Friday, November 17, 2006

Iron Bowl 2006

The time has come for Alabama & Auburn to renew the greatest rivalry in collegiate sports. No other duel divides a state so drastically as the Tide & the Tigers. Nowhere do you split trailers down the middle during the week leading to the game and nowhere else does gunfire ring so true after a loss.

An embarassing loss has dimmed any SECCG hopes for the Tigers. Why does Tubs have to run his mouth so much. If Auburn had taken care of their own business, then everything would have worked itself out. And why does Tubs need an extra week off to get ready to watch the SECCG? He apparently cannot coach himself into it.

Tubs = 9 win coach.....the last 5 times Auburn had a chance to win their 10th game, they are 1-4. It seems that we have a coach who is all ears but can't seal the deal. In 2004, Cadillac, Ronny, Jason, & co. blew away thUGA for their 10th victory and did not slow down. That is the exception to the rule. They were talented enough to overcome their coach.

Saturday...as you may be able to tell, I am definitely down on Tubs. He has a chance to redeem himself this weekend in a stadium he historically owns. Can the Tigers pull together to beat the Bambi's?

Auburn has to hit JPW early and often to have a chance. There is no way the Tigers can allow JPW to sit back and find a reciever streaking across the secondary. Perfect example, last night Pitt's Tyler Palko was on fire in the first half and then WV made adjustments and came after him in the 2nd. Result, short throws to get rid of the ball and recivers were not far enough downfield to make first downs. Muschump, how easy is that? You have not blitzed in ages so buck up and do it.

Tigers pull out a close one..........19-16 and push the spread!!!!

Game of the Century part XXII...we have one every few years. Florida State/Notre Dame, Nebraska/Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, and now Michigan/Ohio State.

Ohio State 24-14. No rematch.

Ohio State plays USC in Glendale unless Florida wins out and somehow jumps them in the human polls.

Ladies, it has been a tough week in Atlanta but this weekend could be redemption.

For once this season, please let us know your picks as you did last year. Slackers!!!

Peace out from the Big Peach,

Wilbur Churchill

7 comments:

King of Tigerland said...

You look exotic, was your father a GI?

King of Tigerland said...

The Iron Bowl is named for its traditional Birmingham home and birthplace, Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham sits atop vast deposits of iron ore, hence the nickname.

Alabama leads the series, 38-31-. At Auburn AU leads, 6-2, at Tuscaloosa AU leads, 5-0. At neutral sites UA leads, 30-19-1 (6-1)*, at Birmingham UA leads, 28-17-1 (6-1)*, at Montgomery, AL Tied, 2-2.
*Birmingham games counted as neutral site until 1988 when ticket allocation changed.

AUBURN OWNS TUSCALOOSA
The first Iron Bowl was played at Birmingham's Lakeview Baseball Park on Feb. 22, 1892, resulting in a 32-22 Auburn victory. Only 450 people were on hand to witness that historic moment.

On Nov. 30,1893, Auburn again trounced Alabama in a 40-16 rout. Attendance was 3,000 at Montgomery's Riverside Park. Auburn scored seven touchdowns and received $350, while Alabama received $250.

On Nov. 29, 1894, Alabama upset Auburn in an 18 - 0 game in front of 3,000 at Montgomery's Riverside Park. On Nov. 23, 1895: Auburn won convincingly, 48-0 in Tuscaloosa, for first-year head coach John Heisman.

Nov. 17, 1900, Auburn scored nine touchdowns in the 53-5 victory in Montgomery.

On Nov. 15, 1901: Auburn won again, 17-0, in Tuscaloosa.

On Oct. 18, 1902: Birmingham's West End Park was the site for the 23-0 Auburn victory.

Another upset was brewing on Oct. 23, 1903 when Alabama won 18 - 10 at Montgomery's Highland Park.

The second game at Birmingham's West end Park saw another Auburn victory IN 1904. Auburn won that game29 - 5.

Another victory at West End was elusive for Auburn on Nov. 18, 1905. A record crowd of 4,600 attended the Alabama 30-0 victory. It was the biggest crowd to ever witness a football game in the city.

The next meeting on Nov. 17, 1906 saw another Alabama victory at the the Birmingham Fair Grounds. Alabama won that game 10 - 0, although the game was played under protest by Auburn, who claimed that Alabama was playing an ineligible player. This was the first in a history of violations, scandals, and accusations against Alabama that still exist today.

The next game on Nov. 16, 1907 ended in a 6-6 tie, this was the last game to be played between the two schools for the next 41 years.

AU-UA: THE 41-YEAR BREAK
Auburn and Alabama did not play for 41 years, from 1908 through 1947. There are two common misconceptions about the reason for the 41-year lapse. The first is that a fight broke out after a 6-6 tie in 1907 and caused both schools to discontinue the series. The second is that the state legislature got the two schools back together. Neither is true.

Auburn and Alabama quit playing because of money and officiating. Auburn wanted a northern umpire for the 1908 game, Alabama wanted a southern umpire. Auburn wanted to bring 22 players and allow $3.50 per day for expenses. Alabama wanted to bring 20 players and allow $3 per day for expenses. The two schools could never reach an agreement on these items and they became the bone of contention for years. After a period of time, scheduling became a problem.

The two schools quit playing in all sports. They renewed their athletic rivalry - the rivalry off the field never quit - in 1948 after actually "burying the hatchet" in Birmingham's Woodrow Wilson Park.

In the winter and spring of 1948, Auburn president Dr. Ralph B. Draughon and Alabama president Dr. John Gallalee decided the disagreement had gone on long enough and agreed the series should be renewed after doggedly fighting what they considered interference into their internal affairs by the state legislature. Several cities, including Montgomery and Mobile, were considered for the game site. Birmingham was chosen because it had the largest stadium in the state, 44,000-seat Legion Field.

Alabama won that renewal game, 55-0, in 1948. The Tide was a prohibitive favorite the next year, too, but Auburn pulled off one of its biggest upsets ever, 14-13, and one of the nation's great football rivalries was reborn.

PUNT BAMA PUNT
To Auburn people, one of the most incredible Auburn-Alabama games came on Dec. 2, 1972. A few days before the game, Alabama head coach Bear Bryant incited the rivalry when he told reporters that he would rather, "beat that cow college once than beat Texas 10 times." That set the stage as second-ranked Alabama brought a 10-0 record into Legion Field to meet the ninth-ranked Tigers, who were 8-1.

For the entire game, Bama's defense held the Auburn offense in check. With 5:30 remaining in the game, 16-point favorite Alabama held a seemingly insurmountable 16-3 lead. The Tigers, perhaps fueled by Bryant's remarks, came roaring back for one of the best finishes in Auburn-Alabama history. Auburn's Bill Newton blocked two Alabama punts and David Langer ran both in for touchdowns as Auburn came back to win 17-16. Newton and Langer will forever be remembered by Auburn fans for their play in the now famous "Punt Bama Punt" game.

THE 1980'S: THE NEW CHAPTER
Though Alabama dominated the series through the 60s and 70s, the rivalry reached new heights in the 80s as the average margin of victory was a mere 6.4 points. Some classic battles were waged in the decade.

Two games that epitomize the series came in 1985 and 1986. Auburn won the 1986 meeting on a Lawyer Tillman reverse into the endzone with 32 seconds remaining to down Bama 21-17. Alabama won the 1985 game, 25-23, on a 52-yard Van Tiffin field goal as the clock expired.

A historic new page was added to the rivalry in 1989 when Alabama came to Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time. The game was held on Dec. 2, 1989, exactly 17 years after Auburn's 1972 miracle win over the Tide. Just like the 1972 meeting, Bama came into the game with a 10-0 record and a No. 2 ranking. Before a Jordan-Hare Stadium then-record crowd of 85,319, Auburn ended Alabama's national title hopes with a monumental 30-20 victory.

SETTING A SACKS RECORD
In 2005 in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn set a new school record by sacking Alabama quarterbacks 11 times. Auburn record five sacks during the first quarter alone while holding Alabama to minus-17 yards of offense in the period. Seven different players had at least half a sack for Auburn, led by 3.5 sacks from Stanley McClover.

For Lola.

ShakeYour$Maker said...

That was a nice novel you have written Kingdom. I bet Lola sure is glad she knows the entire history of this rivalry now. All she really needs to know is that UAT sucks, and everbody hates them because they smell bad.

Auburn wins in the 4th Quarter, playing with HEART! The thumbs will be in full effect Saturday night. Nothing will be held back....Shula will begin to pack his bags for the mighty showdown in Memphis against Houston in the awesome Liberty Bowl in his last game as head coach for the Univeristy of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Shula finishes his last season 6-7. We will miss you assbag!

Michigan wins, USC wins, Arky clinches SEC West!

lola said...

meeeeechigan, usc, arkansas. not picking in the iron bowl. my dad was born and raised in birmingham so i have heard a little about this game, but thank you king for the history.

daddy, i hope you wore your chaps to the meeting.

King of Tigerland said...

It was going to take time. The question now, as Shula wraps up his fourth season at his alma mater, is: How much is enough time?

There are some telling numbers that clearly don't help Shula's case.

He's just 2-15 against Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU and Tennessee; 3-15 against SEC teams with winning records and 4-13 against nationally ranked teams.

Against all teams with winning records, he's 8-19. Against all teams with losing records, he's 18-2.

Since Shula returned to the Capstone, Alabama has yet to come back and win a game in which it was trailing heading into the fourth quarter.

And in games decided by seven points or less, Shula's record is 5-12.

tigernation said...

daddy - I forgot about those assless chaps you have. Does your wife like them as much as the Marines in Columbus at the bar you used to dance at?

Do you still put an AU sticker on your ass in the tanning bed so it shows up in your tan when you wear the chaps? That was always my favorite.

tigernation said...

I'll be here all day!