WarTim 3,457 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Our oldest Daughter, an '02 AU Grad, sent this to me early this morning. She knew Her Father would appreciate it...and He did. Brought an instant smile to my face and reminded me of WHY it is GREAT to be an AUBURN TIGER...Now and FOREVER! ! ! ! "Keep away from the people that belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain I am Auburn . I am the 30 year old couple coming back to campus for the first time with both little ones in tow. One wears her first blue and orange cheerleader outfit; the other wears #34 even though he's too young to understand why. I am the 50 year old man who hoped no one saw tears in his eyes when the eagle circled the field. I was too choked even to say 'War Eagle'. For a moment I felt foolish and then I didn't care. God, I love this place. I am the 60 year old woman meeting her freshman grand-daughter who is now the 3rd generation of AU students in our family. Despite my age, I'd strap it on Saturday and hit someone if it weren?t for my gender and this blasted arthritis. I am Auburn and I have always believed I was different. You can see it when you look up into the stands. My orange is not the same as Tennessee 's and my blue is not that of Florida . But the differences go much deeper than my colors Read my creed. What other school has one? I genuinely believe in these things. To be a real Auburn man or woman speaks of character, not of geography. All are welcome to walk though my gates, not just the wealthy or the elite. Georgia and Alabama may have their nations, but we have always been family. Make no mistake, we loathe defeat, but even in defeat, we would rather be an Auburn Tiger than anything else. We are family and you are the sons of Heisman, the sons of Jordan and Dye. You come from a long line of brothers who names include Burkett, Sidle, Owens, Sullivan, Beasley, Jackson and Rocker. It is a great heritage. So this Saturday, when the warm ups are over and the prayers and amen spoken, when you hear my thunder growing in the stands above you, when you stand in the tunnel and the smoke begins to form, listen for my voice when you run onto my field. Behind the frenzy of the shakers and deafening roar, I will tell you something in a whisper you may miss. I will be telling you that you are my sons and I am proud of you for the way you wear the burnt orange and navy blue. I am telling you that you are my! sons and I love you. Auburn is so much more than a city or a school or a team or a degree. It is something that, once you have experienced it, will live inside of you forever and become a part of what makes up who you are.... It is driving into town on a game day. You may have come from hundreds of miles away and as you get closer and closer to the city limits, you feel it rising inside of you. Other cars on the highway proudly display their Orange and Blue flags or magnets or car tags, and you honk and wave at them, because, for that one day, you are all on the same team. It is the smell in the air and the ritualistic act of tailgating... catching up with old friends, making new ones, and invitations from perfect strangers to try their ribs or watch their satellite TV showing all of the day's important match-ups! ...of course, all being secondary to the one that will occur i n the great cathedral of Jordan-Hare later that day. It is the Tiger Walk...where you might just see 300 pound men overcome with emotion and weeping with pride, because you have come there to cheer them on. As they walk by, you might exchange a glance with one or two of them, and you can see it in their eyes...it is going to be their day. It is the students...dressed in their best, because going to an Auburn game is like going to church for Auburn people....you show the same respect as you would if you were in God's house. Those students remind you of the days when you were walking in their shoes and Auburn was your home...but then you realize, in many ways, it is still and always will be HOME. It is that lump that rises in your throat when the band plays the alma mater as the eagle is soaring over your hea! d during pre-game. It is walking around on a "foreign" and sometimes hostile campus. You are easily identified ( Auburn people always are) and the enemy jeers and shouts things at you to mask their feelings of intimidation. But just then you happen upon a friend you have never met before. You know they are your friend by the colors they wear or the shaker in their hand. You exchange a "War Eagle" and a confident grin, because he/she knows what you know It is when your heart leaps with every touchdown, field goal, sack, and interception...because those are our boys. And win or lose, they will always have our un-dying support. After all, it is those boys that you are really there for and not a coach or a logo or a trustee or a president. It is the complete and utter exhilaration of walking away victorious over a worthy opponent...that feeling of pride and accomplishment as if it were your own feet that had crossed the goal line scoring the last points yourself...that feeling of wanting to scream "War Eagle" at the top of your lungs and hug complete strangers...and then there is the ultimate high of defeating your most hated foes from across the state. No words can describe what this feels like, but you know because you have experienced it It is the sheer agony of defeat as the last minutes tick off of the clock and you realize that all hope of a victory is gone. You feel like crying and maybe you do...then you hear the faint sounds of a cheer that grows louder and louder...."Its Great To Be An Auburn Tiger." It is knowing that year after year, no matter how things change in our hectic lives, you can always come back to "the Loveliest Village on the Plains"...the place where you ! came from...your home. It will probably look a little different and there will be new names on the backs of the jerseys, but deep down, no matter what, it is still the same. You still love it as much as you always have, because Auburn is as much a part of you as your arms and your legs and the orange and blue blood that runs through your veins. And, finally, it is the feeling you have right now as you read these lines....the anticipation inside of you, because you know its almost time....Its about to start all over again...but then it really never goes away, does it? WAR EAGLE!...Now and FOREVER...WAR DAMN EAGLE ! ! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autiger518 1 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 WAR DAMN EAGLE!!!! I will be there for my first game this year and those Gators are in for a world of hurt. Night Game oh yeah JHS will be a rockin!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger12 46 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Great post! All on this board need to read this and remember it and the AU creed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickerman97 3 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 WAR EAGLE!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw 4 au 526 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 It is all true! WAR DAMN EAGLE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyebama 2 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Man!!! that brought a tear to my eye..... WAR EAGLE!! HEY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draven 0 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 War Damn Eagle! Thanks for posting this Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUwingsfan 1 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Good post!! I was thinking to myself the other day how disappointing it was to stand at my seat and watch members of the Auburn family walk out on our team. I stayed until the bitter end, and even congratulated a group of Arkansas people sitting near us...because honestly they deserved it. I was just upset at listening to all of the "coaches" sitting around me in the stands who were criticizing our team and coaches...and then was relieved to see them leave, but of course it helped me realize that they were probably only there because it was the trendy thing to do to cheer on the number 2 team in the nation... Of course I'm upset about losing, but we've got to remind ourselves how far we've come since Coach Tubberville has been here....realistically competing for the SEC championship each year and the BCS bowl berth that comes with that is great....beating bama 4 years in a row is amazing! I hate to lose as much as the next guy, but then I think to myself, why do I put so much of my happiness on the shoulders of so many young men who are trying to pay for their college playing a game that they love?? It isn't like they want to let us down...so that's why I get upset when people leave the stadium early. Win, lose or draw, we should stay in the stadium and support our team, our family members, until the clock hits zero....because there are many people who I'm sure would love to be sitting in the stadium that would gladly stay the entire time just to experience Gameday on the Plains and in Jordan-Hare Stadium. I guess fairweather fans come and go with the rise of success, regardless of whatever team you support, but I guess I just take it more personally whenever these people come to act like they are true Auburn people...when they are the ones who are cheering so loudly and singing our teams praises when we're winning but are the first to walk out on our team when things are down.... sorry for the rant...i'm just hoping that we aren't becoming too spoiled with winning that we forget what being an Auburn Tiger is all about!! War Eagle!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin5 20 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 hey, long time reader - first time poster. anyways this is my senior year at auburn and loved this post. i also stayed till the bitter end and congratulated arky fans on the way out. ive got a question for you guys. i guess we all agree that leaving early when getting blown out is bad - is it also unacceptable to leave early in a game where your winning the blowout (not against a rival)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcctTiger 0 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Found this online...not sure who the author is.....but you will tear up/get chills/and the bad taste from this past weekend will leave your mouth! This is what matters and this is my it so GREAT TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!!! WAR EAGLE! FOREVER!!! I am Auburn. I am the 30 year old couple coming back to campus for the first time with both little ones in tow. One wears her first blue and orange cheerleader outfit; the other wears #34 even though he's too young to understand why. I am the 50 year old man who hoped no one saw tears in his eyes when the eagle circled the field. I was too choked even to say 'War Eagle'. For a moment I felt foolish and then I didn't care. God, I love this place. I am the 60 year old woman meeting her freshman grand-daughter who is now the 3rd generation of AU students in our family. Despite my age, I'd strap it on Saturday and hit someone if it weren't for my gender and this blasted arthritis. I am Auburn and I have always believed I was different. You can see it when you look up into the stands. My orange is not the same as Tennessee's and my blue is not that of Florida But the differences go much deeper than my colors Read my creed. What other school has one? I genuinely believe in these things. To be a real Auburn man or woman speaks of character, not of geography. All are welcome to walk though my gates, not just the wealthy or the elite. Georgia and Alabama may have their nations, but we have always been family. Make no mistake, we loathe defeat, but even in defeat, we would rather be an Auburn Tiger than anything else. We are family and you are the sons of Heisman, the sons of Jordan and Dye. You come from a long line of brothers who names include Burkett, Sidle, Owens, Sullivan, Beasley, Jackson and Rocker. It is a great heritage. So this Saturday, when the warm ups are over and the prayers and amen spoken, when you hear my thunder growing in the stands above you, when you stand in the tunnel and the smoke begins to form, listen for my voice when you run onto my field. Behind the frenzy of the shakers and deafening roar, I will tell you something in a whisper you may miss. I will be telling you that you are my sons and I am proud of you for the way you wear the burnt orange and navy blue. I am telling you that you are my sons and I love you. Auburn is so much more than a city or a school or a team or a degree. It is something that, once you have experienced it, will live inside of you forever and become a part of what makes up who you are.... It is driving into town on a game day. You may have come from hundreds of miles away and as you get closer and closer to the city limits, you feel it rising inside of you. Other cars on the highway proudly display their Orange and Blue flags or magnets or car tags, and you honk and wave at them, because, for that one day, you are all on the same team. It is the smell in the air and the ritualistic act of tailgating... catching up with old friends, making new ones, and invitations from perfect strangers to try their ribs or watch their satellite TV showing all of the day's important match-ups...of course, all being secondary to the one that will occur in the great cathedral of Jordan-Hare later that day. It is the Tiger Walk...where you might just see 300 pound men overcome with emotion and weeping with pride, because you have come there to cheer them on. As they walk by, you might exchange a glance with one or two of them, and you can see it in their eyes...it is going to be their day. It is the students...dressed in their best, because going to an Auburn game is like going to church for Auburn people....you show the same respect as you would if you were in God's house. Those students remind you of the days when you were walking in their shoes and Auburn was your home...but then you realize, in many ways, it is still and always will be HOME. It is that lump that rises in your throat when the band plays the alma mater as the eagle is soaring over your head during pre-game. It is walking around on a "foreign" and sometimes hostile campus. You are easily identified ( Auburn people always are) and the enemy jeers and shouts things at you to mask their feelings of intimidation. But just then you happen upon a friend you have never met before. You know they are your friend by the colors they wear or the shaker in their hand. You exchange a "War Eagle" and a confident grin, because he/she knows what you know It is when your heart leaps with every touchdown, field goal, sack, and interception...because those are our boys. And win or lose, they will always have our un-dying support. After all, it is those boys that you are really there for and not a coach or a logo or a trustee or a president. It is the complete and utter exhilaration of walking away victorious over a worthy opponent...that feeling of pride and accomplishment as if it were your own feet that had crossed the goal line scoring the last points yourself...that feeling of wanting to scream "War Eagle" at the top of your lungs and hug complete strangers...and then there is the ultimate high of defeating your most hated foes from across the state. No words can describe what this feels like, but you know because you have experienced it It is the sheer agony of defeat as the last minutes tick off of the clock and you realize that all hope of a victory is gone. You feel like crying and maybe you do...then you hear the faint sounds of a cheer that grows louder and louder...."Its Great To Be An Auburn Tiger." It is knowing that year after year, no matter how things change in our hectic lives, you can always come back to "the Loveliest Village on the Plains"...the place where you came from...your home. It will probably look a little different and there will be new names on the backs of the jerseys, but deep down, no matter what, it is still the same. You still love it as much as you always have, because Auburn is as much a part of you as your arms and your legs and the orange and blue blood that runs through your veins. And, finally, it is the feeling you have right now as you read these lines....the anticipation inside of you, because you know its almost time....Its about to start all over again...but then it really never goes away, does it? WAR EAGLE! -Unknown Author Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boonan 0 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I just don't want us to ever turn into a Miami where after the beginning of a less than stellar season, commentators and analysts love to talk about all the fans "dressed up as empty seats" at the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autiger518 1 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Sorry Bud you found it about 3 hrs too late see WarTims post (what "it" is all about) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUwingsfan 1 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 hey, long time reader - first time poster. anyways this is my senior year at auburn and loved this post. i also stayed till the bitter end and congratulated arky fans on the way out. ive got a question for you guys. i guess we all agree that leaving early when getting blown out is bad - is it also unacceptable to leave early in a game where your winning the blowout (not against a rival)? I guess it all depends on the person, but the way I was brought up was to stay with your team no matter what... I always enjoy the blowout wins because we get a look at the players who are the future of the team....I also try to look at it from the player's perspective...they probably chose Auburn because it is a good, big program with lots of fan support, and so it'd be good for us to show the backups as much respect and support as the starters....but that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autiger518 1 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 hey, long time reader - first time poster. anyways this is my senior year at auburn and loved this post. i also stayed till the bitter end and congratulated arky fans on the way out. ive got a question for you guys. i guess we all agree that leaving early when getting blown out is bad - is it also unacceptable to leave early in a game where your winning the blowout (not against a rival)? I guess it all depends on the person, but the way I was brought up was to stay with your team no matter what... I always enjoy the blowout wins because we get a look at the players who are the future of the team....I also try to look at it from the player's perspective...they probably chose Auburn because it is a good, big program with lots of fan support, and so it'd be good for us to show the backups as much respect and support as the starters....but that's just me. The way I look at it is this.....I almost left a game early...I was visiting my Brother at Auburn it was 1994 we were watching the LSU game...my brother was ticked and wanted to leave, since I am the younger brother I didnt have a whole lot of say in the matter... I do remember that the game was so boring the entire student section was watching Aubie go at it with the LSU waterboy in an all out water fight....as we started to leave the student section the first interception occured, we watched and cheered the rest of the game from the tunnel afraid we might miss something if we moved. I learned something about Auburn football that day, and I knew thats where I wanted to go.....To this day including my time as a sudent on the plains, which was during Porky Pigs tenure, I have never left an Auburn Game early (for loss or blow-out win). -tear WDE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerMom 0 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 War Tim - what a great post. Just beautiful. Some people just don't get "it" do they? I have loved Auburn since I was a little girl, everything about it - but now I am so PROUD to be a student and really experience a whole different side of Auburn. There is truely something special about this place, and it's people. It's GREAT to be an Auburn Tiger! WAR EAGLE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcctTiger 0 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Sorry Bud you found it about 3 hrs too late see WarTims post (what "it" is all about) Yeah....just saw that......oops.....sorry.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sogaaufan 27 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Heckuva post there WarTim! My goosebumps are ridin' high right now. Who wrote that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfish 73 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Tim's post contains insights into things that make AU a cut above to those of us who love it. If each of us could accurately express what we feel in our hearts about Auburn, the length of that post would never end. Auburn is special whether we lost last Saturday or not ... our creed doesn't change based on a game's outcome ... the eagle always looks so majestic flying high above the crowd at JH ... AU put Tiger Walk on the map not just here, but at other institutions trying to get a piece of what we have known for so long ... AU is so like family because we act and treat each other that way, and when someone of us does or says something unbecoming to our high ideals there seems to be another AU family member around to gently draw them back around. Like someone wisely said so long ago, unless you have experienced it you could never understand. WAR EAGLE!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tygerman34 0 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Good post!! I was thinking to myself the other day how disappointing it was to stand at my seat and watch members of the Auburn family walk out on our team. I stayed until the bitter end, and even congratulated a group of Arkansas people sitting near us...because honestly they deserved it. I was just upset at listening to all of the "coaches" sitting around me in the stands who were criticizing our team and coaches...and then was relieved to see them leave, but of course it helped me realize that they were probably only there because it was the trendy thing to do to cheer on the number 2 team in the nation... Of course I'm upset about losing, but we've got to remind ourselves how far we've come since Coach Tubberville has been here....realistically competing for the SEC championship each year and the BCS bowl berth that comes with that is great....beating bama 4 years in a row is amazing! I hate to lose as much as the next guy, but then I think to myself, why do I put so much of my happiness on the shoulders of so many young men who are trying to pay for their college playing a game that they love?? It isn't like they want to let us down...so that's why I get upset when people leave the stadium early. Win, lose or draw, we should stay in the stadium and support our team, our family members, until the clock hits zero....because there are many people who I'm sure would love to be sitting in the stadium that would gladly stay the entire time just to experience Gameday on the Plains and in Jordan-Hare Stadium. I guess fairweather fans come and go with the rise of success, regardless of whatever team you support, but I guess I just take it more personally whenever these people come to act like they are true Auburn people...when they are the ones who are cheering so loudly and singing our teams praises when we're winning but are the first to walk out on our team when things are down.... sorry for the rant...i'm just hoping that we aren't becoming too spoiled with winning that we forget what being an Auburn Tiger is all about!! War Eagle!! This is not to stir anything, just to point it our: 1, ONE, SEC title and 2, TWO, SECCG appearances. Frankly, not many people care about the "CO-SEC West Champ" trophies. How many 10+ win seasons? How many BCS Bowls? How many Bowl wins? As two former players who sat in front of me, in section 12, said last Saturday: "What has this staff done? We are no better off than before. Nothing has matched Coach Dye's tenure, or probably never will. Who have we beat to rise up to the BCS elite?" Other statmetns like this were heard from many fans last Saturday. It sounded like the Wisconsin game all over again. I am proud of this school and this team and will always be there, but we are not an elite BCS program yet. Hopefully, we will get there one day. P.S. AUSOME post from the unknown author! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,457 Posted October 9, 2006 Author Share Posted October 9, 2006 Thanks for tossing that TON of negativity on top of a good post. Just couldn't resist....could you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
302089 0 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Let me just add this. I have been going to AU games since I was 6. I can remember Bo. This past Sat I took a guy that works with me to his first college game ever. It was obviously not an impressive AU game. He grew up an Alabama fan. He was on 2 state champ football teams. He is dying to go this Saturday to see us play the gators. He is not so sure now about his loyality to the Tide. I will try to take him again this week and he can find a ticket when he gets there. He enjoyed the atmosphere before the game and I kept telling him wait til next saturday's night game it will be unreal. So he will most likely go, hopefully he will also convert. WAR EAGLE!!!!! I unconditionally love AU. Always have, always will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,457 Posted October 9, 2006 Author Share Posted October 9, 2006 Let me just add this. I have been going to AU games since I was 6. I can remember Bo. This past Sat I took a guy that works with me to his first college game ever. It was obviously not an impressive AU game. He grew up an Alabama fan. He was on 2 state champ football teams. He is dying to go this Saturday to see us play the gators. He is not so sure now about his loyality to the Tide. I will try to take him again this week and he can find a ticket when he gets there. He enjoyed the atmosphere before the game and I kept telling him wait til next saturday's night game it will be unreal. So he will most likely go, hopefully he will also convert. WAR EAGLE!!!!! I unconditionally love AU. Always have, always will. Always good to hear of the conversion of anyone from the darkside. "Once I was blind, BUT, Now I SEE". WDE ! ! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven_tiger 5 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Is my popcorn burning??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channonc 466 Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Post of the year!! This should be read in the locker room before every game. WAR EAGLE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dye Hard AU Fan 0 Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 WOW!! Now that's an Tiger. I agree...all our players need to read that before the game. WAR D@MN EAGLE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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