. The D play and D coaching were just awful. No excuses. SC almost beat us with 2 FR OL and a WR throwing the ball. The INCREDIBLY BOGUS "perfect game" comments are just beneath anyone on this board. SC didnt have us lining up in the wrong formations. SC didnt have us missing tackles all night. SC didnt refuse to blitz when it was working. SC didnt stand there and watch a ball pass 18 inches from our shoulders and not even try to intercept it, etc. It was not SC's "perfect game' that made us look so bad on D last night. We did it all by oursleves thank you.

I count everyone of you as my friends. I love almost all of you. I love everyone I have met. It breaks my heart to not be able to go to Auburn because of my surgery. Probably the best time I have had at AU was the GT tailgate and we lost the game.

However, if you do not expect to get everybodies' "perfect game" when you are rated #2, then you just dont understand college football. Every team that has stood the test of being highly ranked knows that. We are just now getting consistent at this level. We have to learn that we are going to get 'perfect gamed" by everyone. Imagine us being perfect gamed like USC and OU were all season in 2004. They stayed #1 and #2 all season. Kind of makes our complaining about being left out sound a bit hollow now, huh?

No more taking a game off.

No breezing through x number of games a year.

Everybody has set a big bullseye on us and we have to learn to play like a champion everyday. I dont care if you dont watch the polls, ALL OF OUR OPPONENTS DO!

We are still 5-0, but we need to desperately grow up fast. We are no longer just Top Ten. We are no longer just TOP 5. We are now within striking distance of the Promised Land. The mountain has been topped before. We can do it now and again later on too. But please folks, dont rip oursleves apart from either extreme. Dont be too whiney and negative and please do not go so overboard self righteously SSPing what was obviuously a very bad day for the D. Support the team and hope that we can solve the problems and come back stronger.

Best post I've ever read on these boards.

Those are my thoughts exactly, that I haven't been able to put into words as gracefully as you just did.

I am 100% in agreeance with 100% of your post.

WDE!

[Ranger12 46]

And now the floodgates are open. We made so much fun of the bammers and the way they reacted over their loss. I can't imagine what they are thinking by reading this board now and the way we are reacting after a win.

I'm sorry, I consider David a friend, and he is the owner of the board, but I am not going to agree with him just because of that fact. I think the credibility that you have been building up on this board David is starting to crumble when you give credence to the arguments of some of the a-holes that came out of the woodwork last night.

Nobody can argue the defense was crappy last night. It stunk. But what purpose does it serve to go on a rant about it after a win? What good is it to call some of us trying to stay positive "pompous"?

[WarTim 3,457]

This is obviously a post that comes from the HEART. A lot of thought went into these words. My hat is off to you Sir. Speak the Truth and let the chips fall where they may. I have been acccused, sometimes rightfully so, of being a "sunshine pumper". That may be the case, but, we should expect the BEST. That is now and should always be the goal. THE BEST for our University and our Team. I could waste time typing more words, but, you have said it all.

W D E...O N E at a time. "EVER to CONQUER" ! ! !

Tim

[Argo 8]

I didn't think it was a floodgate for the doom and gloomers. It seems like more of a "think logically and stop being a homer or doom and gloomer" post.

[SKCAUB 0]

Dude...that was a GREAT football game!!! Even back in the Bahr's heyday, Bamar had games like that against Vandy, USM, et al. ANY win on the road in the SEC is a good win.

Were we perfect? No...was it a GREAT football game? Yes. I was very entertained, and I am not angry with anyone on the team.

Newton played a great game...way over his head if you ask me...but a great game. And having a qb who can run around like he did adds an extra dimension to anyone's offense. And CSS is the Evil Genius anyway.

In short, I enjoyed it...I'm happy with the road win...we have PLENTY of work to do on D...but my glass is half full.

WAR EAGLE!

[MrMoJo 0]

I posted my poll concerns early last year and most everybody sluffed it off as "its way too early" or "we musn't think about that now". DKW, somebody like you has got to drive the boat on this for I am just a mere mortal.

[stoic-one 1,549]

Word

[Ranger12 46]

WE WON THE GAME LAST NIGHT PEOPLE!!!

It has nothing to do with sunshine pumping. It is about being positive about coming out of SC with a win when we played like crap! But it seems some would rather just look at all the negative crap instead of waiting to see if the coaching staff fixes the problems. Going by this post, since I am being positive, I must be an idiot and don't care about AU football.

[Argo 8]

Since when has expressing concerns about certain areas of a teams play translate into "negative" thinking? I realize some can't draw a line between discussing concerns and bashing(mostly because they just want to bash), but I don't see a problem in talking about a game with an unbiased opinion.

Bama made mistakes last week that cost them the Ark. game. If they make the same mistakes this week, they'll get beat by 30.

Is that being negative? Only if you're a sunshine pumper. To me it's thinking logically, and not altering my opinion to fit in with the majority either way. Of course, these are just the opinions of a Bama fan......

[vatz22au 142]

I agree 100%.

There have been too many on this very board that dont see it that way (poll wise).

[sntemp 0]

I'm not an Auburn man because of any poll out there nor am I an Auburn fan for the payoff of one day winning a MNC. Bama could win the rest of them for the remainder of my existence and it wouldn't change my allegiance one bit.

We still have a lot of quality opponents remaining and spending one second concerned about what any voter has to say does no true Auburn fan any good. If your main concern is a poll than maybe Auburn Football isn't your thing.

Who here is only a fan based on where the football team ends up in the National polls?

[Ranger12 46]

Since when has expressing concerns about certain areas of a teams play translate into "negative" thinking? I realize some can't draw a line between discussing concerns and bashing(mostly because they just want to bash), but I don't see a problem in talking about a game with an unbiased opinion.

Bama made mistakes last week that cost them the Ark. game. If they make the same mistakes this week, they'll get beat by 30.

Is that being negative? Only if you're a sunshine pumper. To me it's thinking logically, and not altering my opinion to fit in with the majority either way. Of course, these are just the opinions of a Bama fan......

yeah, but you are overlooking a big difference in your game and ours. You lost, we won. You lost to Houston Nutt and a high school coach. We beat Steve Spurrier on the road. Our defense played like crap against an offense that was clicking and we still won. Some are refusing to give Spurrier and his offense credit, but I don't see how you can't give them credit seeing how they played our defense like they did.

[CarolinaTiger 0]

i guess i'm in the 'i don't care about polls' group. at least i'm walking that way, even if i'm not totally there yet.

i care less about the polls than i do about winning. i enjoy beating lsu, tennessee, alabama, georgia, florida, etc. i like winning...even when we don't play our best! i guess i'm shallow that way.

that some group of pollsters thinks another team is better than us is quickly becoming irrelevant to me. its out of my control, and as 04 proved, its out of the team's control too. all they can do is win. i think CTT has done/said just about all he can without coming off as a sour-grape whiner.

if we run a clean program and compete honorably, then fantastic. that already makes us better than a bunch of teams. when we win a bunch of games, that's gravy. should we win a MNC, even better! where's me a t-shirt!

what bothers me is the notion that we turn the seasons into a solitary 0/1 proposition -- winning someone else's approval. there's a lot of other victories out there other than that.

04 changed things for me. i hated that i was disappointed after the 04 sugar bowl -- a tremendous accomplishment for the team we all support -- being overshadowed by a bunch of other people's opinions. it was a tremendous feat that stands with no asterisk. that team will always be undefeated. i hope this year's team gets to say the same.

WAR EAGLE!

[edgecy 3]

WOW.

That's all I have to say. What a great post by someone who sees things with a dose of reality.

Apparently some here are trying hard to maintain a one-view forum, freely attacking people who are unafraid of to criticize the team. I see weakness from our team, many of us do, and many of us are ridiculed, being called Bammers, etc, etc.

This post here only reinforced what I have always believed. The system is BCS. We play for BCS NC game. To disregard the polls would be stupid. All these talks about "I don't care about the polls" are mind boggling! You don't care about the polls, but the rest of the country do! Guess what happened in 2004? Yeah, '04 Squad was the NC in my book, and most likely the NC in every posters' book here too, but guess what? They are not the NC, and all of us need to stop basking in these "moral victories."

Auburn plays to win the BCS NC game. Not AUNation Fans' Book NC. To think otherwise is naive and seriously need a dose of reality.

Thank you for that post!

[Draven 0]

I am kind of at a loss here with this. I consider all here a friend and have nothing but respect for you David and what all you have done to keep this fine place going so all of us have a good place to go chat about all things Auburn. I have not seen a lot of what one would call just blind sunshine pumping. I haven't seen anyone who has disagreed that they seen MAJOR flaws in the play calling and overall performance of our D last night. USC played a great game, was it help by our lack of tackling and in game adjustments on the D side? YES you don't have to be a football guru to figure this out. Its over though and we won our weakness has been shown, now we have to fix them we know this, as do the players and staff. As far as polls go I keep up with them week in and week out just like most everyone else, they are important in the grand scheme of things. Yes this in all likelihood this hurt us in the polls and in the eyes of the talking heads but I refuse to fret countless days away bashing or obsessing over something I can not control. If that and leaving it up to the coaches to fix the flaws that were shown last night and not being overly critical until it warrants that attitude makes me an idiot well then I guess I will get a name tag advertising such.

[MDM4AU 336]

Someone turn David's morphine drip up just a bit. He's not getting nearly enough.

BTW, What good will worrying with the polls at this point in the season do exactly? Really. It's not like I am going to change some SID's mind in southern Idaho that is intent on voting for USuCk if I jump up and down throwing a hissy-fit while throwing my Auburn family members under the bus.

[Ranger12 46]

Of all the polls, the coaches poll is the biggest joke. A coach does not have time to keep up with every game that is played every weekend. He has a team to coach and focus on. We all know they hand those off to whomever they meet walking down the halls of the athletic department. The fact that the BCS uses it gives the BCS poll no credibility.

The AP poll is a little more credible, but still far from perfect. Sportswriters do take more time to stay on top of all the games. However, they are going to be biased towards the region or conference they cover.

I like CTTs attitude. Just win and let the things we can't control take care of themselves. First goal should be to win the SEC, because if we don't do that, then all the poll talk is meaningless.

Hopefully one day Div-1A college football can be like all other sports. You don't have to worry about how much you beat your opponent by or how pretty it was, just as long as you came away with the "W".

[edgecy 3]

I think all the polls are a joke, it's a damn shame our NC hope lives or dies by those polls.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Speechless

I guess I believed the "Skinner Box" experiment was just too real and loved applying it. Or, maybe I need some more medicine?

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

I watch the polls. I check every week to see where we are. But I don't get all up in arms about them. I don't let the worry suck the joy out of watching Auburn football.

If we keep winning, an SEC Championship is on the way. Maybe more, if the chips fall right.