Tide Looks To Go Out With Win Over Auburn
A major plumbing crisis and other important errands prevented us Friday from more detailed coverage of the major debates going on in Congress over taxes and the budget, but a quick review of the action shows at least that the Democrats are working hard to fight a Republican controlled Senate hell-bent on slanting government programs to big corporations and the rich and to slight poor and working Americans.
It is still a mystery why people of modest means in the South and other parts of the country would ever vote for these policies, but as the liberal Republican Abraham Lincoln indicated, you can fool enough of the people some of the time.
Congress Rushes to Tie Up Loose Ends Before Break
Meanwhile, we do not spend a lot of time and space covering sports here at The Locust Fork, but this game has us worried, since Editor and Publisher Glynn Wilson has two degrees from Alabama.
SEC's Best Offense and Defense to Face Off in Auburn, Ala.
It will come down to whether the Alabama defense can hold off the Auburn offense, and maybe to whether the Tide offense can overcome its problems and generate a few touchdowns for a change.
But the main editorial point we want to make here, no matter who wins the game, is that someone should come up with a new and better name for this rivalry. The game is no longer The Iron Bowl, because it is not played in Birmingham, the iron city.
You can blame this on former Auburn coach Pat Dye for pressing to move the game to Auburn, or Birmingham's former Mayor Richard Arrington for not spending the money on Legion Field to keep the game in Birmingham, or simply the economic realities that both universities want to play the game at home. No matter.
It ain't "The Iron Bowl" no more.
In spite of the history of the rivalry, we just wish some smart sports reporter, if there is such a thing, would come up with a phrase that characterizes the rivalry and has nothing to do with iron.
Any thoughts?
Comments
I do not know...but I DO KNOW the WIN was SWEET...
WARRRRRRRRR EAGLE!!!!!
Posted by: suzie | November 19, 2005 06:37 PM
A game like the annual Auburn-Alabama matchup is about so much more than just where the game is played, and its name should reflect its long tradition - never mind that Shug didn't dub it the Iron Bowl until sometime in the 1960's. Coach Jordan was obviously referring to the location of the game, but some have said that he also referred to the iron will the players showed in playing the game. I can understand how some Alabama fans might want to change the name of the game, as a way of segregating the days of Bear's dominance in Birmingham from Auburn's mastery of the game in recent years: Auburn is 5-1 since the game left Birmingham in 2000. However, the name Iron Bowl has become inextricably associated with both the two teams and with the aspects of the rivalry that transcend the game's location. If you're getting hung up on minutiae like the adjective "iron", then you're missing the whole point of the game.
Although I love Auburn playing its home games on the Plains, I wouldn't be opposed to an occasional rivival of the old-style Iron Bowl. First, Birmingham would have to give Legion Field a renovation suitable for a major game like Auburn-Alabama, or build. an entirely new stadium. Then we could play, say, two consecutive games every twenty years in the old 50/50 ticket split. What a party that would be!
Posted by: Jim Thompson | November 24, 2005 09:23 AM
I doubt the game will ever return to Birmingham. The universities wouldn't have it and there's really no reason for it. I just think the rivalry now cries out for a different name. Is the state and the press here so lacking in creativity that no one can come up with a new name?
Of course the danger in this suggestion is that the corporations will want to pounce on it. I wouldn't be surprised to see the power company jump on the bandwagon to call it the Alabama Power Bowl. Now that would be a travesty, but maybe the universities could charge them a fortune and use the money to make up for the shortfall in tax revenue since Alabama voters hate taxes so much.
Posted by: fast2write | November 24, 2005 10:15 AM