It finally arrived. The greatest season of all (yeah Summer... I said it). Like years prior, I've been engrossing myself in offseason rumors, recruiting, practice reviews and coach speak... all so I can get my hopes up to a level that requires my heart be at it's most fragile state. With grand expectations for week one, Jillian and I set off for Atlanta's Georgia Dome and the Chic-fil-A SECvsACC kickoff against Clemson. We met up with friend and local resident, Thomas, to sort out our sleeping arrangements and then set off for the stadium with booze in hand.
For some reason, we thought arriving 3 hours before game-time was early, but the parking situation suggested otherwise. All the dome parking lots were full so we ended up trusting some guys in a mechanic shop parking lot to not break into my truck after I gave them $20 and walked off. It ended up being a pretty decent space, for being only 3 blocks from the Dome.
We ran into Clemson fan early and often. A lot more had made the trip than I had anticipated. The majority were college age who were already drunk and throwing up in port-a-potties (and passing out roofies... and not being subtle about it) We met up with some other friends, got our tickets and danced our way inside. Or at least that's what I remember... b/c I had consumed generous amounts of adult beverage in those 3 city blocks.
The game started off well enough. Clemson got a field goal and then we answered with a 54 yard touchdown pass to a wide open receiver. That's just about the time things started going downhill. Within the course of the next few hours, my confidence in the season shattered, I began yelling drunk "jokes" to anyone who would listen and had an unfortunate talk with a 12yr old about how he should avoid drugs and whores. By the end I realized we might be in for a long season. Our offense couldn't move the ball and, most concerning, our defense looked like it couldn't tackle Michael J Fox wearing wet soap shoes on a freshly waxed marble floor. (I'm not quite sure that analogy makes any sense...)
Anyway, the game ends and I eat crow in front of the Clemson fans I called names and then apologized to the mother for my language, get up and go back to Thomas' apartment to set up an air mattress and go to sleep. We get up early, we drive home and enjoy the rest of our 3 day weekend.
Auburn 0-1
September 8th rolls around and we play Missippi State. Repeat all the happenings of above, but exchange the Georgia Dome for Jillian's house, switch up some of the friends and add cornhole. Cornhole was fun. Watching the Auburn game against Mississippi State was not. Game followed by watching Louisiana Monroe (our next opponent) upset #8 Arkansa.
Auburn 0-2
Sept 17th: After two rather dismal football games, Jillian and I decide to abandon any outside company and watch the game by ourselves. There was still a lot of alcohol and yelling but solitude seemed to do the trick. Auburn ends up squaking out a win in overtime. Whew.
Auburn 1-2
September 22nd gives us our second SEC game of the year against #2 LSU. Nick had invited us over to his house so he could rub a certain loss in our face. Jillian and I decided instead to go to the beach and soak in the sun. I was really surprised to see the diversity of football fandom around us. I spotted Arkansas, LSU, Florida State, Tennesee (lesbians), Bamers... I feel like I'm forgetting one. Anyway, there were a lot of people there and the weather was pretty much perfect. That may have been why the hermit crabs decided to make it their spring break. They were everywhere. It also happened to be the first time I had ever seen dolphins at the beach jumping completely out of the water and not just riding waves.
ANYWAY, we ended up getting back in town just as the game was starting so we set the dvr to record, washed up and put our cellphones away. The game ended up being a nail-biter as we ended up leading at half time and keeping the lead until about 5 minutes left in the game, passed up by a field goal. Ultimately, and in the usual heart-breaking fashion, Auburn failed to get points on the final 2 minute drive. What made this more heart-breaking was that I checked my phone about 1 minute before the end, saw 20 missed text messages and was convinced we had pulled off the miracle upset. Instead, I was just upset.
Auburn 1-3... yet much improved.
Just a note, This was the first time in Auburn school history that the football team had lost 3 games before October 1st.
Second Note: For the sake of history, This September also saw the result of the NFL officials strike... and some of the worst replacement officiating the game the NFL has ever seen. The lockout ended today (Sept 28)
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